Displaying items by tag: Matthew Kennedy

We’ve got three more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, starting with Tim’s look at Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998), as recently released on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment. It’s an Aussie import title, but all-region.

Also today, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View (1974), which is newly released on Blu-ray from Imprint Films in Australia, also a region-free disc.

And Stephen has offered his thoughts on Shinsuke Terasawa’s animated Catwoman: Hunted in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the latest installment in their DC Animated Universe.

What’s more, we have another “bonus” film retrospective from our own Michael Coate today in his History, Legacy and Showmanship column, as he takes a look back at Robert Wise’s original West Side Story (1961) in honor of the film’s 60th anniversary. Michael is joined by film and musical experts Matthew Kennedy, Bruce Kimmel, and Mike Matessino for a great roundtable discussion. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

“West Side Story stands as a prime example of successfully rendering a stage musical in cinematic terms.” – Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow!

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 60th anniversary of the release of West Side Story, Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, Star!) and Jerome Robbins’ (The King and I, Gypsy) screen adaptation of the popular musical stage production inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and starring Natalie Wood (Rebel Without a Cause, Brainstorm) as Maria and Richard Beymer (The Diary of Anne Frank, Twin Peaks) as Tony.

The winner of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, the most popular movie of 1961 and one of the most popular musicals ever also featured Russ Tamblyn (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) as Riff, Rita Moreno (The King and I) as Anita, and George Chakiris (The Young Girls of Rochefort) as Bernardo. [Read on here...]

“Fiddler on the Roof belongs on the list of the best and most successful musicals, which would include West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow!

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Fiddler on the Roof, the popular, award-winning screen adaptation of the Broadway musical and the writings of Sholem Aleichem.

Directed by Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck), Fiddler starred Topol (Flash Gordon, For Your Eyes Only) as Tevye, the poor Jewish milkman determined to marry off his daughters amidst turmoil in his small Ukrainian village.

Also starring Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, and Paul Mann, and featuring Oscar-winning cinematography, music, and sound, Fiddler rolled out to movie theaters, initially as a roadshow, beginning fifty years ago this autumn. [Read on here...]

All right, folks... this is our last post of 2019, the year that Blade Runner finally became the present.

We do have a couple good things for you today...

First, Tim has turned in his in-depth review of Scream Factory’s new The Fly Collection box set, which includes the original The Fly (1958), Return of the Fly (1959), and Curse of the Fly (1965), along with the newer remake The Fly (1986) and The Fly II (1989) as well as a host of extras both new and legacy. It’s a great Blu-ray set, so do give it a look.

Also here at the site today, our own Michael Coate has turned in not one but two new History, Legacy & Showmanship columns to close out the year. [Read on here...]

“Hello, Dolly! is a well-dressed dinosaur.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Hello, Dolly!, the Oscar-winning cinematic adaptation of the Broadway stage musical which starred Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, Yentl) as singing matchmaker Dolly Levi.

Hello, Dolly! — directed by Gene Kelly (On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain) and which also starred Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple, The Bad News Bears) and Michael Crawford (Condorman, The Phantom of the Opera stage production) — opened 50 years ago this month. For the occasion, The Bits features an historical reference listing of the film’s major-market roadshow engagements and a Q&A with film historian Matthew Kennedy, who discusses the film’s virtues, shortcomings and legacy. [Read on here...]

“Paint Your Wagon is remembered as a standalone oddity in the careers of Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Paint Your Wagon, the Oscar-nominated cinematic interpretation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical which starred Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou, Point Blank), Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry, Unforgiven) and Jean Seberg (Pendulum, Airport).

Paint Your Wagon — directed by Joshua Logan (South Pacific, Camelot) and which also featured Harve Presnell (The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Fargo) and Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) — opened 50 years ago this month. For the occasion, The Bits features an historical reference listing of the film’s major-market roadshow engagements and a Q&A with film historian Matthew Kennedy, who discusses the film’s virtues, shortcomings and legacy. [Read on here...]

“Funny Girl’s legacy and value is as a recreation of Streisand’s one-for-the-ages turn in the stage version, now preserved as long as we can watch movies.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Funny Girl, the motion picture adaptation of the stage musical featuring Barbra Streisand’s Academy Award-winning performance as comedienne Fanny Brice.

Produced by Ray Stark (Annie, The Way We Were) and directed by William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur), the award-winning film also starred Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and Kay Medford (BUtterfield 8, Ensign Pulver). The Library of Congress in 2016 selected Funny Girl for preservation in the National Film Registry. [Read on here...]

“It’s clear in retrospect that Camelot began the extinction process of old school Broadway musicals extravagantly transferred to the screen.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Camelot, the Oscar-winning cinematic interpretation of the King Arthur legend and the Lerner and Loewe stage musical which starred Richard Harris (Cromwell, Unforgiven) as King Arthur and Vanessa Redgrave (Blow-up, Julia) as Guenevere.

Camelot — directed by Joshua Logan (South Pacific, Paint Your Wagon) and which featured Franco Nero, David Hemmings and Lionel Jeffries in supporting roles — opened 50 years ago this past autumn. For the occasion, The Bits features an historical reference listing of the film’s major-market roadshow engagements and a Q&A with film historian Matthew Kennedy, who discusses the film’s virtues, shortcomings and legacy. [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally scheduled to appear a year ago for the film’s 50th anniversary. The article was delayed so that it could be published to coincide with the delayed but now available Blu-ray Disc release.]

“My Fair Lady is probably the greatest popular smart musical ever made. The melodies soar, the characters endear and engage, and the wit of so much pointed commentary on social class, gender, money, and surface appearances never lapses into self-conscious cleverness.” — film historian and author Matthew Kennedy  [Read on here...]

“I knew we had a good picture, but I had no idea that it would become such a staggering hit.” — producer-director Robert Wise

“Considering the degree to which most people pride themselves being cynical, I’m still surprised that a movie this heartfelt was so thoroughly embraced by so many people and continues to be. Perhaps folks aren’t as hard-edged as they pretend to be.” — film historian and author Barry Monush  [Read more here...]