Category Archives: 4K Ultra HD

Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood

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Who is Dirty Harry?

With crime escalating and the economy on a hellish rollercoaster dive, it is a perfect time to view the 1970s tough-cop action thriller Dirty Harry.

The script, by the married team Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink (based on her unpublished story), Dean Riesner, and John Milius (unaccredited), is a lesson in a tight, fast-paced story.

The .44 Magnum he carries guides a story’s worth of sharp dialogue that launched a movie legend.

Eastwood states the memorable tough-cop line while holding a .44 Magnum, “Make my Day.” He repeats the famous line at the end of the movie. He baits the punk to gamble with his streetwise Russian Roulette.

Who is Clint Eastwood?

Don Siegel’s stylish, almost surreal, at times direction and editing set the pace for Clint Eastwood’s incredible performance as Harry Callahan, a middle-aged, individualist, unconventional cop who throws away the rulebook but gets the short end of the stick.

The screenwriters give Callahan some of the most memorable lines and witty comments in film history, thus establishing the territory for how far a script can go to create the antihero of all jerks while keeping the audience on his side.

The unsolved Zodiac murder case in San Francisco is eerily contemporary today. The opening scene of a public tribute to San Francisco police officers killed in the line of duty fades to the muzzle-barrel end of a high-powered rifle of a serial sniper, a baby-faced hippie killer, on a rooftop with a telescopic lens aimed at a young woman in a yellow, one-piece swimsuit. She swims her lap, he pulls the trigger, the bullet hits her, and she sinks below the surface as the water turns red.

Who is Harry Callahan?

Enter Harry Callahan, the lone wolf investigating the crime scene by himself. He finds the used shell of the shot and a ransom note pinned to a TV antenna. The first few words he says throughout the film are direct responses: “Jesus.”

The handwritten note from the deranged sniper calling himself Scorpio says he will enjoy killing one person every day until he receives one hundred thousand dollars. It will be his pleasure to shoot a Catholic priest or a nigger. I can’t help but remind us of the sniper killings in the D.C. area.

Favorite Dirty Harry Quote

Those surveyed said their favorite Dirty Harry quote is “You’ve got to ask yourself a question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?! The next favorite quote is  “Go Ahead, Make My Day.”

Dialogue Makes the Movie

Spiteful and rude, Callahan was summoned to the Mayor’s office. After the Mayor inquires what he has done about the Scorpio case so far, Callahan complains, waiting, “Oh well, for the past three-quarters of an hour, I’ve been sitting on my ass in your outer office, waiting for you.”

Most Unforgettable Movie Cop Scene

Up next is probably one of the most unforgettable cop scenes in film history, which is often mistaken for the film’s opening scene.

Callahan drives up in his navy blue sedan on a San Francisco street and parks illegally at the red curb in front of an adult bookstore. He walks to a local Burger Den restaurant to order his jumbo hot dog. Callahan casually asks the cook about a tan Ford across the street in front of the bank, with the usual lack of excitement. He suspects a bank robbery and asks the cook to phone the police department and report a two-eleven in progress. Callahan says, “Now, just wait until the cavalry arrives.” he hears the bank’s alarm system and a gunshot after one bite of his hot dog and says, “Oh, Sh-t!”

Cliint Eastwood shows how to point a gun at the camera.
Clint Eastwood shows how to point a gun at the camera.

“I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.”— Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry Quotes

Callahan’s calm and collected strides outside pull out his monstrous, long-barreled, heavyweight Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum. He single-handedly stops the heist by shooting the fleeing bank robbers. Still chewing his hot dog, Dirty Harry fires his sixth shot at the last fleeing robber. He looks down at his pant leg, which indicates blood seeped through from a leg wound. Dirty Harry walks over to the bank entrance. He threatens the wounded robber, who is reaching for his shotgun on the sidewalk.

Aiming the .44 Magnum, Callahan says his memorable tough-cop line baits the criminal to try and use the shotgun- gamble on luck with his streetwise version of Russian Roulette.

