Swiss documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe has made a career out of making films about movies. Whether it’s 2017’s 78/52, an examination of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous shower scene in Psycho, his study of the influence of The Wizard of Oz…
The brainchild of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar was originally recorded as a concept album released in 1970 and then performed as a series of concerts. From there, it was adapted into a popular stage production…
One of America’s preeminent historians, Ken Burns became a household name when his nine-part documentary “The Civil War” first aired on PBS in 1990. A hit with critics and audiences alike, “The Civil War” received many honors including two Emmys…
Released in 1938, Boys Town was based on a real-life community in Nebraska, a home for orphaned and homeless boys that was started by Father Edward Flanagan. Starring Spencer Tracy as Flanagan, Boys Town was a box office success, and…
A well regarded “medium-grade thriller “ at the time of its release in 1947, Out of the Past has since gained a reputation as one of the great 1940’s film noirs. Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas, in…
DISC 1: The Pink Panther (1963) It seems hard to believe now, but initially United Artists had so little faith in The Pink Panther that they let Lew Grade produce it in exchange for distribution rights. You can bet UA…
CBS/Paramount is celebrating the 75th anniversary of I Love Lucy with a re-release of the series on Blu-ray. The set includes seasons 1-6 plus seasons 7-9 of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. All have been wonderfully restored with lossless audio. The…
It seems impossible to believe now, but there was a time when those responsible for highway safety films seemed to believe that using scare tactics as an educational tool was a good idea. I grew up hearing rumors about the…
Created by Dale McRaven, one of the men behind “Mork & Mindy,” “Perfect Strangers” found him returning to the fish-out-of-water concept. This time, instead of Mork from Ork, we have Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot), a simple sheep herder from the…
No matter how fictional it may be, Wag the Dog seems even more probable nearly thirty years after its release. Adapted from Larry Beinhart’s novel “American Hero,” by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet, it demonstrates a keen grasp of the…