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…
A late career triumph for Rosalind Russell, Auntie Mame was adapted from the play that in turn was adapted from Patrick Dennis’s semi-autobiographical 1955 novel. Clocking in at 144 minutes its’s bit long, it captures the essence of bohemian living…
For those acquainted with Darren Lynn Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera, Repo Men is going to sound familiar. In the year 2056, artificial organs are leased to desperate transplant patients. If the recipients fail to make their monthly payments, the…
In 1977, director Martin Scorsese was on a roll. Hot off the critical and commercial success of Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and Taxi Driver, he was given free rein to do whatever he wished. His pet project…
Based on a subversive set of trading cards, I was intrigued when I learned that Tim Burton had agreed to direct Mars Attacks! Each card graphically depicted a Martian invasion of Earth with lots of gory detail. Knowing that, I…