Vincente Minnelli—one-time husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza—became famous largely as a result of the lavish musicals he directed during his time at MGM. Some of his best-known films include Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American …
4K UHD Review: Dirty Grandpa Lionsgate Films / 2016 / 110 min / Unrated / Jun 12, 2018
Dan Mazer is the long-time writing and producing partner of Sacha Baron Cohen and has worked with him on various projects, including Borat and Brüno. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Mazer’s directorial debut, Dirty Grandpa would rely so …
Blu-ray Review: How Do I Love Thee? Kino Lorber / 1970 / 110 min / Rated PG / May 15, 2018
In 1970, it was hard to imagine that a comedy with a cast that included Jackie Gleason (Skidoo), Maureen O’Hara (McLintock!) , Shelley Winters (Harper) and Rosemary Forsyth would be a complete box office bomb, yet it happened. A decidedly …
Blu-ray Review: Ruby Gentry Kino Lorber / 1952 / 82 min / Not rated / Apr 17, 2018
Had Ruby Gentry been released just a few years later, it might have been mistaken for a Tennessee Williams adaptation. Instead, it was written directly for the screen by Silva Richards, who provided Joan Crawford with one of her most …
Blu-ray Review: Trading Places (35th Anniversary Edition) Paramount Pictures / 1983 / 116 min / Rated R / Jun 12, 2018
Released in 1983, Trading Places has the feel of a 1930’s screwball comedy. Set in Philadelphia during the holidays, this modern reworking of Mark Twain’s Prince and the Pauper concerns two men of vastly different backgrounds who switch places. Louis …
Blu-ray Review: Cold Turkey Olive Films / 1971 / 99 min / Rated PG-13 / May 29, 2018
Before he changed the face of television with All in the Family and its spin-offs, Norman Lear co-wrote and directed Cold Turkey, a cynical, occasionally blistering anti-smoking comedy that to date, is his only credit as a film director. Prepared …
Blu-ray Review: Desert Hearts (Criterion Collection) Criterion / Spine #902 / 1985 / 92 min / Rated R / Nov 14, 2017
Desert Hearts, based loosely on Jane Rule’s 1964 novel Desert of the Heart, was a groundbreaking film of the time, this was the first lesbian movie that didn’t end in pain, or with one of the women ending up with …
Blu-ray Review: Savannah Smiles Collector's Edition / MVD Visual / 1982 / 100 min / Rated PG / May 22, 2018
Savannah Smiles, an independently produced family film, had the misfortune of hitting theaters in December 1982, just months after E.T. became a box office juggernaut and this little film likely got lost in the shuffle. The next year, Savannah Smiles …
4K UHD Review: Fifty Shades Freed Universal Studios / 2018 / 1 Movie, 2 Cuts / 105 min / Unrated / May 08, 2018
The third and final film adaptation from EL James’ trilogy of zillion selling erotic blockbusters, Fifty Shades Freed is devoid of any spark, sexual or otherwise. Like its predecessor Freed–again directed by James Foley from a screenplay by Niall Leonard–is …
Blu-ray Review: Blaze (1989) Kino Lorber / 1989 / 118 min / Rated R / May 01, 2018
In 1959, the great state of Louisiana found itself knee deep in scandal when Governor Earl K. Long (Paul Newman, Harper) Huey’s shrewd little brother began a relationship with a stripper named Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovich), who at 28, was …