Click on small photos for larger views
"BURNT BY THE SUN"

The 1994 Academy Award for best foreign language film deservedly went to this “wonderful, sexy, and involving” (New York Times) drama from Russia. It tells the story (based on true events) of a former Soviet hero whose pastoral and tranquil family life in the country is suddenly targeted by Stalin’s secret police. Nikita Mikhalkov directs and stars as the colonel whose past comes back to haunt him. His adorable real-life daughter will steal your heart as his young daughter in the film. “Visually sumptuous, intellectually stimulating, extraordinarily acted, the movie will burn itself into your memory forever” says one reviewer. In Russian with English subtitles. A beautiful DVD from Columbia Tri-Star.

Max’s Rating: Two paws up and some tail wags.

Classics on DVD

“CASABLANCA”
American movie fans’ favorite romance is back again in a new digital transfer. “Here’s looking at you, kid” never looked better. Four hours of extras include outtakes, two documentaries, commentaries by Roger Ebert and Bogey’s Betty Bacall, a Looney Tunes cartoon spoof of the movie, and the Screen Guild Players radio production of the film.

From Warner Home Video.

“JULES AND JIM”
Francois Truffaut’s lyrical 1962 masterpiece gets a beautiful fully-restored DVD treatment. The ménage-a-trois is heartrenchingly played by Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, and Henri Serre. The Movie Guide critic said: “A celebration both of love and cinema. Moreau gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history.” In French with English subtitles. DVD from Fox Lorber Films, WinStar, and Wellspring.

Max’ rating: Two paws up and some “woo woo’s!”

Off-Beat and Fun

“BARTLEBY”
After Herman Melville gave us Moby Dick, he penned a fascinating socially-conscious short story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” It’s about an 1800s office clerk who refused to do just about everything on the job except tell his boss: “I’d prefer not to.” Crispin Glover stars as Bartleby with David Paymer as his all-suffering boss in this present-day version of the story which the New York Times’ A.O. Scott called “Hilarious!” and Paul Sherman of the Boston Herald said is “An off-kilter delight.” DVD from Outrider Pictures and Wellspring.

Max’s rating: “I’d prefer not to, but if I must, two paws up."

Feel-Good Movie of the Month

 

“BLUE MOON”
If you’ve ever felt the bloom has gone off the rose in your marriage or any other relationship, this movie can help you to re-connect with the feeling you had for someone when you first fell in love with your mate. Ben Gazzara and Rita Moreno play a couple married 40 years wondering whatever happened to their love for each other. They get a very unexpected lesson in love from a young couple who just happen to remind them of themselves and the reasons why they got married. “A warm and pleasant romantic fantasy… has charm and wisdom,” said Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times. From Castle Hill, Winstar, and Wellspring.

Max’s rating: Two paws up.

Suspense of the Month

 

“SPIDER”
This movie might have been a real turn-off with any other star, but Ralph Fiennes, my choice for best movie actor of the year and of many years, steps inside his character and makes you believe he’s alive and in need of your help and compassion. He plays a man released from a mental institution who lives in a halfway house while psychologically revisiting the traumas of his boyhood and trying to find a way to put them behind him. Not a date movie, but an engrossing film worth your watching. “Disturbingly powerful! Ralph Fiennes is amazing!”: Glen Kenny, Premiere. From Columbia Tri-Star.

Max’s rating: Two paws up.

Also Worth Seeing:

“NIJINSKY”
The emotionally tortured diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the greatest male ballet stars and choreographers ever, are visualized in this remarkable film. Sir Derek Jacobi reads from the diaries as the voice of Nijinsky. From Wellspring.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and a dance around the block.

"LAUREL CANYON"
A conservative young couple from Harvard (Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale) visit his mother (Frances McDormand), a rock music producer in Hollywood, and their lives will never be the same again. It’s lightweight pop entertainment and nothing great, but younger viewers of this site will probably think it’s intellectually challenging. Older dogs may yawn and take a nap. The talents of Christian Bale, probably the finest young actor in movies today, are again totally wasted. From Columbia Tri-Star.

 

“EDWIN”
Sir Alec Guinness stars in this 1984 Anglia British Television drama of retired High Court judge who suspects his debonair neighbor of having had an affair with his wife years ago which may have resulted in the birth of his son. Or was the boy really his neighbor’s son? Delightful British comedy of manners or the lack of them. I know some dogs just like them, Sundays at the park with Butch, Betsy, and eight or ten others. From Granada and BFS Entertainment.

