Irezumi 04/30/22

Arrow Video
Blu-ray

Yasuzo Masumura amazes us with yet another sensual stunner. This period way-of-all-flesh tale is almost a horror film, but the supernatural shivers are far outpaced by the daily Evil that Men Do. Japanese superstar Ayako Wakao blazes across the screen as a self-decreed avenger of the female sex, who allows men to destroy themselves and uses them to destroy each other. The bloody killings orbit around the desire to possess the irresistible Spider Woman, an in an ‘annihilating noir.’ The screenplay is by the equally famous Kaneto Shindo, from a Japanese ‘amor fou’ novel by Junichiro Tanizaki. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
04/30/22

Born to Win 04/30/22

Fun City Editions
Blu-ray

Ivan Passer’s first American film and his first in the English language is a core life-with-a-junkie tale in a cold Manhattan winter. George Segal is the ‘habituated, not addicted’ (he says) user whose married life has already been destroyed. Can he escape with the help of his new girlfriend?  Hector Elizondo’s pimp/pusher has no intention of letting that happen. What’s weird is Passer’s frequently light tone — Segal’s criminal antics verge on the absurd. It’s a great film to see Karen Black, a young Robert De Niro and even Paula Prentiss in action, and yet another snapshot of Times Square in its most degraded decade. On Blu-ray from Fun City Editions.
04/30/22

Damaged Lives & Damaged Goods 04/26/22

Kino Classics
Blu-ray

Surprise: these are quality movies on an important subject. Entry 13 in the ‘Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture’ gives us not sleaze but two well-produced vintage public education epics on the subject of (gasp) venereal disease. Although reissued by sensation hucksters as racy ‘forbidden’ fare, they had serious social aims — the screenplay for one was adapted by the famed author Upton Sinclair. The other was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Added extras are four short subjects directed by Edgar G., and two sex-ed lecture reels that alternate between funny and revolting. On Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
04/26/22

Marooned 04/26/22

Viavision [Imprint]
Blu-ray

John Sturges’ orbital jeopardy thriller does everything right: the story is taken seriously, the actors seem committed and the special effects aren’t bad. Yet it’s more interesting for what doesn’t work than what does. As one of the first Sci-fi pictures in the wake of 2001 it wasn’t well received despite being technically astute. Did NASA’s race to the Moon put an end to fanciful space Sci-fi?  Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, Lee Grant and some ex- TV actors do their best, but producer Mike Frankovich’s space saga just sits there. It looks great in its first Blu-ray release: images of the actual Apollo 11 launch are breathtaking. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
04/26/22

Jigsaw 04/23/22

Cohen Collection / Kino
Blu-ray

Val Guest’s cinema quest for his own semi-docu style pays off in this fine, intelligent police investigation into a gruesome dismemberment murder. U.K. favorite Jack Warner is the main detective, Guest’s actress wife Yolande Donlan is a ‘person of interest,’ and the illusion of reality is enhanced by real locations in Greenwich, Brighton, Lewes and points between. It’s an excellent legwork murder mystery, with good atmosphere and colorful characterizations — within the dry ‘serious business’ format, of course. On Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group / Kino Lorber.
04/23/22

The Girl Can’t Help It 04/23/22

The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray

All hail Frank Tashlin!  The ex-cartoon director all but invented our fixation on extreme ’50s style, and in this musical comedy wrangles the top obsessions of the decade, rock ‘n’ roll and buxom Hollywood sex appeal as represented by Jayne Mansfield and her milk bottles. Tom Ewell and a hilarious Edmond O’Brien are the Old School representatitves of Show Biz and gangsterism, while the CinemaScope screen is assaulted by Little Richard, Fats Domino and Eddie Cochran, with some love left over for Julie (swoon) London. Reviewer Charlie Largent sees the truth through the blinding primary colors: is the fetishistic worship of Mansfield homogenized, or merely lactose indulgent?  On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/23/22

Stingray: The Complete Series 04/19/22

Network
Blu-ray

Sign up for WASP: the World Aquanaut Security Patrol!  Troy Tempest flies the superduper rescue submarine Stingray. He likes both his boss’s daugher Atlanta and the delighful mermaid of the deep Marina, but he won’t marionette either of them. The full color restorations of these vintage Gerry and Sylvia Anderson puppet adventures are razor-sharp in HD, giving us a full appreciation of Derek Meddings’ superb special effects. The Deluxe Edition is packed with goodies including a comic book and a WASP pilot license and badge. Reviewer Charlie Largent recommends viewing the entire series through an aquarium, for added realism. On Blu-ray from Network.
04/19/22

