Jerry Frebowitz | New Releases This Week
New DVD and Blu-ray Releases for this week include theatrical newcomers, TV series and some old favorites including two Elvis Presley classics and Charles Bronson's 1984 hit movie, The Evil That Men Do.
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No Comments »Irv Slifkin | In the Director's Chair, Movie Buzz
What is an 83-year-old entertainment icon doing in bed with a well-known TV mother after being slipped a mickey with a sex pill in it?
Inquiring minds want to know. And they’ll get their answer if they go to see Play the Game, an engaging new coming of age—and coming of aging—comedy.
The icon is none other than Andy Griffith, a/k/a Sheriff Andy Taylor of the ‘60s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock of the ‘80s-‘90s crime drama series. As for the TV mama, she’s played by Liz Sheridan, best known as Jerry’s mother Helen in Seinfeld.
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
"Movie Irv" offers his quick take on Ang Lee's new film Taking Woodstock, based on true stories surrounding the makings of the iconic 1969 concert. Is it a bust...or a blast? Let's check in with MovieFanFare's grooviest movie expert:
Sure, you know the elite actors of our modern era and their hit films, but sometimes a certain movie of theirs flies under the radar. Perhaps their performance in a previous movie was stellar by comparison; maybe another blockbuster film eclipsed this one; or could be they just weren’t “discovered” yet. Whatever the reason, here are some stars’ “lesser” efforts well worth viewing.
Guest contributor Charles Wiebe writes:
Many films are instant classics such as: Gone With The Wind or the Lord of the Rings series. However, many of our most cherished movies have been sleepers; Bringing up Baby and Citizen Kane were both box office busts and required decades to achieve their current status. Classic movies must prove themselves by speaking to more than one generation. So I think that at least one other commercial flop will eventually find its way into Hollywood’s Valhalla; I speak of Philip Kaufman’s 1983 Film, The Right Stuff.
These days made-for-TV movies on network and basic cable channels are relegated to the Lifetime network (television for women… and gay men) and mostly continue the practice of the “women in jeopardy” genre, often with "fatal" or "deadly" in the title. But the TV movie and mini-series were staples of network programming in the '60s and '70s, and they didn't just exist to provide work for Barbara Eden, Barbara Feldon, or Karen Valentine. They attracted movie stars (Bing Crosby in Dr. Cook’s Garden, Bette Davis in Madame Sin) and also let the small screen favorites of the day flex their acting chops in different kinds of roles (Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery in A Case Of Rape and The Legend of Lizzie Borden or Andy Griffith in Savages). Sometimes they were pilots for potential series (Kojak was spawned from The Marcus-Nelson Murders and Peter Falk’s detective Columbo came from Prescription: Murder). And sometimes they were just a fun ride (think Connie Stevens in Call Her Mom or Clint Walker battling an alien-controlled bulldozer in Killdozer).
Now that drive-in genre auteur Quentin Tarantino's long-talked-about World War II saga Inglourious Basterds has finally made it onto the big screen--and captured the box office brass ring on its opening weekend--two questions remain in the public's mind: What's up with Tarantino's spelling, and are his "basterds" anything like the ones in the '70s Italian-made actioner? Well, Quentin's keeping mum on the former, and I really can't give an answer on the latter because I haven't gotten to the new film yet (for a veteran employee of the home video business, I don't get to the theater as much as some), but I would like to offer a look back at the original, and let you see what happens when you mix Sam Fuller, Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone...and toss in a little Fred Williamson for good measure.
Jerry Frebowitz | New Releases This Week
New DVD and Blu-ray Releases for this week include theatrical newcomers, some Foreign films, TV favorites including the long-awaited DVD debut of thirtysomething. Also, this week is the new release of a cliffhanger serial from the days of silent cinema.
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Irv Slifkin | Ask Movie Fanfare
Question: As always, I enjoy your column each month. I was wondering if you had any information concerning DVD releases of the following films:
Belle Starr (1941)
Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
Song of the Islands (1942)
Yolanda & the Thief (1945)
The Sky's the Limit (1943)
They Met in Bombay (1941)
The Lone Wolf series with Warren William & Eric Blore
Maisie
Thanks for all your help, Irv.
-- (via email)
George D. Allen and Irv Slifkin | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
"Movie Irv" Slifkin launches a movie review feature on MovieFanFare.com with his unscripted thoughts about Quentin Tarantino's long-in-development, finally here, already controversial deconstruction of the "men on a mission" war film subgenre. Has he saved you the price of a ticket...or helped you to hurry to the box office? Here's Movie Irv's Raw Review of "Inglourious Basterds":
Jason Marcewicz | Create-A-Caption
You know the drill. Below is a classic movie photo with Jason’s caption. You’re encouraged to leave your own suggestion in the comment section below!
The astronauts cruised through most training sessions. But preparing for toilets with no stall divisions: that nearly broke them.
Iconic low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman (article) is famous for the array of top directors--among them James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, and Martin Scorsese--who got some of their first breaks working for him at the American International and New World studios. But when it came to on-screen talent, one of the longest and most diverse careers to emerge from those humble B-movie breeding grounds must be that of craggy-faced actor Dick Miller, a Corman regular who would become a "good luck charm" for many of those future auteurs and a cult favorite.