“FIRST CIRCLE”
Nobel Prize winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s novel of terror during Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union takes us inside a notorious prison where Soviet scientists are forced to operate a research center. If they discover something useful to the government, they could win their freedom. If not, they would be sent to a labor camp in Siberia. The stars are all excellent: Christopher Plummer, F. Murray Abraham, Robert Powell, and Victor Garber. DVD from Lance, Wellspring, and Southern Star.

“A WOMAN’S GUIDE TO ADULTERY”
Not as steamy as the title sounds, this is nonetheless adult romantic entertainment about four young married women who become entangled with married men. Sean Bean, Theresa Russell, and Adrian Dunbar are among the stars in this thought-provoking film from the Carol Clewlow novel. From Carlton and BFS Video.

“KINGS IN GRASS CASTLES”
Nobody does family sagas better than the Brits, and they do it again in this two-disc DVD movie about Irish settlers who find a new life in the wild frontier of Australia in the mid 1800s. James Fox, Stephen Dillane, Fionnula Flanagan star. “Lavishly filmed… engaging,” says Variety, and the Sunday Herald Sun calls it “A sumptuous looking, well-acted, entertaining miniseries.” The DVD is from Cascade and BFS Video.

“SHADOWS OF THE HEART”
A young woman leaves mainland Australia in the 1920s to become the doctor on a remote island. Sound like romance and adventure? She finds both and more. You’ll like the cast of young actors unfamiliar to us: Josephine Byrnes, Marcus Graham, Jerome Ehlers, and Nadine Garner. From Beyond and BFS Video.

“OUTSIDE EDGE”
The British TV comedy series about two odd couples with very different lifestyles who meet head-on is a lot of fun in this two disc DVD set. With Brenda Blethyn, Robert Davis, Josie Lawrence, and Timothy Spall. From Carlton and BFS Video.

DVD News

Video Business magazine reports that as of June 15, for the first time consumers in a given week rented more DVD movies than VHS releases. Prices of DVD recorders keep coming down. Taiwan-based Mustek Electronics will bring out one priced at less than $450 (minus sales in stores and even cheaper at web sites). Industry predictions are some DVD recorders may sell for about $200 by year’s end. But be sure to check the features to be sure a player will play the discs you want it to.

 

For Young Dogs and Puppies

"SLEEPING BEAUTY"
Walt Disney’s animated classic comes to DVD for the first time this month in a fully-restored digital picture and sound 2-disc special edition. In both fullscreen or widescreen. Extras include behind-the-scenes of making the movie, a music video, and games. From Disney DVD.

“YU-GI-OH!”
Volume 11 of the animated television series from 4Kids Entertainment based on the popular Japanese comic book series. Yugi and his pals play a cool new video game, Duel Monsters, that takes them on four new adventures. For the young crowd that likes this kind of stuff, it’s two hours of action and music. From 4Kids Home Video.

“STARSPANGLED BABY!”
Preschoolers 8 months old and up learn about shapes -- triangles, stars, squares, and rectangles -- in this live-action and computer animation plus puppets half-hour of fun while they learn. Kids learn about the shapes visiting the ballpark, taking a train ride, watching fireworks, and watching a parade. From Jukebox Adventures and MoPo Home Entertainment.

Goodbye, Bob

We lost another movie legend when Bob Hope died last month at the age of 100. My master says he almost never missed a Bob Hope picture or his radio show. In fact, he still remembers Bob's opening line on his radio show: "This is Bob (Pepsodent) Hope." Walt says he still only buys and uses Pepsodent as his preferred toothpaste. His favorite Hope movies were the "Road" comedies with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, but he says Bob also proved he was a fine dramatic actor in "The Seven Little Foys" and "Beau James." He was a great performer almost all of his hundred years, on the stage, radio, on television, and in films, and also was the champion ambassador of goodwill to our servicemen and women around the world.

 

 

 

Bones to Pick

 

Why are Vin Diesel (right) and Colin Farrell stars making millions of dollars per picture? Surely there are more talented actors out there, especially right out of drama classes, who deserve a break in movies and have more to offer audiences than this skinhead or the pretty boy who always look like they belong in police line-ups.

 

And thanks for trying, Roberto Benigni. Your new movie, “Pinocchio” may not have won you any new fans, but we still greatly appreciate your “Life Is Beautiful,” and are with you on whatever you work on next.

 

I bet you didn't know, but besides reviewing movies, I sing opera. Click here to see and hear me rehearsing the Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman."

Maybe you would like to visit my master's web site with highlights of his huge collection of old movie magazines, Bijou Follies
Two more web sites I recommend are: Errol Flynn and Jeffrey Hunter