Here’s some news fresh from the “Wouldn’t You Know It?” desk:
Hooray! I won something awesome recently – a blu-ray copy of the Ivan Tors produced, Herbert L. Strock directed sci-fi film GOG (1954), restored into its 3D state and in HD for the first time on disc. Many thanks go to Kino Lorber, Classic Movie Hub and Aurora’s Gin Joint (all fine places to sit for a spell and learn about plenty of classic films) for picking my hastily scribbled entry. I also got two more Arrow Video blu-rays in the post today to review right after GOG showed up via Fed Ex: Dillinger and The Zero Boys. Excellent!
So, yeah. I haven’t done a nice cooking article in a while. But that’s probably because I’ve been in a bit of a food rut for a bit. I guess you could say it was something akin to this, but with me and a great deal less comedy (or something like that):
I cook the majority of my meals myself, only occasionally going out to eat or if I’m really lazy, buying precooked soft noodles and tossing assorted appropriate leftovers into a bowl for a zippy but dull lunch or supper. Oh, don’t go weeping into your freshly made consommé, kids – this story has a point! Anyway, about two weeks back I was dinking around the former Deals (which is now a Dollar Tree) picking up a loaf of nice Pepperidge Farms pumpernickel and I spied something that took me back about 30 or so years. Continue reading →
You know how you sometimes or often go to look something up on the internet and stumble across something NOT at all what you wanted to find that sucks away what was supposed to be otherwise productive time? Well, to quote the (not so) immortal Frank Booth: THIS IS IT. No not that extended clip, from a film that absolutely needs to get the treatment from The WOL Project. There’s an excellent mix of mostly movies with a handful of TV shows that benefit from the addition of Dire Straits’ 1985 hit Walk of Life.
All of the clips chosen are fantastic and it’s hard to choose a favorite, but here’s a pair of videos from the WOL YouTube Channel (go subscribe!)
Perfect. Anyway, go boogie on over and spend too much time spoiling the finales of 50 films and shows (most of which you should have already seen or have at least bucket-listed at some point in your cinematic life). I can think of a few hundred more films that need this song added to their endings, so let’s hope this project doesn’t stop at a mere 50 entries.
Bringing three great Japanese films to collectors in fine form, Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 1 comes highly recommended thanks to all three films being worth a watch for more reasons than the trio of actors featured on that cover art.While not flawless, seeing more Japanese cinema from the 50’s is an excellent thing if you in to expanding your cinematic horizons.
As all three of these flicks were new to me, it was quite pleasing to come away from this collection wanting to see more of what the directors and stars did over time. Longtime fans of the country’s movies will see some familiar faces in all three films, so the collection also works in that “spot the character actor” game we all play when we see a new film for the first time.
Seijun Suzuki’s 1958 mystery drama Voice Without A Shadow kicks things of with a noir-ish tale of Asako, a former newspaper phone operator who quit her job shortly after accidentally ringing up a killer in the middle of his dirty work. Three years later, Asako’s husband has a few work pals over for dinner and Asako recognizes one man’s voice as that of the killer. Talk about awkward dinner conversation! She has a minor breakdown, but things get worse when the killer turns up dead himself and Asako’s husband seems to be the prime suspect. In the middle of all this comes Ishikawa (Hideki Nitani), a reporter for that aforementioned newspaper. He had a crush on Asako back when she worked at the paper, but stepped aside when he discovered she was spoken for. Is his interest in the unsolved murders a new play for Asako’s intentions or is there some sort of actual journalistic integrity at work that will bring the killer of the killer to justice? Continue reading →
While it’s still an example of great American film-making and a must-see movie, I’ve been having a recurring dream of a Taxi Driver followup for quite some time. As in over 20 years of random story ideas hitting me in the dream-space or while strolling around NYC. The city has changed so much since the film’s 1976 release, but in a (not so) weird way certain elements have cycled back into that film’s bleak version of the city, citizens, and some of the politics around them.
Granted, it’s never (ever!) going to happen unless the stars are in order (on a few fronts, ha and ha-ha) and some other key people think it’s a good idea. It’s not (at all), but Hollywood has done far worse updates of other films (for better or worse… mostly worse in my opinion). Nevertheless, I’m getting this silliness off my chest and out of my head so I can clear up space in the grey matter filing cabinet. Continue reading →
Every movie fan (this writer included) has a case of “Hollywood Blinders” they slap on for certain films they love because without them, thinking of anything abnormal taking place behind the scenes ruins much or all of a particular movie’s strengths. This little review just so happens to be about one of those films some outright adore while others don’t take to it all that well.
