From his early work like the Roger Corman-produced “Hollywood Boulevard” and the found footage extravaganza “The Movie Orgy” to the deliriously self-referential “Gremlins” films and “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” Joe Dante has always been one of the most cine-literate of all directors, a filmmaker preoccupied with our relationship to the movies we watch and with cinema’s larger role in the culture. Dante’s 1993 comedy “Matinee” is possibly his greatest film in this regard, a meditation on the role horror movies play in our lives and a love letter to the people who make them. It follows a few days in the lives of kids who live on a Florida military base during the buildup to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962; as the terror of the real world increases, they take refuge in the monster movies of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), a producer who arrives in town to screen his latest horror flick,...

Top: Napoleon (Gaumont), Middle: Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Orion Pictures), Bottom: Napoleon Bunny-Part (Warner Bros. Pictures)Graphic: The A.V. Club

Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 21, 1821, but the iconic French emperor has lived on (and on and on) in numerous movies and television shows. Esteemed director Ridley Scott, who...

It’s one of the year’s most awaited discs: the recent restored and remastered The War of the Worlds ’53 in a glorious 4K Ultra HD edition. A second Blu-ray disc of When Worlds Collide ’51 is too good to be called a bonus extra: this edition looks better than anything seen since original Technicolor prints. In one show we endure scurvy invaders from The Red Planet; in the other a rogue Astral Body threatens Earth with obliteration, necessitating escape on a space ship. Don’t bother checking online for tickets, the flight is sold out. CineSavant has the lowdown for collectors: how good does the new release look?

The War of the Worlds on 4K Ultra-hd

When Worlds Collide on Blu-ray

Digital HD Access for both titles.

Paramount Presents

George Pal Sci-fi Double Feature

Color / 1:37 Academy / Street Date September 27, 2022 / 167 minutes / Available from Amazon / 39.99

Starring: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, John Hoyt; Gene Barry,...

Intrepid soldiers and scientists battle a bloodsucking alien invader at the top of the world! The Warner Archive Collection releases Howard Hawks’ incomparable Science Fiction thriller, a long-desired favorite. Long handicapped by missing scenes, this Rko classic is intact again, complete with its nerve-rattling bombastic Dimitri Tiomkin music score.

The Thing from Another World

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 87 min. / Street Date December 18, 2018 / 21.99

Starring: Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James R. Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Eduard Franz, James Arness, Paul Frees, George Fenneman, John Dierkes.

Cinematography: Russell Harlan

Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino, John J. Hughes

Film Editor: Roland Gross

Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin

Written by Charles Lederer from a short story by John W. Campbell Jr.

Produced by Howard Hawks

Directed by Christian Nyby

Still one of the all-time favorites of 1950s science fiction filmmaking, Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World...

This nearly forgotten Sci-fi masterpiece should have been a monster hit. For some reason Universal didn’t think that a computer menace was commercial — the year after 2001. The superior drama sells a tough concept: the government activates a defense computer programmed to keep the peace. It does exactly that, but by holding the world hostage while it makes itself a God above mankind.

Colossus: The Forbin Project

Region B Blu-ray

Medium Rare UK

1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date March 27, 2017 / Available from Amazon UK £6.99

Starring: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Willard Sage, Alex Rodine, Martin Brooks, Marion Ross, Dolph Sweet, Robert Cornthwaite, James Hong, Paul Frees, Robert Quarry.

Cinematography: Gene Polito

Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted

Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock, Don Record

Original Music: Michel Colombier

Written by James Bridges, from a novel by D.F. Jones

Produced by Stanley Chase

Directed by Joseph Sargent...

A scary monster movie comes to Key West just as a nuclear crisis breaks out! Joe Dante’s incomparable paean to monster kid culture has finally arrived on Region A Blu-ray, with the great extras we expect from every Dante-involved home video offering. The picture only gets more charming and funny with time, from its great cast of teens to the perfect pitch of John Goodman and Cathy Moriarty’s bigger-than-life characters.

Matinee

Blu-ray

Shout Select

1993 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date January 16, 2018 / 34.93

Starring John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin, Jesse Lee, Lucinda Jenney, James Villemaire, Robert Picardo, Jesse White, Dick Miller, John Sayles, David Clennon, Belinda Balaski, Naomi Watts, Robert Cornthwaite, Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert.

Cinematography John Hora

Film Editor Marshall Harvey

Original Music Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Charles S. Haas, story by Haas & Jerico.

Produced by Michael Finnell

Directed by Joe Dante...

Continuing our series on Hollywood remakes, this week’s film is one of those lauded remakes that many say is better than the original. While a horror movie may not be in the Christmas spirit, this film does have a lot of snow in it. This week, Cinelinx looks at John Carpenter’s The Thing.

When people talk about remakes of old films, the one that is most often mentioned as being better than the original is John Carpenter’s 1982 horror flick, The Thing, which is a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks classic The Thing From Another World. There’s a good argument to be made for the newer one. Not that the first one isn’t an excellent movie, but this is a rare occasion where the reputation of the remake seems to overshadow the original.

Both films were based on the short story “Who Goes There?” by John W.

To preface this article, I’d like to openly acknowledge the fact that there isn’t a single “great” film on this list. Furthermore, given the concept of this piece, it’s safe to say that you’re not going to read about any significantly original films either.

