Author: Peter J Patrick
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Home Viewing with Peter #830
Kino Lorber has released two films on Blu-ray that are as diametrically opposed as any two films of the 1950s could be. The 1957 version of My Man Godfrey is an inferior remake of the classic 1936 screwball comedy while 1954’s action-packed Secret of the Incas, the inspiration for 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark,…
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Oscar Profile #649: Katy Jurado
Born January 16, 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico, María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known professionally as Katy Jurado, was the daughter of a lawyer and a singer. Actor Pedro Armendariz was her godfather. Jurado’s family was wealthy, its fortune controlled by her aristocratic grandmother. When offered a film role at the age of 15,…
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Home Viewing with Peter #829
With the mostly glowing reviews for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, screened out of competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, putting a spotlight on the Hollywood legend, now is the perfect time as any for revisiting the films that have made him one of the most respected directors of the last fifty…
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Oscar Profile #648: Diahann Carroll
Born July 17, 1935 in the Bronx, New York, Carol Diann Johnson, known professionally as Diahann Carroll, was a multi-talented actress, singer, and dancer. She was a Tony winner, an Oscar nominee, a four-time Emmy nominee, and a two-time Grammy nominee. She was also a three-time Golden Globe nominee, winning on her first nomination for…
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Home Viewing with Peter #828
Air, now streaming on Amazon Prime, is the first film of the year that seems to me to be Oscar worthy, and that’s only if ten or more yet-to-be-seen films don’t knock it out of contention. Although sports films are occasionally on Oscar’s radar, basketball films rarely are. In the 96-year history of the Academy…
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Oscar Profile #647: Jean Louis
Born October 5, 1907 in Paris, France, Jean Louis (Berthault) emigrated to the U.S. where he worked as a designer for New York fashion entrepreneur Hattie Carnegie whose clients included Joan Cohn, the wife of Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn. With her influence, he became head designer for Columbia in 1944, a position he held…
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Home Viewing with Peter #827
With Mother’s Day approaching, now is the perfect time to reflect on films centered around mothers and maybe plan on watching one or two of them in honor of the holiday. Mothers have, of course, been a movie staple from the very beginning. Good mothers, bad mothers, and everything in-between have been seen on screen.…
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Oscar Profile #646: Aline MacMahon
Born May 3, 1899 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Aline MacMahon was of Scottish-Irish and Russian-Jewish descent. Her father Marcus MacMahon was a telegraph operator who became editor-in-chief of Munsey Magazine, her mother Jennie Simon MacMahon, who lived to 107, was an actress. Growing up in McKeesport, a suburb of Pittsburg, and later Brooklyn, New York, MacMahon…
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Home Viewing with Peter #826
A week after decrying the state of TV streaming services, I found some things that I heartily recommend on Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu. Transatlantic is a new miniseries from writers Anna Winger and Daniel Hendler, the Emmy-nominated writers of 2000’s Unorthodox. New on Netflix, Transatlantic is a seven-episode miniseries based on the heroic exploits…
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Oscar Profile #645
Born June 17, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, Ralph Bellamy’s father was from New England, his mother was from Canada. He ran away from home at 15 to become an actor. He traveled with numerous road shows, and by 1927 had his own theatre company. He made his film debut in 1931’s The Secret Six starring…
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Home Viewing with Peter #825
The problem with streaming services is that there are so many of them now competing for content that the quality of what they are showing has reached an all-time low. Not only is their original content suffering, so are the theatrically released films they are premiering. Take for example, the most watched film of last…
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Home Viewing with Peter #824
With the Blu-ray release of Oliver Hermanus’ Living, all but two of the 2022 Oscar nominees in the top 8 categories representing Best Picture, acting, Directing, and Writing have been released for home viewing via either physical media or streaming. The two exceptions are Triangle of Sadness, which is being released on 4K and regular…
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Oscar Profile #644: Elmer Bernstein
Born April 4, 1922 in New York, New York, Elmer Bernstein was a child actor and dancer who also won prizes for his painting. He was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II where he wrote music for the Armed Forces Radio. Eventually he wrote the scores for more than 200…
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Home Viewing with Peter #823
Warner Home Video has released 4K Blu-ray upgrades of two of the most popular films from its vast library, 1941’s The Maltese Falcon and 1967’s Cool Hand Luke. John Huston’s film version of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon was his first as director. Already an Oscar nominee for his screenplay of 1940’s Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic…
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Oscar Profile #643: Tyrone Power Revisited
Born May 5, 1914, matinee idol Tyrone Power was the fourth of five to carry the name beginning with his great-grandfather, a famous Irish comedian who lived from 1795 to 1841. His father (1869-1931) was a noted stage actor who appeared in several films as Tyrone Power but has subsequently been referred to Tyrone Power,…
