Fifty
years after his one remarkable turn as Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, George Lazenby returns to the fertile ground of international
espionage in Passport to Oblivion, a
new audio thriller by the UK’s Spiteful Puppet Company, based on James Leasor‘s highly successful novel
of the same name.
Lazenby
plays Jason Love, a quiet country doctor with a VERY adventurous WWII
past.But when MI6 needs his help, Love
can’t refuse the call in this thriller that’s set in 1964. (David Niven played
Dr. Love on the big screen in the 1966 feature film Where the Spies Are.)
As
Lazenby says, “What’s interesting about this character is he’s a reluctant spy
rather than a Double-O-Agent. Oh, and he’s Australian. I reckon I can play
Australian rather well!â€
The all-star cast also includes Glynis Barber, Nickolas Grace, Michael
Brandon and Terence Stamp
– a lineup that even impressed the former 007, who said, “I’ve been surrounded by a pretty amazing cast, who it will
be a pleasure working with.â€
As
the first actor to take on one of cinema’s
most iconic roles after Sean Connery moved on, Passport to Oblivion marks another Lazenby first – “It will be
interesting to step into the world of audio and declare it another first for
me, making my debut in that discipline.“
And
you can pre-order the limited-edition 2-Disc set, due for release on 29November
2019, here:
Spiteful
Puppet has the option to the 9 other Jason Love novels, so there’s a very good
chance this spy story won’t be a one-off for George Lazenby.Or as the star puts it, “Maybe I’ll do more
than one this time?â€
On
second thought, don’t rewind this tape. Destroy it! Don’t let anyone in your
family watch it!
The
phenomenon known as “J-Horror,†or Japanese Horror, had been brewing for
decades (Kwaidan, anyone?), but it was Hideo Nakata’s Ringu (“Ringâ€)
in 1998 that jumpstarted the movement. Motion pictures of the ilk are usually
derived from ghost stories, Japanese folklore, and revenge tales, mixed with a
modern horror-film sensibility, a dash of gruesomeness, and often a creepy
dripping-wet ghost-girl (a yūrei)with long
black hair covering her face coming to get you in your dreams or out of, say, a
television set, in your waking hours.
Ringu
spawned
a franchise in and of itself, with eight films in total, two television series,
six manga adaptations, five international film remakes, and two video games.
It’s
only fair to acknowledge author Koji Suzuki’s 1991 novel and its subsequent
sequels to form the initial trilogy, and then three later books in the
universe. There was also an earlier made for television feature, Ring:
Kanzenban, in 1995 that did little to advance the property. Only after the
massive success of the first theatrically released feature did the thing take
off. The original Ringu and its first sequel, Rasen, mostly follow
the books, whereas the rest of the movies went in another direction.
Most
people in the West probably know the franchise from Gore Verbinski’s Hollywood
remake, The Ring, starring Naomi Watts(2002, and it’s a good one).
Nevertheless, the Japanese originals are worth investigating, especially for
viewers who are horror film buffs. Arrow Video has released a Blu-ray box set
of the first four pictures in the series to satisfy this audience, and the
product is a delight.
Disk
One: Ringu, directed by Hideo Nakata. It’s the story of a videotape that
kills people who watch it. As soon as someone views the tape, the phone rings. A
voice remarks, “Seven days.†Then, seven days later, the ghost of a young
woman, Sadako Yamamura, who was thrown by her own father into a well to die thirty
years earlier, appears and kills the viewer. There’s a way out, though… but
that won’t be revealed here.
While
the use of a VHS videotape as the object of menace is today dated and quaint,
the ideas behind the story are still potent. This is an unsettling little
movie. It of course didn’t have the kind of budget that the American remake
had, but that could be why the picture is so effective. Nakata’s direction is
pitch-perfect, with no cheap jump-scares or gratuitous gore. Ringu works
by way of the suspense and sense of surreal macabre that it generates.