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 4K (2011) 04/19/22

KL Studio Classics
4K Ultra HD + Blu Ray

This 2011 theatrical remake of John le Carré’s spy classic is a happy surprise — it’s every bit as distinctive and accomplished as the famed Alec Guinness TV miniseries. Swedish director Tomas Alfredson and the writers know how to tell a story — at just over two hours it’s neither bloated nor curtailed. Gary Oldman immediately makes the brilliant George Smiley his own — he’s younger but just as quiet and secretive. Oldman is surrounded by distinctive talent, an ensemble that serves the story: John Hurt, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy. It’s a delight for mystery-spy fans whether or not they’re familiar with the John le Carré-George Smiley universe. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/19/22

Gangway for Tomorrow: And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow 04/19/22

An Essay by Matt Rovner
Not a review.

Herein we break form, with a CineSavant- posted essay by contributor Matt Rovner. It’s not a review, but an essay about the development of the WW2 homefront propaganda movie Gangway for Tomorrow, that was largely written by the famed radio great Arch Oboler, Matt Rovner’s recurring object of study. Matt extensively researched the show’s progress from script to screen, observing how various episodes were changed or discarded at the urging of government advisors. The disc is available from The Warner Archive Collection but again, this is an academic essay, not a disc review.
04/19/22

Walker 04/16/22

The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray

Alex Cox attacks the Reagan years with a political tale sung in the key of the Italo Spaghetti Western: expect plenty of slow motion shots of stylish pistolero mercenaries fighting for the historical ‘filibuster’ William Walker. Look him up, he’s the patron saint of every neocon and would-be soldier of fortune. Everybody on this show goes the whole 9 yards in commitment, with Ed Harris in the lead — they filmed in Nicaragua. It may be director Cox’s finest film, packed with vivid images and surreal anachronisms — and a terrific music score by Joe Strummer. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/16/22

China Gate 04/16/22

Viavision [Imprint]
Blu-ray

The messy politics of the Indo-China War didn’t confuse writer-director Samuel Fuller; as the machine gun- toting Nat King Cole snarls, hating Commies is an end unto itself!  Fuller’s second outrageous Cold War combat fantasy pits a handful of French Legionnaires and mercenaries against the might of the International Communist Conspiracy, to stop the flow of Chinese and Russian weapons into Vietnam. Commander Gene Barry has an ally who could be straight from a Terry and the Pirates comic strip: Eurasian adventuress Lucky Legs. Young Angie Dickinson is the good-time-girl / wronged spouse / caring mother who also maintains cordial pillow-talk relations with the Red vermin. If those are the Good and the Bad, Lee Van Cleef’s Chinese General is the Ugly: his troops guard the China Gate, the key to Commie victory! On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
04/16/22

Miracle in Milan 04/12/22

The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray

Still believe in the goodness of people?   Still hold out hope for the future?   If so this is one picture you’ll want to catch up with sooner than later. ‘The Good Totò’ is literally found in a cabbage patch; the simple magic of kindness enables him to turn a shanty town into a little Utopia . . . for a few days. Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini fashion a story that insists that magic is as real as sunlight, music, and the words ‘Good Morning’ — and that man is imperfect and his institutions unjust. Francesco Golisano, Brunella Bovo and the heavenly Emma Gramatica are unforgettable. The warmth and understanding here bests that of Charlie Chaplin. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/12/22

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man 04/12/22

KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray

W.C. Fields’ Larson E. Whipsnade, bogus Barnum imitator, is everything in this tale of fatherly malice love. Whipsnade dodges the lawmen and cheats everybody to benefit his Circus Giganticus; his college-girl daughter loves ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (or does she secretly dig Charlie McCarthy?). It’s carny nonsense all the way, dated race humor, brilliant insult jokes and all: “You can’t cheat an honest man; never give a sucker an even break, or smarten up a chump.” Michael Schlesinger’s audio commentary wises up us chumps; CineSavant reviewer Charlie Largent is back in action, and cheats nobody! On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/12/22

