Tribeca 2023 Interview: Filmmaker Irene Lusztig Discusses Her New Documentary, Richland
By David Wangberg |
While the summer movie season will feature a lot of discussion about Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which tells the true story ...
Read More The Package Blu-ray Review: Not so Much a Bad Movie as a Disappointing One
By Mat Brewster |
When I was in college, I realized that when you are with a particular group of friends and having a ...
Read More The Vault (2017) Blu-ray Review: Heist Goes Wrong, Phantom Turned Loose
By Joe Garcia III |
The Vault (2017) starts as a cliche heist flick but quickly (and thankfully) turns into an enjoyable yet weird haunted ...
Read More Gorky Park Blu-ray Review: Strange Accents Nearly Ruin a Strong Thriller
By Greg Hammond |
Gorky Park (1983), starring William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Joanna Pacula, and Brian Dennehy, is a thriller set in Cold War ...
Read More Joy House Blu-ray Review: Love and Death on the French Riviera
By Steve Geise |
This 1964 gem exudes cool, from the lead performances by gorgeous stars Alain Delon and Jane Fonda, to the jazzy ...
Read More Children of the Corn (1984) Blu-ray Review: The Corn Kids Bring New Meaning to Cult Classic
By Joe Garcia III |
"Outlander!" still gives me goosebumps when I hear it called out and “He who walks behind the rows” kept me ...
Read More Renfield Blu-ray Review: Sink Your Teeth into This One
By David Wangberg |
When you allow an actor like Nicolas Cage to completely let loose, it’s almost guaranteed that the performance will be ...
Read More Anna May Wong Collection Blu-ray Review: To Wong Blu, Thanks for Everything
By Steve Geise |
Kino Lorber’s new box set shines a light on a string of 1930s films starring the iconic Anna May Wong. ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII Blu-ray Review: A Triple Feature from the ’50s
By Mat Brewster |
Kino Lorber continues to release lesser-known film noirs in their The Dark Side of Cinema sets. Part XIII includes a ...
Read More LYNCH/OZ Movie Review: A Slightly Repetitive but Illuminating Deep Dive into Inspired Cinephila
By Davy |
As many of us film buffs already know, legendary and strangely original filmmaker David Lynch has an iconic oeuvre that ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIV Blu-ray Review: Moral Teachings Get in the Way
By Mat Brewster |
It just now occurs to me that classic-era Hollywood cinema, especially those low-budget B-Movies, often acted like the Afterschool Specials ...
Read More If I Had a Million Blu-ray Review: A Mixed Bag
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Robert D. Andrews' 1931 novel Windfall, If I Had a Million is an anthology credited to seven directors, ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XII Blu-ray Review: I’m Still Watching and Loving It
By Mat Brewster |
The thing about film noir is that it was mostly a B-movie genre. For every noir with A-list stars, directors, ...
Read More Shazam! Fury of the Gods Blu-ray Review: A Family-Friendly Return of the “Shazamily”
By generaljabbo |
Four years after Shazam!, a charming film starring Zachary Levi as the title character — an adult version of a ...
Read More Vengeance: A Love Story Blu-ray Review: Nic Cage As a Vigilante Cop
By Joe Garcia III |
Nicolas Cage plays an ex-soldier turned stoic detective who has had enough of the broken system that rewards the guilty ...
Read More Creed III Blu-ray Review: A Crowd-pleaser
By Gordon S. Miller |
As stated when I reviewed the movie, “Michael B. Jordan does double duty for the first time, making his directorial ...
Read More Violent Streets (1974) Blu-ray Review: Blood and Guts Yakuza Story
By Kent Conrad |
It might be a form of survivorship bias, but movies "demystifying" or "deglamorizing" yakuza seem to outnumber any other kind ...
Read More Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 Blu-ray Review: A Scruffier Yojimbo
By Kent Conrad |
The first director a Western audience thinks of for classic samurai films is Akira Kurosawa. After all, his Seven Samurai ...
Read More Safe in Hell Blu-ray Review: A Pre-Code Delight
By Mat Brewster |
If you do an image search for "pre-Code Hollywood," you'll most likely find a picture of an attractive blonde woman ...
Read More Trapped Alive Blu-ray Review: An ’80s Hodgepodge of Horror Tropes That Collapses Fast
By Joe Garcia III |
Three escaped convicts, two girls on their way to a Christmas party, one sheriff deputy, and a cannibal mutant trapped ...
Read More Fast X Movie Review: Dante Unleashes an Inferno
By Gordon S. Miller |
Fast X opens by taking the audience back to the events of Fast Five when Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul ...
Read More Branded to Kill Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Yakuza Movie as Experimental Art
By Kent Conrad |
Goro Hanada's life is spinning out of control. His wife spends all his money, so he's always on the financial ...
Read More Clash by Night (1952) Blu-ray Review: A Fritz Lang Dud
By Jack Cormack |
In Clash by Night, a former good-time girl, Mae (Barbara Stanwyck), returns home to Monterey, California. Done with her drifting ...
Read More Wings of Desire Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Stay
By Jack Cormack |
Not much happens in Wings of Desire (1987; dir. Wim Wenders), but it’s among the most beautiful of films. In ...
Read More Return to Seoul Blu-ray Review: A Young Life in Turmoil
By Davy |
We all often wonder who we really are, where we come from, and where we are going. Sometimes we let ...
Read More Moon Garden Movie Review: A Beautiful, Nightmarish Ride
By David Wangberg |
It’s easy to see that Ryan Stevens Harris’ feature film debut, Moon Garden, takes its cues from established niche directors ...
Read More Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 Blu-ray Review: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s DNR!
By Gordon S. Miller |
After Superman became a sensation in comic books, newspaper comic strips, and on the radio, Fleischer Studios, home of cartoons ...
Read More The Loveless Blu-ray Review: A Stylish Mash-Up of Two Very Different Outlaw Biker Classics
By Joe Garcia III |
They’re loud, fast, and out of control! And that's just the motorcycles! Engines roar and trouble soars when this relentless ...
Read More Storm Warming Blu-ray Review: A Flawed but Hard-hitting Expose of Small Town Corruption
By Davy |
The 1950s may have seemed somewhat wholesome and Cleaveresque, but make no mistake, there were a lot of worms hidden ...
Read More It’s Quieter in the Twilight Movie Review: The Final Frontier
By David Wangberg |
Space exploration is one of the most fascinating subjects we’ve been able to conduct in human history. It gives us ...
Read More A Night at the Family Dog / Go Ride the Music / West Pole DVD Review: Celebrating San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock Scene
By Gordon S. Miller |
Mercury Studio repackages A Night at the Family Dog / Go Ride the Music / West Pole into a 2-DVD ...
Read More One Way Passage Blu-ray Review: Book This Voyage
By Steve Geise |
When a convicted murderer gets extradited from Hong Kong to San Francisco, the last thing on his mind is falling ...
Read More The Strawberry Blonde Blu-ray Review: A Sweet and Charming Piece of Old Hollywood
By Greg Hammond |
The Strawberry Blonde (1941) is directed by Raoul Walsh; stars James Cagney, Olivia De Havilland, and Rita Hayworth; and is ...
Read More Superman 5-Film Collection 4K UHD Review: Super-Reeve
By Jack Cormack |
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 ...
Read More All-Star Superman 4K UHD Review: Great Comics, Okay Movie
By Kent Conrad |
Superman is a difficult character to write good stories about because… he's Superman. Impervious to damage, always the strongest and ...
Read More Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One Blue-ray Review: When There Is Action, the Film Shines
By Greg Hammond |
Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsman, Part One has been released direct-to-video and follows a separate storyline from ...
Read More The Sunday Woman Blu-ray Review: A Strange Little Movie That Defies Expectations and Genre Delineations
By Mat Brewster |
An Italian Poliziotteschi by way of Agatha Christie. A murder mystery that's more interested in high society and class distinction ...
Read More Terminal Invasion Blu-ray Review: An Alien Walks into an Airport…
By Gordon S. Miller |
Back in 2002, the Sci-Fi Channel debuted Terminal Invasion, one of their first original productions, under their Saturday Night Movie ...
Read More Backtrack (1990) Blu-ray Review: Dennis Hopper’s Lost… Piece
By Kent Conrad |
Backtrack feels like one of the weird indie comedy-crime-dramas that came out in the wake of Pulp Fiction's success. It's ...
