‘Tis the Season

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 1, 2010

Categories | News, Directors, Blogathons, Thrillers, Julie Christie, Paul Naschy, Irvin Kershner, Gene Tierney, Deborah Kerr, Eli Wallach

Happy Holidays from Cinebeats & Julie Christie!

‘Tis the season. I’ve been preoccupied with home renovations, work and holiday plans lately so I haven’t had a lot of free time to watch movies or blog and I don’t think I’ll be updating much in December. In an effort to keep things interesting here at Cinebeats I thought I’d compile a bunch of brief updates into one post and wish you all Happy Holidays!

Giving Thanks
I celebrated Thanksgiving at the Movie Morlocks last week by writing about a bunch of movie related people and characters that I’m thankful for. We don’t say thank you enough anymore and I’m not sure when good manners became so passé but I suppose I’m a little old fashioned. I decided to share my thanks for a few things I’ve had on my mind lately including Joseph Cotten, Gene Tierney, Deborah Kerr, Richard Harris, director Fritz Land and Eli Wallach who recently received his first Academy Award at age 95.
- Giving Thanks @ The Movie Morlocks

Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)

The Paul Naschy Blogathon
Over at Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies The Vicar of VHS is hosting a Paul Naschy Blogathon November 29 - December 3. I love Paul Naschy and I don’t know if I’ll have the time to participate in the blogathon, but you can bet that I’ll be doing a lot of reading in December! The Vicar is gathering links to all the blogathon submissions and the response has been tremendous so far. Naschy would have celebrated his 76th birthday this week and he’s still fondly remembered by his fans. It’s wonderful to see this Spanish horror icon getting so much attention and The Paul Naschy Blogathon is a great way to keep Naschy’s memory alive.
- The Paul Naschy Blogathon @ Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies

Irvin Kershner 1923-2010
Over the Thanksgiving holiday I watched a bunch of terrible new or “newer” movies including James Cameron’s ridiculously expensive cartoon Avatar (2009), Peter Jackson’s mind-numbingly bad The Lovely Bones (2009) and Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables (2010), which (once again) wasted the talents of Jason Statham and Jet Li and only served to remind me why I disliked so many ’80s action movies. In the midst of all this crap I re-watched one of my favorite Irvin Kershner films, the deliciously decadent murder mystery, The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). During the film I kept being reminded of Kershner’s talent and wondering why he never made another film as interesting and stylish as The Eyes of Laura Mars? I’ve written a little about Kershner’s A Fine Madness (1966) as well as his odd comedy S*P*Y*S (1974) but I haven’t written about The Eyes of Laura Mars or another Kershner favorite, The Flim-Flam Man (1967). Today Irvin Kershner is mostly remembered for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which many consider to be better than the first Star Wars film. When news spread that the director had died on November 27th after suffering from lung cancer for 3 years, The Empire Strikes Back garnered the most headlines and attention but I think of it as the movie that ended Kershner career. After making that Star Wars sequel he seemed to slowly fade away and didn’t take on any more challenging projects. I wish Kershner would have worked with director & writer John Carpenter (the writer of The Eyes of Laura Mars) again. They made a really interesting team and delivered one of the most fascinating American thrillers of the ’70s. If you want to see Irvin Kershner at his best watch The Eyes of Laura Mars.
- Irvin Kershner’s Obituary @ The Los Angeles Times

Fay Dunaway stars in The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

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Summer Under the Stars: Julie Christie

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 30, 2010

Categories | Movie Reviews, Horror, British Cinema, Actresses, Science Fiction, Donald Cammell, Julie Christie

Julie Christie in an early promo shot for Billy Liar (1963)

I recently wrote a lengthy piece about Donald Cammell’s science fiction thriller Demon Seed (1977), which has been published at the Turner Classic Movies site. My article coincides with TCM’s annual Summer Under the Stars event that celebrates the careers of various actors and actresses all summer long. This year many of my favorite screen stars will be represented in TCM’s lineup including Steve McQueen, Errol Flynn, Gene Tierney, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O’Toole and the lovely ’60s icon, Julie Christie. Demon Seed will be shown on August 2 along with many other terrific Julie Christie’ films such as The Go-Between (1971), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Billy Liar (1963), Darling (1965) and Petulia (1968). You can read my piece on Demon Seed as well as articles about all the other Julie Christie films being shown on August 2 at the TCM site.

