News

Michael Schlesinger, a renowned repertory executive who worked at United Artists Classics, Paramount and Sony Repertory, died Jan. 9. He was 74.

Schlesinger died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a rare form of cancer.

Schlesinger was known for being instrumental in restoring and releasing classic films over multiple decades. While working at Sony Repertory as vice president, he oversaw the 70mm restoration of “Lawrence of Arabia.” When he was at Paramount Pictures Distribution, he worked on the 50th anniversary release of “Citizen Kane,” which included Orson Welles’ famously incomplete “It’s All True.”

Joseph McBride, an author and film historian and friend of Schlesinger’s, wrote in his tribute that “Mike was a true mensch. Every cinephile had a friend in Mike Schlesinger. He was passionate about preserving and distributing classic films. He stuck his neck out for film history while working for major studios...

Michael Schlesinger, who for more than 25 years worked as a studio repertory executive for divisions at United Artists, Paramount and Sony as a champion of film classics and forgotten B-movies alike, has died. He was 74.

Schlesinger died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a bout with cancer.

The popular Schlesinger was a fixture at screenings, lectures and events like the TCM Classic Film Festival and Cinecon in Los Angeles, where he conducted interviews. He also offered commentary for DVD releases of movies like Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), perhaps his favorite film, and for the website Trailers From Hell.

“People think I live in the past. No, I live in the present. I just vacation in the past,” he often said.

The Ohio native came to L.A., found a job with United Artists Classics and was involved in the 1988 theatrical reissue...

Friends will tell you Michael Schlesinger’s biggest passion among his many movie loves was for Stanley Kramer’s “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” or as he called it, “The Greatest Movie Ever Made.” But fortunately for cinephiles, his efforts elevated or brought about many important films during his career at United Artists Classics, Paramount, and Sony Repertory.

He died January 9, 2025 in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where he was being treated for a rare and aggressive form of cancer only recently diagnosed. Though he was a behind-the-scenes executive little known by the public, he made a big impact professionally before he retired in 2012. He then began another career as a director, initially of comedy shorts, then last year with his feature debut “Rock and Doris (Try to) Write a Movie,” which premiered at the Palm Springs International Comedy Festival.

His passing has brought out an outpouring of grief and remembrances,...

“It Happened One Night,” which premiered at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 22, 1934, helped usher in the screwball romantic comedy, changed the careers of stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin and transformed the Poverty Row Columbia Pictures into a major player. And let’s not forget, “It Happened One Night” also made Oscar history winning five major Oscars: picture, director, adapted screenplay and both actor and actress. It would be 41 years before “One Flew of the Cuckoo’s Nest” would accomplish the same feat at the Academy Awards.

Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...

The most famous kaiju in the world is set to make his triumphant rerelease to the big screen in more ways than one. The resurgence of Godzilla has blown up almost as big as the monster itself. The U.S. retried our hand at the gargantuan creature with 2014’s Godzilla, which aimed for redemption from the 1998 name-only version. That reintroduction spawned a monster-verse with King Kong getting his own reboot and culminating in a rumble for the film Godzilla vs. Kong. Not only is there to be a spin-off series with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters featuring the “Gorilla-whale,” but this December sees a new era with the Toho film Godzilla Minus One.

Fans of the series can now also celebrate the introduction of the Millennium series as Godzilla-movies.com reveals that special screenings of Godzilla 2000 will be shown at AMC theaters courtesy of Fathom Events. Fandango has listed the...

Writer/Director Lucky McKee discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Tár (2022)

Speed Racer (2008)

The Matrix (1999)

Gloria (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Old Man (2022)

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Avatar (2009)

Band of the Hand (1986)

May (2002)

The Piano (1993)

The Crying Game (1992)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002)

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

The Dark Crystal (1982) – Bernard Rose’s trailer commentary

Cockfighter (1974) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary

Days of Heaven (1978)

Sweetie (1989)

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

A History Of Violence (2005)

Se7en (1995)

Straw Dogs (1971) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary,...

Animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky joins Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his favorite silent sequences from great movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Infested (2002)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – John Badham’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Birds (1963) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews

Conan The Barbarian (1982)

Conan The Destroyer (1984)

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

The Party (1968) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary

The Pink Panther...

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On director/co-writer/co-editor Dean Fleischer-Camp discusses some of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2022)

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2010)

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

San Andreas (2015)

Airplane! (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Ghost (1990)

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Beetlejuice (1988) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Batman (1989)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Batman Returns (1992) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Ed Wood (1994)

Mars Attacks (1996)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Planet of the Apes (2001)

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

8 ½ (1963) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Westworld (1973) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

Robocop (1987) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Alien (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Aliens (1986) – Glenn Erickson’s...

