Mat Brewster

The Ring Collection 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week

The J-Horror craze of the early 2000s hit me at exactly the right time. I grew up watching slasher flicks ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII Blu-ray Review: The B-Sides of Edward G. Robinson

Something I've been thinking about lately is how when I was growing up I had a pretty decent knowledge of ...
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The Whip and the Body Blu-ray Review: Colorful Kink from Mario Bava

The thing about Mario Bava is that he became something of a bridge between classical and modern horror. He made ...
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

For large portions of my life, I have watched horror movies in the month of October. It is the spooky ...
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Darkman 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

"Who is Darkman?" the posters asked. They were scattered everywhere - on billboards, the sides of busses, in magazines in ...
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Faithless (1932) Blu-ray Review: Tallulah Bankhead Makes It Worth Watching

The story goes that as a teenager Tallulah Bankhead won a contest in the Picture Post magazine which sent her ...
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Mademoiselle (1966) Blu-ray Review: Lust and Terror In France

Someone is wreaking havoc in a French provincial village. The cattle's drinking water has been poisoned, fires have been set ...
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McCabe & Mrs. Miller 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

To call Robert Altman a maverick is a grave understatement. His films were subversive, anti-establishment, funny and strange, inventive, and ...
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Fathom Events Presents My Fair Lady for Its 60th Anniversary

Right after we married, my wife and I took our honeymoon in Stratford, Ontario. Just like its namesake in England, ...
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He Walked by Night Blu-ray Review: You’ll Watch by Daylight

Part film noir, part ripped from the headlines semi-documentary, He Walked by Night influenced countless movies and television shows and ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVI Blu-ray Review: I’m Thrilled They Keep Releasing Them

Kino Lorber continues their long tradition of releasing relatively obscure film noir. This collection features three very different films ranging ...
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Chantal akerman masterpieces 1968 - 1978.

Chantal Akerman Masterpieces 1968–1978 Is the Pick of the Week

Every ten years the British Film Institute releases the Sight & Sound poll, perhaps the most important opinion poll made ...
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Run Silent, Run Deep Blu-ray Review: Gable and Lancaster Are great

When my brother joined the Navy in the mid-1990s, he volunteered for submarine duty. It paid more than serving on ...
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The Facts of Murder Blu-ray Review: A Blending of Italian Genres

During the fascist regime of Mussolini, films and stories about crime were either deeply censored or outright banned in Italy. ...
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Savage Guns: 4 Classic Westerns Is the Pick of the Week

I love a good Western. I really love a good Italian Western. I really, really love a good boxed set ...
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The Quatermass Xperiment Blu-ray Review: The Beginnings of Hammer Horror

Our beloved Hammer Studios didn't always make beautifully designed gothic horror films. For their first decade-plus of existence, they made ...
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Goodbye, Dragon Inn Blu-ray Review: An Ode to Going to the Movies

One of my earliest memories is seeing Return of the Jedi at the cinema. I would have been seven years ...
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Is the Pick of the Week

When I was a young teen, or possibly even a preteen, my cousin Karen, who is 6-7 years older than ...
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Blackhat Blu-ray Review: A Rare Miss For Michael Mann

A super hacker, or "blackhat" if you will, plants a computer virus in the Chicago Stock Exchange, causing soy prices ...
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Gator Blu-ray Review: A Charming Burt Reynolds Elevates This Ridiculous Sequel

With the success of White Lightning, the studio was clamoring for a sequel. Burt Reynolds had never been in a ...
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Oppenheimer Is the Pick of the Week

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving traditionally is a big week for new Blu-ray releases as it is the week of Black ...
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Backdraft Blu-ray Review: Thrilling Effects, Terrible Script

Backdraft is overlong, ridiculously melodramatic, and the plot contrivances are dumb even for a Ron Howard film. But damn does ...
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White Lightning Blu-ray Review: A Meditative Hicksploitation Flick

Burt Reynolds ruled Hollywood in the 1970s. Starting with Deliverance in 1972, he made a string of hits and remained ...
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Carlito’s Way (Remastered Edition) Blu-ray Review: De Palma’s Way Is Best Way

Ten years after they teamed up for Scarface (1983), Brian De Palma and Al Pacino created another stylish, violent film ...
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Human Desire Blu-ray Review: Excellent Film Noir from Fritz Lang

Coming off the heels of their definitive film noir The Big Heat (1953), director Friz Lang once again teamed up ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XV Blu-ray Review: Three Late ’50s B-Noirs Still Make for Good Viewing

We are waist deep into Noirvember and Kino Lorber is once again here to help. Their ongoing series Film Noir: ...
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Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. Two Blu-ray Review: More Martial Arts Fun From Shout Factory

With Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. Two, Shout! Factory continues to release films from the legendary studio famous for its martial ...
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The buster keaton collection - three ages of hospitality.

The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 5 Is the Pick of the Week

The pandemic really elevated my movie-watching numbers. We weren't going anywhere so I'd stay at home and watch movies. It ...
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Force of Evil Blu-ray Review: An Art-House Genre Film

In the seemingly endless discourse on social media about Martin Scorsese versus the MCU, one side seems to turn Scorsese ...
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Shaw Brothers Classics Cube on display of the website

Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. One Blu-ray Review: Not Quite Truly Classic, but Well Worth It for Fans

I don't know why the Shaw Brothers floodgates have seemingly opened over the last few years, but I'm sure glad ...
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A blu - ray box with many faces on it.

Paramount Scares Volume 1 Is the Pick of the Week

'Tis the season for treats and tricks, for dressing up and carving pumpkins. 'Tis also the season to watch as ...
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Lorna the Exorcist Blu-ray Review: One of Jess Franco’s More Well-regarded Films

Fairly regularly, the film discourse on Twitter and other social media apps turns to sex in cinema. There is a ...
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The Iron-Fisted Monk Blu-ray Review: Disjointed Drama, Fantastic Kung Fu

It makes sense that kung fu movies would eventually add in comedic elements. There is an inherent silliness to grown ...
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Disney pixar's elemental on blu - ray.