The dialogue contributes to the fast-paced movie, while the audience sees Callahan as a tough, unscrupulous cop. In the film review for the New York Times, critic Roger Greenspun describes Callahan as: “Dirty is Harry’s given epithet, and he carries it proudly enough. But he is a knight in shining armor whose dirtiness is mostly rubbed off from the scummy world he keeps trying to wipe clean.”

Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

Clint Eastwood is not only a fine actor but also an award-winning director and jazz musician. Each project he works on has a social message important to our society.

Like Dirty Harry, Eastwood communicates the need to help the underdogs and support this generation’s heroes.

Harry Potter Obsession

4K Ultra HD, action, book, children, classic, drama, fantasy, legend, movies,

J. K. Rowling’s Books

If you are a Harry Potter fan, you have most likely read all of J.K. Rowling’s books. If you are not a reader, then you watch the Warner Bros. movies. They grabbed your attention, and you couldn’t get away. The obsession with the Harry Potter stories is worldwide, whether it’s the books or just the movies, or both. The story is one that the whole family can experience together, and I highly recommend it. When your family decides to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, snuggle up because it’s time to share a much darker and deeper Harry Potter movie than the earlier ones.

Moviegoers’ first reaction to Half-Blood Prince is how much those kids have grown up. They look so much older, and the story grows with them and gets darker. The actors surpassed their adolescence, and the characters have mastered their wizard training. If you have read the book, you are aware of the movie’s overall plot and outcome.

Sure. The story is darker, and Harry Potter learns more about Voldemort’s dark secrets and how to overpower the evil wizard once and for all. One main character in the story will perish, which is a pivotal point in Rowling’s series and may be hard to bear.

Harry Potter Books or Movies?

Those surveyed indicated that 50% had read the books before seeing the Harry Potter movies. The other 50% split between seeing the films and then deciding to read the books, and never reading the books at all.

Yates Directs Harry Potter Movies

David Yates directs the movie, and he is by far the best director of the franchise, as evidenced by his return to finish the last three installments after directing Order of the Phoenix.

Yates’s experience as a British television director keeps the story above the special effects. Yates told IMDB, “I like to create an atmosphere where actors feel safe enough to take risks. I certainly don’t believe in being a macho bully. I’m not interested in frightening good work out of people. It’s bollocks,” he continues. “In an ideal world, I’d bounce between big projects and no-budget TV dramas with fantastic scripts. Many Hollywood films tend to be bloated, bombastic, and loud. At the same time, I do like the infrastructure of making a blockbuster; it’s like having a big train set.”

Young Tom Riddle

In Half-Blood Prince, we discover detailed information about the young Tom Riddle, the boy. He eventually grows up to be Lord Voldemort, played brilliantly by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, the nephew of Ralph Fiennes. Ralph Fiennes plays Voldemort, which makes the casting quite a family affair.

Another new cast member of the franchise is Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the new potions teacher, a plot-driven character in the Harry Potter story. Broadbent’s resume is extensive and probably one of the most favored character actors in the U.K. and the U.S.

Rowling’s Final Scene

So, sit down with your family and enjoy the sixth installment of the Harry Potter films. At the end of the movie, Harry reflects with Ron and Hermione on the difference between him and Voldemort. It’s a meaningful line and poignant, which is why we read Rowling’s series and flock to see Harry Potter movies.

“Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Mobile Game”

Even though we read the books, watch the movies, and see spin-offs like Fantastic Beasts, a Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Mobile Game offers a chance to play a game set in the franchise. The mobile game is just another way to enjoy Harry Potter.

Play the video promoting the new game, and you will see some reactions to the game from real Harry Potter talent, like one of the Phelps brothers. The game launch at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando was exciting and eventful for those who attended.

It is one of the first games where players experience being a character they choose and a Hogwarts student.

