Category: EDITOR’S BLOG
Bye Bye Birdie & Ann-Margrock
New at the beginning of this annoyingly chilly week – a review of Bye Bye Birdie (1963), George Sidney’s blazing Technicolor film version of the surreal, satirical Broadway musical. Twilight Time’s Blu-ray looks & sounds gorgeous, and Ann-Marget (“Ann-Margrock” to others) leaps from the TV and screams at you in DTS!
New Production Diaries at Big Head Amusements / Thoughts on International Independent Videostore Day
In the latest Editor’s Blog: some compact thoughts & digressions about International Independent Videostore Day, which marked its second year this past Saturday October 2th. Yes Virginia, video stores still exist. Quite a few of them, really.
Packaged Goods and Fall / Winter TIFF Bell Lightbox Highlights!
Quick review of this past Wednesday’s Packaged Goods: The Evolution of the Music Video, and highlights of the Fall / Winter programmes at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Besides Bond there’s Indian Expressionism (Lang!), other spy films (Puppet on a Chain!), post-apocalyptic dystopian nihilism (Logan’s Run!), zombies, slashers, opera, exhibits, and many other great films on Fridays & Saturdays I won’t be able to see.
Detroit on the Big Screen
Editorial blather plus Reviews of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Detropia (2012), which screened at HotDocs this year and finally gets its theatrical run in Toronto at The Bloor alongside a related doc by Julien Temple, Requiem for Detroit? (2010), made for the BBC.
Soundtrack News & Reviews
Reviews of BSX Records’ well-done re-recording of Vangelis’ Blade Runner score + Cliff Martinez’ Arbitrage (Milan Records), and quick soundtrack news.
The Mystique of Denmark’s The Killing / Forbrydelsen
Review of the Danish TV series The Killing / Forbrydelsen: Season 1, which U.S. network AMC recently remade with very mixed results. Søren Sveistrup’s 3-season series is superb, and Sophie Gråbøl found the role of her career as divorced single mom Det. Lund in this lengthy ode to complex, infuriating and addictive detective thrillers.
One Last Buh-Buh Bah-Boo
Some quick TIFF Bell Lightbox news, and a review of Twilight Time’s High Time (1960), one of Bing Crosby’s last major roles during the sixties, co-starring a bevy of young snots including Fabian, Tuesday Weld, Yvonne Craig, and Richard Beymer.
Fascist Visions
A salute to fascism on screen – via The Hunger Games (Alliance / Lionsgate) and Anchor Bay’s Battle Royale: The Complete Collection – plus new images of North Korea’s Ruygyong Hotel, aka The Hotel of Doom, aka the Ugliest Building in the World!
William Faulkner on film, Sam Sniderman passes away
Film reviews of The Sound and the Fury (Twilight Time) on Blu and The Long, Hot Summer (Fox) on DVD, each based on material by impenetrable writer William Faulkner, plus news of Sam Sniderman’s passing – bigwig of Sam the Recordman
They’re Twins… of EVIL!
Blu-ray review of Synapse’s swanky Twins of Evil (1971), the latest in the label’s HD Hammer horror series.
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