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...]
‘Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary’ sets
Saturday, Sept. 10, 1955. America's top-gun cowboy star had a few words for CBS viewers. "My name's Wayne. Some of you may have seen me before. I hope so. I've been kicking around Hollywood a long time. I've made a lot of pictures out here. All kinds. Some of them have been westerns, and that's what I'm here to tell you about tonight. A western. … [Read more...]
‘The Wages of Fear’: Heart of ‘extreme blackness’
Henri-Georges Clouzot was a man ahead of his time. With "The Wages of Fear" the French director anticipated the golden age of over-amped, over-budget action films by three or four decades. In 1951, Clouzot abandoned the comfy soundstages of Paris, marching his cast and crew into the rocky hills of southern France. There, his craftsmen built a … [Read more...]
‘Major Dundee’: Peckinpah’s messy misadventure
The history of Sam Peckinpah's "Major Dundee" remains every bit as messy as the film itself. Sony's "Extended Version" of the renegade director's 1965 cavalry western aims to make things as right as they can be, but it's clear that whatever Peckinpah had in mind will never be seen. The restored "Dundee" -- which had a brief pre-DVD theatrical … [Read more...]
‘No Direction Home: Bob Dylan’
"Don't look back," the baseball sage Satchel Paige advised. "Something might be gaining on you." For Bob Dylan in the 1960s, the hellhounds in the rearview were the crush of celebrity and the weight of ridiculous expectations. Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" starts off in Ken Burns territory, using a rich and exquisite mix of … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Next Page »
