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American Pop Blu-ray Review: Try, Try, and Try Again

Ralph Bakshi’s animated voyage through 20th century popular music has finally arrived on Blu-ray. While music is an integral part ...
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Three Days of the Condor Blu-ray Review: The Book Reader Who Stayed Out in the Cold

As far as paranoid ‘70s thrillers go, Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor—about Joe Turner (Robert Redford), a hip ...
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Cocaine Bear 4K UHD Review: Fans of the Genre Might be Pleased

In 1985, a drug dealer dumped cocaine out of his Cessna and then fell from the plane to his death. ...
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My Sailor, My Love Movie Review: A Delightful Feature on Later-Stage Romance

It may almost seem cliché to say that a movie filmed in Ireland is breathtaking to behold, but it’s true ...
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The Wild Party Blu-ray Review: A Wild Night Is Calling

Gather ‘round, people, and you shall hear the grim tale of one named Jolly. With a comeback in tow, a ...
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Sex, Power, and Money: Films by Beth B Blu-ray Review: A Filmmaker of Incredible Vision and Prescience

As an extreme film buff, I always appreciate and seek out filmmakers and films that challenge the usual and obviously ...
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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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Crime + Punishment in Suburbia Blu-ray Review: Mostly Punishment

Crime + Punishment in Suburbia, written by Larry Gross in the early 1990’s and directed by Rob Schmidt in 2000 ...
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Spinout Blu-ray Review: Hey, Elvis! You Gotta Win This Race!

Elvis Presley leads a small rock ‘n’ roll band, likes racing fast cars, and gets into all kinds of trouble ...
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The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Review: Sammo Hung Meets Wing Chun

Continuing their series of Sammo Hung Blu-ray releases, Arrow Video’s latest entry is this 1981 gem. Sammo directs and co-stars ...
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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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Gay Purr-ee Blu-ray Review: Judy Garland Gets Animated

By the 1960s, Judy Garland was in decline, no longer a potent or reliable force at the box office and ...
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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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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 4K UHD Review: Batman in Love

In the last couple of decades, DC has been aggressive about adapting its comic book stories into films. Some of ...
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Malone Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Shows Off a Particular Set of Skills in a Generic Actioner

Burt Reynolds is Malone. But in 1987 that didn't mean as much as it did back in the '70s when ...
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The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection DVD Review: A Fantastic Set

This three-disc set features 75 digitally remastered cartoons from the Walter Lantz Archive. The biggest star to come out of ...
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Foolish Wives Blu-ray Review: The First Million Dollar Picture

Erich von Stroheim, the director of Foolish Wives, was well known for his aristocratic and military background. He was a ...
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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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Liar’s Moon Blu-ray Review: A Teenage Soap Opera with a Great Soundtrack

Rich girl, poor boy. Good kids tangled in a web of deceit spun long ago by their parents. It’s Romeo ...
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Hardcore Blu-ray Review: A Solid and Nervy Depiction

The 1970s was a legendary and often gritty time for filmmaking. There were obviously the films of Martin Scorsese, William ...
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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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Enter the Dragon 4K UHD Review: Are You Not… Entered?

Enter the Dragon (1973; dir. Robert Clouse) is one of the most famous kung fu movies ever made. In the ...
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City of the Living Dead 4K UHD Review: Where Zombies Are Ghosts

What makes Italian horror films of the '70s and '80s exciting is that anything can happen. What makes them infuriating ...
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The Flash (2023) Blu-ray Review: You Can’t Go Home Again

Andy Muschietti's The Flash (2023) is the 13th installment of the DCEU. The franchise gets an amusing but disjointed, multiverse ...
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Brightwood DVD Review: An Independent Horror Flick with a Blood-Soaked Heart

Brightwood, written, directed, and edited by Dane Elcar, and starring Dana Berger as Jen, and Max Woertendyke as Dan, is ...
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A Taste of Blood (2020) Blu-ray Review: These Vampires Aren’t Sexy but the Soundtrack Is

A modern-day family in the Argentina countryside faces its bloody past in A.K. Tolstoy's A Taste of Blood (2020) brought ...
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The Broadway Melody Blu-ray Review: Give My Regards to the Warner Archive Team

The Broadway Melody, the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, is a melodramatic story focusing ...
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A Moment of Romance Blu-ray Review: HK Stockholm Syndrome

When a bank heist goes awry, getaway driver Wah (Andy Lau) grabs the closest civilian as a hostage as he ...
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Mutant Blast Blu-ray Review: A Witty, Weird, Gorific Blast

Troma Entertainment (The Toxic Avenger) brings Portuguese director Fernando Alle's odd, gory, silly yet witty, funny, and brilliant sci-fi/horror Mutant ...
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Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani Blu-ray Review

Superstar Italian actor Franco Nero headlines three separate projects by director Damiano Damiani with a unifying spotlight on the mafia ...
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Ferris Buellers Day Off Movie DVD Poster of a Man

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Danke Schoen for a Perfect Movie

For a certain segment of the population, this is the movie. The movie. One of my older brothers. My high ...
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Is Paris Burning? Blu-ray Review: Night of 100 Stars

Not to be confused with Paris Is Burning, this 1966 WWII drama boasts a seemingly unbelievable roster of stars reenacting ...
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Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Feels Like We’re Witnessing Real Life

Ever since legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasjuiro Ozu died in 1963, there has been an array of cinematic stories he left ...
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The Fastest Gun Alive Blu-ray Review: A Compelling Western

Based on Frank D. Gilroy's teleplay The Last Notch, Russell Rouse's The Fastest Gun Alive is a compelling western that ...
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Rio Bravo 4K UHD Review: Degüello

For Rio Bravo (1959; 141 mins.; dir. Howard Hawks)—my favorite Western or damn near it—I have almost no critical faculty. ...
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Nightbreed Movie Poster in Grey and Red

Nightbreed 4K UHD Review: Clive Barker’s Monster Mess

It's unfortunate, but perhaps not surprising that Clive Barker hung up his directing hat. He made his first film, Hellraiser, ...
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Bigfoot or Bust Movie Poster With Three Actresses

Bigfoot or Bust Blu-ray Review: It’s Busty Alright

A Spirit Halloween Bigfoot gets chased around by busty older women making corny, horny jokes. It's too long at 75 ...
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Fast Movie Poster With a Blue Ray Theme

Fast X Blu-ray Review: It’s Still About Family

Fast X, the latest installment in the franchise, is a sequel to Fast Five. I opened my review of the ...
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Akira Kurosawas Dreams Poster With a Painting

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: A Master Reflects

With a master artist, their later works are impossible to judge outside of the context of their careers. One could ...
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Swamp Thing Poster With Wording in Green

Swamp Thing (1982) Blu-ray Review: Wes Craven’s Beauty and the (Bayou) Beast

Swamp Thing (1982) written and directed by Wes Craven takes DC Comics main monster from the page to the silver ...
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Kokomo City Movie Review: A Raw Portrait of Sex Work

I'm always struck by powerful stories that showcase our lives as LGBTQIA+ individuals, because we matter too, especially in an ...
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Du Barry Was a Lady Movie DVD Front Cover

