Author Archives: Paul Gaita

About Paul Gaita

Paul Gaita lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his lovely wife and daughter. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Variety and The Fix, among many other publications, and was a home video reviewer for Amazon.com from 1998 to 2014. He has interviewed countless entertainment figures from both the A and Z lists, but his favorites remain Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury and George Newall, who created both Schoolhouse Rock and the Hai Karate aftershave commercials. He once shared a Thanksgiving dinner with celebrity astrologer Joyce Jillson, and regrettably, still owes the late character actor Charles Napier a dollar.

Movies Till Dawn: Street Fighting Men and Women

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“The Street Fighter Collection” (1974, Shout! Select) Lunatic martial arts action trilogy starring grindhouse favorite Sonny Chiba (“Kill Bill”) as Tatsuma Surugi (Terry Surugy in the English dub), a gleefully malevolent killing machine who laid waste to both sides of … Continue reading →

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King Kong vs. Godzilla at The Secret Movie Club, Vista Theatre Saturday May 18

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Paul Gaita

Tickets are going fast for this rare 35mm showing of Toho’s 1962 monster mash, which pits hometown hero Godzilla against an endearingly ragged Kong on loan from the film’s distributor, Universal Pictures. This is the English-dubbed, American edit of the … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: The Wide World of Thrills and Chills Edition

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Princess Mononoke Collector’s Edition” (1997, Shout! Factory/GKIDS) A tribal prince in feudal Japan is inflicted with a curse after an attack by a woodland god corrupted by an iron ball in its body. To lift the curse, he travels to … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: House of (Mostly) New Movies

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Justice League vs. the Fatal Five” (2019, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) Metropolis and Gotham City play host to the title card match between Justice Leaguers Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – with assist from a reluctant new Green Lantern and … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: New Kind of Kick (in the Head) Edition

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Dragged Across Concrete” (2018, Lionsgate Home Entertainment) A trifecta of hardluck types – disgraced cops Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn and ex-con Tory Kittles – decide that the solution to their downward-spiraling fortunes is to rob violent criminal Thomas Kretschmann. … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: TV Archaeology/Laughing Matters

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Man from Atlantis” (1977, Warner Archives Collection) Given the current appetite for all things superheroic, Warner Archives is wise to release a Blu-ray edition of this feature-length pilot for the short-lived 1977 television series starring Patrick Duffy as the titular, … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Bride of (Mostly) New Movies

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“On the Basis of Sex” (2018, Universal Home Video/Focus Features) Tracing the arc of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) from Harvard Law School to the groundbreaking discrimination case that would pave her way to the Supreme Court. Directed and penned … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: The Saturday Morning Strange Strikes Again

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Zachariah” (1971, Kino Lorber) Cowboy naifs John Rubenstein and Don Johnson vie to be the most fearsome gunfighter in an Old West where rock groups and gurus share space with sagebrush and six-guns. Enthusiastically freaky “electric” Western, based loosely on … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: They’re Coming to Get You!

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“The Giant Behemoth” (1959, Warner Archives Collection) Atomic tests once again rouse an enormous monster, this time a dinosaur with the ability to project both electricity and radiation, which it uses to lay waste to London. Enjoyable American-British monster rampage … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Revenge of (Mostly) New Movies

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Paul Gaita

“Tyrel” (2018, Magnolia Home Entertainment) Tyler (Jason Mitchell, “Straight Outta Compton”) is the only African-American guest invited to a birthday celebration that grows more chaotic as the weekend wears on. Comparisons to “Get Out” are obvious, but don’t quite fit … Continue reading →

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