Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: September 2023

After Dark, My Sweet 09/30/23

The legendary Jim Thompson strikes again: director James Foley’s spin on this intense, character-driven crime piece may be the movies’ truest expression of Thompson’s jaundiced world view. It’s a top title for its players Jason Patric and Rachel Ward, with Bruce Dern sealing the deal. The low-rent margins of Palm Springs are the setting for a sleazy kidnap scheme. We identify with the miserable hero … even as we know he’s his own worst enemy. The extras with the director and star are really good on this true-hearted gem of neo noir. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
09/30/23

La Bamba 09/30/23

Out of the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘fifties comes another story that ends on The Day the Music Died. Luis Valdez’s account of the rise and sudden silencing of the great Richie Valens avoids exaggeration to instead celebrate the young man’s positive potential. This is the show that put Lou Diamond Phillips on the map, and gave a solid boost as well to Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto and the much-missed Elizabeth Peña. The extras illuminate the enthusiasm with which the picture was made; it’s a cinematic high point for the theatrical talent Valdez. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection .
09/30/23

The Trial 4K 09/26/23

Meet Josef K.  He’s under arrest but cannot find out what the charge is against him, or why everyone presumes him guilty., This masterful adaptation of Franz Kafka was properly finished and received a real release, a happy exception in the directing career of Orson Welles. Anthony Perkins is Josef, a citizen under suspicion in a dystopian police state. His manner is so abrasive, we almost stop seeing him as a victim of persecution. Welles’ visual choices reinforce a bleak, frightening nightmare. In claustrophobic support are Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Elsa Martinelli, Akim Tamiroff and Welles himself. Reviewed by Charlie Largent, on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
09/26/23

Westward the Women 09/26/23

Perhaps the strong women characters got this William Wellman movie chosen for Blu-ray, but it indeed ranks up there with the best of wagon train epics. Robert Taylor plays opposite a large cast of actresses that we see doing hard work on rugged distant locations. Realism isn’t compromised. The unusually violent story is made positive and upbeat through the committed ensemble performances. It’s Denise Darcel’s stab at Hollywood stardom and a top title for the terrific Hope Emerson. We want to know more about the fine supporting players: Julie Bishop, Lenore Lonergan, Marily Erksine. Producer Dore Schary overturns sexist expectations, even when dealing with Hollywood stereotypes. It’s highly recommended, a genuine lump-in-your-throat picture. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
09/26/23

Walkabout 4K 09/23/23

A filmmaker with a genuine vision: Nicolas Roeg’s first solo directing effort is a masterpiece of images and montage, excellent storytelling with intimations of natural forces at work. Abandoned with her brother, Jenny Agutter’s Sydney schoolgirl is helped in survival by David Gulpilil’s aboriginal youth on a wilderness rite of passage. It’s a credible loss-of-innocence story, told with a time-shifting editorial finesse that would become Roeg’s signature narrative grammar. It’s a visual odyssey, on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayfrom The Criterion Collection.
09/23/23

The Broadway Melody 09/23/23

A happy cult of disc collectors aches for titles from the dawn of sound; the Warner Archive gifts them with this much-improved remaster of what’s known as the actual first all-singing, all talking Hollywood musical. It looks so good, we can feel the footlights burning hard on the talent straight from the stage, while the Hollywood actors try out their talkie voices — loudly. You want open-faced emoting, pitched to the back row of the theater?  Many a cliché was born right here. Want to know where all those Singin’ in the Rain songs came from?  Right here as well. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
09/23/23

Cocaine Bear 4K 09/19/23

The two-word title for this thriller demonstrates real Truth in Advertising — it’s all about the ba-a-d bear, and everyone else is Special Supporting Snack Food. This 2023 equivalent of an old-fashioned Creature Feature generated positive buzz last February. It’s just your average gore horror thriller with some big talent, that’s also an irreverent comedy and a heartwarming story of children and cute animals. The aim was to be a raucous audience participation freakout: who will be the next victim of the drug-fueled Ursa Major?  Disclaimer: if you want the movie about the Hollywood bear that sells cocaine, you want that guy named Yogi. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
09/19/23

The Train 4K 09/19/23

No CGI allowed!  Adventure film fans dote on Real Action happening with real stuntmen, and John Frankenheimer’s Resistance epic has more physical action than almost anything. Burt Lancaster and others risk their necks on moving trains as they derail and explode; the timing of some shots is worthy of applause. The drama about national art theft is still relevant, as are the performances of Paul Scofield, Wolfgang Preiss and others. How could they wreck so many trains, and an entire railroad switchyard?  The cinematography looks absolutely fantastic in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
09/19/23

Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy 09/16/23

Croatian animation wizard Dušan Vukotić co-wrote and directed this Sci-fi comedy that gently elbows the genre. It unspools like a children’s film for adults, teasing nudity, exaggerated violence, etc.. The Fun and Games play with a Philip K. Dick idea — the fertile mind of a frustrated Sci-fi writer can morph reality. The aliens he imagines become real, turning his romantic life upside down. It’s sincere, droll, and more than a little eccentric. Oh, and don’t forget the huge, slimy Mumu Monster created by cult figure Jan Svankmajer, that likes to rip off heads. The release carries 5 of Vukotić’s excellent Zagreb Film short subjects, including his 1961 Oscar winner Surogat.On Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile Films.
09/16/23

Spinout 09/16/23

What an incredible idea — Elvis Presley plays a swingin’ racecar driver in the fast lane with one gorgeous ‘gal’ after another: Shelley Fabares!  Diane McBain!  Deborah Walley!  The brillance continues — Elvis is ALSO a singer, and MGM somehow prevailed upon him to sing NINE whole songs, including ‘Beach Shack,’ and ‘Am I Ready!’  Where do they get these ideas?  Actually, Elvis addicts will love this late musical entry in his filmography. Writers George Kirgo and Theodore J. Flicker were praised for their witty screenplay. from his On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
09/16/23

The Night of the Hunter 4K 09/12/23

Strikingly original & endlessly creative, Charles Laughton’s solo directorial effort continues to stun audiences with the expressive power of pure cinema. It’s an ‘American Primitive’ mix of storybook candor and nightmare imagery; the performances are styled after an earlier era of direct drama. Davis Grubb’s theme is more relevant than ever — the conflict of Good versus Evil dares to align Evil with revivalist hysteria. The 4K disc includes a Tim Lucas commentary and illuminating input from a surviving cast member. On 4K Ultra HD from KL Studio Classics.
09/12/23

$10,000 Blood Money 09/12/23

Spaghetti westerns are are still popular, especially with high-quality releases like this available. This 1967 pseudo-Django oater is from the boxed set Blood Money – Four Western Classics Vol. 2. It’s concocted to appeal to the fans of Sergio Leone. Gianni Garko is a handsome if colorless bounty hunter hero, and the notorious actor Claudio Camaso is his vicious bandit foe. Arrow’s extras access the original filmmakers for candid stories about westerns all’italiana. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
09/12/23

One False Move 4K 09/09/23

Tagging Carl Franklin’s superb crime thriller as a neo-noir isn’t enough; it’s practically perfect despite being made at a direct-to-video production level. Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams and Billy Bob Thornton give some of the best performances of the 1990s. We also marvel at Thornton and Tom Epperson’s screenplay, which advances some good thinking about race realities. This one grabs us 100% — the characterizations really make an impression. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
09/09/23

3 Days of the Condor 4K 09/09/23

Ruthless spy thrills, big-star glitz plus pretensions of political importance: Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway find career-sustaining momentum in this slick, top-talent espionage tale on the fashionable end of post- Watergate paranoia. It’s a box office winner for director Sydney Pollack, who gives the show his special energy — he was Robert Redford’s most consistent payday director. Owen Roizman’s New York images look very good in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
09/09/23

The Trollenberg Terror (Import disc) 09/02/23

Aka The Crawling Eye; this German disc carries the title Die Teufelswolke von Monteville. The old TV Guide blurb nailed it: “Hidden in a radioactive cloud, a creature from outer space awaits its next victim.” CineSavant braves the freezing heights of the Trollenberg to wildly over-analyze this curiously fascinating bit of Brit Sci-fi, made on the cheap yet an over-achiever for imaginative suspense and jolting Jump Scares. Forrest Tucker stars, and Janet Munro steals the show as an anxious telepath haunted by alien thought-waves. Jimmy Sangster’s adapted script mixes Alpine scenery, gothic horror and eerie aliens worthy of H.P. Lovecraft. Gotta love it. An import on Region-free Blu-ray from Anolis Entertainment.
09/02/23

Wichita 09/02/23

“Anything Goes in Wichita!”  In the second half of his starring career Joel McCrea turned to westerns, favoring ‘kinder and gentler’ scripts when possible. This civilized telling of part of the Wyatt Earp story was McCrea’s first collaboration with producer Walter Mirisch. It’s an Allied Artists ‘A’ picture right down the line, and a special favorite — the man behind the camera is Jacques Tourneur, the most mellow and expressive of genre directors. The cast is exceptional too: young Vera Miles, a sneering Lloyd Bridges, and Edgar Buchanan as an unexpectedly effective villain. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
09/02/23