Elemental Is the Pick of the Week

There was a time in my life when a new Pixar movie was a cause for celebration. They continually made ...
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Little Women (1933) Blu-ray Review: Sentimental but Sweet

In college, I did work study for the university dinner theater. It was a great job, and I had loads ...
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Wichita Blu-ray Review: Wyatt Earp’s Origin Story

How many movies and TV shows have been made about Wyatt Earp? Or been influenced by his reputation? They say ...
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The Big Knife Blu-ray Review: Stabbing Old Hollywood

Hollywood loves making movies about Hollywood. Usually, they are fawning tales about the magic of the movies, or about how ...
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Poker Face: Season One Is the Pick of the Week

Rian Johnson has made a career out of subverting genre tropes and creating something wonderful and new. From his first ...
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Borsalino Blu-ray Review: A (Not Quite) Epic French Gangster Flick

Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo were two of the biggest and greatest film stars in France. They were both great ...
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Fathom Events Presents John Carpenter’s They Live

I don't go to the movie theater much anymore. It is too expensive. The crowds are always obnoxious. Half the ...
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The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle Is the Pick of the Week

In 1967, Emmanuelle Arsan published Emmanuelle, a novel about a bored housewife and her sexual adventures in Asia. Seven years ...
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Strangers in the House Blu-ray Review: French Masters of Mystery

In a large, shambling, mostly empty mansion, a loud noise clangs upstairs. It is loud enough to awaken Hector Loursat ...
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Werewolf Jones Sons Deluxe Super Fun Comic

Book Review: Werewolf Jones & Sons: Deluxe Super Fun Annual by Simon Hanselmann and Josh Pettinger

I am not by any means a prude, but I should have never read Werewolf Jones & Songs: Deluxe Super ...
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Maggie Moores Blue Ray Movie Poster on a Yellow

Maggie Moore(s) Is the Pick of the Week

Jon Hamm was so good in Mad Men as the moody, almost sociopathically serious Don Draper that it is always ...
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Criterion’s The Ranown Westerns Is The Pick of the Week

In 1955, John Wayne purchased the script for Seven Men From Now from first-time writer Burt Kennedy. He had originally ...
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Tintin Double Feature Is the Pick of the Week

Tuesday is July 4, which of course is the day the United States of America celebrates its independence. We shoot ...
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Mr. Wong Collection Blu-ray Review: Boris Karloff Detects

The early 1920s saw an influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States. This so-called "Yellow Peril" unsurprisingly led to ...
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The Oyster Princess / Meyer from Berlin Blu-ray Review: A Pair of German Silents from Lubitsch

Ernst Lubitsch is widely considered one of the great directors of classic cinema. His comedies were sophisticated, elegant with a ...
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Caliber 9 Blu-ray Review: Action-Packed Poliziotteschi with a Message

There is a scene relatively early in Fernando Di Leo's classic polischietti Caliber 9 that fairly well sums up everything ...
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Shaw Brothers Classics Cube on display of the website

Shaw Brothers Classics Vol. One Is the Pick of the Week

In my review of The Flag of Iron (1980) and Legendary Weapons of China (1982) back in February 2022, I ...
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The Package Blu-ray Review: Not so Much a Bad Movie as a Disappointing One

When I was in college, I realized that when you are with a particular group of friends and having a ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII Blu-ray Review: A Triple Feature from the ’50s

Kino Lorber continues to release lesser-known film noirs in their The Dark Side of Cinema sets. Part XIII includes a ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIV Blu-ray Review: Moral Teachings Get in the Way

It just now occurs to me that classic-era Hollywood cinema, especially those low-budget B-Movies, often acted like the Afterschool Specials ...
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The Saragossa Manuscript Is the Pick of the Week

When a movie is loved by such diverse folks as Martin Scorsese, Luis Bunuel, and Jerry Garcia, you know it ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XII Blu-ray Review: I’m Still Watching and Loving It

The thing about film noir is that it was mostly a B-movie genre. For every noir with A-list stars, directors, ...
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Book Review: Salome’s Last Dance by Daria Tessler

Portland artist Daria Tessler's second comic book published by Fantagraphics is a short, strange trip that finds influences from such ...
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Safe in Hell Blu-ray Review: A Pre-Code Delight

If you do an image search for "pre-Code Hollywood," you'll most likely find a picture of an attractive blonde woman ...
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In the Line of Duty: I-IV Is the Pick of the Week

Michelle Yeoh recently became the first Asian actress to win an Academy Award. She won it for her starring role ...
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The Sunday Woman Blu-ray Review: A Strange Little Movie That Defies Expectations and Genre Delineations

An Italian Poliziotteschi by way of Agatha Christie. A murder mystery that's more interested in high society and class distinction ...
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Anna May Wong Collection Is the Pick of the Week

Well, hello there, old friends. It is your old pal Mat Brewster ready for another round of Pick of the ...
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Book Review: Night Terror by John Kenn Mortensen

On more than one occasion I've had a dream where I woke up, got up from bed, and went to ...
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The Retaliators (2022) Blu-ray Review: Crisis of Faith Meets Zombies

Stories about men encountering a crisis of faith are as old as stories, or as old as crises, or at ...
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Book Review: Spa by Erik Svetoft

Swedish writer/illustrator Erik Svetoft's Spa is a Kafkaesque adventure that plunges into a Lynchian nightmare. Set in a high-class, luxury ...
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The bride wore black, a film by jeanne moreau

The Bride Wore Black and Mississippi Mermaid Blu-rays Review: Truffaut Does Hitchcock

For much of his career, Alfred Hitchcock was not taken seriously by the critical establishment. His films were hugely successful, ...
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White Woman (1933) Blu-ray Review: Certainly Watchable but Not Much More Than That

In the early 1930s, Paramount Pictures made a name for itself by making films with beautiful women in exotic settings. ...
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Maigret (1960): Season 2 Blu-ray Review: This Series Keeps Getting Better

While I was writing my review for Season 1 of Maigret, I kept wondering if I'd be able to find ...
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Nobody’s Fool Blu-ray Review: At the Center of the Film’s Charm Is Paul Newman’s Performance

It takes a lot of confidence to make a movie in which nothing really happens. It does help to have ...
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Maigret (1960): Season 1 Blu-ray Review: Scores Big for Solid Entertainment Value

Maigret, the French detective created by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, is one of my all-time fictional detectives. Second only, perhaps, ...
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Blood & Diamonds Blu-ray Review: Dull & Boring

Our man Guido (Claudio Cassinelli) can't catch a break. Someone snitches on him and his partner Marco (Carmelo Reale) during ...
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The Night of the Iguana Blu-ray Review: A Long Night’s Journey into the Soul

They say Tennessee Williams was none too pleased with John Huston's adaptation of his play The Night of the Iguana. ...
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Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Blu-ray Review: Maybe If She Were a Little Taller This Would Be Good

The 1950s were an incredibly fertile period for science fiction at the cinema. The invention of the atomic bomb and ...
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The Flash (2014): The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Review: Starting to Wear Thin

The Arrowverse is dead. Well, almost. What began with a single show, Arrow in 2012, quickly grew and grew until ...
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Blu-ray Review: Fredric March Is Quite Wonderful in the Dual Role

When I asked to review this film, Cinema Sentries publisher Gordon S. Miller, remembering that I had just reviewed the ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema X Blu-ray Review: In This Corner…Tony Curtis

Boxing. The sweet science. Gladiators of the ring. Raging war in a small square. Two men bashing their brains out ...
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Eyes of Laura Mars (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: Artful Trash

There has been a lot of Internet chatter over the last couple of years about the death of eroticism in ...
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Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Review

