The filmmaker Fritz Lang found his way to Hollywood in the mid-1930s, having just fled Nazi Germany. After helming a few crime movies and westerns for Fox and MGM, he struck back at the Nazis with "Man Hunt," a 1941 thriller/film noir that opens with Adolph Hitler in the crosshairs of a rifle. "Man Hunt" flirted with violations of the U.S. … [Read more...]
‘Little Rascals’: The kids are all right, still
"The Little Rascals" was the original after-school special, seemingly on a local TV loop that ran every day of the week. Those kids and that dog were everywhere. The shorts looked old even in the 1950s and '60s, and the adults insisted on calling them "Our Gang" comedies, but no one seemed to mind: These inventive kids from the past always were … [Read more...]
Chris Marker on DVD: Things to come
Chris Marker doesn't fit into any of the buckets or boxes we use to contain and categorize filmmakers. The operative description seems to be "cine-essayist" -- but even that open-ended bag feels too conventional. Most of the now-elderly French artist's films are documentaries, of sorts, but they're relentlessly personal, subjective and … [Read more...]
‘Two Fat Ladies’: Yummo cooking on DVD
"Two Fat Ladies" waddled over to these shores in the mid 1990s, adding spice to what was already an eclectic mix on the Food Network. Back then, "Iron Chef" was fresh and the "Fat Ladies" were, well, phat. After 1999, the Food Network branded itself into blandness, and, alas, the Fat Ladies cooked no more. Jennifer Paterson, the lady who drove … [Read more...]
Uneasy riders: ‘The Furies’ on Criterion
Anthony Mann looks like the man of the year on DVD. The late director's "El Cid" and "The Fall of the Roman Empire" received the regal treatment from The Weinstein Co. as it debuted its new Miriam DVD collection. Despite some quibbling, these are considered two of the year's best home video titles. Now comes "The Furies," Mann's emotionally … [Read more...]
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