Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
Equus is an intense and powerful drama featuring amazing performances, both of whom nominated for an Academy Award, from Richard Burton and Peter Firth. It’s not a movie for everybody but I found it to be disturbing yet engrossing through and through.
Conrack is an uplifting drama featuring a different kind of performance from (1970s) Jon Voight and also has some solid work from the supporting roles.
The Front is a welcoming drama seeing Woody Allen playing it mostly straight and sans his quirky persona he’s relied on over the years, albeit most of the time with success.
The Blue Max is a well made, and very long, war-adventure-drama featuring fine performances from George Peppard and James Mason and has well done flight fight scenes to be put on film for the time.
Twilight Time’s release of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, a long ignored title within the MGM catalogue line, is a fun flick featuring excellent performances from Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges set against the beautifully photographed backdrop of the Midwest.
Man in the Dark is not the best film noir or anything but it kept my attention for its 70-minute duration, though I’d hardly recommend it especially for fans of the genre.
Zulu is an exhilarating war-drama with great performances and incredible cinematography by Stephen Dade.
Royal Flash is a fun adventure-comedy with what is a deplorable central character but played so perfectly by the energetic and personable Malcolm McDowell, though from my reading, fans of the novel weren’t overly thrilled with the adaptation.
Jane Eyre is a brilliant adaptation from Charlotte Brontë’s novel featuring wonderful performances from Orson Welles, Jane Fontaine and Peggy Ann Garner portraying the young Jane.
A wonderful musical, Oliver debuts on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time and it has never looked or sounded better with amazing transfers on both accounts.
The Way We Were is a great, if not sappy, romantic drama propelled up by its two leads, Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand, who are so perfect together sharing two of the best on-screen chemistry.
The Other is a thoroughly haunting and creepy psychological drama with stand-out performances from Uta Hagen and twin brothers Chris and Martin Udvarnoky.
Mindwarp is an apt title but still a fun little movie with a solid performance from Mr. B-Movie Bruce Campbell and a nice introduction to Marta Alicia, although her career has since been comprised on guest appearances on a variety of television shows.
Sleepless in Seattle isn’t the perfect romantic-comedies but it’s an effective one and respectable given the two leads share very little time on-screen with one another. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are great in their respective parts separated and even though I’ve seen the film dozens of times over the years, it’s still entertaining.
In Like Flint is a fun comedy for sure although it does overstay its welcome by a good 15-20 minutes. Still, James Coburn is charming once again as the title character and there’s just enough sly fun to keep one’s attention until the end.