“A bit of a noir-by-numbers, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy the thrill ride of Drive a Crooked Road. Sure, the plot is the basic building blocks of a film noir, but it’s nice little B-level entry in Mickey Rooney’s filmography that careens through its brief running time with no fat on t” read more
“I suppose this is a noir film, in a mild sense, but its so bonkers and esoteric in its story beats that it quickly veers into horror proximity. So Dark the Night, director Joseph H. Lewis’ sophomore slump, is a weird, shapeless thing. I’m not sure if its pretentions or what, but So Dark th” read more
“Less a traditional film noir than an arty psychological melodrama with a noir aesthetic, My Name is Julia Ross is a kindred spirit to the likes of Gaslight and Rebecca. While it distinctly ranks as the bronze medalist between the trio, My Name is Julia Ross is still a solidly made thriller. So” read more
“1939 truly was a golden year for the studio era and for American film. Here is a bonafide classic filled with memorable musical moments, elaborate camerawork, a stunning juvenile performance from Judy Garland, and the whole thing runs so effortlessly and smoothly that it seems over just as it was st” read more
“It both seems entirely odd and somehow appropriate that Ernst Lubitsch’s yuletide romantic comedy, The Shop Around the Corner, would get the MGM musical makeover. While it is inferior to the original source material, In the Good Old Summertime is a solid, pleasing excursion through the story with ” read more
“Richard Jenkins, you’re a well-liked character actor with two Oscar nominations. What are you doing in this mess? Kim Basinger, you won an Oscar. I’m pretty confident you could do better than playing “the mom” to a high schooler in a generic sport’s drama. It’s a bit hilarious to watch K” read more
“Ah, these cornpone musicals are delightfully hokey and corny. I mean, here’s a big musical starring Judy Garland with a tagline about “how the fairer sex conquered the Old West!” Deep or memorable art this is not, but it’s a pleasant way to spend two hours. The Harvey Girls offers up a ” read more
“For Me and My Gal is mainly remembered for two different reasons: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. This was Kelly’s first film role, and it makes a stellar first impression, and a transitional role for Garland. Here she was changing over from the girl-next-door parts to an ingenue and taking on more g” read more
“While other compilations have eclipsed this one, The Best of Blondie remains one hell of an album. The de facto and defining summary of the band’s power pop and disco-punk for years, The Best of Blondie is winnowed down to the absolute essentials. No wrong note and nary an ounce of fat to be found” read more
“Just in time for Blondie’s 2006 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came this combo release: one disc of greatest hits, one disc of music videos. Yet there’s a pervading sense of wheel spinning here. Other compilation albums have managed the neat trick of feeling complete, but this one” read more
The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story
“Even by the already slim standards of direct-to-video and/or made-for-TV Disney movies, The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story is particularly grim. It occupies a no man’s land between the animated film and the original text by dropping many of the inventions of the studio, no King Louie or “Bare Nec” read more
“This feels like a coherent animated horror anthology than a collage of Raúl García’s various influences and cinematic obsessions writ large. The inherent “cool factor” involved in watching short films of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous stories narrated by the likes of Christopher Lee and Bela Lug” read more
“The straight-to-video sequel franchise, a cannibalistic enterprise that the Disney studio has mercifully reframed from, is often a glimpse into piggybacking off borrowed shine. These films aren’t good or strong enough to stand on their own, so they shove already known entities into strange shapes ” read more
Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party
“Cab Calloway’s Jitterbug Party’s is a perfectly serviceable musical short that needed some visual imagination to match the high-octane energy of the music and performers. Cursed with a point-and-shoot style that several early sound musicals are doomed with, Jitterbug Party nearly undermines the ” read more