Just some thoughts on current happenings:

Classic film screenings from around the world this December include:

In New York City, New York, Film Forum is presenting A Night at the Opera (1935) Sunday, December 4 at 11 am only, The Trial (1962, a 4k restoration) Friday, December 9 through to Thursday, December 22, The Rules of the Game (1939, a 4k restoration) Friday, December 23 through to Thursday, December 29, and Shadow of a Doubt (1943, a 4k restoration) from Friday, December 30 through to Thursday, January 5, 2023.

For information on any of the films in this series, click on the appropriate image above. For information on all of the films playing this month, click on the Film Forum banner above.

In Auckland, New Zealand Academy Cinemas is presenting Cash on Demand (1961, as part of Academy's Christmas programme this December) Tuesday, December 6, Eyes Wide Shut (1999, as part of Academy's Christmas programme this December) Saturday, December 10, Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) Monday, December 12, and L.A. Confidential (1997, as part of Academy's Christmas programme this December) on Friday, December 16.

To obtain more information specifically on each of these programmes, click on the corresponding image. To see the entire month of December’s programming, click on the Academy banner above.

In Valencia, Spain, Culturarts Generalitat IVAC – La Filmoteca at the Edificio Rialto will be presenting Insignificance (1985) Tuesday, December 6 and Sunday, December 11, Blood & Wine (1996) Wednesday, December 14 and Friday, December 16, and Fat City (1972) on Wednesday, December 14 and Sunday, December 18.

Click on the respective film’s image for more information on each screening. To discover more of December’s programming including films playing in Castelló Spain at the Raval Theater and the Paranimf of the Universitat Jaume, click on the banner image above.

In Melbourne, Australia The Astor Theatre is presenting a double bill of Mean Streets (1973, a 35mm print) followed by After Hours (1985, a 35mm print) Thursday, December 8, Zodiac (2007, a 35mm print) Friday, December 9, Jackie Brown (1997, a 35mm print) Saturday, December 10, The Departed (2006, a 35mm print) Monday, December 12, The Age of Innocence (1993) Wednesday, December 14, Boxcar Bertha (1972) Wednesday, December 14, Paths of Glory (1957) Saturday, December 17, and Eyes Wide Shut (1999, a 35mm print) on Saturday, December 17.

* Note: Some of the above showtimes are matinees only.

Click on the appropriate image for more information on this programme. To see the rest of December’s schedule, click on The Astor Theatre banner above.

In London, United Kingdom The Prince Charles Cinema will present The Apartment (1960, a 35mm print) Thursday, December 8, Thursday, December 15 and Thursday, December 22, Trading Places (1983, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 11, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985, a 35mm print) Friday, December 16 and Tuesday, December 20, Jules & Jim (1962, a 35mm print, as part of The Prince Charles Theatre’s 60th Anniversary) Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 27, Lawrence of Arabia (1962, a 4k restoration, as part of The Prince Charles Theatre’s 60th Anniversary) Monday, December 26 and Friday, December 30, The Manchurian Candidate (1962, as part of The Prince Charles Theatre’s 60th Anniversary) Tuesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 29, The Godfather (1972, a 35mm print) Tuesday, December 27, The Godfather: Part II (1974, a 35mm print) Thursday, December 29, and Pulp Fiction (1994, a 35mm print) on Friday, December 30.

* Note: Some of the above showtimes are matinees only.

Click on the film’s respective image for more information. To see December’s complete programming, click on The Prince Charles Cinema banner above.

In Bergen, Norway The Cinemateket i Bergen will present The Red Shoes (1938) Thursday, December 8 and Sunday, December 11, and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) on Thursday, December 15 and Sunday, December 18.

For more information on each film’s showing, click on the appropriate movie image above. For more information on the other films being presented at The Cinemateket, click on the banner image above.

In theatres across the U.S. Flashback Cinema is presenting Scrooge (1970) Sunday, December 11 and Wednesday, December 14.

Click on the poster image for more information. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Flashback Cinema banner above.

In theatres across the U.S., TCM and Fathom Events is presenting Conan the Barbarian (1982, as part of this film’s 40th Anniversary) Monday, December 12 and Tuesday, December 13, and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) on Sunday, December 18 and Wednesday, December 21.

