Author Archive: Mark R. Hasan

That Stock Company Guy, Dick Miller

Review of Elijah Drenner’s giddy doc THAT GUY DICK MILLER (2014) from Indiecan.

Impeccable Ensembles: Beat the Devil (1953) + Between the Lines (1977)

Impeccable ensemble casts are the main draw in John Huston’s BEAT THE DEVIL (1953) + Joan Micklin Silver’s BETWEEN THE LINES (1977).

Melo-Noir: Black Widow (1954) + Slightly Scarlet (1956)

A pair of noir-melodramas boasting striking mid-century style: Nunnally Johnson’s BLACK WIDOW (1954) on Twilight Time Blu + Allan Dwan’s delicious SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956) on VCI DVD.

Women in Prison, Part IV: Le evase (1978)

Review of Giovanni Brusadori’s infamous WIP drama ESCAPE FROM WOMEN’S PRISON / LA EVASE (1978), new on Blu via Severin Films / Unobstructed View.

Neo-Noir Trois: The Big Fix (1978)

Review of the private eye thriller THE BIG FIX (1978), the oddball adaptation of Roger L. Simon’s novel, new on Blu from Twilight Time.

ArtScopeTO 09: Interview with Photographer Pengkuei Ben Huang

ArtScopeTO Podcast interview with photographer Pengkuei Ben Huang, whose series SOLEMN PINES FADING THINGS is running at Toronto’s Urban Gallery as part of the 2019 Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.

Podcast interview with LES MISERABLES’ John Murphy

Podcast interview with composer John Murphy and his recently-scored BBC mini-series LES MISERABLES (2018).

ArtScopeTO 08: Interview with Photographer Lori Ryerson

The latest ArtScopeTO podcast features a chat with photographer Lori Ryerson, whose series OFF THE BEATEN PATH can be seen at Toronto’s Urban Gallery until Sat. April 27, 2019.

DVD: That Guy Dick Miller (2014)

There have been documentaries on the faces and voices of character actors we’ve seen but can never place, but Dick Miller is a different animal – a hugely prolific character actor and emeritus magnus of…

BR: Beat the Devil (1953)

One of the oddest films ever made, Beat the Devil is many things: a dry comedy, a slick celluloid pastry with a hollow centre, a cheat, and an interminably dull production which…

DVD: Between the Lines (1977)

Joan Micklin Silver’s chance meeting with ex-Boston Phoenix writer Fred Barron at a film expo resulted in ‘a coming of age’ dramady about people who’ve ‘come of age’…

BR: Warlock (1959)

The film, itself based on a praised 1958 novel by Oakley Hall, could be summarized as High Noon (1952) with double the characters and tripled conflicts…

DVD: Bluebeard (1972)

It’s unsure whether director / co-writer Edward Dmytryk was aware of any thin connections to the violent & fetishistic giallo genre, whereas the film’s other co-writers, Maria Pia Fusco and Ennio De Concini…

LP: John and Mary (1969)

Written during his busiest period (1968-1970), Quincy Jones’ score for John and Mary was quite sparse, leaving obligatory space for the film’s myriad dialogue exchanges and source music, but the score is memorable for being atypical of the material Jones was writing at the time: action comedies (The Italian Job, The Hell with Heroes), comedies (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,Cactus Flower), and the funky style of They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!

CD: Runaway Train (1985)

For some soundtrack fans, it was a bit of surprise to learn the composer of pioneering synth scores had begun his career with large orchestral scores for John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (1982)…

LP: Bourne Identity, The (2002)

The first film in the enduring franchise gave John Powell the perfect opportunity to write what remains both his definitive action sound, and the definitive action score of that decade, blending large orchestral sounds with layers upon layers of electronics…