A Hard Day’s Night (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)
By the time A Hard Day’s Night was released in September of 1964, The Beatles had already been seen by over 70 million people on The Ed Sullivan Show. The four lads from Liverpool had become a phenomenon. To many critics surprise, The Beatles added to their growing legend with A Hard Day’s Night. Joyous, […]
Blu-ray Review: Help!
Made on the heels of the box office achievement of A Hard Day’s Night and the stunning success of the Beatles first American tour, Help! is essentially a clever chase movie that more than holds your attention. Richard Lester was once again in the director’s chair, armed with a bigger budget that allowed for stunts, […]
Blu-ray Review: The Magic Christian
Loosely adapted from the novel by satirist Terry Southern, 1969’s The Magic Christian was largely dismissed upon its release as being “messy,” and “incomprehensible.” Fans of the film contend that this was deliberate, that the film was an attempt to create a piece of social satire that was so revolutionary that it turned the establishment […]
DVD Review: Magical Mystery Tour
When Magical Mystery Tour premiered on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967, the public’s reaction to the film was contemptuous. Though shot in color, the film was broadcast in black and white. The Beatles themselves thought it looked terrible when they saw it sans color and felt it accounted for many of the bad reviews. While […]
DVD Review: Lisztomania
You never forget Ann-Margret writhing around in baked beans spewing out of a television set in Tommy, no matter if you’re in high school, as I was, or any age really. Once you’ve seen that, you’re ready for anything else that auteur Ken Russell has made, one of the few directors who can be called […]