Click on the film’s poster image for more information. To see this month’s entire schedule, click on The Fathom Events banner above.

In Oakland, California, NOIR CITY XMAS 2022 returns with host Eddie Muller on Tuesday, December 13, 7:30 pm at Oakland's historic Grand Lake Theatre. “The Film Noir Foundation presents Mickey Spillane's I, the Jury (1953) in 3-D to darken your yuletide spirit. The 1953 black & white film, featuring cinematography by the legendary John Alton, was recently restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive and stars Biff Elliot, Peggie Castle, and Preston Foster.”

In Brussels, Belgium The Belgian National Orchestra will present The Great Escape (1963) with live musical accompaniment featuring Elmer Bernstein’s exhilarating score on Thursday, December 15.

Click on the above image for more information.

In Los Angeles, California The Beverly Cinema will present Catch Me If You Can (2002, a 35mm print) Friday, December 16, Ronin (1998, a 35mm print) Friday, December 30, and Notorious (1946, a 35mm print) on Saturday, December 31 and Sunday, January 1, 2023.

* Note: All of the above showtimes are matinees only.

Click on the respective image for more information. To see the rest of December’s schedule, click on The Beverly Cinema banner above.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, The Cinematheque will be presenting RESNAIS 100: “… showcasing films from the first and most influential chapter of the iconic director’s career, including brand-new restorations of his formative documentaries and his scarcely screened, politically piercing 1966 feature La guerre est finie from December 16, 2022–January 4, 2023.” Highlights include Hiroshima mon amour (1959), Last Year at Marienbad aka L’année dernière à Marienbad (1961), and La guerre est finie aka The War is Over (1966).

For information on all of the films in the RESNAIS 100 series, click on the top image above. For more information about the individual screening mentioned, click on the appropriate image. For all of the films scheduled this month at The Cinematheque, click on the theatre banner above.

In Los Angeles, California Secret Movie Club is presenting at the Secret Movie Club Theater Seven Samurai (1954, a 35mm print) Saturday December 17, and as part of their JOHN FORD FUNDAMENTALS series, a double bill of The Quiet Man (1952, a 35mm print) followed by The Searchers (1956, a 35mm print) on Friday, December 23.

For more information on either of these special presentations, click on the appropriate movie image. To discover other screenings organised by this group, click on the above theatre image.

In Los Feliz (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The American Cinematheque Los Feliz 3 Theatre will present The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 18 at 1 pm only, and The French Connection (1971) on Monday, December 26.

In Santa Monica (also part of greater Los Angeles) California, The American Cinematheque Aero Theatre Santa Monica will present Lawrence of Arabia (1962, The American Cinematheque’s own pristine 70mm archival print) on Thursday, December 29 and Friday, December 30.

For more information specifically on each of these programmes, click on the corresponding above image. To see the entire month of December’s programming including other films showing at both the The Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Feliz and Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, click on the American Cinematheque banner.

There are 17 recommended films to watch on Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. this month:

Please have a read here and see why Gold Diggers of 1933 is as enjoyable and pertinent as the shows these spirited characters struggle to produce. The show must go on Sunday, December 4 at 3 am PST.

Along with The Shop Around the Corner later this month, TCM is presenting another top Christmas Holiday classic, Remember the Night, previously recommended here. The stars of this endearing cinematic charmer re-teamed for the later-made Double Indemnity. The dates to be remembered are Sunday, December 4 at 3 pm PST and Friday, December 23 at 5 pm PST.

One of cinema’s finest masterpieces, L'Avventura, a previous TCM recommendation here, will be presented again Sunday, December 4 at 11:15 pm PST.

L'Avventura is also this month’s Blu-ray recommendation. See the last entry in this month’s column for more information.

For what will soon be nine years now, I’ve been making these TCM recommendations, even though I have no affiliation with the channel, formal or otherwise. Although I’m averaging anywhere from 15 to 20 notices on films programmed every month, with the vast majority accompanied by an overwhelmingly positive review, many hundreds of readers in various film related chat rooms zero in, take aim and fire away regarding only one: Casablanca. I understand, and to some degree sympathise with, those who feel this film in particular is above criticism, but respectfully disagree that any film should be beyond reproach. I can only ask that those who cannot accept that a perspective is just that, one that in this case is respectfully made and designed to stimulate thoughts, not change them, skip this review altogether. For those who decide to venture on and consider my observations, I thank you and welcome your feedback, good, bad or indifferent. My review is here. Casablanca will air on TCM Tuesday, December 6 at 7:15 pm PST.