Du Barry Was a Lady Blu-ray Review: All Show, Little Story

Even by the admittedly low bar of plot development in classic movie musicals, this film’s story is so half-baked it ...
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Assault on Hill 400 Blu-ray Review: A Disappointing Throwback to ’40s and ’50s B Combat Movies

Assault on Hill 400 is loosely based on the 2nd Ranger Battalions valiant siege of Bergstein, Germany in 1944 as ...
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East of Eden Movie Poster With a Couple

East of Eden (1955) 4K Ultra HD Review: All Kinds of Perfection

Elia Kazan’s movie version of John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden is a retelling of the Cain and Abel story. ...
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The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart Blu-ray Review: A Fitting Farewell

Created by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, The Venture Bros. ran for seven seasons on Adult Swim over 14 years ...
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Cimarron (1931) Blu-ray Review: An Epic Western and a Product of Its Time

The Warner Archive Collection presents RKO Pictures' Cimarron directed by Wesley Ruggles, based on the novel by Edna Ferber, and ...
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Soundies: The Ultimate Collection Blu-ray Review: The Set Is Really a Lot of Fun

Going through history, there's always hidden gems of pop culture that seem lost forever, whether it's film or television. However, ...
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One False Move Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Southern Discomfort

Carl Franklin’s work is a blind spot for me, sad to say. While the acclaimed filmmaker has only a few ...
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Sympathy for the Devil (2023) Movie Review: Ride Angry

It’s almost too on the nose that Nicolas Cage would star in a movie called Sympathy for the Devil, in ...
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Star Pilot Blu-ray Review: Space Satire Points Finger at Self

Pietro Francisci’s Star Pilot (2 + 5 Missione Hydra in Italian, 1966) stars Leonora Ruffo and Anthony Freeman, and begins ...
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Four Quartets DVD Review: Magnetic, Mesmerizing Solo Stage Performance

While we spent our pandemic lockdowns doomscrolling, Zooming, and making bread, Ralph Fiennes decided to memorize the entirety of T.S. ...
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Digital Review: All the Feels

After focusing on Star Lord’s family back story for the first two movies, writer/director James Gunn turns his attention to ...
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Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 1 Blu-ray Review: A Good Start to Becoming a Cartoon Collector

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 1 presents 20 Warner Brothers cartoons, 10 each from the 1940s and '50s. Not sure ...
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The Truman Show 4K UHD Review: Prescient Dystopic Satire

What's frightening about The Truman Show, a dystopic nightmare about the co-option of human experience and survival in a corporate ...
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Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd Movie Review: A Look at the Life of Pink Floyd’s Founder

Before Pink Floyd became stadium rock giants during the 1970s, they were at the forefront of the London psychedelic music ...
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Invaders from Mars (1953) Blu-ray Review: Classic Science Fiction Gets the Royal Treatment

Invaders from Mars (1953) concerns a young boy named David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt - who carries much of the film ...
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The Rules of the Game Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: The Shooting Party

On the brink of WWII, Jean Renoir—motivated by baroque music and an opera, Les Caprices de Marianne—took his collaborators to ...
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Only in Theaters DVD Review: If You Love Movies, It’s a Must-see

Ironically, watching last year's documentary Only In Theaters, filmed by Raphael Sbarge, I felt regret for doing so on DVD. ...
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Clash of the Wolves / Where the North Begins Blu-ray Review: A Rin Tin Tin Double Feature

Kino Classics and the Library of Congress present a Rin Tin Tin double feature with Clash of the Wolves / ...
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Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece / Tintin and the Blue Oranges Blu-ray Review

The iconic Belgian comic book character has been translated into many forms of media over the years, and now two ...
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Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman DVD Review: Murakami Gets Animated

Writer/director/composer Pierre Földes stitches together unrelated Haruki Murakami short stories into a somewhat cohesive narrative in this animated feature film. ...
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The White Buffalo Blu-ray Review: Bizarre Prairie Jaws

There's potential in the idea of The White Buffalo. A pastiche of real world characters (Wild Bill Hickock, Crazy Horse, ...
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National Lampoon’s Vacation 4K UHD Review: This is No Longer a Vacation — It’s a Quest!

The basic idea behind National Lampoon’s Vacation is easy to guess—the movie is a lampoon, a harsh satire, of the ...
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Millennium Mambo Blu-ray Review: A Lyrical and Subtle Film

We all go through life wondering where we're going in it. We always question our life choices; whether we're actually ...
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The Servant Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Scathing, Subversive Film of Class, Sexuality, and Manipulation

Only a few films in cinematic history have ever portrayed the rather complex dynamics between masters and their manservants, but ...
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A Zed and Two Noughts / The Falls: Two Films by Peter Greenaway Blu-ray Review

Watching and doing my review for the 1982 film The Draughtman's Contract, I was instantly struck by filmmaker Peter Greenaway's ...
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Whisper of the Heart (2022) Blu-ray Review: A Delightful Romance for All Ages

Whisper of the Heart (2022) is a Japanese romance starring Nana Seino as Shizuku (She-Zoo-Koo) and Tori Matsuzaka as Seiji ...
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Creepshow Collector’s Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray Review: The Best E.C. Screamer Ever Put on Film

If horror comedies and horror anthology movies are not your thing, skip the Creepshow (1982). Otherwise, check it out. This cult ...
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Tribeca 2023 Interview: Filmmaker Rod Blackhurst on Blood for Dust

This isn’t the first time that filmmaker Rod Blackhurst has attended the Tribeca Film Festival. Back in 2016, his feature ...
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Time Bandits Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: A Child’s Nightmare Fantasy

Is Time Bandits a children's movie? It stars a child, and there's nothing on the face that a child shouldn't ...
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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Blu-ray Review: A Solid yet Standard War Flick

Guy Ritchie’s wheelhouse has primarily been in the crime comedy genre with films like Snatch; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking ...
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Tales from the Gimli Hospital Redux Blu-ray Review: Oddest of Odd Bedfellows

David Cronenberg, fellow Canadian and not a stranger to weirdness once said, "You haven't truly seen a foreign film until ...
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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 Bridges at Toko-Ri Blu-ray Review: The Toll of War

Korean war movies all tend to have a sense of ambivalence. WWII movies, even when they have obligatory scenes of ...
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Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! Blu-ray Review: Ready for His Close-up

Yogi Bear, voiced by Daws Butler and based on Art Carney's Ed Norton from The Honeymooners, first appeared in his ...
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The Draughtsman’s Contract Blu-ray Review: An Oddly Fascinating Murder Mystery

There's always going to be a rift between the rich and the poor, where the poor sometimes gets a taste ...
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Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) Movie Review: Album Art Gods

Chances are, Hipgnosis—the working name of a pair of English lads, Storm Thorgerson & Audrey ‘Po’ Powell, who revolutionized the ...
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Tribeca 2023 Review: Blood for Dust

In the opening scene of Rod Blackhurst’s Blood for Dust, we see an image of what appears to be a ...
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Tommy Guns Blu-ray Review: Blasts Conformity to Smithereens

