TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

It's the most wonderful time of the year when we throw another yule log on the fire, curl up with a loved one, and watch some holiday flix. This holiday season  TheArchive  brings you some of the most beloved pop divas and their star turns in some of our favorite deep cuts. Dolly Parton, Bjork, and Grace Jones are among the many December divas starring in our movies. So let's get started with a Christmas gem that stars Nashville's nicest and never naughtiest. In Unlikely Angel Dolly Parton plays a country music singer who meets an untimely demise and learns she can’t enter heaven until she performs a good deed back on Earth. To earn her wings, she must find a mother for a widowed father and his two children in this endearing film of hope and love. Swing is a 1999 musical romantic comedy Lisa Stansfield. This was Stansfield's film debut and she also did the soundtrack.  An ex-con (Hugo Speer) dreams of putting together a swing band and getting back with his ex-girlfrie

In case you live under a rock or wherever beetles crawl out from under, we thought you should know about the mass hysteria and adulation over Peter Jackson's Beatles doc  Get Back,  on of all places, Disney+. While it is objectively mesmerizing and feels like it was shot yesterday, only a fraction of The Beatles' story is portrayed. We do see their dissolution and discomfort but we miss so much of what made them fascinating - the impression of those closest to them. TheArchive has a few up close and personal accounts of the fab four in the form of episodic documentaries featuring many of their closest confidants including John's sister Julia Baird. In case you were left wanting from Get Back be sure to check out: The Beatles: A Long and Winding Road In this five part documentary watch the evolution of The Beatles as they  shake the world, change the course of history, and transcend rock group status and become inextricably connected to our musical souls. This documentary

TheArchive could go buck wild or whole hog this Thanksgiving, but instead we're going to take the bull by the horns and serve up some good ole family dysfunction (and gore) with... Buzzard Hollow Beef .  Be careful who has you for dinner... Here's to a Cannibal Thanksgiving like no other! Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving in America or going about your daily routine the world over, this creative carnivorous carnival could be candy for the curious.  It's one tasty holiday horror movie you'll want to binge. The beef-themed thriller (apparently that's a genre and since it's free, and streaming in HD, don't judge) tells the story of Jordan Vollmer, a recently divorced single-mother heading home to her family for the Thanksgiving holiday in the mysterious town of Buzzard Hollow.  When the family and friends begin experiencing vivid hallucinations after eating locally sourced beef of the not so grass fed organic variety, they suspect the town farmers of

As we gear up for the holidays we wanted to share two family stories worth streaming. So grab some hot cocoa, curl up on the couch with your loved ones, and start with Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story . Follow Natalie Cole and the  legacy of her father the late great Nat King Cole whose absence fueled her triumph over drug addiction, paved a path to resilience, and the duet that reignited a remarkable comeback. The legendary Robert Townsend directed the true story. In Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge , Ashley Judd, narrates the true story of the illustrious Judd family. Starting with Naomi's struggles as a single mother in 1960s in Kentucky, we follow the trio of Judds as they fight to achieve their dreams. Along the path to musical stardom for Naomi and Wynona, they're faced with struggles and familial tensions all the while tracking Ashley's battles with isolation and loneliness, feeling like an outsider. The family drama stars Kathleen York, Viveka

Beneath the Helmet explores the story of Five Israeli high school graduates drafted into the military. Eden Adler (First Lieutenant), Oren Giladi (Private), Mekonan Abebe (Private), Eilon Cohen (Private), Coral Amarani (Sergeant) enter training for eight months,  discovering their core values, unearthing emotions from the past, and learning that their teenage lives are now changed forever. The documentary highlights a few different positions the teens hold, ranging from First Lieutenant to Private, Sergeant and Commander.  Mekonen and Oren are both Privates, who emigrated to Israel from Ethiopia and Switzerland. After joining the army, the two became the best of friends — despite their different upbringing. The other three teens featured are Coral, Eden, and Eilon — all of whom hail from Israel.   Coral is from the affluent neighborhood of Herzliya Pituach and is a Sergeant at a pre-basic training program, working to get 12 soldiers integrated into the IDF (Is

TheArchive never ceases to amaze. Upon learning of Dean Stockwell's passing, we immediately dug in to our library to recount how many Stockwell titles we own. It should be of no surprise that we have five titles of which one is a series. But before we share the list, let's celebrate an awesome career that spanned over 70 years and began in childhood in the 1940s if you'll believe it. Perhaps best known for  Quantum Leap,  you may be surprised to learn that Stockwell was also  an Oscar, Golden Globe winning, and Emmy-nominated actor with over 200 credits to his name. His earliest work was on a Broadway stage as a child before he found himself on screen with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Errol Flynn and opposite Katharine Hepburn in  Long Day’s Journey Into Night  which earned him a Best Actor prize at Cannes. Of course it was Wim Wenders’ 1984 film  Paris, Texas t hat led to a reignited career in the 1980s and 90s where he found himself in David Lynch's Blue V