The Apartment (Blu-ray) by Oktay Ege Kozak The Movie:Billy Wilder once said that writing a movie without directing is like making the bed for someone else to have sex in. C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), perhaps Wilder and frequent writing collaborator I.A.L. Diamond's most relatable character, knows what that means, pretty much literally.He wants to be the big shot at his humongous corporate insurance office (DP Joseph La Shelle's ever-imitated cinematography makes him disappear amongst the other drones), so he lets his superiors use his cushy and conveniently placed Manhattan apartment. They can bring their mistresses away from the prying eyes of their wives while dangling a promotion for Baxter's troubles.Wilder always found ways of trolling the Hayes Code when it comes to depicting sex, and The Apartment is especially notable for being a dramedy that becomes unusually frank when dealing with sex.Baxt...Read the entire review »

Now and Forever (Blu-ray) by Stuart Galbraith IV In 1934 child-star Shirley Temple's movie career was in the early stages of its meteoric rise. She gets third billing in Now and Forever after Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard, they also on the ascent. Neither of them made the list of top box-office attractions that year, but Temple placed seventh. By 1935 she was an international sensation, Hollywood's biggest star, a position she held onto for the next several years. Temple was under long-term contract at Fox, soon to merge with Twentieth Century Pictures, but for Now and Forever she was loaned out to Paramount. The studio wouldn't loan her out again until 1941. Now and Forever is a particularly interesting Shirley Temple vehicle, similar to the Fox films but notably darker in tone. A particularly grim conclusion was planned and even screened for critics before the studio changed their minds, reshooting and softening u...Read the entire review »

Tentacles (Blu-ray) by Adam Tyner "That goes for the dead fish, but those ripped-up things down there...what could've done all that?""There's only one thing big enough or powerful enough.""Are you thinking about sharks?""No. I'm thinking...a giant octopus."[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]If a dismembered body were to wash ashore, the list of culprits isn't all that long: boat propeller, shark attack, or...actually, I guess that's pretty much it. But the sleepy coastal hamlet of Solana Beach doesn't know what