Blogs
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Talk of Replication Backlog Recalls Good Ol’ Days
I’m hearing rumblings from various quarters about a replication backlog on discs. Whether it’s because of the enormous demands of the game business or just an unrecognized and continued demand for physical media during the holidays, it reminds me of the glory days of disc, when replicators could not keep up with orders. More than … Continue reading “Talk of Replication Backlog Recalls Good Ol’ Days”
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Thanks, Stan Lee, and Excelsior!
Stanley Martin Lieber, otherwise known to the world as Stan Lee, passed away Nov. 12 at the age of 95. In the 1960s, he helped grow Marvel Comics into one of the two major comic book publishers (alongside DC Comics), having a hand in the creation of such characters as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor … Continue reading “Thanks, Stan Lee, and Excelsior!”
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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’”
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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’”
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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’”
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Amazon ‘Thursday Night Football’ – Spanish, British English and Women
Lost in the all-day Congressional spectacle involving U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was the first NFL regular season TV broadcast ever exclusively called by women. Veteran sports reporters Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm called the Sept. 27 “Thursday Night Football” featuring the Los Angeles Rams’ 38-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Amazon Prime … Continue reading “Amazon ‘Thursday Night Football’ – Spanish, British English and Women”
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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’”
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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’”
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Here Today, Gone Tomorrow …
The impermanence of the digital world struck home last January when we launched Media Play News and the owners of Home Media Magazine shut down that property’s website. All of a sudden, 17 years worth of stories — dating back to 2000, when what was then Video Store Magazine first appeared on the Internet — … Continue reading “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow …”
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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’”