Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: December 2020

Survivor Ballads: Three Films by Shohei Imamura 12/29/20

If you’re after real nonconformist filmmaking with a political bent, Shohei Imamura’s daring and often sexually candid pictures will fit the bill. Arrow gathers three of his best from the 1980s, the international success The Ballad of Narayama, the stunning Hiroshima aftermath drama Black Rain and the largely unseen, often wickedly funny Zegen. Each is disturbing, politically pointed and relentlessly honest. Arrow appoints this three- title set with new expert audio commentaries and Tony Rayns featurettes, plus a fat essay booklet. Zegen, we are told, has never before been available subtitled in English. On Blu-ray from Arrow Academy.
12/29/20

The Train 12/29/20

The Train is back, now at popular prices!  The fan base for John Frankenheimer’s incredibly elaborate Occupation thriller is growing exponentially. The railroad and military hardware on view is 100% real, something that CGI-jaded moviegoers appreciate more than ever. Great acting and a terrific storyline propel a tale of sabotage into the top level of suspense thriller-dom. Starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss. A hundred tons of French steam locomotives and running stock are shot at, burned, blown up and smashed to smithereens. Oh, the movie’s about saving French art treasures, too. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/29/20

The Lost Weekend 12/26/20

Billy Wilder’s first big Oscar winner holds up as fine work in every respect, and serves as evidence of the writer-director’s moviemaking instincts at a time when he could do no wrong. Starring Ray Milland as a self-destructive alcoholic, Wilder and Charles Brackett manage to retain much of the sordid truth and nightmarish horror of the ordeal of would-be writer Don Birnham, who ducks his guilty self-loathing by taking to the bottle. It’s still a harrowing experience, with a sharp emotional kick. This new remastered edition carries a commentary by Joseph McBride. Co-starring Jane Wyman, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen and Phillip Terry; the scary music is by Miklos Rozsa. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/26/20

Devil in a Blue Dress 12/26/20

Carl Franklin’s adaptation of the great Walter Mosley novel still plays like a winner. Denzel Washington’s star quality and acting prowess shine from the smart & handsome production, with Tak Fujimoto cinematography that put the color back into ’90s filmmaking. Everybody’s good and Don Cheadle’s loose-cannon henchman ‘Mouse’ is exceptionally so. There’s plenty to enjoy in this hard/soft-boiled tale, starting with the great music. It’s one of Washington’s best pictures, and should have initiated an entire franchise of Walter Mosley / Easy Rawlins detective adventures. Co-starring Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Lisa Nicole Carson, Albert Hall, and Mel Winkler. On Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
12/26/20

Hard Eight 12/22/20

First films of important directors usually feel like warm-ups, but not so this suspenseful story of ‘twilight’ people living in and around casinos. Paul Thomas Anderson writes and directs in a style that guarantees our full attention at all times. Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson assay riveting main characters, with Philip Seymour Hoffman in for a brief turn at the crap tables. It’s all behavior and relationship detail — are we reading each individual correctly?   Are we going to learn more about them?  When the surprises come, the story takes shape in its own unique way. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
12/22/20

Castle of the Creeping Flesh 12/22/20

Adrian Hoven’s lead-up to Mark of the Devil looks like a blend between a Margheriti and a Franco — what with Janine Reynaud and Howard Vernon on board for sleazy sex and gruesome tortures… or was that sleazy tortures and gruesome sex? Severin can be depended on to deliver arcane horror in a quality package. This one was known in the Hardy Encyclopedia as Im Schloß der blutigen Begierde, but we’ll be quizzing readers on its other titles: Appointment with Lust, Castle of Bloody Lust, Castle of Lust, Castle of Unholy Desires and In the Castle of Bloody Lust. Charlie Largent will cut through the confusion — is the problem at hand Lust, or Creeping Flesh, or what exactly?  On Blu-rayfrom Severin Films.
12/22/20

Holiday Affair 12/19/20

RKO polished Robert Mitchum’s post- pot bust image with this swell-guy romantic Christmas tale, placing him opposite the drop-dead desirable Janet Leigh. All the penniless Mitchum must do is win over Leigh’s son, get around her fiance Wendell Corey, and then make her forget her dead soldier husband. Plus keep up the Christmas spirit. Director Don Hartman pulls off a minor yuletide miracle with the most down-to-earth, pragmatic Christmas romance on record. Co-starring the 1949 line of super Lionel streamline electric trains!  On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
12/19/20

Moonstruck 12/19/20

Criterion refreshes a bona fide classic with a new remaster and makes their release especially attractive with some well-chosen extras that give us first-person input from writer John Patrick Shanley and star Cher. The show isn’t technically a holiday movie but it plays really well at family gatherings. Heck, even Cher says ‘she can watch this movie’ which from her is a high compliment. The answer to ‘who needs to see this? is that a lot of people have been born since 1987. The great cast stars Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Julie Bovasso and John Mahoney. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
12/19/20

