Film Albums: Doctor Dolittle ( 1967 ) - The Mike Sammes Singers

When Doctor Dolittle was released in 1967, 20th Century Fox studios thought it would have received a much better box-office reception than it did. In fact, they were not the only ones who thought so. The music was so beautiful that The Lawrence Welk Show featured an episode that included many of the... Read full article

On Blu-ray: Hepburn and Tracy Team up in Without Love (1945) and Pat and Mike (1952)

The nine films Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together may vary in quality, but it is always fascinating to watch these two together. I was reminded of that as I recently watched two of their collaborations on new Blu-rays from Warner Archive. Without Love (1945) and Pat and Mike (1952) a... Read full article

Magic Mike XXL (2015, Gregory Jacobs)

Every once and a while, Magic Mike XXL throws in some vague nod towards having character development. It doesn’t. And the movie knows it doesn’t need any, but it still pretends it does. All of the characters have the same arc, with the exception of “lead” Channing Tatum. He’s only the lead... Read full article

Jane Wyman falls for... Three Guys Named Mike (1951)

Many years ago, I was a classic film novice. It feels like a lifetime ago that I didn't know who Cary Grant was or what Citizen Kane was about, yet I can still clearly remember the small steps I took that led to my passion for old movies. One such step was Three Guys Named Mike. My oldest sister had... Read full article

Secrets & Lies (1996, Mike Leigh)

From the opening credits, Andrew Dickson’s score sets the tone for Secrets & Lies. It’s going to be severe. I don’t think there’s a light moment in the score–any of the film’s lighter moments, usually involving Timothy Spall’s ability to make people smil... Read full article