In my prior review of Casablanca, I made some criticism regarding its emotionally underwhelming Parisian flashback. Prior to this film, however, Casablanca's producer Hal Wallis and one of its contributing writers, Casey Robinson, made Now, Voyager where the romance witnessed from start to finish comes alive with fervour, maturity and elegance. Previously reviewed here, Now, Voyager will set sail on Tuesday, December 6 at 11:30 pm PST.

Next on my list of films to watch is King Kong (1933), who's scheduled to make his grand entrance on Wednesday, December 7 at (early morning) 1:30 am PST. I have reviewed this motion picture with a focus on its musical score by Max Steiner here.

Next up is a light-hearted and charming Christmas holiday treat: Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner.

Beneath an inventive situation comedy veneer, however, lies a serious underlying message regarding relationships and how concepts (basically relating to the idea that there must be someone "better" for us out there) often get in the way of a more fulfilling union based on care and concern for one another. The Shop Around the Corner, previously praised here, will open Saturday, December 10 at 3 pm PST, again Monday December 19 at 5 pm PST and once more this year on Saturday, December 24 at 9 am PST.

Dark Passage is a wildly engrossing film noir that combines the best of romance with the best of noir in the best location for both: San Francisco. Previously endorsed as a Blu-Ray release here, Bogart will make his dark (rite of) passage on Sunday, December 11 at 3 am PST.

That’s Humphrey Bogart as Vincent Parry standing at the crossroads of Greenwich Street (behind him leading to Coit Tower) and Hyde where he will soon board the Hyde cable car. This will take him to its final stop: the turntable turnaround at Powell Street and Market (seen below).

Rarely does an atmosphere of such overpowering dread subsume a cinematic story so completely as it does 1943's The Seventh Victim. A young woman (portrayed as a fetching innocent by Kim Hunter) goes searching for her missing sister (enigmatically played by Jean Brooks) in New York City's Greenwich Village and stumbles upon a satanic cult of devil worshipers, putting both of their lives at risk. Mark Robson, who directed a number of these Val Lewton produced gems, is himself at the peak of his considerable creative powers. This devilishly striking combination of horror and film noir was a previous TCM recommendation and reviewed here. The fate of both sisters will be determined Tuesday, December 13 at 10:30 am PST.

Despite its ridiculously hard to follow plot, this next recommendation's wildly entertaining detective yarn is worth waking up for.

Previously reviewed here, The Big Sleep will awaken Tuesday, December 13 at 7 pm PST.

A most talented friend on Facebook, Leilani Roundtree, has graciously allowed me to post her own very special modernised trailer for The Big Sleep. This amazing work both spoofs contemporary coming attractions while paying homage to the early classic in a most delightful way. Enjoy!

For those who enjoy the best in creative romantic comedy, be sure to tune in for Pillow Talk (reviewed here) Wednesday, December 14 at 8:45 pm PST.

Hidden Gem #1 was essayed from a less analytical and more personal perspective in Inspecting Hidden Gem #1: The Swimmer. The film airs Wednesday, December 14 at 10:45 pm PST. I hope readers and viewers will peruse my thoughts on this somewhat neglected and generally undervalued film.

The next recommendation is another Hidden Gem (#40: Big Business 1929, U.S.A.) but has a completely different nature than the previous one: a Laurel and Hardy film in which a conflict takes place but instead of resulting in tragedy, all out hilarity ensues. Stan and Ollie are Christmas tree salesmen who pick the wrong customer (James Finlayson) to call on and the situation escalates from a simple misunderstanding to total annihilation. This is probably the duo's funniest film of all and is only 19 minutes in length, airing Saturday, December 24 at (early morning) 2:30 am PST.

(From left) Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Stan Laurel

For an uproarious and thoroughly engaging movie-watching experience, it's hard to beat Bringing Up Baby previously recommended here. The antics will begin on TCM Monday, December 26 at (early morning) 3:45 am PST.

My next TCM recommendation is Hidden Gem #18: Titicut Follies (1967, U.S.A.) the first of Frederick Wiseman’s incredible documentaries, all highly revealing, even though they are sans narration. Prepare to be riveted by this exceptional filmmaker’s persistently penetrating gaze Tuesday, December 27 at 7 pm PST.

After World War II, many returning servicemen were disillusioned to find jobs were scarce and their wives’ (or girlfriends’) faithfulness even scarcer. The Best Years of Our Lives addresses this reality head on when the Dana Andrews character finds it impossible to please either his previous employer or trophy wife upon his return to civilian life. Perhaps for this narrative distinction, authors Borde and Chaumeton referred to The Best Years of Our Lives in their highly respected book “Panorama of American Film Noir 1941 - 1953”, the first to be published on the subject.

Dana Andrews holding the Mayo… Virginia Mayo that is

The film portrays no crime, the focus is not on Andrews’ experiences alone, and he comes out better off at the end without his superficial but admittedly gorgeous wife, which for myself, collectively place this film well outside of noir’s dark and gloomy world of illegal activity. Previously, I highly praised The Best Years of Our Lives for its exceptional musical score composed by Hugo Friedhofer in the first part of a series entitled Top Ten: Motion Picture Music Treasures. This emotionally powerful tour de force will commence on TCM Thursday, December 29 at 5:30 am PST.

One of the most prestigious American films ever made, is the subsuming anti-war drama Paths of Glory, previously reviewed as a Blu-ray recommendation here. Paths of Glory will be forged Friday, December 30 at 7 pm PST.

TCM's current monthly schedule can be confirmed by clicking on any of the above TCM related images. For those who live in parts of the U.S. other than the western region, the time zone can be adjusted in the upper right-hand corner of TCM's programme.

Every 10 years, Sight and Sound announces the results of its greatest films of all time poll. This year, a new survey was conducted with 1,639 adjudicating (approximately double the participants from the 2012 survey) critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics each submitting their Top 10 ballot. The films gathering the most votes from these submissions are then tabulated to form The Greatest Films of All Time.

The results of this year’s poll can be seen by clicking on the image above.

My thoughts:

Considering the prestige that Sight and Sound has garnered over the years (the poll was first started in 1952, this being its 8th incarnation) the first question that comes to mind is: why only once every 10 years? Film fans and those who study cinema seem to place a great deal of importance on this “100 greatest films” list in particular that draws attention to the idea that cinema, like any art or craft, can and should be evaluated by merit as opposed to what one likes (not that there is anything wrong with the latter just that it tells us more about the person making the choices instead of giving enthusiasts an idea over what an informed, less personally biased, comparative value system can achieve). So with the considerable interest, discussion and controversy generated regarding cinema as a viable means of artistic expression, it would seem appropriate that we could have this acclaimed list of films, based on the presumption of “greatness,” appear at least a little more often.

So called “favourites” level the playing field. A person having only seen a few films in their lifetime would be just as credible at choosing a best-loved film as a seasoned critic choosing from thousands. It would also be highly unusual, if inappropriate, to have a judge in any field, i.e. music, literature, food, fashion etc. who is supposed to be evaluating based on some standard of quality from as wide a field of entries as possible, make his/her choice by personal preference alone.

I'd be curious to know the criteria for who is selected to be polled. Can pretty much anyone who calls himself/herself a critic enter? If so, that would, for myself, diminish the importance of the results and possibly provide a clue as to how more current fare (particularly noticeable this year), that hasn't undergone the test of time, be selected over older films with a longer history of having been seen and judged meritorious. 100 is not that many especially considering cinema is such a complex art form and therefore open to a vast number of interpretive qualities. Added to that, each critic determines his/her greatest 10 from world cinema with no ranking. Afterward, the votes are tallied to form 100 of the greatest films comprised of those titles most often named on the ballots submitted. This means that if a critic feels that the #1 title on their list is significantly more accomplished than, say, another entry, this type of consideration would not factor into the results.

Unlike the AFI, which only has to contend with American films, Sight and Sound, by including all of world cinema’s vast history, provides each participant choosing only 10 with a potentially daunting task (depending on his/her experience). It might be helpful to see more (i.e. say, the next hundred or so films that just missed out).

