Two of Warners favorite thriller actors worked together nine times in just a few years. This mystery tale is their last pairing, and also the first feature film directed by Don Siegel. Victorian sleuth Sydney Greenstreet gets an assist from his artist friend Peter Lorre when a murder victim is found in a room locked…
Prime-era Stephen King never loses its appeal! Director Tobe Hooper delivers some strong visuals in this TV movie version of King’s All-American vampire tale. Reggie Nalder channels his inner Max Schreck, and James Mason provides a top class-act horror performance. Of the supporting cast we favor Bonnie Bedelia, Elisha Cook Jr. and Marie Windsor over…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, a trio from David Lynch. His fingerprints are all over these three films, and we have a wine pairing for each of them. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is the…
To repurpose a quote from Frank Herbert’s Dune, “I must not believe hype. Hype is the enjoyment killer. Hype is the little joy that brings total disappointment.” It’s hard not to buy into positive buzz for an upcoming film. Trailers are everywhere, and discussion of those trailers fills social media with hope. I try to…
Martin Scorsese’s epic (and epic length!) adaptation of David Grann’s eye-opening novel is great filmmaking with impressive performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and a marvelous showcase for Lily Gladstone, who provides the heart within a heartless tangle of utterly loathsome villains. It’s a true story, unsensationalized yet carrying an unspoken message —…
A fresh 4K encoding reveals a finer visual texture on Ivan Passer’s highly-respected film, which features career-best performances by its stars. Disaffected 20-somethings in Santa Barbara investigate a murder and then try to blackmail a corporate CEO; it’s a superb coda to the ’60s counterculture generation. John Heard is the maimed, one-eyed veteran already judged…
In what some consider the best classic crime film to come from France, writer-director Claude Sautet and writer José Giovanni give star Lino Ventura the role of Abel Davos, a convicted crook in a squeeze play. When he tries to return to Paris, he’s forced to abandon his wife and boys as both the law…
Powerhouse Indicator dips into the Columbia library for a Warwick Films production from Albert R. Broccoli and Irving Allen. It’s an international genre blend that would seem a stab at the perfect mainstream box office formula — crime violence, a tough American star, a sexy European star, upbeat music and comic relief around the fringes….
Trailers From Hell Guru Allan Arkush’s The Last Reel video essay series returns with a vengeance, this time to take stock of that pop culture-altering phenom known as television! Today, it should really be called The First Reel. Allan has been thinking about when his obsession with film and TV first shaped his life. If…