Josh Olson and Joe Dante answer fan questions and comments.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy (1955) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Monster A-Go-Go (1965)

Infested (2002)

Straw Dogs (1971) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Joe Dante’s review

Straw Dogs (2011)

Mississippi Burning (1988)

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947) – Axelle Carolyn’s trailer commentary

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

Bad Boy Bubby (1993) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Mummy (1932) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Mummy (1999)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Slappy And The Stinkers (1998)

Casper (1995)

Invisible Man (2020)

The Invisible Man (1933) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

The Stewardesses (1969)

The Hole (2012) – Joe Dante’s US, Italian, British trailer commentaries, Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Love (2015)

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

McCabe And Mrs.

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1939 / 1.33:1 / 79 Min.

Starring W.C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen

Written by Charles Bogle

Directed by George Marshall, Edward CLine

Charlie McCarthy was W.C. Fields’ most formidable antagonist—a wide-eyed charmer with a bright (not to mention permanent) smile, Charlie was everything the great comedian wasn’t. One thing Fields had that Charlie didn’t was flesh (admittedly sagging) and blood (80 proof on the best of days). The diminutive McCarthy was made of wood—only a dummy in top hat and tails but the most famous puppet on the planet, and operated by the worst ventriloquist in Hollywood, Edgar Bergen. Though Bergen couldn’t keep his own mouth from moving when he spoke for Charlie, the little fellow’s dialog still packed a punch. Indeed, the reason the duo proved so effective in their skirmishes with Fields was because their humor,...

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“W. C. Fields And The Termite’S Flophouse”

By Raymond Benson

By 1939, comic superstar W. C. Fields (real name William Claude Dukenfield) had a love-hate relationship with Hollywood. While he was still something of a box office draw and enjoyed immense popularity, Fields’ relationship with the bottle was causing more problems for the actor, and he had lost his contract with Paramount, the home of his earlier talkies. After a resurgence in admiration due to radio broadcasts with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, Fields signed a new contract with Universal. The first picture out of the gate was a team-up with Fields and Bergen/McCarthy.

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man can’t be counted among Fields’ best pictures, but it’s entertaining and funny enough. It is arguable that Bergen and McCarthy steal the show based on Bergen’s charm and good looks,...

Can a Dance Teacher From Boston Dance His Way Out of a Hangman’s Noose? With Help From the Mayor’s Beautiful Daughter, He Just Might! Dancing Pirate (1936), the First Dancing Musical in 100% Technicolor, With Dazzling New Restoration, on Blu-Ray & DVD, Feb. 22nd. The Blu-ray can be preordered Here

:Cinedigm announced today that The Film Detective (Tfd), the classic film restoration and streaming company, will release the first ever 100% Technicolor dancing musical, Dancing Pirate (1936), on special-edition Blu-ray and DVD, Feb. 22.

Charles Collins stars in Dancing Pirateas a dance teacher from Boston who is tricked into joining a band of pirates, leading him to be fitted for a noose in California. Compared to “Douglas Fairbanks in his most acrobatic days,” Collins catches a break when the mayor’s daughter (Steffi Duna) demands the hanging be postponed until he teaches her to waltz.

Dancing Pirate earned an Academy Award nomination for Best...

Our first episode back in the studio! Robert Weide discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Mother Night (1996)

Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011)

Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition (1989)

Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth (1998)

Marx Brothers in a Nutshell (1982)

W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986)

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021)

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Mary Poppins (1964)

The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

Patton (1970) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Mash (1970)

Short Cuts (1993) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Lenny...

Lock the doors. Turn on the lights. Check under the bed. Crank up the volume. It’s time for another Halloween Parade!

Please help support the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Click here, and be sure to indicate The Movies That Made Me in the note section so Josh can finally achieve his dream of showing Mandy to his wife!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

Mandy (2018)

Carnival of Souls (1962) – Mary Lambert’s trailer commentary

Night Tide (1961) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

A Bucket Of Blood (1959) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s DVD review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dementia 13 (1963) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s director’s cut Blu-ray review

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary

The Conversation (1974) – Josh Olson...

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“Ever Done Any Boondoggling?”

By Raymond Benson

Continuing the examination of Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray releases of the W. C. Fields catalog of classic comedies, we now look at The Bank Dick, easily one of the actor/comedian’s greatest works.

Released in 1940 (titled The Bank Detective in the U.K.), Fields was starting to wind down, whether he knew it or not. Alcoholism was taking its toll, and it wouldn’t be long before his amazing run in cinema since the silent era would soon come to an end. He still had some surprises in his pockets, though, and The Bank Dick was one of them.

