4K UHD Review: Airport ‘77
The third installment in the Airport series, Airport 77 may be most ridiculous of the films but manages to be surprisingly appealing. Buoyed by a wild story and an all-star cast including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland and George Kennedy, returning as Joe Patroni, things are never dull. Lemmon plays Captain […]
Blu-ray Review: Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Uncomfortable to watch more than fifty years after its theatrical release, Days of Wine and Roses remains a powerful portrait of a co-dependent couple and their painful slide into alcoholism. PR man Joe Clay’s (Jack Lemmon, Some Like It Hot) high pressure, unsatisfying job requires him to wine and dine clients. He meets a young […]
Blu-ray Review: The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Directed by Melvin Frank (A Touch of Class), The Prisoner of Second Avenue is based on the hit Neil Simon play. Amid a New York City heat wave, long-time married couple Mel and Edna Edison (Jack Lemmon, Grumpy Old Men, and Anne Bancroft, The Graduate) are growing tired of big city life. Mel, already the […]
Blu-ray Review: Some Like It Hot (Criterion Collection)
[amazon_link asins=’B07GGRJWRW’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazett03-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’03294b9b-fa6c-11e8-bead-132855c77366′]Marilyn Monroe (Bus Stop) had a keen understanding of how to use her face, body and voice to make her sex appeal permeate through the screen. In Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot, Monroe was at the height of her allure, draping herself over Tony Curtis’ deceitful character, […]
Blu-ray Review: Irma la Douce
[amazon_link asins=’B07CXBXRBX’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazett03-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5800d55f-9f11-11e8-a3f0-9d99ae094243′]Three years removed from the success of The Apartment, 1963 saw the release of Billy Wilder’s Irma La Douce. This oft-forgotten classic features the repairing of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in the starring roles, and was a big hit upon its original release, becoming the fifth highest grossing film […]
The War Between Men and Women (Blu-ray)
In 1969, writer-director Melville Shavelson created “My World…and Welcome to it,” based on the works of humorist James Thurber. Though the series won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, it was canceled after the first season. Not deterred, Shavelson and writer/producer Danny Arnold simply crafted their idea into a feature film, The War Between Men […]
Blu-ray Review: The Apartment
The last black-and-white film until Schindler’s List to win the Best Picture Oscar, 1960’s The Apartment is considered by many to be one of the best comedies of the decade. With fine performances from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment is a yet another must-see title in writer/director Billy Wilder’s lengthy filmography. C.C. Baxter […]
Blu-ray Review: Some Like It Hot
Marilyn Monroe had a keen understanding of how to use her face, body and voice to make her sex appeal permeate through the screen. In Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot, Monroe was at the height of her allure, draping herself over Tony Curtis’ deceitful character, kissing him with a soft, but deliberate […]
Blu-ray Review: Hamlet (1996)
Warner Bros. | 1996 | 242 min | Rated PG-13 The Bard’s longest and most frequently adapted play, Hamlet is as iconic and essential as they come; a masterpiece in every sense of the word. It has entranced audiences for centuries and given rise to countless adaptations, some brilliant, others utterly forgettable, and some that […]
Blu-ray Review: Grumpy Old Men
Warner Bros. | 1993 | 103 mins | Rated PG-13 Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon made ten films together (eleven, if you count Lemmon’s cameo in the Matthau vehicle Kotch). While they are undoubtedly best remembered for their pairing in 1968’s The Odd Couple, the two had an undeniable magic when paired on the screen […]