- Summer Under The Stars - August 2/2010: Julie Christie

Julie Christie in Demon Seed (1977)

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New John Dankworth Compilation

by Kimberly Lindbergs | August 12, 2009

Categories | News, Soundtracks, Composers, British Cinema, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Losey, Julie Christie, Laurence Harvey, Karel Reisz

Laurence Harvey, Julie Christie & Dirk Bogarde in Darling (1965)

During the recent Dirk Bogarde movie marathon on TCM I ended up watching John Schlesinger’s Darling (1965) again which stars Dirk Bogarde along with the wonderful Julie Christie and jaw-droppingly gorgeous Laurence Harvey. I’ve seen the film many times before but I love all three of the film’s stars so I never get tired of watching it. Besides the actors and Schlesinger’s impressive direction, another reason that I find Darling incredibly watchable is the film’s great score by British composer John (aka Johnny) Dankworth. Dankworth was an amazing talent and he’s responsible for composing the soundtracks for some of my favorite British films of the ’60s. He also created music for terrific television shows like the original Avengers.

After watching Darling again I decided to try and hunt down a copy of the film’s soundtrack online. Unfortunately I had no luck, but I did discover that a new John Dankworth compliation CD has just been released called Let’s Slip Away - Film and TV 1960-1973.

Let’s Slip Away is the first CD compilation of John Danworth’s scores so if you’re a fan of his music you’ll definitely want to get yourself a copy. This impressive 2 CD set from Eclipse in the UK features over 40 music tracks and includes theme music from Darling as well as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz; 1960), The Servant (Joseph Losey; 1963), Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment (Karel Reisz; 1966), Modesty Blaise (Joseph Losey; 1966) and Accident (Jospeh Losey; 1967). The collection also includes extensive notes by Workers Playtime DJ Martin Green.

The official Eclipse site calls Let’s Slip Away “Beautifully cool jazz-pop from the days before Johnny started calling himself John and getting all serious on your ass.”

Sounds good to me!

The CD collection was released earlier this month and you can currently find new copies at Amazon selling for about $18.75, but there seems to be a glaring error on the website that also lists the CD for $170. Ignore that ridiculous price! If you can’t get new copies of the CD at Amazon I highly recommend picking up a copy at my favorite online soundtrack shop Movie Grooves.

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The Eyes Have It

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 10, 2008

Categories | Rants & Raves, Actresses, Elizabeth Taylor, Pamela Franklin, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Julie Christie, Carroll Baker, Isabelle Adjani, Delphine Seyrig, Ursula Andress, Barbara Shelley, Barbara Steele, Ingrid Pitt, Marisa Mell, Florinda Bolkan, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Gene Tierney, Ann-Margret, Natalie Wood, Monica Vitti, Meiko Kaji, Anna Karina, Catherine Deneuve, Edwige Fenech

My blogging buddy Peter Nellhaus over at Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee has asked me to contribute my own list of “20 Favorite Actresses” to a new film meme making the rounds of the blogosphere. Frankly I was just going to blow him off and ignore his request because these meme things tend to make me nuts but Peter is too nice a guy to ignore. I tried to throw caution to the wind and just quickly put together a list of 20 of my favorite actresses, but as usual I spent way too much time thinking about this and managed to give myself a headache in the process. This meme madness must end! But at least it gave me an excuse to post a bunch of fabulous photos of some of my favorite actresses.

Naturally I ignored the rules and decided to post a list of 23 40 favorite actresses instead of limiting myself to only 20. My list could have been even longer and I’m sure I’ll regret forgetting to include a few more favorites but over time I felt the need to keep adding to the list and finally just doubled the size. Some of these talented and lovely women were never offered the better roles they so richly deserved, while others are acclaimed Academy Award winners and celebrated Hollywood legends. They do have a couple of things in common though; they’ve appeared in a lot of great movies and I never get tired of watching them!

So without further blabbering, here are 20 40 Women I Love Watching . . .

