Into the Blu

It had been a very long time since this author saw The African Queen for the first time, 29 years to be exact.  So going into the review of this Blu-ray, it was like seeing the movie again for the first time.

The African Queen also has an intimidating pedigree.  Nominated for four Academy Awards, it has become legendary for the danger and hardships director John Huston exposed the cast and crew to.  Filming in wild parts of the Belgian Congo, legend has it that Bogart and Huston avoided the sicknesses that afflicted all other cast and crew by drinking only Scotch.  Legend also has it that Huston stalled production in his obsession with hunting an elephant, later fictionalized into “White Hunter, Black Heart”.

As a film, The African Queen continually appears on AFI’s “100 years, 100 movies” list, has been selected for preservation in the U.S. Film Registry, and was the source of Humphrey Bogart’s only Academy Award.  How well does it survive its restoration to Blu-ray?  Continue Reading

They say that the first impressions are the most lasting ones. I find this to be particularly true when it comes to movies. While there are many films that I have come to appreciate more, I can’t of one that I disliked at the theater but later came to actually like once viewing it at home, at least until now. That film is the subject of today’s review… Sherlock Holmes. Continue Reading