Read More Two Witches Blu-ray Review: Two Witches Casts a Classic Horror Spell
By Joe Garcia III |
“You're in the dark now” as hinges creak, shadows creep, candles flicker and danger lurks in shadowy places throughout this ...
Read More Sisu (2023) Movie Review: A Bloody, and I Mean Bloody, Good Time
By David Wangberg |
What happens when you take John Wick, cross it with Inglourious Basterds, and sprinkle a dash of the Man with ...
Read More Heat (1986) Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Comes Back Fighting
By Kent Conrad |
They call him "Mex." His name is Nick Escaflante (Burt Reynolds), and we meet him drunk in a bar hitting ...
Read More Hell Is for Heroes Blu-ray Review: Slowly Draws One in Just Enough to Guarantee Disappointment
By Rons Reviews |
Have you ever come upon a movie that you are sure you must have seen before, but just can’t remember? ...
Read More Living Blu-ray Review: Anchored by the Exquisite Metamorphosis of Bill Nighy’s Lead Performance
By Gordon S. Miller |
Directed by Oliver Hermanus, Living is adapted from 1952 Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952) by screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro, who set the ...
Read More Magic Mike’s Last Dance Blu-ray Review: The Cohesiveness and Comradery of the First Two Installments Is Missing
By Lorna Miller |
Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a departure from the previous films. While it still offers sexy, astoundingly choreographed dance numbers ...
Read More TCM Classic Film Festival 2023 Review: Celebrating Film Legacies
By Lorna Miller |
My eleventh opportunity to cover the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood provided an opportunity to enjoy some old favorites ...
Read More Cocaine Bear (Maximum Rampage Edition) Blu-ray Review: Bump This Up to the Top of Your To-Watch List
By Gordon S. Miller |
In the grand cinematic tradition of bear-rampage movies like Grizzly and Grizzly 2 comes Elizabeth Banks's Cocaine Bear, an amusing ...
Read More The Big Easy (1986) Blu-ray Review: Corrupt Cop Chews Scenery
By Kent Conrad |
For Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid), life in the Big Easy is smooth. He's got his big smile (he's Dennis Quaid, ...
Read More The Seventh Seal Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Chess with Death
By Jack Cormack |
The Criterion Collection has just released Ingmar Bergman’s film, The Seventh Seal (1957), in 4K UHD. When I first saw ...
Read More Sick of Myself Movie Review: The Dark Side of Narcissism
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s new film is the darkest of black comedies, at least until the comedy runs out. He imagines ...
Read More Sweetwater (2023) Movie Review: Inspirational Sports Story Hampered by Cliches
By David Wangberg |
Martin Guigui’s Sweetwater begins with a sports reporter (Jim Caviezel) getting into a taxicab and start discussing the possibility of ...
Read More Wild in the Country (1961) Blu-ray Review: Dramatic Elvis in the Country
By Joe Garcia III |
See Elvis Presley run Wild in the Country. Watch him croon as lovely ladies swoon. There's Millie Perkins, Tuesday Weld, ...
Read More Black Sunday (1977) Special Edition Blu-ray Review: The Creep in the Blimp
By Jack Cormack |
It gets off to a fast start. Yet Black Sunday (1977; dir. John Frankenheimer), one of the better disaster flicks ...
Read More iMordecai DVD Review: Judd Hirsch Strikes Gold in His Golden Years
By Steve Geise |
iMordecai is the Taxi TV series reunion I never knew I needed, starring alums and fellow Oscar nominees Judd Hirsch ...
Read More Secret Defense Blu-ray Review: Twisty Secrets Hampered by Indefensible Direction
By Steve Geise |
This French drama gets off to a promising start when a scientist named Sylvie (Sandrine Bonnaire) learns that her father ...
Read More The Super 8 Years DVD Review: A Remembrance of the Past
By Davy |
Films can be meditative and self-reflecting, meaning they can come from one's own experience (internal or external). This can also ...
Read More Interview with Actor Cary Elwes on His New Film, Sweetwater, and His Performance as Ned Irish
By David Wangberg |
While most people know Cary Elwes for his work as the dashing Westley in Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride, the ...
Read More Arsène Lupin Collection Blu-ray Review: Two Hits and a Miss
By Steve Geise |
The famous fictional thief arrives on Blu-ray in this new collection of three of his French theatrical adventures. The Lupin ...
Read More Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection 4K UHD Review: First 4K Contact
By Steve Geise |
Following up on last year’s six-movie 4K box set of the original Star Trek movies, Paramount has moved on to ...
Read More Silent Avant-Garde Blu-ray Review: Interesting and Assorted Curiosities
By Davy |
I have come around on silent cinema, and I've always loved experimental/avant-garde films. Putting the two rather misunderstood categories of ...
Read More Cool Hand Luke 4K UHD Review: Grin Like a Baby, Bite Like a Gator
By Jack Cormack |
It’s not I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) (still the best chain gang movie I’ve seen)—but… Cool ...
Read More The Maltese Falcon (1941) 4K UHD Review: Bogart’s Big Break
By Kent Conrad |
Is The Maltese Falcon a film noir? To many viewers, it's not a question. It's black and white. There's crime. ...
Read More Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham Blu-ray Review: Superhero Goes Supernatural
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on the Elseworlds miniseries of the same name written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace, Batman: The Doom That ...
Read More The Dark (1979) Blu-ray Review: I’d Be Okay If It Had Stayed in the Dark
By Joe Garcia III |
The Dark is probably better left there, in the dark. Starring William Devane, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel with appearances ...
Read More Kubrick by Kubrick Movie Review: Stanley Speaks
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Stanley Kubrick died March 7, 1999, a few months before the release of his thirteenth and final feature film, ...
Read More Flaming Ears Blu-ray Review: A Striking Experience
By Davy |
Despite the fact that you always hear the demeaning phrase "Cinema is dead", when it comes to many areas of ...
Read More Dead Silence (2007) 4K UHD Review: Scary Dolls Don’t Do Anything
By Kent Conrad |
James Wan has had an interesting career. An absolute underdog, coming from Malaysia via Australia, he made the film Saw. ...
Read More Knockabout Blu-ray Review: Sticks, Shticks, and Slapstick
By Steve Geise |
Arrow Video continues their new series of Sammo Hung releases with this action comedy from early in his directorial career. ...
Read More Make Believe Seattle 2023 Review: Smoking Causes Coughing
By Steve Geise |
If you’re in the Seattle area this weekend, Make Believe Seattle Film Festival is making its debut with a fascinating ...
Read More The Son of the Stars Movie Review: Rare ‘80s Romanian Cartoon Gets Blu-ray Release
By Steve Geise |
Thanks to Deaf Crocodile Films, U.S. viewers will finally get the chance to watch this Romanian sci-fi rarity. The film ...
Read More Chilly Scenes of Winter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Star of the Movie Is Director Joan Micklin Silver
By Greg Hammond |
Joan Micklin Silver’s Chilly Scenes of Winter is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ann Beattie. ...
Read More Babylon 4K UHD Steelbook Review: That Old Hollywood Stomp
By Jack Cormack |
Babylon (2022; dir. Damien Chazelle) does for silent movies what Boogie Nights (1997; dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) did for ‘70s ...
Read More Dragonslayer (1981) 4K UHD Review: Great Dragon, Murky Movie
By Kent Conrad |
The title Dragonslayer brings to mind knights in shining armor. Villainous, fire-breathing wyrms. Damsels chained to posts in sacrifice to ...
Read More Heartland of Darkness Blu-ray Review: Linnea Quigley’s Lost Movie
By Joe Garcia III |
Heartland of Darkness is truly straight from the 1980s. Filmed in1989 but never released in its entirety until 2022. Known ...
Read More Rocky: The Knockout Collection 4K UHD Review: The Contender
By Jack Cormack |
A Philly ham-and-cheese tough with heart, Rocky Balboa is one of cinema’s best underdogs. Say what you like about its ...
Read More The Retaliators (2022) Blu-ray Review: Crisis of Faith Meets Zombies
By Mat Brewster |
Stories about men encountering a crisis of faith are as old as stories, or as old as crises, or at ...
Read More Millionaires’ Express Blu-ray Review: Chinese Bullet Train
By Steve Geise |
After shining a light on the rise of the Hong Kong film industry with their phenomenal Shaw Brothers box sets, ...
Read More The Vagrant (1992) Blu-ray Review: Baffling, but Never Boring Horror Film
By Kent Conrad |
The Vagrant has about four movies worth of themes and plots, but less than a single film's coherence. It's weird, ...
