Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: July 2024

Le samouraï – 4K 07/30/24

Jean-Pierre Melville’s sleekest, most stylish crime meller makes the jump to 4K — Alain Delon’s Jef Costello is the hired gun trying to sidestep a double cross, in a genre dream of rainy Parisian streets and chrome nightclub interiors. The title perhaps refers to Jef’s impossibly rigid personal code of underworld conduct. Made almost 60 years ago, Melville’s film has a sheen of ‘cool’ that even Quentin Tarantino hasn’t touched. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
07/30/24

Revenge of the Blood Beast 07/30/24

Raro Video reissues Michael Reeves & Paul Maslansky’s semi-comic horror romp, the one that engaged Barbara Steele for one very long day of very good work. Corman expats Charles Griffith and Mel Welles got involved as well. The good news is that this release augments its two new interviews with key archive extras, including a coveted commentary from an older Dark Sky DVD. On Blu-ray from Raro Video / Radiance.
07/30/24

Orson Welles’ Macbeth 07/27/24

Reviewer Charlie Largent notes 1948’s Shakesperian showdown between Laurence Olivier and our own home-grown Orson Welles. The real mystery ought to be how (and why) Republic Pictures came to be involved in such high-toned art. It’s still something to wonder at, with its strange scenery, weird accents and anything-goes costumes. The film’s secret weapon is none other than Jeanette Nolan, an inspired choice for Lady Macbeth. Two versions are present, one 24 minutes longer than the other; extra input comes from Joseph McBride, Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Gitt. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
07/27/24

Anselm in 3-D 07/27/24

Wim Wenders makes 3-D movies like no others … this investigation of the life and work of the controversial artist Anselm Kiefer may be the most sophisticated use ever of stereoscopic cinema. The beauty and the roughness of Kiefer’s work is reflected in Wenders’ filmmaking choices — he doesn’t just report on his subject, he merges with it. Paintings, sculptures, art installations are mounted on a vast scale … this isn’t a talking-head docu, but an artistic meditation on creativity, through one of the most successful artists alive. On Blu-ray from Janus Contemporaries.
07/27/24

Bwana Devil  in 3-D 07/23/24

Some titles get remembered as Firsts:  The Great Train Robbery,  The Jazz Singer,  Becky Sharp,  This Is Cinerama,  The Robe and this little game-changer from the scrappy independent Arch Oboler. The very first feature-length 3-Dimensional drama in color ignited a super-fad that blew through Hollywood and burned out in less than two years. Forget Hungry Hungry Hippos, because this is Lethal Lethal Lions: big cats rule in Kenya, and the tone is unusually harsh and bloodthirsty. The 3-D Film Archive’s restoration work is terrific — United Artists retained stereoscopic elements for this ‘first.’ 3-D Blu-ray is still a favorite of collectors… manufacturers need to bring back the format hardware.  Ungawa already!  On 3-D Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
07/23/24

The Chase  (1946) 07/23/24

This subtly surreal noir thriller from the mystery pen of Cornell Woolrich is so ‘dreamlike,’ it barely makes sense!  Penniless drifter Robert Cummings enters the weird circle of shady operator Steve Cochran, and falls for the serenely seductive Michèle Morgan … with creepy Peter Lorre smirking from the sidelines. Murky doings in Florida and Havana lead to some jarring narrative flip-flops … many feel that this exotic offering is exactly what film noir ought to be. UCLA’s 2012 restoration was a big deal — previous copies had been so poor, one couldn’t see what was going on in the darker scenes. Filmmaker Guy Maddin provides the audio commentary. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
07/23/24

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid – 4K 07/20/24

Criterion comes through with the spectacular special edition hinted at by Alex Cox back in 2022… Sam Peckinpah’s final western sees the light of day in three versions, two of them remastered to a glowing 4K Ultra HD. Sam’s shooting-gallery rumination on loyalty and betrayal in a corrupt New Mexico is an unending parade of western-associated actors; James Coburn makes with the disillusioned stares, Kris Kristofferson gives a good performance and none other than Bob Dylan provides the music and songs. Katy Jurado and Slim Pickens’ 6-minute episode steals the movie. A new commentary and some very informative video docus help out this classy 4-disc set. Warners, let Criterion do The Wild Bunch! On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
07/20/24