“Ever done in any boondoggling?” Fields, as Egbert Sousé, submits to another character in the film. In a way, he’s asking that of the audience, too. For The Bank Dick is nothing but a load of boondoggling,...

Something almost beyond comprehension is happening on October 31st… and two men want to do a couple of podcast episodes about it. This is the Halloween Parade… volume 1.

Please help support the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Click here, and be sure to indicate The Movies That Made Me in the note section so Josh can finally achieve his dream of showing Mandy to his wife!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

Wait Until Dark (1967) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The House On Skull Mountain (1974)

King In The Wilderness (2018)

Sugar Hill (1974)

World War Z (2013)

I Walked With A Zombie (1943)

White Zombie (1932) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Night of the Living Dead (1968) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Blacula (1972)

Blackenstein (1973)

The Flesh And The Fiends (1960) – Charlie Largent’s two reviews

Road Rebels (1964)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

Perks Of Being A...

Writer/director/actor Jim Cummings joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Thunder Road short film (2016)

Thunder Road (2018)

The Wolf Of Snow Hollow (2020)

The Beta Test (2021)

Jack Reacher (2012)

The ’Burbs (1989) – Ti West’s trailer commentary, Burbs-Mania from Tfh

Big (1988)

War Of The Worlds (2005) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review

Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Children Of Men (2006)

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002)

Russian Ark (2002) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Beach (2000)

Titanic (1997)

28 Days Later (2003)

Victoria (2015) – Eduardo Rodriguez’s trailer commentary

Krisha (2015)

Dogtooth (2009)

Inside Out (2015)

Toy Story (1995)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Wall-e (2008)

Up (2009)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Oren Peli’s trailer commentary

False Positive (2021)

Repulsion (1965) – Michael Lehman’s trailer commentary

Seduced And Abandoned (1964)

Divorce Italian Style (1961)

La Dolce Vita (1960) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002)

Speed Racer...

Core pre-Code excellence! This movie delivers sexy situations while nailing small town intolerance and hypocrisy. When push comes to shove, the slighted and slandered Nancy Carroll makes daring, socially unacceptable choices that would never be allowed after the Production Code was enforced. Gorgeous Carroll is a vivacious blend of Clara Bow and Claudette Colbert. She must choose between slick playboy Cary Grant and hunky geologist Randolph Scott. What she really needs is a bus ticket out of her Town Without Pity. The picture is funny, well observed and well written. And it has Grady Sutton — ooh!

Hot Saturday

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 73 min. / Street Date October 26, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Cary Grant, Nancy Carroll, Randolph Scott, Edward Woods, Lilian Bond, William Collier Sr., Jane Darwell, Stanley Smith, Rita La Roy, Rose Coghlan, Oscar Apfel, Jessie Arnold, Grady Sutton, Marjorie Main, .

Cinematography: Arthur L. Todd

Original...

The always delightful Doctor Z hangs with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante while discussing a few of his favorite monkey movies.

Dr. Z – Tmtmm Pod Mentions

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Planet of the Apes (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Escape From The Planet of the Apes (1971)

Battle For The Planet of the Apes (1973) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Every Which Way But Loose (1978)

Any Which Way You Can (1980)

The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary

Schindler’s List (1993)

Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021)

King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

King Kong (1933)

Conan The Barbarian (1982)

Godzilla (1954) – Don Coscarelli’s trailer commentary

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Stalag 17 (1953)

In The Heat Of The Night (1967) – Michael Schlesinger’s trailer commentary

King Kong Escapes (1967)

Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932)

The Sorrow And The Pity (1972)

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

It Came From Beneath The Sea...

Director/writer Michael Schlesinger dug through some long-forgotten film archives and unearthed this quartet of shorts from America’s favorite fictional funny men, Biffle and Shooster. Lovingly shot in black and white (save for the Cinecolor “Schmo Boat”), the films recall 30’s audience’s infatuation with terrible puns and out-of-nowhere musical numbers. Tfh is pleased to welcome Mike to its ever-expanding cast of gurus!

The post The Adventures of Biffle and Shooster appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

It’s a Larry Blamire film, and it’s composed of entirely New and Unique elements: a lonely mansion, strange servants, the reading of the will, weird heirs, death threats, snoopy reporters, a midnight seance, mysterious locked rooms, the clutching hands of a phantom menace, and the ultimate terror, Kogar the mighty ape. All new, right? This ‘nothing you’ve ever seen before’ is performed by Blamire’s nimble acting clan, all competing to immortalize some of the silliest dialogue ever written. Two versions of the screwball-nostalgic farce are present on this special edition disc, along with the usual disturbingly offbeat selection of Blamire extras.

