Peter Ustinov

CHICAGO – I think nearly every film critic with an association card has bowed at the altar of Stanley Kubrick at least once in their life (if they don’t still do so). I can vividly remember first seeing “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Shining,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Dr. Strangelove,” and “Full Metal Jacket,” all films I could watch any day of the week and never grow tired of them. Despite saying that, I was never a huge “Spartacus” fan, a film I admire more than love. The new Blu-ray release has not changed my mind.

CHICAGO – When Max Ophuls’s “Lola Montes” was released in theaters in France in December of 1955, it caused an international scandal. Much to the dismay of its director, the producers of the film mangled it, pulling and going to town in the editing bay like a bull in a china shop. They cut out some scenes, translated German dialogue into French, remixed the sound, and even re-edited the film’s chronology.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – It might be a generational thing, but I’ll never understand why people watch movies on smaller and smaller screens like their laptop, cell phone, or iPod. Maybe it’s because I grew up thinking of classic movies as epic adventures that should be larger than life. Movies were arguably never “bigger” than they were in the era of “Quo Vadis,” now available on Blu-Ray.