Read More Panther (1995) Blu-ray Review: No, Not That Black Panther
By Joe Garcia III |
From director Mario Van Peebles comes Panther (1995), the highly fictionalized story of the rise and fall of the Black ...
Read More The House That Screamed Blu-ray Review: A Hallmark of European Horror
By Davy |
I have discovered so many hidden gems in the horror genre. These films contain expert filmmaking, strong performances, sheer atmosphere, ...
Read More The Magic Flute (2023) Movie Review: Bargain Harry Potter Set to Opera
By David Wangberg |
I’m not familiar with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s original opera, The Magic Flute, nor am I familiar with other renditions that ...
Read More Fill ‘er Up with Super Blu-ray Review: A Down-to-Earth Meditation of Male Bonding and Bruised Masculinity
By Davy |
I always enjoy simple films about the flaws of human beings and how their insecurities and toxicities are made bare ...
Read More Creed III Movie Review: This Time (Like Every Time) It’s Personal
By Gordon S. Miller |
Michael B. Jordan does double duty for the first time, making his directorial debut on Creed III, the ninth movie ...
Read More Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Blu-ray Review: Puss Meets Death for the Ninth Time
By Kent Conrad |
The Shrek series has been dormant in the cinema for over a decade, since the release of the first Puss ...
Read More Training Day 4K UHD Review: King Kong Ain’t Got Sh*t on Him!
By Jack Cormack |
Let’s talk about Training Day (2001; dir. Antoine Fuqua). Modern-day L.A.: Jake, a rookie cop (Ethan Hawke, in an Oscar-nominated ...
Read More Hollywood Shuffle Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Be the Change You Want to See
By Gordon S. Miller |
When struggling actor Robert Townsend was frustrated by the stereotypical and racist roles he was being offered as a black ...
Read More The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Grinding Relentless Horror Classic
By Kent Conrad |
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre deserves its reputation. For grisliness, for nastiness. And for excellence. It's a rare movie that ...
Read More Kubo and the Two Strings 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Stop-motion Tribute to Samurai Cinema
By Kent Conrad |
Kubo and the Two Strings is the story of an estranged family coming together. It is the story of a ...
Read More The Boxtrolls 4K UHD Steelbook Review: Charming, Odd, Ugly Beautiful?
By Kent Conrad |
Stop motion animation is a pretty weird medium. It was an early special effects trick, long since superseded by technology. ...
Read More Palm Trees and Power Lines Movie Review: A Disturbingly Common Premise Given a Modern Feel
By Davy |
There are lots of films about the harsh realities of young adulthood, with emphasis on broken family dynamics, first love, ...
Read More The Magnificent Seven (1960) 4K UHD Review: McQueen Rising
By Jack Cormack |
It’s an Old West spin on a brilliant film, director Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. And hey, did it need to ...
Read More The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom Blu-ray Review: Guess Who’s Coming to Breakfast
By Steve Geise |
London, 1968. It’s the height and epicenter of the Swinging Sixties, and hip housewife Mrs. Blossom (Shirley MacLaine) is content ...
Read More Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: School’s Out
By Jack Cormack |
Dazed and Confused (1993; dir. Richard Linklater) circuits darkness: On the last day of school before the summer of 1976, ...
Read More Ice Merchants Movie Review: A Heartrending Winner
By Davy |
These days its amazing that filmmakers are still able to invent new ways to tell stories, especially those centering on ...
Read More The Fabelmans Blu-ray Review: Steven Spielberg’s Cinema Paradiso
By David Wangberg |
It’s hard to imagine what cinema would be like without Steven Spielberg’s presence. He’s the man who created the first ...
Read More 2023 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films Review
By Gordon S. Miller |
Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
Read More Deadly Games Blu-ray Review: More Like Slays of Our Lives
By Joe Garcia III |
Deadly Games (1982) is the passion project of writer/director Scott Mansfield and passions do play a large role in this odd ...
Read More 2023 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films Review
By Darcy Staniforth |
Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
Read More Francois Truffaut Collection Blu-ray Review: L’Enfant Tendre
By Jack Cormack |
Director Francois Truffaut was a darling of French New Wave cinema. He left us some good movies. Unlike some of ...
Read More The Final 19 Movie Review: A Riveting Account of a POW’s Experience
By David Wangberg |
Dan Hefel knew he was going to be drafted eventually. With the Vietnam War intensifying, Hefel decided that it would ...
Read More Three Colors Trilogy Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Enigmatic Masterpieces About People Connecting
By Kent Conrad |
The Three Colors of this film trilogy, Blue, White, and Red, are so-chosen for the French tri-color flag (sorry, U.S.A.) ...
Read More Love on the Ground Blu-ray Review: Much Ado About Nothing
By Steve Geise |
This 1984 French drama follows actors rehearsing a play, a time-worn concept of a show within a show dating back ...
Read More 2023 Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Short Films Review
By Davy |
Starting February 17, the 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in over 500 theaters across 75+ theatrical markets ...
Read More Emily Movie Review: Frances O’Connor’s Directorial Debut Soars to Wuthering Heights
By Steve Geise |
First-time writer/director Frances O’Connor reimagines the final years of writer Emily Brontë’s life in this stunning period drama, heralding her ...
Read More Ghostriders Blu-ray Review: They Aren’t Just in the Sky!
By Joe Garcia III |
MVD Visual brings to Blu-ray a refreshingly clear, remastered print of director/producer Alan Stewart’s Ghostriders (1987). A low budget action/horror ...
Read More Let’s Hope It’s a Girl Blu-ray Review: Italian Film, Continental Cast
By Steve Geise |
While this Italian film was a critical success in its native land in 1986, winning seven of its national awards ...
Read More The Bride Wore Black and Mississippi Mermaid Blu-rays Review: Truffaut Does Hitchcock
By Mat Brewster |
For much of his career, Alfred Hitchcock was not taken seriously by the critical establishment. His films were hugely successful, ...
Read More Irreversible: Straight Cut Movie Review: Still Remains an Exhaustive, Challenging Experience
By Davy |
Director Gaspar Noe is one of the true cinematic enfant terribles. People love him or hate him, but there's also ...
Read More Chicago: Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook Review: Rob Marshall Gives Audiences the Old Razzle Dazzle
By Lorna Miller |
Musical theater is something that I have always enjoyed. It is often difficult to translate a spectacular and engaging play ...
Read More That Man Bolt Blu-ray Review: That Man Hammer
By Steve Geise |
At first glance, this movie seems to bear all the hallmarks of a blaxploitation classic: its prime 1973 release date, ...
Read More Plane Movie Review: Gerard Butler Leads a Satisfying Shoot-’em Up
By Gordon S. Miller |
Directed by Jean-François Richet from a screenplay by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis, Plane is a satisfying shoot-'em up ...
Read More Legion of Super-Heroes Blu-ray Review: A Fun Superhero Adventure Geared Towards a Younger Audience
By Gordon S. Miller |
Listed as part of the Tomorrowverse line of animated DC movies, Legion of Super-Heroes has the feel of a pilot ...
Read More White Woman (1933) Blu-ray Review: Certainly Watchable but Not Much More Than That
By Mat Brewster |
In the early 1930s, Paramount Pictures made a name for itself by making films with beautiful women in exotic settings. ...
Read More Men at Work Blu-ray Review: Put Away the Vegemite. It’s Not the Band from a Land Down Under
By Joe Garcia III |
From writer-director Emilio Estevez comes Men at Work (1990), a misguided way to get him and his brother Charlie Sheen ...
Read More Violent Night Blu-ray Review: Can’t Say They Didn’t Warn You
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Tommy Wirkola's Violent Night opens with Santa (David Harbour) having grown disillusioned with his job, bringing to mind Rankin/Bass' ...
Read More Bones and All Blu-ray Review: A Heartbreaking and Accomplished Tale of Young Love
By Davy |
There are some films that only come once in a lifetime; films that seem to come from an otherworldly stratosphere; ...
Read More The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Wondrous Story about a Wondrous Storyteller by a Wondrous Filmmaker
By Gordon S. Miller |
Co-writer/director Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen has the distinction of being the sixth Gilliam-directed title (#1166) released by ...
Read More Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power Blu-ray Review: A Look at How Things Look
By Davy |
The male gaze in film has been problematic since the silent age. Sometimes directors (mostly male) unintentionally objectify women on ...
