From James Thurber’s America to Peter Sellers’ Scotland: ‘The Battle of the Sexes’
A sexual strategy for Yankee mechanization.
On Dvd
Harelips and Dead Birds: Looking for Meaning in ‘Cosmos’
Zulawski's final film is a parody of romantic impulses.
Keep Off: ‘Private Property’ Takes a Dip in Adult Waters
In the early '60s, Hollywood was struggling to convey the idea that people now and then have sex.
Tricks or Treats? Ten Halloween Blu-rays That May Disrupt Your Life
The best of this stuff'll kill you.
The Horrors, the Horrors, or Get Your Halloween On
This bevy of B or Z horrors upclassed to Blu-ray will help you get scared the old-fashioned way.
‘The Executioner’ Forges the Missing Link Between Preston Sturges and Robert Altman
This excellent satire is shot in long, elaborately staged takes where the camera alternately basks in claustrophobia or wanders all over the landscape.
I’m Going to Kill You: ‘Johnny Guitar’ Gets the Class Treatment
One tends to watch this film open-mouthed in wonder at the forceful dialogue, the colorful imagery, and the sheer emotional punch of its women.
Unexpected Deaths and Hideous Trousers in ‘Kamikaze 89’
Rainer Werner Fassbinder is the whole show.
Criterion Draws Fresh Restorations From Welles With ‘Chimes at Midnight’ and ‘The Immortal Story’
In his late period, Orson Welles was just getting started.
Bad Bedside Manners in ‘The Horrible Dr. Hichcock’
Perverse and perfervid and splendidly overripe.
Make Something Called ‘Cat People’, and Make It Cheap
Val Lewton turned a B assignment into a spooky classic about a woman's fear of her own sexuality.
Guys & Dolls & Stiffs in ‘Stop, You’re Killing Me’
A slight case of murder gets even slighter in this '50s remake.
