Cinema Sentries

“What I hope for the audience: that they will be thrilled and challenged.” – Meryl Streep

Gritty, realistic sci-fi doesn’t exactly translate to stunning pre-production design.

New fans, lapsed fans, fair-weather fans, broke fans and folks whose kids have been begging them to go to a convention – rejoice! Wizard World has heard your cries!

His work will live long and the audience will prosper from it.

Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper unite their considerable talents in what may well be the best Eastwood film yet.

If you enjoyed MST3K at all, you will want to check this out.

Beloved children’s classic from the 1970s finally gets its turn on the big screen.

There’s a mystery to be solved, and it will be solved.

If these are five of the best animated shorts, then it would appear to be a poor year for animated shorts.

Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers team up for a subversive, slightly racist classic.

Did we mention yours?

German director David Wnendt’s misguided and NSFW tale of filthy femininity finds its on to Blu-ray.

Run, don’t walk, to the merry ole land of Oz with TCM and Fathom Events!

A good old-fashioned bad-guys-getting-their-butts-handed-to-them kinda movie.

New Jersey underground rockers take a look back at a career unknown.

IDW and the Library of American Comics give us a wonderful collection from the Golden Age.

The choice of films makes the usefulness of this book; well, not very useful.

Documentarian Mary Dore’s celebration of 2nd Wave Feminism opens in limited engagements in New York and Los Angeles.

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig turn dysfunction into emotional drama in The Skeleton Twins.

Sometimes goofy, occasionally deadly, and always exciting, it’s Superman as you may not have seen him before.

Missy Franklin strives to make her first while Kara Lynn Joyce aims for her third Olympic Games. Or, why sometimes bronze is just as sweet as gold.

This book relies too much on quotes from famous names and not enough on imparting facts.

If you consider yourself a Weird Al fan, this is worth picking up.

Original Hip-Hop culture and graffiti documentary gets well deserved restoration.

If you love Voltron, you’ll love this book.

Come sail down the Amazon with the Rifftrax crew!

Equestria Girls proves that friendship and music really is magic.

Spanish filmmaker Danny Garcia unravels the mysterious sadness of a guitar god.

Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakas blow smoke for emotional growth in Matthew Weiner’s feature-film debut.

Kristen Stewart finally shows her talent in this thought-provoking drama.

Many small scenes that work by themselves but when strung together they do not connect even though on paper they should.

Wolfman Jack’s celebrated ’70s revue sheds light on dim decade.

Nelson also covers the joys of Jon Voight, how hard it is to watch movies out of riff mode, and whether he thinks time is a flat circle.

Peter Capaldi’s first outing as the Doctor time-travels onto DVD/Blu-ray.

The book is very substantive, and full of information

Samuel Fuller’s “lost” noir novel finally gets published in the U.S.

The first modern detective meets a master of modern storytelling and finds a convert in this reviewer.

Chad Derdowski returns to Wizard World after a long hiatus…but is there any magic left?

Did your favorite make the list?

The story of the brash man who robbed a bank for love…so he says.

Jude Law taps into his inner savage brute for the latest from Richard Shepard.

A prequel novel every bit as addicting as the TV show.

Eric Rohmer’s 1996 joyful musing finally gets a U.S. release, sixteen years later.

A somewhat progressive ’80s throwback eschewing story for blood-letting.

A swingin’ good time with Archie and the gang.

Awkward teen finds real life is manageable.

The smile may be the “beginning of love,” but it’s also Rumsfeld’s Weapon of Mass Distraction.

If there was ever going to be a horror film for the non-horror fan to enjoy, it’s this one.

Caroll is Big Bird and Big Bird is Caroll, and that is a rare and beautiful thing to watch on screen.

Even at his worst, Wes Anderson is one of our best.