I suppose it would be unlikely that any type of “across the board” criteria or means of establishing artistic viability could be established for, or agreed upon, 1600+ critics but it would be meaningful, at least for myself, to be made aware of a few determining factors and/or know a bit more about some of the critics or other professionals who are making these important selections.

“How long has the critic been evaluating cinema” might be at least one viable question. Wouldn’t the veteran critic’s choices comparing a greater number of diverse films with a history of assessing the art form’s vast communicative capabilities have a better chance of making more relevant choices than those who have recently taken up the task with, in all probability, less consideration of what constitutes the medium’s past accomplishments? Perhaps it might be revealing if each participant was asked to choose his/her Top Ten from when the poll first started in 1952 and then at each subsequent decade (1962, 1972 and so on), decide not only which films are worth adding but which selections would have to be dropped from their Top Ten to make way for the new additions. Instead, it might appear to some as though the same process was used by the Sight and Sound jury, only in reverse chronological order starting in 2022 with the most recently released films prioritised and working backwards.

Overall, I support lists like these because, for one thing, they draw attention to meaningful and relevant works that might not have been previously discovered or thought of in such high regard possibly deserving of reappraisal.

As to the choices themselves,

my first and foremost complaint is the inclusion of comparatively recent films such as Get Out (2017), Parasite (2019), Moonlight (2016) and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019). It makes me wonder if those who are choosing these films for an unranked list of only 10, might have been persuaded by some immediate impression or category fulfilment as opposed to, say, a more thorough and less personally biased or concept driven evaluation for which, a longer passage of time might have provided a more considered, and maybe even enlightened, perspective.

Those who are familiar with my writings would already know that the inclusion of “cult classics” Blue Velvet (1986) and Blade Runner (1982), the “genre classic” The Shining (1980) along with the almost universally acknowledged classic Casablanca (1942), would be erroneous since on a fundamental storytelling basis, each one, in its own way, fails to achieve the important communicative results their artists intended. Readers of mine might also be aware of the numerous films omitted from this latest list that made my own Top Ten World Cinema Treasures. It would give me great pleasure simply to find out how strongly Children of Paradise (1945), Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Forbidden Games (1952), Ikiru (1952), Nazarin (1959), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), and runner ups Harakiri (1962) and Le Trou (1960) were considered seeing as how none of these made this year’s cut. Ditto for some Hidden Gems such as The Ascent a.k.a. Voskhoz hdeniye (1977), Mädchen in Uniform (1931) (both of which were directed by women, a seemingly common preference for inclusion this year), The Fifth Seal a.k.a. Az ötödik pecsét (1976), The Seedling a.k.a. Ankur (1974), Devil’s Doorway (1950), The Pearl a.k.a. La perla (1947), The Lacemaker a.k.a. La dentellière (1977), The Aviator's Wife a.k.a. La femme de l'aviateur (1981), Boy a.k.a. Shonen (1969), The Fire Within a.k.a. Le Feu Follet (1963), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs a.k.a. Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki (1960), Black Rain a.k.a. Kuroi ame (1960), Diamonds of the Night a.k.a. Démanty noci (1964) and The Invitation a.k.a. L'invitation (1973).

Those beginning on their journey of cinematic discovery might see Sight and Sound’s once every 10 year event as the map to cinematic riches. It may be a bit disconcerting for the rest of us, however, that so many notable directors with such a strong number of heralded works were not represented at all and therefore might be ignored by a younger generation of film enthusiasts. Formidable filmmakers such as Louis Malle, Bertrand Tavernier, Éric Rohmer, Marcel Carne, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Becker, Jean Cocteau, Carlos Saura, Masaki Kobayashi, Shōhei Imamura, Mikio Naruse, Nagisa Ôshima, Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, Nicholas Ray, Otto Preminger, Sidney Lumet, D.W. Griffith, John Frankenheimer, Mike Nichols, Jacques Tourneur, John Huston, William Wyler, Preston Sturges, Ernst Lubitsch, Joseph von Sternberg, Robert Siodmak, Mervyn LeRoy, Sam Peckinpah, Don Siegel, Budd Boetticher, Elia Kazan, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Andrzej Wajda, Miklós Jancsó, Roman Polanski, Elem Klimov, Emilio Fernández, Arturo Ripstein, David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Jules Dassin, Cy Endfield, Bernardo Bertolucci and Pier Paolo Pasolini are nowhere to be found. In addition, there are only 2 westerns on the list (The Searchers and Once Upon a Time in the West), only 7 (The General, Modern Times, Sherlock Jr., The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, City Lights and Playtime) from an enormous category of classic comedies, and perhaps most puzzling of all, 0 classic gangster films (unless one counts The Godfather), and only 1 (The Third Man) or some might argue two (Vertigo), films noir.

