The Last Tycoon: Elia Kazan’s 1976 Film Is On Blu-ray

Elia Kazan is an Oscar-winning filmmaker but nothing here is able to save this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon. In releasing the film on Blu-ray, it comes from a brand new HD master from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. The film’s release in 1976 came over two decades after Kazan’s second Oscar for directing and 13 years after his final directing nomination. Unfortunately, Kazan just wasn’t the same…

"The Last Tycoon: Elia Kazan’s 1976 Film Is On Blu-ray"

Splendor in the Grass Navigates Teen Love and Heartbreak

Splendor in the Grass earned a Best Actress nomination for Natalie Wood while also propelling newcomer Warren Beatty to stardom. “Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind.” – William Wordsworth in “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” File this viewing under better late than never. It’s been sitting on my DVR for quite some time but…

"Splendor in the Grass Navigates Teen Love and Heartbreak"

High Noon on the Waterfront Premieres On TCM

Following its world premiere at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival, High Noon on the Waterfront makes its broadcast premiere on TCM. This film is a tale of two different filmmakers as TCM observes the 75th anniversary of the Hollywood Blacklist during the month of October. This was one of the darkest times in both American and Hollywood history. If you’re not familiar, Hollywood filmmakers and actors were pressured to “name names” of communists because McCarthyism…

"High Noon on the Waterfront Premieres On TCM"

Gentleman’s Agreement Discusses Antisemitism

Gentleman’s Agreement offers poignant commentary about anti-Semitism on its way to a Best Picture win at a time when studios didn’t want this film getting made. Other studios didn’t want this film to be made because of the subject matter.  The fact that it took a non-Jewish producer to get the film made is very telling.  And yet, the prejudice was still showing in the years that followed World War 2. A New York City…

"Gentleman’s Agreement Discusses Antisemitism"