Conquest of Space 04/09/22

Viavision [Imprint]
Region Free Blu-ray

George Pal’s ill-fated ‘future docu’ followup to Destination Moon still stirs the imagination, rendering in vivid Technicolor the visionary images that amazed us in Chesley Bonestell’s paintings about space travel. We still love the movie, even if we want to shove the script and whoever approved it out an airlock without a space helmet. It’s fun to pick the movie apart, but when Van Cleave’s trilling ‘spacey’ music plays we know we’re back in 1950s Sci-fi Nirvana, anticipating a techno-future of space marvels. [Imprint] gives the movie a classy Blu-ray showcase. On Region-free Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
04/09/22

Hester Street 04/09/22

Cohen Collection / Kino
Blu-ray

Every breakout independent hit seems like a miracle. This delightful ‘little’ picture was fated to be ghetto-ized into ethnic theaters before its producers opted to distribute it themselves. Capturing a vibrant part of the immigrant experience, Joan Micklin Silver’s micro-production often has a big-picture look; it charmed audiences and became a sleeper success. Star Carol Kane was nominated for an acting Oscar as ‘Gitl,’ a woman with Old-Country values plus the grit and determination to win a better life. Also with fine performances from Steven Keats, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh and Doris Roberts. On Blu-ray from Cohen / Kino Lorber.
04/09/22

Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection 04/05/22

KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray

Kino’s triple-threat Edgar Ulmer show has great commentaries plus HD debuts of his two ‘Texas’ movies, that likely have not been seen in their original widescreen aspect ratios since the 1960s. Ulmer’s first tale of a solo space invader The Man from Planet X has the pleasing look of a silent-era expressionist film. His take on a time travel paradox Beyond the Time Barrier uses Air Force cooperation to project pilot Robert Clarke from 1959 to the far far future date of 2024 (ulp!). And Ulmer’s cut-rate The Amazing Transparent Man is a master thief sprung from the pokey to help with a mad scheme to conquer the world — but the crook instead rushes to rob a bank!  The excellent presentations will have special appeal for connoiseurs of exotic sci-fi thrillers. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/05/22

The Whistle at Eaton Falls 04/05/22

Flicker Alley / Flicker Fusion
Blu-ray

TCM premiered a welcome restoration of this honorable Louis de Rochemont drama last year, and now it’s on a pristine-quality Blu-ray. Almost an ‘anti- film noir,’ the story of a labor conflict in a tiny New England hamlet is a docu-drama about a civic problem that actually has a positive, if not Utopian, ending. Fine direction by Robert Siodmak breathes life into the thesis that Yankee ingenuity and ethical fair play can still save the day. A superb underdog cast — Lloyd Bridges, Carleton Carpenter, Murray Hamilton, James Westerfield, Lenore Lonergan, Russell Hardie, Helen Shields, Doro Merande, Diana Douglas, Anne Francis, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur O’Connell and even Dorothy Gish — bring this odd ‘Pepperidge Farms’ neo-realist tale to life. On Blu-ray from Flicker Fusion.
04/05/22

The Apartment 4K 04/02/22

KL Studio Classics
4K Ultra HD + Blu Ray

Billy Wilder’s favorite and perhaps best movie takes the leap to 4K, revealing even more beauty in the images of Joseph LaShelle and the designs of Alexandre Trauner . . . we all feel like we’ve lived in C.C. Baxter’s New York flat. Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘dirty fairy tale’ best expresses the difficulty of keeping both a job and one’s self-respect — fitting in a love life seems altogether too much to ask. It all comes down to Shirley MacLaine’s sweet smile and Jack Lemmon’s eagerness to be a ‘mensch’ — when he’s discovering that a moral compromise is like selling one’s soul. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/02/22

Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 04/02/22

The Warner Archive Collection
Blu-ray

There may still be people unaware of the anarchic joy of Tex Avery, and we’re making it our business to enlighten them. This third Volume of Tex’s MGM cartoons has both variety and some top favorites plus his first, the intense Blitz Wolf and his last, the surreal Cellbound. Plus the insane King Size Canary, the most endearing Droopy cartoon and the minimalist wonder Billy Boy. You won’t believe they showed Avery the door, and let him lend his talents to TV commercials! The disc came out last October but it’s still worth crowing about now. On Blu-rayfrom The Warner Archive Collection.
04/02/22