The Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Review: The Toll of War
By Kent Conrad |
Will Holden and Grace Kelly stand out in this film about aviators in the Korean war.
Book Review: Doris Danger: Giant Monsters Amok by Chris Wisnia & Ricky Sprague
By Kent Conrad |
A tribute to ’60s American monster comics, Doris Danger is a loving tribute for an extremely specific niche audience.
Violent Streets (1974) Blu-ray Review: Blood and Guts Yakuza Story
By Kent Conrad |
Real life former yakuza Noboru Ando plays a retired gangster who wants to escape a life that won’t leave him alone.
Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 Blu-ray Review: A Scruffier Yojimbo
By Kent Conrad |
Hideo Gosha’s sword for hire stories depict an unkempt but decent ronin in a hellscape of dishonor and violence.
Branded to Kill Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Yakuza Movie as Experimental Art
By Kent Conrad |
The movie that supposedly got Seijun Suzuki fired deserves its reputation as a wildly experimental, bizarre, and entertaining gangster movie.
All-Star Superman 4K UHD Review: Great Comics, Okay Movie
By Kent Conrad |
Near immortal Superman deals with an all-too-human problem in this choppy adaptation of a great limited comic series.
Backtrack (1990) Blu-ray Review: Dennis Hopper’s Lost… Piece
By Kent Conrad |
Credited to Alan Smithee in theaters, Dennis Hopper’s re-edited Backtrack feels ahead of its time, and completely out of step.
Heat (1986) Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Comes Back Fighting
By Kent Conrad |
An entertaining but disjointed actioner that mixes comedy, violence, and drama in a way that never really comes together.
The Big Easy (1986) Blu-ray Review: Corrupt Cop Chews Scenery
By Kent Conrad |
Breezy crime story moves from comedy to drama as a happily corrupt cop finds he might actually be doing wrong.
The Maltese Falcon (1941) 4K UHD Review: Bogart’s Big Break
By Kent Conrad |
This cynical ’40s detective drama shines in 4K, which gives new life to the story criminals looking for a bird.
Book Review: Fools Die on Friday by Erle Stanley Gardner
By Kent Conrad |
This reprinted detective story by Perry Mason creator is about a poisoning… where the prime suspect becomes the first victim.
Dead Silence (2007) 4K UHD Review: Scary Dolls Don’t Do Anything
By Kent Conrad |
James Wan’s far less popular follow-up to Saw has atmosphere, visual style supporting a story that never really works.
Dragonslayer (1981) 4K UHD Review: Great Dragon, Murky Movie
By Kent Conrad |
A fantastic special effects creation matched with a layered (perhaps too layered) story makes its HD home debut.
The Vagrant (1992) Blu-ray Review: Baffling, but Never Boring Horror Film
By Kent Conrad |
A brisk if tone-deaf horror comedy about a homeless man who won’t leave is baffling in good and bad ways.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Blu-ray Review: Puss Meets Death for the Ninth Time
By Kent Conrad |
Visual invention, fun adventure and unexpected poignancy make this a surprisingly welcome return of the Shrek spin-off.
Book Review: The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1927
By Kent Conrad |
A new hardcover collection of Krazy Kat’s Sunday strips is still baffling, head shaking and beautiful.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Grinding Relentless Horror Classic
By Kent Conrad |
The grimy horror redefining classic re-emerges on 4K with a filmic presentation that emphasizes the grueling naturalistic film.
Kubo and the Two Strings 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Stop-motion Tribute to Samurai Cinema
By Kent Conrad |
Newly on 4K UHD, this stop-motion tribute to Japanese cinema is an unparalleled technical feat.
The Boxtrolls 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Charming, Odd, Ugly Beautiful?
By Kent Conrad |
Laika’s third (and weirdest) stop-motion movie about a child growing up with lovable eccentric monsters shines on 4K.
Book Review: Talespin: Flight of the Sky-Raker and Other Stories: The Disney Afternoon Adventures Vol. 2
By Kent Conrad |
A collection of several comic reprints mostly from the Disney Adventures magazine has fun stories from various Disney Afternoon shows.
Three Colors Trilogy Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Enigmatic Masterpieces About People Connecting
By Kent Conrad |
Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s famous trilogy, and final films, bring their visually arresting and enigmatic stories to 4K.
El Vampiro Negro (1953) Blu-ray Review: An Argentinian “M”
By Kent Conrad |
An interesting and entertaining remake of Fritz Lang’s great thriller shifts the stories perspective with limited success.
Silent Running 4K UHD: Sci-Fi Hippy Dreams Dying
By Kent Conrad |
Visually impressive ’70s sci-fi film has an ecological message, if not a lot of story.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 4K UHD Review: Calamitous Christmas Classic
By Kent Conrad |
Clark Griswold’s disastrous attempt to manufacture a perfect Christmas has laughs and looks great on the new 4K UHD.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles 4K UHD Review: Thanksgiving’s Annual Lesson
By Kent Conrad |
John Hughes first movie about adults embodies the lesson of Thanksgiving: that sometimes the most important thing is just to get along.
Contraband (1980) Blu-ray Review: Explosively Violent Crime Action
By Kent Conrad |
Lucio Fulci’s drama about cigarette smugglers tells its crime story with horror movie levels of violence and gore.
Elf (2003) 4K UHD Review: Farrell and Favreau Hit
By Kent Conrad |
John Favreau’s engaging holiday modern classic, starring Will Farrell, shines on 4k.
The Nun and the Devil Blu-ray Review: Which Mother Will Prove Superior?
By Kent Conrad |
A power struggle in a convent reveals hypocritical structure of the church in this beautifully shot if unengaging historical drama.
The Company of Wolves 4K UHD Review: Little Red’s Wolf Fetish
By Kent Conrad |
A dream-like riff on the Little Red Riding Hood story is at times mesmerizing, and at more times unfocused.
The Kindred (1987) Blu-ray Review: Practical Effects, Impractical Storytelling
By Kent Conrad |
A late ’80s practical effects showcase has an overbusy story that simultaneously has too much and not enough going on.
Casablanca 4K UHD Review: Here’s Looking at UHD
By Kent Conrad |
The 4K rerelease of the indelible Hollywood classic is as memorable as ever, and now looks better than ever.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Blu-ray Review: ’80s Friendly Alien Invasion
By Kent Conrad |
Spielberg’s second great alien encounter film is now 40 years old, and just as powerful as when it was new.
Blind Fury (1989) Blu-ray Review: ’80s Action Meets Japan Pulp
By Kent Conrad |
In this adapted samurai film, Rutger Hauer’s a blind swordsman who wanders America, righting wrongs and teaching about manhood.
Happy Birthday to Me (1981) Blu-ray Review: Canuxploitation Slasher Slog
By Kent Conrad |
Canada produced slasher movie boasts “six bizarre murders”, actually boasts bizarre plot twists that strain credibility and storytelling.
Army of Darkness 4K UHD Limited Edition Steelbook Review: Long Live the Medieval Dead
By Kent Conrad |
The third Evil Dead film turns from horror to adventure as Ash brings his accomplished incompetence to the Middle Ages.
The Lost Boys 4K UHD Review: Flashy ’80s Vampire Flick
By Kent Conrad |
Joel Schumacher’s story of teenage vampires terrorizing a California beach town is an often fun, often irritating mess.
Le Corbeau Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Poison Pen French Noir
By Kent Conrad |
A once suppressed mystery about a writer of poison pen letters made in France during the German occupation.
The Old Man Movie Blu-ray Review: Cows Udders End the World
By Kent Conrad |
An Estonian animated comedy takes an absurd premise (unmilked cows explode catastrophically) and builds a surprisingly coherent film around it.
Event Horizon 4K UHD Review: Atmospheric Space Chiller
By Kent Conrad |
Despite a disappointing box office, this space horror film deserves the cult reputation built up in the years since its release.
Flatliners (1990) 4K UHD Review: Visually Stimulating Psychological Thriller
By Kent Conrad |
Flatliners is more beautiful than ever on this stunning 4K release, even if ultimately the thrills run a little… flat.
Desperate Hours Blu-ray Review: Hostage Thriller Boils Over
By Kent Conrad |
Michael Cimino’s last theatrical release has a stellar cast, a fine premise, and a completely insane, unfocused execution.
The Deer King Movie Review: Beautiful, If Overly Complicated Fantasy
By Kent Conrad |
A fantasy anime following in the footsteps of Princess Mononoke that has many interesting parts… maybe too many.
Edge of Tomorrow 4K UHD Review: Groundhog D-Day
By Kent Conrad |
High concept sci-fi thriller that was underappreciated at the box office has a great premise and a decent execution.
Panda! Go Panda! Blu-ray Review: Proto Totoro Anime Film
By Kent Conrad |
Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki make the prototype for the Ghibli films that would rule anime filmmaking for decades afterward.
True Romance 4K UHD Review: Sick Love, Slick Film
By Kent Conrad |
A rare film written but not directed by Quentin Tarantino, it’s beautifully produced if a little hard to love.
Raiders of the Lost Ark Limited Edition Steelbook 4K UHD Review: Cinematic Adventure Perfection
By Kent Conrad |
Steven Spielberg’s unparalleled adventure masterpiece has broken out from the box set to be released on its own on 4K.
Candyman (1992) 4K UHD Review: Urban Legend, Urban Horror
By Kent Conrad |
The original adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story explores the horror of crossing racial and class lines.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices Blu-ray Review: Fantasy Adventure about Loss
By Kent Conrad |
A departure from his usual urban sci-fi, Makoto Shinkai’s fantasy epic delves into a journey under the earth.
5 Centimeters Per Second Blu-ray Review: A Story about Distance
By Kent Conrad |
Makoto Shinkai’s second feature length film is a sequence of related short stories exploring missed opportunities for romance.
The Place Promised in Our Early Days Blu-ray Review: Sci-Fi Sentimental Teenage Drama
By Kent Conrad |
Director Makoto Shinkai’s feature anime debut plays with themes he would later develop more fully in Your Name and Weathering With You.