Creaky old castles up on a hill. Dark stormy nights. Strange noises. Beautiful maidens in flowing white gowns. Repressed desires. ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX Blu-ray Review: A Trio of Amateur Sleuths

I've been waist-deep in horror movies for the last couple of weeks, it being October and all, but I'm already ...
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Hiroshima mon amour Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Rich and Rewarding Film

Expectations are a difficult thing to overcome while watching a film. Especially if said film is considered to be one ...
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The Burned Barns Blu-ray Review: Two Titans of French Cinema Spar

In a series of interviews with the crew of The Burned Barns (1973) that is included in the new Blu-ray ...
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Custom Cropped Poster of the movie Flying Guillotine

Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Review: Double the Guillotine, Double the Fun

In 1975, Shaw Brothers Studio released The Flying Guillotine. It is about an elite group of guards to the emperor ...
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Seventh and Final Season Blu-ray Review

DC's Legends of Tomorrow is a show that learned to break out of its genre's conventions and embrace the inherent ...
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Planet of the Vampires Blu-ray Review: A Low Budget Masterpiece

Mario Bava's work as a special effects designer and cinematographer before he became a director is apparent in all the ...
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The Righteous Blu-ray Review: An Audacious First Film

A married couple grieving for their lost daughter. A stranger at the door asking for help. Then asking for something ...
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Martial Club Blu-ray Review: Come for the Action, Stay for the Moral Lessons

The more Shaw Brothers kung fu movies I watch the more I get into their grooves and understand their tropes. ...
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Hell High Blu-ray Review: Watching It Is Pure Hell

The slasher subgenre of horror was in serious decline in 1989. Audiences, even the very forgiving horror hounds, had grown ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VIII Blu-ray Review

The thing about film noir is that it is a genre without definition. Unlike something like westerns or science-fiction, genres ...
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The Adventures of Don Juan (1948) Blu-ray Review: Come in with Flynn

One of the great joys of becoming a classic film enthusiast is discovering an actor or actress and then immediately ...
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One-Armed Boxer Blu-ray Review: Delivers a Nuttiness Desired in An Old Kung Fu Movie

A man walks into a bar and notices another man sitting at his table. He tells the man that he ...
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) Blu-ray Review: Well Worth Watching to See Spencer Tracy Play Against Type

Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was originally sold as a penny dreadful and ...
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The Initiation of Sarah Blu-ray Review: A Made-for-TV Carrie Rip-Off

In 1976, Brian De Palma released the supernatural horror movie, Carrie. Based upon Stephen King's first published novel of the ...
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Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Review: Quintessential Italian Crime Dramas

God bless Italian filmmakers. They were consistently making great films in an astonishing array of genres for a good three ...
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The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter Blu-Ray Review: One of the Greatest Kung Fu Movies Ever

I don't know why but there seems to be a great influx of kung fu movies coming to Blu-ray of ...
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Monkey Kung Fu & Shaolin Mantis Blu-rays Review: For Those Who Like Animals with Their Kung Fu

88 Films continues their monthly tradition of releasing excellent versions of classic (and not so classic) Shaw Brothers kung fu ...
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The Flag of Iron & Legendary Weapons of China Blu-ray Review: Two Classics from Shaw Brothers Studios

Last month in my review of Disciples of Shaolin, I noted how much I loved old kung fu movies as ...
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The poster of the movie Stage Fright by Alfred Hitchcock

Stage Fright (1950) Blu-ray Review: Second-Tier Hitchcock Is Still Good Cinema

Stage Fright, Alfred Hitchcock's thriller from 1950 begins with a great curtain that opens to reveal a shot of, not ...
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Disciples of Shaolin Blu-ray Review: Socially Conscious Kung Fu

When I was a kid one of the local television stations used to run what they called Kung Fu Theater ...
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Two from Sergei Eisenstein: October & Alexander Nevsky DVD Reviews

Sergei Eisenstein was one of the most important film theorists and directors of early cinema. If he didn't invent the ...
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Counterpoint Blu-ray Review: Battle of the Cellos

Towards the end of World War II, soldiers gather in a bombed-out church to listen to a symphony orchestra as ...
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The Accused (1949) Blu-ray Review: Works Something Like a Film Noir in Reverse

The classic film noir plot goes something like this: a man, usually a not too bright one, meets a woman ...
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Review: Not Quite Legendary

In my reviews of previous seasons of Legends of Tomorrow, I've discussed my love for how this series understands how ...
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Breakheart Pass Blu-ray Review: Like an Agatha Christie Western

Take a moment and look at the cover art for this Blu-ray which is the recreation of the original poster. ...
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The Sheik (1921) Blu-ray Review: A Silent and Problematic Classic

In December of 1912 a beautiful young man with the unlikely name of Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di ...
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The Incredible Shrinking Man Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Giant-Sized Fun

I wonder what it is about stories of humans being shrunk down to tiny size or living in a land ...
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The Cheat (1931) Blu-ray Review: Third Time Isn’t the Charm

I'm about two steps away from completely being a classic movie snob. I've loved classic movies pretty much my entire ...
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Torch Singer (1933) Blu-ray Review: A Very Modern Pre-Code

One of the interesting things about reviewing very old films is the tension between my modern standards and my understanding ...
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The Flash (2014): The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray Review: The Stories Feel Undercooked and Underwhelming

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Cinema Sentries with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The ...
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Hot Saturday Blu-ray Review: Fascinating Pre-Code Shenanigans

Had Hot Saturday (1932) been made just a few years later, it would have been a completely different film. It ...
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Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman Blu-ray Review: This Set Is a Must-buy

Sam Katzman got his start in the movies working as a stage laborer in the early 1920s. He moved up ...
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The Fourth Victim Blu-ray Review: Stay Till the End

A pretty blonde woman lounges languidly in the swimming pool of a large estate. When her cigarette pops a hole ...
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Mona Lisa Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Neo-noir with a Mystic Smile

The first time I remember seeing Bob Hoskins was as Eddie Valiant the hard-boiled, yet ultimately soft-hearted detective working for ...
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The Awakening (2011) Blu-ray Review: Half a Great Ghost Story

I love a good ghost story. Unlike any other genre, they seem to be able to create a mood within ...
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The Brotherhood of Satan Blu-ray Review: Panic in a Small Town

As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, America's cultural mores began to shift dramatically. The birth control pill fuelled the ...
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Ashes and Diamonds Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Polish Masterpiece

A little over a decade ago my wife and I lived in Shanghai, China. At the time, and probably still ...
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Friday the 13th 8 Movie Collection Blu-ray Review: The Paramount Films

In the Spring of 1980, a little-known director named Sean. S. Cunningham made a low-budget horror film called Friday the ...
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Born for Hell Blu-ray Review: Too Exploitative for the Arthouse, Too Damn Slow for the Grindhouse

During one long, hot night in Chicago in the summer of 1966, Richard Speck held nine student nurses hostage. Over ...
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Union Pacific Blu-ray Review: The Great Train Epic