Buffalo Bill and the Indians 12/15/20

… or, Sitting Bull’s History Lesson. Robert Altman’s grand circus movie about the intersection of history, show biz and mythomania is the expected free-form pageant with dozens of speaking roles, all talking over each other. Paul Newman is a grand Buffalo Bill, and his conflict with the famed Indian chief ends up on a literal ‘spiritual’ level. Geraldine Chaplin is great as Annie Oakley and the Wild West Circus atmosphere is wonderful. The only gripe is Altman’s style: it’s all filmed in telephoto lenses, which flattens everything out and keeps up visually/psychologically distant from the drama. The extras include vintage early films of the actual Wild West show, including a performance by the real Annie Oakley. On Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
12/15/20

The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema 12/15/20

Guest reviewer Matt Rovner delves into the cultural riches of ethnic films specially made for speakers of the Yiddish language. Some were made in Poland and others in New Jersey (according to Edgar Ulmer!)… and if they seem obscure they’re nevertheless culturally significant as a record of a language that’s fast disappearing. Among the gems is a significant folk-horror tale and an original non-musical drama about Tevye the Milkman’s problems with his daughter and the oppressive laws of the Czar. On Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Repertory.
12/15/20

Attack 12/15/20

Robert Aldrich promised no-holds barred rough-tough dramas, and his first two Associates & Aldrich productions certainly hit hard. This play adaptation shows its director’s strength (no-flinching full shock impact) and weakness (theatrical overplaying) in full measure, but the unrestrained performances of Jack Palance and Eddie Albert are unforgettable. The main event can’t have pleased the Pentagon: shooting one’s own officer in combat. Plus, Lee Marvin and Richard Jaeckel get in early innings for their future work in Aldrichs’s The Dirty Dozen. With William Smithers, Buddy Ebsen, Robert Strauss and a German tank that has Jack Palance’s number. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/15/20

Mister Roberts 12/12/20

This adapted Broadway play may be considered minor John Ford moviemaking, and some sources say he had to drop out before he could film very much of it. But what’s on the screen pleased audiences primed for the first wave of WW2 nostalgia. The story of cargo officer Henry Fonda’s one-man war against his Bligh-like Captain James Cagney had all of us ’50s kids asking dad if the war really was like that. James Cagney steals the show while stars William Powell, Betsy Palmer and Ward Bond make their marks. Young Jack Lemmon debuts the basic character he’d play for the next fifteen years and wins an Oscar for his trouble. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
12/12/20

Dawn of the Dead 12/12/20

Remember the old saying, ‘I’ll be Gore for Christmas’?  Lee Broughton returns with a review of a mammoth limited edition box set dedicated to George A. Romero’s gut-wrenching zombie apocalypse opus, the grand and gory-ous first sequel to Night of the Living Dead. Fine performances from a quartet of unfamiliar lead actors, hordes of malevolent zombies convincingly brought to life by hundreds of local volunteers, groundbreaking make-up and special effects by Tom Savini and a wholly involving storyline combine to make Romero’s finely crafted horror show a real winner. And the box is big enough to include at least one dehydrated Zombie. Just add water. On Region B Blu-ray from Second Sight.
12/12/20

Go West + College 12/12/20

More Keaton is always a good thing — fans of The General and The Cameraman will find plenty to enjoy in these two classics. Buster befriends a cow ( ! ) in Go West and conquers several sports in College. Cohen’s Buster Keaton Collection series is up to Volume 4, with both shows featuring Italian restorations. With music scores by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Score Orchestra and Rodney Sauer; the disc extra is a rare audio talk by Buster himself. On Blu-ray from The Cohen Group.
12/12/20

Fear No Evil & Ritual of Evil 12/08/20

Louis Jourdan stars in a pair of classy TV movie horrors as Dr. David Sorell, investigator of the occult. In Fear No Evil the focus is on a haunted mirror, and Ritual of Evil sees Sorell opposing a devil cult. A lot of good names get involved — directors Robert Day and Paul Wendkos, and actors Lynda Day George, Anne Baxter, Carroll O’Connor, John McMartin, Bradford Dillman, Belinda Montgomery, Marsha Hunt, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Georg Stanford Brown, Diana Hyland. Reviewer Charlie Largent sorts them all out. These shows have a good reputation — does the haunted mirror episode give Dead of Night a run for its money?  On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/08/20

Girlfriends 12/08/20

Criterion lets out the stops to celebrate a filmmaker long due for some victory laps — Claudia Weill’s endearing drama takes on the subject of a modern woman trying to be independent but human in the tough art world of New York. Criterion says that when Weill was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1981, she was only the fourth woman director ever voted in… The cast of this freewheeling show is delightful — Melanie Mayron, Anita Skinner, Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban, Amy Wright, Viveca Lindfors, and of course Eli Wallach. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
12/08/20