While its comic book colors and highly exuberant performances make Vincente Minnelli’s 1948 musical The Pirate a mostly to extremely fun to watch slice of Hollywood entertainment, it’s the behind the scenes stuff that makes the film somewhat problematic as a classic one can fully enjoy unless you ignore certain elements. For this particular film, those Hollywood Blinders take the form of an eye patch (or bandanna or even a big felt pirate hat if you like watching your colorful, imperfect musicals with two working eyeballs).
The pairing of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland should have been a wonderful one and in fact is when the film hits most of its high marks. But thanks to the studio system’s lousy treatment of her from the beginning of her career, Garland’s star was far from shining bright during the troubled production. The results are amusing and impressive at times, but it’s also a somewhat flawed film with a too quick finale that pops in as if the cameras were running out of film and something needed to get shot or someone had to walk the plank.
Garland’s assorted troubles (including a nervous breakdown that kept her off set for an extended period) thankfully don’t show up in the finished product. But it’s clear that the wide-eyed gal next door who played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz less than ten years previously was a wider-eyed and far more troubled soul on a downward spiral to a much shorter life than she deserved. Toss in a fantastic Gene Kelly dance sequence with The Nicholas Brothers that seemingly got them pushed out of the movies (and Hollywood) for a few years too long and you end up with a film best seen with those Hollywood Blinders on. Nice and tight, now. So, buckle your swash and slap on that eye patch, folks. There’s a storm a-brewin’ on the shooting stage and you’re getting shanghaied and strapped into your seats for a wild ride… Continue reading →
Based on the 1959 crime novel King’s Ransom: An 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film Tengoku to jigoku (Heaven and Hell or High and Low to western audiences) is one of those great police procedural films that’s a must for crime drama fans. With perfect casting, a gripping story of a kidnapping gone wrong thanks to a case of mistaken identity and the rush to find the kidnapper before things go further south, Kurosawa’s film is a multi-layered masterpiece worth seeing multiple times.
When “wealthy” businessman Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) and the company he works for decide to snap up the National Shoe Company, there’s a divide between executives on how to close the deal. Gondo prefers the company stick to making well-made and reliable stompers for the masses but other big shots want shoes for all that are cheaply made and thus, more profitable because they’ll need to be replaced more often. With all the back and forth debating going on, Gondo has a master plan he’s hiding from his peers. He’s mortgaged everything he owns and plans to pull off a leverage buyout of National Shoes that would put him in charge for good and keep National doing what they do best.
Little does he know he’s being watched by a few pairs of far more evil eyes looking up at his “castle” from the lower depths… Continue reading →
So. Say you’re sitting around doing not too much this weekend, happen to have a PSN account and need something (or a few things) entertaining to do with your time. If you’re willing to spend a little money (or more than a little if you let yourself get too caught up in the bargains), yep, there’s another PSN Flash Sale going on. Expect to see plenty off excellent deals as listed on this PlayStation Blog post… and look, your wallet is already hopping out of that pocket or purse and is running away from you! Go get it!
See, this is why you NEED to always vacuum under the bed, folks.
Hmmm. Fortunately, wallets love playing with dust bunnies so they’re easy to catch. I’ll leave you to it, then. The Sci-Fi Deals Flash Sale ends Monday, July 20 at 9am Pacific Time, so get moving if you want to score some nice deals.
Not to make today any extra gloomy (it’s not, but I know some of you are sensitive like that with some subjects), but we all have to go sometime. Although we can’t always pick the manner of our demise (er, under “normal” circumstances), it’s nice to have the time to really plan out everything one can in regards to how our friends and families celebrate our time spent here. Of course, this is just an excuse to play this clip from 1943’s awesome Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man which just so happens to be awesome thanks to that clip above. That said, I hope someone plays this at my funeral or at least hums it before things get all sappy. Everybody sing, now!
Thanks to a colorist probably following instructions to the letter about the use of the color red, Both Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall wear lipstick on the poster to The Big Sleep. The poster for White Heat almost looks like the one for the aforementioned film. Edward G. Robinson’s face is Hulk green in the poster for Scarlet Street. Richard Widmark doesn’t even appear on the poster to Kiss of Death, but in the one for Night and the City he looks as if he’s doing a “jazz hands, down!” pose. You miss these details when poking around online for some classic film posters, but in Fantagraphic’s beautiful Film Noir 101: The 101 Best Film Noir Posters from the 1940s-1950s, all you see is some amazing poster art for arguably some of the best film noirs of the era. Film Historian Mark Fertig has compiled quite a healthy list of films and their respective one-sheets here and the big 10.75″ x 14.25″ hardcover book will thrill film fans while possibly promoting a bit of discussion about some of the choices among others. Continue reading →
Here’s some news fresh from the “Wouldn’t You Know It?” desk:
Bringing three great Japanese films to collectors in fine form, 
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 