The Blues Brothers: Two white TV comics who dared to sing the blues and, incredibly, came out king bees. John Belusi and Dan Aykroyd's R&B musical plays like a honey-dipped harp, even after 30 years. Now it's enshrined in HD with Universal's Blu-ray release of "The Blues Brothers." Fans of the "Saturday Night Live" comics and the giants of … [Read more...]
‘Topsy-Turvy’ while turning Japanese
Topsy-turvy turned into a downer. "Princess Ida" came up short on charm. And so Gilbert & Sullivan's partnership neared collapse. Such is the setup for Mike Leigh's "Topsy Turvy," the delightful 1999 biopic about the masters of comic opera and the making of their "The Mikado." The Criterion Collection has rereleased "Topsy-Turvy" on Blu-ray … [Read more...]
Blu-ray review: ‘The Sound of Music’
The hills are alive with "The Sound of Music" -- and a dusting of serious grain. That's the good and bad news about the long-awaited Blu-ray debut of the Julie Andrews classic. Previous home video versions of the 1965 musical failed to truly dazzle due to the source materials' age-related defects. Fox’s new Blu-ray eliminates most of the … [Read more...]
Hooray for Bollywood movies online
I love Bollywood. What would suck out loud in the States -- zippy music, loud costumes and Metos-fresh teens -- routinely comes across as pretty cool. Musical numbers just break out for no reason, everyone on the street jumps in, just like Mickey & Judy. My favorite film from India is a cheesy thriller called "The Fog" (not the one you're … [Read more...]