Future of Harry Potter

With spin-offs from Harry Potter stories, the new television series, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the theme parks, and mobile games, you walk into a Barnes & Noble bookstore and see Harry Potter fandom from the original story, Fantastic Beasts. Anything is possible with such a fantasy story.

Rowling’s work inspires people to dream and to be part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or to write their own fantasy books where families and friends bond, sharing a fanciful reality.

Spielberg With Crichton: “Jurassic Park” and “ER”

4K Ultra HD, action, adventure, book, classic, drama, episodic, historical, movies, science fiction, , , ,
Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton made a great creative team.
Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton made a great creative team. | Source

Friendship With Benefits

Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton developed motion pictures and television programs, notably the Jurassic Park franchise and the long-running ER series. The two men, who were dear friends working together, are a fascinating story of success.

Dinosaurs from “Jurassic Park”

An acquaintance, a high school teacher, told me about a time he showed his students the movie Jurassic Park. At the end of the film, some of his students thought dinosaurs were still alive on our planet. Not that the students were stupid. The movie was realistic enough to make the dinosaurs appear real in their minds’ eyes.

The movie’s detailed and realistic images of various dinosaurs, along with its story, acting, and sound, created a realistic world based on Crichton’s bestselling novel.

The original movie focuses on a devastating effort to produce and clone dinosaurs for an innovative theme park.

The franchise began in 1990 when Spielberg grabbed the rights to the unpublished book. Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment purchased the rights to the novel.

After four sequels, the franchise flourished, with the first two based on Crichton’s books, and it spawned tons of video games, comic books, and theme parks.

The franchise resurrected Richard Attenborough’s career and bolstered the careers of Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Lauren Dern, Chris Pratt, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Jurassic Park’s motion picture franchise includes a water excursion at Universal Studios theme parks.

The franchise movies alone have grossed close to $ 5 billion worldwide.

Crichton and Spielberg Winning Team

The success of the Jurassic Park franchise indicates that Crichton and Spielberg made a winning team. They invested their good fortune in an American medical television series that proved just as fruitful as the dinosaur movies.

Under the umbrella of Amblin Television, Crichton and Spielberg’s team created the medical drama ER. The show lasted 15 years and won several prestigious awards, bringing together famed talents that I will mention later in the article.

If anything, ER is a lesson in producing an award-winning television show and practically keeping it on the air for years. I am sure students of film and television classrooms study this series in its entirety. They identify and highlight the factors that contributed to the show’s high ratings and large worldwide audience.

Endless drama in an Emergency Room kept viewers glued to the TV.
Endless drama in an Emergency Room kept viewers glued to the TV.

Emmy Award Winners

The show won multiple Emmy Awards, with 124 nominations and 22 wins, reflecting the caliber of work that stood behind and in front of the camera, launching the stellar careers of George Clooney, along with Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle, Julianna Margulies, and Maria Bello.

“ER”

Although I never watched the series as a whole, but as clips from different shows, I tend to shy away from medical shows. ER taps into the intimate workings of an urban training hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its vigilant emergency room.

Every week, fans glued themselves to the television and watched quirky and unique medical professionals save lives in a place where nothing is taken for granted or guaranteed. The emergency room doors open, and another distraught person or persons gets placed in their hands, life or death, within an hour’s worth of television programming.

Endless Series

Even though I didn’t watch the series, I watched the Collector’s Edition DVD of the 15th and final season, an all-time favorite of multiple emergency room drama shows.

The series lasted as long as it did because of the talented writers, as evidenced by the final season, particularly in the show’s ending. The arc ties into the earlier seasons, including Noah Wyle’s professional choices and personal life.

Now, Wyle is starring in HBO’s Emmy-winning The Pitt, very similar to ER, but set over one day in an emergency room in Pittsburgh.

Curtain Call

The final season is a curtain call for all the show’s lead characters. They returned one way or another, including those who died on the show.

One point of view about the medical drama is the large cast of major actors who left due to injury, death, firing, or disappearance. Like most long-running shows, I understand that cast members go in hopes of bigger and better careers.