Angolan-Portuguese director Carlos Conceição announces his arrival on the global stage with this blisteringly original, confounding film that defies categorization. ...
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Tribeca 2023: Cinnamon

Writer/director Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr.'s makes a notable feature-film debut with Cinnamon, a captivating neo-noir filled with well-plotted twists. Jodi ...
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Film: The Living Record of Our Memory DVD Review: Boiling the Preservation Ocean

This new documentary takes a look at film preservation and restoration efforts underway around the world. We tend to think ...
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Thelma & Louise Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Two for the Road

Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise tells a familiar story about two friends on a road trip who unintentionally become outlaws, ...
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Tribeca 2023 Review: Stan Lee

Stan Lee, the legendary Marvel Comics co-founder, passed away back in 2018. But the work he did during his time ...
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The Great Train Robbery (1978) Blu-ray Review: A Wry Money-Train Caper

England, 1855. Edward Pierce (Sean Connery), a clever thief with a thirst for daring stunts (and, yes, money), recruits his ...
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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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Tribeca 2023 Review: Richland

Richland, Washington is a small town with which not many people may be familiar. And yet, it has a fascinating ...
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Tribeca 2023 Interview: Filmmaker Irene Lusztig Discusses Her New Documentary, Richland

While the summer movie season will feature a lot of discussion about Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which tells the true story ...
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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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The Vault (2017) Blu-ray Review: Heist Goes Wrong, Phantom Turned Loose 

The Vault (2017) starts as a cliche heist flick but quickly (and thankfully) turns into an enjoyable yet weird haunted ...
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Gorky Park Blu-ray Review: Strange Accents Nearly Ruin a Strong Thriller

Gorky Park (1983), starring William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Joanna Pacula, and Brian Dennehy, is a thriller set in Cold War ...
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Joy House Blu-ray Review: Love and Death on the French Riviera

This 1964 gem exudes cool, from the lead performances by gorgeous stars Alain Delon and Jane Fonda, to the jazzy ...
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Cinema Sentries

Children of the Corn (1984) Blu-ray Review: The Corn Kids Bring New Meaning to Cult Classic

"Outlander!" still gives me goosebumps when I hear it called out and “He who walks behind the rows” kept me ...
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Renfield Blu-ray Review: Sink Your Teeth into This One

When you allow an actor like Nicolas Cage to completely let loose, it’s almost guaranteed that the performance will be ...
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Anna May Wong Collection Blu-ray Review: To Wong Blu, Thanks for Everything

Kino Lorber’s new box set shines a light on a string of 1930s films starring the iconic Anna May Wong. ...
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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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LYNCH/OZ Movie Review: A Slightly Repetitive but Illuminating Deep Dive into Inspired Cinephila

As many of us film buffs already know, legendary and strangely original filmmaker David Lynch has an iconic oeuvre that ...
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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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If I Had a Million Blu-ray Review: A Mixed Bag

Based on Robert D. Andrews' 1931 novel Windfall, If I Had a Million is an anthology credited to seven directors, ...
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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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Shazam! Fury of the Gods Blu-ray Review: A Family-Friendly Return of the “Shazamily”

Four years after Shazam!, a charming film starring Zachary Levi as the title character — an adult version of a ...
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Vengeance: A Love Story Blu-ray Review: Nic Cage As a Vigilante Cop 

Nicolas Cage plays an ex-soldier turned stoic detective who has had enough of the broken system that rewards the guilty ...
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Creed III Blu-ray Review: A Crowd-pleaser

As stated when I reviewed the movie, “Michael B. Jordan does double duty for the first time, making his directorial ...
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Violent Streets (1974) Blu-ray Review: Blood and Guts Yakuza Story

It might be a form of survivorship bias, but movies "demystifying" or "deglamorizing" yakuza seem to outnumber any other kind ...
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Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 Blu-ray Review: A Scruffier Yojimbo

The first director a Western audience thinks of for classic samurai films is Akira Kurosawa. After all, his Seven Samurai ...
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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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Trapped Alive Blu-ray Review: An ’80s Hodgepodge of Horror Tropes That Collapses Fast

Three escaped convicts, two girls on their way to a Christmas party, one sheriff deputy, and a cannibal mutant trapped ...
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Fast X Movie Review: Dante Unleashes an Inferno

Fast X opens by taking the audience back to the events of Fast Five when Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul ...
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Branded to Kill Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Yakuza Movie as Experimental Art

Goro Hanada's life is spinning out of control. His wife spends all his money, so he's always on the financial ...
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Clash by Night (1952) Blu-ray Review: A Fritz Lang Dud

In Clash by Night, a former good-time girl, Mae (Barbara Stanwyck), returns home to Monterey, California. Done with her drifting ...
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Wings of Desire Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Stay

Not much happens in Wings of Desire (1987; dir. Wim Wenders), but it’s among the most beautiful of films. In ...
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Return to Seoul Blu-ray Review: A Young Life in Turmoil

We all often wonder who we really are, where we come from, and where we are going. Sometimes we let ...
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Moon Garden Movie Review: A Beautiful, Nightmarish Ride

It’s easy to see that Ryan Stevens Harris’ feature film debut, Moon Garden, takes its cues from established niche directors ...
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Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 Blu-ray Review: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s DNR!

After Superman became a sensation in comic books, newspaper comic strips, and on the radio, Fleischer Studios, home of cartoons ...
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The Loveless Blu-ray Review: A Stylish Mash-Up of Two Very Different Outlaw Biker Classics

They’re loud, fast, and out of control! And that's just the motorcycles! Engines roar and trouble soars when this relentless ...
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Storm Warming Blu-ray Review: A Flawed but Hard-hitting Expose of Small Town Corruption

The 1950s may have seemed somewhat wholesome and Cleaveresque, but make no mistake, there were a lot of worms hidden ...
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It’s Quieter in the Twilight Movie Review: The Final Frontier

Space exploration is one of the most fascinating subjects we’ve been able to conduct in human history. It gives us ...
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A Night at the Family Dog / Go Ride the Music / West Pole DVD Review: Celebrating San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock Scene

Mercury Studio repackages A Night at the Family Dog / Go Ride the Music / West Pole into a 2-DVD ...
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One Way Passage Blu-ray Review: Book This Voyage

When a convicted murderer gets extradited from Hong Kong to San Francisco, the last thing on his mind is falling ...
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The Strawberry Blonde Blu-ray Review: A Sweet and Charming Piece of Old Hollywood

The Strawberry Blonde (1941) is directed by Raoul Walsh; stars James Cagney, Olivia De Havilland, and Rita Hayworth; and is ...
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Superman 5-Film Collection 4K UHD Review: Super-Reeve

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… Warner Bros.’s new 4K UHD Superman 5-Film Collection (1978-1987)! But is it worth ...
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All-Star Superman 4K UHD Review: Great Comics, Okay Movie

Superman is a difficult character to write good stories about because… he's Superman. Impervious to damage, always the strongest and ...
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Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One Blu-ray Review: When There Is Action, the Film Shines

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsman, Part One has been released direct-to-video and follows a separate storyline from ...
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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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Terminal Invasion Blu-ray Review: An Alien Walks into an Airport…