Arrow
presents the feature in a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera
negative (approved by DP Junichiro Hayashi), and the 1080p high definition looks
marvelous. The soundtrack is a lossless Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and
PCM 2.0, with optional English subtitles. It’s accompanied by a new audio
commentary by film historian David Kalat.
The
supplements are plentiful—“The Ringu Legacy†is a series of interviews from
critics and filmmakers on the Ringu series; “A Vicious Circle†is all
about the career of director Nakata; “Circumnavigating Ringu†is an interesting
video essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on the evolution of
the series; a stand-alone clip of Sadako’s video; and theatrical trailers. A
reversible sleeve with commissioned artwork and the theatrical poster adorns
the jewel case.
Disk
Two: Ringu 2, directed by Hideo Nakata,and Rasen,
directed by George Iida. The first sequel to Ringu was Rasen (“Spiralâ€),
a true adaptation of Suzuki’s second book in the series. Oddly, it was released
in theaters simultaneously with Ringu in order to push the films into
franchise mode. While Rasen is a fine film, it bombed, while Ringu became
an international hit. Rasen was relegated to forgotten status and was
for some time suppressed as the sequel to Ringu. Its story continues
with the investigation into the history of the videotape and Sadako’s tragic
life, and the picture features some of the same actors from Ringu. It’s
not bad, but it’s true that it doesn’t have the impact of the first movie.
To
rebound, the studio immediately commissioned Nakata and much of the team from Ringu
to quickly make a “proper†sequel, which was called Ringu 2 and
released in 1999. Like Rasen, it begins at the end of Ringu, but
then explores new mythology behind the story. There are characters and actors
held over, but new ones are introduced as well. Ringu 2 is quite good
(better than Rasen, to be sure), but attempting to top Ringu is a
tall order. Nevertheless, the eerie factor is up to 11, and there is some
striking imagery throughout.
Although
Buster Keaton had starred in two feature films (and directed one of them), it
wasn’t until the release of Our Hospitality in late 1923 that he
established himself as a major force of cinema to rival the likes of Chaplin.
Of course, he had already starred in and directed numerous shorts, all of which
served to build his reputation—but it is this beautifully-rendered silent
classic that is considered the auteur’s first masterpiece.
The
story takes place in the early 1800s and draws upon a rural family feud like the
Hatfields and McCoys—in this case the McKays and Canfields. When patriarch John
McKay is killed by James Canfield (and vice versa), Mrs. McKay flees with
little baby Willie McKay (played by Buster’s real-life infant son, Buster
Keaton Jr.). Twenty years later, Willie inherits the old family estate in the
south and returns to claim it, only vaguely aware of the feud that has existed
for decades. On the way he meets Virginia (played by Keaton’s wife at the time,
Natalie Talmadge), who happens to be a Canfield. Upon arrival at home, Willie
continues to court Virginia, but her brothers won’t have it. The rest of the
picture is a cats-and-mouse game of Willie avoiding being killed and at the
same time wooing the woman he wants to marry.
There
are many striking aspects about the picture. Keaton’s paid great attention to
detail in the design and location shooting. Apparently, he took great pains to
create realistic locomotives and tracks that depicted early train development
in America (although he played with time period accuracy for the sake of more
interesting visuals). The final act contains some spectacular and hair-raising
stunt work by the star, including an incident of falling into rapids and almost
drowning on camera. Mostly, though, the story is well-constructed, the
characters have more depth than in the other silent comedies of the day, and,
in the end, Our Hospitality is one of Keaton’s most satisfying movies.
Interestingly,
it’s the only Keaton film to feature three generations of Keatons—Buster
himself, his previously-mentioned son, and his father, Joe Keaton, as a train
engineer.