The final season includes movie stars Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance. The main arc centers on Catherine Banfield, the ER’s medical director, played by Basset, and her husband, Russell Banfield, played by Vance. Both are intense and effectively support their respective sides of the issue.

The series ends well, and that is what matters to the fans. The finale is rewarding to those who faithfully followed the multiple storylines.

George Clooney

I am sure you’ll appreciate watching the episodes, knowing that you can watch them again and again since you own the DVD. The cast changing through the years might throw you off, but it is graced with guest appearances from Clooney and other original cast members.

If you still need an emergency room fix on television, there are similar shows that follow ER’s formula, which validates the series even more, such as Grey’s Anatomy, a long-running show as well.

Skateboarder Danny Way Jumped the Great Wall of China

4K Ultra HD, documentary, movies, sports, ,

Danny Way jumps the Great Wall of China with a skateboard. This article tells you how he did it.

Danny Way in front of the Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China Skateboard History

Most visitors seldom skateboard the ancient tourist attraction, let alone jump across it.

Let’s take a look at the Great Wall of China. It is unique as a structure and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. For 4,500 miles, the ancient Wall meanders through the mountain ranges of China with more miles than the distance from New York to California. It is wide enough for two cars to drive on it – 25 feet tall and 25 – 30 feet wide.

The Ming Dynasty rebuilt the Great Wall from the many small walls that multiple Chinese emperors had constructed. The dynasty also developed elaborate battlements, cannons, and watchtowers to protect the people.

They used limestone, bricks, and tiles, and ancient records indicate that over 300,000 soldiers and 500,000 commoners worked on the Great Wall of China. They never saw the future or imagined a young, talented skateboarder would be gliding and careening down the center of the Wall.

“To a certain extent, I’m not trying to evolve out of this world of physical pain into a world of mental stress and anguish. But I do have a bit of the business bug. I’m aware I have to try to mediate it to a certain point so I don’t become soaked down to the point where it’s hard to escape.” Danny Way

The location of the Great Wall of China is outlined in red.
Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is wide enough for two cars to drive on it—25 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide.

Danny Way: Skater of the Year Twice

Daniel Way is from Portland, Oregon, and was born in 1974. He won Thrasher magazine’s “Skater of the Year” award twice.

He thinks outside the box when it comes to skateboarding stunts. Watching him skateboard is priceless. He is a talent worth watching to understand skateboarding.

“Obviously, it’s not in my nature to walk away from something, but there’s got to be a fine line of what is possible and what’s so . . . dangerous that you gotta go, ‘OK, that’s all that’s possible, here.” Danny Way

What is a Professional Skateboarder?

Being a pro skateboarder takes a strong soul to conquer the board —from frequenting local skate parks to winning regional competitions and, eventually, taking on national and international competitions, including product endorsements and wild video shots. Being on a skateboard means performing tricks like flip, daydream flip, plasma spin, sex change, gingersnap, and at least 100 other tricks.

Skateboarding Tricks and Stunts

I wrote a piece on the top skateboard movies, focusing on the intriguing grit and audacity as these brave souls perform on their boards.

Living on the Edge

Like Danny Way, a few others are bold and defy gravity, like the rock climber Alex Honnold, who climbed El Capitan at Yosemite without a rope, which became an Oscar-winning documentary. Or the inspirational story of the parachutist who broke the record in free-falling.

Waiting for Lightning follows skateboarder Danny Way, known for performing over-the-top feats, similarly with a parachute. Most skateboarders call him a visionary for his extraordinary achievements and performances throughout his career. Samuel Goldwyn Films released the film on Blu-ray, DVD, or online streaming.

Danny Way Skateboards Jumps Wall of China

Interviews with Top Skateboarders

The documentary explores the amount of abuse the body can sustain. It touches on how passionately one must accept challenges that defy survival. Danny Way has proven himself to be an incredibly talented skateboarder and the sport’s top innovator.

