When you first insert this disc, it takes a few seconds to load (as all Blu-rays do), then it goes directly to the opening menu--no ads, no trailers. I wish all major studio Blu-rays were like that. Now, on with my review: I enjoy a strange relationship with the biggest commercial hit of the 1950s. … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: The Ten Commandments

Young Julien would rather stay with his mother in Paris than go to his provincial Catholic boarding school. But in the fall of 1944, he has no choice. Slowly, he begins to realize that there's something odd about Jean, the new boy in his class--the one the monks who run the school seem to be … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Au Revoir Les Enfants

Yes, this is another Blu-ray review coming out of my my PC World Blu-ray boxed set gift guide. If you've read Peter Biskind's excellent history of Hollywood in the 70s, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, you know something about BBS, the small, short-lived production company that changed everything. … Continue reading America Lost & Found: The BBS Story

So here we are with another war film set (and shot) in the jungle. And like the previous one I wrote about, The African Queen, Bridge On the River Kwai was produced by Sam Spiegel. Aside from that, the only things these films have in common are that they were made in the 1950s and … Continue reading The Bridge On the River Kwai Blu-ray Collector’s Edition

In six years of writing this blog, I've only had two occasions to tell readers that they could catch John Huston’s 1951 romantic comedy action adventure on the big screen. Now I can tell you about a great way to own it. True, even Blu-ray can't compete with sitting in the dark, surrounded by hundreds … Continue reading African Queen Commemorative Blu-ray Box Set