Back in 2002, the Sci-Fi Channel debuted Terminal Invasion, one of their first original productions, under their Saturday Night Movie ...
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Backtrack (1990) Blu-ray Review: Dennis Hopper’s Lost… Piece

Backtrack feels like one of the weird indie comedy-crime-dramas that came out in the wake of Pulp Fiction's success. It's ...
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Two Witches Blu-ray Review: Two Witches Casts a Classic Horror Spell

“You're in the dark now” as hinges creak, shadows creep, candles flicker and danger lurks in shadowy places throughout this ...
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Sisu (2023) Movie Review: A Bloody, and I Mean Bloody, Good Time

What happens when you take John Wick, cross it with Inglourious Basterds, and sprinkle a dash of the Man with ...
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Heat (1986) Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Comes Back Fighting

They call him "Mex." His name is Nick Escaflante (Burt Reynolds), and we meet him drunk in a bar hitting ...
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Hell Is for Heroes Blu-ray Review: Slowly Draws One in Just Enough to Guarantee Disappointment

Have you ever come upon a movie that you are sure you must have seen before, but just can’t remember?  ...
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Living Blu-ray Review: Anchored by the Exquisite Metamorphosis of Bill Nighy’s Lead Performance

Directed by Oliver Hermanus, Living is adapted from 1952 Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952) by screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro, who set the ...
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Magic Mike’s Last Dance Blu-ray Review: The Cohesiveness and Comradery of the First Two Installments Is Missing

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a departure from the previous films. While it still offers sexy, astoundingly choreographed dance numbers ...
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TCM Classic Film Festival 2023 Review: Celebrating Film Legacies

My eleventh opportunity to cover the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood provided an opportunity to enjoy some old favorites ...
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Cocaine Bear (Maximum Rampage Edition) Blu-ray Review: Bump This Up to the Top of Your To-Watch List

In the grand cinematic tradition of bear-rampage movies like Grizzly and Grizzly 2 comes Elizabeth Banks's Cocaine Bear, an amusing ...
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The Big Easy (1986) Blu-ray Review: Corrupt Cop Chews Scenery

For Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid), life in the Big Easy is smooth. He's got his big smile (he's Dennis Quaid, ...
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The Seventh Seal Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Chess with Death

The Criterion Collection has just released Ingmar Bergman’s film, The Seventh Seal, in 4K UHD. When I first saw the ...
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Sick of Myself Movie Review: The Dark Side of Narcissism

Writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s new film is the darkest of black comedies, at least until the comedy runs out. He imagines ...
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Sweetwater (2023) Movie Review: Inspirational Sports Story Hampered by Cliches

Martin Guigui’s Sweetwater begins with a sports reporter (Jim Caviezel) getting into a taxicab and start discussing the possibility of ...
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Wild in the Country (1961) Blu-ray Review: Dramatic Elvis in the Country

See Elvis Presley run Wild in the Country. Watch him croon as lovely ladies swoon. There's Millie Perkins, Tuesday Weld, ...
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Black Sunday (1977) Special Edition Blu-ray Review: The Creep in the Blimp

It gets off to a fast start. Yet Black Sunday (1977; dir. John Frankenheimer), one of the better disaster flicks ...
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iMordecai DVD Review: Judd Hirsch Strikes Gold in His Golden Years

iMordecai is the Taxi TV series reunion I never knew I needed, starring alums and fellow Oscar nominees Judd Hirsch ...
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Secret Defense Blu-ray Review: Twisty Secrets Hampered by Indefensible Direction

This French drama gets off to a promising start when a scientist named Sylvie (Sandrine Bonnaire) learns that her father ...
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The Super 8 Years DVD Review: A Remembrance of the Past

Films can be meditative and self-reflecting, meaning they can come from one's own experience (internal or external). This can also ...
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Interview with Actor Cary Elwes on His New Film, Sweetwater, and His Performance as Ned Irish

While most people know Cary Elwes for his work as the dashing Westley in Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride, the ...
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Arsène Lupin Collection Blu-ray Review: Two Hits and a Miss

The famous fictional thief arrives on Blu-ray in this new collection of three of his French theatrical adventures. The Lupin ...
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Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection 4K UHD Review: First 4K Contact

Following up on last year’s six-movie 4K box set of the original Star Trek movies, Paramount has moved on to ...
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Silent Avant-Garde Blu-ray Review: Interesting and Assorted Curiosities

I have come around on silent cinema, and I've always loved experimental/avant-garde films. Putting the two rather misunderstood categories of ...
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Cool Hand Luke 4K UHD Review: Grin Like a Baby, Bite Like a Gator

It’s not I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) (still the best chain gang movie I’ve seen)—but… Cool ...
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) 4K UHD Review: Bogart’s Big Break

Is The Maltese Falcon a film noir? To many viewers, it's not a question. It's black and white. There's crime. ...
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Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham Blu-ray Review: Superhero Goes Supernatural

Based on the Elseworlds miniseries of the same name written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace, Batman: The Doom That ...
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The Dark (1979) Blu-ray Review: I’d Be Okay If It Had Stayed in the Dark

The Dark is probably better left there, in the dark. Starring William Devane, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel with appearances ...
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Kubrick by Kubrick Movie Review: Stanley Speaks

Director Stanley Kubrick died March 7, 1999, a few months before the release of his thirteenth and final feature film, ...
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Flaming Ears Blu-ray Review: A Striking Experience

Despite the fact that you always hear the demeaning phrase "Cinema is dead", when it comes to many areas of ...
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Dead Silence (2007) 4K UHD Review: Scary Dolls Don’t Do Anything

James Wan has had an interesting career. An absolute underdog, coming from Malaysia via Australia, he made the film Saw. ...
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Knockabout Blu-ray Review: Sticks, Shticks, and Slapstick

Arrow Video continues their new series of Sammo Hung releases with this action comedy from early in his directorial career. ...
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Make Believe Seattle 2023 Review: Smoking Causes Coughing

If you’re in the Seattle area this weekend, Make Believe Seattle Film Festival is making its debut with a fascinating ...
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The Son of the Stars Movie Review: Rare ‘80s Romanian Cartoon Gets Blu-ray Release

Thanks to Deaf Crocodile Films, U.S. viewers will finally get the chance to watch this Romanian sci-fi rarity. The film ...
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Chilly Scenes of Winter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Star of the Movie Is Director Joan Micklin Silver

Joan Micklin Silver’s Chilly Scenes of Winter is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ann Beattie. ...
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Babylon 4K UHD Steelbook Review: The Locust Boogie

Babylon (2022; dir. Damien Chazelle) does for silent movies what Boogie Nights (1997; dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) did for ‘70s ...
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Dragonslayer (1981) 4K UHD Review: Great Dragon, Murky Movie

The title Dragonslayer brings to mind knights in shining armor. Villainous, fire-breathing wyrms. Damsels chained to posts in sacrifice to ...
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Heartland of Darkness Blu-ray Review: Linnea Quigley’s Lost Movie