The documentary features incredible skateboarding tricks and stunts, along with interviews with the best in the sport. We hear from big players like Travis Pastrana, Laird Hamilton, Rodney Mullen, Mat Hoffman, Ken Block, and Tony Hawk, to name a few.

The story begins with an inspirational account of visionary skateboarder Danny Way, following the journey of a young boy from a broken home in Southern California. He has a deep passion for skateboarding, which has brought him fame and a lifetime of accomplishments.

“That was the scariest … thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m lucky I’m alive.” Danny White

China’s Great Wall Master by Inspiration

Way’s drive is an inspiration. He has no limits to what he can do. The documentary showcases his creations as they are captured on screen. To jump China’s Great Wall on a skateboard, we see the ramp of Herculean and dangerous proportions.

Overall, I highly recommend this documentary. The video below gives you a glimpse of someone who could pull off such feats.

Danny May is Skateboarder #5 with his Great Wall Jump

“The Roundup: No Way Out” Delves into Entertaining Chaos

4K Ultra HD, action, foreign films, sequel,

Variety calls Ma Seokdo, played by Don Lee, a bull in a tea shop whose brute force devastates a difficult situation. 

Step into the world of The Roundup: No Way Out, the sequel to The Roundup. Seven years have passed since Seokdo’s team was sent to Vietnam on a mission to extradite a dangerous Korean fugitive. The twist in the story was the fugitive seemed oddly eager to return home, raising questions about the true nature of their mission. 

In the sequel, we meet up with the likable hunk, who collaborates with a new squad to investigate a murder case at home. Seokdo learns the case involves busting dealers on a new synthetic drug, Hiper. He digs deeper. 

All the while, a Japanese mafia boss orchestrating the new drug, Ichioz, played cleverly by Ju Kunimura, keeps looking for trouble, and the drug distributor named Ricky, played by Munetaka Aoki, and his gang arrive in Korea to add havoc to the mayhem. Here, the entertainment flourishes as things go out of control. 

The film is excellent because, like the earlier films, it’s invariably entertaining and engaging. Watching Don Lee play Seokdo, who punches blockheads and more, is hilarious—he’s no Dirty Harry. Though a reviewer compared it to Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon, this spontaneous film stands on its own. It’s true to the South Korean culture: a vulnerable and assuming hero saves the day. 

Lee Sang-Yong directed the third title skillfully and brilliantly, as he did The Roundup. The movie won the Blue Dragon Award as the top box office winner of the year in South Korea. The Roundup: No Way Out also nailed the Audience Award at the 2023 Sitges Film Festival in Spain. Another sequel is in the works and will arrive in 2024. 

“Texas Chain Saw Massacre” in 4K Remastered

4K Ultra HD, classic, holiday, horror, movies, thriller,

Dark Sky Films releases the long-awaited UHD release of the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the groundbreaking thriller that has often been imitated but has yet to equal. The film arrives in the 4K restored version, complemented by a frightening array of bonus materials.

Directed by Tobe Hooper, Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a classic horror film released in 1974. The film follows a group of friends, played by Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail and Teri McMinn, on a road trip through rural Texas. They stumble upon a family of cannibalistic psychopaths. 

The film has a low-budget, gritty style and extreme gore and violence, which boosted its popularity since we’ve had horror films like The Blair Witch Project, Friday the 13th, Halloween and Night of the Living Dead. 

The group of friends intends to visit an old family homestead. On their journey, they pick up a hitchhiker who manifests strange behavior. The stranger eventually turns on them, attacking them, which leads to a harrowing chase through the Texas countryside. 

They arrive at a farmhouse and meet cannibalistic killers, including the iconic Leatherface with a mask of human skin and a wielding chainsaw. Michael Myers copied the masking technique so beautifully on Halloween. 

The horror film was controversial during its release because of its graphic violence, which doesn’t compare to Coen Bros. films or the SAW franchise. Subsequently, the Texas Chain Saw Massacre shines as a cult classic and the most influential horror movie of the genre. 

