The Brits excelled at propaganda movies, an awkward genre that nonetheless produced a handful of classics -- say, Noel Coward's "In Which We Serve" and the Archers' "The 49th Parallel." MIA from the brisk U.K. propaganda effort was one Alfred Hitchcock, the director who'd found fame combining dark British sensibilities with German … [Read more...]
13 Hitchcock films debuting on Blu-ray
Thirteen films directed by Alfred Hitchcock will make their debut on Blu-ray as part of Universal's Sept. 25 release of "The Masterpiece Collection." The headlines will be for the long-awaited Blu-ray bows of "Rear Window," "The Birds" and "Vertigo." The other HD debuts appear to be "Saboteur," "A Shadow of a Doubt," "Rope," "The Trouble With … [Read more...]
‘Spellbound’ on Blu-ray: a nightmare revived
A man takes scissors to a surrealistic curtain, cutting an eyeball in half. Another man runs across a terrible angular landscape, stalked by a gigantic bird. A faceless tyrant lets slip a warped wheel as the camera slithers into the void of its center hole. Just another day at the office for Salvador Dali, mad genius and painter of the unreal. … [Read more...]
