"You're not too smart, are you?" the femme fatale of "Body Heat" says to the fall guy. "I like that in a man." Can't boil down film noir any better than that. The line comes from Lawrence Kasdan, circa 1980, who had bet big on the mostly forgotten genre for his first directing project. Kasdan was holding aces after writing "Raiders of the Lost … [Read more...]
Archives for 2006
‘Jayne Mansfield Collection’ on DVD, ‘Some Like It Hot’
Fox's "Jayne Mansfield Collection" celebrates an artist whose bold films of the mid-'50s have mostly faded from cinematic consciousness -- obscured by lesser movies that followed and the hangover from an unfair reputation. That artist was Frank Tashlin, the crazy-cool director of "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" … [Read more...]
‘Phil Silvers Show’ saluted on DVD
Count your fingers and check your wallet after opening "The Phil Silvers Show" box set. Hear that strangled cry, kind of like a drill sergeant caught in a bear trap? It means the con is on. The fix is in. Master Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko is back in the game. The show opens in mythical Fort Baxter, Kan., circa 1955. The Army base has a commander, but … [Read more...]
‘The Searchers’ finds new life on DVD
No one needs an excuse to revisit the "The Searchers." Here's one anyway: Warner's newly restored and remastered version of the 1956 John Ford-John Wayne masterpiece finally brings home the film in an approximation of its original theatrical glory. Colors are remarkable, and images seem complete. Owners of previous versions should upgrade without … [Read more...]
‘The Passenger’: Antonioni’s rocky road movie
Jack Nicholson says the making of Michelangelo Antonioni's "The Passenger" was "the biggest adventure in filming I ever had in my life." That's saying plenty and probably explains why the actor did his first solo commentary for the DVD. "It's very hard for me to separate the experience of making the movie from the movie itself," he says. For the … [Read more...]