Mike Clark
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘The Naked Prey’ and ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba’
The Naked Prey Criterion, Drama, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Cornel Wilde, Ken Gampu, Gert van den Bergh. 1966. Of his eight forays into directing, actor Cornel Wilde’s best known feature remains The Naked Prey, which, among other things, became a model of drive-in entertainment in the summer of its release, about a safari guide on … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Naked Prey’ and ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Art School Confidential’ and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’
Art School Confidential Street 11/6/18; MVD, Comedy, $24.95 Blu-ray, ‘R.’ Stars Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent. 2006. Something of a halfway follow-up to Ghost World, Art School Confidential remains the last feature to date of Terry Zwigoff, full of been-there comic observations that give Confidential a distinct point of view. Extras: This … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Art School Confidential’ and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘The Naked Prey’ and ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba’
The Naked Prey Criterion, Drama, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Cornel Wilde, Ken Gampu, Gert van den Bergh. 1966. Of his eight forays into directing, actor Cornel Wilde’s best known feature remains The Naked Prey, which, among other things, became a model of drive-in entertainment in the summer of its release, about a safari guide on … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Naked Prey’ and ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Art School Confidential’ and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’
Art School Confidential Street 11/6/18; MVD, Comedy, $24.95 Blu-ray, ‘R.’ Stars Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent. 2006. Something of a halfway follow-up to Ghost World, Art School Confidential remains the last feature to date of Terry Zwigoff, full of been-there comic observations that give Confidential a distinct point of view. Extras: This … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Art School Confidential’ and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Shampoo’ and ‘Queen of Outer Space’
Shampoo Criterion, Comedy, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden, Lee Grant. 1975. Once perceived and basically sold as a sex comedy conceived to trade in on star/co-producer Warren Beatty’s then real-life rep as Hollywood’s predominant anti-monk, Shampoo now looks amazingly prescient and, thus, a whole lot more … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Shampoo’ and ‘Queen of Outer Space’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Man Who Cheated Himself’
The Day of the Jackal Street 9/25/18 MVD/Arrow, Drama, $39.95 Blu-ray, ‘PG.’ Stars Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig. 1973. Adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s fictional novel dealing with a paid assassin’s attempted 1962 assassination of French president Charles De Gaulle, an outstanding screenplay delineates a lot of complex material in ways that always keeps us … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Man Who Cheated Himself’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘My Man Godfrey’ and ‘The Last Hunt’
My Man Godfrey Street Date 9/18/18 Criterion, Comedy, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, Alice Brady, Eugene Pallette. 1936. With My Man Godfrey’s light-touch treatment of a serious underlying subject (the Depression) and a cast of characters that “loopy” doesn’t even begin to describe, there are about a dozen … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘My Man Godfrey’ and ‘The Last Hunt’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’ and ‘Village of the Damned’
Tucker: The Man and His Dream Lionsgate, Drama, $14.99 Blu-ray, ‘PG.’ Stars Jeff Bridges, Martin Landau, Joan Allen, Frederick Forrest. 1988. Aptly and often characterized as a screen biography with direct applications to its director’s own life and psyche, Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man and His Dream feels totally fanciful, but a consistent directorial … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’ and ‘Village of the Damned’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Trapeze’ and ‘Never So Few’
Trapeze Street 9/25/18 Kino Lorber, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado, Thomas Gomez. 1956. Trapeze was a big deal at the time for boomer kids who wanted to see real stars, plus kinetic scenes where the mechanics of flying are explained. Extras: Includes a very strong … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Trapeze’ and ‘Never So Few’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘Irma La Douce’ and ‘Strait-Jacket’
Irma La Douce Kino Lorber, Comedy, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi. 1963. As both the most commercially successful movie Billy Wilder ever enjoyed and, paradoxically, the last box office hit of his career, Irma La Douce seems like something of a benchmark oddity when viewed from 55 years of perspective. Extras: The … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Irma La Douce’ and ‘Strait-Jacket’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘I, Jane Doe’ and ‘Black Peter’
I, Jane Doe Kino Lorber, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $24.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Ruth Hussey, John Carroll, Vera Ralston, John How. 1948. Even by the standards of shaky ‘A’-picture melodramas, Republic Pictures’ I, Jane Doe is a whopper packed with wall-to-wall coincidences and improbabilities right up to its final courtroom histrionics. Read the Full Review Black … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘I, Jane Doe’ and ‘Black Peter’”
-
Mike’s Picks: ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’
A Matter of Life and Death Criterion, Fantasy, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey. 1946. You can watch Matter multiple times and always see something new or be affected by a shot or minor detail that didn’t make a direct hit previously. Extras: In addition to Stephanie … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’”