Westerns love trains. Almost as much as they love horses and saloons. There are westerns where a stranger comes to ...
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No Time For Love Blu-ray Review: No Time for Colbert and MacMurray

Coming off the huge success of It Happened One Night (1934), Paramount quickly began looking for another romantic comedy for ...
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Vengeance Trails: 4 Classic Westerns Blu-ray Review: Proving There’s More to Spaghetti Westerns than Sergio Leone

The western was one of the more prominent genres of American cinema from the 1930s through the 1950s. As it ...
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Deep Cover Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Neo-Noir with a Message

Russell Stevens (Laurence Fishburne) is a good cop. He's also a black man. And a good, black cop is exactly ...
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Shenandoah Blu-ray Review: Indifference in a Time of War

Charlie Anderson (James Stewart) is a good man. He's built a big, beautiful farm in Virginia. He's raised six sons ...
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The Gilded Lily Blu-ray Review: Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray’s First Team-Up

By the time The Gilded Lily was made in 1935, Claudette Colbert was a huge star. She'd gained notoriety in ...
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British Noir III DVD Review: A Nice but Slight Look into the Genre

Film noir seems like the quintessential American genre. The French term literally means black film and was used as a ...
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Alias Nick Beal Blu-ray Review: A Faustian Noir

For the last four or five years, I've participated in #noirvember, that's hashtag speak for film noirs in November. It ...
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Icy Breasts Blu-ray Review: A Cool French Noir

I am a collector, a list maker, and a spreadsheet creator. There is something so satisfying about making a list ...
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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (35th Anniversary) Steelbook Blu-ray Review

I am proud to say that I am a member of Generation X. Or as proud as a Gen X-er ...
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Years of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers (1973-1977) Blu-ray Review: A Great Overview of the Poliziotteschi Genre

The Italian Giallo is generally considered to be a subgenre of horror. This makes plenty of sense as they are ...
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There Was a Crooked Man… Blu-ray Review: Revisionist Western Could Have Used a Few More Revisions

The western is, perhaps, the most malleable and everlasting American film genre. Though it has certainly been in decline for ...
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The Prince’s Voyage Blu-ray Review: A Film Only the French Could Make

My wife and often operate on different wavelengths when it comes to cinema. We share a lot of common ground, ...
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The Legend of Hei Blu-ray Review: A Must-See For Animation Fans

As I was watching The Legend of Hei (on Shout! Factory's new Blu-ray release, coming this Tuesday) I kept thinking ...
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Memories of Murder Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The South Korean Zodiac

A woman has been brutally raped and murdered. Her body was shoved into a drain ditch. Detective Park Doo-man (Song ...
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Death Has Blue Eyes Blu-ray Review: It’s a Mastorakis Mess

Greek writer, producer, director Nico Mastorakis has had a long, strange career. He started out as a reporter, becoming the ...
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The Invisible Man Appears Blu-ray Review: It Can Finally Be Seen

Why is it that in seemingly every depiction of an invisible man in the movies, the ability to turn invisible ...
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Earwig and the Witch Blu-ray Review: A Lesser Effort from Studio Ghibli

Famed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in August of 2014. As he was the co-founder and main creative ...
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Céline and Julie Go Boating Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Long, Strange, Riveting Film

Julie (Dominique Labourier), a young woman with big, curly red hair, sits on a park bench distractedly reading a book ...
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Crossfire (1947) Blu-ray Review: Film Noir with a Message

Crossfire, Edward Dmytryk's 1947 film which crosses classic noir tropes with an anti-racist message, is now getting a nice-looking Blu-ray ...
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On-Gaku: Our Sound Movie Review: A Lo-fi Delight

On-Gaku: Our Sound is a lo-fi animated treat from director Kenji Iwaisawa about a trio of high school delinquents who ...
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Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks is the Pick of the Week

Well, hi there. It has been a long time since I've written one of these. Dave has done such a ...
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The Last Starfighter Blu-ray Review: Tailor Made for 1980s Gamers

As a kid growing up in the 1980s, I loved video games. In the summer, my cousins and I would ...
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Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) Blu-ray Review: Abbott and Costello Meet the Giant

When I was a kid, my uncle and cousins were all huge Three Stooges fans. I much preferred Abbott and ...
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Joint Security Area Blu-ray Review: Friendship and Murder in the DMZ

I first came to Park Chan-wook's films, like I suspect a lot of other Americans did, through Oldboy, his 2003 masterwork ...
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Lupin III: The First Blu-ray Review: Lots of Fun

Arsène Lupin the great master of disguise and gentleman thief was created by  Maurice Leblanc in 1905. The character originally ...
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Mouchette Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: So Beautiful, So Sad

The opening scene to Mouchette, Robert Bresson's 1967 drama, finds a young man tying little loops of wire to branches ...
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Popeye (1980) Blu-ray Review: A Strange Little Miracle

That Popeye got made at all is a small wonder. That it is really quite wonderful is nothing short of ...
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The Deeper You Dig Blu-ray Review: A Terrific Low-budget Horror

In a small, dark bar, in a small New York hamlet, Kurt (John Adams) eats a grubby little dinner and ...
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Focus Features 10-Movie Spotlight Collection Blu-ray Review

Last week I reviewed a 10-film collection from Blumhouse Productions, a relatively young studio that specializes in low budget films. This ...
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Five Cool Things and Dune (2020)

I think I speak for nearly everyone on the planet when I say that this year has not gone as ...
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Blumhouse of Horrors 10-Movie Collection Blu-ray Review: A Mixed Bag

For over a decade now, Blumhouse Productions has specialized in making small budget films, mostly horror, that give their directors ...
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Five Cool Things and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fifth Season

I started this month with the intention of watching a lot of science fiction films set in space. As I ...
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Five Cool Things and Two Jules Dassin Films Get the Criterion Treatment

Last week, I noted that for the month of September I was going to try to watch space-based science fiction ...
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Brute Force & The Naked City Criterion Collection Blu-ray Reviews: A Jules Dassin Double Feature

There are over 1,000 movies in the Criterion Collection, these are two of them. Jules Dassin has five films thus ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and No Time to Die Trailer

It has been a while since I did a theme month for the movies I'm watching. I think I got ...
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The Balcony Blu-ray Review: Cinematic Satire, I Guess

The Balcony (1963) is a cinematic adaptation of the French play by the same name from writer Jean Genet. It almost ...
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Five Cool Things and Chadwick Boseman

School finally started around these parts. My daughter has been out of school, or at least not physically attending school ...
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Breezy Blu-ray Review: Like Sunday Morning

An old, cynical man meets a young woman and is changed by her zeal for life. It is a tale ...
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The Sign of the Cross Blu-ray Review: Saints and Debauchery in a Pre-Code Epic

Claudette Colbert naked in a bath filled donkey's milk. Well, topless at least. And the milk was powdered cow's milk ...
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Cry Freedom Blu-ray Review: A Fight for Justice

