“Camelot”
The 45th anniversary of the film version of the Tony Award- winning stage production from Lerner and Loewe is being marked with the release of a special Blu-ray that includes 36 pages of photos, trivia and more.
The wonderful musical, directed by Joshua Logan, based on T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King,” looks at the lives and loves of those during the reign of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It’s a tale of honor, betrayal and duty.
Although Richard Harris will be remembered more for his acting than his singing, he does a passable job with the musical numbers for King Arthur. Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero also star.
The film won three 1968 Academy Awards for Best Adaptation Scoring, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Grade: A
“The Walking Tall Trilogy”
The new Blu-ray set includes “Walking Tall,” “Walking Tall Part 2” and “Final Chapter: Walking Tall.” They all tell the story of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker), who not only walked tall but also carried a big stick. He survived several assassination attempts to dish out a brutal form of justice to clean up his town.
Baker’s performance is wooden and the stunts are a little slow compared to today’s standards. What’s interesting about the 1973 film is how it influenced the growling anti-heroes made popular by the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris.
Grade: B-
Also new
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”: Alec Guinness stars in John le Carre’s classic Cold War spy drama.
• “Titanic”: British miniseries starring Toby Jones offers multiple looks at the historic sinking.
• “Cinema Verite”: Diane Lane stars in this film that looks at the first reality TV program.
• “Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour”: Patton Oswalt stars in his fourth full-length comedy special.
Rick Bentley,The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)
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