Reptilicus – 4K 07/20/24

“I’m Reptilicus!” “No, I’m Reptilicus!”  That inspirational scene is not to be found in either version of this monster-on-the-loose epic — but a flying monster is, along with the bizarre Tillicus song. The last movie anybody expected in a deluxe 4K remaster, this Danish farrago takes on a special charm. Included for the first time in the U.S. is the original Danish version, an entirely different edit (in HD). The extras feature Kim Newman commenting with Danish film expert Nicolas Barbano, which means real information on this cult item and less guessing and head-scratching. Plus we try to plumb the odd effects work in the picture. Make it a Tivoli Night, because All Copenhagen is dancing! Kip Doto would be proud. From Vinegar Syndrome.
07/20/24

American Gigolo — 4K 07/13/24

Paul Schrader, Richard Gere and the studio way of packaging movies hit the jackpot with this tale of an ultra-glamorous professional ladies’ man up to his neck in trouble. On-call gigolo Julian Kay has attained a lavish lifestyle that requires privacy and discretion — things that vanish when he becomes a person of interest in a sex murder. Top model Lauren Hutton adds to the glamour, Hector Elizondo is the cop on the case, and Nina van Pallandt and Bill Duke are the ‘bookers’ who only claim to have Julian’s best interests in mind. Malibu, Brentwood, Bel-Air and Westwood never looked so swank; Debbie Harry and Blondie cap it all singing Giorgio Moroder’s pop hit “Call Me.” On 4K Ultra-HD from Arrow Video.
07/13/24

When Worlds Collide 07/09/24

Paramount gives us a stand-alone release of its newest remaster of George Pal’s visionary, ambitious and amusingly dated Sci-fi epic followup to his smash hit Destination Moon. It’s the classic fantasy, first considered for Cecil B. De Mille, of a ‘space ark’ built to spare a tiny group of humans from a cataclysmic End of the World. The Technicolor is bright and the spaceship design is awesome in what has become a modern fable. The framing story is a straight-up Bible prophecy — but the movie’s Sci-fi core worships secular science and technology. This is the video remaster that corrects the film’s color design for the Space Ark launch sequence. On Blu-ray from Paramount.
07/09/24

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema XIX 07/09/24

Kino’s 19th ‘Dark Side of Cinema’ collection — now 57 individual films and counting — presents three more solid noir entertainments from good directors and top stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott and Charlton Heston in his first Hollywood feature. The lineup:  Dark City,  No Man of Her Own and  Beware, My Lovely.  The various sins and schemes featured include illicit gambling, extortion, identity theft, and just plain psychotic menace. Kino covers the pack with a roundup of top noir commentators: Alan K. Rode, Imogen Sara Smith, Jason A. Ney, Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff. On Blu-rayfrom KL Studio Classics.
07/09/24

Invasion of the Body Snatchers – 1956, 4K 07/06/24

This chiller would have given Franz Kafka nightmares!  The most sophisticated & influential Sci-fi film of the 1950s uses few special effects yet blows away audiences unprepared for its creep-out insights into personal insecurity and paranoia. This new 4K upgrade remaster offers its intended camera aspect ratio, plus the ‘Superscope’ reformat imposed on its original release. The extras include four separate audio commentaries, each a winner. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
07/06/24

Picnic at Hanging Rock – 4K 07/06/24

Peter Weir’s tale of a mysterious disappearance in 1900 is even more disturbing than his The Last Wave:  the ‘New Australian’ movement must have needed an ethereal art picture to balance more exploitative fare. ‘Unexplainable’ doesn’t get more weird than this: four school girls and a teacher vanish without a trace near the base of a landmark rock outcropping. People can’t remember how it ends, but they never forget the glowing cinematography. Criterion’s disc set contains another Weir show, a strange item closer to a conventional horror film. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
07/06/24

Act of Violence 07/02/24

Fred Zinnemann’s dark thriller gives us Robert Ryan as a gun-toting killer, with Van Heflin’s respected family man his intended victim. But who is the villain?  Murky morality enters via the aftermath of a heinous wartime crime. What are the limits of personal responsibility in extreme circumstances?  Does the movie imply that American prosperity is founded on less-than-noble deeds?  Janet Leigh, Mary Astor and Phyllis Thaxter co-star in a core classic Film Noir, near- perfectly directed. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
07/02/24

Death Sentence 07/02/24

(Django – Unbarmherzig wie die Sonne)  UK correspondent Lee Broughton returns with coverage of a striking Spaghetti Western. High culture director Mario Lanfranchi was primarily known for operas and the works of Shakespeare when he seized the opportunity to film a Western in Spain starring Robin Clarke. The result is a very personal film featuring a stylish look, an interesting narrative structure and a quite amazing cast: Richard Conte, Tomas Milian, Adolfo Celi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Eleonora Brown. The German disc release uses its original Deutsch title, which translates as “Django: Ruthless as the Sun.”  On Region Free Blu-ray from Explosive Media GmBH.
07/02/24