Adventures in Blu-Ray: Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” is a well-known aphorism often attributed to Mark Twain...even though there’s scant evidence to show that Twain actually said it.  But it’s such a witty little maxim that it seems like the sort of remark the humorist would make, and I couldn’t help but think of it the other…

Book Review: Seen from the Wings: Luise Rainer. My Mother, The Journey

There’s an apocryphal story about the first time director Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for an Oscar (for 1940’s Rebecca).  He hadn’t planned on attending the ceremony—in fact, he and wife Alma Reville spent most of that afternoon on the tennis court.  Yet the Hitchcocks thought it might be a lark to show up for the…

From the DVR: The Wonderful World of Disney

The Starz/Encore people have managed to acquire some feature film titles from Walt Disney Pictures of late, because I was afforded an opportunity to catch up with two of the studio’s animation releases that had eluded me for a good while: The Princess and the Frog (2009; I liked this one) and Frozen (2013; not…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Noir Archive Volume 1: 1944-1954

In Jacobellis vs. Ohio (1964), a U.S. Supreme Court case addressing the First Amendment (an Ohio movie theatre banned the 1958 Louis Malle film Les Amants because they believed it to be “obscene”), Justice Potter Stewart made a famous observation about obscenity that has become a colloquial expression today.  “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I…

Go Ask Alice

It wasn’t quite a year ago today (and admittedly, I’m a little late with this review) but in April of last year silent film historian/accompanist Ben Model—the hardest working man in the 88 keys business—launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a DVD showcasing the work of silent movie mirthmaker Alice Howell.  Howell, described on the back of the…

From the DVR: The Candidate (1972)

Political strategist Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle) has been handed an assignment that would surely make a saner man run fast, run far.  The Democratic Party is anxious to field a candidate in the California race for U.S. Senator—but that means taking on a powerful Republican incumbent, three-time Capitol Hill veteran Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter).  The…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Willie Dynamite (1974)

If the 2005 film Hustle & Flow taught us anything, it’s that “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”—the tune in the movie that won an Academy Award as Best Original Song. William Andrew Short (Roscoe Orman)—known to friends and the ladies in his employ as “Willie Dynamite”—is a testament to this; he’s the Avis…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Merrily We Live (1938)

In cinematic screwball comedies of the 1930s/1940s, wealthy people were always given a hefty transfusion of eccentricity in order to make them more accessible to non-wealthy folks.  (Rich people!  They’re just like us!)  That is most definitely the case with the Kilbourne family, a clan whose matriarch Emily (Billie Burke) has an interesting hobby:  hiring…

From the DVR: Rachel Getting Married (2008)

I've never been married, but both of my sisters are...and while the mind's memory always wants to reminisce about the fun, love, and joy that results with the nuptials, it tends to bury the familial conflicts that can surface during that special event.  (I'll remain mum about the "maid-of-honor" controversy at one of the weddings.) …

From the DVR: …and justice for all. (1979)

By any measure of the yardstick, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) should not be a member of the legal profession.  He’s far too principled.  Which is not to disparage lawyers, you understand—it's just that Kirkland has difficulty functioning in a world where integrity and ethics take a backseat to winning at all costs.  Asked by his…