Mike Clark
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Man Without a Star’ and ’10 North Frederick’
Man Without a Star Kino Lorber, Western, $29.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor, William Campbell, Richard Boone. 1955. Released without too much fanfare but given some pacing oomph by a legendary director who’d found himself needing work (King Vidor), this cattle-heavy Western with sex is a Kirk Douglas vehicle through and … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Man Without a Star’ and ’10 North Frederick’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Wagon Master’ and ‘Pittsburgh’
Wagon Master Available via Warner Archive Warner, Western, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey, Jr., Ward Bond. 1950. For a Western that’s in all ways modest (quality excepted), Wagon Master is rated extraordinarily high in the John Ford canon by people who know or knew. Extras: Harry Carey Jr. joins Peter … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Wagon Master’ and ‘Pittsburgh’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Man Without a Star’ and ’10 North Frederick’
Man Without a Star Kino Lorber, Western, $29.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor, William Campbell, Richard Boone. 1955. Released without too much fanfare but given some pacing oomph by a legendary director who’d found himself needing work (King Vidor), this cattle-heavy Western with sex is a Kirk Douglas vehicle through and … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Man Without a Star’ and ’10 North Frederick’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Wagon Master’ and ‘Pittsburgh’
Wagon Master Available via Warner Archive Warner, Western, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey, Jr., Ward Bond. 1950. For a Western that’s in all ways modest (quality excepted), Wagon Master is rated extraordinarily high in the John Ford canon by people who know or knew. Extras: Harry Carey Jr. joins Peter … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Wagon Master’ and ‘Pittsburgh’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation’ and ‘Easy Living’
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation PBS, Documentary, $24.99 DVD, NR. 2019. Never underestimate the power of a doc when filmmakers (the director here is Barak Goodman) have a trove of on-the-spot archival footage on hand. Read the Full Review Easy Living Kino Lorber, Comedy, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Ray … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation’ and ‘Easy Living’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Footlight Parade’ and ‘Wild in the Country’
Footlight Parade Available via Warner Archive Warner, Musical, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell 1933. Footlight Parade was 1933’s third Busby Berkeley extravaganza released by Warner Bros. in a seven-month period, but this one had a surprise. Of all people, given his screen-gangster resumé, here was James Cagney headlining … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Footlight Parade’ and ‘Wild in the Country’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Klute’ and ‘The Leopard Man’
Klute Criterion, Drama, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, ‘R.’ Stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Roy Scheider, Charles Cioffi. 1971. Released in relatively stealth fashion during a unforgettable movie summer, Alan J. Pakula’s Klute is a psychological drama wrapped in thriller/mystery trappings rather than a thriller/mystery per se — which possibly resulted in its being underrated at … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Klute’ and ‘The Leopard Man’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘The Wild Heart’ and ‘Bandolero!’
The Wild Heart/Gone to Earth Kino Lorber, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Jennifer Jones, David Farrar, Cyril Cusack. 1952/1950. Kino Classics’ cover art trumpets The Wild Heart, the U.S. edit of the perpetually snakebitten Gone to Earth, which indisputably is the main event here despite being relegated to adjacent fine print on the … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Wild Heart’ and ‘Bandolero!’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘A Patch of Blue’ and ‘This Island Earth’
A Patch of Blue Available via Warner Archive Warner, Drama, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Hartman, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford. 1965. A Patch of Blue is at once a star vehicle for Sidney Poitier plus a terrific ensemble piece, though its No. 1 takeaway is still Elizabeth Hartman’s knock-you-on-your-duff performance in what is … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘A Patch of Blue’ and ‘This Island Earth’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Gaslight’ and ‘Mother Wore Tights’
Gaslight Available via Warner Archive Warner, Mystery, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Dame May Whitty. 1944. MGM’s superbly cast George Cukor remake of a 1940 British film is definitely a classic, a stylish mystery about a wastrel who marries a delicate woman for her inheritance, which is mostly wrapped up … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Gaslight’ and ‘Mother Wore Tights’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Can’t Stop the Music’ and ‘Rider on the Rain’
Can’t Stop the Music Shout! Factory, Musical, $29.95 Blu-ray, ‘PG.’ Stars Bruce Jenner, Valerine Perrine, The Village People, Steve Guttenberg. 1980. Feel-good Can’t Stop the Music has all the makings of a cult movie with the passage of time, but its disco DNA ultimately might have been a commercial liability in its time as it … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Can’t Stop the Music’ and ‘Rider on the Rain’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Between the Lines’ and ‘Warlock’
Between the Lines Street Date 6/18/19 Cohen, Comedy, $29.98 Blu-ray, ‘R.’ Stars John Heard, Lindsay Crouse, Jeff Goldblum, Gwen Welles. 1977. As an easygoing, era-specific comedy that both lauded and poked mild fun at the disillusioned hip, Joan Micklin Silver’s Between the Lines (with a knowing script by Fred Barron) also had at least a … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Between the Lines’ and ‘Warlock’”