The Best Classic Films on Blu-ray in 2020
Many formats have come and gone and streaming competes, to a degree, but these best classic films offered on Blu-ray in 2020 prove irresistible.
film-noir
Jules Dassin Versus Mark Hellinger and ‘The Naked City’
Producer Mark Hellinger may have committed the biggest crime in the filming of Jules Dassin's classic film-noir, 'The Naked City'.
Uncensored ‘Native Son’ (1951) Is True to Richard Wright’s Work
Compared to the two film versions of Native Son in more recent times, the 1951 version more acutely captures the race-driven existential dread at the heart of Richard Wright's masterwork.
Ross Is the Name, Crime Is the Game: ‘My Name Is Julia Ross’
My Name Is Julia Ross is fast, direct, and easy fun. It never tests the viewer's patience with unnecessary trills.
England’s Postwar Paranoia Creeps in the Shadows of Three Film-Noirs
Something portentous comes out of quiet ordinary postwar English life: three schizoid noirs from directors Carol Reed, Roy and John Boulting, and Tharold Dickinson.
Jerry Hopper’s ‘Naked Alibi’ Draws Comparisons to Douglas Sirk’s Films
Although it's fair to state that Jerry Hopper is no Douglas Sirk, it's also true that their careers tangoed around each other, as seen in Hopper's Naked Alibi.
Richard Fleischer’s ‘Trapped’ Escapes from Noir Obscurity
Thanks to Richard Fleischer's Trapped, Lloyd Bridges got the chance to shine in a starring role as unregenerate slimeball Tris Stewart, among the most amoral self-centered leads in noir.
Hitchcock Breaks the Sound Barrier in Early Films ‘Blackmail’ and ‘Murder!’
Hitchcock's motif of treacherous toying with filmgoers is intriguing to spot in his early silent-to-talkie thrillers, Blackmail and Murder!
Rivette’s ‘Paris nous appartient’ Nods to McCarthyism, Communist Witch Hunts, and Cold War Paranoia in the USA
Jacques Rivette's first French New Wave film, Paris nous appartient, is infused with the look and feel of Hollywood's more paranoid, conspiratorial and apocalyptic films noir.
Film Noir Comes with a Hint of Hitchcock in ‘The Man Who Cheated Himself’
This professional seen-it-all flatfoot believes he can orchestrate his way out of situations where a thousand fools have floundered.
The Erotic Tease in ‘Tiger by the Tail’ Turns into an Explosion of Fisticuffs
Whenever this movie threatens to get sexy or implies nudity, the story hastily goes back to two-fisted action.