Saturday, June 13, 2020

Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Sad news this week, the October 2020 Lone Pine Film Festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus. I was hoping that one might remain on the calendar since it's still several months out and much of the festival takes place outdoors, but at the same time I can't say I'm surprised by the decision. Most film fests have decided not to invest in planning in this uncertain environment and instead to focus on next year.

...Capitolfest in Rome, New York, is bucking the trend and planning to go ahead this August. Difficulty obtaining films from closed archives means that the Joan and Constance Bennett tribute planned for this year has been pushed back to 2021, but the festival is going ahead from August 14th-16th showing other silent and early sound rarities.  I'm told that the theater's ample seating should make any "social distancing" necessary doable. Thanks very much to regular reader Jane for the information.

...New double-film Blu-ray set: THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO (1953) paired with THEY CAME TO CORDURA (1959).

...Take a photo tour of a striking Hollywood Hills home once owned by Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.

...Indiewire has details on the Netflix deal to purchase the Egyptian Theatre from the American Cinematheque. I must say I find it disconcerting that Netflix has the option to sell the theater a dozen years from now, with the new owner able to kick out the American Cinematheque one year after assuming ownership. The media environment changes so rapidly, who knows where Netflix will be at as a company a decade from now?

...I enjoy Western reviews by James Reasoner at his blog Rough Edges. Here's one of the Hopalong Cassidy film TEXAS MASQUERADE (1944).

...Glenn Erickson's latest reviews at CineSavant include the new Kino Lorber set Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III with ABANDONED (1949), THE LADY GAMBLES (1949), and THE SLEEPING CITY (1950). I love his comment about ABANDONED, which is a personal favorite: "ABANDONED really glows on Blu-ray — the shiny-marble atmosphere of City Hall couldn’t be recreated on a set." I have received a copy of the Vol. III collection and will be reviewing the movies here soon, along with continuing to review films from the Vol. II collection; I have previously reviewed THE PRICE OF FEAR (1956) from Vol. II.

...Thanks to the anonymous reader who shared a link for a 2019 Los Angeles Times article on Tom Tully in the comments for my review of RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948). I'm sharing the story here as I think it will be of interest to many of my readers who have enjoyed the work of this fine character actor.

...Fallout from the coronavirus continues, as WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2020) has had its release pushed back from mid August to early October. Christopher Nolan's TENET (2020) was just pushed back two weeks, from mid July to the end of that month. All eyes are now on Disney and its live-action version of MULAN (2020), currently scheduled for release on July 24th.

...Silent film historian and locations expert John Bengtson is working to have a Hollywood alley named for silent comedy icons Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, who all shot films there.

...For those who may not have heard, a few days ago Disneyland announced plans to reopen on July 17th -- the park's 65th anniversary. Sleeping Beauty Castle is seen here, photographed during its 60th Anniversary celebration. (June 24th Update: The reopening has been delayed as the state will not be releasing theme park reopening guidelines until after July 4th.)

...A happy personal note: Our youngest son graduated today from UC San Diego. It seems as though it was just yesterday that he was moving in! No photos, as like everyone else this year he had a "virtual" graduation, but I wanted to note his accomplishment here. Our oldest daughter graduated from the University of Southern California in 2010, our oldest son from Northern Arizona University in 2016, and our younger daughter from the University of Oregon in 2017. We are done!

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my June 6th roundup.

Have a great week!

14 Comments:

Blogger dfordoom said...

Glenn Erickson's latest reviews at CineSavant include the new Kino Lorber set Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III with ABANDONED (1949), THE LADY GAMBLES (1949), and THE SLEEPING CITY (1950).

Sounds tempting but alas totally out of my price range at the moment ($82 is just too much right now).

I really don't like these boxed sets. I'd much prefer to be able to buy just the movies I want to see.

3:22 PM  
Blogger Caftan Woman said...

Dreaming now of living in a mid-century home and watching my Hopalong Cassidy.

4:39 PM  
Blogger DKoren said...

Congrats to your son! :-D

6:08 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Hi DforDoom,

I know that when they release the Dark Side of Cinema IV this summer, one title, CALCUTTA (1947) with Alan Ladd, will be sold individually as a DVD as well as in the Blu-ray boxed set. It's the movie's first time in either format. Hope this info helps on the chance that title interests you. (BTW, want you to know I ordered SUSPECTED PERSON from Amazon UK thanks to your review of a couple years ago!)

