Clark Gable

CHICAGO – “The Call Of The Wild” is an old fashioned story with some expensive and unnecessary technological upgrades. Foregoing man’s best friend in reality, the film replaces the featured dog with an entirely digital creation … which I can’t say was an improvement.

CHICAGO – Hedy Lamarr was tagged as “the world’s most beautiful woman” in movies during her brief run as matinee idol during the 1940s. While taking that on, she was also co-inventing a wireless guidance system during World War II. Director Alexandra Dean contrasts that double life in “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story.”

LOS ANGELES – With the flourish of trumpets in “The Bullfighter’s Song,” a pugnacious man would strut on stage and launch a volley of hilarious insults on some unsuspecting targets. That act was Don Rickles, whose show business nicknames included “The King of Zing,” “The Merchant of Venom” and the magnificently ironic “Mr. Warmth.” Rickles died in Los Angeles on April 6th, 2017. He was 90.

CHICAGO – Twentieth Century Fox & MGM released an onslaught of catalog titles on Blu-ray, many for the first time, on May 10th, and most seem well-timed to the upcoming Father’s Day holiday. The company was kind enough to send us a sample of the ten titles and it seems like this will be an odd mix, from which you can surely choose at least one or two faves.

CHICAGO – There are some stories that are so resonant that they can be told generation after generation and not lose any of their power. The basic foundation of “Mutiny on the Bounty” is so inherently strong that it has supported several acclaimed versions but perhaps the most beloved is still the 1935 Best Picture winner starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. Joining in a wave of classics hitting the new format during holiday season 2010, “Mutiny on the Bounty” is now available on Blu-ray.

CHICAGO – If local news reports are to be believed, nearly everyone reading this will go holiday shopping sometime during the upcoming weekend. To those of you that are considering a DVD giftset purchase like the recent release of “The Wizard of Oz,” “Christmas Vacation,” or even “Mamma Mia!,” you couldn’t do much better than the breathtaking five-disc release marking the 70th anniversary of “Gone With the Wind”.

CHICAGO – The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue is an iconic and historical Chicago landmark. As has been well documented in our active ““Public Enemies”” discussion thread, the area is currently made over by the production team for the film ““Public Enemies”” to how it looked the night of July 22, 1934. See our exclusive slideshow here.