Hello!

Well whattaya got here to review, CineSavant?  Fast in my mitts are the following contenders: Mill Creek’s Gorillas in the Mist and Capelight’s Fukushima 50, and Arrow’s Switchblade Sisters, while Severin tempts us (?) with The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection. From Criterion we’re choosing between Celine and Julie Go Boating, The World of Wong Kar-Wai, Touki-Bouki. Memories of Murder and History is Made at Night. The extensive list of Kino Lorber attractions includes The Collected Films of Morris Engel & Ruth Orkin, Stiletto, The Carole Lombard Collection II, The Producers, Night of the Following Day, Honky Tonk Freeway, The Daydreamer and Horizons West, plus from Cohen and Kino, a double bill of Wanted for Murder/Cast a Dark Shadow. The Warner Archive Collection has also gone to town lately, with Each Dawn I Die, Green Dolphin Street, Broadway Melody of 1940 and Quick Change.

That’s what’s in hand; we’re also expecting, or have been promised Fun City Editions’ Smile; Arrow’s 4K of Donnie Darko; Mill Creek’s The Hellfighters; Kino’s FTA, To New Shores/La Habanera, and a 4K of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly; Criterion’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Merrily We Go to Hell and Nightmare Alley; and ViaVision/Imprint’s Columbia Noir 3 and Major Dundee.

Plus, reviewer Charlie Largent directs us to an interesting resource: an Internet Archive page devoted to vintage Classics Illustrated Comic Books. I was always curious about these: although I grabbed all the H.G. Wells and Jules Verne issues I could find, many escaped me … when I went to the newsstand the weekly offering would be something like ‘Thumbellina.’

I think the only Classics Illustrated comic I saved is the terrific First Men In the Moon, which I can’t locate at the moment… but the selection here does have the CI take on Wells’ The War of the Worlds.  I took a peek and  confirmed that it’s still great art — beautifully laid out, with amazing designs for the Martian fighting machines. →

The Food of the Gods is there, and also both of Verne’s books Robur the Conqueror and its sequel Master of the World. The A.I.P. movie given the title  Master of the World  is actually Robur the Conqueror; in the sequel Robur returns commanding a 3-in-one triphibious craft, like Toho’s Atragon. I guess Verne had a public that he had to satisfy with these unnecessary sequels. Anyway, the selection at the link is pretty good, although navigating it isn’t easy… I’m not sure I saw all that are there.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson