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Between 1971 and 1983, a new Al Pacino performance was an event ... most of the time. No one was excited to see Pacino follow up the supercharged "Cruising" by playing a stressed-out papa in Arthur Hiller's abominable 1982 family dramedy "Author! Author!" Other than that, there was always the promise of greatness with Pacino, whether presented in the form of "Panic in Needle Park" or "Scarface." And when your peak is "Dog Day Afternoon" and/or "The Godfather Part II," that's pure, transcendent craft.

There was, however, a growing sense with Pacino around the time he did the controversial "Scarface" that the actor was eschewing nuance and depth for scenery-devouring showmanship. His Tony Montana was the culmination of a tendency towards growling and gesticulating (which began in films like "...And Justice for All" and "Cruising"), topped off with a thick Cuban accent. It's a towering performance, but it's also one that proved difficult for him to shed.

Although long-running franchises have become a seemingly permanent part of our current cinematic landscape, there's an argument to be made that even the most consistently high-quality series are subject to diminishing returns. The question of whether a sequel can match or surpass an original is still a topic of debate, and it's one that reaches all the way back to an era when sequels were hardly as common as they are now. While the debate makes sense on the surface — after all, on paper, how can any sequel be as fresh and unique as an original? — it's perhaps based on the wrong question. Maybe, despite all the constant franchise rankings and the like, we shouldn't be asking whether a sequel surpasses its predecessor, but rather what new depths and richness are brought to the material that enhances the franchise as a whole.

It's through that lens that I view 1975's "French Connection II,...

Quick Links Production Woes Strike Early On A Brutal Box Office Performance & Negative Reception Pacino Rediscovers His Passion

Undeniably one of Hollywood's most decorated and enduring stars, Al Pacino has been a constant presence on the silver screen for over 50 years, having memorably skyrocketed to international fame after starring as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's gangster masterpiece The Godfather in 1972. The charismatic actor followed up his Oscar-nominated performance in the Coppola classic with another iconic character that captivated moviegoers all across the world: the foul-mouthed and volatile Cuban drug lord Tony Montana in the universally acclaimed crime drama Scarface. Both of these groundbreaking pictures helped establish Pacino as one of the industry's most exciting and passionate leading men.

Over his illustrious cinema career, Pacino would demonstrate his impressive acting prowess in popular films like Dog Day Afternoon, Dick Tracy, Carlito's Way, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Heat (among countless...

When the news of Roger Corman’s passing was announced, the online film community immediately responded with a flood of tributes to a legend. Many began with the multitude of careers he helped launch, the profound influence he had on independent cinema, and even the cameos he made in the films of Corman school “graduates.”

Tending to land further down his list of achievements and influences a bit is his work as a director, which is admittedly a more complicated legacy. Yes, Corman made some bad movies, no one is disputing that, but he also made some great ones. If he was only responsible for making the Poe films from 1960’s The Fall of the House of Usher to 1964’s The Tomb of Ligeia, he would be worthy of praise as a terrific filmmaker. But several more should be added to the list including A Bucket of Blood (1959) and Little Shop of Horrors...

Undisputed Fact: Roger Corman is the greatest B picture producer of all time. His ability to find (and exploit, if we’re being honest) amazing talent and pull together movie miracles on miniscule budgets is nothing short of astonishing. However, it’s often downplayed what a smart, succinct director he was on many a project. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) is a stellar example of his talent behind the lens.

Released by Aip in September, X turned a tidy profit on top of its $250,000 budget. Critics were generally kind, but dismissive, calling X well made hokum, essentially. And due to its meager fundage X certainly shows its pedigree through petty set design. But…there’s a kinetic buzz that permeates every frame of X, a swirling colorgasm that bleeds through with Corman’s gift for storytelling. X rises from pulp to a lucid perfection.

Dr. Xavier (Ray Milland...

Hélene Grimaud Water: Berio: Wasserklavier: Sawhney: Water: Transitions 1-7; Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch No. 2; Fauré: Barcarolle No. 5; Ravel: Jeux d'eau; Albéniz: Almeria; Liszt: Les Jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este; Janáček: In the Mist: No. 1; Debussy: La Cathedrale engloutie (Deutsche Grammophon) Classical purists be warned: almost half the tracks here are not the solo piano recital you might expect from the billing. Instead, Grimaud had composer Nitin Sawhney create electronic bridging miniatures (ranging from 0:56 to 1:41) fitted between the solo piano tracks. This works wonderfully well, changing this album from a traditional presentation into a moody soundscape (though the purist crowd was quick to take offense, witness the extremely snarky review on classicstoday.com). Of course, Grimaud is her usual scintillating self on the solo piano pieces. The pieces she has chosen for this thematic program are in a couple of cases "usual suspects" -- the Ravel and Debussy...

Lovers of odd and neglected vintage cinema can rejoice in the repackaging of Michael Ritchie’s weird sophomore title, Prime Cut. With all the menace of a Dick Francis novel and a perverse comedic streak akin to the tastes of John Waters, this misbegotten feature hasn’t received the notable following it deserves for one glaring reason—it’s increasingly warped treatment of women, which may have seemed enlightened for the period, but eventually only adds to the problematic misogyny that never abates. As far as its handling of more sensational, exploitational elements, Ritchie and screenwriter Robert Dillon manage to smooth its edges with breakneck pacing, sarcastic repartee, and a handful of impressively orchestrated face-offs.