Heartland of Darkness is truly straight from the 1980s. Filmed in1989 but never released in its entirety until 2022. Known ...
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Rocky: The Knockout Collection 4K UHD Review: The Contender

A Philly ham-and-cheese tough with heart, Rocky Balboa is one of cinema’s best underdogs. Say what you like about its ...
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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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Millionaires’ Express Blu-ray Review: Chinese Bullet Train

After shining a light on the rise of the Hong Kong film industry with their phenomenal Shaw Brothers box sets, ...
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The Vagrant (1992) Blu-ray Review: Baffling, but Never Boring Horror Film

The Vagrant has about four movies worth of themes and plots, but less than a single film's coherence. It's weird, ...
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Panther (1995) Blu-ray Review: No, Not That Black Panther

From director Mario Van Peebles comes Panther (1995), the highly fictionalized story of the rise and fall of the Black ...
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The House That Screamed Blu-ray Review: A Hallmark of European Horror

I have discovered so many hidden gems in the horror genre. These films contain expert filmmaking, strong performances, sheer atmosphere, ...
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The Magic Flute (2023) Movie Review: Bargain Harry Potter Set to Opera

I’m not familiar with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s original opera, The Magic Flute, nor am I familiar with other renditions that ...
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Fill ‘er Up with Super Blu-ray Review: A Down-to-Earth Meditation of Male Bonding and Bruised Masculinity

I always enjoy simple films about the flaws of human beings and how their insecurities and toxicities are made bare ...
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Creed III Movie Review: This Time (Like Every Time) It’s Personal

Michael B. Jordan does double duty for the first time, making his directorial debut on Creed III, the ninth movie ...
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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Blu-ray Review: Puss Meets Death for the Ninth Time

The Shrek series has been dormant in the cinema for over a decade, since the release of the first Puss ...
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Training Day 4K UHD Review: King Kong Ain’t Got Sh*t on Him!

Let’s talk about Training Day (2001; dir. Antoine Fuqua). Modern-day L.A.: Jake, a rookie cop (Ethan Hawke, in an Oscar-nominated ...
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Hollywood Shuffle Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Be the Change You Want to See

When struggling actor Robert Townsend was frustrated by the stereotypical and racist roles he was being offered as a black ...
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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Grinding Relentless Horror Classic

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre deserves its reputation. For grisliness, for nastiness. And for excellence. It's a rare movie that ...
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Kubo and the Two Strings 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Stop-motion Tribute to Samurai Cinema

Kubo and the Two Strings is the story of an estranged family coming together. It is the story of a ...
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The Boxtrolls 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Charming, Odd, Ugly Beautiful?

Stop motion animation is a pretty weird medium. It was an early special effects trick, long since superseded by technology. ...
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Palm Trees and Power Lines Movie Review: A Disturbingly Common Premise Given a Modern Feel

There are lots of films about the harsh realities of young adulthood, with emphasis on broken family dynamics, first love, ...
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The Magnificent Seven (1960) 4K UHD Review: McQueen Rising

It’s an Old West spin on a brilliant film, director Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. And hey, did it need to ...
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The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom Blu-ray Review: Guess Who’s Coming to Breakfast

London, 1968. It’s the height and epicenter of the Swinging Sixties, and hip housewife Mrs. Blossom (Shirley MacLaine) is content ...
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Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection Blu Ray Disc

Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: School’s Out

Dazed and Confused (1993; dir. Richard Linklater) circuits darkness: On the last day of school before the summer of 1976, ...
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Ice Merchants Movie Review: A Heartrending Winner

These days its amazing that filmmakers are still able to invent new ways to tell stories, especially those centering on ...
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The Fabelmans Blu-ray Review: Steven Spielberg’s Cinema Paradiso

It’s hard to imagine what cinema would be like without Steven Spielberg’s presence. He’s the man who created the first ...
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2023 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films Review

Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
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Deadly Games Blu-ray Review: More Like Slays of Our Lives

Deadly Games (1982) is the passion project of writer/director Scott Mansfield and passions do play a large role in this odd ...
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2023 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films Review

Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
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Francois Truffaut Collection Blu-ray Review: L’Enfant Tendre

Director Francois Truffaut was a darling of French New Wave cinema. He left us some good movies. Unlike some of ...
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The Final 19 Movie Review: A Riveting Account of a POW’s Experience

Dan Hefel knew he was going to be drafted eventually. With the Vietnam War intensifying, Hefel decided that it would ...
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Three Colors Trilogy Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Enigmatic Masterpieces About People Connecting

The Three Colors of this film trilogy, Blue, White, and Red, are so-chosen for the French tri-color flag (sorry, U.S.A.) ...
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Love on the Ground Blu-ray Review: Much Ado About Nothing

This 1984 French drama follows actors rehearsing a play, a time-worn concept of a show within a show dating back ...
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2023 Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Short Films Review

Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
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Emily Movie Review: Frances O’Connor’s Directorial Debut Soars to Wuthering Heights

First-time writer/director Frances O’Connor reimagines the final years of writer Emily Brontë’s life in this stunning period drama, heralding her ...
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Ghostriders Blu-ray Review: They Aren’t Just in the Sky!

MVD Visual brings to Blu-ray a refreshingly clear, remastered print of director/producer Alan Stewart’s Ghostriders (1987). A low budget action/horror ...
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Let’s Hope It’s a Girl Blu-ray Review: Italian Film, Continental Cast

While this Italian film was a critical success in its native land in 1986, winning seven of its national awards ...
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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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Irreversible: Straight Cut Movie Review: Still Remains an Exhaustive, Challenging Experience

Director Gaspar Noe is one of the true cinematic enfant terribles. People love him or hate him, but there's also ...
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Chicago: Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook Review: Rob Marshall Gives Audiences the Old Razzle Dazzle

Musical theater is something that I have always enjoyed. It is often difficult to translate a spectacular and engaging play ...
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That Man Bolt Blu-ray Review: That Man Hammer

At first glance, this movie seems to bear all the hallmarks of a blaxploitation classic: its prime 1973 release date, ...
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Plane Movie Review: Gerard Butler Leads a Satisfying Shoot-’em Up

Directed by Jean-François Richet from a screenplay by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis, Plane is a satisfying shoot-'em up ...
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Legion of Super-Heroes Blu-ray Review: A Fun Superhero Adventure Geared Towards a Younger Audience

Listed as part of the Tomorrowverse line of animated DC movies, Legion of Super-Heroes has the feel of a pilot ...
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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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Men at Work Blu-ray Review: Put Away the Vegemite. It’s Not the Band from a Land Down Under

From writer-director Emilio Estevez comes Men at Work (1990), a misguided way to get him and his brother Charlie Sheen ...
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Violent Night Blu-ray Review: Can’t Say They Didn’t Warn You

Director Tommy Wirkola's Violent Night opens with Santa (David Harbour) having grown disillusioned with his job, bringing to mind Rankin/Bass' ...
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Bones and All Blu-ray Review: A Heartbreaking and Accomplished Tale of Young Love

There are some films that only come once in a lifetime; films that seem to come from an otherworldly stratosphere; ...
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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Wondrous Story about a Wondrous Storyteller by a Wondrous Filmmaker

