Val Lewton Blogathon

Head over to The Evening Class where Michel Guillen is hosting a Val Lewton Blogathon. To my slight embarrassment my own two bit comment expressing my slight disappointment with the new Kent Jones directed (and Martin Scorsese narrated) documentary on Val Lewton The Man in the Shadows was selected as one of the entries. I should have added that I was disappointed only because with such high-profile names attached I was expecting much more than an A&E style talking-head documentary interspersed with clips. It still is a very informative documentary and a good place to start. Another reason was that I was too excited to have got a chance to see I Walked With a Zombie on big screen which was scheduled to start after the documentary and as a result I was feeling a little too impatient. Anyway, I gather that this is now being packaged with the new DVD box set of Lewton's films. The documentary "Shadows in the Dark" (can't escape shadows) that comes with the Box set right now is quite good as well. In fact it has many more interesting talking heads - Guillermo del Toro, William Friedkin, Neil Gaiman and others, all expressing their enthusiasm for these films.

While you are at Michael's blog, don't miss the amazing and mind-boggling number of interviews he has done with directors, actors and film people from all over the globe, all linked on the right side-bar. You may want to start with these two long ones with Guillermo del Toro here and here.