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: […]
The Rebirth of Dante Tomaselli’s Desecration (1999)
Review of Desecration (1999) on Blu from Code Red / KINO / Unobstructed View + an interview with writer-director-composer Dante Tomaselli.
Suburban Tales VIII: No Down Payment (1957)
In Suburban Tales VIII, I examine Martin Ritt’s film of John McPartland’s novel No Down Payment (1957), released on shiny Blu-ray by Twilight Time, plus some contemporary parallels…
Even Killer Fish Movies Must Have Killer DNA: The Meg (2018)
Review of the latest 3D killer fish flick: THE MEG (2018) from Warner Bros. + quick thoughts on the ongoing Canada-wide postal strike.
Djinn (2013): Tobe Hooper’s Supernatural Swill
Review of Tobe Hooper’s feature film swan song, the barely seen Djinn (2013), from Screen Media.
Politics, Politics, Politics: BlacKkKlansman (2018) + The Last Hurrah (1958)
Just in time for the U.S. midterms are two political dramas – Spike Lee’s BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018) from Universal + John Ford’s THE LAST HURRAH (1958) from Twilight Time.
Viva Amiga’s Zach Weddington (and a bit of gear talk)
Podcast interview with Zach Weddington on Viva Amiga, his affectionate documentary on the pioneering multimedia computer (plus a bit of gear talk).
Patricia Rozema’s Singing Mermaids & White Room + Bonus Audio from NCFD 2018
Review of the CanCon classic I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) and much-maligned White Room (1990) + Q&A audio of director Patricia Rozema & journalist Kiva Reardon during National Canadian Film Day.
ArtScopeTO 07: Interview with Photographer Andre Vittorio
Aprils ArtScopeTO podcast features photographer Andre Vittorio, whose series Abstractions on Metal can be seen at Toronto’s Urban Gallery until Sat. April 28, 2018.
After refining the imagery from specific nightmares into a series of abstract short films, Dante Tomaselli fleshed out his surreal tale of a morally corrupt spirit into a feature-length work that’s part nightmare…
Martin Ritt’s second film as director is this lesser known, slightly star-studded drama based on a novel by pulp writer John McPartland, and both the film and novel were reportedly the inspiration for Knots Landing…
In spite of the hype, the decent box office gross, and inherent B-movie elements, The Meg is an incredibly dumb film, which wouldn’t be an issue if the script had been crafted with skill, and the direction wasn’t hack-like…
Filmed in 2011, sneaked to a London test audience in 2012, and premiering at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2013, Tobe Hooper’s swan song is a sad illustration of the lousy projects the Poltergiest (1982) director had to settle for at the tail-end of his career…
Spike Lee’s latest feature is based on Black Klansman, Ron Stallworth’s recently published account of his time as an undercover detective for the Colorado Springs Police Department during the 1970s, with one heck of a premise…
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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