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Avatar: The Way of Water dominated the 21st annual Ves Awards tonight, swimming away with nine trophies at the Beverly Hilton. See the full winners list below.

James Cameron’s smash sequel came into the Visual Effects Society’s ceremony with a record 14 nominations. That shattered the old Ves Awards mark for films, set by — no big surprise here — the original Avatar, which amassed 11 noms in 2010. It also won the society’s marquee award that night ahead of a VFX win at the Oscars.

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The first movie to directly confront McCarthyism! Or so said the editorials touting this ‘Long-Awaited Screen Event’ in which ‘Bette Davis Hits the Screen in a Cyclone of Dramatic Fury!’ The storm of the title was based on a real activist in Oklahoma who lost her job for promoting equal rights. Bette’s polite librarian is victimized by small-minded civic types; a subplot depicts the traumatic reaction of one of her patrons, a child expected to despise her as a traitor to the country. Daniel Taradash’s movie is an excellent starting point to discuss the thorny dramatic subgenre of liberal social issue movies.

Storm Center

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 155

1956 / B&w / 1:78 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 30, 2022 / Available from / au 39.95

Starring:

Bette Davis, Brian Keith, Kim Hunter, Paul Kelly, Joe Mantell, Kevin Coughlin, Sallie Brophie, Howard Wierum, Curtis Cooksey, Michael Raffetto, Joseph Kearns, Edward Platt, Kathryn Grant, Howard Wendell, Malcolm Atterbury,...

Screenwriter Jeb Stuart joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Die Hard (1988)

The Fugitive (1993)

Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Detective (1968) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dirty Harry (1971) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary, Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Rear Window (1954) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

North By Northwest (1959)

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Wait Until Dark (1967) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Switchback (1997)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Getaway (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

The Thin Man (1934)

Another 48 Hrs (1990)

Commando (1985) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Long Riders (1980)

The Warriors...

“Wash your face, brush your teeth, and say your Prayers.” Marilyn Monroe’s first plunge into a dramatic starring role casts her as a dangerously unstable babysitter in a hotel-set suspense thriller co-starring Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft. Ms. Monroe may not be Ethel Barrymore (thankfully) but the role suits her well — to play a woman unhinged by low self-esteem and melancholy romantic reveries, she may have tapped personal experience.

Don’t Bother to Knock

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1952 / B&W / 1.37 Academy / 76 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran, Jeanne Cagney, Lurene Tuttle, Elisha Cook Jr., Jim Backus, Verna Felton, Willis Bouchey.

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard

Film Editor: George A. Gittens

Written by Daniel Taradash from a novel by Charlotte Armstrong

Produced by Julian Blaustein

Directed by Roy (Ward) Baker

Although she rates second billing below Richard Widmark,...

Even lesser Abbott & Costello movies are still comedy gravy to the avid fans of the fast-talking duo. Their first film deal away from Universal yields a so-so production graced with a string of their patented old-time comedy routines. And the transfer beats anything we’ve yet seen.

The Noose Hangs High

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through ClassicFlix / 24.99

Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol, Cathy Downs, Mike Mazurki, Fritz Feld, Murray Leonard, Ellen Corby, Russell Hicks, James Flavin, Minerva Urecal, Fred Kelsey.

Cinematography: Charles Van Enger

Film Editor: Harry Reynolds

Assistant Director: Howard W. Koch

Original Music: Walter Schumann

Written by John Grant, Howard Harris from an earlier screenplay by Charles Grayson, Arthur T. Horman story by Julian Blaustein, Daniel Taradash, Bernard Feins

Produced and Directed by Charles Barton

A few famous movie comedy teams prospered with good will and parted with hugs,...

The Loved One

Blu-ray

Warner Archives

1965 / B&W / 1:85 / / 122 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017

Starring: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer.

Cinematography: Haskell Wexler

Film Editor: Hal Ashby, Brian Smedley-Aston

Written by Terry Southern, Christopher Isherwood

Produced by Martin Ransohoff (uncredited), John Calley, Haskell Wexler

Directed by Tony Richardson

Funeral Director: Before you go, I was just wondering… would you be interested in some extras for the loved one?

Next Of Kin: What kind of extras?

Funeral Director: Well, how about a casket?

Mike Nichols and Elaine May – The $65 Dollar Funeral

That routine, a classic example of what was known in the early 60’s as “sick humor”, was nevertheless ubiquitous across mainstream variety shows like Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar. It also popularized the notion of a new boutique industry, the vanity funeral. The novelist Evelyn Waugh, decidedly less mainstream, documented the beginning of that phenomenon over a decade earlier with The Loved One,...

Ryan Lambie Nov 14, 2016

As well as a great sci-fi thriller, Arrival is a film that offers a message of hope in a year of division and uncertainty, Ryan writes...

Nb: The following contains mild spoilers for Arrival.

It's no coincidence that the wave of science fiction films that emerged in the 1950s rode on a tide of post-war anxiety. The advent of the atom bomb, the Cold War, renewed fears of Communist incursion: these were just some of the fears that emerged as World War II shuddered to a close. And as the 40s tipped over into the 50s, those fears began to play out in movies: giant atomic monsters tore apart cities in the Us and Japan. Alien invaders arrived in their saucers, raining down great waves of death and destruction. Other invasions were more insidious: the aliens looked like us, lived among us, even controlled us from within.

Delmer Daves' easygoing cattle drive western can't make an action hero out of Jack Lemmon, but with fine work from co-star Glenn Ford it presents a thoughtful anti-myth: no glorious rescues or noble gunfights, and the demure maiden doesn't wait for the handsome cowboy hero. With Brian Donlevy (excellent) and Anna Kashf. Cowboy Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1958 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon, Anna Kashfi, Brian Donlevy, Strother Martin, Dick York, Victor Manuel Mendoza, Richard Jaeckel, King Donovan Cinematography Charles Lawton Jr. Production Designer Cary Odell Film Editor Al Clark, William A. Lyon Original Music George Duning Written by Edmund H. North and, originally uncredited Dalton Trumbo from a book by Frank Harris Produced by Julian Blaustein Directed by Delmer Daves

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Not Delmer Daves' best Western, but a rather good movie, Cowboy...

Chicago – “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is about an alien visitor’s decision to wipe out the human race. And, if an interstellar race actually gets to see this film, it would be hard to blame them for wanting to clean house on planet Earth.

Rating: 1.0/5.0 The original “Day the Earth Stood Still” was a plea for peace. The film was made shortly after the nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan and it was producer Julian Blaustein’s desire to make a metaphorical sci-fi film that led to one of the most influential movies in the history of the genre.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” in our reviews section. Even with the importance of the original “Day” in mind, there’s absolutely no reason that a modern filmmaker couldn’t make a riveting and contemporary update of its story. We clearly...

Chicago – Fifty-seven years after the original cautionary tale became a sci-fi classic, director Scott Derrickson and stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly are returning to the big screen with a remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”.

Never a studio to let a cross-marketing possibility pass it by, Fox has released the original classic on Blu-Ray in a special edition packed with informative and interesting special features. The jury may still be out on the critical and commercial success of the remake, but this special edition proves that the original still has dramatic power and an important place in film history.

To fully appreciate the significance of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, one must place it in the context of when it was released. The tension of the nuclear world of the late ’40s and early ’50s led to a society of fear and paranoia. As made clear in the excellent special feature,...