Kino
Classics presents a beautiful grey and sepia-toned 1920x1080p restoration with
a 2.0 stereo soundtrack and a score composed and conducted by Robert Israel. A
fascinating audio commentary by film historians Farran Smith Nehme and Imogen
Sara Smith accompanies the feature. Supplements include a rare 1947 short, Un
duel à mort (A Duel to the Death) starring Keaton; The
Iron Mule, a short from 1925 that Keaton produced (uncredited) and features
some of his locomotive creations; a featurette on the background of Our
Hospitality with Serge Bromberg; and an excellent featurette on the scoring
of the film, narrated by Robert Israel. The booklet contains an essay by
Jeffrey Vance.
Our
Hospitality
is yet another superb release from Kino Classics, a highlight in the fabulous
filmography of the inimitable Buster Keaton.
The
Thin Man,
the film released in 1934 and based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1933 novel, was so massively
popular that it spawned a series of five more pictures, a radio series, a television
series, a remake, a stage play, and a stage musical. It’s arguably the best
of the “Thins†in that it was fresh, original, and featured a unique, comic,
almost screwball approach to the main characters of Nick and Nora Charles.
Granted, screwball comedies are, by definition, stories about mismatched
couples, whereas Nick and Nora are so perfectly suitable for each other that
they can finish each other’s lines, take turns playing straight man while the
other quips, and can compete together in the consumption of alcohol (and not a
scene goes by without drinks in the hands of our protagonists).
One
couldn’t ask for better casting. William Powell and Myrna Loy embodied their
roles so perfectly that they were forever identified with them, despite having separately
made dozens of other types of pictures. Their witty banter, their palpable
affection for each other, their intelligence, and their evident chemistry made
the film and its sequels successes.
The
picture has a terrific supporting cast as well. Maureen O’Sullivan is the
harried daughter of the titular character (no, “the Thin Man†is not Nick
Charles, although public perception has always seemed to mistakenly connect the
series title to Powell’s role), and she is suitably emotional and fraught.
Minna Gombell, as her mother, from the get-go is hilariously guilty of something.
Porter Hall, a longtime character actor, is amiable and perfect as the Thin
Man’s attorney, and Nat Pendleton as the police lieutenant in charge of the
case is the tough/dumb guy personified. Even Cesar Romero shows up as one of
the suspects.
The
case in question is a missing persons mystery in which a renowned scientist
(Dr. Wynant, who is tall and thin) hasn’t returned from an alleged extended
business trip, but then his secretary (and, for a time, it is implied, his
mistress while he was married to his ex) is murdered—and then a witness to the
murder is killed. Like many crime stories of the era, the details can be
complicated, but the filmmaking briskly sails over them such that the audience
doesn’t have time to think about it or question what is happening. Hence, there
are holes in the plot—but who cares? It’s too much fun. Best to get a couple of
martinis—or six—and enjoy them as Nick and Nora put together the clues and
finally solve the case at a classic dinner party sequence at which all the
suspects have gathered.
Oh,
and don’t forget that scene stealer fox terrier, Asta, who accompanies Nick and
Nora wherever they go, even in restaurants that don’t allow dogs.
The
Warner Archive’s high definition transfer is a vast improvement over Warner’s
previous DVD release—it merits the upgrade. Supplements include the season two
premiere of the 1957-59 television series that starred Peter Lawford as Nick
and Phyllis Kirk as Nora (yes, this thing was on the air for two seasons!), and
it’s… okay… but it’s worth a look for curiosity’s sake. Additional extras are the
1936 Lux Radio Theater audio broadcast starring Powell and Loy, and the
theatrical trailer.
The
Thin Man received
Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Powell), Best Director (W. S.
Van Dyke), and Writing/Adaptation (by the husband and wife team of Frances
Goodrich and Albert Hackett), but it didn’t take home the gold in any category.
Nevertheless, the new Blu-ray release of the motion picture is indeed a winner.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE
John
Carpenter’s Halloween was supposed to
be a one-off… a small, disposable horror movie that would give some young
filmmakers a break and its backers a nice hit of cash should it succeed.But a one-off it was not.Instead it became an American classic, which
until a few years ago, was the most successful indie movie of all time.It’s a story that cried out for a book – and
now there is one: Halloween: The Changing Shape Of An Iconic Series by
Ernie Magnotta.
