Best DVDs of 2016
A combination of DVD Savant (20 on his list) and DVD Beaver (10 Blue Ray and 10 Standard DVD).
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40 titles
- DirectorLeslie StevensStarsKate ManxCorey AllenWarren OatesAn arrogant criminal offers to seduce a woman for his dim, sexually inexperienced partner.
- DirectorLuis García BerlangaStarsNino ManfrediEmma PenellaJosé IsbertAn undertaker marries an old executioner's daughter and must continue his father-in-law's profession after his retirement, although he doesn't like it.
- DirectorNorman FosterStarsAnn SheridanDennis O'KeefeRobert KeithFrank Johnson becomes an eyewitness to a murder. He's pursued around San Francisco by his wife, the police, and the killer.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsAlice FayeCarmen MirandaPhil BakerA soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
- DirectorHerk HarveyStarsCandace HilligossFrances FeistSidney BergerAfter a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.
- DirectorMarlon BrandoStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenPina PellicerAfter robbing a bank in Mexico, Dad Longworth absconds with the loot leaving his partner Rio to be captured by the Rurales. Rio escapes prison but struggles with his conflicting desires to love Dad's stepdaughter Louise and to get revenge.
- DirectorHerbert L. StrockStarsRichard EganConstance DowlingHerbert MarshallA security agent investigates sabotage and murder at a secret underground laboratory, home of two experimental robots.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsPierre BriceScilla GabelWolfgang PreissIn 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.
- DirectorMarcel L'HerbierStarsJaque CatelainLéonid Walter de MaltePhilippe HériatClaire Lescot is a famous first lady. All men want to be loved by her and among them is the young scientist Einar Norsen. When she mocks at him, he leaves her house with the declared intention to kill himself.aka L'Inhumaine.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsBetty SchneiderGiani EspositoFrançoise PrévostAnne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping McCarthyism, and Gerard Lenz, a theatre director who arrives with the mysterious woman Terry. The talk at the party is about the apparent suicide of their friend Juan, a Spanish activist who had recently broken up with Terry. Philip warns Anne that the forces that killed Juan will soon do the same to Gerard. Gerard is trying to rehearse Shakespeare's "Pericles", although he has no financial backing. Anne takes a part in the play to help Gerard, and to try to discover why Juan died.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsVictor FrancenLine NoroSylvie GanceA traumatized World War I veteran builds a machine to prevent war. When the government subverts his machine and a second world war seems increasingly inevitable, in desperation the inventor summons the ghosts of the war dead to protest.aka J'Accuse.
- DirectorKaren ThomasStarsSigourney WeaverScott SubionoSewell WhitneyEight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses voice-overs, archival footage, and film clips to examine Berlin's vital filmmaking in the 1920s; then it follows a producer, directors, composers, editors, writers, and actors to Hollywood: some succeeded and many found no work. Among those profiled are Erich Pommer, Joseph May, Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, and Peter Lorre. Once in Hollywood, these exiles helped each other, housed new arrivals, and raised money so others could escape. Some worked on anti-Nazi films, like Casablanca. The themes and lighting of German Expressionism gave rise in Hollywood to film noir.
- DirectorSteve BinderStarsThe Beach BoysThe BarbariansChuck BerrySurf pop duo Jan and Dean host this showcase of performances by popular rock and roll and R&B musicians of the era.DVD 2016 release is two separate films: The T.A.M.I. Show & The Big T.N.T. Show.
- DirectorManu LukschMartin ReinhartThomas TodeStarsTilda Swinton'Every age thinks it's the modern age...'
- DirectorNicholas RayIda LupinoStarsIda LupinoRobert RyanWard BondRough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
- StarsBret Wood2016 DVD release is a 5 disc release, Pioneers of African-American Cinema.
- DirectorKarl HartlStarsHans AlbersFriedrich KayßlerBrigitte HelmAfter his colleague and a mentor, Prof. Achenbach dies in a set-up accident, while trying to produce gold from the lead, Werner Holk seeks revenge. Meanwhile, a British millionaire suggests that Holk work on him on a similar project.DO NOT CONFUSE WITH NUMEROUS OTHER FILMS WITH THE SAME TITLE.
