This review originally ran December 10th, 2012. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is my favorite Rankin-Bass production that has fun songs, and a memorable villain! Tonight’s film is … Continue Reading 25 Days of Christmas: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)
Originally published December 3rd, 2014 A double post to catch me up, and another Christmas first-time viewing! Tonight’s film is the Jim Henson 1977 movie Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. I’d … Continue Reading 25 Days of Christmas: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)
Peter Bogdanovich is a director in love with cinema itself, and that’s encapsulated best in his ode to the Golden Era, 1971’s The Last Picture Show. Outside of its reminiscences … Continue Reading The Last Picture Show (1971)
Being on the brink of nuclear war is a niche our country has occupied as long as I’ve been alive. In the late ’70s though the concept felt all too … Continue Reading The China Syndrome (1979)
As much as I hate to let my Americanism show, it crops up the worst when it comes to cinema. I don’t have a natural aversion to foreign cinema, but … Continue Reading Donkey Skin (1970)
I always try to include a more contemporary horror master in my 31 Days of Horror. Last year I reviewed Tobe Hooper’s borderline offensive cult classic The Funhouse (1981). This … Continue Reading The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
I’ve reviewed a few films from that no-frills purveyor of splashy horror American-International Pictures, or AIP. The studio known for putting old studio stars in sometimes sexy, always ridiculous splatterfests enters … Continue Reading Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)
“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination!” In 1964 author Roald Dahl wrote a morality tale about a group of children who visit a chocolate … Continue Reading Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
An unwitting franchise of sorts, the Support Your Local… series acts as simultaneous send-up and loving tribute to the dying Western. Released just three months before Sam Peckinpah shot the … Continue Reading Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) / Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
Hawaii’s introduction as the 50th state in the US in 1959 caused Hollywood to go mad with Hawaiian fever, using author James A. Michener’s immense tome, Hawaii, as the basis … Continue Reading The Hawaiians (1970)
The 1970s were a confusing time, particularly for cinema. The dark clouds of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam had rolled away (the former) or were in their death throes (the … Continue Reading Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Like yesterday’s review of Mr. Boogedy, I had little experience with the original Escape to Witch Mountain, although it has better name recognition than the former film. The story of … Continue Reading Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
Originally published September 25th, 2013 With Halloween around the corner it’s time to start dusting off those Halloween DVDs to scare you and your friends. Warner Archive gets into the spirit … Continue Reading Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
This month’s theme is haunted houses, but I bet even the spookiest house couldn’t compete with the house director Nobuhiko Obayashi throws audiences into in House (aka Hausau). I’m at … Continue Reading House (1977)
The success of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby in 1968 ushered in a slew of religious based horror features continuing into the 1970s. Polanski’s story wasn’t necessarily a catalyst, but it … Continue Reading The Sentinel (1977)
