Kent Conrad

Matching a Western setting with a horror story, Bone Tomahawk is that rare genre hybrid that gets both parts right.

This true crime story has a lot on its mind, but it doesn’t translate into arresting storytelling.

Offbeat scenes and a determined Communist undertone offset this otherwise standard tale of Western revenge.

Fassbinder proteges Ulli Lommel and Kurt Raab bring the disturbing story of child-murderer Fritz Haarman to lurid life.

A two-part adaptation of the anime series, these movies deviate from the original, but keep the crazy spirit intact.

This surprisingly grim, unsentimental crime film with great character actor cast is a tough-minded winner.

This five episode collection of the corniest TV show in history makes the show’s long life understandable… a little.

Robert Hossein’s Euro-Western is long on style and brooding, short on story and character.

A small thriller (John Garfield’s last film) draped in spectacular black and white imagery by cinematographer James Wong Howe.

Season Four is bumpier than average, but this season’s highlights more than make up for some weak patches.

A faithful adaptation of the modern classic novel, a complicated and convoluted fantasy story about rival wizards in 19th-century England.

Five loosely connected Japanese exploitation movies capture the spirit, and looseness of their age.

Brian Yuzna’s bizarre directorial debut is wildly uneven, but never less than fascinating.

John Ford’s justly praised western classic explores the contradictions of glory and brutality in the settling of the West.

Another fine Arrow release of a late-’60s era Japanese exploitation picture.

Peter Yates’ 1973 crime drama explores how important, and how expendable, “Friends” can be in Boston’s working-class criminal underground.

Errol Morris’s meditation on human behavior as seen from four men with very strange jobs.

A kitchen sink of Japanese genre elements from Japanese exploitation expert Teruo Ishii.

This adaptation of Lawrence Block’s alcoholic detective series is true to the character, maybe to a fault.

A woman’s disappearance creates a terrible bond between the man who took her, and the one who lost her.

“Weird Al” packs a comic sensibility not at all conducive to feature films into a ramshackle movie.

Disney’s inventive duo run amiably amok through the story of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Catholic priest detective isn’t particularly Catholic, nor much of a detective, in this BBC series.

Sprawling football epic looks at the game from all sides.

Rock in My Pockets, an independent animated film, explores the depths of suicide and depression, without itself being suicidally depressing.

Hidden Kingdoms, from BBC Earth, showcases the world of small animals, mixing fictional stories with very real, very beautiful footage.

Following a girl who comes of age in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief is a familiar, but quality story.

Starting Point and Turning Point memoirs provide insight into the work and life of Spirited Away director Hayao Miyazaki

Concludes the second TV season of Dragon training on a satisfactory, not brilliant, note.

The latest hardcover EC Archives release features the first six issues of this series digitally recolored.

Dragons: Defenders of Berk Part 1 returns to the surprisingly good TV incarnation of How to Train Your Dragon.

Himizu is a strange, but compelling, coming-of-age drama about a boy trying to find normalcy in post-tsunami Japan.

Sion Sono’s Guilty of Romance is a sexy, strange, perverse thriller about a housewife’s forays into prostitution.

Lovingly restored, Dark Horse Comics collects the first two years of the beloved series Sunday run.

Hellboy: The First 20 Years is an attractive artbook that charts the visuals of the Hellboy series.

Wicked Blood, a crime drama seen through the eyes of a teenage girl begins promisingly, but sinks under generic plot.

The Agatha Christie Hour adapted 10 short stories featuring lesser-known characters from Christie’s canon

Milius documents the rise and fall of raconteur and Hollywood rebel John Milius.

Bryan Ferry’s Live in Lyon live concert DVD features songs from every phase of the crooner’s career, respectably performed.

In Search of Blind Joe Death is a captivating look at the life and works of genuine musical misfit John Fahey.

Sanguivorous is a horror film more interested in abstract visuals than narrative, or scares.

History Channel’s first scripted series, Vikings mixes fact, legend, and fairly standard TV drama.

In its eighth season, Waking the Dead is a perfect example of a show that has outworn its welcome.

American Horror Story: Asylum is like a dozen horror movies at once, but somehow they all hold together.

Rob Kuhn’s excellent new doc looks at the impact of George Romero’s seminal zombie movie.

Brainwave, a lecture series that pair an artist with a neuroscientist, is an intriguing, if rather random, DVD release.

Haven: Season 3 continues the supernatural series with a mixed-bag of episodes, some good, some real dogs.

Blandings, adapted from the stories by P.G. Wodehouse, wonderfully performed, but deviates somewhat from Woderhouse’s innocent spirit.

For an audience interested in an entertaining experience, I can’t imagine a duller time.

Criterion Collection’s release of Shoah is a superb packaging of the powerful, haunting Holocaust documentary.