Blu-ray Review: The Hunter
Released in August of 1980, The Hunter is largely remembered because star Steve McQueen died just three months later, as a result of cancer surgery. McQueen plays a modern day, down and out bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson (whose real story. Served as the basis of the film), forced to take whatever jobs he can […]
Blu-ray Review: Winter Kills
Winter Kills William Richert’s adaptation of Richard Condon’s novel “Winter Kills”–a thinly veiled look at the John F. Kennedy assassination–grounded in dark political satire was plagued with production issues including a mafia hit on one producer, a forty-year prison sentence handed down to another, production was halted several times. When the film was finally released, […]
The Roosevelt’s: An Intimate History (Blu-ray)
Politics has had its share of dynasties—the Adamses, the Kennedy’s, the Bush’s—but none can compare to the Roosevelt’s. Theodore Roosevelt and his fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt served a combined total of nineteen years as President of the United States. Franklin’s wife Eleanor, both admired and reviled, paved the way for many modern women, becoming […]
The Godfather Part III (Blu-ray)
Note: Parts of this piece appeared in a review for an earlier home video release of the film. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy made its Blu-ray debut back in 2008. The picture, audio, and extras were impressive. A lot of fans jumped on the set pretty quickly, but some waited, hoping each of the […]
Blu-ray Review: The Magnificent Seven
A cowboy retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven marked the transition from the old style John Ford/John Wayne films to the spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood that would change the genre forever. Released in 1960, The Magnificent Seven contains elements that audiences at the time were used to—gunfights, and bandits—however, unlike previous […]
Blu-ray Review: The Misfits
Written by the playwright Arthur Miller for his wife Marilyn Monroe—whom he would divorce before the film was released, The Misfits has perhaps become more famous for what went on behind the scenes than what happened on it. Monroe delivers one of the best performances of her career, though she was reportedly battling drug addiction.
Rita Moreno, Turns 76 Today
Born Rosita Dolores Alverio, in Humacao, Puerto Rico on December 11, 1931, actress Rita Moreno was the first performer to win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and a Grammy. Moreno and her mother moved to New York City in 1937. Rita got her first taste of show business at the tender age of eleven, when she […]