As our culture continues to shift towards something like equality, it is difficult sometimes to watch and critique older films ...
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There’s Always Tomorrow Blu-ray Review: A Nuanced Portrayal of a Man Grown Bored with His Life

Twelve years after making the perfect film noir, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwcyk starred in another movie about a married ...
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Cinema Sentries

The Flash (2014): The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Review: The Stakes Have Gotten Higher but the Fun Has Gotten Smaller

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Mat Brewster with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The opinions ...
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Toni Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Influential French Drama

In 1934, acclaimed French director Jean Renoir left the studio in Paris and headed for the countryside in the south ...
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Tender Mercies Blu-ray Review: A Gentle, Beautiful Film

Two men brawl over a bottle of whiskey in a run-down old motel room. One man falls, or is possibly ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and The Suicide Squad

My apologies for taking a couple of weeks off. One of our subcontractors told us a few weeks ago that ...
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Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Review: It Could Use a Few Noisy Rapids

A nurse, Josette (Catherine Heigel), is in love with Doctor Mavial (Daniel Gélin), whom she works for. He continues to ...
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Raid on Rommel Blu-ray Review: Raids Other Films for Ideas

As an American of 40 some odd years of age, I'm ashamed to admit I don't know that much about ...
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Cinema Sentries

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fifth Season Review: So Much Fun

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Cinema Sentries with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The ...
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Batwoman: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review: The Arrowverse Finally Goes to Gotham

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided the writer with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this article. The opinions ...
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Backlash (1956) Blu-ray Review: Searching for Gold and Daddy

A woman rides up to a man digging in the dirt in what appears to be an abandoned camp out ...
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Bloodstone Blu-ray Review: Indiana Jones and the B-Movie Knock-Off

Arrow Video continues to release HD versions of the film of Greek director/writer/producer Nico Mastorakis, and I am here for ...
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The Eagle and the Hawk Blu-ray Review: World War I Was Hell

Over the last few months, I've watched three World War I films (All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, and ...
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Hiroshima Blu-ray Review: Unrelenting Terror

The sky is a pale blue. Big, white clouds float by. It looks peaceful. It won't for long. This is ...
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Black Rainbow Blu-ray Review: A Spiritual Thriller

What happens when your fake medium act turns real? When you've been pretending to see visions of dead people in ...
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The Quest (1986) Blu-ray Review: Sit This Adventure Out

Fresh off the enormous success of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Henry Thomas, the fresh-faced star of that film must have been offered ...
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Zombie for Sale Blu-ray Review: A New Take on an Old Genre

One would think the zombie movie would be completely played out by now. There have been countless films about the ...
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Audie Murphy Collection Blu-ray Review: War Hero Becomes a Movie Star

Towards the end of the tenth and final episode of Band of Brothers, HBO's acclaimed miniseries that follows Easy Company from ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and the New Mutants

It was an eclectic week for old Mat Brewster and his consumption of cool things. We've got new horror movies, ...
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Tony Curtis Collection Blu-ray Review: Charming

Reason #473 that I love boutique labels such a Kino Lorber: they allow us to dig into various genres and ...
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Five Cool Things and a Bookstore Haul

I got out of the house today. I get out of the house most days, actually. Work takes me to ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Possessor

For nearly four months now, my family and I have gotten up on Saturday mornings, piddled around, watched TV, and ...
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The World in His Arms Blu-ray Review: Swashbuckling Gregory Peck

Last week I watched three films that are part of Kino Lorber's ongoing Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema collection. After ...
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Book Review: Gramercy Park by Timothée de Fombelle and Christian Cailleaux

On top of a tall building stands a woman. She keeps bees. She talks to them. She loves them. Across ...
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Five Cool Things and Gillian Welch’s All the Good Times Are Past and Gone

Hamilton I finally got to see the show everyone has been talking about for five years. When Hamilton first became ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IV Blu-ray Review: Too Much Melodrama, Not Enough Noir

For Part IV of their Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema series Kino Lorber Studio Classics is releasing three films from ...
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America as Seen by a Frenchman Blu-ray Review: A Fascinating Snapshot in Time

I've been lucky enough to have done a bit of traveling in my life. I've lived in France, Belgium, and ...
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Blood Tide Blu-ray Review: Fun and Monsters in the Greek Sun

Can I consider myself a fan of a filmmaker after hating one of his films, liking another one, and kind-of ...
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Five Cool Things and the Fourth of July

It is a holiday weekend and I'm making the most of it. So let's get right into this week's cool ...
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The Flesh and the Fiends Blu-ray Review: Selling Corpses in Scotland

For centuries the science of anatomy lagged behind other fields of study due to cultural norms and religious beliefs concerning ...
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Five Cool Things and Pearl Jam Uncensored

I'm a huge fan of Letterboxd, the social networking site for film nerds. It is a great way to track ...
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White Fire, The Wind, and Why Don’t You Just Die! Blu-rays Review: Three from Arrow Video

As the world continues to move towards consuming media through an increasing number of streaming platforms, there is a niche ...
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Five Cool Things and Ian Holm

I was realizing today that we've been on lockdown since mid-March. That's a little over three months in which my ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III Blu-ray Review: Gambling, Murder, and Back Alley Adoptions

If you are a fan of film noir, I hope you've been paying attention to Kino Lorber, the boutique video ...
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Five Cool Things and Bill & Ted Face the Music

Our house has two stories but only one HVAC unit. This means that the upstairs (where my bedroom is) always ...
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Sixteen Candles Blu-ray Review: A Problematic but Worthwhile Film

As someone who grew up in the 1980s, the films of John Hughes, especially the teen comedies he wrote during ...
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Western Classics I Blu-ray Review: Dust, Grit and Cowboys A-Plenty

The western is a uniquely American film genre. It tells stories of cowboys and natives, of a country lighting out ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Lovecraft Country

Over the last few years, I've really upped my movie-watching game. I've gone from watching around 10 movies per week ...
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Universal Horror Collection Volume 5 Blu-ray Review: Woman Versus Beast

Horror movies often manifest from a culture's deepest and darkest fears. It is no coincidence that Godzilla was born in Japan only ...
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Beanpole Blu-ray Review: Love and Suffering in Post-War Russia

It seems a rare thing these days where a movie about war is able to make an effective statement. War ...
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Five Cool Things and Perry Mason

I started this month planning to watch a bunch of movies from the late, great, Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. I ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Tenet

Every week, I tell myself that as soon as I watch or read or listen to something cool I am ...
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Cinema Sentries

EMMA. (2020) Blu-ray Review: A Delightful Confection

Bill Nighy is a treasure.  I almost said "national treasure" there but since he’s English and I’m American I suppose ...
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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema II Blu-ray Review: Three Little-known Noirs Well Worth Your Time

Is it just me or has film noir made an incredible and strange comeback? The oft-imitated, but difficult to define ...
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Five Cool Things and Fred Willard

I recently received, watched, and reviewed a boxed set of three films from Kino Lorber entitled Film Noir: The Dark ...
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Five Cool Things and I Know This Much Is True

This long lock-down, shut-in has created some interesting situations, not all of them bad. Don't get me wrong, I hate ...
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Indiscretion of an American Wife (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: Love and Loss at the Train Station

My wife and I were strictly long distance for the first couple of years of our relationship. When we first ...
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Barbara Stanwyck Collection Blu-ray Review: Not Barb’s Best

Double Indemnity is one of my favorite film noirs which makes it one of my favorite movies of all time. Barbara ...
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Five Cool 1930s Movies and a Sixth

For the month of April, I decided that my theme should be movies made in the 1930s. Actually, my original ...
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A blu - ray cover for gory park.