Co-writer/director Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen has the distinction of being the sixth Gilliam-directed title (#1166) released by ...
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Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power Blu-ray Review: A Look at How Things Look

The male gaze in film has been problematic since the silent age. Sometimes directors (mostly male) unintentionally objectify women on ...
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Darryl Jones: In the Blood DVD Review: The Man in the Stones’ Shadow

While not a well-known name, Darryl Jones is an integral component of the “Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the ...
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Invaders from Mars (1953) Blu-ray Review: A Standout in the ’50s Sci-fi Genre

William Cameron Menzies's penultimate movie as director, Invaders from Mars (1953), tells the story of an alien invasion seen through ...
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Black Adam Blu-ray Review: Legend, Vengeance, and the Kahndaqian Way

Black Adam is the 11th film in the DC Extended Universe franchise.The character first appeared in rival Fawcett Comics' Marvel ...
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El Vampiro Negro (1953) Blu-ray Review: An Argentinian “M”

Film noir as a genre is rather over-subscribed. It existed for a relatively brief period in the ‘40s and ‘50s ...
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Cinema’s First Nasty Women Blu-ray Set Review: Thoughtfully Highlights Unknown Performers from Different Walks of Life

When Donald Trump called opponent Hilary Clinton a "nasty woman" at a 2016 televised debate, the term came back to ...
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Twilight (1998) Blu-ray Review: Mystery and Noir Fans Should Enjoy It

After adapting Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool (1994), starring Paul Newman, its screenwriter/director Robert Benton teamed with Russo to write the ...
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The Banshees of Inisherin Movie Review: Simply Lovely

What could be better than watching two under-appreciated actors give it their all? It’s watching two under-appreciated actors give it ...
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Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be Movie Review: Adventures in Real and Imagined Past

This thoroughly charming French animated feature takes a unique approach in its storytelling. Rather than solely recounting the fictional adventures ...
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Halloween Ends Blu-ray Review: Rights Many of the Wrongs Committed by Halloween Kills

2018's Halloween was basic but effective because it erased the bad taste left by many of the original franchise's questionable ...
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From the Couch Hole: Best of Film 2022 – Movies Are Dreams, Doll, That You Never Forget

From 2005 through 2013 and then, after a hiatus, from 2017-2021, I have punctuated each year with an ever increasingly ...
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Broker Movie Review: The Korean Shoplifters

Japanese writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda continues his cinematic explorations outside his native land and language with this dysfunctional relationship drama set ...
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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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The Girl on a Motorcycle Blu-ray Review: Spins Its Stylish Wheels

This 1968 UK/France co-production boasts star turns from Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull in their prime, automatically making it an ...
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EO Movie Review: One of the Very Best Films of the Year

We as humans have continued to take for granted the role that animals play in the world. They can do ...
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Unity Temple: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Masterpiece DVD Review: The Restoration and Reopening of a Historic and Beautiful Landmark

Many people know Frank Lloyd Wright for his incredible home designs such as Cedar Rock and the Hollyhock House. However, ...
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Silent Running 4K UHD: Sci-Fi Hippy Dreams Dying

One of the things that made Star Wars such a huge hit was the state of '70s cinematic sci-fi. Because ...
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Cooley High Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Coming-of-Age Gem Authentically Told from a Black Perspective

Usually, when you think of Black-oriented films from the 1970s, you mind automatically gears toward the Blaxploitation genre, which usually ...
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The Woman King Blu-ray Review: Delivers a Mighty Roar

When the majority of PG-13-rated action films being released today have a Marvel or DC label attached to them, one ...
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Walk Proud Blu-ray Review: A Gang Epic, It’s Not. Cult Classic? Maybe…

From its tagline “He was tough enough for the streets…was he tough enough to leave them?” Walk Proud (1979) starring ...
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Bloom Up: A Swinger Couple Story DVD Review: A Film That’s Not for Everyone

The old saying goes that we don't know what goes on behind closed doors. But what happens when we are ...
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5-25-77 Blu-ray Review: A Long Time Ago in a Town Far, Far Away

For sci-fi starved ‘70s youth, the arrival of Star Wars was a watershed moment forever etched in our collective memories. ...
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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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Pulp Fiction 4K UHD Review: Jukeboxer

Joy to the world: Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction—a gritty crime romp set in mid-1990s L.A.—is now out in 4K Ultra ...
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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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Alma’s Rainbow Blu-ray Review: A Reason Why Diverse Storytelling Is Essential

I have seen so many films about the coming-of age experience and the complications of being young in an increasingly ...
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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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Let There Be Drums! DVD Review: And There Was Drums and Drummers!

Promotional materials for director Justin Kreutzmann's Let There Be Drums! state “The world’s greatest drummers reflect on the art of ...
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National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 4K UHD Review: Calamitous Christmas Classic

Clark Griswold, the epitome of the American Middle-Class male, is on a slow burn. He has a vision of perfection. ...
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The Polar Express 4K UHD Review: Dead-eyed and Dreaming

The Polar Express (2004; dir. Robert Zemeckis; rated G) is a weird, dark flick that should be darker. A motion-capture ...
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Entre Nous Blu-ray Review: Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves

Writer/director Diane Kurys borrowed from her own family history to craft this story about two women finding their way in ...
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A Christmas Story 4K UHD Review: You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!

A Christmas Story (1983; dir. Bob Clark) is a charmer—a sweet and funny yuletide gem that’s never too cute for ...
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Hold Me Tight Blu-ray Review: An Engrossing Multi-character Piece

When I first saw Vicky Krieps in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, really holding her own against the likes of ...
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles 4K UHD Review: Thanksgiving’s Annual Lesson

Neal Page is not a bad guy. He's tightly wound, a little too serious, but the most important thing to ...
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Contraband (1980) Blu-ray Review: Explosively Violent Crime Action

Contraband comes in like a cool stylish Italian crime thriller and goes out like a Lucio Fulci gore fest. Being ...
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Elf (2003) 4K UHD Review: Farrell and Favreau Hit

Elf is a strange premise, anchored on a strange performance. Will Ferrell plays the grown-up version of a baby from ...
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Three Thousand Years of Longing Blu-ray Review: George Miller’s Genie

Writer/director George Miller enables his whimsical side in between Mad Max movies in this modern riff on the Aladdin myth. ...
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The Nun and the Devil Blu-ray Review: Which Mother Will Prove Superior?

