New York Times ad for "Life on the Edge" on the first day of its week-long New York City run, June 19, 1992. No one is credited for the blurb. In 2016, I began a column on this blog called "New York Times Slights," in honor of filmmakers who were fortunate enough to see their …
Continue reading New York Times Slights, Part 2: “Life on the Edge” (1992)
You know when you've hit a conversational brick wall with director Larry Peerce--albeit a very kindly brick wall. There's a slight groan, an utterance of the phrase "My boy...," and a gentle bemusement as to why anyone would expect him to remember a 40-year-old film or incident (even though Peerce, 90 at the time of …
Actor Robert DiTillio is perhaps best known for the 2003 Dean Cain sci-fi B-movie "Dragon Fighter," in which he supplies most of the comic relief and suffers the goriest death. (It also happens to be his favorite film experience). But during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as an up-and-coming New York City actor, DiTillio …
In 2015, I received a comment on Hidden Films' "About" section from a filmmaker I'd never heard of, Paul Bunnell. It read: "How about a story about the lowest grossing film of 2012 and the last movie shot on Kodak Plus-X 35mm black-and-white Film? P.S. It's not on Netflix (anymore). ;-)." Never mind that, four …
Hidden Films is breaking a golden rule: "reviewing" a film before we're even done watching it! Why not? Political writers write op-eds anticipating the results of an election. Sports writers write op-eds anticipating the results of a series. So why not a film review with a "cliffhanger" ending, something along the lines of, "Boy oh …
Let's face it: life can get pretty boring, no? And so the human race deserves a movie as brazenly bonkers as "Student Confidential." The tagline--rather than using lazy exploitation terms such as "powder keg" and "dynamite"--should simply have read "Drama by Troma." Yes, the studio most known for "The Toxic Avenger" released this totally-in-earnest examination …
Continue reading Troma’s “Student Confidential” (1987) Retold in Storybook Fashion
As promised, here is the list of Criterion streaming titles (designated separately from FilmStruck titles, for some reason) that will disappear from streaming tomorrow when FilmStruck shuts down. (nostalgia) ...And the Pursuit of Happiness ...But Film is My Mistress 13 Days in France 16 Days of Glory 2 or 3 Things I Know About …
Continue reading List of all Criterion streaming titles disappearing Nov. 29 from FilmStruck
Hi all, Taking a brief time-out from covering specific films to do a quick obscure film public service announcement. As many of you know, Criterion's streaming service FilmStruck (which featured many rare, out of print films) is going under in three days. As always, I found out about this amazing product too late. So now …
Continue reading List of all FilmStruck titles (expiring 11/28)
Stories abound in Hollywood of bitter screenwriters who toiled for years to land a deal, only to watch their vision destroyed by a clashing director or meddling producer. How refreshing, then, to hear a story about a film shoot that was pure joy for screenwriter and director alike. "Caught," a 1996 erotic thriller starring Edward …
"To be quick about it, she's terrible. Her smile...communicates no amusement, warmth, intelligence or interest. We watch the smile as we would watch the opening of a garage door...it's a minor mechanical feat." -Vincent Canby, chief New York Times critic, on Suzanne Somers' performance in the 1980 flop "Nothing Personal." Before the mid-to-late 1960s, foul …
Continue reading Smut for General Audiences: “Nothing Personal” w/Suzanne Somers (1980)
Hidden Films 