Five Cool Things and the Lemonheads

I mowed and weed-eated my yard today. A small accomplishment I know, but one that felt good. Our house is ...
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Secret Ceremony and Love Among the Ruins Blu-rays Review: Small Casts, Great Dramas

In our modern cinematic world of superheroes, Jedis, and super-sized monsters, it sometimes feels like there is no more room ...
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Five Cool Things and Punky Brewster

Last weekend, I went for a walk around the neighborhood with my wife and young daughter. Along the way, she ...
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Underwater (2020) Movie Review: Kristen Stewart Takes a Dive

Deep inside the Mariana Trench, the world's deepest undersea trench - which at its deepest is some 34,000 feet below ...
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Beyond the Door Blu-ray Review: Rosemary’s Baby Meets the Exorcist

It is a universal truth that whenever anything is successful someone else will come along and copy that thing. Usually, ...
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Five Cool Things and a Salute to John Prine

Tomorrow is Easter. Due to social distancing, we won't be attending church, nor will we be having our traditional dinner ...
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Five Cool Things and John Prine

Many years ago, back when I was writing for another site, I requested to watch and review a new DVD ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and a Murder Most Foul

This month's theme was movies in which one character or multiple characters were going mad. I called it March Movie ...
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The Passion of Darkly Noon Blu-ray Review: The Story Goes Nowhere

A man, dressed in a suit and tie but bruised and battered, comes running through the woods. He stumbles and ...
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Cinema Sentries

Fathom Events and TCM Present King Kong (1933)

In 1929, while filming baboons in Africa on the set of The Four Feathers, director Merian C. Cooper developed the ...
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Poster of the movie Parasite directed by Bong Joon Ho

Five Cool Things and Another Five Things

It has been a weird week. My wife's mother just had hip replacement surgery and the original plan was that ...
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Five Cool Things and Candyman (2020)

I watched 23 films in the month of February. That's not quite one film a day but it isn't bad ...
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One Missed Call Trilogy Blu-ray Review: Let This One Go to Voicemail

A group of friends are hanging out. A cell phone rings, but nobody recognizes the ringtone. Finally, someone realizes it ...
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Five Cool Things and Run

Last month, I watched, on average, over one movie per day. I knew going into February I would not keep ...
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Manon Blu-ray Review: Doomed Love in Post-war France

Manon Lescaut is an 18th Century novel by Antoine François Prévost. It was controversial at the time of its release, for ...
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Five Cool Things and The French Dispatch

Last week, I talked about how the themes of this month were going to be foreign films and films made ...
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Five Cool Things and The Jesus Rolls

After a very successful January in which I watched many films from director Jean-Pierre Melville, I couldn't decide on a ...
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Deadly Manor Blu-ray Review: A Complete and Total Dud

A group of teenagers decides to go camping at the lake. Four of them are in a Jeep, two drive ...
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Edge of the Axe Blu-ray Review: Careful with That Axe, Psycho Killer

It is always fascinating to me when the makers of low-budget slasher films try to inject their films with an ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and A Quiet Place Part II

I officially watched 34 movies in the month of January. That's more than one movie per day. That's a record ...
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Five Cool Things and the Year of the Rat

I watched a lot less Jean-Pierre Melville films this week than I did last week. In fact, I only watched ...
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Brewster’s Millions Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review: Maybe Worth a Hundred

In 1902, George Barr McCutcheon, writing under the pseudonym of Richard Graves, wrote a novel entitled Brewster's Millions. In it, a ...
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Fathom Events and TCM Present An American in Paris

In the late 1940s, MGM executive Arthur Freed attended a production of George Gershwin classics and became inspired by the ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Neil Peart

For the last two years, I have spent the months of October and November viewing movies through a theme. In ...
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Five Cool Things and Another New Cat

Last month, I finally broke down and subscribed to Disney+. With The Rise of Skywalker coming out, I knew we'd ...
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Five Cool Things and Hunters

I hope everyone had a great holiday season.  I had a great time with mine and my wife’s family.  I ...
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The Magic Sword Blu-ray Review: Dragons, Princesses, and Basil Rathbone

Poor Basil Rathbone. After finding great success on stage and the screen, after becoming a huge star playing Robin Hood, ...
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Blue Collar Blu-ray Review: Workingman’s Blues

After finding great success as a screenwriter on such movies as The Yakuza (directed by Sydney Pollack), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese) and Obsession (Brian De Palma), ...
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Stick Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Should Have Stuck to Acting

More than half of Elmore Leonard's novels have been turned into movies (and more than a few were adapted twice, ...
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Universal Horror Collection Volume 3 Blu-ray Review: Not Quite Scary

Universal horror will always be synonymous with a handful of monsters and the dozens of films the studio made starring ...
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A Sunday in the Country Blu-ray Review: A Day in the Life

Never was a film so aptly titled as A Sunday in the Country. The only way to make it more accurate ...
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She (1984) Blu-ray Review: Post Apocalyptic Nonsense

I wonder if you could draw a line from the sword and sandal epics from the early 1960s to the ...
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Tunes of Glory Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Acting Tour de Force

I have been on a bit of an Alec Guinness kick of late. He's an actor I knew and loved ...
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Long Day’s Journey into Night (2018) Blu-ray Review: A Beautiful Dream

You gotta love marketers. They can make you lots of money and screw you at the same time. Bi Gan's ...
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Hitchcock: British International Pictures Collection Blu-ray Review: Becoming a Master

From a very early age, Alfred Hitchcock knew he wanted to be in the filmmaking business. He read the trade ...
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Five Cool Things and Wonder Woman 1984

It is, as the song says, beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Around here anyway. The tree is up, ...
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The Anne Bancroft Collection Blu-ray Review: Prepare to Be Seduced

Anne Bancroft landed her first film role in 1952 as a lounge singer in Don't Bother to Knock. For the next ...
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The Fly Collection Blu-ray Review: Be Excited, Be Very Excited to Own This

It is a deceptively simply story. A man invents a machine that can instantly teleport matter from one place to ...
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Five Cool Things and No Time to Die

