Remember a couple years ago when C. Jerry Kutner was singing the praises of Powell’s AGE of CONSENT right here in Bright Lights After Dark? Both the films on this[…]
The Italian (Reginald Barker, 1915) and Traffic in Souls (George Loane Tucker, 1913) The Italian of producer Thomas Ince’s 1915 film is Beppo Donnetti, played by George Beban in a performance[…]
It’s been lowtide for good classic DVD releases since… since last freakin’ spring! Warner Brothers is dumping the dregs out like a fish peddler on a rainy Sunday night –[…]
La Roue (Abel Gance, 1922) Abel Gance’s La Roue is a wild poem of a movie. French audiences saw the film at its 1922 premiere in four parts over three[…]
Asian · DVD & Blu-ray · Reviews
It’s not the typical kung fu movie in that the action is not very well choreographed. I don’t think actress Cheng Pei-pei could do too many stunts. But director King[…]
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Phil Jutzi, 1931) Franz Biberkopf must be one of the most porous characters in all literature. In Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel, Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modernist torrent — dialogue,[…]
An ongoing column that looks at some of the most intriguing of recent, under-the-radar releases
An ongoing column that looks at some of the most intriguing of recent, under-the-radar releases The Valentino Collection (The Young Rajah, Moran of the Lady Letty, Stolen Moments, Society Sensation)[…]
Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (Romeo, Julia a tma) (Jiri Weiss, 1960) & The Party and the Guests (O slavnosti a hostech) (Jan Nemec, 1966) Jiri Weiss’ Holocaust drama,Romeo, Juliet and[…]
DVD & Blu-ray · Experimental & Underground · Reviews
Autobiography sometimes trumps art in these uneven works Su Friedrich is a disciplined and highly skilled filmmaker who teaches school (film and video production at Princeton, to be precise) and[…]
DVD & Blu-ray · Music & Musicals · Reviews
“It flashes before our eyes, and we are not even sure what we have witnessed.” There is an incongruous moment in Please Leave Quietly (2006), the long-awaited concert DVD from[…]
Fans of Hong Kong action cinema have long had to wade through murky, treacherous terrain, even with the arrival of DVD: bad transfers, faded, junky prints, badly cropped pan&scan;[…]
The question one hears leaving the movie theater these days, assuming everyone enjoyed it is: Are you gonna buy it when it comes out on DVD?” Or you hear–or even[…]
DVD & Blu-ray · TV & Streaming
Keats, Shelley, and firm, manly thighs Ever wonder what life would be like if English majors ruled the world? A chilling prospect, to be sure, but a damned unlikely one.[…]
An ongoing column that looks at some of the most intriguing of recent, under-the-radar releases Mouchette (Robert Bresson, 1967) Robert Bresson’s film, Mouchette, like his previous release, Au Hasard Balthasar[…]
Night Train (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959) Call it Train of Fools. In Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s masterwork, a crowded night express travels overbooked with the despairing, the lovelorn, the lustful, a handful of priests[…]
“I expect to be erect any time now.” “An eighth-grader’s mind trapped in an eighth-grader’s body.” That’s how one critic summed up Aaron Spelling. Aaron had him killed, of course.[…]
For maximum effect, see it when you’re 13 The 1965 epic Doctor Zhivago was a Brobdingnagian success and the highest-grossing film at MGM since Gone with the Wind. Director David[…]
African American · DVD & Blu-ray · Music & Musicals
You get what you pay for, if you’re lucky
Comedy · DVD & Blu-ray · Pre-Code
Cukor’s all-star gala remains a tasty dish