This
deeply researched, 378 page oversize paperback illustrates Magnotta’s
enthusiasm for the films and the genre on every page.He goes through the franchise, film by film,
examining the plots, the key sequences, the cinematography, the music and, of
course, the characters and the actors who portray them. Even the changing face of Michael’s iconic
mask is examined and discussed. Like all fans, Magnotta has strong opinions and
isn’t afraid to share them.For example,
he picks apart the rather confusing ending of Halloween 6, which this writer saw in the theaters and couldn’t
quite get, either. He also looks at the
various plot holes and inconsistencies that crop up over the long course of the
series, which have caused die-hard Halloween
fans no small amount of agida over the years. That said, the book is not a
hatchet job by any means.It praises the
great work done by directors, actors and cinematographers as well as the many inventive
scares – crucial elements that helped make this one of horror’s most successful
and beloved franchises.
The
book contains over 200 color photos, as well as a number of posters and rare
lobby cards. Magnotta also thoughtfully includes film reviews of each title,
giving the reader a taste of how each movie was received during its initial
release.With the, er, monster success of Blumhouse’s 2018 Halloween reboot, this franchise is far
from dead – and Ernie Magnotta’s book is the perfect guide.
One
might not expect James Cagney to become the Phantom of the Opera or the Hunchback
of Notre Dame, but he did, and it’s… convincing enough. Cagney, of course, is
playing the great Lon Chaney, i.e., Lon Chaney Sr., the silent film star
who created the iconic make-up imagery for those two characters that is still
emblazoned in our collective consciousness.
Man
of a Thousand Faces,
released in 1957, is a good biopic about Chaney, and it benefits greatly from
Cagney’s presence. The picture begins with Chaney’s early work in vaudeville,
where he meets his wife Cleva (Dorothy Malone). That relationship will prove to
be a turbulent and tragic one. Much of the biopic focuses on the melodrama that
existed in the couple’s relationship, and only later does Chaney, as an
afterthought, fall into the motion picture business. Then we see his phenomenal
rise to fame and success with a series of ingenious make-up transformations
that caused Americans to tell the old joke: “Look a bug!†“Careful, don’t step
on it! It might be Lon Chaney!â€
Suffice
it to say that Cagney’s star power elevates the picture. It’s a role he took on
late in his career, and he throws a great deal of energy and intelligence into
it. The conversions into the various monsters and unusual beings that Chaney
played were done mostly with masks instead of the original meticulously applied
make-up (which was often painful to wear), but enough of the actor shines
through to present a dynamic performance.
Dorothy
Malone as the long-suffering wife, and mother of Lon Chaney Jr. (who started
out as Creighton Chaney), is also winning, and Jane Greer as second wife Hazel embodies
a very different persona from what we know of her in the excellent film noir, Out
of the Past. Cagney’s sister Jeanne plays Lon’s sister, Carrie, and an
assortment of familiar Hollywood faces fill out other roles—Jim Backus, Jack
Albertson, and even Robert Evans as Irving Thalberg (!).
Arrow
Academy has been doing excellent high definition releases and have
easily established themselves as a serious competitor to the likes of The
Criterion Collection and Kino Lorber. The feature is a new 1080p restoration from
the original negative with an uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack. There
are optional English subtitles and an audio commentary by the always reliable
Tim Lucas. Supplements include a featurette, “The Man Behind a Thousand Faces,â€
with critic Kim Newman; an image gallery; and the original trailer. The package
has one of Arrow’s signature reversible sleeves with new artwork by Graham
Humphreys backed with the original theatrical poster image. The slick
illustrated booklet contains an essay by Vic Pratt.
All
in all, Arrow has produced a classy presentation, a worthy tribute to both
James Cagney and the inimitable Lon Chaney.
