Cinema

“Golden Year” part five – legendary epic rounds out Blu-ray set

September 10th, 2015

The fifth and final movie in Warner’s Blu-ray box set “The Golden Year: 1939” is arguably the most famous, even among those who have never seen it.

For decades “Gone With the Wind” ranked as the all-time box office champion as well as the winner of the most Oscars, eight in competitive categories plus two honorary awards, including Picture, Director and Screenplay. It was surpassed in number of Academy Awards by “Ben-Hur” in 1959, but with ticket sales adjusted for…

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The End of the Tour

September 3rd, 2015

Filmmaker James Ponsoldt follows the success of “The Spectacular Now” with “The End of the Tour,” a fictionalized rendering of David Lipsky’s memoir “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself,” an account of Lipsky’s experiences traveling with writer David Foster Wallace over five days while the latter was promoting “Infinite Jest.”

The conversational transcripts of Lipsky’s interactions with Wallace offer a dangerously tempting format for translation…

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Classic ‘Hunchback’ retains sociopolitical relevance

September 3rd, 2015


Yet another of the memorable major releases of 1939 in this summer’s “The Golden Year” Blu-ray collection from Warner Home Video is the RKO remake of Universal’s classic 1923 production, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The two films were adapted and heavily altered in various ways from Victor Hugo’s famous novel. Now both are on Blu-ray in separate editions and it’s both fascinating and instructive to watch them back to back, making their differences much more obvious,…

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​Gods and Monsters

August 26th, 2015


Lovers of bad cinema will marvel at Blue Underground co-founder and veteran “making of” and bonus feature producer David Gregory’s anatomy of a train wreck “Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau.” Sharing war stories of the 1996 Marlon Brando/Val Kilmer debacle ultimately directed by John Frankenheimer, Gregory’s documentary is akin to more effective brethren like “Jodorowsky’s Dune,” “Lost in La Mancha” and “Hearts of…

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​Legendary satiric rom-com restoration on Blu-ray

August 26th, 2015

Another in the canon of popular 1939 film classics released on Blu-ray this June, and a frequent staple of the Turner Classic Movies channel, was a contender in four of the major Academy Award categories for that year.

The MGM production “Ninotchka” is an endearing (and enduring) blend of bright romantic comedy and somewhat darker political satire that is now available in Warner Home Video’s “The Golden Year: 1939” box set as well as individually.

The plot device of a stuffy,…

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​Don’t Drink the Orange Juice: Woody Allen’s “Irrational Man”

August 19th, 2015

Predictably, the critical reception of Woody Allen’s “Irrational Man” ranges across the spectrum, from haters like Lou Lumenick and Jessica Kiang to admirers including Richard Brody, David Rooney and Amy Nicholson. The director’s films, even more polarizing in the grim aftermath of the highly publicized February 2014 open letter by Dylan Farrow that revisited allegations of sexual abuse, continue to appear with clockwork regularity at the rate of one feature per year. While the…

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​‘Golden Year’ on Blu-ray, part two: Bette Davis favorite

August 19th, 2015

The year 1939 is often remembered for its unusually high percentage of enduringly popular classic films (about 20 of which are currently available on Blu-ray in nice restorations), as well as many other things, from the September outbreak of the second World War in Europe, to the New York World’s Fair showcasing hopes for a peaceful and prosperous technology-based future, to the introduction of regular if limited broadcast television for the American public.

Released to Blu-ray this…

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​Another Brick in the Wall: Lego doc could use a rebuild

August 12th, 2015

Is it possible to make a feature-length documentary chronicling the commercial success, historical context and popular appeal of Lego (stylized as LEGO) building toys without coming across as a corporate shill? Maybe, but the question remains unanswered by Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge in “A Lego Brickumentary,” a geeky, gushing love letter that often feels like an extended television advertisement.

Junge, who recently helmed the much better “Being Evel,” and Davidson have…

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​‘Golden Year’ films on Blu-ray, Part One: ‘Dodge City’

August 12th, 2015

The year 1939 was notable for many things, from the September outbreak of World War II in Europe, to the New York World’s Fair showcasing hopes for a peaceful and prosperous technology-based future, to the introduction of regular broadcast television for the American public, to the year’s unusually high percentage of enduringly popular classic films. The year’s film output includes the timeless and beloved “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind,” but over twenty 1939…

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​Three decades of F-M DIY/punk scene on screen

August 12th, 2015

Twin Cities-based filmmaker Micah Dahl is working on an ambitious, feature-length documentary covering three decades of the Fargo-Moorhead DIY/punk scene called “The Red River Runs Through It.”

Currently shooting and in the process of raising production money through crowdfunding (visit Indiegogo and search for “The Red River Runs Through It” to donate), Dahl has already collected interviews, concert footage, gig posters and other key archival material to help tell the story.…

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