Film critic Ben Mankiewicz spoke with Solzy at the Movies in late April about The Plot Thickens, TCM’s podcast documentary of filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. How did you first get involved with the Peter Bogdanovich podcast documentary for TCM? Ben Mankiewicz: I had wanted to do something with Peter Bogdanovich for quite some time. He’s a huge hit at our festival. He and I have developed a really nice friendship. He’s just great. I described them…
"Ben Mankiewicz talks The Plot Thickens, TCM"Month: May 2020
The Good Place: The Complete Series is now available on Blu-ray after the fan-favorite NBC sitcom ended its run in January. Some series are lucky to extend beyond their initial order. Other series get the back nine order and might get a renewal. In other instances, a series will last a nice six seasons. Or run far beyond their expiration point. However, series creator Mike Schur decided The Good Place was perfect with lasting four…
"The Good Place: The Complete Series Hits Blu-ray"
The Way Back, featuring an Oscar-worthy performance from Ben Affleck, is now available for audiences to bring home on Blu-ray and DVD. Affleck, already an Oscar winner for co-writing Good Will Hunting and producing Argo, is the current front runner for Best Actor with a masterclass performance as an alcoholic basketball coach. Depending on how the rest of the year plays out, it’s honestly hard to see this changing. Gavin O’Connor has done it again. …
"The Way Back Is Now Available on Blu-ray, DVD"
Following a brief theatrical run, Sonic The Hedgehog, otherwise known as The Blue Blur, is available for fans to bring home on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. After a lengthy delay to fix Sonic’s look, a lengthy theatrical run wasn’t meant to be. The film ended up getting an early digital release at the end of March to make up for the brief run. We certainly don’t know what will happen with theaters this year or…
"Sonic The Hedgehog Now Available On Blu-ray, DVD"
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann is a thrilling true-crime mystery that will keep you turning pages for hours. I have to be honest. After the Deadline interview, I went into this book expecting some insight into the 1918 flu epidemic. While I have to admit that I was disappointed on that regard, this book is a thrilling read. I devoured all 400-plus pages in just over…
"Tinseltown by William J. Mann"
Scoob!, now available for audiences to purchase on Digital/VOD, offers a contemporary update that fans of the Scooby-Doo cartoons will enjoy. Everyone’s favorite animated dog lives to see another day. Given the family appeal, it makes perfect sense for Warner Bros. to offer this film through VOD rather than wait until theaters to re-open. In a perfect world, we’d be sharing our laughs and screams in a theater right now. When it comes to animated…
"Scoob! Offers A Contemporary Update"
Vanda Krefft spoke with Solzy at the Movies over the phone last month about The Man Who Made The Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox. I found The Man Who Made The Movies to be a very insightful and well-researched read. When did you first get an interest in telling William Fox’s story? Vanda Krefft: Ages and ages ago to be honest. A good friend of mine was Angela Fox Dunn,…
"Vanda Krefft talks The Man Who Made The Movies"
Film historian/author Scott Eyman delivers the definitive biography in Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. In recent years, it’s hard to look at someone like Louis B. Mayer and not think of him in a similar way to Harvey Weinstein. Much of this probably has to do with Bosley Crowther’s books according to the epilogue. I’m not going to say that the two of them are similar in their ways. …
"Lion of Hollywood by Scott Eyman"
War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, joins two other Cruise films in getting a 4K Ultra HD upgrade. Steven Spielberg is the type of filmmaker that typically uses the same crew in many of his films. It’s because of this that a Spielberg production is usually top-notch. War of the Worlds is no exception. This especially shows through on the film’s technical side. The film would earn three Oscar…
"War of the Worlds in Stunning 4K Ultra HD"
Days of Thunder, which is now available digitally in 4K Ultra HD, is the first of three films to star Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cruise stars as race car driver Cole Trickle, who is the burning need to win. Businessman Tim Daland (Randy Quaid) discovers him and teams him up with legendary crew chief/car builder Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall). The goal is to race for the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500. After a…
"Days of Thunder Gets Remastered In 4K Ultra HD"