To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) Coming to Blu-ray in January 2012
In January 2012, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will bring To Kill a Mockingbird to Blu-ray. Director Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, an Alabama lawyer who defends an African-American man accused of raping a white woman. Finch’s legal efforts profoundly affect his two young children who are already […]
Blu-ray Review: The Big Country
The Big Country may not be William Wyler’s best work, but it’s certainly illustrative of his style. The rather simple story is dwarfed by the breathtaking scenery, with its wide vistas and rugged canyon. In fact, its vastness is a running joke throughout the film. Gregory Peck’s character, James McKay, declares he’s seen such vastness […]
Blu-ray Review: The Guns of Navarone
The 1960’s was the decade of the epic (Lawrence of Arabia, The Great Escape, Doctor Zhivago). While David Lean was gaining acclaim and winning awards for his big movies, fellow Briton J. Lee Thompson was having a quieter, though no less impressive rise in his career fortunes. Throughout the late 1950’s, Thompson directed a number […]
DVD Review: Billy Two Hats
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1974 | 99 mins. | PG Courtesy of MGM’s “manufacturing on demand” program (“MOD”), 1974’s Billy Two Hats has made its way to DVD. The first American Western to be filmed in Israel, director Ted Kotcheff (Life at the Top, Fun With Dick and Jane, North Dallas Forty) delivers a fairly slow-paced affair, […]
DVD Review: Roman Holiday – Centennial Collection
Released on August 27, 1953, Roman Holiday is probably best known as the film that introduced American audiences to Audrey Hepburn. Director/producer William Wyler (Ben-Hur) had originally wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role of Princess Ann (‘Anya Smith’) but Hepburn was cast after a screen test. After she had performed a dignified, subdued scene from […]