Blu-ray Review: The Bad and the Beautiful
Released in 1952, The Bad and the Beautiful tells of the rise and fall of a legendary Hollywood producer. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, it’s filled with juicy details about what goes on behind the scenes in the movie business. Many of its characters and events were based on real people and movie productions, easily recognizable […]
DVD Review: The Arrangement (1969)
Written and directed by Elia Kazan (A Face in the Crowd), The Arrangement, released in 1969, was based on his own bestselling novel of the same name. Having read Kazan’s A Life, it quickly becomes clear that Kazan saw something of himself in the film’s protagonist, Eddie Anderson, a high-flying advertising executive. So, perhaps he’s […]
Blu-ray Review: 2 Weeks in Another Town
[amazon_link asins=’B07D4BZG9J’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazett03-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8af349a5-7250-11e8-b754-cb1512768506′]Vincente Minnelli—one-time husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza—became famous largely as a result of the lavish musicals he directed during his time at MGM. Some of his best-known films include Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), and Gigi (1958). […]
Blu-ray Review: Tough Guys
[amazon_link asins=’B06XRYNF47′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazetteo-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e90f14a1-43c4-11e7-ad89-2fd59f5687e0′] Over their long and illustrious careers, Burt Lancaster and Kurt Douglas made seven films together. The final pairing, Tough Guys, isn’t their best, but it’s a fitting swan song, offering humor, and a little bit of the swagger that helped make both men Hollywood legends. Appropriate as well, Tough […]
Blu-ray Review: Seven Days in May
[amazon_link asins=’B071D7G5VW’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazetteo-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’52906a9b-3347-11e7-9980-55774a0b773a’] Scripted by Twilight Zone creator Rod Sterling and directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate (1962)), Seven Days in May is based on the novel of the same name by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II. A tense and exciting Cold War drama, not a fire is shot, […]
Ace in the Hole (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)
Just a year after scandalizing Hollywood with the classic Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder added to his reputation as a director interested in exposing the darker side of life with Ace in the Hole. This marked the first time Wilder was credited as a writer, producer, and director; Ace in the Hole was his first film […]
Blu-ray Review: Once Is Not Enough
Based on the novel by Jacqueline Susann, Once is Not Enough (1975) is the kind of campy, overwrought cheese fest fans of Jacqueline Susann have come to expect. Much like Valley of the Dolls (1967), there’s a mix of faded Hollywood stars and up-and-coming nobodies like Kirk Douglas, Alexis Smith, David Janssen, George Hamilton, Brenda […]
Blu-ray Review: Champion
Considered by many to be one of the best boxing films ever made, Champion (1949) is the film that launched Kirk Douglas’s career. Douglas had supporting roles in several films, including The Strange Love of Martha Ivers and Out of the Past, but it was his role as Michael “Midge” Kelly, a man so driven, […]
Blu-ray Review: The Man From Snowy River
With cowboys, horses, lassos, and mountains, The Man from Snowy Riveris an Australian western adventure with a little something for everyone. Based on a poem written at the end of the nineteenth century, it tells the story of a brave young frontiersman who has to prove himself after the death of his father. Jim Craig […]
DVD Review: Two Weeks In Another Town
Warner Archives | 1962 | 107 mins. | NR Vincente Minnelli—husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza—became famous largely as a result of the lavish musicals he directed during his time at MGM. Some of his best known films include Me In St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), […]