It generated many sequels and remakes, influencing countless horror films that tried to deem worthy. 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre arrives in deluxe 4K UHD and 4K UHD Steelbook editions, each containing a bonus disc containing a wealth of supplemental materials. 

Disc 1 holds the 4K UHD feature film and four commentary tracks:

  • Writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen and cinematographer Daniel Pearl
  • Actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, with production designer Robert Burns
  • Tobe Hooper solo
  • Daniel Pearl, editor J. Larry Carroll and sound recordist Ted Nicolaou 

Disc 2, a Blu-ray, contains the new, never-before-seen feature-length documentary The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and several featurettes. These include “The Cinefamily Presents FRIEDKIN/HOOPER,” a conversation about the film between Tobe Hooper and The Exorcist director William Friedkin; “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth”; “Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw”; a tour of the TCSM house with Gunnar Hansen; “Off the Hook with Teri McMinn”; and “The Business of Chain Saw: An Interview with Production Manager Ron Bozman.”

The generous package I enjoy the most. It has deleted scenes and outtakes, a blooper reel, trailers, vintage TV and radio spots, and much more to thrill fans, old and new.

“The Unknown Man of Shandigor” (1967) on Blu-Ray

4K Ultra HD, foreign films, thriller, ,

All you have to do is watch the four-and-a-half-minute trailer to know The Unknown Man of Shandigor (L’inconnu De Shandigor, 1967) is a spy-thriller. Any movie enthusiast wants to see the Blu-ray version of this classic.

Directed by Swiss filmmaker Jean-Louis Roy, this long-unseen 60s Cold War super-spy features legendary French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork. 

Marie-France Boyer as Sylvaine

Recently restored in 4K from the camera negative by the Cinémathèque Suisse, the visually stunning movie screened initially at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. The Blu-ray features new interviews with the director’s wife, Francoise Roy and first assistant director on the film Michel Schopfer, along with an ultra-rare 1967 Swiss TV “making of” documentary featuring the director with behind-the-scenes footage and new artwork by acclaimed illustrator Tony Stella.

I marveled at the surreal hall of mirrors, reminding me of Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove and British TV shows like “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who.”  

The fine cast includes most who’s who of great 60s European character actors starting with the unforgettable Daniel Emilfork as crazed scientist Herbert Von Krantz, who has invented a device to “sterilize” all nuclear weapons.

A mad herd of rival spies is desperate to get their hands on the device, including legendary French singer Serge Gainsbourg as the sect leader of bald, turtleneck-wearing assassins and Jess Franco veteran Howard Vernon.  

Gainsbourg’s deranged jazz-lounge song, “Bye Bye Mr. Spy”— performed by him on a funeral parlor organ, no less — is arguably the film’s high point. “An accomplished spy is at the same time psychologist, artist, funambulist, conjurer,” to quote one of the film’s characters, and the same said of Roy’s exotic camera obscura of black and white Cold War paranoia. The movie is in Swiss French with English subtitles, like the trailer. 

Blu-Ray Bonus Features

• New 4K Restoration from the original 35mm picture and sound elements by Cinémathèque Suisse with additional digital restoration by Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile 

• New Commentary by film journalist Samm Deighan (Diabolique magazine, Daughters of Darkness podcast) 

• New Booklet essay by filmmaker, punk musician and poet, and genre expert Chris D. (The Flesh Eaters; author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film) 

• New interview with Francoise Roy, wife of director Jean-Louis Roy, and Michel Schopfer, first assistant director on The Unknown Man of Shandigor (17 min., in Swiss French with English subtitles) 

• Ultra- rare 1967 “making of” documentary from Swiss TV’s “Cinema VIF” show, featuring interviews with director Jean-Louis Roy, cast members Daniel Emilfork, Jacques Dufilho, and Marie-France Boyer, and behind-the-scenes footage (28 min., in Swiss French with English subtitles) 

• Restored original trailer (4 min., in French with English subtitles) 

• Blu-ray encoding and authoring by David Mackenzie/Fidelity in Motion 

• New art by Tony Stella 

Legendary Filmmaker Jean-Louis Roy

“Arrebato” Spanish Cult Horror

4K Ultra HD, foreign films, horror, ,

Brand-new 4K restoration, written and directed by Ivan Zulueta, 1979 feature Arrebato’s is a popular Spanish cult horror movie. Some consider the film a dimension-shattering blend of heroin, sex, and Super-8 as a final word on Cinemania.