Despite the title, the Devil does not make a physical appearance in the Italian The Nun and The Devil (1973). ...
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Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman Collection Blu-ray Review: Essential Viewing

As I may have mentioned in previous reviews, documentaries (more than anything in film) have the power to move, enrage, ...
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Blue Hawaii 4K UHD Limited Edition Review: Death by Half-baked Clambake

When did Elvis Presley’s decline start?  From the cradle. I’m no Elvis scholar (I’ve listened to dozens of his albums ...
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The Company of Wolves 4K UHD Review: Little Red’s Wolf Fetish

The Company of Wolves (1984) is only kind of a werewolf movie, in that werewolves in the 20th century took ...
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Make Way for Tomorrow Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Children Just Don’t Understand

Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Hell is other people.” That’s hard to disagree with, especially after seeing the way the ...
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We Are As Gods DVD Review: A Life Well Lived

We Are As Gods takes its title from a line in subject Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog, a book Steve ...
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The Kindred (1987) Blu-ray Review: Practical Effects, Impractical Storytelling

The difference between bad practical effects and bad CG is that bad practical still look like effort. Bad CG looks ...
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Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Vol. 2 4K UHD Review: They Don’t Make ’em Like They Used To

Halloween is over, but we can celebrate it all year long—am I right? I’m always in a mood to watch ...
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Casablanca 4K UHD Review: Here’s Looking at UHD

There's an old joke about a woman who saw Hamlet for the first time and hated it. "It was all ...
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Something in the Dirt Movie Review: A Masterpiece of Cosmic, Organic Horror

Brilliant and highly original DIY filmmakers Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson already won my heart with such films as Resolution, ...
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Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm Blu-ray Review: Reunited, and It Feels So Good

Fifteen years after Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever, the 11th season of the series, concluded, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is ...
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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: An All-time Classic

What else can one say about E.T., the unfortunately fictional but lovable alien, who whisked his way into our hearts ...
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Dressed to Kill (1980) 4K UHD Review: Hitchcock Outdone

To ‘get’ Dressed to Kill, you probably have to bear a soft spot in your heart for slasher movies. And it ...
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Lost Highway Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Neo-noir with a Twist

The opening credits of Lost Highway are a POV from a car racing down a darkened highway, its headlights the ...
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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Blu-ray Review: ’80s Friendly Alien Invasion

E.T. is Jaws inverted. They both involve invasions of small communities by an alien entity. In one, the invasion disrupts ...
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Private Desert Blu-ray Review: Troubled Characters Seek Their Oasis

Daniel is in a rut. As a disgraced macho cop with anger management issues, he spends his days in Brazil ...
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Beast (2022) Blu-ray Review: A Fun, Albeit Familiar, Adventure

Baltasar Kormákur's Beast and his visual effects team present thrills in this conventional man-versus-animal story set among the South African ...
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Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! DVD Review: A Love Letter to the Original Series

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided the writer with a free copy of the DVD reviewed in this Blog Post. The ...
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Zerograd (Zero City) Movie Review: Unique and Surreal

Seeing so many twisted tales of desperation where characters are forced into situations beyond their control, I do get that ...
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Satan’s Little Helper Blu-ray Review: Ripe for Discovery

As a fan of horror flicks, I like many of them (even the lowest tier ones), and celebrated cult director ...
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The Bat Blu-ray Review: Has a Certain Campy Charm

I do like good murder mysteries, but only if they're done well. They have to have solid scripts, well-written characters ...
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The Automat DVD Review: A Wonderful Piece of Americana

Horn & Hardart's The Automat was a chain of self-serve restaurants in Philadelphia and New York City, and although only ...
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The Count Yorga Collection Blu-ray Review: Vampire Wreaks Havoc in California! Read All About It!

From Arrow Video comes Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) and The Return of Count Yorga (1972), cult classics and drive-in delights, ...
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Blind Fury (1989) Blu-ray Review: ’80s Action Meets Japan Pulp

Eighties action was more fun. The special effects were often primitive. The martial arts was less fluid, the camera work ...
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Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons Blu-ray Review: The Super Odd Couple Unites for the First Time

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is a standalone film in the DC Animated Movie franchise. The titular ...
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Carmen (2022) Blu-ray Review: Welcome to Malta

When a lifelong servant of the church finds herself out on the street, she’s faced with an uncertain future that ...
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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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Tropic Thunder Director’s Cut (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: A Comedy Pedigree That Guarantees Laughter

Starring co-writer and director Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., and Tom Cruise in a rare comedic role, Tropic ...
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Happy Birthday to Me (1981) Blu-ray Review: Canuxploitation Slasher Slog

Post Halloween, the slasher was the go-to low budget money maker. The formula is so simple (young people, bloody death, ...
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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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Bullet Train Blu-ray Review: Snakes on a Train

Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) helms this crime caper featuring a colorful collection of scheming assassins gathered on a bullet ...
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Island of the Blue Dolphins Blu-ray Review: An Enjoyable Story to Watch Unfold

Most of us have movies that we watched repeatedly as children.  I recall my sister and I watching Island of ...
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Army of Darkness 4K UHD Limited Edition Steelbook Review: Long Live the Medieval Dead

Army of Darkness was my personal introduction to the Evil Dead. Because of Universal's awful marketing at the time, however, ...
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I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing Blu-ray Review: A Prime Example of the Immediacy and Importance of Films by Women

As a constant daydreamer who also happens to be a member of the queer/LGBTQ community, I totally related to Patricia ...
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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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Going Places Blu-ray Review: Traveling Nowhere, Reaching Enlightenment

The title of this 1974 French film is somewhat ironic, considering the rudderless path of its twenty-something drifter characters. Co-written ...
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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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Mark of the Vampire Blu-ray Review: A Horror Film Until It Isn’t

Director Tod Browning's Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a remake of his silent film London After Midnight (1927), which ...
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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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Siege (1983) Blu-ray Review: One Very Tense and Mostly Unpredictable Action Thriller

Being a gay man myself, I am still terrified to live a world where most people continue to deny the ...
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The War of the Worlds (1953)/When Worlds Collide 4K UHD Review: They Came From the ’50s

Producer George Pal’s thumbprint on science-fiction and fantasy films was big. A new limited edition, two-disc set from Paramount Pictures ...
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DC League of Super-Pets Blu-ray Review: Sit and Stay for This One

Usually known for being much darker and more adult than its cinematic competitor Marvel, DC films will, on the very ...
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TV Review: Love & Rockets: The Great American Comic Book

After 40 years of ongoing publication, the Love & Rockets comic book is long overdue for a celebratory retrospective. Thankfully, ...
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Scream 2 4K UHD Review: You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream… For Less Scream

I doubt the horror movie was ‘dead’ before Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) came out. Hadn’t The Silence of the Lambs ...
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The Chocolate War Blu-ray Review: Aims a Rather Sharp Eye on the Weird Rituals of Toxic Male Youth

I've always liked actor-director Keith Gordon. I feel that he remains a very underrated and unique figure of film. He ...
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A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Review: An Epic from the Past Finally Reaches USA

Director Tomu Uchida’s sprawling 1965 crime drama has finally arrived on home video for the first time outside of Japan. ...
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The House of the Lost on the Cape Blu-ray Review: House of Lost Time

Two girls and their elder move into a remote country home and set about cleaning it up for their residence. ...
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ELVIS (2022) Blu-ray Review: That Film’s All Right

Director/co-writer Baz Luhrmann tells the story of Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks, who makes an odd, slightly distracting vocal choice) ...
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South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition Blu-ray Review

It’s hard to imagine the trials and tribulations that must have befallen Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to reach the South Pole ...
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The Justice of Bunny King Movie Review: Essie Davis Excels in Familiar Drama