Dark and Stormy Night

Blu-ray

Hydraulic Entertainment

2009 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date June 1, 2020 / available here online but see more information below.

Starring: Daniel Roebuck, Jennifer Blaire, Fay Masterson, Dan Conroy, Brian Howe, Christine Romeo, Andrew Parks, Jim Beaver, Kevin Quinn, James Karen, Alison Martin,...

Cult nonsense filmmaking finds its Ultimate in Larry Blamire’s pair of monster-rally comedies, that parody classic cheapo sci-fi thrillers. The spot-on spoofery nails the genre’s hyper-earnest characterizations and affectionately stilted acting. The only disconnect are the high production values lavished on these personal films: remastered for reissue, they look and sound almost too good for authenticity’s sake. Separate purchases, each with bounteous extras, including Larry Blamire’s weird ‘reanimated movie classics.’

Trail of the Screaming Forehead

+

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again

Blu-ray

Bantam Street

2007-2009

Color

2:35 widescreen

Separate purchases available at Hydraulic Entertainment

Produced, Written and Directed by Larry Blamire

Who began the fan-cult monster film sub-genre? Is it Arch Hall with his barely-watchable backyard production Eegah? Or maybe Ray Dennis Steckler, and his marginally more polished The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? Those pioneers in semi-professional moviemaking inspired plenty of...

James Stewart in Anthony Mann’s The Far Country will be available on Blu-ray November 12th From Arrow Academy

An archetypal example of its genre, The Far Country is one of five superb westerns the screen legend James Stewart made with acclaimed Hollywood auteur Anthony Mann.

Mann s film tells of Jeff Webster (Stewart) and his sidekick Ben Tatum: two stoic adventurers driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada who come to logger heads with a corrupt judge and his henchmen. Ruth Romain (Strangers on a Train) plays a sultry saloon keeper who falls for Stewart, teaming up with him to take on the errant lawman.

An epic saga set during the heady times of the Klondike Gold Rush, The Far Country captures the scenic grandeur of northern Canada s icy glaciers and snow-swept mountains in vivid Technicolor. Mann s direction expertly steers the film to an unorthodox,...

A lot of words have already been written this week, and hopefully a lot more will be written in the next few weeks, months and years, about the great and beloved character actor Dick Miller, who passed away on January 30th in Burbank, California at age 90. A quick look at his bio page on IMDb will give you the basics about his early life— born in The Bronx, he served in the Us Navy and, despite his diminutive stature, even won a prize title as a middleweight boxer. But that’s not why several generations of movie fans know him, love him, or get such a kick out of seeing him pop up, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere, in the over-180 films and TV episodes in which he appeared.

Miller made his way out to Los Angeles from New York in the mid-50s and thus assured said multiple generations...

“Who are you?”

“B-i-double F-iffle. Biffle! S-h-double O-ooster. Shooster! We’re Biffle and Shooster! Need we say more?”

In 1928, the vaudeville comedy duo of Benny Biffle and Sam Shooster made the transition from the stage to the nascent medium of talking pictures with a pair of Vitaphone one-reelers. That move was a modest but immediate success, breaking ground on what would be a string of 20 comedy shorts made by the team for independent producer Sam Weinberg, which would both build on their reputations as worthy occupants of a comedy firmament anchored by stars like Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello, but also cement Weinberg’s standing as a producer who liked to lean a little too heavily upon the blueprint of others. In 1938, Biffle and Shooster parted ways with Weinberg, but they continued to work sporadically in films, including a cameo appearance in Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad,...

Do you miss the Stooges? Miss Edgar Kennedy? Here’s a bizarre bill of goods for committed film fans in search of retro fun. Will Ryan and Nick Santa Maria perform as a madcap ’30s comedy team in a series of imaginatively re-created broad short subjects, all designed to fit the style of the era. It works like gangbusters for those who relish their vintage slapstick laughs.

The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster!

DVD

Kino Lorber

2013-2016 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 131 min. cumulative (or nimbus) / Street Date May 22, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Nick Santa Maria, Will Ryan.

Cinematography: Douglas Knapp

Film Editor and more: Bill Bryn Russell

Produced by Michael Demeritt

Written-Produced-Directed by Michael Schlesinger

It takes about three minutes to fall under the peculiar spell woven by The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster!, a collection of new short subjects. Biffle and Shooster are a mythical comedy...

http://www.lajfilmfest.org

The 13th annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival will begin on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 and conclude on Wednesday, May 2nd with films from around the world celebrating the Jewish experience.