Read More Darryl Jones: In the Blood DVD Review: The Man in the Stones’ Shadow
By Gordon S. Miller |
While not a well-known name, Darryl Jones is an integral component of the “Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the ...
Read More Invaders from Mars (1953) Blu-ray Review: A Standout in the ’50s Sci-fi Genre
By Gordon S. Miller |
William Cameron Menzies's penultimate movie as director, Invaders from Mars (1953), tells the story of an alien invasion seen through ...
Read More Black Adam Blu-ray Review: Legend, Vengeance, and the Kahndaqian Way
By Gordon S. Miller |
Black Adam is the 11th film in the DC Extended Universe franchise.The character first appeared in rival Fawcett Comics' Marvel ...
Read More El Vampiro Negro (1953) Blu-ray Review: An Argentinian “M”
By Kent Conrad |
Film noir as a genre is rather over-subscribed. It existed for a relatively brief period in the ‘40s and ‘50s ...
Read More Cinema’s First Nasty Women Blu-ray Set Review: Thoughtfully Highlights Unknown Performers from Different Walks of Life
By Davy |
When Donald Trump called opponent Hilary Clinton a "nasty woman" at a 2016 televised debate, the term came back to ...
Read More Twilight (1998) Blu-ray Review: Mystery and Noir Fans Should Enjoy It
By Gordon S. Miller |
After adapting Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool (1994), starring Paul Newman, its screenwriter/director Robert Benton teamed with Russo to write the ...
Read More The Banshees of Inisherin Movie Review: Simply Lovely
By David Wangberg |
What could be better than watching two under-appreciated actors give it their all? It’s watching two under-appreciated actors give it ...
Read More Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be Movie Review: Adventures in Real and Imagined Past
By Steve Geise |
This thoroughly charming French animated feature takes a unique approach in its storytelling. Rather than solely recounting the fictional adventures ...
Read More Halloween Ends Blu-ray Review: Rights Many of the Wrongs Committed by Halloween Kills
By Davy |
2018's Halloween was basic but effective because it erased the bad taste left by many of the original franchise's questionable ...
Read More From the Couch Hole: Best of Film 2022 – Movies Are Dreams, Doll, That You Never Forget
By Shawn Bourdo |
From 2005 through 2013 and then, after a hiatus, from 2017-2021, I have punctuated each year with an ever increasingly ...
Read More Broker Movie Review: The Korean Shoplifters
By Steve Geise |
Japanese writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda continues his cinematic explorations outside his native land and language with this dysfunctional relationship drama set ...
Read More Nobody’s Fool Blu-ray Review: At the Center of the Film’s Charm Is Paul Newman’s Performance
By Mat Brewster |
It takes a lot of confidence to make a movie in which nothing really happens. It does help to have ...
Read More The Girl on a Motorcycle Blu-ray Review: Spins Its Stylish Wheels
By Steve Geise |
This 1968 UK/France co-production boasts star turns from Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull in their prime, automatically making it an ...
Read More EO Movie Review: One of the Very Best Films of the Year
By Davy |
We as humans have continued to take for granted the role that animals play in the world. They can do ...
Read More Unity Temple: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Masterpiece DVD Review: The Restoration and Reopening of a Historic and Beautiful Landmark
By Darcy Staniforth |
Many people know Frank Lloyd Wright for his incredible home designs such as Cedar Rock and the Hollyhock House. However, ...
Read More Silent Running 4K UHD: Sci-Fi Hippy Dreams Dying
By Kent Conrad |
One of the things that made Star Wars such a huge hit was the state of '70s cinematic sci-fi. Because ...
Read More Cooley High Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Coming-of-Age Gem Authentically Told from a Black Perspective
By Davy |
Usually, when you think of Black-oriented films from the 1970s, you mind automatically gears toward the Blaxploitation genre, which usually ...
Read More The Woman King Blu-ray Review: Delivers a Mighty Roar
By David Wangberg |
When the majority of PG-13-rated action films being released today have a Marvel or DC label attached to them, one ...
Read More Walk Proud Blu-ray Review: A Gang Epic, It’s Not. Cult Classic? Maybe…
By Joe Garcia III |
From its tagline “He was tough enough for the streets…was he tough enough to leave them?” Walk Proud (1979) starring ...
Read More Bloom Up: A Swinger Couple Story DVD Review: A Film That’s Not for Everyone
By Darcy Staniforth |
The old saying goes that we don't know what goes on behind closed doors. But what happens when we are ...
Read More 5-25-77 Blu-ray Review: A Long Time Ago in a Town Far, Far Away
By Steve Geise |
For sci-fi starved ‘70s youth, the arrival of Star Wars was a watershed moment forever etched in our collective memories. ...
Read More Blood & Diamonds Blu-ray Review: Dull & Boring
By Mat Brewster |
Our man Guido (Claudio Cassinelli) can't catch a break. Someone snitches on him and his partner Marco (Carmelo Reale) during ...
Read More Pulp Fiction 4K UHD Review: Jukeboxer
By Jack Cormack |
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 ...
Read More The Night of the Iguana Blu-ray Review: A Long Night’s Journey into the Soul
By Mat Brewster |
They say Tennessee Williams was none too pleased with John Huston's adaptation of his play The Night of the Iguana. ...
Read More Alma’s Rainbow Blu-ray Review: A Reason Why Diverse Storytelling Is Essential
By Davy |
I have seen so many films about the coming-of age experience and the complications of being young in an increasingly ...
Read More Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Blu-ray Review: Maybe If She Were a Little Taller This Would Be Good
By Mat Brewster |
The 1950s were an incredibly fertile period for science fiction at the cinema. The invention of the atomic bomb and ...
Read More Let There Be Drums! DVD Review: And There Was Drums and Drummers!
By Gordon S. Miller |
Promotional materials for director Justin Kreutzmann's Let There Be Drums! state “The world’s greatest drummers reflect on the art of ...
Read More National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 4K UHD Review: Calamitous Christmas Classic
By Kent Conrad |
Clark Griswold, the epitome of the American Middle-Class male, is on a slow burn. He has a vision of perfection. ...
Read More The Polar Express 4K UHD Review: Dead-eyed and Dreaming
By Jack Cormack |
The Polar Express (2004; dir. Robert Zemeckis; rated G) is a weird, dark flick that should be darker. A motion-capture ...
Read More Entre Nous Blu-ray Review: Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Diane Kurys borrowed from her own family history to craft this story about two women finding their way in ...
Read More A Christmas Story 4K UHD Review: You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!
By Jack Cormack |
A Christmas Story (1983; dir. Bob Clark) is a charmer—a sweet and funny yuletide gem that’s never too cute for ...
Read More Hold Me Tight Blu-ray Review: An Engrossing Multi-character Piece
By Davy |
When I first saw Vicky Krieps in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, really holding her own against the likes of ...
Read More Planes, Trains and Automobiles 4K UHD Review: Thanksgiving’s Annual Lesson
By Kent Conrad |
Neal Page is not a bad guy. He's tightly wound, a little too serious, but the most important thing to ...
Read More Contraband (1980) Blu-ray Review: Explosively Violent Crime Action
By Kent Conrad |
Contraband comes in like a cool stylish Italian crime thriller and goes out like a Lucio Fulci gore fest. Being ...
Read More Elf (2003) 4K UHD Review: Farrell and Favreau Hit
By Kent Conrad |
Elf is a strange premise, anchored on a strange performance. Will Ferrell plays the grown-up version of a baby from ...
Read More Three Thousand Years of Longing Blu-ray Review: George Miller’s Genie
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director George Miller enables his whimsical side in between Mad Max movies in this modern riff on the Aladdin myth. ...
Read More The Nun and the Devil Blu-ray Review: Which Mother Will Prove Superior?
By Kent Conrad |
Despite the title, the Devil does not make a physical appearance in the Italian The Nun and The Devil (1973). ...
Read More Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman Collection Blu-ray Review: Essential Viewing
By Davy |
As I may have mentioned in previous reviews, documentaries (more than anything in film) have the power to move, enrage, ...
Read More Blue Hawaii 4K UHD Limited Edition Review: Death by Half-baked Clambake
By Jack Cormack |
When did Elvis Presley’s decline start? From the cradle. I’m no Elvis scholar (I’ve listened to dozens of his albums ...
Read More The Company of Wolves 4K UHD Review: Little Red’s Wolf Fetish
By Kent Conrad |
The Company of Wolves (1984) is only kind of a werewolf movie, in that werewolves in the 20th century took ...
