a few words about

I may be the only one to notice this, but Tim Burton's film tend to be a bit weird. Beetlejuice fits right in with much of his other work. And that's a good thing, as it's a terrific piece of entertainment. As to how it looks and sounds in 4k, I'll apologize in advance to those who might like...

The first Agatha Christie tale to be filmed was The Passing of Mr. Quin in 1928. Over the next 92 years there would be more versions of her works than anyone might imagine. Today, according to imdb, there are six projects in development, and three (film and TV) in production. Between 1974 and...

I continue to applaud Kino, as they bring out multi-disc sets from Universal's Paramount library, especially since they're packaged in single cases within a heavy paper box. As a Cary Grant fan, and taking an interest in how he created the Grant character, I was thrilled with their recent...

When James Cagney appeared in Charles Lederer's Never Steal Anything Small in 1959, it appeared that he was more interested in spending more time at the Cape, and winding down his extraordinary film career. A comedy with music, based upon the play Devil's Hornpipe by Maxwell Anderson and Rouben...

Not may people know this, but Anne Ramsey (who plays Mama Fratelli) was originally cast as the mother on The Partridge Family, but was released from her contract after the the initial episode (which never aired), and replaced with another actress. Purportedly, she came off as "too sweet."...

Never been a Wheeler and Woolsey fan. I've always felt more attuned to "the boys," Chaplin and Keaton. Or if teams, Laurel & Hardy, or the Marx Bros. Never did I ever believe that a Wheeler and Woolsey film would be restored. Never did I ever expect a Wheeler and Woolsey film to arrive on...

Blue Underground is a class act, and their 4k releases carry on that tradition. Possibly more so with Lucio Fulci's 1981 The House by the Cemetery. Not a fan of giala, never was, but this one captured my interest. It's definitely creepy. Those who love the genre will appreciate the incredible...

I could probably end these few words right here by telling you that Warner Archive's Flying Leathernecks, a 1951 RKO production, is perfect in every respect. But I won't do that. If for no other reason than I find that boring. So let's talk about oddities. The film opens with an RKO logo. In...

It seems that many new 4k releases, at least those derived from film to 2k or 2k digital masters, don't offer a great deal of uptick in 4k. I was fully expecting this with the two WB Sherlock Holmes Downey / Law films, but came away pleasantly surprised. Especially when running the films from...

This review has been updated, as it will not be bettered. And updated again. Going with Recommended, as film is not to be missed. Phillip Boros' 1982 Canadian production, The Grey Fox is one of those extraordinary little films that should be required viewing by anyone serious about the...

I've been complaining, since HDR appeared as a technology linked to 4k UHD, that projectors don't play particularly nicely with that tech. My former projector, a 4k Sony, does a magnificent job with HD and also with 4k, except when imagery gets very dark. It's a wonderfully reliable piece of...

There is something odd about these releases, and I presume that it has nothing to do with Criterion, and more with the licensor. Both films begin with an explanatory preface explaining the horrible condition of the elements, presumably caused by multiple distributors over the decades and their...

An interesting double bill. I've a feeling Sirk fans (Douglas) have been waiting for these on Blu-ray. Ford has his oaters, Hitchcock his thrillers, and Sirk, weepers. Probably nine of them, by my count. And at this time, only a few that haven't made it to Blu-ray domestically, although two -...

Ari Aster's (Hereditary) longer cut of his travelogue horror/mystery, Midsommar, has arrived here in the Colonies in its 172 minute cut, and in 4k. Shot with the new Panavision Millennium in 5k and 8k, and finished as a 4k DI, it's imagery is never less than astounding. I generally sit about...

A seldom seen 1933 anti-war film, from Paramount, makes its Blu-ray appearance via Kino, and the overall quality is quite nice. A vehicle for the great Fredric March more so than Cary Grant, who had not yet fully invented his screen persona, it will be, for many, a newly discovered film...