- DirectorJack HillStephanie RothmanStarsWilliam CampbellMarissa MathesLori SaundersA crazed artist who believes himself to be the reincarnation of a murderous vampire kills young women, then boils their bodies in a vat.CAREFUL. The 2016 DVD release is how Roger Corman used additional footage added to this foreign flik and made this turkey into FOUR separate movies, none of which is very good. According to Savant, it's Corman's style and ingenuity (desire to make a buck) that's important here, and is explained in an extra on the disc set.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGary CooperSusan HaywardRichard WidmarkA trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband trapped in a cave in Apache territory.
- StarsArtur BarcisOlgierd LukaszewiczOlaf LubaszenkoTen television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChang ChenLisa YangKuo-Chu ChangBased on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsHermann PichaRosa ValettiAndré MattoniA young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.The DVD release is titled "Early Murnau" and consists of 5 films.
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsCharles BoltonBilly HamonRoland CulverThe true story of Derek Bentley, whose conviction and execution for a murder committed by someone else provoked a public revulsion.The DVD 13 disc release is: Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC (1969-1989).
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaChikage AwashimaA Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeLionel BarrymoreStarsLionel BarrymoreKay FrancisMadge EvansA district attorney commits the perfect murder when he kills his daughter's womanizing fiancé and then tries framing the fiancé's lover.DVD release is Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10 and includes five fliks.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsEva BosákováVera UzelacováJosef LangmilerTwo stories are simultaneously told. One dutiful mother progressively becomes a frustrated woman who is the only one assuming the family responsibilities of working at home and looking after her only son, whereas her husband works all day, does not appreciate his wife's efforts and the only thing he does by the time he gets home is to read the newspaper and watch soccer matches. On the other hand, a female gymnast prepares for her last competition before her career retirement, but faces pressure from her trainer and a lack of motivation to keep going. The film depicts frustration on both sides, and parallels two worlds dominated by men, where women do not receive any recognition, and in case they do, it is momentary.DVD title (two films): Something Different (O nacem jinem)/A Bagful of Fleas (Pytel blech)-Two Films by Vera Chytilova.
- DirectorCristi PuiuStarsAlexandru PapadopolDragos BucurIoana FloraA newbie agrees to deliver the wrong merchandise for money. He will learn soon that this trip will change his views about life, forever.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsDana AndrewsFarley GrangerJoan EvansA mentally unbalanced young man kills a priest. One of the priest's colleagues sets out to find the killer.
- DirectorNorman FosterStarsJoan FontaineBurt LancasterRobert NewtonFugitive Bill Saunders and lonely nurse Jane Wharton are crossed by fate when he hides out in her apartment.
- DirectorThom AndersenFay AndersenMorgan FisherStarsDean StockwellEadweard MuybridgeA documentary film about the English photographer Eadweard Muybridge.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsRay MillandAnn ToddGeraldine FitzgeraldOlivia Harwood, missionary's widow, meets charming Mark Bellis, artist and rogue, on the ship taking them both back to 1890s London. After Olivia opens a lodging house, Mark becomes her lodger then her lover. Olivia falls so completely under amoral Mark's spell that he's able to overcome her scruples, and soon she's his willing tool in an ambitious scheme of theft and blackmail...maybe too ambitious.
- DirectorCliff OwenStarsWilliam SylvesterMai ZetterlingJohn MeillonWhen Scotland Yard finds themselves up against a brick wall in tracking down a vicious gang of thieves and bank robbers, they call in Layton, a loner from MI5 to work his way into the gang and help bring them down.aka Offbeat (original title.)
- DirectorHarold F. KressStarsBarry SullivanArlene DahlGeorge MurphyAn insurance lawyer unhappy with his rate of company advancement becomes a middleman in deals to recover stolen property from the Mob, thus earning a nice living. But his actions attract police attention and set him up for a double-cross.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerDVD title: Joshua Oppenheimer 12 Short Films.