The
Annihilators is a
Spring 1985-lensed action film with lots of action and zero excitement. Coming
on the heels of Ted Kotcheff’s masterful 1982 Vietnam-themed film version of
David Morrell’s 1972 novel, First Blood, which itself spawned several
lifeless sequels including the latest and critically reviled Rambo: Last
Blood a mere 37 years after the superior original. (One cannot help but
think of the Rocky XXXVIII poster seen in 1982’s Airplane II: The
Sequel, and even that film was inferior to its own original). The
admittedly low-budget and bargain-basement Annihilators uses a familiar
theme to string together several long-winded and ultimately soporific action set
pieces that consist primarily of master shots with very little intercutting and
close-ups, but not before we get a credit sequence which sets the appearance of
onscreen names to the sound of machine gun fire. Clever! The 1980s were a time
of teen sex comedies, Freddy Krueger nightmares, and action films. The superior
examples of the latter, Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior (1981), Raiders of
the Lost Ark (1981), and Escape From New York (1981) all paved the
way for the less-than-stellar Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and The Delta
Force (1986).
The
Annihilators concerns
townsfolk and proprietors who find themselves at the mercy of gangs and
hoodlums, specifically The Scorpions, The Turks, and The Rollers. These gangs compete
with each other by coercing the store owners into paying them protection money.
If they’re late or light in the envelope, discipline is doled out with a knife
or a bat. A wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran, already done an injustice by
returning to a society that has no use for him following fighting in an
unwinnable and unpopular war, is killed when coming to another’s rescue. The
leader of The Rollers is Roy Boy Jagger (Paul Koslo) and I must say that I love
that name. It reminds me of Ernest T. Baxter from “The Andy Griffith Showâ€,
however Mr. Koslo infuses the former with exponentially more schoolyard bully menace
than Howard Morris ever did with the latter in the town of Mayberry. Jagger instigates
a rape and kills a female victim in an egregious scene that was initially
censored by international film boards and should have remained that way.
The
brotherhood that the vets have is a tight and lifelong bond because they have
seen things that the average American cannot fathom. We know this because the
film begins with an intro that takes place in the early 1970s that shamelessly
uses stock footage shot during the Vietnam War interspersed with obvious staged
scenes with actors. If you’re a member of the sleaze-film cognoscenti think
of Antonio Margheriti’s Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) and you know exactly
what I mean. Even the artificial explosions are unimpressive. The effort to
infuse this sequence with camaraderie is admirable though ultimately lacking
and is at times silly, especially when the rugged and late actor Christopher
Stone, in a follow-up role to his work in The Howling (1981) and Cujo
(1983), appears here as Bill, the assigned platoon leader who fires off rounds
of ammo while sporting a very obvious 1985 hairstyle. Flash forward to that
very year and it’s Bill who is called to town along with his confederates, two
of whom are Garrett Floyd (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and Ray Track (Gerrit Graham),
to avenge their fallen brother following his funeral. They form factions and
teach the laypeople how to fight. At the center of all of this is Lieutenant Hawkins (Jim Antonio) who
has been brought in to keep the gangs in check. Naturally, it’s a losing
battle, especially since the gunfire that erupts in the streets between the
townsfolk and the thugs go on for minutes at a time with the cops riding in
miraculously at the last minute. The unspoken rule of the police department
seems to be to let these people fight it out in the streets and deal with it
all later and take the credit. The whole affair looks more like an extended episode
of The A-Team than a feature film. Even the truant kids look less like delinquents
and more like a group that was told to run around the corner and act bad while knocking
over some trash cans.
Apparently,
the classic silent features of Buster Keaton are now in public domain, which
explains why more than one DVD/Blu-ray company can do individual restorations
and put them out for consumer consumption. For example, both Kino Video and
Cohen Film Collection have released “new restoration†Blu-ray packages of
Keaton’s films. Cohen sent Cinema Retro some review copies of theirs, so
this review reflects this group’s presentations of these wonderful films that
showcase a genius at large.