The head of the Irish mob in Chicago hires Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin), an enforcer, to travel to Kansas City and collect money he’s owed by Mary Ann (Gene Hackman), the man who runs...

Director John Frankenheimer.

I'm often asked which, out of the over 600 interviews I've logged with Hollywood's finest, is my favorite. It's not a tough answer: John Frankenheimer.

We instantly clicked the day we met at his home in Benedict Canyon, and spent most of the afternoon talking in his den. A friendship of sorts developed over the years, with visits to his office for screenings of the old Kinescopes he directed for shows like "Playhouse 90" during his salad days in live television during the 1950s.

We hadn't spoken for nearly a year in mid-2002 when the phone rang. It was John, who spoke in what can only be described as a "stentorian bark," like a general. "Alex!" he exclaimed. "John Frankenheimer." He could sense something was amiss with me. It was. My screenwriting career had stalled. My marriage was progressing to divorce. I had hit bottom. John knew that...

We're back with another video round-up, this time featuring clips from HBO's Game of Thrones Season 5 and the Julia Stiles-starring horror film, Out of the Dark (now in theaters), as well as two videos featuring renowned filmmaker Joe Dante discussing a pair of Roger Corman titles that Kino Lorber is releasing to Blu-ray this May: X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes and The Premature Burial (we also have a look at the final cover art and details on the bonus features for both Ray Milland-starring movies).

Game of Thrones Season 5: “Game of Thrones follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen who are engaged in a deadly cat-and-mouse game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. As betrayal, lust, intrigue and supernatural forces shake the four corners of the Kingdoms, their bloody struggle for the Iron Throne will have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences.

Not unlike the similarly named genius who formed the X-Men, Dr. Xavier wants to use his special power—in his case, X-ray vision—to help people, but eventually the ability to look through almost anything begins to wear on the doctor, showing him more than he ever hoped to see. Reuniting Ray Milland with director Roger Corman, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is coming to Blu-ray and DVD this spring.

Like their recently announced The Premature Burial home media offering, Kino Lorber will release X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes on Blu-ray and DVD sometime in May. No special features are known at this time, but the distributor has stated this release will feature a new HD master. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more details.

Directed by Roger Corman off a screenplay by Robert Dillon and Ray Russell, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes stars Ray Milland,...

We know the greats; movies like Metropolis (1927), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Star Wars (1977).

And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).

In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.

During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.

By the early 1960s,...

The William Castle Film Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $80.95) includes eight pictures produced and directed by master showman Castle. In Part One of this lengthy DVD review, I dissected four of them—13 Ghosts, Homicidal and the two best, The Tingler and Mr. Sardonicus. Believe you me, it was a ghastly business! As Sardonicus would say, “I have known a ghoul—a disgusting creature that opens graves and feeds on corpses.” Like a DVD reviewer. See here.

In this epic conclusion, I am fitted out with a Strait-jacket (about time!) and also chronicle Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls and The Old Dark House, the three Castle entries new to DVD (which lack the short, individual “making of” documentaries accompanying the other five). Only two of these eight flicks were shot in color (Girls, House); theatrical trailers are included with all of the movies. And that’s all you need to know as we continue—in amazing Screamarama,...

The William Castle Film Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $80.95) assembles the master showman’s eight Columbia Pictures features in one set. Three (Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls, The Old Dark House) are new to DVD. Only two are in color (Girls, House), but black and white works far better here to evoke film fear anyhow. Castle produced and directed them all (though he shares a producing credit with Hammer Films’ Anthony Hinds on the House remake). Three were scripted by Robb White (who also wrote Castle’s earlier gimmicky genre hits MacAbre and House On Haunted Hill) while Ray Russell and Robert Dillon racked up two scripts each and Starlog contributor Robert Bloch penned one.

The films (fantasies, thrillers, comedies) are grouped sort of by theme, two per disc. So, 13 Frightened Girls (a.k.a. The Candy Web) is teamed with 13 Ghosts for the triskaidekaphobia entry. Homicidal and Strait-jacket represent the murder,...

Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who last directed “28 Weeks Later” in 2007, the sequel to the British horror hit, has been attached to help develop a remake of sorts of the classic “X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes” with MGM. Lou Arkoff will be executive produce the project, and Mandeville Films partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will be producing with Enrique Lopez Lavigne. “X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes”, also known simply as “X”, is a science fiction/horror movie from 1963. It was directed by Roger Corman, from a script by Ray Russell and Robert Dillon and starred Ray Milland as Dr. James Xavier, [...]...

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 Chicago – “The French Connection” is one of those rare movies that’s always better than I remember it to be. Not that I think poorly of William Friedkin’s masterful procedural, a multiple Oscar winner and game-changer in the world of detective cinema, but that it’s a film that blows me away every time see it. So why did William Friedkin have to mess with the picture?

Maybe I’m too much of a purist, but I’m not alone in responding very negatively to the unusual video tampering done by William Friedkin on his amazing “The French Connection,” the winner for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director. Both Jeffrey Wells and Glenn Kenny have expressed similar disappointment in Friedkin’s remastering for arguably one of the best films of the ’70s.

The French Connection was released on Blu-Ray on February 24th, 2009.

Photo credit: Fox Essentially,...