Elizabeth Taylor

Monica Vitti

Sarah Miles

Julie Christie

Barbara Steele

Charlotte Rampling

Kim Novak

Anna Karina

Carroll Baker

Meiko Kaji

Catherine Deneuve

Isabelle Adjani

Brigitte Bardot

Natalie Wood

Deborah Kerr

Sophia Loren

Gene Tierney

Glenda Jackson

Ava Gardner

Ursula Andress

Delphine Seyrig

Ann-Margret

Edwige Fenech

Ingrid Pitt

Judy Garland

Florinda Bolkan

Marisa Mell

Katharine Hepburn

Soledad Miranda

Barbara Shelley

< a href="http://cinebeats.blogsome.com/category/bette-davis/">Bette Davis

Pamela Franklin

Barbra Streisand

Claudia Cardinale

Anita Ekberg

Paula Prentiss

Geneviève Bujold

Marlene Clark

Diana Rigg

Jenny Agutter

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My Top 20 Favorite Films of 1968

by Kimberly Lindbergs | October 6, 2008

Categories | Horror, Giallo, Comedies, Crime, Westerns, Hammer Horror, Elizabeth Taylor, Alain Delon, Mario Bava, Steve McQueen, Terence Stamp, Jess Franco, David Hemmings, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Burton, 1968, Klaus Kinski, Brigitte Bardot, Joseph Losey, Girl On a Motorcycle, Julie Christie, Peter Sellers, Marisa Mell, Stanley Kubrick, Terence Fisher, Roman Polanski

At the Britannica blog Raymond Benson has finished listing off his Top 10 Favorite Films of 1968 so if you’re interested in the final results stop by and give them a look. I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions how much I dislike making lists of favorite films myself since they’re limited by what I’ve seen and are subject to change at anytime. Roger Ebert recently asked his blog readers to “. . . agree that all lists of movies are nonsense.” I agreed with him wholeheartedly at the time, but in the process of watching Raymond Benson share his list favorite films from 1968 I naturally began thinking of my own favorite films released the same year.

Compiling a list of favorite films restricted by their release date without implying that they’re “the best” (whatever that means) started to seem like a fun exercise. And while reading the complaints and reservations about Raymond Benson’s own selections I even suggested that it would be interesting if all the participants of the Britannica blog “round-table” supplied their own list of Top 10 Favorite Films for 1968 so we could compare them. I figured that if we were going to scrutinize Raymond Benson’s selections we might as well scrutinize each other. I also thought that it would probably enrich the discussion. No one else seemed willing or able to share a list of there own picks, but for the past two weeks I’ve been quietly compiling a list of my own favorite films from 1968.

I wasn’t planing on sharing my own list with anyone, but over the weekend I listened to an interesting discussion between Greencine’s David Hudson, Film Comment’s Gavin Smith and film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum about the current state of film criticism that got me contemplating my list again. During the discussion Jonathan Rosenbaum smartly pointed out that, “People love lists now because they need to. There’s too much to navigate through.” In my own experience I’ve found this to be very true. Since I started blogging my “Favorite DVDs of the year” lists for 2006 and 2007 have become some of my most popular posts and they’ve generated some lively discussions and lots of email. I think other people appreciate them because they offer a brief look at some films I’ve enjoyed and recommend. And in the words of Jonathan Rosenbaum, the lists are easy to navigate through.

So without further explanation, here’s a list of some of my own favorite films from 1968. I couldn’t manage to narrow all my choices down to a mere Top 10 so I just decided to share my Top 20 list instead. I purposefully left off documentaries so you won’t find any listed and four of the films on my list were also on Raymond Benson’s list. The numerical order doesn’t mean much and naturally my list is subject to change at anytime since I’m continually being exposed to new movies. It also should be noted that after looking at various print and online sources I’ve come across different release dates for some films. As far as I know, the following 20 films were originally released in 1968.

My TOP 20 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1968

1. If…. (Lindsay Anderson; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about If…. can be found HERE and HERE.

2. Black Lizard aka Kurotokage (Kinji Fukasaku; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Black Lizard can be found HERE.
I’m currently working on a much longer article about the film and its star that I hope to share here soon.

