MMM is a screwball comedy reformulated into a pitch black misadventure where dangerous entanglements recur with greater intensity, and the nonsense begins when against Larry’s wishes Carol agrees to accept an invitation of coffee & cake by senior neighbours Paul and Lillian House…
Alice is clearer example of Woody Allen revisiting his familiar template of an unhappily married woman going through a series of personal adventures before she decides it’s time to change her life and begin a second and more enlightened phase that may not even require a husband or boyfriend…
The joy (and perils) of infidelity are centre-frame in Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) + Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives (1992), on Blu via Twilight Time.
Woody Allen’s last film starring Mia Farrow is one of his best and darkest comedies, hyper-fixating on the (largely) negative effects of infidelity – the film earned Oscar nominations for writing and supporting actress (Judy Davis) – but its most powerful moments…
Reviews of two Woody Allen satirical classics – Bananas (1971) + Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) – on Blu via Twilight Time.
Woody Allen’s reteaming with Take the Money and Run (1969) co-writer Mickey Rose struck pure gold in this poke at contemporary politics in which a moron becomes the leader of a South American country after it undergoes a Cuba-like revolution…
One of the toughest challenges for any film built around a series of thematically connected sketches is consistency of quality, and offering enough variation so that no segment is redundant nor feels disconnected from the original concept. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex…
Reviews of Woody Allen’s formal feature directorial debut Take the Money and Run (1969) from KL Studio Classics, the short mockumentary Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971), and the underrated drama September (1987) from Twilight Time.
Running a compact 25 mins. Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story is a satire of the Nixon Administration, which was past the halfway point of its first term mandate when the short was scheduled for airing in February of 1972, but as the lore surrounding this ‘lost’ film goes…
Released the same year as Radio Days, Woody Allen’s September retains the cast members Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiest, but the tone harkens back to the auteur’s Interiors (1978), a more dour and overwrought attempt at Serious Drama…
Examining the Image: Mike Wallace Is Here (2019) + Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018)
Two recent docs on TV and cinema icons: MIKE WALLACE IS HERE (2019) from Magnolia + JANE FONDA IN FIVE ACTS (2018) from HBO.
Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson in 3 unique productions: THE PRESIDENT’S LADY (1953) on Twilight Time Blu + Cecil B. DeMille’s 1938 and 1958 productions of THE BUCCANEER from Olive Films.
Podcast: Austin Wintory’s REMNANTS + ERICA (2019)
In a new podcast, composer Austin Wintory discusses scoring the interactive PS4 video game ERICA + the eclectic music on the compilation album REMNANTS.
Elvis, Fox, Disney, and the Digital Oubliette
A review of Elvis Presley’s WILD IN THE COUNTRY (1961) on Twilight Time Blu + Editor’s Blog on Disney’s restrictions of the 20th Century-Fox catalogue.
Assessing the pulse of Netflix’s GLOW as the ladies handle life in Las Vegas, and whether Season 3 is a signal the end might be near.
Podcast: Austin Wintory’s REMNANTS + ERICA (2019)
In a new podcast, composer Austin Wintory discusses scoring the interactive PS4 video game ERICA + the eclectic music on the compilation album REMNANTS.
Dante Tomaselli’s Out-of-Body Experience (2019)
Admirers of Dante Tomaselli’s prior sonic explorations will be quite surprised at the shift the director of Torture Chamber (2013) and Desecration (1999) took with his latest album, titled Out-of-Body Experience, released July 4th, 2019 via TuneCore…
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.
DVD: Mike Wallace Is Here (2019)
The title of Avi Belkin’s highly entertaining documentary on 60 Minutes’ most recognizable investigative journalist refers to the fear that could…
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018)
Few actors from a dynastic Hollywood family have had such a varied career as Jane Fonda, and Susan Lacy’s lengthy but never dull documentary is comprised of five chapters that trace…
BR: President’s Lady, The (1953)
A fictionalized bio-drama based on the relationship between attorney general and future U.S. President Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) and Rachel Donelson (Susan Hayward)…
Cecil B. DeMille wasn’t adverse to revisiting a hit property – his 1956 remake of his 1923 spectacular The Ten Commandments ensured the producer-director of Samson and Delilah…
Based on the novel by Lyle Saxon, Cecil B. DeMille’s production is a fancy, kinetically paced adventure-drama loosely based on a unique chapter during the was of 1812, in which famed pirate Jean Lafitte…
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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