Another Shout release from the Hammer catalog, which will be applauded by fans for the audio commentaries and extras. Offered in both 1.66 and 1.85 aspect ratios, Terence Fisher's Phantom of the Opera is quintessential early '60s Hammer. Mr. Fisher entered the industry as an editor, active...

The 2020 Blu-ray release of Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker's Airplane has a bit more detail and stability than the 2011 variant. It also has a couple of new extras, in addition to the old. But sampling the film, after not seeing it for a number of years, I found myself wondering why South of the...

Spartacus is a film near and dear to my heart. I know it well, having first seen it theatrically, in 70mm, in 1960. When it was re-issued in 1967 it had been shorn (much like Lawrence) of much of the material that held the film together, inclusive of the original ending. Photographed in 35/8...

For the folks who have no idea who W.C. Fields was, he was funny man. Physical comedy filled with occasionally ribald humor, especially in his earlier works. He began in film in 1915, spent 1925 (in which he co-starred with Carol Dempster, in Sally of the Sawdust) through 1938 (with a few...

Norman Foster's 1948 black & white drama, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, is yet another film with Russell Metty behind the camera. Even shot (for the most part) at Universal, Mr. Metty creates a magnificently dirty, and wet atmosphere, with gleaming cobblestones everywhere. It's a beautifully...

I wonder if Mr. Flynn ever thought about his position as one of the top Technicolor actors during the three-strip period? Between 1938 and 1953, he appeared in eleven of them. Do Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power come close? As a 1952 production, it's pretty when not in dupes, which all have...

With the exception of original dye transfer prints, I can't recall seeing the quality representation of Byron Haskins' War of the Words - ever. Paramount's latest 4k restoration, from the original three-strip Technicolor elements, by Andrea Kalas, her team at Paramount, and tech gurus Ben Burtt...

Nassour Studios brings to mind Harry Hurwitz' wonderful mockumentary, That's Adequate. It concerned a low-rent Hollywood studio, the legend of which was proclaimed over the studio gates... "If it's good enough, it's an Adequate Picture." Nassour Studios, now the location of the Richard Alonzo...

A 1995 crowd-pleaser, Amy Heckerling's Clueless, the basis of the latest Emma, made a teen icon of its young star Alicia Silverstone, who had earlier been seen in The Crush and several Aerosmith videos. For it's 25th Anniversary, it's been spiffed up, with any minor problems left over from the...

Make no mistake. The Stuart Paton directed, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, is a huge, spectacular production for its time - late 1916. Not precisely 20,000 Leagues, it combines Jules Verne's 1870 novel with his 1874 Mysterious Island. A prolific author, 80 Days came in between the two. This...

By 1948, with the war over, one would think that Technicolor productions might come to the fore at Paramount, but they still only released three films. Fortunately, they used it for this Bob Hope gem. A continual fan favorite, who did an immense amount for this country, I oft wonder how many...

Stuart Gilmore's 1946 Paramount production of Kirk La Shelle's and / or Owen Wister's work, The Virginian, is not to be confused with the earlier (or later versions) - 1914, 1929, or the TV series (1962-1970). The first incarnation brought Jesse Lasky and Cecil De Mille together, with Dustin...

I'm beginning to hope that To Catch a Thief was an anomaly in the new Paramount Presents series, as Jerry Zucker's Ghost is a wonderfully presented Blu-ray. Gone is the constant motion within the frame on the earlier transfer. Color, black levels, shadow detail, all fine. Grain appears to be...

Warner Archive is doing it again. Readers continue to complain that they don't go back and release enough old, black & white films. And this is the result. They've gone back to 1943 for a Tommy Dorsey musical, directed by Norman Taurog, with a musical number (I Got Rhythm) directed by Busby...

An Act of Murder, a 1948 Universal production, directed by Michael Gordon, is one of those tiny, extraordinary films, of which most people are totally unaware, and that's a pity. Starring Fredric March and Florence Eldridge (Mrs. March), along with Edmond O'Brien and Geraldine Brooks, it's one...