Arrebato follows horror movie director José Sirgado, played by Eusebio Poncela, adrift in a sea of doubt and drugs. As his belated second feature nears completion, two situations pop his reclusive bubble.

First, there is a sudden reappearance from an ex-girlfriend, played by Cecilia Roth. Second, a package arrives from past acquaintance Pedro, played by Will More. It contains a reel of Super-8 film, an audiotape and a door key.

From there, the boundaries of time, space and sexuality disappear as José is once more absorbed into Pedro’s vampiric orbit — a vampire camera that sucks up people, and they disappear.

Together, they attempt the ultimate hallucinogenic catharsis through a twisted strip of filming and being filmed.

The horror movie offers beauty, clearly describing a dark state of living — angst and joy of living with dangerous drugs, alcohol and sex and the love of making movies.

Special Features:

• Region Free Blu-ray

• Commentary Track with Mike White of The Projection Booth

• Documentary: Ivan Z by Andrés Duque (51 min.)

• Theatrical Trailer

• Other Trailers

• Reversible Art

• English subtitles

IMDB supplied additional information.

“The Lover,” Review

4K Ultra HD, foreign films, romance, true story, , ,

Coming from the semi-autobiographical novel by bestselling author Marguerite Duras and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, The Lover (L’amant) special edition Blu-ray and DVD release of the 1993 Oscar-nominated and Cesar Award-winning film has hit the streets on its 30th anniversary.

The movie follows a fifteen-year-old French girl, played by Jane March. She returns to Saigon in 1930, where she attends an all-girls boarding school. On her way, a handsome and wealthy Chinese man, played by Tony Leung Ka Kai, of a respectable family, offers her a lift in his shiny black limo.

A passionate affair begins against her family’s disgust. The man becomes alienated from his family because they have selected his bride already. Against the conventions of society, the lustful pair continue their passionate affair, intensifying the attraction with the illicit nature of their rendezvous.

It starts with groping in the limo’s backseat and grows to nightly undertakings at his bachelor pad. Interestingly, the names of the young girl and wealthy man are never said. Slowly and eventually, their relationship disintegrates, and the man slides down into an opium-induced haze and unreturned love.

Many tastefully lit sex scenes allow little room for imagination, including Annaud’s skilled camera work, lingering delicately on the flesh. The paedophiliac situation sidesteps the moral nuances while using sensitivity. Today, the industry may frown even more profound on the issue.

March, a newcomer at the filming, comes across as photogenic and sultry. The character seems detached but amused.

Annaud’s brilliant direction takes in the vibrant scenery to divert from the senseless and gratuitous romantic scenes.

The release includes special features: Special collector’s media book packaging, Two-disc set, Original trailer.

Thank you, Empire, for more information about the production.

The Love of Jeanne Ney

4 Genuine and Superior Classic German Silent Films

4K Ultra HD, comedy, drama, historical, history, horror, ,
The Great Leap (1927)

Kino Classics released some extraordinary German classic films from the silent era during the 1920s. Each one is available on Blu-ray or DVD. Presented in restorations by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung, I found each movie stunning and mesmerizing.

The films restored are The Great Leap (1927), directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Paul Wegener’s The Golem (1920), G. W. Pabst’s The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), and F. W. Murnau’s Tartuffe (1925), starring Emil Jannings.

