Year End 2021

The Count (Udo Kier) is worried about his blood supply in Paul Morrissey's Blood for Dracula (1974)

It’s been a good year for movies on disk, with a remarkable range of releases from many companies which are devoting considerable resources to rediscovering, restoring and preserving movies in numerous genres. Ranging across nationalities and spanning cinema history, there was plenty to divert attention from a real world which has become so depressing and exhausting.

Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Louise (Randy Stuart) does her best to accommodate the awkward situation in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Criterion showcase a key ’50s sci-fi movie with their extras-loaded Blu-ray of Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man. The 4K restoration makes this the definitive visual presentation of the film, while the numerous special features – commentary, interviews, documentary – cover the production and the critical importance of the movie in detail.

Dorothy Arzner’s Merrily We Go to Hell (1932):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Dorothy Arzner’s pre-Code romantic comedy/tragedy Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) is given a gorgeous presentation by Criterion from a new 4K restoration. This story of a vibrant heiress (Sylvia Sidney) and her marriage to an alcoholic writer (Frederic March) avoids the standard Hollywood cliches which would soon become entrenched as the Production Code imposed rules of behaviour on the characters who populated studio movies.

Blasts from the past

Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero (1983): Criterion Blu-ray review

Ghosts of Television Past, part two

Asia extreme

Brief viewing notes, July 2016

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