Mat Brewster

The Good Die Young Blu-ray Review: The Transfer Deserves Better

The film is worth watching and this new disk is serviceable.

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Friendly Persuasion Blu-ray Review: William Wyler Handles the Material Well

The film is mostly a slice-of-life portrait of a Quaker family.

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Book Review: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris

My favorite thing is this graphic novel.

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Dune: Part Two Is the Pick of the Week

Like most big blockbuster movies, it is coming out in a wide variety of formats in various boxes with different artwork and special features.

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Devil’s Doorway Blu-ray Review: Has Interesting Ideas for a Western but the Presentation Fails

When a movie is really good, I have no problem forgiving a wide variety of cultural sins, but in this case, it just isn’t good enough for me to get past that one glaring problem.

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Book Review: Into the Night by Cornell Woolrich and Lawrence Block

A mystery finished decades after it was begun.

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Four Disney+ Series Are the Picks of the Week

It is with great pleasure that I find several of the Disney+ series are getting really nice looking 4K UHD releases.

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City of Hope Is the Pick of the Week

Sometimes going into a film blind is the best way to view it.

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They Drive by Night Blu-ray Review: They Live by Day

A fascinating snapshot of three actors in transitional periods of their careers.

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First Blood Steelbook 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

Considering how utterly ridiculous Rambo III is, the original looks like Shakespeare in comparison.

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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVIII Blu-ray Review: One Out of Three Ain’t Bad

There is something about these old low-budget noirs that make me keep coming back to them.

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

If you can find a sale, or you have a birthday coming up, this looks worth the purchase.

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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII Blu-ray Review: The B-Sides of Edward G. Robinson

These three movies fall within a dark period in Robinson’s career.

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The Whip and the Body Blu-ray Review: Colorful Kink from Mario Bava

The Whip and The Body is a fascinating glimpse at a director at a crossroads.

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

It is a film about myths and legends and how they are sometimes different from what they seem.

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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 the early summer of 1990. But they didn’t provide an answer. It was a viral marketing campaign before viral marketing was a buzzword. Sam Raimi had invented his own superhero and the studio needed a…

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Faithless (1932) Blu-ray Review: Tallulah Bankhead Makes It Worth Watching

Faithless isn’t a great film, but Bankhead is great in it.

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Mademoiselle (1966) Blu-ray Review: Lust and Terror In France

The film’s mystery isn’t who is doing these things but why.

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McCabe & Mrs. Miller 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week

An unconventional Western, or what they now call a revisionist Western.

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Fathom Events Presents My Fair Lady for Its 60th Anniversary

The film is an utter delight.

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He Walked by Night Blu-ray Review: You’ll Watch by Daylight

With a run time of 79 minutes, it all feels like a really long (and rather good) episode of Dragnet.

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Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVI Blu-ray Review: I’m Thrilled They Keep Releasing Them

A fantastic resource for discovering relatively obscure film noirs.

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Chantal akerman masterpieces 1968 - 1978.

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

It is a great-looking set full of Criterion’s usual fantastic packaging full of extras.

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Run Silent, Run Deep Blu-ray Review: Gable and Lancaster Are great

The film has everything you’ve come to expect from a submarine movie.

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The Facts of Murder Blu-ray Review: A Blending of Italian Genres

It is something of a blending of genres and styles.

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Savage Guns: 4 Classic Westerns Is the Pick of the Week

I really love a good Italian Western.

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The Quatermass Xperiment Blu-ray Review: The Beginnings of Hammer Horror

Its influence reaches far and wide including Doctor Who, Stanley Kubrick, and John Carpenter.

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Goodbye, Dragon Inn Blu-ray Review: An Ode to Going to the Movies

It is a film that will linger in your thoughts for days afterward.

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Is the Pick of the Week

The reviews for that one have been pretty mixed, but I’m still excited to get a chance to watch it finally.

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Blackhat Blu-ray Review: A Rare Miss For Michael Mann

Mann is too good of a director to make a really bad movie, but the ridiculousness of the plot of this one ruined it for me.

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Gator Blu-ray Review: A Charming Burt Reynolds Elevates This Ridiculous Sequel

It is all a bit silly, but it’s fun to watch.

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Oppenheimer Is the Pick of the Week

I find myself poised to watch it and am happy to make it my Pick of the Week.

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Backdraft Blu-ray Review: Thrilling Effects, Terrible Script

Ron Howard and his team of stunt coordinators used real fire and explosions to create several setpieces that are stunning in their power and beauty.

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White Lightning Blu-ray Review: A Meditative Hicksploitation Flick

A huge hit that helped create the rascally, Southern charmer persona Reynolds would stick with for most of his life.

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Carlito’s Way (Remastered Edition) Blu-ray Review: De Palma’s Way Is Best Way

If Scarface was De Palma’s Goodfellas, then Carlito’s Way is his The Irishman.

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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 with actors Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame.

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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

They are all clearly B-Pictures, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth your time.

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The buster keaton collection - three ages of hospitality.

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

Buster Keaton was one of the biggest stars of the silent screen.

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Force of Evil Blu-ray Review: An Art-House Genre Film

Like the story of Cain and Abel, Force of Evil is a tale about brothers.

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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

Don’t let the fact that you’ve maybe not heard of any of these films put you off; even lesser-known Shaw Brothers films are worth the watching, and some of them are pretty great.

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A blu - ray box with many faces on it.

Paramount Scares Volume 1 Is the Pick of the Week

Paramount loaded the films with lots of great extras and put them all together with some cool-looking packaging.

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Lorna the Exorcist Blu-ray Review: One of Jess Franco’s More Well-regarded Films

The whole film has that kind of shaggy, “let’s just mess about and see what happens” feel to it.

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The Iron-Fisted Monk Blu-ray Review: Disjointed Drama, Fantastic Kung Fu

What makes the film worth watching is the fight sequences.

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Disney pixar's elemental on blu - ray.

Elemental Is the Pick of the Week

While Pixar’s track record isn’t as stellar as it once was, they still regularly put out good films and I’m ready to finally see this one.

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Little Women (1933) Blu-ray Review: Sentimental but Sweet

In a world so full of awfulness, I’ve become a sucker for any little kindness, even when it is only found in a movie.

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Wichita Blu-ray Review: Wyatt Earp’s Origin Story

Even when they aren’t great, there is something calming about a Western.

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The Big Knife Blu-ray Review: Stabbing Old Hollywood

A complicated, sometimes difficult film.

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Poker Face: Season One Is the Pick of the Week

It stars Natasha Lyonne as a casino worker who has the innate ability to detect when people are lying.

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