Pacifism goes Panavision and color in Richard Attenborough’s first directorial effort, a musical epic of the tragedy of World War One. The mirth and magic — and despair — comes from songs sung in the trenches, that were given alternate, irreverent lyrics by the soldiers themselves. An endless cast of English stars appear, in good…
Dan Duryea’s slimy killer fesses up to a cold-blooded killing, but insists that the victim’s wife Patricia Owens hired him to do it! This cheap English production is only fitfully competent but we were fascinated anyway … it provides more context to the story of a big film producer run out of Hollywood by the…
Harryhausen comes at last to 4K Ultra HD! We hoped that the improved scan would bring out more to see in the master animator’s brightest film, and our initial response is a big Yes. The video remastering people at Sony have done a good job, taking advantage of the newer format’s improvements while retaining the…
The creative part of this international genre hybrid was assembling its dynamite all-star cast. The concept is unbeatable: what kid doesn’t want to see Toshiro Mifune as a samurai, fighting to redeem his honor in the Old West? He tangles with outlaws Charles Bronson and Alain Delon, with Honeychile Ryder Ursula Andress thrown in for…
God help me, I liked Evil Dead Burn. I wasn’t expecting to. Don’t get me wrong: I loved the original Evil Dead trilogy, and after a while I even came around to the 2013 remake. The remake was a very different kettle of innards, steering far away from the Looney Tunes joy of possessed Bruce…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we are happy to feature three films from the late, great, Samuel Fuller. Unfortunately, I can claim no relation. We are happy to drink a toast to the man, with a…
Alain Resnais’ historical drama of the notorious l’affaire Stavisky is one of his most accessible movies. Producer-star Jean-Paul Belmondo was fascinated by the story of a swindler who conned half of France in the early 1930s, igniting a scandal that almost brought down the government. His Serge Stavisky projects the charisma of a grand conman,…
The movie ratings system experienced a rough beginning. Studios got the notion that America wanted R-rated product, which led to a number of mainstream movies that played like grindhouse smut. A main offender example is Roger Vadim’s unfunny soft-core murder comedy with big stars Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson. With its twisted fantasy of underaged…
Trailers From Hell Guru Allan Arkush’s The Last Reel video essay series returns! 60 years before “blockbuster” movie moguls started showing movies at home for family and friends, the Boomer generation took it much, much further. They liberated 16mm and screened it whenever & where ever they wanted! This is their story, with dinner.