Gaysorn Thavatt’s The Justice of Bunny King premiered at 2021’s Tribeca Film Festival and is finally making its way to ...
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Rain 90th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: Luminous Joan Crawford Drives the Clouds Away

When a massive monsoon wallops the tiny South Pacific location of Pago Pago, it traps an assortment of colorful travelers ...
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Poltergeist (1982) 4K UHD Review: This Movie Is Clean

Director Tobe Hooper is most famous for Poltergeist (1982) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Chainsaw’s a sick, stone classic ...
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The Lost Boys 4K UHD Review: Flashy ’80s Vampire Flick

Half of the The Lost Boys is a moody gothic music-video styled horror movie. The other half is the '80s ...
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Le Corbeau Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Poison Pen French Noir

France has always been one of the centers of cinema in the world. After all, the Lumiere brothers rivaled Edison ...
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Karmalink Blu-ray Review: Dreams of Treasure and Past Lives

When a teenage boy starts having dreams about his past lives, he discovers that he may have the key to ...
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Batman: The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition Blu-ray Review: Happy Holiday, Batman!

Batman battles mob bosses, a mysterious serial killer and a few super villains as he learns how to be a ...
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The Amusement Park Blu-ray Review: Romero’s Most Imaginative and Bleakest Film

George A. Romero, one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium, like Wes Craven, didn't make straightforward ...
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Kamikaze Hearts Blu-ray Review: A Gritty Deep Dive into the Porn Industry

There are so many facets to the queer film, not just a showcase of bodies. Most people (definitely conservatives) think ...
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Massacre at Central High Blu-ray Review: More Than Just Goofy Teens Getting Whacked

Massacre at Central High (1976), starring Derrel Maury, Andrew Stevens (son of Stella Stevens), Kimberly Beck, Robert Carradine, and Cheryl ...
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Death Game Blu-ray Review: Delightfully Unhinged and Truly Unpredictable

The 1970s was perhaps the best decade for horror flicks and suspense thrillers. There's always going to be a discussion ...
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The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz Blu-ray Review: Archie’s Got Murder in His Mind

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz (Ensayo De Un Crimen) (1955) shot in Mexico and filmed in Spanish ...
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Director’s Edition 4K UHD Review: The Starship Ponderosa

Upon its release in 1979, Trekkies greeted Star Trek: The Motion Picture as an Event. Green-lit by Paramount in a ...
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Rachel, Rachel Blu-ray Review: A Tender Story of a Woman’s Awakening

As an invalid and kind of recluse who is trapped in the same existence, the same room, the same house, ...
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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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Facing Nolan Blu-ray Review: All Baseball Fans Should Face Ryan’s Story

Director Bradley Jackson's Facing Nolan details the career of first-ballot National Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan whose accomplishments over ...
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Hotel du Nord Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Somber French Realist Classic

I was not always familiar with legendary filmmaker Marcel Carne's work, such as 1938's Port of Shadows, or his 1945 ...
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Running out of Time/Running out of Time 2 Blu-ray Review: One Part Great, One Part Unnecessary

It’s always great when a boutique studio like Arrow or Criterion releases a set of films in the same series ...
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The Brink’s Job Blu-ray Review: William Friedkin’s Heist Film

Directed by William Friedkin, The Brink’s Job (1978) depicts fictionalized events surrounding one of the “crime(s) of the century.” From ...
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Ferngully: The Last Rainforest 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: A Magical yet Rigid Journey

When revisiting a movie from your childhood, it’s always best to go in with an open mind and the expectation ...
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Coming Apart Blu-ray Review: A Realistically Troubling Portrait of Our Deepest, Darkest Impulses

I have seen some pretty bold films about the nature of male-to-female relationships, but only a few of them ever ...
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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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Force 10 From Navarone Blu-ray Review: A Sequel 18 Years in the Making

Force 10 From Navarone (1978) is the direct sequel to The Guns Of Navarone made in 1961. Recast with Robert ...
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Battle of the Worlds Blu Ray Review Poster

Battle of the Worlds Blu-ray Review: An Early Sci-fi Gem

In a time of incredible special effects and science fiction becoming more reality than fiction, it can be difficult for ...
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Detachment shown in the move Get Away If You Can

Get Away If You Can Movie Review: Sound Advice

It’s a rarity when the name of the movie tells you what to do if you see it playing in ...
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An emotional scene from Get Away If You Can

Interview with Terrence Martin and Dominique Braun about Get Away If You Can

It’s a daunting task to direct your first feature film in Hollywood. It’s even more daunting when you also commit ...
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The poster of the movie Neptune Frost

Neptune Frost Blu-ray Review: The Revolution Will Be Televised

This feature film from recording artist Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman is undeniably ambitious, boasting an enticing amalgamation of Afrofuturist ...
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The poster of the action comedy Salt and Pepper

Salt and Pepper / One More Time Blu-ray Review: Stay Away from the Spice Rack

Ten years before legendary director Richard Donner would bring the Lethal Weapon team to the big screen, he would make ...
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The poster of the movie Man of a Thousand Faces

Man of a Thousand Faces Blu-ray Review: James Cagney Plays Lon Chaney

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) from Universal International tells the tale of silent film star Lon Chaney, from vaudeville ...
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Custom Cropped Poster of The Old Man Movie

The Old Man Movie Blu-ray Review: Cows Udders End the World

When three Estonian kids are left in the country to spend the summer with their dairy farming grandpa, they expect ...
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The Thin Man Goes Home Blu-ray Review: Bring This Comic Mystery to Your Home

The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) is the fifth of the six Thin Man films starring William Powell and Myrna ...
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Terror Circus Blu-ray Review: Far More Disturbing Than Terrifying

I’ve seen a lot of good B movies.  This may be the first C movie I’ve seen, and though director ...
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A poster of the movie God Told Me Too

God Told Me To 4K UHD Review: Holy Mindscrew

Larry Cohen, the writer-director of such cult faves as It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff, was a ...
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Event Horizon 4K UHD Review: Atmospheric Space Chiller

At first glance, Event Horizon looks like a rip-off of Alien. A crew in space, far from any aid, investigating ...
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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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Wild Rovers Blu-ray Review: William Holden and Ryan O’Neal Ride into the Sunset

Wild Rovers (1971) starring William Holden, Ryan O’Neal and Karl Malden is a playful yet somber look at the lives ...
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Green Lantern: Beware My Power Blu-ray Review: An Action-packed, Enjoyable Adventure for John Stewart’s First Outing

Green Lantern: Beware My Power re-tells how John Stewart became the Green Lantern amidst a larger Justice League story. It ...
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Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo Blu-ray Review: A Made-for-TV Dud

This review is full of references that may be considered spoilers.  Ultimately, there is nothing I can write that would ...
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Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon DVD Review: Insanity Ensues

If you're a fan of the ridiculous and over-the-top comedy of the Reno 911! series, your fandom will only grow in ...
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Flatliners (1990) 4K UHD Review: Visually Stimulating Psychological Thriller

Doctors lead very exciting lives in movies. Every doctor I've known in real life has been a little dull. Intelligent, ...
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