While I absolutely love a number of Alfred Hitchcock's films ( Psycho , Vertigo , The Birds , North by Northwest ), there are still quite a few in his filmography that I have yet to see (particularly those from the 40s and earlier). I recently saw a promo for the restoration of Jamaica Inn , a film that I had in the library as part of a DVD collection of his British films (which I knew wasn't a top of the line transfers), so I decided to jump on the Blu Ray when I found an inexpensive copy for sale. As it was a recent acquisition, this series was the perfect opportunity to screen it. Based on a Daphne Du Maurier novel (Hitchcock would later adapt another of her novels, Rebecca , and her short story which inspired The Birds ), Jamaica Inn  is the story of a gang of criminals who lead ships to crash off the cost of Cornwall, and then kill the surviving crew and collect their booty. Charles Laughton's Pengallan is the justice of the peace (and the criminal mastermind behind th...

  I had previously seen  An Innocent Man on VHS or LaserDisc back in the day, and had upgraded to DVD and Blu Ray, but it was long overdue for a re-watch, so it rose to the top of our 52 Pick-Up list for the letter I. And if you want to give me grief for ignoring the article 'An,' just remember that I make the rules. It's the story of Jimmie Rainwood (Selleck), a happy-go-lucky airline mechanic who finds himself in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Turns out a couple of low-life cops played by David ( Sledge Hammer ) Rasch and Richard Young ('Fedora' from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ) made a mistake on a drug tip, and broke into the wrong house. When one of the cops mistakenly shoots Rainwood (who's got a hair dryer in his hand), they make the quick decision to save their necks by planting drugs and a gun on him. Despite the best attempts of an Internal Affairs officer who doesn't trust the pair of suspected dirty cops, Rainwood is sentenced t...

I was such a huge fan of Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs , and of Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning performance as Clarice Starling, that when Hannibal was announced with Julianne Moore assuming the role, I frankly just wasn't interested. And so for the past 21 years, I hadn't yet sat down to watch Ridley Scott's adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel. Well, that situation has been rectified, thanks to our 52 Pick-Up series. While I still prefer Silence as a story as well as a film,  Hannibal  definitely exceeded my expectations. The biggest and most impressive surprise — Greg Cannom's make-up for Gary Oldman's Mason Verger. But beyond that, the film has an impressive cast including Giancarlo Giannini and Ray Liotta. I have to admit, I quickly came to accept Julianne Moore as Clarice. And let's face it, Hopkins is Lecter — no slight to Mads Mikkelsen intended. I've often found Ridley Scott's films to be beautiful to look at (a saving grace of t...

As I mentioned a few weeks back, after reading Ron Howard's memoir, we were looking forward to watching his directorial debut for Roger Corman, Grand Theft Auto . I'm pleased to report that this one is even more fun than Eat My Dust ! Ron Howard plays Sam, whose love for Paula (Nancy Morgan, wife of John Ritter) isn't appreciated by her wealthy parents. When she announces that they're engaged, her father takes away her car keys, and tells her that she's going to marry the suitably rich Collins Hedgeworth (Paul Linke — CHiPs Artie Grossman). She steals the family Rolls-Royce, and with Sam they head to Vegas to get married. Hedgeworth arranges for a $25,000 reward for Paula's 'rescue,' and Hedgeworth's mother ( Happy Days ' Marion Ross) offers the same for his safe return, all of which gets communicated through radio DJ Curly Brown (the Real Don Steele!). This leads to a wild and zany chase from Los Angeles to Las Vegas by a crazy cast of characte...