Blu-ray Review: High and Low

July 26, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector

After his two great action comedies (Yojimbo and Sanjuro) and before his last black and white historical epic (Red Beard), Akira Kurosawa made one of the best crime thrillers of the 1960’s. Now Criterion brings a high-definition copy into your home. Toshiro Mifune (who else?) stars as a successful businessman who thinks he’s off the … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: High and Low

Blu-ray Review: Buster Keaton, The Short Films Collection

July 14, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector

Full disclosure: I’m reviewing a Blu-ray set that I don’t even have. Kino accidentally sent me the DVD set rather than the Blu-ray. In fairness, this may be my fault. When I emailed a request for a review copy, I neglected to specify what format. Luckily, the content of the two sets are identical, so … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Buster Keaton, The Short Films Collection

Blu-ray Review: Beauty and the Beast (1946 version)

July 11, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 3 Comments

I’d be hard-pressed to think of another film that’s anything like Jean Cocteau’s post-war fantasy. It’s a fairytale, told with a charming and often naïve innocence, and contains absolutely no objectionable-for-children content. But its slow pace and quiet magic never panders to unsophisticated viewers. About 30 years ago I saw a very young audience sit … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Beauty and the Beast (1946 version)

Blu-ray Review: The Manchurian Candidate (original, 1962 version)

June 24, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector

“Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.” All the men who served under him in Korea say so. Which is odd because the guy is a cold, self-righteous jerk. Maybe it has something to do with the way they seem to be on autopilot when … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: The Manchurian Candidate (original, 1962 version)

Blu-ray Review: Some Like It Hot

May 17, 2011August 2, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 3 Comments

I’m not sure if Some Like It Hot really is, as the American Film Institute declared in 2000, the best American film comedy of all time. It certainly belongs in the top 10. There are comedies with a higher laugh-to-minute ratio, and others that have more to say about the human condition. But if I … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Some Like It Hot

Blu-ray Review: Taxi Driver

April 3, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 4 Comments

When I think of the 1970s as a golden age of Hollywood-financed serious cinema, the first image to come into my mind is a lonely Robert De Niro walking the dark, mean streets of New York, slowly turning into a psychopath. Three young geniuses--writer Paul Schrader, director Martin Scorsese, and actor Robert De Niro--came together … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Taxi Driver

The Lost Criterion Commentaries

March 31, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector

Back in the days before DVDs, if you loved films and wanted to enjoy them in your own home, the Criterion Collection was king. Their Laserdiscs were the first to have careful, state-of-the-art transfers, the first to letterbox widescreen films, and the first to come in supplement-filled special editions. They also, to my knowledge, invented … Continue reading The Lost Criterion Commentaries

They Released What on Blu-ray?

March 23, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector

To my mind, no Hollywood features show off the virtues of Blu-ray better than the large format road-show spectaculars of the 1950s and '60s. Indeed, 2001: A Space Odyssey was the first Blu-ray disc I bought. I've been delighted to see Sparticus, Patton, How the West was Won, and The Ten Commandments turn up on … Continue reading They Released What on Blu-ray?

Blu-ray Review: The Ten Commandments

March 15, 2011April 9, 2020 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 6 Comments

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

Blu-ray Review: Au Revoir Les Enfants

March 13, 2011March 25, 2011 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

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