In
all three volumes, the titles underwent 4K restorations and look marvelous,
with audio options of 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 5.1 Dolby Digital. The
packaging on Volumes 2 and 3 indicate that the restorations were done by
Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory in association with
Cohen Film Collection—one can assume that Volume 1 is the same.
VOLUME
1 contains The General (1926) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), two
of Keaton’s most celebrated works. Note that The General’s release date
is often cited as 1927, when it was actually released in the U.S. Technically,
though, its premiere was in Japan (!), of all places, in December 1926.
IMDb designates the film’s release as 1926, while many American publications
will say 1927.
The
General (directed
by Keaton and Clyde Bruckman), despite featuring a Civil War-era story in which
the Confederates are the “good guys,†is an unequivocal comic masterpiece,
often named Keaton’s best picture. Keaton is a train engineer named Johnnie,
who is in love with Annabelle (Marion Mack) and a locomotive called the
General. Much of the tale involves Johnnie hustling to get his locomotive back,
as it has been snatched by the Union. Full of action and inventive comedy bits,
The General might be Keaton’s most technically ambitious picture, and
certainly his most expensive ($750,000, which was a huge sum back then).
Surprisingly, the film was not a hit at the time of release, and it set back
Keaton’s stock in the industry. It was only after years of film buff analysis
that The General was rediscovered and awarded the reputation it holds
today.
Steamboat
Bill, Jr.
(directed by Charles Reisner) contains many of the fabulous stunts for which
Keaton is known, such as when a house facade falls over and barely misses him
since he was standing precisely where an open window was positioned. Keaton is
William Canfield Jr., and his father “Steamboat Bill,†owns a luxury steamboat
that is in competition with Jr.’s girlfriend’s father’s ship. The movie is a
game of one-upmanship between the rivals, with the usual mis-matched romance
and action hijinks. Some may consider this sacrilege, but I prefer Steamboat
Bill, Jr. over The General!
Both
films feature orchestral scores by Carl Davis. Supplements are two shorts
seemingly excerpted from Peter Bogdanovich’s 2018 documentary, The Great
Buster—“Reflections on The General†and “Buster Keaton: The
Luminaryâ€, plus trailers for both films. Oddly, the illustrated inner booklet
contains the credits for Steamboat Bill, Jr. but leaves out The
General.
Cinema Retro has been apprised of the forthcoming release
of the new film Spirits in the Forest, a documentary that follows six of the
most dedicated fans of the electronic band Depeche Mode, which was formed in
Basildon, Essex, England in 1980. Ranked at number 98 by VH1 in December 2016
on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Depeche Mode has
played to millions of fans the world over, with hits ranging from “Just Can’t
Get Enough†(1981) to “People Are People†(1984) to “Suffer Well†(2005) to
“Precious†(2005) to their latest album Spirit in (2017).
Please read the press release below from Trafalgar
Releasing, the company that released the Rush theatrical extravaganza Cinema
Strangiato in August.
London, UK, September 26: Depeche Mode, along with
Trafalgar Releasing, Sony Music Entertainment and BBH Entertainment, today have
launched the official film trailer for Depeche Mode: SPIRITS in the
Forest, with cinema tickets for the worldwide November 21 release now
available at spiritsintheforest.com.
The brand new feature-length film, directed by award-winning filmmaker and
long-time artistic collaborator Anton Corbijn, Depeche Mode: SPIRITS in
the Forest, delves deeply into the emotional stories of six
special Depeche Mode fans from across the globe, giving audiences a
unique look into music’s incredible power to connect and empower people. Along
with these key fan stories, the film integrates performance footage from the
two final shows of the band’s 2017/2018 Global Spirit Tour, which saw them play
to over 3 million fans at 115 performance dates around the world.
SPIRITS in the Forest will be screened in more than 2,400 cinemas
around the world on November 21. Tickets are on-sale from today at
spiritsintheforest.com, where fans can find the most up-to-date information
regarding participating theaters and sign up for event alerts.