Category Archives: Classic Film
From The Warner Archive: The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, 1963 (dir. Vincente Minnelli)
As many of you know, I really love Glenn Ford. Like, really love. I am so excited about all the Glenn Ford media hitting the home video market in the last few months. Enter The Courtship of Eddie’s Father from the Warner Archive Collection. This was such a great film; I can’t believe I had never seen it before.
Everything is Glenn Ford and Nothing Hurts
If you follow me on Tumblr, then you know that I really love Glenn Ford (man’s man). It seems like the gods of DVD and Blu-ray also love Glenn Ford. TCM just announced a new set of Glenn Ford crime films to be released in March.
I have actually only seen one of these films, so I am SO EXCITED for this set.
Following that up, Criterion is releasing two Glenn Ford/Delmer Daves collaborations in May. I love 3:10 To Yuma to death and Jubal is one I have been DYING to see.
New From Warner Bros.: 20 Film Collection – Musicals
As part of their year-long 90th anniversary celebration, Warner Bros. has been releasing some really great boxed sets. From their 100 Film Collection and their 50 Film Collection, to several 20 Film Collection sets. Last month they released a boxed set of 20 Best Picture winners and coming soon they are giving the same treatment to comedies, thrillers and romance. Last week they released a boxed set of 20 classical musicals (some of the musicals are from MGM, whose back catalogue WB owns), that is simply to die for. Really, my only complaint about the set is that the discs are clearly culled from older releases (The Wizard of Oz is disc one of the special 70th edition from a few years back and Viva Las Vegas is definitely from a previous Elvis collection). Despite that, each film comes with special features and at this price point ($90 retail, $60-70 at most online shops), this collection is a real bargain. It’s also a fun way to get a great overview of how the musical has changed over the years. After the cut, I’ll go through each disc with a little review of the transfer quality, special features, etc.
Celebrate An Endless Summer With Social Cinema
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out the films I’ve curated for Milyoni’s Social Cinema over the last few weeks. They are a one-of-a-kind way to experience watching a film – almost like I am right there with you. One more film has been added – the seminal surf film The Endless Summer. So if you are stuck in that awful blizzard or just want to feel like you are catching some wave, why not give it a shot? It was a load of fun to curate and I promise you will have a blas following these two dudes on their mission to follow the summer waves across the globe.
You can watch all of the films right here on Facebook.
New From WarnerBlu: Cabaret 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Book
Last year, WarnerBlu released a fabulous new Blu-ray book for the 60th anniversary of A Streetcar Named Desire. Yesterday saw the release of one of my favorite films, which I just wrote about for Oscar Vault Monday, Cabaret.
TCM To Honor Jane Fonda At 2013 Film Festival
The first year I attended they honored Peter O’Toole (oh god I will never forget 2011 O’Toole-fest) and last year they honored Kim Novak. This year Ms. Jane Fonda will be getting her hands in the cement. Her choice of film to present is On Golden Pond, the film in which she was able to work with her father, legend Henry Fonda, who finally won an Academy Award after five decades in the industry. I’ll post the full press release below. I hope Jane is as sassy as I imagine!
Giveaway: Warner’s 90th Anniversary Blu-ray Bundle [ended]
In honor of Warner Bros. Pictures’s 90th Anniversary on April 4, 1923, the studio is releasing a handful of their films on Blu-ray for the first time. You can get a good look at some of their amazing 100-film and 50-film collections here. I was lucky enough to get copies of three of their most lauded films on Blu-ray for review, Best Picture winners: Grand Hotel, Mrs. Miniver and Driving Miss Daisy. I am happy to report these films look amazing in their new Blu-ray transfers. Unfortunately, I can’t screencap Blus on my Macbook, so you’ll have to take my word for it. If you’d like to see for yourself, you can enter a giveaway for all three films by leaving a comment below. The only stipulation is you must be a U.S. resident (sorry international readers, Warner Bros. makes these rules, not me!) So just leave a comment and I will pick one winner at random on Monday!
[edit] Congratulations to Candice, whose comment was chosen via a random number generator!
“The Matrix,” “A Christmas Story” Among the 25 Films Added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registery
In order to be added a film must be at least ten years old and be considered, “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” You can see this year’s list below.
- 3:10 to Yuma, 1957 (dir. Delmar Daves)
- Anatomy of a Murder, 1959 (dir. Otto Preminger)
- The Augustas, 1930s-1950s (dir. Scott Nixon)
- Born Yesterday, 1950 (dir. George Cukor)
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961 (dir. Blake Edwards)
- A Christmas Story, 1983 (dir. Bob Clark)
- The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight, 1897
- Dirty Harry, 1971 (dir. Don Siegel)
- Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2, 1980-82 (dir. Nathaniel Dorsky)
- The Kidnappers Foil, 1930s-1950 (dir. Melton Barker)
- Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests, 1922
- A League of Their Own, 1992 (dir. Penny Marshall)
- The Matrix, 1999 (dir. the Wachowskis)
- The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair, 1939
- One Survivor Remembers, 1995 (dir. Kary Antholis)
- Parable, 1964
- Samsara: Death and Rebirth of Cambodia, 1990 (dir. Ellen Bruno)
- Slacker, 1991 (dir. Richard Linklater)
- Sons of the Desert, 1933 (dir. William A. Seiter)
- The Spook Who Sat by the Door, 1973 (dir. Ivan Dixon)
- They Call It Pro Football, 1967
- The Times of Harvey Milk, 1984 (dir. Rob Epstein)
- Two-Lane Blacktop, 1971 (dir. Monte Hellman)
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1914 (dir. William Robert Daly)
- The Wishing Ring; An Idyll of Old England, 1914 (dir. Maurice Tourneur)
From The Warner Archive: Lili, 1953 (dir. Charles Walters)
The Warner Archive recently released a newly remastered DVD of the six-time Oscar nominated 1953 film Lili starring Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer. This is a film I had been meaning to watch for years and I am so glad I finally got to see it. It’s a simple film and a sweet one, yet somehow it is never saccharine. It’s almost like a children’s book come to life, except that there are a few scenes – especially at the beginning – that are quite dark. I think this is a film that could have fallen into an overly melodramatic trap, but Walters tackles the subject with such a light touch, the result is nothing short of magical.
UCLA Film & Television Archive To Showcase the Films of Director Mitchell Leisen
This looks to be a really great line up of films. If you are in L.A. I definitely recommend you head out to these. I am a big fan of Easy Living, Death Takes a Holiday and Midnight, but if you can only see one of these films make it 1945′s Kitty with Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland. Basically, it is Pygmalion, but with prostitutes. It’s not on DVD and it’s a real treat.
- Midnight (1939); Easy Living (1937) November 16, 2012 – 7:30 pm
- Death Takes a Holiday (1934); Murder at the Vanities (1934) November 18, 2012 – 7:00 pm
- Hold Back the Dawn (1941); Swing High, Swing Low (1937) November 30, 2012 – 7:30 pm
- No Man of Her Own (1950); The Mating Season (1951) December 2, 2012 – 7:00 pm
- Lady in the Dark (1944); Take a Letter, Darling (1942) December 9, 2012 – 7:00 pm
- Kitty (1945); Frenchman’s Creek (1944) December 10, 2012 – 7:30 pm
- Remember the Night (1940); Hands Across the Table (1935) December 14, 2012 – 7:30 pm
- To Each His Own (1946); No Time For Love (1943) December 16, 2012 – 7:00 pm