Read More Make Way for Tomorrow Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Children Just Don’t Understand
By Gordon S. Miller |
Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Hell is other people.” That’s hard to disagree with, especially after seeing the way the ...
Read More We Are As Gods DVD Review: A Life Well Lived
By Gordon S. Miller |
We Are As Gods takes its title from a line in subject Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog, a book Steve ...
Read More The Kindred (1987) Blu-ray Review: Practical Effects, Impractical Storytelling
By Kent Conrad |
The difference between bad practical effects and bad CG is that bad practical still look like effort. Bad CG looks ...
Read More Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Vol. 2 4K UHD Review: They Don’t Make ’em Like They Used To
By Jack Cormack |
Halloween is over, but we can celebrate it all year long—am I right? I’m always in a mood to watch ...
Read More Casablanca 4K UHD Review: Here’s Looking at UHD
By Kent Conrad |
There's an old joke about a woman who saw Hamlet for the first time and hated it. "It was all ...
Read More Something in the Dirt Movie Review: A Masterpiece of Cosmic, Organic Horror
By Davy |
Brilliant and highly original DIY filmmakers Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson already won my heart with such films as Resolution, ...
Read More Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm Blu-ray Review: Reunited, and It Feels So Good
By Gordon S. Miller |
Fifteen years after Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever, the 11th season of the series, concluded, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is ...
Read More E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: An All-time Classic
By Davy |
What else can one say about E.T., the unfortunately fictional but lovable alien, who whisked his way into our hearts ...
Read More Dressed to Kill (1980) 4K UHD Review: Hitchcock Outdone
By Jack Cormack |
To ‘get’ Dressed to Kill, you probably have to bear a soft spot in your heart for slasher movies. And it ...
Read More Lost Highway Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Neo-noir with a Twist
By Gordon S. Miller |
The opening credits of Lost Highway are a POV from a car racing down a darkened highway, its headlights the ...
Read More E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Blu-ray Review: ’80s Friendly Alien Invasion
By Kent Conrad |
E.T. is Jaws inverted. They both involve invasions of small communities by an alien entity. In one, the invasion disrupts ...
Read More Private Desert Blu-ray Review: Troubled Characters Seek Their Oasis
By Steve Geise |
Daniel is in a rut. As a disgraced macho cop with anger management issues, he spends his days in Brazil ...
Read More Beast (2022) Blu-ray Review: A Fun, Albeit Familiar, Adventure
By Gordon S. Miller |
Baltasar Kormákur's Beast and his visual effects team present thrills in this conventional man-versus-animal story set among the South African ...
Read More Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! DVD Review: A Love Letter to the Original Series
By Shawn Bourdo |
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided the writer with a free copy of the DVD reviewed in this Blog Post. The ...
Read More Zerograd (Zero City) Movie Review: Unique and Surreal
By Davy |
Seeing so many twisted tales of desperation where characters are forced into situations beyond their control, I do get that ...
Read More Satan’s Little Helper Blu-ray Review: Ripe for Discovery
By Davy |
As a fan of horror flicks, I like many of them (even the lowest tier ones), and celebrated cult director ...
Read More The Bat Blu-ray Review: Has a Certain Campy Charm
By Davy |
I do like good murder mysteries, but only if they're done well. They have to have solid scripts, well-written characters ...
Read More The Automat DVD Review: A Wonderful Piece of Americana
By Gordon S. Miller |
Horn & Hardart's The Automat was a chain of self-serve restaurants in Philadelphia and New York City, and although only ...
Read More The Count Yorga Collection Blu-ray Review: Vampire Wreaks Havoc in California! Read All About It!
By Joe Garcia III |
From Arrow Video comes Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) and The Return of Count Yorga (1972), cult classics and drive-in delights, ...
Read More Blind Fury (1989) Blu-ray Review: ’80s Action Meets Japan Pulp
By Kent Conrad |
Eighties action was more fun. The special effects were often primitive. The martial arts was less fluid, the camera work ...
Read More Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons Blu-ray Review: The Super Odd Couple Unites for the First Time
By Gordon S. Miller |
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is a standalone film in the DC Animated Movie franchise. The titular ...
Read More Carmen (2022) Blu-ray Review: Welcome to Malta
By Steve Geise |
When a lifelong servant of the church finds herself out on the street, she’s faced with an uncertain future that ...
Read More Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Blu-ray Review: Fredric March Is Quite Wonderful in the Dual Role
By Mat Brewster |
When I asked to review this film, Cinema Sentries publisher Gordon S. Miller, remembering that I had just reviewed the ...
Read More Tropic Thunder Director’s Cut (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: A Comedy Pedigree That Guarantees Laughter
By Rons Reviews |
Starring co-writer and director Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., and Tom Cruise in a rare comedic role, Tropic ...
Read More Happy Birthday to Me (1981) Blu-ray Review: Canuxploitation Slasher Slog
By Kent Conrad |
Post Halloween, the slasher was the go-to low budget money maker. The formula is so simple (young people, bloody death, ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema X Blu-ray Review: In This Corner…Tony Curtis
By Mat Brewster |
Boxing. The sweet science. Gladiators of the ring. Raging war in a small square. Two men bashing their brains out ...
Read More Bullet Train Blu-ray Review: Snakes on a Train
By Steve Geise |
Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) helms this crime caper featuring a colorful collection of scheming assassins gathered on a bullet ...
Read More Island of the Blue Dolphins Blu-ray Review: An Enjoyable Story to Watch Unfold
By Rons Reviews |
Most of us have movies that we watched repeatedly as children. I recall my sister and I watching Island of ...
Read More Army of Darkness 4K UHD Limited Edition Steelbook Review: Long Live the Medieval Dead
By Kent Conrad |
Army of Darkness was my personal introduction to the Evil Dead. Because of Universal's awful marketing at the time, however, ...
Read More I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing Blu-ray Review: A Prime Example of the Immediacy and Importance of Films by Women
By Davy |
As a constant daydreamer who also happens to be a member of the queer/LGBTQ community, I totally related to Patricia ...
Read More Eyes of Laura Mars (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: Artful Trash
By Mat Brewster |
There has been a lot of Internet chatter over the last couple of years about the death of eroticism in ...
Read More Going Places Blu-ray Review: Traveling Nowhere, Reaching Enlightenment
By Steve Geise |
The title of this 1974 French film is somewhat ironic, considering the rudderless path of its twenty-something drifter characters. Co-written ...
Read More Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Review
By Mat Brewster |
Creaky old castles up on a hill. Dark stormy nights. Strange noises. Beautiful maidens in flowing white gowns. Repressed desires. ...
Read More Mark of the Vampire Blu-ray Review: A Horror Film Until It Isn’t
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Tod Browning's Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a remake of his silent film London After Midnight (1927), which ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX Blu-ray Review: A Trio of Amateur Sleuths
By Mat Brewster |
I've been waist-deep in horror movies for the last couple of weeks, it being October and all, but I'm already ...
Read More Siege (1983) Blu-ray Review: One Very Tense and Mostly Unpredictable Action Thriller
By Davy |
Being a gay man myself, I am still terrified to live a world where most people continue to deny the ...
Read More The War of the Worlds (1953)/When Worlds Collide 4K UHD Review: They Came From the ’50s
By Jack Cormack |
Producer George Pal’s thumbprint on science-fiction and fantasy films was big. A new limited edition, two-disc set from Paramount Pictures ...
Read More DC League of Super-Pets Blu-ray Review: Sit and Stay for This One
By David Wangberg |
Usually known for being much darker and more adult than its cinematic competitor Marvel, DC films will, on the very ...
Read More TV Review: Love & Rockets: The Great American Comic Book
By Steve Geise |
After 40 years of ongoing publication, the Love & Rockets comic book is long overdue for a celebratory retrospective. Thankfully, ...
Read More Scream 2 4K UHD Review: You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream… For Less Scream
By Jack Cormack |
I doubt the horror movie was ‘dead’ before Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) came out. Hadn’t The Silence of the Lambs ...
Read More The Chocolate War Blu-ray Review: Aims a Rather Sharp Eye on the Weird Rituals of Toxic Male Youth
By Davy |
I've always liked actor-director Keith Gordon. I feel that he remains a very underrated and unique figure of film. He ...
Read More A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Review: An Epic from the Past Finally Reaches USA
By Steve Geise |
Director Tomu Uchida’s sprawling 1965 crime drama has finally arrived on home video for the first time outside of Japan. ...