The Great Leap
The Great Leap (1927)

I first watched The Great Leap, which features an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. The movie stars Leni Riefenstahl, who is infamous as the great documentarian of Hitler. Before all that, she was foremost an actress, and she is good in this movie. It’s super funny. Apparently, Riefenstahl was a popular actress who starred in several mountain movies directed by Arnold Fanck. They included The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg, 1926) and The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weisse Hölle vom Piz Palü, 1929) as dramas of romance and survival.

The Great Leap suggests was something different as a playful romantic comedy set high atop the Dolomites. Riefenstahl plays an Italian peasant whose simple life is upended when a series of urbanites invade the slopes for a ski vacation. This bubbly comedy (featuring Riefenstahl’s usual on-screen love interest, Luis Trenker) combines slapstick laughs with stunning footage of acrobatic skiing and rock climbing, making it perhaps the most entertaining but unique movie out of all the German mountain films.

The Golem (1920)

Then I watched The Golem that contains both a 4K restoration of the German release version with three musical scores by Stephen Horne, Admir Shkurtaj, and Lukasz “Wudec” Poleszak, including U.S. release version with music by Cordula Heth. A feature comes with a comparison between the German and U.S. versions, and audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.

Hypothetically acknowledged as the source of the Frankenstein myth, the ancient Hebrew legend of the Golem provided actor and director Paul Wegener with the substance for an intriguing and adventure movie. Suffering under the tyrannical rule of Rudolf II in 16th-century Prague, a Talmudic rabbi, played by Albert Steinruck, creates a giant warrior, played by Wegener to protect the safety of his people. When the rabbi’s assistant, played by Ernst Deutsch, takes control of the Golem and attempts to use him for selfish gain, the lumbering monster runs rampant, abducting the rabbi’s daughter, played by Lyda Salmonova, and setting fire to the ghetto. The special effects for this time are impressive, creating the creation sequence with a dazzling blend of religion, sorcery, and the grand-scale destruction toward the end of the movie. The Golem was apparently an outstanding achievement from the legendary UFA Studios and remains an undeniable landmark in the horror’s evolution film.

The Love of Jeanne Ney came next and presents both the restored German release version with music arranged and orchestrated by Bernd Thewes, and the U.S. release version with music by Andrew Earle Simpson. It includes audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller.

The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927)

An epic of the Weimar cinema (Cinema of Germany), The Love of Jeanne Ney follows a young French woman’s struggle for happiness amid the political turbulence and corruption of post-World War I Europe. Directed by G. W. Pabst, who also directed Diary of a Lost Girl, Pandora’s Box, the film blends a variety of cinematic approaches as it weaves its complex narrative of moral chaos and political upheaval. Consider the use of the “American Style,” evocative of the Hollywood studio blockbuster; the avant-garde techniques of Soviet montage; and the eerie moving camerawork and shadowy perspectives are typical of German Expressionism. The result is a stunning cinematic experiment that never failed to surprise me with fast sequences that end with an exhilarating conclusion.

Tartuffe (1925)

Tartuffe includes both the German release version with a new score by Robert Israel and the U.S. release version with music by Giuseppe Becce, adapted by Javier Perez de Azpeita.

Tartuffe (1925)

Considered one of the most gifted visual storytellers during the German silent era, F. W. Murnau crafted works of great subtlety and emotional complexity through his absolute command of the cinematic medium. Known for such dazzling films as Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), and Sunrise (1927), Murnau draws toward more intimate dramas exploring the dark corners of the human mind.

I had a prime interest in seeing Tartuffe, where Murnau Moliére’s fable of religious hypocrisy to the screen. The story follows a faithful wife, played by Lil Dagover. She tries to convince her husband, played by Werner Krauss, that their morally superior guest, Tartuffe, played by Emil Jannings, is in fact a lecherous hypocrite with a taste for the grape. Twisting the story to heighten the contemporary relevance, Murnau frames Moliére’s tale with a modern-day plot concerning a housekeeper’s stealthy efforts to poison her elderly master and take control of his estate.