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I enjoyed some time with my family (who I don't see that often ...
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Jake Speed Blu-ray Review: When Indiana Jones and Brendan Fraser Aren’t Available, Call Jake Speed

My mother likes to call the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies “a poor man's Indiana Jones.” What she means is that both series ...
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The Fare Blu-ray Review: Groundhog Day in a Cab

A taxicab driver named Harris (Gino Anthony Pese) gets a call to pick up someone in the middle of nowhere. ...
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Funan Blu-ray Review: A Genocide Through the Eyes of One Family

In the mid to late 1970s, the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia as one of the most brutal regimes in modern ...
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Thor Movie Review: God of Boring

Before I became a bonafide fan of the MCU, I watched their movies whenever I got around to it. Sometimes ...
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Hitch Hike to Hell Blu-ray Review: Put Your Thumb Down and Run

If you are a fan of Netflix's excellent series Mindhunter, then you may feel a sense of familiarity with Howard (Robert Gribbin), ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Honey Boy

This week, I saw consumed some new things, but mostly revisited older ones. I also found and rediscovered things I ...
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Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection Is the Pick of the Week

When I was but a wee lad, my uncle and all of my cousins were gaga over The Three Stooges. ...
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Five Cool Things and Knives Out

Disney+ launched this week and it seems to be all anyone can talk about. When it was initially announced, I ...
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Flowers in the Attic (1987) Blu-ray Review: I Think They Wilted

I have this memory in which my mother gives me a copy of V.C. Andrews' 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic. ...
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Charley Varrick Blu-ray Review: No Country For Walter Matthau

When I think of Walter Matthau, which is more often than you'd think, I think of him as a comic ...
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The Farewell Is the Pick of the Week

Every now and again, my wife will load up the daughter with her in the car and take off to ...
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Woman in Hiding Blu-ray Review: Worth Looking For

It is funny how when you discover something you'd never noticed before you suddenly start seeing it everywhere you look. ...
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Five Cool Things and Martin Scorsese Takes on the MCU

We are right smack in the middle of Noirvember and it has been super fun reading everybody's discussions on the ...
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It Always Rains on Sunday Blu-ray Review: A Slice of Post-War London

A man breaks out of prison and returns to the home of his former fiancee. They were set to be ...
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The Man Between Blu-ray Review: Out of The Third Man’s Shadow

It is difficult not to compare The Man Between, Carol Reed's 1953 thriller to a film he made four years earlier, The ...
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Seven Days to Noon Blu-ray Review: A Very Good Drama

The atomic bomb not only helped win World War II and fueled the Cold War for years after it, but ...
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Good Omens Is the Pick of the Week

Davey is still missing in action so I'm keeping the reigns this week. I love me some Neil Gaiman. I ...
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Naked Alibi Blu-ray Review: Gloria Grahame Steals the Show

The cops pick up a guy on a drunk and disorderly. He doesn't have any identification but says he's a ...
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Apprentice to Murder Blu-ray Review: Graduated to Boring

The early 1970s saw several British films being released that have been defined as “folk horror” by fans. These are ...
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Five Cool Things and The Witcher

My apologies for missing last week. My wife and I both came down with some nasty cold/allergy/flu thing and I ...
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Ringu Blu-ray Review: One Ring That Started Them All

Japanese folklore has long included ghosts who haunt the living because they died with anger, rage, fear, or some other ...
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Godzilla: The Showa Era Films (1954-1975) Is the Pick of the Week

Davy is off this week so I'm picking up my old reins and talking new Blu-ray releases. It is Halloween ...
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Scarface: The World Is Yours Limited Edition Review: Say ‘Hello’ to Your New Christmas Present

In the opening of Howard Hawks's gangster film Scarface (1932), we see a title card that notes that the film is an indictment ...
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La Marseillaise Blu-ray Review: Viva La Revolution!

The French Revolution is one of the most important events of modern history. That mere commoners - people stricken with ...
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My Boyfriend’s Back Blu-ray Review: A Light Comedy with Zombies

There has been a lot of bemoaning over the last few years about how Avenger-sized films have destroyed the mid-budget ...
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Five Cool Things and The Laundromat

My wife's folks are in town for the weekend and my daughter is dying for us to take her to ...
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And Soon the Darkness (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: And Eventually the Thrills

Two British nurses, Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice), take a cycling holiday in rural France. They've planned their ...
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Nightmare Beach Blu-ray Review:  Somebody Wake Me Up

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to mix an ‘80s slasher with an ‘80s spring break comedy, ...
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Hercules in the Haunted World Blu-ray Review: Sword & Sandals Meets Horror

For decades the Italian film industry often emulated the successful films of the United States. Through the late 1950s and ...
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Five Cool Things and Robert Forster

It is finally starting to feel like Autumn around here. After an unseasonably hot September, October has come and with ...
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The Prey Blu-ray Review: Pray You’ll Never Have to Watch

The 1980s were a great time for horror movies in general and slasher flicks in particular. With the advent of ...
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Ida Lupino: Filmmaker Collection Blu-ray Review: Trailblazing

Several weeks ago, I randomly decided to watch On Dangerous Ground, the pretty good film noir by Nicolas Ray from 1951. ...
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Five Cool Things and 1917

My brother spent this week in Japan with his son, my sister, and her husband. The sister told the nephew ...
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The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 Blu-ray Review: Flashback City

Wes Craven is often placed near the top of lists concerning the greatest horror filmmakers of all time, and rightly ...
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Doom Patrol: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review: Seriously Weird

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided the writer with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this article. The opinions ...
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In the Aftermath Blu-ray Review: An Odd Mishmash of Live Action and Animation

In The Path to Aftermath, an extra included in Arrow Video's new release of In The Aftermath, producer Tom Dugan explains that in ...
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Five Cool Things and El Camino

It's the weekend. Let's get to it. The MCU's Captain America If you've read my writings in these pages over ...
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Un Coeur En Hiver Blu-ray Review: A Man Without Feelings

In movies and on television, a sociopath - someone who doesn't have real feelings or emotions - is usually depicted ...
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Cinema Sentries

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Review: Legendary Fun

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Cinema Sentries with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Ric Ocasek

I went to a late showing of It Chapter Two last night. It was not good. It was not cool. ...
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Hussy Blu-ray Review: You’ll Wonder If You Haven’t Seen It Before

If there was a template for the movie genre where a nice boy falls for a hooker and complications ensue ...
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Who Saw Her Die? Blu-ray Review: Bond Does Giallo

Poor old George Lazenby. When Sean Connery quit the James Bond gig (for the first, but not last time) after You ...
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Supergirl: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Review: Too Much Preaching

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Cinema Sentries with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The ...
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The Chairman Blu-ray Review: Mr. Peck Goes to China

For their third and final collaboration director J. Lee Thompson and Gregory Peck made The Chairman, a spy thriller about an ...
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The Quiller Memorandum Blu-ray Review: Next Time Make It a Mission Statement