Read More The House of the Lost on the Cape Blu-ray Review: House of Lost Time
By Steve Geise |
Two girls and their elder move into a remote country home and set about cleaning it up for their residence. ...
Read More ELVIS (2022) Blu-ray Review: That Film’s All Right
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director/co-writer Baz Luhrmann tells the story of Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks, who makes an odd, slightly distracting vocal choice) ...
Read More South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition Blu-ray Review
By Steve Geise |
It’s hard to imagine the trials and tribulations that must have befallen Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to reach the South Pole ...
Read More The Justice of Bunny King Movie Review: Essie Davis Excels in Familiar Drama
By David Wangberg |
Gaysorn Thavatt’s The Justice of Bunny King premiered at 2021’s Tribeca Film Festival and is finally making its way to ...
Read More Rain 90th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: Luminous Joan Crawford Drives the Clouds Away
By Steve Geise |
When a massive monsoon wallops the tiny South Pacific location of Pago Pago, it traps an assortment of colorful travelers ...
Read More Poltergeist (1982) 4K UHD Review: This Movie Is Clean
By Jack Cormack |
Director Tobe Hooper is most famous for Poltergeist (1982) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Chainsaw’s a sick, stone classic ...
Read More The Lost Boys 4K UHD Review: Flashy ’80s Vampire Flick
By Kent Conrad |
Half of the The Lost Boys is a moody gothic music-video styled horror movie. The other half is the '80s ...
Read More Le Corbeau Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Poison Pen French Noir
By Kent Conrad |
France has always been one of the centers of cinema in the world. After all, the Lumiere brothers rivaled Edison ...
Read More Karmalink Blu-ray Review: Dreams of Treasure and Past Lives
By Steve Geise |
When a teenage boy starts having dreams about his past lives, he discovers that he may have the key to ...
Read More Batman: The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition Blu-ray Review: Happy Holiday, Batman!
By Joe Garcia III |
Batman battles mob bosses, a mysterious serial killer and a few super villains as he learns how to be a ...
Read More The Amusement Park Blu-ray Review: Romero’s Most Imaginative and Bleakest Film
By Davy |
George A. Romero, one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium, like Wes Craven, didn't make straightforward ...
Read More Kamikaze Hearts Blu-ray Review: A Gritty Deep Dive into the Porn Industry
By Davy |
There are so many facets to the queer film, not just a showcase of bodies. Most people (definitely conservatives) think ...
Read More Massacre at Central High Blu-ray Review: More Than Just Goofy Teens Getting Whacked
By Joe Garcia III |
Massacre at Central High (1976), starring Derrel Maury, Andrew Stevens (son of Stella Stevens), Kimberly Beck, Robert Carradine, and Cheryl ...
Read More Death Game Blu-ray Review: Delightfully Unhinged and Truly Unpredictable
By Davy |
The 1970s was perhaps the best decade for horror flicks and suspense thrillers. There's always going to be a discussion ...
Read More The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz Blu-ray Review: Archie’s Got Murder in His Mind
By Joe Garcia III |
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz (Ensayo De Un Crimen) (1955) shot in Mexico and filmed in Spanish ...
Read More Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Director’s Edition 4K UHD Review: The Starship Ponderosa
By Jack Cormack |
Upon its release in 1979, Trekkies greeted Star Trek: The Motion Picture as an Event. Green-lit by Paramount in a ...
Read More Rachel, Rachel Blu-ray Review: A Tender Story of a Woman’s Awakening
By Davy |
As an invalid and kind of recluse who is trapped in the same existence, the same room, the same house, ...
Read More Hiroshima mon amour Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Rich and Rewarding Film
By Mat Brewster |
Expectations are a difficult thing to overcome while watching a film. Especially if said film is considered to be one ...
Read More Facing Nolan Blu-ray Review: All Baseball Fans Should Face Ryan’s Story
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Bradley Jackson's Facing Nolan details the career of first-ballot National Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan whose accomplishments over ...
Read More Hotel du Nord Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Somber French Realist Classic
By Davy |
I was not always familiar with legendary filmmaker Marcel Carne's work, such as 1938's Port of Shadows, or his 1945 ...
Read More Running out of Time/Running out of Time 2 Blu-ray Review: One Part Great, One Part Unnecessary
By David Wangberg |
It’s always great when a boutique studio like Arrow or Criterion releases a set of films in the same series ...
Read More The Brink’s Job Blu-ray Review: William Friedkin’s Heist Film
By Joe Garcia III |
Directed by William Friedkin, The Brink’s Job (1978) depicts fictionalized events surrounding one of the “crime(s) of the century.” From ...
Read More Ferngully: The Last Rainforest 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Review: A Magical yet Rigid Journey
By David Wangberg |
When revisiting a movie from your childhood, it’s always best to go in with an open mind and the expectation ...
Read More Coming Apart Blu-ray Review: A Realistically Troubling Portrait of Our Deepest, Darkest Impulses
By Davy |
I have seen some pretty bold films about the nature of male-to-female relationships, but only a few of them ever ...
Read More The Burned Barns Blu-ray Review: Two Titans of French Cinema Spar
By Mat Brewster |
In a series of interviews with the crew of The Burned Barns (1973) that is included in the new Blu-ray ...
Read More Force 10 From Navarone Blu-ray Review: A Sequel 18 Years in the Making
By Joe Garcia III |
Force 10 From Navarone (1978) is the direct sequel to The Guns Of Navarone made in 1961. Recast with Robert ...
Read More Battle of the Worlds Blu-ray Review: An Early Sci-fi Gem
By Darcy Staniforth |
In a time of incredible special effects and science fiction becoming more reality than fiction, it can be difficult for ...
Read More Get Away If You Can Movie Review: Sound Advice
By David Wangberg |
It’s a rarity when the name of the movie tells you what to do if you see it playing in ...
Read More Interview with Terrence Martin and Dominique Braun about Get Away If You Can
By David Wangberg |
It’s a daunting task to direct your first feature film in Hollywood. It’s even more daunting when you also commit ...
Read More Neptune Frost Blu-ray Review: The Revolution Will Be Televised
By Steve Geise |
This feature film from recording artist Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman is undeniably ambitious, boasting an enticing amalgamation of Afrofuturist ...
Read More Salt and Pepper / One More Time Blu-ray Review: Stay Away from the Spice Rack
By Rons Reviews |
Ten years before legendary director Richard Donner would bring the Lethal Weapon team to the big screen, he would make ...
Read More Man of a Thousand Faces Blu-ray Review: James Cagney Plays Lon Chaney
By Joe Garcia III |
Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) from Universal International tells the tale of silent film star Lon Chaney, from vaudeville ...
Read More The Old Man Movie Blu-ray Review: Cows Udders End the World
By Kent Conrad |
When three Estonian kids are left in the country to spend the summer with their dairy farming grandpa, they expect ...
Read More The Thin Man Goes Home Blu-ray Review: Bring This Comic Mystery to Your Home
By Gordon S. Miller |
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) is the fifth of the six Thin Man films starring William Powell and Myrna ...
Read More Terror Circus Blu-ray Review: Far More Disturbing Than Terrifying
By Rons Reviews |
I’ve seen a lot of good B movies. This may be the first C movie I’ve seen, and though director ...
Read More God Told Me To 4K UHD Review: Holy Mindscrew
By Jack Cormack |
Larry Cohen, the writer-director of such cult faves as It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff, was a ...
Read More Event Horizon 4K UHD Review: Atmospheric Space Chiller
By Kent Conrad |
At first glance, Event Horizon looks like a rip-off of Alien. A crew in space, far from any aid, investigating ...
Read More Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Review: Double the Guillotine, Double the Fun
By Mat Brewster |
In 1975, Shaw Brothers Studio released The Flying Guillotine. It is about an elite group of guards to the emperor ...
Read More Wild Rovers Blu-ray Review: William Holden and Ryan O’Neal Ride into the Sunset
By Joe Garcia III |
Wild Rovers (1971) starring William Holden, Ryan O’Neal and Karl Malden is a playful yet somber look at the lives ...
Read More Green Lantern: Beware My Power Blu-ray Review: An Action-packed, Enjoyable Adventure for John Stewart’s First Outing
By Gordon S. Miller |
Green Lantern: Beware My Power re-tells how John Stewart became the Green Lantern amidst a larger Justice League story. It ...
Read More Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo Blu-ray Review: A Made-for-TV Dud
By Rons Reviews |
This review is full of references that may be considered spoilers. Ultimately, there is nothing I can write that would ...
