Mat Brewster

Cinema Sentries

Friday the 13th 8 Movie Collection Blu-ray Review: The Paramount Films

If you are a casual fan and wouldn’t mind owning these films at a reasonable price, then this set is for you.

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Born for Hell Blu-ray Review: Too Exploitative for the Arthouse, Too Damn Slow for the Grindhouse

Severin Films has just released a new Blu-ray of the film with loads of special features.

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Union Pacific Blu-ray Review: The Great Train Epic

It is a western, it is a train movie, and it is also a racing film.

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Vengeance Trails: 4 Classic Westerns Blu-ray Review: Proving There’s More to Spaghetti Westerns than Sergio Leone

I don’t know that I’d call them truly classic, but they are all quite good and worth the purchase.

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Deep Cover Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Neo-Noir with a Message

It is a genre film that can surprise you.

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Shenandoah Blu-ray Review: Indifference in a Time of War

If you can turn off questions about standing idly by while a war over slavery is fought, then I suspect you will enjoy this film a lot more than I did.

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The Gilded Lily Blu-ray Review: Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray’s First Team-Up

It is well worth watching; it just lacks that extra spark that makes a good film great.

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British Noir III DVD Review: A Nice but Slight Look into the Genre

It contains five films from 1940 to 1956 which run the gamut from straight-noir to musical-comedy-noir to melodrama-noir.

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Alias Nick Beal Blu-ray Review: A Faustian Noir

It’s the filmmaking that really makes this film into something special.

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Icy Breasts Blu-ray Review: A Cool French Noir

Icy Breasts works because it isn’t overly flashy.

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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (35th Anniversary) Steelbook Blu-ray Review

If you don’t own a copy or only have it on DVD, then this is well worth the purchase.

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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 films included in this set run the gamut of straight-ahead crime dramas to no-plot Euro sleaze.

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There Was a Crooked Man… Blu-ray Review: Revisionist Western Could Have Used a Few More Revisions

It is all but saved by its cast who are easy to enjoy interacting with each other and charming in their star power.

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The Prince’s Voyage Blu-ray Review: A Film Only the French Could Make

While it won’t compare favorably to your favorite animated films from Pixar or Studio Ghibli, I’m glad films like this exist.

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The Legend of Hei Blu-ray Review: A Must-See For Animation Fans

The film moves seamlessly between character development and fast-paced action sequences.

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Memories of Murder Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The South Korean Zodiac

This second film from South Korean director Bong Joon ho, is often compared with David Fincher’s Zodiac.

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Death Has Blue Eyes Blu-ray Review: It’s a Mastorakis Mess

A wacky, highly edited, totally ’70s mesh of horror, comedy, and action that’s kind of fun and makes very little sense.

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The Invisible Man Appears Blu-ray Review: It Can Finally Be Seen

As the first existing tokusatsu, The Invisible Man Appears is massively important to Japanese history.

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Earwig and the Witch Blu-ray Review: A Lesser Effort from Studio Ghibli

It didn’t receive the warmest reception from fans, but I found it well worth watching.

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Céline and Julie Go Boating Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Long, Strange, Riveting Film

A strange, bewildering, long film that invites a variety of interpretations.

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Crossfire (1947) Blu-ray Review: Film Noir with a Message

One of the first films to tackle antisemitism and helped usher in a new wave of social justice stories.

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On-Gaku: Our Sound Movie Review: A Lo-fi Delight

Its droll sense of humor and basic style give it a unique perspective.

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Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks is the Pick of the Week

Even if it epitomizes all the things wrong with the Chibnall era of the series.

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The Last Starfighter Blu-ray Review: Tailor Made for 1980s Gamers

The Last Starfighter is tailor made for 1980s gamers.

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Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) Blu-ray Review: Abbott and Costello Meet the Giant

Two not-so-classic comedies from the very much classic comedy duo get a 4K upgrade.

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Joint Security Area Blu-ray Review: Friendship and Murder in the DMZ

Park Chan-wook’s breakout film gets the Arrow Video treatment.

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Lupin III: The First Blu-ray Review: Lots of Fun

Lupin III’s first foray into digital animation is a lovely looking, fun adventure for the family.

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Mouchette Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: So Beautiful, So Sad

A few days in the sad little life of a French girl.

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Popeye (1980) Blu-ray Review: A Strange Little Miracle

It is amazing this film ever got made and that it is actually good.

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The Deeper You Dig Blu-ray Review: A Terrific Low-budget Horror

A perfect addition to your Halloween viewing schedule.

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Focus Features 10-Movie Spotlight Collection Blu-ray Review

A fine collection of films from one of my favorite studios.

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Five Cool Things and Dune (2020)

Enjoy these cool things.

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Blumhouse of Horrors 10-Movie Collection Blu-ray Review: A Mixed Bag

Ten of the most popular Blumhouse horror films get a nice boxed set.

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Five Cool Things and Two Jules Dassin Films Get the Criterion Treatment

What a marvelous week for cool things.

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Brute Force & The Naked City Criterion Collection Blu-ray Reviews: A Jules Dassin Double Feature

Two classics film noirs from Jules Dassin get the Criterion treatment.

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Five Cool Things and No Time to Die Trailer

I’ve really been enjoying a lot of older films that aren’t quite up to classic status lately.

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The Balcony Blu-ray Review: Cinematic Satire, I Guess

This adaptation of a French satire failed to make me laugh or think very deeply.

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Five Cool Things and Chadwick Boseman

May he forever rest in power.

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Breezy Blu-ray Review: Like Sunday Morning

A sweet romance from Clint Eastwood feels a bit queasy due to the age difference.

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Cry Freedom Blu-ray Review: A Fight for Justice

An important black story unfortunately told from a white perspective.

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There’s Always Tomorrow Blu-ray Review: A Nuanced Portrayal of a Man Grown Bored with His Life

This Douglas Sirk melodrama takes a realistic look into a marriage on the rocks and the temptation of another woman.

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

The Flash keeps getting bigger and bigger, but not necessarily better and better.

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Toni Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Influential French Drama

Jean Renoir’s realistic portrayal of migrant workers in the South of France helped influence the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism.

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Tender Mercies Blu-ray Review: A Gentle, Beautiful Film

The script by Horton Foote is smart. It won him an Oscar. It knows about people and their inner lives

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Cinema Sentries

Five Cool Things and The Suicide Squad

After a couple of weeks off, I’m back with Five Cool Things.

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Life Is a Long Quiet River Blu-ray Review: It Could Use a Few Noisy Rapids

A lighthearted social satire about French life that could have used a few more laughs.

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Raid on Rommel Blu-ray Review: Raids Other Films for Ideas

It says something about Richard Burton’s star power that he still had a career after this stinker.

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