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Eight years before Barbra Streisand appeared in the 1976 version of A Star Is Born, she dazzled audiences in William Wyler’s Funny Girl with an awe-inspiring performance of intense vulnerability and carefully modulated broad humor that announced to the world that she was, much like her character, Fanny Brice, born to be a star. Released in 1968, several years after the death knell of the classic musical had been rung, Funny Girl endures—unlike other bloated, big budget musicals of the era like Camelot, Hello Dolly!, and Oliver!—precisely because of the strength of Streisand’s magnetic performance.

Whether flailing around on roller skates across the stage or triumphantly belting out “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as she recklessly flees her starring gig at the Ziegfeld Follies to meet her lover, Nick (Omar Sharif), Streisand’s Fanny is a woman possessed with ungodly charisma and talent. It was Brice’s singularly sly,...

To have your consciousness transferred to another body sounds really cool. Remember “Source Code” (2011) starring Jake Gyllenhaal? But keeping in mind the lust for war that humans have, what if someone decides to turn this concept into a reality, developing such technology and weaponizing it? This is what “Assassin” deals with. However, while the concept is interesting, especially the ending, the film fails to have the intended impact, thanks to a lazy story and even lazier acting. Here’s more on the film:

Spoilers Ahead

‘Assassin’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?

Alexa and her husband have both served in the army. But for the last 3 months, Sebastian has been in a coma. Upon reaching out to Valmora, the guy who recruited Sebastian, Alexa finds out that her husband’s consciousness is inside a bug that international smuggler Adrian Delorio is presently in possession of. Valmora had Sebastian’s...

Today’s noir forecast is vice, kidnapping, murder, suicide, narcotics and a sleazy stolen baby racket! Kino’s third volume of Universal-International pix contains two seldom-screened quality urban noirs. Expect genuine dark themes in these sizable-budget location noirs filmed before Universal pulled most production back onto its one-size-fits-all backlot sets. Barbara Stanwyck dominates one show, while noir stalwarts Richard Conte and Dennis O’Keefe anchor the other two dramas, with dynamic showings by Coleen Gray, Edith Barrett, Peggy Dow, Jeanette Nolan, Meg Randall and especially Gale Storm.

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema III

Abandoned, The Lady Gambles, The Sleeping City

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1949-50 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 79,99,86 min. / Street Date June 9, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.99

Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Meg Randall, Raymond Burr, Marjorie Rambeau, Jeanette Nolan, Mike Mazurki, Will Kuluva, David Clarke; Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Preston, Stephen McNally, Edith Barrett, John Hoyt,...

Among Steven Seagal’s dubious achievements in the last decade are his recently granted Russian citizenship and this trailer for Contract To Kill, which is not, as you might expect, a straight-to-dvd release. No, Contract To Kill—not to be confused with Hard To Kill, which also starred Seagal—will have a proper theatrical release but will also be available on iTunes (in case your local cineplex isn’t screening it). The subject of Seagal’s latest film is virtually the same as all the other, triptych-titled works. The sluggish martial arts star plays a CIA/DEA agent named John Harmon, who teams up with Russell Wong and a beautiful distraction (Jemma Dallender) to investigate Muslim terrorists.

The trailer features Seagal puffing out his lines in between halfheartedly chopping guys in the neck, but remember—this is just another day at the office for him and his character. Speaking of...

Glurg garrgle gurgle raaaaw!  It's the razor-clawed reptile-man that scared the bejesus out of little kids, way back when. Jack Kevan's basic monster mash drags its feet a bit, but technically it's as slick as they come. Plus, the encoding is perfect. And did I mention the scary parts? This one inspired plenty of gory nightmares. The Monster of Piedras Blancas Blu-ray Olive Films 1959 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 71 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Les Tremayne, Forrest Lewis, John Harmon, Frank Arvidson, Jeanne Carmen, Don Sullivan, Pete Dunn, Joseph La Cava, Wayne Berwick. Cinematography Philip Lathrop Film Editor George Gittens Assistant Director Joseph C. Cavalier Written by H. Haile Chace Produced by Jack Kevan Directed by Irvin Berwick

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

We 'fifties kids love our monster movie memories. I was glued to the set every weekend to see what Science Fiction Theater had to offer,...

by Matt Hawkins

If you're a hardcore toy geek, then you might be familiar with John Harmon. His homebase is Mint Condition Customs, where he highlights his affinity for taking off the shelf action figures and making them new again. Often he'll transform a character into some other variation that doesn't already exist in an officially sanction toy form.

Harmon’s most recent creation has gotten a decent amount of buzz, and for good reason; it's his take on Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer and Lance "Scorpion" Bean, the stars of "Contra." So why do they look like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone? Because they were in the cover the Nes version. Kinda, sorta.

The star of Commando and the star of Rambo were clearly the inspiration of the two characters of the box art (much like Michael Biehn, who starred in the original Terminator, was obviously the template for Solid...

There are tons of famous comic book and movie characters in the pantheon of pop culture, but the two that seem to be the most popular are Darth Vader and Batman (yes, I’m saying that Batman is more popular, or at the very least, more relevant, than Superman. However, this is where “Man of Steel” comes in). What if the two characters were melded together? Slash Film has a link to Geekologie, which features a custom figure called “Darth Knight.” The figure is made by John Harmon from Mint Condition Customs. The figure was made from two figures–the Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman figure and the Star Wars Transformers Darth [ Read More ]...