Read More Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon DVD Review: Insanity Ensues
By Darcy Staniforth |
If you're a fan of the ridiculous and over-the-top comedy of the Reno 911! series, your fandom will only grow in ...
Read More Flatliners (1990) 4K UHD Review: Visually Stimulating Psychological Thriller
By Kent Conrad |
Doctors lead very exciting lives in movies. Every doctor I've known in real life has been a little dull. Intelligent, ...
Read More The Capote Tapes DVD Review: Other Voices Help Tell the Story of the Famous Author
By Gordon S. Miller |
The Capone Tapes is a documentary about the life of author Truman Capote (1924 – 1984). The titular tapes were ...
Read More Miami Blues Blu-ray Review: A Pastel Sleeper
By Jack Cormack |
Based on the great Charles Willeford novel, Miami Blues (1990; dir. George Armitage) is a darkly comedic neo-noir. It sports ...
Read More Edge of Sanity Blu-ray Review: Anthony Perkins as Dr. Jekyll and Jack ‘The Ripper’ Hyde
By Joe Garcia III |
Edge of Sanity (1988), starring Anthony Perkins and directed by Gérard Kikoïne, is a very 1980s take on Dr. Jekyll, ...
Read More Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen Blu-ray Review: An Absolute Delight All the Way Through
By Davy |
I have seen lots of documentaries about the making of cherished films, but only a few of them really impressed ...
Read More My Old School Movie Review: Something Is Rotten in Scotland
By Steve Geise |
In 1993, a 16-year-old boy named Brandon Lee enrolled at a secondary school in an upscale neighborhood in Scotland. A ...
Read More Taza, Son of Cochise Blu-ray Review: Rock Hudson as an Apache Chief
By Joe Garcia III |
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) is the highly fictionalized story of the Apache chief who takes over after his father’s ...
Read More Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Blu-ray Review: Sexy, Funny, and Highly Entertaining
By Davy |
Brazilian cinema isn't always on my radar, but when I actually see a Brazilian film, I realize that there is ...
Read More The Nan Movie Review: Bad Grandma
By Steve Geise |
Before Catherine Tate gained recognition in the U.S. with her turns as a Doctor Who companion and a boss in ...
Read More Planet of the Vampires Blu-ray Review: A Low Budget Masterpiece
By Mat Brewster |
Mario Bava's work as a special effects designer and cinematographer before he became a director is apparent in all the ...
Read More Giallo Essentials [Black Edition] Blu-ray Box Set Review: Back in Black
By Steve Geise |
Arrow Video is back with their third limited-edition box set exploring three lesser-known giallo films from the early 1970s. In ...
Read More The Righteous Blu-ray Review: An Audacious First Film
By Mat Brewster |
A married couple grieving for their lost daughter. A stranger at the door asking for help. Then asking for something ...
Read More The Frisco Kid Blu-ray Review: A Rabbi and a Bank Robber Ride West
By Joe Garcia III |
A Rabbi and a bank robber board a train… that’s where things get really wacky in director Robert Aldrich’s The ...
Read More The Sacred Spirit Blu-ray Review: Mostly yet Unsuccessfully Weird
By Davy |
Sometimes I do admire a slow-burn film, but only when it's done right. It has to have enough style, characterization, ...
Read More Devil in a Blue Dress Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Denzel Washington Makes Solving Mysteries Look Easy
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Walter Mosley's 1990 novel of the same name, Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress is an engaging ...
Read More Martial Club Blu-ray Review: Come for the Action, Stay for the Moral Lessons
By Mat Brewster |
The more Shaw Brothers kung fu movies I watch the more I get into their grooves and understand their tropes. ...
Read More Desperate Hours Blu-ray Review: Hostage Thriller Boils Over
By Kent Conrad |
Desperate Hours is based on a classic thriller scenario: a family held hostage in their own home by a criminal. ...
Read More Hell High Blu-ray Review: Watching It Is Pure Hell
By Mat Brewster |
The slasher subgenre of horror was in serious decline in 1989. Audiences, even the very forgiving horror hounds, had grown ...
Read More The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender DVD Review: A Fun Essay
By Davy |
Sometimes I don't get Hollywood. It has an infamously tedious tendency to be really behind the times. It's not exactly ...
Read More Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VIII Blu-ray Review
By Mat Brewster |
The thing about film noir is that it is a genre without definition. Unlike something like westerns or science-fiction, genres ...
Read More The Deer King Movie Review: Beautiful, If Overly Complicated Fantasy
By Kent Conrad |
Van, the protagonist of The Deer King, is a big man. Probably the biggest in the salt mine where he's ...
Read More The Adventures of Don Juan (1948) Blu-ray Review: Come in with Flynn
By Mat Brewster |
One of the great joys of becoming a classic film enthusiast is discovering an actor or actress and then immediately ...
Read More Boomerang (1992) Blu-ray Review: A Hilarious Film That Is Still Challenging Stereotypes
By Darcy Staniforth |
I remember seeing Boomerang in theaters when it first came out. I have seen it many times since and still ...
Read More Phil Lynott Songs For While I’m Away + Thin Lizzy: The Boys Are Back In Town: Live at the Sydney Opera House October 1978 DVD Review
By Gordon S. Miller |
Mercury Studios has paired the 2020 documentary Phil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away, which aired on BBC Two,with the ...
Read More Hero (1997) Blu-ray Review: The Heroic Return of Shaw Brothers
By Steve Geise |
This classic Hong Kong action movie has two big draws for me: a star turn by Takeshi Kaneshiro and direction ...
Read More The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Review: It’s Kind of Fun
By Rons Reviews |
The wait is finally over! The Brain from Plant Arous has been released! Yes, on June 21st Film Detective released ...
Read More Downton Abbey: A New Era Blu-ray Review: A Wedding and a Funeral and More
By Gordon S. Miller |
Time marches on for the beloved characters of Downton Abbey as their second appearance on the silver screen delivers a ...
Read More Edge of Tomorrow 4K UHD Review: Groundhog D-Day
By Kent Conrad |
It is a strange time to look at a film that earned hundreds of millions at the box-office and wonder: ...
Read More American Werewolves Movie Review: Has the Vibe of a 1980’s Network Special About Cryptids
By Darcy Staniforth |
The independent production company Small Town Monsters is not afraid to explore topics in the worlds of the strange and ...
Read More Strawberry Mansion Blu-ray Review: Seek Out This Surrealistic, Genre-blending Film
By Gordon S. Miller |
Directed and written by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley, Strawberry Mansion is a surrealistic, genre-blending story that takes viewers on ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Interview: Producer Annalise Davis Talks Fireworks
By David Wangberg |
Producer Annalise Davis has been in the film industry for nearly 20 years, having worked on films such as The ...
Read More Panda! Go Panda! Blu-ray Review: Proto Totoro Anime Film
By Kent Conrad |
In my estimation, Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is one of the greatest films ever made. It's an almost perfect fantasy ...
Read More Fire in the Sky Blu-ray Review: A Compelling Story
By Darcy Staniforth |
Even with news of UFOs and UAPs in the pages of The New York Times and in the halls of ...
Read More Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Blu-ray Review: It’s No Secret, This Movie Stinks
By David Wangberg |
If David Yates and J.K. Rowling are serious about their plan to make the Fantastic Beasts series into five movies, ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: The DOC
By Darcy Staniforth |
In the rap and hip hop world, it's one thing to have confidence and ego about being one of the ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Fireworks
By David Wangberg |
There have been many films and television series that involve top-level characters carrying out orders to bomb a certain location ...
Read More One-Armed Boxer Blu-ray Review: Delivers a Nuttiness Desired in An Old Kung Fu Movie
By Mat Brewster |
A man walks into a bar and notices another man sitting at his table. He tells the man that he ...
Read More True Romance 4K UHD Review: Sick Love, Slick Film
By Kent Conrad |
True Romance isn't a Quentin Tarantino movie. His name is on the screenplay. It has many scenes which no other ...
Read More The Worst Person in the World Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Breathtakingly Honest
By Davy |
Seeing The Worst Person in the World, filmmaker Joachim Trier's breathtakingly honest and so in-the-moment take on relationships and finding ...
Read More The Beatles and India: An Enduring Love Affair Blu-ray Review
By Shawn Bourdo |
This new feature-length documentary directed by Ajoy Bose was released June 21, 2022 by MVD Visual on DVD and Blu-ray. ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine
By Davy |
Coming out of the closet for in one of the most difficult things that anyone in LGBTQ community ever has ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Katrina Babies
By David Wangberg |
There is no way that someone could direct a documentary such as Katrina Babies the same way if they had ...
