Into the Blu

This is a film that has become a significant contribution to the very the time line it depicts, which is that of US President Nixon being forced into resignation after the Watergate scandal. This film is an engrossing depiction of the actual reporters who used anonymous tips to help uncover a scandal so big that it rocked the entire US nation. Continue Reading

Here is a barebones release for that is destined to become a safe bet, bargain-bin-buy (perhaps I should create a “Triple B” moniker for such titles?) for 80s nostalgia fans. A film running on a reliable teen comedy formula, with an amusing supernatural twist. Plus Michael J. Fox is charming…how can we lose?

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As I had admittedly gushed about my appreciation for Elvis in prior reviews, I could be viewed as somewhat prejudicial in my viewing of Jailhouse Rock.  Although Elvis on Tour was disappointing, I thoroughly enjoyed Viva Las Vegas and was hoping this other “young Elvis” film would deliver an equally lightweight and enjoyable cinema experience.

I was somewhat curious about reviewing my first “true” black and white film (Young Frankenstein was the first I had reviewed), and was equally curious to see how much charisma the relatively young Elvis of 1957 possessed. Continue Reading

It has certainly been quite a stretch since I first began reviewing The Mel Brooks Collection.  Through many movies I had seen before, and more that I had not seen, I gained a true appreciation for the craft of Mel Brooks.

For my last movie, I held back Blazing Saddles, the film that truly rocketed Mel Brooks to fame, and earned him the financial chops to produce atypical films such as Young Frankenstein and Silent Movie.

It has been more than two decades since I had seen this movie, and I was extremely curious to see how much I had remembered about it, and if it was as funny and crude as I thought. Continue Reading

For my fifth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected The Twelve Chairs, Mr. Brooks’ movie adaptation of an Old Russian folk tale.  This is a fairly obscure film, and one I likely would not have watched if it had not been a part of this collection.

As Mr. Brooks’ second directing effort (his first being the conspicuously absent The Producers), it would be interesting to see what his later work evolved from, and how much his early work was influenced by others.  Did the movie deserve its obscure status, or was it worthy of more attention as part of the Mel Brooks legacy? Continue Reading

 After reviewing both Silent Movie and Young Frankenstein, I was extremely curious to see which of the remaining seven discs in the Mel Brooks Collection would fit into the categories of “underrated comedy” or “overhyped disappointment”.  For this third movie, I selected another Mel Brooks film I had not seen before, To Be or Not to Be, Mr. Brooks’ 1983 remake of Ernest Lubitsch’s 1942 original.

Mr. Brooks has never struck me as a subtle humorist, and I had some worry that a comedy-musical-drama about World War II and Nazism could be taken from funny to farcical under his guidance.  Perplexingly, I also had high expectations at the same time – with such rich subject matter, and a stellar cast, this movie had the potential to be really good.  And in short, this movie was really good, the type of comedy I grew up on, and the type that seems to have fallen out of favor with the viewing public. Continue Reading

As mentioned in my review for Silent Movie it is a formidable task reviewing all nine (yes, nine!) movies in the Mel Brooks Collection box set, so again I beg for the reader’s patience as I soldier through the movies.  For my second review, I continued to focus on the Mel Brooks movies I had missed.

Second up for review was 1974’s Young Frankenstein, a film from which I had seen various scenes, but never sat through the whole film.  Of all the Mel Brooks movies, this one appears to have the most loyal following, and I was intrigued again by Mr. Brooks making an atypical movie (a horror movie throwback in black and white) in the 1970’s. Continue Reading

As a 10-year old boy, I loved Mel Brooks movies.  To this day, I vividly remember seeing History of the World: Part 1 during its release week and thinking it was about the best movie ever made.  However, as we get older, our tastes mature.  And as viewers, North American audiences are now much, much more cynical about comedy than their counterparts were in the 70’s and 80’s.

Therefore, when The Mel Brooks Collection showed up in my docket for review, I was quite intrigued.  Not only did it contain the Mel Brooks movies I had missed, it also contained movies that I had loved when younger.  However, this is also a formidable task reviewing nine (yes, nine!) movies, so I beg the reader’s patience as I wander through this box set.

First up for review was 1976’s Silent Movie, a film I had never seen before, and one that had intrigued me.  As a boy, I loved both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy silent shorts, and I was curious to see how well Mr. Brooks could deliver a modern version of this art form. Continue Reading

One of my most cherished Christmas presents as an adolescent was a boxed set of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  To the fertile mind of a 12-year old, these were the best books ever, igniting a life long affinity for fantasy literature.  What made the books even more special is the prose used allowed a reader to form strong visions in their own mind of the characters, places, and action contained therein.

After reading the books, I was excited to discover that an animated version of the book existed, and lobbied hard to get my buddies to rent it when we were having a movie night.  And after we all sat back and viewed the movie, we looked at each other with the same expression on our faces: “What in heck was that?”

So the question is, after 28 years of watching various forms of animation, have I gained a new appreciation for Ralph Bakshi’s labor of love?  Does being on Blu-ray make the movie any better? Continue Reading

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

Confession time.  Yes, I am old enough that I saw National Lampoon’s Vacation at a real life movie theatre.  If memory serves correct, it was at the Garrick Theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I had orange soda shoot out of my nose when laughing at the hilarious adventures of the Griswolds and their Travel Queen Family Truckster.  Vacation is one of those rare movies that still appeals as much to me today as it did when I was younger. Continue Reading

Half a century ago seems like a long time; but it was around that time that one of Hollywood’s most gifted and eccentric directors was in his prime; making classic films that would set the stage for today’s filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock was one the kind of director that doesn’t really exist anymore; similar to Orson Welles, his films were carefully crafted masterpieces that were so layered that even today there are countless books and websites dedicated to analyzing his works. North by Northwest was screenwriter, Ernest Lehman’s attempt to create the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures, did he succeed? Continue Reading