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Entries tagged with 'Universal'
Posted Apr. 21, 2008,
Mae West's She Done Him Wrong Is "Fast and Furious."
By Dennis Dermody
The hilarious racy 1933 Mae West comedy She Done Him Wrong is finally on DVD, courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment, and it's about time. Based on West's stage hit Diamond Lil, according to TCM's Robert Osborne (in a great introduction to the movie), this had to be toned down to get past the censors, but it's still a howler. Mae plays a diamond-loving saloon singer, who, without her knowledge, is in with a pack of criminals. Cary Grant is the missionary that Mae salaciously asks to come up to her room "some time." But it's fast and furious. While Mae West practically saved Paramount Studios with this hit, the loose morals and double-entendres helped usher in a more stringent Production Code. "You bad girl!" Cary Grant says to Mae West who replies: "You'll find out!"
Posted Mar. 27, 2008,
David Lynch's Lost Highway Finally on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
Finally! David Lynch's bizarre, disturbing, 1997 nightmare film Lost Highway is available on DVD. Universeal has released a bare-bones (no extras, commentary or trailer) edition, but who cares... It looks fabulous and is even creepier now every time Robert Blake shows up then when it first premiered. The plot is a Borges-like twisty nightmare about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman) who receives an ominous video tape at his door, which shows the outside of his house (this precedes Michael Haneke's Cache by many years). Patricia Arquette is particularly alluring in two roles and Balthazar Getty shows up later in place of Pullman. (Don't ask). The look of this post-modern film noir -- the cool blacks and and deep shadows -- still manages to elicit shudders. Call this film the deranged brother of Muholland Drive.
Posted Nov. 28, 2007,
Lana Turner's Madame X on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
No one suffers better in mink than Lana Turner did. And in March 2008 on Universal Studios comes a great Lana double bill, both produced by Ross Hunter. Madame X (1966) the oft-filmed tale of a woman on trial for murder (Lana) who is being defended by her own lawyer son (Keir Dullea) who is unaware that this woman is his mother.
John Forsythe plays the ex-husband with a political future she marries into, but an accidental murder of a boyfriend gets her banished by the evil rich matriarch (Constance Bennett) and she ends up traveling around Europe becoming a hopeless absinthe addict. When a blackmailer (Burgess Meredith) threatens to expose her to her family for money she kills him and ends up on trial. It's the ultimate soap opera weeper, with Lana giving a terrific performance despite the melodramatic material. The second offering is Portrait in Black (1960), wherein Turner and her lover (Anthony Quinn) conspire to murder her husband (Lloyd Nolan). This one takes the cake, and co-stars Sandra Dee as the icing.
Posted Oct. 15, 2007,
Eight Items or Less: The Moby Quotient, Hipster Ranger Sean Avery and Illy's Kalkin Container
By Gary Pini
1. Everybody's talking about the Moby Quotient.
2. Where was he when "metrosexuals" needed a spokesperson? New York Ranger Sean Avery is interviewed in yesterday's New York Times Magazine and he seems, well, hip. After spending five years in Los Angeles, he's adjusting to New York City by buying a Warhol and a Philippe Starck assault-rifle lamp. As a matter of fact, we like his taste in music too: Radiohead and Kate Nash (check out "Mouthwash" on her Made of Bricks LP). Avery also says he'd "like to be the editor of a fashion magazine. I think I have a lot of good ideas that would be good on paper." OK, Sean, send us an email and we'll give you a shot!
3. When Rick Rubin took over Columbia Records he claimed that the only thing that could save the record business would be a subscription service that would give listeners access to all music for a small monthly fee. Somebody must have been paying attention, because three of the biggest companies -- Universal, Sony/BMG and Warner -- are launching a $5 per month service called Total Access that must have execs at Apple you-know-whating in their pants.
4. A critical analysis of urban life from house-music legend and DJ Kenneth Dixon Jr. (aka Moodyman): "There's only three things going to happen in Detroit. You're either going to sell or make cars. You're going to be a musician or going to be on drugs. For a female it would probably be prostitution." (Via www.filter27.com)
5. Attendees of Art Basel Miami and the Venice Biennale (and PAPER Magazine readers) are familiar with the work of architect Adam Kalkin. Now one of his "transformer" shipping containers is coming to New York. This one opens in 90 seconds and turns into a coffee shop sponsored by Illy. See it at the Time Warner Center from November 28 to December 29.
6. Another new nightclub or not? It has 12,000 square feet of party space and is located at 240 West 52nd Street and used to called T and Temple. The new name is Touch. Somebody please go and see if it's just a name change by somebody obsessed with the letter "T" or if, indeed, it is new.
Posted Jul. 3, 2007,
Universal Horror & Sci-Fi DVDs!
By Dennis Dermody
Here's a scoop: Universal is putting out another Best Buy exclusive this fall -- two 5-movie box sets. "The Sci-Fi Collection" includes: The Deadly Mantis, The Land Unknown, Dr. Cyclops, Leech Woman, Cult Of The Cobra. "The Horror Collection" includes: Horror Island, Night Monster, Man Made Monster, The Black Cat and my favorite, Captive Wild Woman starring Acquanetta!
The last exclusive "Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection" from Best Buy, which had Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Mole People, The Monolith Monsters and Monster On The Campus, is out of print and goes for $190 and up at www.Amazon.com.