Deb, thank you so much!! Hope you and your family are all well!

Best wishes,
Laura

6:33 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Caftan Woman, weren't those house pictures something? The perfect setting for watching Hoppy. :)

Best wishes,
Laura

6:35 PM  
Blogger SimpleGifts said...

Congratulations to your youngest on his UCSD graduation. And to you and your hubby for making it possible for all four of your children to become college graduates. Hope you two now have the time (and budget!) to attend more of the film festivals postponed to 2021! You deserve it, enjoy! Well done - Jane

7:32 PM  
Blogger mel said...

Hearties congratulations to your son and daughter on their graduations, Laura. They prove beyond doubt the success of your earlier home schooling of all your children!

12:06 AM  
Blogger mel said...

Edit: "heartiest"...

12:07 AM  
Blogger Jerry Entract said...

Yes, many congratulations to your son, Laura, but also to Mum and Dad who have put so much work in over the years. I understand how you must be feeling as our youngest gained his doctorate in chemistry the week before lockdown! (Nick of time!).

1:15 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Dear Jane, Mel, and Jerry,

Thank you all so much for the congratulations and kind words. I was just thinking that I have known each of you for a great many of our children's college years. We appreciate your good wishes very much!

And Jerry, how proud you must be of your son's doctorate in chemistry!!! That is so impressive. Congrats again to you and your family!!

Best wishes,
Laura

9:00 AM  
Blogger john k said...

Hi Laura,
Firstly congratulations on your Son's "virtual" graduation...gosh! what a talented family!
I totally agree with the previous comments regarding the Kino Box Sets many people have complained that in many cases they only want one or two of the films in question,plus slipcases are no big deal and a pain as far as I'm concerned. I too saw Glenn's glowing review and I certainly want THE SLEEPING CITY and ABANDONED but can live without THE LADY GAMBLES. On the next set I really want SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS but am not too interested in the other two. I believe these sets retail for around $35 which is not too bad and after time can be picked up on ebay too at decent prices. I still feel Kino are making a mistake only selling these films as sets-sure do the 3 or 4 film sets cheaper but then sell the stand alone titles at the regular price.Recently got Kino's NAKED ALIBI on blu ray so no complaints there.Lots happening on the Noir scene right now Gary at DVD Beaver has just reviewed Eureka UK's CRISS CROSS which he considers the best of several other versions on the market so I'm glad I showed some restraint for once. The British Film Institute will soon release one of my favourite unheralded Noirs THE GOOD DIE YOUNG and what a powerhouse cast.The BFI release also has an extended export only cut which was banned in the UK because of it's anti establishment content. Laurence Harvey is perfectly cast as the "Homme Fatale" (Ha! been spending too much time over at Margot's) who leads three basically decent,down on their luck, guys to their doom. The scene in the gentleman's club where Robert Morley disowns his amoral worthless son (Harvey) is spine chilling. Kino often pick up BFI releases so lets see what happens.

9:44 AM  
Blogger KC said...

Oh my goodness Laura, all of your kids graduated. Congratulations to your son! Thanks for sharing that amazing gallery from Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin's house. What a gorgeous place.

10:25 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you so much re the congratulations, John!

Love hearing your thoughts on all the new releases. I'm wondering if perhaps down the road Kino might decide to add single-title releases as an option. (Wasn't NAKED ALIBI a great disc?) I'll cross my fingers they release THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.

BTW, I'll have my first review from Kino's new Deanna Durbin set up this week, probably sooner rather than later.

Along the lines of choices, I see today that Warner Archive now has a DVD listed for BLOOD ON THE MOON, so if anyone prefers that to Blu-ray, that will be out soon.

I'm going to head over to DVD Beaver and check out that CRISS CROSS review!

Thanks much, John. Always good to hear from you and discuss the latest DVD news.

Best wishes,
Laura

4:05 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you so much, KC!

Funny thing, I recently stumbled across an old roundup post where I referenced your return to blogging after taking time off for maternity leave. That caused me to ponder how quickly all of our children have seemed to grow since we first met!!

Glad you enjoyed that photo tour of the house as much as I did!

Best wishes,
Laura

4:06 PM  

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