Danger: Diabolik 12/08/20

Double your Diabolik and double your pleasure! … this Australian import chases a domestic disc onto the market after only a few months, but of course comes with irresistible new extras to tempt collectors and completists. Mario Bava’s funniest, most dynamic action thriller was the first feature to really capture the graphic art ‘feeling’ of comic panels — we wish he’d directed a whole series of Diabolik adventures. The evaluation section notes the small differences between this disc and the U.S. release from last April. Starring John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli and Terry-Thomas. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
12/08/20

The Puppetoon Movie Volume 2 12/05/20

Talk about the Lost Arts — Animation of various kinds, even stop-motion, is now a major part of filmmaking entertainment. But back in the 1940s the wonder man for ‘how’d they do that’ Technicolor marvels was George Pal, a grateful displaced European who made marvelous ‘trickfilm’ animations using little wooden puppets with hundreds of interchangeable pieces. Arnold Leibovit follows up his first Puppetoon disc with a bounteous, bigger collection of animated gems in Blu-ray HD. They’re fascinating to study in slow motion — the volume of craft, patience and artisan labor that goes into these shows is staggering. On Blu-ray + DVD from Puppetoon Productions.
12/05/20

Apache 12/05/20

In 2001 I wrote, ‘Someday I’ll get to see a good copy of Robert Aldrich’s great movie Apache. Kino’s excellent new MGM remaster brings back the color and the correct screen shape, and even cleans up some wicked frame damage that’s been there for sixty years. The athletic Burt Lancaster will make every man and boy feel like running across whatever landscape is available, leaping like a gymnast from rock to rock. Properly restored, the tale of the rebellious Massai plays better than a dozen politically revisionist westerns, even with Burt as a blue-eyed Apache. The movie solidified Lancaster’s producing career and Robert Aldrich earned his first box office hit.. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/05/20

The Shop Around the Corner 12/05/20

CineSavant’s hands-down favorite holiday film, this Ernst Lubitsch classic radiates human kindness in all directions. Nobody is perfect: misunderstandings benign and profound are the gentle impetus for a sweet story that will renew one’s belief that people are basically good. It’s James Stewart’s best pre-war performance, as he fits his character so perfectly; as in last month’s The Mortal Storm he and Margaret Sullavan exude decency and ‘niceness’ even when they’re being rude to each other. Frank Morgan tops his Wizard characterization, and the movie is so generous that it lets the nervy little go-getter William Tracy be the hero of the day. I’m glad this wasn’t re-invented as a sitcom, but they sure ran it through the remake hurdles.. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
12/05/20

The Curse of Frankenstein 12/01/20

A two-disc special edition — Hammer’s first color Gothic horror show recovers its charnel house luster in the WAC’s ambitious ‘surprise’ restoration. The severed heads and Peter Cushing’s blood-smeared costumes are back to their crimson best again, and with the improved image Terence Fisher’s taut direction really grabs us, extracting maximum impact from Jimmy Sangster’s ‘did you see that?’ shock moments. The show seemed incredibly graphic and violent in 1964 so it must have been a jaw-dropper for audiences of 1957 — our parents can’t have known what their kiddies were watching. The Warner Archive Collection really delivers for collectors — the extras here are as thorough as those offered by the ‘usual suspect’ boutique outfits that fixate on classic horror. Christopher Lee’s ‘Creature’ is an original ‘creation,’ that’s for sure; also with Robert Urquhart and Hazel Court. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
12/01/20

Ladybug Ladybug 12/01/20

Several atom-fear exposés bravely ‘told the truth’ about the madness of the nuclear standoff. They didn’t get more liberal-precious than this uncompromising, difficult-to-watch ordeal based on a true incident. When an Imminent Attack alarm sends a tiny elementary school into a panic, Frank and Eleanor Perry pull no punches, finding the worst possible outcome to twist one’s insides in helpless frustration. The notorious yet little-seen show stars stage actors then unfamiliar, a couple of whom would soon become much bigger names. For us Children of the Bomb it’s the traumatic connection between Duck and Cover and Miracle Mile — or “Romper Room of Fear.” Richard Harland Smith’s commentary gives this release the context it needs, answering most of the questions that have hovered over it for 57 years. With William Daniels, Nancy Marchand, Estelle Parsons, Kathryn Hays, Jane Hoffman, Jane Connell. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/01/20

Major Dundee 12/01/20

The new [Imprint] label turns its attention to the Sam Peckinpah favorite, the almost-classic that suffered a number of setbacks — a studio regime change, impractical remote locations, the wrong producer — and a director with zero diplomatic skills, who couldn’t finish his script and fought political battles when his movie needed his full attention. That the finished film shows so much brilliance is a tragedy, as this could have been a landmark epic, Charlton Heston’s best. CineSavant turns its attention to a favored film one more time — to play imagination games with re-cuts. Viavision [Imprint]’s lavish boxed set is said to be sold out, but that may only be at the company source. With Richard Harris, Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Michael Anderson Jr., Brock Peters, Mario Adorf. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
12/01/20