Monthly Archives: July 2013

Bette Davis, Girl Reporter! FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935) from Warner Archive

Posted on July 29, 2013 by willmckinley

Bette Davis might hate me for saying this, but I love her early films. Movies like THREE ON A MATCH (1932), THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1935), and even the misguided SATAN MET A LADY (1936) are all eminently watchable, even if … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD Blu-Ray Review, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, FRONT PAGE WOMAN, George Brent, Gordon Wescott, Grace Hayle, Header Menu, J. Carrol Naish, Roscoe Karns, Warner Bros, Wini Shaw, Women Are Bum Newspapermen | 15 Comments

Screening Report: Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE

Posted on July 27, 2013 by willmckinley

Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE (2013) is a mediocre film that’s elevated to “must see” by one stellar performance. As a character loosely based on Ruth Madoff (wife of Ponzi schemer Bernie), Cate Blanchett is pitch-perfect – so much so that she unwittingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Screening Report | Tagged BLUE JASMINE, Cate Blanchett, Woody Allen | 2 Comments

Silent Film Evangelist Kickstarts Restorations of Classics

Posted on July 23, 2013 by willmckinley

Spike Lee, Zach Braff, and Ben Model? Like some elite entertainment industry players whose names may be better known, Model, the Manhattan-based musician and composer, is using the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to finance a film release. But there are a … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Silent Film | Tagged "Ben Model", "Bruce Lawton", "Raymond Griffith", "Silent clowns film series", "Silent comedy", "Silent film", "Silent movies", "Steve Massa", Accidentally Preserved, Kickstarter, Louie Fazenda, Musty Suffer, Spike Lee, Zach Braff | 1 Comment

Screening Report: Guillermo del Toro’s PACIFIC RIM (2013) in IMAX 3-D

Posted on July 14, 2013 by willmckinley

If you see PACIFIC RIM, director Guillermo del Toro’s “Giant Monsters vs. Giant Robots” CGI Punch ’em Up, make sure you stay for the closing credits. There’s a text screen at the very end that may be of interest to classic … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary Film, Screening Report | Tagged PACIFIC RIM | 4 Comments

Dive into the 1960s with HELLO DOWN THERE on DVD from Warner Archive

Posted on July 14, 2013 by willmckinley

On June 25, 1969, Paramount Pictures released HELLO DOWN THERE, a family oriented film about a teenaged rock band that performs infectiously hummable bubblegum pop songs. A month later, RCA Records released “Sugar, Sugar,” an infectiously hummable bubblegum pop song … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged AFRICA: TEXAS STYLE, Archies, AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA, “Hey Little Goldfish”, “I Can Love You", Charlotte Raye, CLARENCE, Cowboy in Africa, Flipper, Gary Tigerman, Gentle Ben, GENTLE GIANT, Glub, HELLO DOWN THERE, Ivan Tors, Janet Leigh, Jeff Barry, Jim Backus, Kay Cole, Lee Meredith, Lou Wagner, Monkees, Paramount, Richard Dreyfuss, Ricou Browning, Roddy McDowell, Sea Hunt, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, THE CROSS-EYED LION, Tony Randall | 9 Comments

Screening Report: The Hitchcock 9 at BAM

Posted on July 5, 2013 by willmckinley

What director’s trademarks include nail-biting setpieces on historic precipices, the “wrong man” accused of a crime, the dangerous (usually icy blonde) female, murder with an outsized carving knife, and creative cameo appearances in his owns films? Even the greenest film … Continue reading →