a few words about

Allow me to position my cinema perspective toward 1930s wise-cracking, physical comedians. From an earlier era, I love Keaton and Chaplin. as well as early Laurel & Hardy. Get to the '30s, Laurel & Hardy reigned, along with The Marx Brothers. I could never stand the Stooges. And then came...

Since 4k UHD Blu-rays arrived on the planet in March of 2016, there has been a dearth of true 4k product. With well over 300 releases to date, I doubt that 20% are fully 4k data, as opposed to up-rezzed 2k. One of the early ethics of new technology has generally been to flood the marketplace...

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Lights of New York was a huge hit, when it was released in the summer of 1928. Aside from Vitaphone shorts, the "Talkies" had begun in August of 1926, with Don Juan, starring John Barrymore, a silent film with a synchronized score. In October of 1927, Warner upped the ante, with Al Jolson, in...

For those who may have felt cheated by a lack of in-your-face grain, in Paramount's recent release of Grease, there will be no such concern for Steven Speilberg's 1998 Saving Private Ryan, as it perfectly replicates the look of a first generation print, directly derived from the cut camera...

Joseph H. Lewis' seminal 1949 production, released in early 1950, Gun Crazy aka Deadly is the Female, is one of the most important films in the noir canon. Starring Peggy Cummins (who should have had a greater career in film), and John Dall ("I don't know how I shall ever repay you...") the...

The Post, a film about the freedom of the press, is an old-fashioned production, as told by a master filmmaker. It's an intelligent, absorbing tale, with nary a car chase in sight. Mr. Spielberg's work on shot on film (S35/3), by Janusz Kaminski, and finished as a 4k DI, which should give you...

Two new fan favorites from Shout Factory, and they're both very special editions, especially for fans of steelbook packaging. Unfortunately, I'm running in several directions at the moment, but wanted to at least sample, and report what I'm seeing for these high-end releases. Both from MGM...

Liam Neeson is The Commuter, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Run All Night, The Shallows), and the film is a perfect Collet-Sera / Neeson take on one of the best mystery thrillers, Murder on the Orient Express. It's a quality whodunit, with digital style to spare. As a 4k UHD mit HDR...

King Vidor's 1952 Ruby Gentry has more than a passing similarity to the earlier huge production by David Selznick, Duel in the Sun. A beautiful, young girl, born on the wrong side of the tracks, with desires to better herself, and playing with relationships, that somehow seem to go awry. Kino...

Leave it to Lionsgate, which has an exemplary reputation with their 4k UHD releases, to give us Scott Cooper's Hostiles, as photographed by Masanobu Takayanagi... on 35mm Eastman stock, in Panavision, and finished in 4k. Along with its DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, expect a magnificent home theater...

I loved Grease Live! during it's original presentation on network. The technical bravura. The quality of the actors and technicians, all involved performing on a high-wire, without a net. Shot at WB in Burbank. What could go wrong? Start with rain... To me, Grease Live! is a visceral...

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The Greatest Showman, is a terrific piece of cinema, and one of my favorite films of 2017. It follows the birth of The Greatest Show on Earth, and it's creator, one, Phineas T. Barnum. Filled with almost constant motion, it's a beautifully crafted production, which is shown to great advantage...

Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas, is an interesting sci-fi / thriller. In 1959, a young girl contributes a strange page of numbers to a school time capsule, while her classmates draw pictures for inclusion. 2009, the capsule is opened, and the tale begins. What did the young schoolgirl know...

Cinematographer, John Bailey, turned to direction in 1994, for China Moon, an interesting little film, that many felt was too derivative of the swelteringly sexual and nourish, Body Heat, to capture one's attention. While it does immediately bring to mind, the earlier, film, without all of the...

Columbia's 1937 The Awful Truth, is to my mind, one of the finest screwball comedies to come out of Hollywood. Ever! Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are perfect, as a warring couple, that give us a myriad of delights. For astute cinephiles, it's also the first film to feature a reasonably fully...

Insidious: The Last Key, the latest spawn of the James Wan Universe, is a fun little horror film, that works, especially when it comes to dollars. Horror films, have usually fallen into the lower budgetary areas, and Last Key, reportedly made for around ten million, made many multiples at the...

Sam Fuller began his film career as a writer in the 1930s, with his first directorial gig (he also wrote) I Shot Jesse James in 1949. The films for which he is probably best known are Steel Helmet (1951), Pickup on South Street (1953) House of Bamboo (1955), Run of the Arrow (1957) Underworld...

Roy Ward Baker began his career in the British film industry, working in various capacities, including AD on The Lady Vanishes (1937). After I'll Never Forget You, he made the move to the Colonies for six years or so, staying with Fox for the period. He's return to the UK, for one of his best...