3. Spirits of the Dead aka Histoires Extraordinaires
(Federico Fellini, Louis Malle & Roger Vadim; 1968)
Some of my thought about Spirits of the Dead can be found HERE.

4. Teorema (Pier Paolo Pasolini; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Teorema can be found HERE.

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick; 1968)

6. Diabolik aka Danger: Diabolik! (Mario Bava; 1968)
Some of my brief thoughts about Diabolik can be found HERE.

7. Succubus aka Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden (Jesus Franco; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Succubus can be found HERE.

8. The Great Silence aka Il Grande silenzio (Sergio Corbucci; 1968)
Some of my thought about The Great Silence can be found HERE and HERE.

9. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski; 1968)

10. Petulia (Richard Lester; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Petulia can be found HERE.

11. Blackmail Is My Life aka Kyokatsu koso Waga Jinsei ( Kinji Fukasaku; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Blackmail Is My Life can be found HERE

12. Boom! (Joesph Losey; 1968)
My lengthy look at Boom! can be found HERE.

13. Night of the Living Dead (George Romero; 1968)

14. The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about The Thomas Crown Affair can be found HERE.

15. Girl on a Motorcycle aka Naked Under Leather (Jack Cardiff; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Alain Delon and Girl on a Motorcycle can be found HERE.

16. Once Upon a Time in the West aka C’era una volta il West
(Sergio Leone; 1968)
Some of my thoughts about Once Upon a Time in the West can be found HERE.

17. Death Laid an Egg aka La Morte ha fatto l’uovo (Giulio Questi; 1968)
I briefly mentioned my fondness for Death Laid an Egg HERE.

18. The Devil Rides Out aka The Devil’s Bride (Terence Fisher; 1968)

19. The Party (Blake Edwards; 1968)

20. Barbarella (Roger Vadim; 1968)

Honorable mention goes to the wonderful Yokai Monster films that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

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Terence Stamp Turns 68

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 22, 2007

Categories | Actors, British Cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni, Terence Stamp, Julie Christie, Michael Caine

One of my favorite actors is the handsome, talented and all-around extraordinary Terence Stamp who is celebrating his 68th birthday today. Stamp got interested in acting at the tender age of four after seeing Gary Cooper in Beau Geste (1939), but he didn’t decide to seriously pursue acting until he was seventeen years old. On New Years Eve in 1956 Stamp went to a screening of Elia Kazan’s East of Eden (1955) which starred James Dean and the film completely overwhelmed him. Terence Stamp related to Dean in a way that he hadn’t with other performers and soon after Stamp decided to enroll at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London to study acting.

In the early sixties Stamp started appearing in various stage productions where he met fellow actor Michael Caine. The two young men with working class backgrounds shared a lot in common and they quickly became friends and roommates. After landing the starring role in Peter Ustinov’s critically acclaimed film adaptation of the Herman Melville novel Billy Budd (1962), Terence Stamp was suddenly hailed as one of Britain’s brightest new stars. The role of Billy Budd won Stamp a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer and also landed him an Oscar nomination.

Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar in The Collector (1965)

Soon after Terence Stamp and Michael Caine became familiar faces in swinging London and they were regularly seen together at Peter Cook’s popular Soho nightclub The Establishment. The two handsome actors entertained many lovely British actresses and models at the flat they shared and together they earned a reputation for being extremely popular with the ladies. One of these ladies was the lovely actress Julie Christie who Stamp was said to be romantically involved with for a brief time. Their relationship was memorialized in The Kinks song Waterloo Sunset which contains the lines; “Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station every Friday night.”

Amid all the partying Stamp continued to act and after making Billy Budd he starred in William Wyler’s brilliant adaptation of John Fowles novel The Collector (1965). His role as the rather sad and disturbed Freddie Clegg in The Collector was a huge departure from the sensitive and sweet character of Billy Budd that Stamp had previously played and it gave him the chance to really show off his impressive acting abilities. The Collector was nominated for many awards and Stamp won Best Actor for his performance at Cannes in 1966. He also continued to act on stage and appeared in the popular London stage production of Bill Naughton’s play Alfie. Stamp was offered the starring role in the film version of Alfie (1966) as well but he decided to turn it down and suggested that his roommate and friend Michael Caine take the role instead. Caine did, and his performance as Alfie won him a lot of well-earned critical attention. Together Stamp and Caine became two of London’s most recognized celebrities.

