Basil Rathbone was the ultimate movie hero as Sherlock Holmes, but he was also the ultimate movie villain (think of “David Copperfield,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and “The Mark of Zorro”). On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” film historian and Rondo Award-nominated writer Troy Howarth considers Rathbone’s versatile cinematic output.
For this week’s edition of “Shorts Round Up of the Week” I check out some rich dramas, a few ambitious fantasy films one of which involves bullying, and a pitch black revenge movie co-starring M. Emmet Walsh.
If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened to filmmakers and producers.
“The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout…”
If you’re looking for a wonderful companion piece to the upcoming feature film adaptation of the infamous book trilogy “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” Cody Meirick’s documentary “Scary Stories” is a great refresher course for fans. It’s also a wonderful look at how history repeats itself, with the elementary school touted horror anthology nearly suffering the same amount of censorship and hysterical panic that EC Comics endured decades before its release. It’s a fascinating but nasty bit of history repeating itself, but history also learning from itself, as well.
BOOTLEG FILES 680: “Keeping Fit” (1942 all-star short film).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not to my knowledge.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Rare World War II-era film that had no postwar reissue value.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe in an anthology of wartime shorts or as a special feature on a DVD.
After the United States entered World War II, the Hollywood studios churned out a series of morale-building films were created to keep civilian audiences engaged in supporting the war effort. The studios often put their biggest names into these films to add a level of star wattage to the messaging.
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Mason Stone has big plans for this evening out with his lady. Unfortunately, his past career has made him a target for a group of highly skilled killers who want him dead. Thankfully, he’s got better skills than they do.
A modern day telling of music composer Carlo Gesualdo’s life, from falling in love, finding a muse to betrayal of the utmost, Dolorosa Gioia is a fictional take on a biography that plays with music as a language, emotions as a means of expression, and images as art.
It was only a matter of time until studios would come along and start trying to duplicate the formula that “A Quiet Place” perfected. Hoping to strike lightning twice after the shocking pop culture success of “The Birdbox,” Netflix adapts yet another novel in to an apocalyptic thriller featuring monsters working on human senses, and a family trying to stick together, doggone it. And it stinks. Director John R. Leonetti’s horror drama has a good idea somewhere buried beneath this hacky often mean spirited mess, but damned if I could find out how to salvage it.