November 20, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Jerry Lewis had a couple of TV series and a few special specials back in his heyday, but none as strange as 1967’s The Jerry Lewis Show, a “Best of” collection of which will be issued by Infinity on Nov. 23). A remarkably self-indulgent paean to himself, The Jerry Lewis Show is a variety-styled show wherein each installment features a collection of musical performances and comedy sketches, most of which feature Jerry portraying one of his cartoony characters (who go by such names as Sidney Portnoy, Professor Frobisher and the undeniably offensive Oriental criminologist Inspector Sam Lichee).

The ...Read More

November 12, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

The Brothers Warner, a 2008 feature-length documentary on Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, the four legendary Hollywood siblings/pioneers who founded and ran Warner Bros. Studios for more than a half-century, will be released on DVD on March 9 (prebook Feb. 2) by, you guessed it, Warner. The film festival favorite (it’s played more than 30 fests around the world), which will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on March 8, the day before it’s released on disc, will carry a suggested retail price of $19.95.

The film was directed by written and directed by Cass Warner Sperling, Harry Warner’s granddaughter, and produced by Warner Sisters, Sperling&...Read More

November 10, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

 
“I like movies about successful con men,” announced James Toback, the director of

Fingers (1978), The Pick-up Artist (1987) and Harvard Man (2001), and the

screenwriter of The Gambler (1974) and Bugsy (1991), all of which revolve around

confidence artists of some kind, be they college professors, mobsters,...Read More

November 4, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Sony’s just-released Film Noir Classics I collection compiles five prime examples of the oft-discussed post-war genre, including previous issued classic The Big Heat (1953) by Fritz Lang with Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame, and the first-time-on-DVD films 5 Against the House (1955) by Phil Karlson and starring Kim Novak and Guy Madison, Edward Dmytryk’s The Sniper (1952) starring Adolphe Menjou and Marie Windsor, Murder by Contract (1958) directed by Irving Lerner and starring Vince Edwards, and Don Siegel’s The Lineup (1958) with Eli Wallace and Warner Anderson.

It’s a respectable boxed set that gets extra points for its impressive array ...Read More

November 2, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

A very likable and lively singer-songwriter, Vonda Shepard was first introduced to mainstream American audiences as a regular on the first five seasons of the hit TV show Ally McBeal, where she portrayed a (you guessed it!) performing singer/songwriter at the local bar where the show’s characters went to hang out after a hard day at the office.

The songs Vonda performed at the bar—all her own compositions—launched her musical career. And now those songs are seeing some notable action again with Fox’s recent release of Ally McBeal: The Complete Series and Ally McBeal: Season One on DVD (and Season One on VOD), along with Vonda’s latest record, ...Read More