While making the The Collector Terence Stamp met and fell deeply in love with the beautiful British model and occasional actress Jean Shrimpton. Sometime afterward Stamp decided to move out of the place he shared with Michael Caine and into his own flat at The Albany which was an exclusive gentlemen’s apartment in the heart of London that had previously been home to historic figures such as the poet Lord Byron. I had the chance to briefly visit The Albany when I was in London seven years ago and it’s an incredibly lovely old building that sits across the street from the wonderful Hatchards Bookshop.

During this time Stamp was offered the starring role in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup (1966), but Antonioni decided to replace Stamp at the last minute with actor David Hemmings. This incident supposedly devastated Stamp and many critics have written about how it seemed to throw a wrench into his career, but I would disagree with that. Stamp would appear in many great films throughout the sixties including Jospeh Losey’s terrific pop art spy spoof Modesty Blaise (1966), John Schlesinger’s beautiful adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Ken Loach’s gritty kitchen sink drama Poor Cow (1967), the interesting western Blue (1968), Fellini’s amazing segment of the horror and fantasy anthology Spirits of the Dead (a.k.a. Histoires Extraordinaires, 1968) and Pasolini’s fascinating and brilliant Teorema (1968). Many of the films he appeared in met with mixed critical reviews but his performances were often singled out as being consistently good. The starring role in Antonioni’s Blowup would have been a nice addition to Terence Stamp’s filmography, but his excellent and varied career as an actor is just as impressive without it.

As the sixties came to a close, Stamp’s relationship with Jean Shrimpton supposedly fell apart when he found out she was having an affair with another man. This discovery was said to have destroyed Stamp and much like the British actor James Fox who I wrote about earlier this year, Stamp decided to take a break from acting and devote himself to spiritual studies. Before his self-imposed sabbatical, Stamp appeared in a couple of worthwhile films in the early seventies including the British science fiction film The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970) and Nello Risi’s Una Stagione all’inferno (1970) where he appeared as the French poet Arthur Rimbaud alongside Jean-Claude Brialy as Paul Verlaine. I’ve recently had the chance to view The Mind of Mr. Soames so you can expect a review from me very soon, but I still haven’t been able to track down a copy Una Stagione all’inferno and I would love to see that film. Hopefully it will become available sooner or later.

Jean Shrimpton and Terence Stamp with his horse Modesty in 1965.
Jean gave Modesty to Terence for his birthday after he got the role
in the film Modesty Blaise.

For the next decade Terence Stamp would spend most of his time traveling the world and living in such varied places as Spain, Japan and India where he studied the teachings of spiritual leaders such as Krishnamurti and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He occasionally took roles in interesting films like Hu-Man (1975), Divina Creatura (1975), Striptease (1976) and Black-Out (1977) but his popular roles in Richard Donner’s Superman - The Movie (1978) and Peter Brook’s Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) really brought Terence Stamp back into the spotlight.

For the past thirty years Terence Stamp has continued to act in some good, and not so good films. I think some of his best performances in recent years can be found in The Hit (1985), The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994) and The Limey (1999). Hopefully Stamp will be offered more challenging roles in the future that make full use of his versatility and incredible skills an an actor. Even at age 68 Stamp continues to look terrific and Esquire magazine recently voted him Britain’s best dressed man.

If you’d like to learn more about Terence Stamp I recommend visiting the fan site:
- Terence Stamp : Meetings With A Remarkable Man

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Favorite DVD Releases of 2006 - Part II.

by Kimberly Lindbergs | February 10, 2007

Categories | Favorite 2006 DVDs, Japanese Cinema, French Cinema, American Cinema, Science Fiction, Criterion, Richard Burton, Anthony Perkins, Klaus Kinski, Julie Christie, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

This is the second part of my 30 Favorite DVD Releases of 2006 list that I’ve been slowly working on putting together. You can find Part I. here.

Please keep in mind that these are all official NTSC Region 1 DVDs originally released between 1960 and 1979 and the numerical order means absolutely nothing except that I got the reviews written in the order that they appear.

