Green for Danger (1947)

I first saw Green for Danger (1947) sometime in the late 1970s in an unusual venue.  My local public library, each week through the summer months, would get features on 16mm from the State Library in Raleigh and show one or two features on Saturday afternoons.  Whoever programmed the series made some good choices, hitting …

A Star is Born (1954)

Warners has transferred Ronald Havers's restoration of the classical fifties musical to blu ray.  One reviewer was underwhelmed by the disc, comparing it to the DVD version, but the added resolution and clarity is certainly a step up and brings the great qualities of the film into sharper focus. Much has been written about the …

The Lost Films Wiki and Catch My Soul (1974)

Slate has a brief article on the Lost Films wiki, a project where users can help identify "found" films and clips with no identifying information and archives can post about films that are currently declared lost. One of the more curious lost films listed at the site:  Catch My Soul, directed in 1974 by Patrick …

Man Made Monster (1941)

When you see Lon Chaney, Jr.'s forelorn-looking mug of a face on the screen, you can't help but think, "This will end in tears." Man Made Monster (1941) is no exception.  After an accident with a bus hitting a high powered electric line kills everyone on board except Dan McCormick (Chaney), he's taken in by …

Markéta Lazarová (1967)

Just finished viewing Markéta Lazarová, a remarkable 1967 epic by Czech filmmaker František Vláčil. Vláčil emerged not from film school, but from studying art.  He worked on documentary and animated films before producing instructional films for the Czech army.  He first gained attention at the Venice Film Festival for his 1960 debut feature The White …

Bronson (2009)

Since seeing the recent blu-ray release of Nicolas Windng Refn's Bronson, I've been thinking quite a bit about what makes a "cult" movie. Often, films are released that make little impression in the marketplace, but take on higher status and are well remembered years later.  Some because they were just released at the wrong time …

That’s Entertainment (1974) and That’s Entertainment Part II (1976)

The seventies were an ugly decade, fondly remembered by anyone that grew up during the period.  Bad television, sickening fashions that went nowhere, bland pop music and disco, and a general sense of blight and decay were all hallmarks of a time we'd rather forget. We often look back on the seventies with a sense …

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1987)

While on vacation and catching up on some things around the apartment, I happened to catch a bizarre alternate movie universe on a local channel.  This TV, if you're not familiar with it, is carried as a subchannel on many stations featuring movies and a few tv shows from MGM's library.  I was curious when …