Nazis and vampires have been popular subjects for exploitation for decades in a range of genres from the Gothic to epic SF and paranoid b-movie thriller.
Recent viewing, May-June 2016, part two
Tag: Classics
Criterion Blu-ray review: Wim Wenders’ The Road Trilogy (1974-76)
In The Road Trilogy, one of their finest releases in some time, Criterion showcase three key early works by Wim Wenders, one of the finest filmmakers of the New German Cinema.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Jean Renoir’s La Chienne (1931)
Criterion’s release of a key but little-known feature by Jean Renoir, the conceptually and stylistically sophisticated La Chienne, is essential viewing.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
A classic romantic comedy about death gets an impressive new release on Blu-ray from Criterion. Alexander Hall’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) features a witty script and an impressive cast headed by Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes in the story of a good-natured boxer snatched prematurely by one of Death’s messengers and returned to Earth in the body of a crooked businessman.
Late winter viewing, part two
A mixed bag of recently viewed disks, from an obscure, poetic black-an-white drama to a garishly perverse piece of Greek exploitation, with some gialli and Japanese sci-fi animation thrown in.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Jan Troell’s The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972)
Criterion releases a superb Blu-ray edition of Jan Troell’s 2-part epic about poor Swedish farmers looking for a new life in the US in the mid-19th Century.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice (1949)
Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice (1949) expands the possibilities of neo-realism by incorporating elements of melodrama and film noir into the lives of women working in the rice fields of northern Italy.
Blast from the past: a 28-year-old term paper
I recently unearthed a university paper I wrote almost 30 years ago in which I tried to explain why Frank Capra’s work rubbed me the wrong way. It’s a glimpse of where I came from as a writer about film.
Year End 2015
Although I saw fewer movies in theatres than ever, this year offered a rich array of films on disk, belying continuing prophecies of the medium’s demise in the face of on-line streaming.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Harold Lloyd’s Speedy (1928)
With an impressive Blu-ray of Speedy (1928), the Criterion Collection continue their project of proving that Harold Lloyd was the equal of Chaplin and Keaton in the art of silent comedy.
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