30 FAVORITE DVD RELEASES OF 2006 PART II!

Lifespan
11. Lifespan (Mondo Macabro)
Lifespan (1974) is a fascinating, sexy and understated science fiction thriller that features two of my favorite actors from the period, Klaus Kinski and Hiram Keller, as well as the recently deceased Tina Aumont. The story revolves around Keller and Kinski who both look terrific in the movie as they search for a mysterious “elixir of life” that could hold the secret to longevity. In the meantime, they’re both distracted by the lovely Tina Aumont who may or may not have plans of her own. Lifespan is a thoughtful film that doesn’t offer easy answers to all the interesting questions it raises and I really appreciate it’s ambiguity. The film has a mesmerizing and eerie score by composer Terry Riley and the director creatively uses the film’s lovely Amsterdam location. The DVD looks great and comes with some really nice extras including an interview with the director Sandy Whitelaw, audio commentary with the director and a still gallery. This was easily my favorite Mondo Macabro DVD release of last year and that’s saying a lot since the company released a lot of quality films in 2006.

Petulia
12. Petulia (Warner Home Video)
Petulia (1968) is one of the most interesting films that I saw last year thanks to Richard Lester’s terrific directing, Nicolas Roeg’s wonderful cinematography and Antony Gibbs‘s impressive editing. The film stars George C. Scott as a middle-aged doctor who’s struggling to deal with a divorce that he’s not sure he wants, as well a world that’s quickly evolving around him. Scott meets a young and seemingly care free girl named Petulia (Julie Christie) who’s married, but she seems desperate to start a relationship with him. Scott soon discovers that Petulia’s husband (Richard Chamberlain) is abusing her and gets caught in the middle of their complicated and violent relationship. All the actors are terrific in the film, but Richard Chamberlain gives one of the best performances of his career as Petulia’s abusive and disturbed husband. And Julie Christie is perfect as the fragile and troubled Petulia. She’s also never looked lovelier and wanders around San Francisco is some stunning outfits. George C. Scott is also great in the film along with Shirley Knight who plays his ex-wife. Petulia creatively used its San Francisco location as well as the city’s music (Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company even make a brief appearance) to turn the city by the bay into an important character in the film, which at its center is about individual freedom and the choices we all have to make. The DVD comes with some fantastic extras including a vintage “making of” documentary called Petulia: The Uncommon Movie shot during the making of the film with lots of great behind the scenes footage and The Uncommon Making of Petulia which features new interviews with some of the cast and crew. The original trailer is also included with this terrific DVD.

Equinox
13. 17. Equinox (Criterion)
Equinox (1970) is a low-budget horror film that I first saw on late night TV many years ago. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you think “Criterion,” but I really appreciate that a company like Criterion would take the time to clean up an old horror film like Equinox and offer it up to interested movie viewers and horror fans like myself. The story involves a group of college kids that go to visit one of their professors who happens to be living in a cabin deep in the woods. During their trip a strange old man offers them a mysterious ancient book of magic and the kids soon discover that the woods surrounding them aren’t exactly what they seem to be. When giant monsters start appearing, you know things are going to get nasty! The movie has few scares and the performances are forgettable, but it is entertaining and a lot of fun to watch. Just make sure you have lots of popcorn on hand! Despite its flaws, Equinox was actually a really influential movie that obviously inspired directors like Sam Raimi to make his popular Evil Dead trilogy. Criterion did an amazing job on the DVD release which comes with a lot of impressive extras including two audio commentaries, a video introduction by horror icon Forrest J. Ackerman, interviews with the cast and crew, deleted scenes and outtakes, archival test footage, an extensive gallery, the original trailer and radio spots, and much much more!