The whole remake thing kind of blew those hopes out of the water. That said, we’re going to eye 10 remakes/reboots/reimaginings that were forced through the meat grinder upon arrival, despite the fact that they didn’t entirely deserve such brutish treatment.

Believe it or not, there are a few remakes out there worth watching. The horror world would have you believe that not a single film on this list qualifies, but I’m here – battling valiantly – to prove the voices of many wrong. Dig in for a closer look at some remakes that, while not monumental, still offer some redeeming qualities.

Air Force screens on October 19 at the Museum of the Moving Image's retrospective, The Complete Howard Hawks. For more of Dan Sallitt's writing on Hawks, go here and here.

Air Force occupies an unusual place in Howard Hawks' filmography. As a war propaganda film, its subject matter is necessarily tendentious, with an overt message that is not only coercive but also repetitive. Hawks, whose control over his choice of material was quite unusual by Hollywood standards of the time, shows no sign of resisting the project's wartime agenda, and willingly accepts the character stereotyping and up-front ideology that comes with the package: the eager young recruits, the cynic to be converted, the proud parent set up for loss. In addition, Hawks' streak of dark humor combines with the project's built-in tone of righteous vengeance against the Japanese in a way that can strike peacetime audiences as callous.

On the other hand,...

Whether you measure your movies by box office, reviews, or popular appeal, Sony’s $125 million remake of the 1990 Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger interplanetary action fest Total Recall looks like a strike-out. The movie opened with a lethal softness; a $25.7 million first weekend meaning Recall won’t even come close to making back its budget during its domestic theatrical run. In fact, despite 22 years of ticket price increases, it’s doubtful the movie will even match the original’s $119.3 million haul.

And for those of you who think maybe the problem is Total Recall was outgunned opening while The Dark Knight Rises was still sucking up box office coin, entertain, at least for a moment if you will, the possibility the movie just plain sucks. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ canvas, almost 70% of reviewers – and over three-quarters of “top critics” – gave Total Recall a thumbs-down. Those who went to see the movie didn’t...

Joe tips his hat to the great actor William Schallert in honor of the man’s 89th birthday. (With exclusive behind-the-scenes stills!)

One of my favorite actors gets a write-up in the Los Angeles Times in connection with his upcoming 89th(!) birthday!

They don’t make the big money or get their names above the lights or their pictures on the covers of magazines. But character actors are the lifeblood of show business — and a versatile one can work for decades.

Case in point: William Schallert, who has been a working actor for more than 60 years, starting with his feature film debut in the 1947 period drama “The Foxes of the Harrow” through his current role as the mayor of Bon Temps on HBO‘s erotic vampire series, “True Blood.”

I first worked with Bill Schallert on my episode of Twilight Zone: the Movie, which I wanted to stuff with veterans from the Serling TV series.

Not a very busy week for horror releases on Blu-ray and DVD. At least The Twilight Zone: Season 3 is here to keep us busy for hours before we dig on the DVD premiere of The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu directed by Henry Saine and starring Kyle Davis, Devin McGinn, Matt Bauer.

In addition, Peter A. Dowling's Stag Night (starring Breckin Meyer, Scott Adkins, Kip Pardue, Karl Geary) and David A. Cross's Respire (starring Tracy Teague, Mat Wright, Vince Eustace, Jessica Keeler, Ellie Torrez) round up the offerings this week.

The Twilight Zone: Season 3 (1962) (Blu-ray Review)

Directed by Various

Starring Rod Serling, Bill Mumy, Lois Nettleton, William Windom, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Cornthwaite, Cliff Robertson, Lee Marvin, James Best, Strother Martin, Russell Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Peter Falk, Robert Redford, Elizabeth Montgomery, Charles Bronson, Jack Albertson, James Gregory, Jack Klugman, Buster Keaton, Dean Stockwell, Barry Morse, Andy Devine,...

As we all eagerly anticipate the upcoming release of "The Twilight Zone: Season 2" onto Blu-ray high definition this November 16th, Image Entertainment, the rock stars that they are, have already released the goods on Season 3!

As per High-Def Digest:

"The release will be a 5-disc set and will contain all 37 episodes in the third season in 1080p video, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentaries by actors Bill Mumy, Lois Nettleton, William Windom, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Cornthwaite and Cliff Robertson; Audio commentary by Jonathan Winters for "A Game of Pool," plus Winters reads the alternate ending from the original script; Clip from the 1989 remake of "A Game of Pool," featuring George Clayton Johnson's original ending; Clip from the 1985 remake of "Dead Man's Shoes," featuring Helen Mirren in "Dead Woman's Shoes"; Vintage audio recollections with Buzz Kulik, Buck Houghton, Richard L. Bare, Lamont Johnson and Earl Hamner; and...

H.G. Wells' 1898 classic alien invasion novel, The War of the Worlds, has been adapted several times for the big screen, most recently by Steven Spielberg five years ago (my first "Scenes We Love" entry for Cinematical), two low-budget entries, one set in Victorian times and the other in the present released to coincide with Spielberg's adaptation, and most memorably, fifty-seven years ago by producer George Pal (The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, The Time Machine, Conquest of Space, When Worlds Collide, Destination Moon) for Paramount Pictures. Pal's adaptation, directed by Byron Haskin (The Power, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, From the Earth to the Moon, Conquest of Space) from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon, created the template for every alien invasion film that followed. The War of the Worlds won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking visual effects. It was nominated, but surprisingly didn't win, the Academy Award for the equally innovative sound design.