Leonard Maltin

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Animation Marvels—In Print And On DVD

By Leonard Maltin
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January 10, 2011 5:00 AM
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1 Comment

A spectacular new book about Ray Harryhausen is cause for celebration—but more about that later. The estimable Mr. H was inspired to pursue his art, and craft, by the films he saw as a boy, especially The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933). But the man who created the stunning animation in those films, Willis O’Brien, wasn’t the only person experimenting with the wonders of stop-motion. Steve Stanchfield, Stewart McKissick and Ken Priebe at Thunderbean Animation have compiled a dizzying DVD collection of rare short subjects appropriately titled Stop-Motion Marvels! and it’s a must for anyone interested in this field.

The centerpiece of the disc is the Kinex collection, a series of ingenious silent shorts that were created expressly for the 16mm home-movie market in the late 1920s, and marketed as—

By Leonard Maltin
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January 2, 2011 1:52 AM
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0 Comments

It’s become commonplace to see “making-of” documentaries and promotional videos, even for crummy movies that don’t merit such attention. Unfortunately, behind-the-scenes footage for movies of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s is scarce, and when it exists it’s generally brief.

By Leonard Maltin
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December 13, 2010 5:30 AM
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4 Comments

For me, comedy begins with Charlie Chaplin. I know there were screen comedies before he came along, and I appreciate the work of everyone from Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew to Max Linder. But none of them created a persona as unique or indelible as the Little Tramp, and no one could match his worldwide impact.

By Leonard Maltin
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December 2, 2010 2:45 AM
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3 Comments

dvd reviewIt took sixty years for Salvador Dali’s unfinished Walt Disney project, Destino, to reach fruition. In comparison, the seven years it’s taken for a home video release doesn’t seem so bad, but the process has been frustrating. And even now, the opportunity to own the Oscar-nominated film comes with a hitch:

By Leonard Maltin
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December 2, 2010 2:30 AM
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15 Comments

I have good news and bad news about the new DVD/Blu-Ray release of Walt Disney’s Fantasia. First, the good news. As someone who’s still lingering on the sidelines of the Blu-Ray revolution, I must tell you that the high-definition restoration of Walt Disney’s Fantasia looks breathtaking—even on standard DVD. Using the latest digital technology to scan the original nitrate negatives at 4K resolution has yielded a remarkable result. If you have a gigantic screen, or use a projector, you might detect a difference on Blu-Ray, but the plain ol’ DVD looks pretty great to my eyes.

By Leonard Maltin
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November 29, 2010 5:30 AM
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2 Comments

Two significant Disney-related documentaries, Walt & El Grupo, the story of Walt Disney’s sojourn to South America in 1941, and The Boys, the life story of the songwriting Sherman Brothers, are being released on DVD tomorrow, along with the story of the animation department’s fall and rise and fall, Waking Sleeping Beauty. Even if you were lucky enough to see these films in their extremely limited theatrical release, the DVDs have bonus material that makes them a must for any Disney buff.

By Leonard Maltin
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November 18, 2010 5:30 AM
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3 Comments

Many people believed that John Ford was the finest American director of the 20th Century. In a perfect world, all of his films would be readily available for viewing but that is simply not the case.

By Leonard Maltin
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September 21, 2010 4:00 AM
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1 Comment

I love music almost as much as I love movies. That’s why I start every morning with a visit to Tin Pan Alley at www.youtube.com/user/petermintunmusic, where the gifted pianist, singer and musicologist Peter Mintun offers “A Different Tune Each Day.” I’ve also had some wonderful experiences in recent months watching DVDs that celebrate a wide variety of music I happen to like. These documentaries and performance videos don’t have marketing muscle behind them, so they depend on loyal followers and word-of-mouth. That’s why I’m happy to recommend them here, in the hope that I can expand that audience just a bit.

Sons of the Pioneers 75th Anniversary Show, Volume 1 is a live 2009 performance by the current incarnation of the classic country music group formed in the 1930s by Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, and a young fellow who would become world-famous as Roy Rogers. The group has undergone many changes over the decades but the present-day group keeps the—

By Leonard Maltin
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September 15, 2010 4:00 AM
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2 Comments

dvd review: THRILLER: THE COMPLETE SERIES (Image Entertainment)

By Leonard Maltin
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September 2, 2010 2:39 AM
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0 Comments

There are few people who can be credited with affecting real or lasting change in our culture. One of them is Hugh Hefner, an aspiring cartoonist who borrowed money to put out the first issue of a magazine called Playboy that became an overnight sensation back in the uptight 1950s. Hef became a celebrity, and used his success to promote his ideas and ideals; that’s the focus of Oscar-winning filmmaker Brigitte Berman’s new documentary, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel.

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Categories

Animation Marvels—In Print And On DVD

dvd review: Discovery: The Night of the Hunter - 2002

Chaplin—First, Last, And Always

Destino: Walt’s Dream, Then Roy's

dvd review: Fantasia Revisited—And Revealed

dvd reviews: DISNEY DOCS FINALLY ON DVD

dvd review: John Ford: Hiding In Plain Sight

Music Worth Hearing—And Seeing

Boris Karloff's Assurance

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist And Rebel

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