So, no Broken Blossoms, Intolerance, Ride the High Country, Red River, The Wild Bunch, It’s a Gift, Duck Soup, Dr. Strangelove, Sullivan’s Travels, The Shop Around the Corner, Ninotchka, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, Roman Holiday, All About Eve, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Asphalt Jungle, In a Lonely Place, White Heat, Sweet Smell of Success, Anatomy of a Murder, The Manchurian Candidate, Paths of Glory, Le Jour Se Leve, Le Deuxième Souffle, Cría Cuervos, Brief Encounter, Lawrence of Arabia, Brighton Rock or Odd Man Out that made the grade. And those are just off the top of my head. When film buffs weigh these and other “no shows” against some that did appear on the coveted list, well, let’s just say there’s probably about a decade’s worth of heated debate among cineastes that could rightfully ensue.

On the plus side, it was good to see Vertigo (#2), Citizen Kane (#3), Tokyo Story (#4) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (#6) so high up the list, Singin’ in the Rain (#10), The Searchers (#15) and City Lights (#36) occupy such formidable positions, Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar (#25), Ozu’s Late Spring (#21) represented and 2 “one off” directorial efforts deserving of more recognition honoured: The Night of the Hunter (also #25) and Wanda (#48). I was also pleased to find some of my Top Ten World Cinema Treasures present: Bicycle Thieves (#41), The Battle of Algiers (#45), L’avventura (#72), and a few of my honourable mentions, namely, Pather Panchali (#35), The 400 Blows (#50) plus the aforementioned Tokyo Story (#4) and Au hasard Balthazar (#25).

#Edit: A more recent post has been added regarding my thoughts on the Sight and Sound poll based on the survey adding another 150 entries to their Top 100 so that now we have a Top 250 forming a greater “Greatest Films of All Time”. This article, dated February 17th, 2023, can be read here.

This month's Happy Birthday shout-out goes to the talented filmmaker Taylor Hackford who turns 78 on December 31st.

He holds the honour of being the former president of the Directors Guild of America. Some of the vastly entertaining films he’s directed include Bukowski (1973, a documentary on beat poet Charles Bukowski, also writer), Teenage Father (1978, an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, also writer), The Idolmaker (1980), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), White Nights (1985), Dolores Claiborne (1995, one of the most mature and effective realisations of a Stephen King novel), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Proof of Life (2000, a highly absorbing and underrated thriller), Ray (2004), Parker (2013) and The Comedian (2016).

The Soundtrack recommendation for the month is John Powell's rhythmically infectious and driving score to The Bourne Identity.

In 2002, The Bourne Identity single handedly reinvigorated the covert, action thriller with a maturity, intelligence and sophistication previously unseen in the cinema for decades. Adding to this exciting new “identity” of adult intrigue and suspense, is John Powell’s propulsive, cool and unstoppable, as our title character, score.

From the Varese Sarabande sight: “For this new album of The Bourne Identity, Powell has personally assembled a new, expanded program which he calls a ‘Tumescent Edition’—showcasing the evolution of some of the film’s cues, as chronicled by Brian Satterwhite in new liner notes.”

Information and ordering this limited edition C.D. (only 1,500 copies produced) is available directly from the manufacturer, Varese Sarabande, by clicking on the accompanying image.

L’Avventura (Sight and Sound’s #72 selection) is this month’s formerly reviewed >>> here <<< TCM, and current Blu-ray, recommendation.

Click on the video image below for more information on this release from Criterion (Region A locked), and ordering from Amazon.com

A.G.

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