Night of the Iguana
14. Tennessee Williams Film Collection (Warner Home Video)
Warner really outdid themselves with this amazing Box Set containing six films based on the work of the great American playwright, Tennessee Williams. Why this DVD set didn’t make it to the top of every critics “best DVDs of 2006” list is beyond my comprehension since you’d be hard pressed to find a collection of recently released American cinema that equals it. This collection contains A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Baby Doll (1956) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) which are three of the finest American films from the 1950s. Three of the films in this set are from the ’60s and that’s why I’m including it in my list of favorite DVDs from 2006. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) stars Vivian leigh in one of her last starring roles as a washed-up movie star trying to find love and acceptance in Rome with a young gigolo played by Warren Beatty. Vivian Leigh is really terrific in the film and makes the desperate Mrs. Stone a very sympathetic character. Watch the movie for her memorable performance and try to ignore Beatty’s bad attempt at an Italian accent. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) stars Paul Newman as Chance Wayne, a handsome fast talking aspiring actor who returns to the town he grew up in with an aging alcoholic actress in tow (played brilliantly by Geraldine Page) in an effort to further his acting career and impress his childhood sweetheart. Newman is always terrific playing a Tennessee Williams’ protagonist and he looks fantastic in the film, but Geraldine Page really steals the show with her frantic over-the-top performance as Alexandra Del Lago. The rest of the cast includes such talented actors as Rip Thorn, Shirley Knight and Ed Begley, Sr. who won an Oscar for his performance. The real treat in this excellent DVD collection for ’60s & ’70s cinema fans like myself is the incredible Night of the Iguana directed by John Huston. The film is definitely one of Huston’s best movies and it features Richard Burton in one of his greatest roles as a defrocked minister trying to find some kind of salvation in Mexico, where he becomes a tour guide for a group of frustrated spinsters that includes the wonderful Deborah Kerr and a teenage “Lolita” played perfectly by Sue Lyon. After the group finds itself at a rundown hotel owned by the vivacious Ava Gardner, human frustrations as well as sexual and romantic tensions start to stifle the group along with the hot Mexico air and in usual Tennessee Williams’ fashion, emotions are soon erupting with dramatic results. The acting is all top notch and Huston’s directing has rarely been better. Along with Reflections in a Golden Eye which I mentioned in the first part of My favorite DVD Releases of 2006 list, the release of Night of the Iguana is a real treat for Huston fans and makes 2006 one great year for fans of the director’s work. 4 of the 6 films in this terrific collection were released on DVD for the first time and the other 2 films in the set (A Streetcar Named Desire & Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) were both released in Special Editions with a ton of great extras, but all 6 films in this collection feature great extras such as “making of” docs, trailers, etc. and they can all be bought individually if you don’t want to purchase the set. The Tennessee Williams Film Collection also comes with an insightful documentary about the playwright called Tennessee Williams’ South which contains rare interviews with the writer talking about his work as well as a reading of The Glass Menagerie. The 6 films all look fantastic and are presented in widescreen when possible. Altogether this incredible collection from Warner is one of the best box sets I’ve seen released in recent years. Most of these films have been criticized for toning down the original plots of Williams’ plays, but considering the times that these movies were made in it’s understandable. The films still manage to deal with the complicated adult issues they address in creative and interesting ways. Watch them for what they are - great American movies offering some of the greatest performances ever captured on film.

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
15. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (Paramount Home Video)
Eerie and haunting are two words that quickly come to mind when I think about Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1970), which is one of the most unusual and effective American horror films made during the 1970s. The movie stars Zohra Lampert who gives a memorable performance as Jessica, a woman just released from an institution after suffering a mental breakdown. Jessica moves to the Connecticut countryside with her husband and a friend to recuperate, but soon after arriving at her new home she begins to experience strange events that force her to start questioning her sanity again. I had only previously seen Let’s Scare Jessica to Death on a low quality VHS tape, so I was extremely impressed with this Paramount DVD release, which presents the film in widescreen and looks terrific. Unfortunately the DVD doesn’t come with any extras, but you can forgive Paramount since this is the first time this chilling horror film has been released on DVD.

The Illustrated Man
16. The Illustrated Man (Warner Home Video)
This thoughtful science fiction anthology stars the late great Rod Stieger in one of his most interesting roles as a tattooed man hunting for the woman who “illustrated” his body. The three short stories featured in the movie are all loosely based on original stories by Ray Bradbury and Stieger stars in each one, along with his real-life wife at the time, the talented actress Claire Bloom. Some creative set designs lend impressive eye-candy to the movie and the stories are all told in interesting ways. The Illustrated Man (1969) has long been one of my favorite science fiction films, but lots of critics seem to have very little regard for the movie and even author Ray Bradbury thought it was awful. If you enjoy unusual and stylish science fiction film from the late ’60s a much as I do, I highly suggest giving the movie a look for yourself and ignore any negative reviews you may have read. This is the first time the film has been available on DVD and Warner did a really nice job with the release. The DVD features a beautiful widescreen print, the original theatrical trailer and an interesting featurette from 1969 called Tattooed Steiger.

