4K UHD Review: Convoy
When considering Sam Peckinpah’s resume, Convoy is an odd entry. Known for his innovative and explicit approach to violence, particularly in the Western genre, Convoy deals with a group of struggling truckers. However, by the time 1977 rolled around, Peckinpah was struggling as much as anyone. He had such a reputation as a troublemaker and […]
Blu-ray Review The Oscar (1966)
When The Oscar (1966) received the Academy of Arts and Sciences to use its trademark image and awards ceremony in the film, it’s doubtful they expected it to be so flat out dreadful. A film about Hollywood by Hollywood, this over baked, melodramatic take on Hollywood in-fighting is loosely based on a best-selling novel by […]
Blu-ray Review: Willard (1971)
[amazon_link asins=’B06W2GJF77′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazetteo-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’df590fb9-5a87-11e7-9e65-45d252c7a54e’] Based on Stephen Gilbert’s novel Ratman’s Notebooks, and directed by Daniel Mann, Willard could be easily dismissed as a horror movie about a creepy guy who loves rats. While that’s true, to leave it there is simplistic. Willard (Bruce Davison) is a rather complex character study. The title character […]
Escape from New York (Collector’s Edition) (Blu-ray)
While John Carpenter’s place in cinema history is secure—Halloween alone would have made him an important figure in the horror genre—there’s no denying that his star has dimmed quite a bit since the 1980’s. This is partly due to the fact that a considerable amount of his work has been mediocre at best—Ghosts of Mars […]
Convoy (Blu-ray)
When considering Sam Peckinpah’s resume, Convoy is an odd entry. Known for his innovative and explicit approach to violence particularly in the Western genre, Convoy deals with a group of struggling truckers. However, by the time 1977 rolled around, Peckinpah was struggling as much as anyone. He had such a reputation as a troublemaker and […]
Blu-ray Review: Jubal (Criterion Collection)
A psychological western with Shakespearean tensions, Jubal is a nearly forgotten film that despite obvious differences deserves comparison to the simultaneous works of Howard Hawks and John Ford when considering mastery of the western genre. The film’s director, Delmer Daves, was a gifted artist who had a deep understanding of human emotion and its complexities. […]
Bu-ray Review: Vera Cruz
Shot on location in Mexico, 1954’s Vera Cruz was a new kind of western for the time. Filmed in Superscope, featuring sweeping landscapes, and multiple gun battles, and stars Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, rarely has a films tagline—“The Giants Battle in the Biggest Spectacle of Them All!”—seemed so appropriate. Directed by Robert Aldrich (Whatever […]