After handling the social dramas Gentleman’s Agreement and Pinky, director Elia Kazan returned to the docu-style of Boomerang, this time relishing the tension of a city manhunt for a handful of possibly infected plague carriers. Kazan’s use of genuine locations is superb, capturing the grime of poverty-row housing, ethnic ghettos, and the gleaming city buildings and streets which house nervous state officials looking for a quick fix for a messy problem…
After earning an Oscar Nomination for her starring role in Peyton Place (1957) and getting important supporting roles in The Young Lions (1958) and In Love and War (1958), Hope Lange was given the plum role of Caroline Baker, the suburban girl who travels to the Big Apple after earning a business degree, and slowly rises to the upper echelons of Derby Publishing from typist to book editor…
If a supporting role in Bernadine proved to Fox brass that singer Pat Boone could in fact act (and make money for the studio), then it seemed natural to quickly slide the crooner into a starring project that tied all the demographics together into a light, almost classically written puffball musical…
Return to: Home / Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews / J to L . Film: Very Good / BR Transfer: Very Good/ BR Extras: Excellent Label: Twilight Time / Region:All / Released: July 9, 2013 Genre: Romance / Drama / Biography Synopsis: A Eurasian doctor living in 1949 Hong Kong falls for a married American war correspondent. Special […]
Return to: Home / Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews / D . Film: Excellent/ BR Transfer: Excellent/ BR Extras: Excellent Label: Twilight Time/ Region: All / Released: 2013 Genre: Western Synopsis: Pioneers struggle to rebuild their lives after a marauding force of Tory-led Mohawks devastate their homestead. Special Features: Audio Commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick […]
Return to: Home / Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews / S . Film: Excellent/ BD Transfer: Excellent/ BD Extras: Excellent Label: Twilight Time/ Region: All / Released: March 26, 2013 Genre: Historical Drama Synopsis: Classic tale of Bernadette Soubirous, a young French girl who experiences a Holy vision and struggles against poverty, ridicule, and threats from the town […]
Return to: Home / Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews / P to R . Film: Excellent/ DVD Transfer: Very Good/ DVD Extras: Very Good Label: Twentieth Century-Fox/ Region: 1 (NTSC) / Released: November 1, 2005 Genre: Drama / Romance / Disaster Synopsis: The arrival of a wealthy trollop upsets the social balance of an Indian province prior to […]
Editor’s Blog on CinemaScope and reviews of The Robe (Fox) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (Twilight Time), plus Bella Darvi in Hell and High Water (Fox), and soundtrack reviews of Alfred Newman’s The Robe (La-La Land) and Franz Waxman’s Demetrius and the Gladiators (FSM).
Return to: Home / Soundtrack Reviews / P to R . Rating: Excellent Label: La-La Land Records/ Released: March 27, 2012 Tracks & Album Length: CD1: 18 tracks / (56:08) + CD2: 20 tracks / (55:23) . Special Notes: 12-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo / Limited to 2,000 copies. . Composer: Alfred […]
Return to: Home / Soundtrack Reviews / D . Rating: Excellent Label: Film Score Monthly/ Released: January, 2002 Tracks & Album Length: 29 tracks / (61:52) . Special Notes: 16-page colour booklet with liner notes by Lukas Kendall and Christopher Husted / Limited to 3,000 copies. . Composer: Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman (“The Robe”theme) . . Review: […]
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.
A Vibrant Return for Becky Sharp (1935)
Review of BECKY SHARP (1935), the first feature shot in 3-strip Technicolor, new on Blu from KINO’s KL Studio Classics / Unobstructed View.
TJFF 2019: It Really Schwings!
Review of Eric Friedler’s documentary IT MUST SCHWING! THE BLUE NOTE STORY (2018) at TJFF 2019.
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.
Nunnally Johnson’s adaptation of Patrick Quentin’s novel Fatal Woman is almost as slick as this stellar big screen production…
Slightly Scarlet is a strange amalgam that shouldn’t work so well, being part noir, melodrama, and crime film, and yet everything hums…
BR: Escape from Women’s Prison / Le evase – Storie di sesso e di violenze / Violez les otages (1978)
Reportedly one of the most infamous women in prison (WIP) films, Giovanni Brusadori’s lone feature film is far removed from the U.S. poster art…
Roger L. Simon adapted his novel and probably retained the same tonal shifts which suggest both the author and director Jeremy Paul Kagan wanted to play with the private detective formula…
Set just prior to the Battle of Waterloo, Thackeray’s story follows Becky Sharp (Miriam Hopkins) from her graduation from a starchy girl’s school to the men with whom she eyes, ensnares, and the hard times…
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!
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…
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