With the success of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962 there was a mad rush of spy films ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and Friday the 13th

This getting older thing is kind of a bummer.  The other day I was bemoaning how old I'm getting and ...
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The Case of Hana & Alice Blu-ray Review: An Animated Slice of Life

In 2004 Japanese director Shunji Iwai made Hana & Alice, a live-action movie about two high school students who both fall ...
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John Carpenter’s Vampires Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review: Put a Stake in It

An armored van pulls up to a dilapidated house. A group of scruffy-looking men and a priest get out. The ...
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Wizard World Tulsa 2019 Review: My Last Con, This Time I Mean It

Several years ago while chaperoning a group of college students through Europe as part of a study-abroad program my wife ...
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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and JoJo Rabbit

It has been a weird summer. June was filled with torrential rains, flooding most of the area for weeks on ...
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The Lavender Hill Mob / The Man in the White Suit Blu-rays Review: An Alec Guinness Two-Fer

This weekend I caught a Fathom events screening of Lawrence of Arabia. That is a movie made for the big screen ...
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Alps Blu-ray Review: Weird, Wild, and Confusing

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos often makes movies about insular groups of people who live in absurdist worlds that create and ...
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Straight Forward: Series 1 DVD Review: Should Have Taken a Curve

One of the worst parts of being a semi-professional reviewer is that you sometimes have to watch and talk about ...
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Five Cool Things and Terminator: Dark Fate

School is back in full swing, which always messes with my media consumption. The lazy summer, full of long days ...
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Cinema Sentries

The Flash (2014): The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray Review: Slow It Down, Flash!

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Mat Brewster with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this post. The opinions ...
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Five Cool Things and The Mandalorian

Welcome back to Five Cool Things, the weekly article where I discuss all the interesting, really good, and very cool ...
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Murdoch Mysteries: Season 12 DVD Review: A True Delight

I am an unabashed detective story/crime drama/mystery fan. Whether these tales are being told via novels, comics, movies, or television ...
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The BRD Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Fassbinder at His Best

When World War II ended, Germany was due a reckoning. As a nation, they had to come to terms not ...
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The Good Place: The Complete Third Season DVD Review: A Great Show

While watching Season One of The Good Place - a series in which four not-so-good humans find themselves in the heaven-like Good ...
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Doctor Who: The Krotons DVD Review: Better Than Its Reputation

The Krotons, the fourth serial from the sixth season of Classic Doctor Who has a lot going for it. It is one ...
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The Milky Way (1969) Blu-ray Review: Surrealistic Satire

h About an hour into Luis Bunuel's surrealistic drama The Milky Way, two men, a Jesuit and a Jansenist, argue over ...
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Death in the Garden Blu-ray Review: Well Worth Watching

After befriending Salvador Dali and finding success in the surrealist movement with films like Un Chien Andalou and L'Age d'Or, Luis Buñuel was ...
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Doctor Who: The Three Doctors Special Edition DVD Review: Three Times The Fun

It has been said before, but having The Doctor regenerate was a stroke of genius. In the beginning of the ...
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Gone to Earth / The Wild Heart Blu-ray Review: One Story Cut Twice

Throughout the 1940s, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made a series of films that are considered some of the greatest ...
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Universal Horror Collection, Volume 1 Blu-ray Review: Bela Lugosi Versus Boris Karloff

The year 1931 saw the release of both Dracula and Frankenstein. Both became absolute classics of the horror genre, cornerstones for the long-lasting ...
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Double Face Blu-ray Review: Could Have Used a Face Lift

I am officially on the record (more than once as anyone who has actually followed my writing in these pages ...
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Night of the Creeps Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review: Blood, Guts, and Laughs

It is fascinating to me when artists incorporate the culture of their formative years into their current work. Think about ...
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Mississippi Burning Blu-ray Review: How Can We Sleep When Our State Is Burning

I gotta tell you, dear reader, that I wasn't real excited sitting down to watch this new Kino Lorber Blu-ray ...
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Killing Eve: Season Two Blu-ray Review: Missing Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the new It Girl. Not because she is attractive and trendy (though she is both) but because ...
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The Silent Partner Blu-ray Review: An Underseen Gem

An average, ordinary, unambitious bank teller who lives alone, works on chess problems by himself, and collects tropical fish discovers ...
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Kidnapped (1971) Blu-ray Review: More Political than Adventurous

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote over a dozen novels in his lifetime plus multiple short stories, poems, essays, and other works. ...
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Modest Heroes Blu-ray Review: Eat Their Shorts

When Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in 2013, producer Yoshiaki Nishimura grabbed as many animators from the famed studio as ...
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Bright Angel Blu-ray Review: A Coming-of-Age Road Trip

One of the great joys of being a movie nerd in these times is that we have access to so ...
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La Prisonnière Blu-ray Review: Cluzot Gets Modern

The 1960s were a time of enormous cultural upheaval. The aftermath of World War II found many countries with a ...
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The Nun (1965) Blu-ray Review: Get Thee to a Nunnery

Jacques Rivette's 1965 adaptation of the Denis Diderot book The Nun (La Religieuse) was controversial before it was even released. The script ...
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Her Smell Is the Pick of the Week

I have become such a fan of Elisabeth Moss. I first noticed her as the Chelsea Clinton-esque President's daughter on ...
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Five Cool Things and Bob Dylan Turns 78

It has been a wild few days around these parts. We've had major storms all week - big thunderstorms, lots ...
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The Shield: The Complete Series DVD Review, Part 2: Seasons 4-7

This review discusses Seasons 4-7 of the FX series The Shield and the recent release of the complete series on DVD by ...
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How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Is the Pick of the Week

I have taken several overseas flights. They are always long. They are always exhausting. The only thing that makes them ...
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A Delicate Balance Blu-ray Review: A Caustic Bore

In the mid 1970s, producer Ely Landau created a subscription-based film series that attempted to recreate a theater experience at ...
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Five Cool Things and Doris Day

It has been a crazy week for me work-wise. I have been busy, busy, busy, most of which kept me ...
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The Shield: The Complete Series DVD Review, Part 1: Seasons 1-3

There is a scene in the pilot episode of The Shield in which Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) has been brought in ...
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Apollo 11 Is the Pick of the Week

I am not a scientist. The math was always too difficult for me. I intentionally steered away from the sciences ...
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Five Cool Things and It Chapter Two

I follow a lot of entertainment writers on social media. Usually, this is great as I enjoy reading all the ...
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The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire Blu-ray Review: Confusing and Dull

Following the success of Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Italian cinema was awash in lurid crime stories with ...
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Five Cool Things and Peter Mayhew

My wife and I become first-time homeowners about three years ago. Our little house isn't perfect but it meets our ...
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Terra Formars Blu-ray Review: Miike Can Do Better

Japanese director Takashi Miike is probably best known for his ultra-violent splatter films like Ichi the Killer and Audition. Or perhaps for his ...
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