The opening night begins with a Bar Mitzvah or 13th year, style party and a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. with the premiere of a new documentary Sammy Davis Jr. — I Gotta Be Me, an amazing Documentary made for American Masters which I was elated to see when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Sammy Davis Jr. was the ultimate performer. His worldview was unique and self made just as he was. It did not conform to the liberal “style” of the time, but it was not conservative either.

USA/2018/100 minutes

Directed by Sam Pollard).

Sammy Davis Jr. was recognized as a groundbreaking entertainer who frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and...

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This December will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Friday, December 1

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*: Criterion Collection Edition #692

Stanley Kramer followed his harrowing Oscar winner Judgment at Nuremberg with the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure. Performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery. Supplemental Features: an audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad,...

Another release of the Kramer-Foreman-Zinnemann classic gives Savant another chance to make his argument that this supposedly 'liberal' movie is too confused to be anything but political quicksand -- if anything, its statement is bitterly hawkish. High Noon Blu-ray Olive Signature 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 85 min. / Street Date September 20, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 39.95 Starring Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado, Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney Jr, Harry Morgan, Otto Kruger, Lee Van Cleef. Cinematography Floyd Crosby Production Designer Rudolph Sternad Film Editor Elmo Williams Original Music Dimitri Tiomkin Written by Carl Foreman Produced by Stanley Kramer Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

This is my fourth time out with a review of High Noon, starting fourteen years ago with a pretty miserable Artisan DVD, then a Lionsgate 'ultimate edition,' followed by Olive Film's first, quite good Blu-ray. Olive now revisits the 1952 classic as...

Director/writer Michael Schlesinger dug through some long-forgotten film archives and unearthed this quartet of shorts from America’s favorite fictional funny men, Biffle and Shooster. Lovingly shot in black and white (save for the Cinecolor “Schmo Boat”), the films recall 30’s audience’s infatuation with terrible puns and out-of-nowhere musical numbers. Tfh is pleased to welcome Mike to its ever-expanding cast of gurus!

We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes a new poster for L.A. Slasher, details on Headless, casting update on Welcome to Purgatory, trailers for Truth or Dare and Red Sleep, and more:

New Poster for L.A. Slasher: “Sales agency Circus Road Films has picked up Martin Owen’s horror/satire feature “L.A. Slasher.” Glenn Reynolds’ Circus Road is handling domestic sales. The film stars Danny Trejo (“Machete”), Mischa Barton (“The O.C.”), Dave Bautista (“Riddick”), Eric Roberts (“The Dark Knight), Drake Bell (“Drake & Josh”), Brooke Hogan (“Hogan Knows Best”), Tori Black (“Not Another Celebrity Movie”) and Marisa Lauren (“Superhero Movie”), with the of voice of Andy Dick (“News Radio”) as the ‘L.A. Slasher’.

Produced by Jeffrey Wright and Daniel Sollinger (“Girls Against Boys”), “L.A. Slasher” is a biting, social satire about reality TV and the...

It's been 60 years since Godzilla first tore up the big screen, and though countless sequels and spin-offs have come in the original film's wake, there are also a handful of planned projects that just never ended up getting off the ground.

Many of those films have been well documented, but one we had never before heard about has just come to our attention, and now we're pretty damned bummed out about it not happening. Read on!

As reported by SciFi Japan, Gremlins director Joe Dante was at one point in time hired to helm a movie called Godzilla Reborn, which was set to be a sequel to the 1999 Japanese film Godzilla 2000. Details about the failed project came courtesy of Michael Schlesinger, who penned the unfilmed screenplay.

Schlesinger says that though the idea for the film started off as a joke, he eventually realized it had legs and decided to...

Fango hit the La premiere this past Sunday night of writer/director Larry Blamire’s The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (see photos below), the follow-up to his 2001 cult hit The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra, and chatted him up post-q&A.

Playing to a packed house at Hollywood Boulevard’s Egyptian theater, the film elicited an overwhelming audience response (Blamire’s devotees are quite rabid: this scribe’s parents made a trek all the way from Northern California), and the filmmaker was thrilled by the enthusiastic reception.

“What a terrific turnout,” Blamire tells Fango. “Man, we have the greatest fans. The support is phenomenal, and the audience expectation was palpable and infectious as the characters from the first film made their appearances [in the sequel], including the dead ones.” He’s referring to the roles played by Brian Howe and Dan Conroy, who met untimely ends in the original, with the actors here portraying their identical twins.