Author: Peter J Patrick
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The DVD Report #634
New This Week Avengers: Endgame takes place after the events of last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, but unlike that film, which left me totally cold, this one has a great deal of heart, which sustains it through the non-CGI battle scenes. The first Avengers film, appropriately titled The Avengers, in which the Marvel superheroes were…
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Oscar Profile #457 – Richard Burton
Born November 10, 1925 in Pontrhydyfen, Wales to Welsh speaking parents, Richard Walker Jenkins, Jr. was the twelfth of thirteen children. His mother died shortly after giving birth to his younger brother when Richard was just two years old. His father, a coal miner soon abandoned the family and he was raised by his older…
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The DVD Report #633
New This Week Pokémon Detective Pikachu, The Curse of La Llorona, and Tolkien are three 2019 films new to home video for which outside knowledge may well be a factor in their enjoyment. Personally, I found Tolkein, about the formative years of writer-poet-philologist-academic author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien…
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Oscar Profile #456: Robert Siodmak
Born August 8, 1900 in Dresden, Germany, Robert Siodmak was one of four sons of a Jewish family from Leipzig. He worked as a stage director and banker before becoming editor scenarist for director Curtis Bernhardt in 1925. The following year he was hired by his cousin, producer Seymour Nebenzal to assemble original silent movies…
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The DVD Report #632
New This Week Easy Living and A Foreign Affair, two classic comedies from Hollywood’s Golden Age, have been given long overdue Blu-ray upgrades from Kino Lorber. Although both films starred Jean Arthur, they couldn’t have been more different. 1937’s Easy Living, directed by Mitchell Leisen, is among the screwiest of the screwball comedies while 1948’s…
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Oscar Profile #455: Gail Patrick
Born June 20, 1911 in Birmingham, Alabama, Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, known professionally as Gail Patrick, was the daughter of a municipal fireman and his wife. After graduating from Howard College, she remained as the school’s acting dean for two years while studying law at the University of Alabama, hoping to eventually become her state’s governor.…
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The DVD Report #631
New This Week Do the Right Thing has been given a 4K digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, with a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack and audio commentary from 1995 featuring director Spike Lee, Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas, and actress Joie Lee (Spike’s sister). The two-disc Blu-ray edition includes a documentary from…
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Oscar Prfile #254: Hayley Mills
Born April 18, 1946 in London, England, Hayley Mills was the second of three children of actor John Mills and his wife, novelist-playwright Mary Hayley Bell. Her sister Juliet was born in 1941 and her brother Jonathan in 1949. She made her film debut as an infant in her father John’s 1947 film, So Well…
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The DVD Report #630
New This Week Shazam! is a lighthearted action film about teenager Billy Batson who turns into an adult superhero when he utters the word SHAZAM – an acronym comprised of the names of the of the gods who grant him power – (Solomon – Wisdom. Hercules – Strength. Atlas – Stamina. Zeus – Power. Achilles…
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Oscar Profile #453: H.B. Warner
Born October 26, 1875 in London, England, Henry Byron Warner was born into a prominent theatrical family. His father was Charles Warner and his grandfather was James Warner, both stars of the London stage. Warner entered the family business at the age of 21. He made his film debut in 1900 in a filmed scene…
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The DVD Report #629
New This Week Dead of Night has been released for the first time in the U.S. on Blu-ray and DVD by Kino Lorber. The granddaddy of the horror film anthology has been given a 4K restoration that does full justice to the 1945 British film that was released in the U.S. in 1946 with two…
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Oscar Profile #452: Sam Wood
Born July 10, 1883 in Philadelphia, PA, Samuel Grosvenor Wood married Clara Louise Rousch in 1908. He began his Hollywood career as an actor and assistant to Cecil B. DeMille in 1915, becoming a full-time director in 1917. He would eventually direct 82 films between 1920 and his death in 1949. Wood’s silent films included…
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The DVD Report #628
New This Week The Aftermath is a British drama about the effects of the aftermath of World War II on the people of Hamburg, Germany and the soldiers who occupy their city. As one British officer puts it, the Russians got the wine, the Americans the views, and the Brits the ruins. Directed by James…
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Oscar Profile #451: Laurence Harvey
Born October 1, 1928 in Joniskis, Lithuania, Laruschka Mischa Skikne, was the youngest of three children, known variously as Harry Skikne, Larry Skikne and finally Laurence Harvey, emigrated to South Africa with his parents and to London at 16. Having enrolled in RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) in London, he made his screen…
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The DVD Report #627
New This Week Dumbo is the latest live-action version of a Disney animated classic to reach home video. For eighteen years, 101 Dalmatians was the only animated Disney film to get a live-action remake from the studio. Then in quick succession we got Sleeping Beauty (as Maleficent), Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast,…
