a few words about

I'm joining two of Twilight Time's new Blu-rays, the 1959 Warlock, with Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, and Anthony Quinn, directed by Edward Dmytryk, with Bandolero! (Andrew McLaglen) (1968), with James Stewart and Dean Martin, for no other reason than the ability to compare and contrast the...

Based upon the 2013 Chilean film, Gloria, Sebastian Lelio 2018 re-make, is absolutely worth your investment of time. Yes, they make more than nice Carmeniere in Chile. Julianne Moore brings her character to life, holding secrets and desires of which only she and the audience, are aware. She's...

To my sensibilities, Kevin Coster is one of the most natural actors currently working in films. He reminds me of the best attributes of Gary Cooper, with wasters seeming to be his forte. Yellowstone is a modern take on those 50s and 60s TV western soaps, and occasionally rises above them...

When it comes to film restoration and preservation, nothing beats an original negative, or properly produced fine grain, that can be massage back to life. This is just as important when it comes to Public Domain productions, that have been around the world and back in film and home video...

There are rumors that the same casting agency that gathered the little people for The Wizard of Oz, was hired to bring together every gay, or able to play gay, actor in the continental United States, for the epic musical, Can't Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker. Yes, Nancy Walker. That...

I've mentioned here previously, that I'm a huge fan of Prof. Gates, and his work. One of the leading proponents toward education of the black experience, and history, his four hour PBS documentary on the Reconstruction Era is a winner. Most casual viewers of American history, probably look at...

The imagery on Shout Factory's new Blu-ray of the 1974 all-star epic catastrophe production, Earthquake, is of requisite enough quality to show off the film's effects for their analogue quality. Which were not good. While many top actors, or actors of the past, got themselves a paycheck to...

In terms of thriller / noir, John Farrow's The Big Clock (1948), is not to be confused with the Judy Garland, Robert Walker film, The Clock, which concerned a smaller timepiece. While Ray Milland is the technical lead here, Charles Laughton turns in a superb performance. Probably a good time...

When one looks closely at a list of Paramount silent productions, it becomes obvious how fragmented their preservation has been, over the decades. Old Ironsides, a 1926 production, directed by James Cruze (The Covered Wagon) has survived however, in decent condition, and in 35mm. Kino's new...

Michael Winner's The Nightcomers, based on characters from "Turn of the Screw," hasn't met the test of time. It's an odd concept, in that the film is a prequel to book, and therefore, ostensibly to Jack Clayton's 1961 The Innocents, a film that I admire. As a Marlon Brando film, especially for...

Godzilla wasn't a quality film in 1998, and it has gotten no better. Sampling some of it, had me thinking, once again, how many bits, textures and nuances had been borrowed from CE3K. That noted, for those who love the creature, and the film, the new 4k Blu-ray from Sony is a very nice step up...

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Fox, especially under Darryl Zanuck, seemed unafraid to tackle difficult subjects, as it did just a year previous, with Gentlemen's Agreement. The Snake Pit, a 1948 production, directed by Anatole Litvak, concerns mental illness, and Olivia de Havilland shines in the lead. Photographed in...

Three Coins in the Fountain is one of the quintessential early scope productions, brimming with wide shots of the hills of Rome, and those fountains, along with a slight case of mumps, inherent in the process As directed by Jean Negulesco, it was a crowd pleaser of the era, if only for the...

This one was a discovery film for me. Although I've always been a fan of Mr. Ford's 1935 The Informer, with the brilliant Victor McLaglen, as Gypo Nolan, I was unaware that there was a 1929 UK version, based upon the same source novel by Liam O'Flaherty. Directed by Arthur Robison, the film...

As someone with an interest in ancestry research, one of the people for whom I have enormous respect is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Initially best known for his incredible research and writing into black American history, his most recent endeavors have taken him directly into ancestry, with a PBS...

Liam Neeson, God bless 'em, has done 147 films in which he plays the outraged father, whose daughter, wife, best friend has been kidnapped, harmed, whatever. No need to watch more than 140 of them, although the other 7 can still be entertaining. Cold Pursuit finally leaves that concept for a...

Otto Bathurst's new take on the Robin Hood legend, courtesy of Ben Chandler and David James Kelly, is an interesting beast. Filled to the brim with digital effects, heavy in action and violence, and borrowing at different times from Steam Punk, Lawrence, Assassin's Creed, Hunger Games...

Once in a very long while, a cable series appears that hits all the right notes for me. I like my films dark, and this one fills the bill. The most recent is Sharp Objects, courtesy of HBO, created by Marti Noxon, from the novel by Gillian Flynn, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, and featuring a...

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I don't know about everyone else, but when I envision a film written by Richard Curtis, I smile. While he's worked in different genres, I revel in his work in that lands squarely in the rom-com arena, as they're so incredibly multi-layered, entertaining, and just darn sweet. The ones that come...

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William Wyler has always been one of my most revered filmmakers, and his 1949 The Heiress, for Paramount, is a magnificent part of his filmography. Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, and Miriam Hopkins (she's been discussed quite a bit lately), are the leads, and the film...

In one of the great injustices in artistic history, filmmaker Abraham Polonsky was denied his rightful place in Hollywood by the American government under the guise of HUAC. After penning Body and Soul in 1947, and following up with the direction (and screenplay) of the brilliant Force of Evil...

Charles Walters' 1950 Summer Stock, would be the final Judy Garland film in three-strip Technicolor. She would next appear in a 1954 Warner Bros, Eastman Color / CinemaScope production. While not derived directly from the original negatives, Warner Archive's new Blu-ray is a delight. It's...

Cy Howard's 1970, Lovers and Other Strangers is a New York-based production, in turn based upon the New York stage play of the same name. Centering around a wedding, it allows us to see almost every human foible available at the time. I'm not certain that it stands the test of time, but part...

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The latest incarnation of Legally Blonde (2001) is via the new Legally Blonde Collection, which in this case is a bit of a rarity - a collection of two. The first Legally Blonde is a fun romp that will not tax your brain. It's charming. The second not so great. Based upon the new scan of the...

As is usually the case, Warner Archive's new Blu-ray of the 1966 M-G-M film, The Glass Bottom Boat, is a stunner. What it has going for it, is some beautifully photographed scenery around Catalina Island. Other than that, the Frank Tashlin "comedy," really isn't much of one. The gags never...