Sister Street Fighter
17. The Sister Street Fighter Collection (Ronin Entertainment / BCI Eclipse)
Ronin Entertainment / BCI Eclipse has a done a great job of gathering every Sister Street Fighter movie together for this nice new collection which contains Sister Street Fighter (1974), Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread (1974) Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975) and Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist (1976). All four movies star tough girl Etsuko Shihomi, a talented actress and graduate of Sonny Chiba’s famous Japan Action Club, which trained Japanese actors in the martial arts. Etsuko is terrific as Koryu Lee - the “Sister Street Fighter” - who takes on numerous bad guys with much success in the first three films that are all directed by the talented Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. The last film in the series differs a lot from the previous three and is helmed by a different director. In the last Sister Street Fighter movie Etsuko Shihomi plays another character called Kiku and it doesn’t really match the excitement of the previous Sister Street Fighter movies in the collection. This great DVD set comes with trailers for all four films as well as a really nice twenty page booklet with lots of information about the movies and an interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. All four films are presented in widescreen and look great. The sound quality is also impressive which really helps you appreciate the terrific soundtracks. This set is a real treat for Sister Street Fighter fans like myself!

Murmur of the Heart
18. Murmur of the Heart (Criterion)
I’ve always been especially impressed with the way director Louis Malle dealt with the complex emotions of young people in his films and Murmur of the Heart (1971) is a wonderful example of this as well as one of the director’s finest films. This thoughtful movie about a young man named Laurent (Benoît Ferreux) coming of age in France during the early 1950s is loosely based on Malle’s own life, and in turn it offers an especially personal and unflinching look at growing up with plenty of warmth and humor as well. Many of the issues addressed in the film such as the rather infamous sexual encounter the young man has with his mother, are handled with an understanding that only a great director like Malle could manage. This is the first time Murmur of the Heart has been available on DVD in the US and as usual Criterion has done a great job with the DVD release. The film doesn’t come with a lot of extras but the print looks terrific and the film is presented in widescreen along with the original theatrical trailer and a new essay by film critic Michael Sragow.

Trilogy of Terror
19. Trilogy of Terror (Dark Sky Films)
Karen Black gives a tour de force performance in the terrific Trilogy of Terror (1975). This entertaining horror anthology is probably familiar to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and owned a television and now thanks to Dark Sky Films it’s finally available on DVD for everyone to enjoy. The last episode in the anthology is the most infamous thanks to Karen Black doing battle with a creepy Zuni fetish doll, but the other stories in the anthology are also worth a look thanks to Black’s interesting take on her various roles. The DVD looks great and is presented in fullscreen since it was originally shot for TV. It comes with some terrific extras including a featurette about Karen Black called Three Colors Black and another featurette about writer Richard Matheson called Terror Scribe, as well as an audio commentary with Karen Black and screenwriter William F. Nolan.

Pretty Poison
20. Pretty Poison (20th Century Fox)
Pretty Poison (1968) stars Anthony Perkins as a troubled man just released from a mental institution after spending many years locked away for arson. He moves to a small Massachusetts town and tries to start a new life for himself, but his overactive imagination soon begins to get the best of him. He becomes obsessed with a cute high-school girl played by Tuesday Weld and tries to convince the girl that he’s a CIA agent on a special mission, and she seems to believe him. When Perkins’ fantasy life begins to collide with his real life and spiral out of control, Weld becomes his willing partner in crime. This great black comedy takes a disturbing and somewhat sad turn since Perkins had the ability to create incredibly sympathetic characters who you should be repelled by, but can’t help rooting for. Tuesday Weld is really riveting as a less then innocent 17 year old and manages to give one of the best performances of her career in Pretty Poison. This is the first time this film has been available on DVD and it looks terrific! The original trailer is also included on the DVD.

10 more DVD reviews coming soon!

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