The Dirty Dozen was such a popular movie for MGM that it decided to repeat the formula in another World War II action feature titled The Devil’s Brigade the following year (1968). And while The Devil’s Brigade is not quite the classic […]
Continue reading »Category: Movies Worth Rediscovering
The Monolith Monsters (1957) ✰ ✰ ✰
One of the coolest of the 1950s sci-fi movies that I love so much is The Monolith Monsters, released in 1957. Anyone who has ever grown crystals as a science project will appreciate the small alien rocks which land on […]
Continue reading »Fury (1936) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
Never having been satisfied with the column title “Overlooked (or Obscure) Goodies,” which appeared in the final two issues of volume 3, I am now quite happy to alter it to the more prosaic but heartfelt “Movies Worth Rediscovering.” Each […]
Continue reading »The Good Earth (1937) ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
I first witnessed this marvelous adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s novel in grade school; it was shown to illustrate the culture, history and conditions in China. Although the film was immensely popular at the time of its release in 1937, […]
Continue reading »The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) ✰ ✰ ✰
The majority of baseball films are thoroughly familiar and formulaic; one surprise is The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, a vibrant comedy-drama that celebrates black baseball players in the era before they were allowed into the major leagues. […]
Continue reading »Hell’s Outpost (1955) ✰ ✰ ✰
I first learned about this 1955 modern western as I was researching my Korean War film reference book. Based on a novel by Luke Short called Silver Lode, the film chronicles a Korean War veteran’s efforts to build a life […]
Continue reading »The Thin Blue Line (1988) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
(For volume six, in 2004, I switched the title of the column. The format remained the same.) Never having been satisfied with the column title “Overlooked (or Obscure) Goodies,” which appeared in the final two issues of volume three, […]
Continue reading »Personal Velocity (2002) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
One of the better and more audacious films from last year is one I have only recently seen, entitled Personal Velocity (2002). Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, adapted her own book and has directed the film, which is subtitled […]
Continue reading »The Best of Times (1985) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
Writer-director Ron Shelton has made movies about several sports before more recently branching into the cop genre (Dark Blue, Hollywood Homicide), and the script he wrote for The Best of Times is one of his sharpest. It is a movie about […]
Continue reading »Village of the Damned (1960) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
My second film of choice is the British science-fiction film Village of the Damned (1960). Based on a chilling John Wyndham novel (The Midwich Cuckoos), the movie expertly blends horror and speculative fiction with a decidedly British flair. And though it […]
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