Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Coming in February from Criterion: my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940). The movie was previously released on DVD by Warner Home Video. I'm happy FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT will be released by Criterion but wish the company would get back to including more robust extras, such as commentary tracks; extras on this year's releases which I purchased were light.

...It should be noted that from now on all of Criterion's releases are "dual format," with each package including a standard DVD and a Blu-ray; unfortunately that means quite a price increase to accompany the change. Criterion has explained their decision making on this issue.

...Did Queen Victoria's daughter Louise have an illegitimate child? That's the topic of the upcoming book THE MYSTERY OF PRINCESS LOUISE: QUEEN VICTORIA'S REBELLIOUS DAUGHTER by Lucinda Hawksley. A summary of the circumstantial evidence was published in the London Daily Mail.

...Amazon has made a deal for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays in the greater New York City and Los Angeles areas.

...Toby of 50 Westerns From the 50s stopped by ClassicFlix to review LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959), starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn.

...Back at his place, Toby posted a wonderful 1970 interview with Tim Holt on last week's Tim Holt Tuesday.

...It's time for the annual Starbucks Christmas CD, which this year is titled 'TIS THE SEASON. Artists include Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Sarah McLachlan, and Peggy Lee.

...More new Christmas music for this year: Kelly Clarkson's new release WRAPPED IN RED.

...Annmarie of Classic Movie Hub has published a most interesting interview with Victoria Wilson, author of A LIFE OF BARBARA STANWYCK.

...Many of us love to receive cookbooks for Christmas! Here are a couple of interesting new titles: THE NEW MIDWESTERN TABLE by Amy Thielen and KEEPERS by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion.

...Since I've never seen any of James Garner's short-lived NICHOLS series, I found this review of the new Warner Archive release of the show interesting. Paul Mavis concludes "I'm highly, highly recommending NICHOLS."

...Dick Powell was born on November 14th, and Aurora celebrated at Once Upon a Screen by taking a look at Powell's Philip Marlowe. A few days before that, Mentor reviewed Powell's excellent THE TALL TARGET (1951) at Mentor's Camper.

...Finally on the way to Region 1 DVD next February: L.A. Law - Season One. Yay!!

...The next New York Times DVD columnist, succeeding Dave Kehr, is J. Hoberman.

...KC's been doing a lot of great book reviews recently at her blog Classic Movies. Her latest review is of the brand-new ANN DVORAK: HOLLYWOOD'S FORGOTTEN REBEL by Christina Rice. It's from the University Press of Kentucky.

...Mark your calendars: The release date for STAR WARS EPISODE 7 is December 18, 2015.

...New from the Warner Archive: Classic Shorts From the Dream Factory: Volume 2 (1929-1946). The 36 titles include ANNIE LAURIE (1936) with Ann Rutherford and Dennis Morgan, CARNIVAL IN PARIS (1937) with Rutherford and Henry Brandon, and SNOW GETS IN YOUR EYES (1938) with Virginia Grey.

...Martin Scorsese has a list of what he thinks are the 11 scariest films. THE UNINVITED (1944) made the list.

...I love this photo of a kitten staring out at the snow.

...More animal cuteness: these Scottie pups have an unusual way of drinking their milk.

...Notable Passing: Mavis Batey went to work as a WWII codebreaker in Britain at the age of 19 and played a vital role in the war effort, including helping to break the Enigma code. She's passed on at the age of 92.

Have a great week!