Archive for June 2020
Narrow Margin (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: Strangers on a Canadian Train
While the plot is predictable, Gene Hackman’s performance and the stunt work keep the viewer engaged.
Read MoreCome and See Is the Pick of the Week
A 1985 harrowing and horrifying antiwar masterpiece headlines a new week of diverse releases.
Read MoreSouth Park: The Complete Twenty-Third Season Blu-ray Review: Maintaining Their Tegridy
The show has become TV comfort food, for good and for ill.
Read MoreAthlete A Movie Review: Moving Documentation of an Immense Tragedy and a Gargantuan Triumph
The new Netflix original is another crucial addition to the studio’s growing library of powerful documentary titles.
Read MoreFive Cool Things and Pearl Jam Uncensored
Here’s five films I’ve watched this week and enjoyed.
Read MoreSuzi Q Movie Review: Looks at the Groundbreaking Career of Rocker Suzi Quatro
Quatro’s success inspired the Runaways, Chrissie Hynde, and many female musicians to pursue careers in hard rock.
Read MoreBook Review: Run-Out Groove: Inside Capitol’s 1980s Hits & Stiffs by Dave Morrell
The fourth volume in the Morrell Archives takes readers through the record promotion business in the decadent 1980s.
Read MoreHouse of Hummingbird Movie Review: A Coming-of-Age Story with Peculiar Wings
Kim Bora’s directorial debut soars to terrific heights.
Read MoreBook Review: Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes by Lun Zhang
A beautifully illustrated, personal account of a terrifying event that happened more than 30 years ago.
Read MorePortrait of a Lady on Fire Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Burning Bright
This mesmerizing French film offers a fresh take on artist/muse romance and social class distinction
Read MorePortrait of a Lady on Fire Is the Pick of the Week
A ravishing tale of the enrapturement of love and art through the eyes of women tops a new week of releases.
Read MoreDisclosure (2020) Movie Review: Emotionally Informative
A requisite doc about on-screen trans representation told in a stirring, matter-of-fact manner.
Read MoreBook Review: Superman: The Silver Age Sundays, Volume 2 (1963-1966)
The final volume in the Superman Sunday Comics series is uneven and unpredictable, but ultimately a good time.
Read MoreThe Cameraman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Star Begins to Fade
A stealth double feature of Keaton’s last two silent films.
Read MoreWhite Fire, The Wind, and Why Don’t You Just Die! Blu-rays Review: Three from Arrow Video
Three very different films get the excellent Arrow Video treatment.
Read MoreFive Cool Things and Ian Holm
We are still staying home and still finding cool things to watch.
Read MoreThe Short History of the Long Road Movie Review: A Subversive Portrayal of Adolescence
A brisk road movie that offers a refreshing take on the coming-of-age narrative.
Read MoreBabyteeth Movie Review: Melancholia and Merriment Go Hand-in-hand
Shannon Murphy’s feature debut is bittersweet meditation of death.
Read MoreHot Docs 2020 Review: All That I Am
A beautiful story of courage in the midst of fear.
Read MoreFriday the 13th (40th Anniversary) Steelbook Blu-ray Review: There Was This One Time at Camp Crystal Lake…
The film that started it all gets a brand new steelbook release, packed with tons of special features.
Read MoreMorgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) Blu-ray Review: Love and Madness
’60s British comedy stars David Warner as a love-sick, gorilla-obsessed artist trying to win back his wife.
Read More7500 Movie Review: Largely Free of Turbulence
German filmmaker Patrick Vollrath makes a promising debut with a flight-hijacking thriller that strives for realism and mostly succeeds.
Read MoreThe Cameraman Is the Pick of the Week
Buster Keaton’s seminal 1928 masterpiece tops a new week of very interesting releases.
Read MoreLonely Are the Brave Blu-ray Review: The Last Cowboy
Kirk Douglas gives one of his best performances in this 1962 neo-Western lament.
Read MoreTex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 Blu-ray Review: A Must-Own for Animation Fans
In these 19 cartoons, gags fly rapidly, and the rules of physics and the medium are thrown out the window.
Read MorePretty in Pink Blu-ray Review: A Pretty Influential Portrait of Teenage Culture
Although it’s not a perfect movie, I still enjoyed it.
Read MoreAn Unmarried Woman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bold and Groundbreaking
A still fresh, unapologetically honest portrait of a woman’s reawakening.
Read MoreFilm Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III Blu-ray Review: Gambling, Murder, and Back Alley Adoptions
Kino Lorber Studio Classics presents three more lesser-known noirs in a nice collector’s box.
Read MoreMirador Movie Review: Captures the Ethos of Camaraderie
Antón Terni’s provocative documentary underscores the beauty of companionship.
Read MoreThe Booksellers DVD Review: Like a Good Book, You Won’t Want It to End
The overall experience of The Booksellers is a positive one – books are special and so are the people who collect and read them.
Read MoreThe Woman Blu-ray Review: Dares to Depict the Dark Side of the American Family
The great folks at Arrow continue their amazing streak with Lucky McKee’s notorious 2011 shocker in a new 4K restoration.
Read MoreFive Cool Things and Bill & Ted Face the Music
Here’s another five cool things.
Read MoreSixteen Candles Blu-ray Review: A Problematic but Worthwhile Film
Arrow Video does a great job of presenting this controversial ’80s classic.
Read MoreElvira: Mistress of the Dark Blu-ray Review: A Delightfully Silly Flick
The good folks at Arrow bring back to life a delightfully campy and fun tribute to horror films.
Read MoreWestern Classics I Blu-ray Review: Dust, Grit and Cowboys A-Plenty
Kino Lorber presents this nice collection of westerns from the 1940s.
Read MoreAn Unmarried Woman Is the Pick of the Week
A groundbreaking 1978 classic about a woman’s reawakening starts off a new week of several low-key releases.
Read MoreEscape from L.A. Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review: A More Expensive yet Inferior Remake
While it’s fun to see Snake Plissken back in action, it’s a shame his mission is so similar to the previous film.
Read MoreSound! Euphonium: The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day Blu-ray Review: One More Year of Music
A slice of life anime feature continuing the story of the Kitauji High School music club.
Read MoreFive Cool Things and Lovecraft Country
I love me some boutique movie labels.
Read MoreSpring Night Summer Night Blu-ray Review: An Honest Portrait of Small Town Woes and Broken Dreams
Flicker Alley brings much needed new life to a nearly obscure, minimalist, but extraordinary gem of a film.
Read MoreUniversal Horror Collection Volume 5 Blu-ray Review: Woman Versus Beast
The beast is man.
Read MoreThe Deeper You Dig (2020) Movie Review: An Effective DIY Thriller
A slim, smart, and scary family affair.
Read MoreThe Invisible Man (2020) Blu-ray Review: We Needed to See More of Him
It’s like watching Jaws without the shark.
Read MoreTommaso Movie Review: A Humanistic Drama That’s Devoid of the Drama
The evident creative choices, intentions, and a towering performance from Willem Dafoe fail to succor this pretentious, tasteless film.
Read MoreBeanpole Blu-ray Review: Love and Suffering in Post-War Russia
An extraordinary movie about how women suffer both during and after the war.
Read MoreShirley (2020) Movie Review: Seriously Great
Elisabeth Moss knocks it out of the park as novelist Shirley Jackson in Josephine Decker’s terrific new film.
Read MoreJaws: 45th Anniversary Is the Pick of the Week
The greatest shark attack film ever made celebrates its 45th anniversary and tops a new week of releases.
Read More