Read More Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) Blu-ray Review: Well Worth Watching to See Spencer Tracy Play Against Type
By Mat Brewster |
Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was originally sold as a penny dreadful and ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: A Rising Fury
By David Wangberg |
Starting with the Maidan Revolution in Kyiv in 2013, and leading up to the current invasion from Russia, A Rising ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: The Visitor
By David Wangberg |
After spending time in jail for “alcoholism,” Humberto (Enrique Araoz) is three years sober and ready to restart his life ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: The Integrity of Joseph Chambers
By David Wangberg |
Joseph Chambers (Clayne Crawford), or “Joe” as some call him, is not the kind of man you would think could ...
Read More The Initiation of Sarah Blu-ray Review: A Made-for-TV Carrie Rip-Off
By Mat Brewster |
In 1976, Brian De Palma released the supernatural horror movie, Carrie. Based upon Stephen King's first published novel of the ...
Read More Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: A Love Song
By Davy |
An unorthodox romance set in a beautiful, vast Colorado backdrop is at the center of Max Walker-Silverman's beguilingly unassuming directorial ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: A Love Song
By David Wangberg |
Dale Dickey has been acting for nearly 30 years, and chances are, you’ve seen her in at least one movie ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Butterfly in the Sky
By David Wangberg |
The opening scene of Butterfly in the Sky centers LeVar Burton in front of a huge library filled with books. ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Wes Schlagenhauf is Dying
By Davy |
If you said that there are too many pandemic comedies existing now, I would have to agree with you. However, ...
Read More Late Night Movie Review: Emma Thompson Is Incredibly Pitch Perfect
By Matthew St.Clair |
While Late Night is full of high points, one of its best ones is how it points out the fallacies of any ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Out of Order
By Davy |
Sometimes the big city can bring a lot of you, including your search of love after heartbreak. This appealingly familiar ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: The Lost Weekend: A Love Story
By Gordon S. Miller |
Produced and directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, and Stuart Samuels, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story documents the love ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Nude Tuesday
By Davy |
I've never been married nor have been in a relationship, but I have seen enough on film and TV to ...
Read More Raiders of the Lost Ark Limited Edition Steelbook 4K UHD Review: Cinematic Adventure Perfection
By Kent Conrad |
Watching as a child, I knew that Raiders of the Lost Ark was a great adventure. It had everything you ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Peace in the Valley
By David Wangberg |
It’s a sad coincidence that Tyler Riggs’ Peace in the Valley premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival as the nation ...
Read More Candyman (1992) 4K UHD Review: Urban Legend, Urban Horror
By Kent Conrad |
Of the many great things about Bernard Rose's Candyman, one of the best is that it isn’t structured like a ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Employee of the Month
By Gordon S. Miller |
Belgian director Veronique Jadin's Employee of the Month (L'employée du mois) reveals how hostile a workplace can get when people, ...
Read More The Clock Blu-ray Review: Judy Garland’s Time
By Steve Geise |
By 1945, 23-year-old Judy Garland was already a screen veteran with 20 leading roles to her credit. She was also ...
Read More Fanny: The Right to Rock Movie Review: Queens of Rock & Roll
By Jack Cormack |
Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart, Fanny: The Right to Rock, a documentary on the all-female rock band, Fanny, is a ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Rounding
By David Wangberg |
Alex Thompson’s Rounding is classified as a psychological thriller, and it has the necessary elements to categorize it as such. ...
Read More Tribeca 2022 Review: Closing Dynasty
By Davy |
Written and directed by Lloyd Lee Choi Closing Dynasty is a quietly humanistic short portrait of how we really do ...
Read More Offseason Movie Review: Holistically Brilliant
By Darcy Staniforth |
A Shudder exclusive, Offseason is the newest film from writer and director Mickey Keating. Broken into chapters, the film starts ...
Read More Grease 2 (40th Anniversary) Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray Review: Back to Rydell High School Again
By Lorna Miller |
It is hard to believe that Grease 2 came out 40 years. Released four years after the massive hit Grease, ...
Read More Children Who Chase Lost Voices Blu-ray Review: Fantasy Adventure about Loss
By Kent Conrad |
Asuna is a happy girl. She's lucky to be happy since she spends so much of her time on her ...
Read More 5 Centimeters Per Second Blu-ray Review: A Story about Distance
By Kent Conrad |
The title refers to the speed at which cherry blossoms fall to the earth. It is practically the first line ...
Read More The Place Promised in Our Early Days Blu-ray Review: Sci-Fi Sentimental Teenage Drama
By Kent Conrad |
The Place Promised in our Early Days is set on an alternative Earth on the brink of war. Some part ...
Read More Breaking In (1989) Blu-ray Review: Burt Reynolds Performance is the Film’s Strong Point
By Gordon S. Miller |
Written by John Sayles and directed by Bill Forsyth, Breaking In is a buddy picture set in Portland, Oregon. The ...
Read More The Untouchables 4K UHD Review: De Palma Lite
By Jack Cormack |
Great artists sometimes create beneath their gifts, just for a lark. This describes the role Brian De Palma plays in ...
Read More The Police: Around the World (Restored & Expanded) Review: An Entertaining Scrapbook from the Band’s Early Days
By Gordon S. Miller |
Originally available on VHS and Laserdisc, The Police: Around The World (Restored & Expanded) is now available on DVD and ...
Read More Dashcam (2021) Movie Review: Rob Savage’s Film Misses the Mark
By Darcy Staniforth |
Dashcam is the new film from writer and director Rob Savage who received a lot of attention and acclaim after ...
Read More 12 Monkeys (1995) 4K UHD Review: Time-Travel Tragedy
By Kent Conrad |
Terry Gilliam lives to be idiosyncratic. In a British comedy troupe, Monty Python, he was the American. In Hollywood filmmaking, ...
Read More The Batman (2022) Blu-ray Review: Matt Reeves Delivers a Fresh Take on the Franchise with a Noiresque Detective Story
By Gordon S. Miller |
As mentioned in my review of the film, “Matt Reeves’s The Batman reboots the franchise and takes the audience back ...
Read More Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse Blu-ray Review: Intentionally Misleading, but Still Enjoyable
By Todd Karella |
The animated television show Teen Titans Go! is normally a short 15-minute episode event, but it has had a few ...
Read More Poupelle of Chimney Town Blu-ray Review: A Whole New World
By Steve Geise |
Following a brief U.S. theatrical run, this charming new anime is now making its way to home video. The story ...
Read More Trekkies: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Review: It’s Logical to Them
By Gordon S. Miller |
Released in 1997, Trekkies is a documentary about Star Trek fandom, particularly as it was in the mid-'90s when the ...
Read More Wild Things 4K UHD Review: High Level Sleaze
By Kent Conrad |
Wild Things is trash. But it's a kind of exquisite trash. It's the best Cinemax-style soft porn ever made. It's ...
Read More Mississippi Masala Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mira Nair’s Beguiling Sophomore Film
By Davy |
Films about star-crossed lovers has been old as time itself, but we arguably don't get those about interracial or intercontinental ...
Read More Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Review: Quintessential Italian Crime Dramas
By Mat Brewster |
God bless Italian filmmakers. They were consistently making great films in an astonishing array of genres for a good three ...
Read More The Carey Treatment Blu-ray Review: A Bland Dose
By Jack Cormack |
The Carey Treatment (1972; dir. Blake Edwards) is an obscurity that should stay one. It’s blander than bland. Based on ...
Read More Girls Nite Out Blu-ray Review: Another Slasher Movie Where Kids Will Be Kids
By Davy |
I've seen many slasher flicks, especially those from '80s. I was really impressed by some of them, while others totally ...
Read More The Last Victim (2022) Movie Review: A Victim of Mediocrity
By David Wangberg |
One of the most interesting things about Naveen Chatapuram’s directorial debut The Last Victim is that, by the end, the ...
Read More Uncharted Blu-ray Review: Charted in the Video Games
By Steve Geise |
As I watched the thrilling mid-air action scene that opens Uncharted, I realized that it seemed familiar to me. That’s ...
Read More Adieu Lacan Movie Review: Say Hello to This Gem
By David Wangberg |
One of the tricks of adapting a stage play to film is making sure that the film is able to ...
Read More Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Movie Review: Sam Raimi’s Magic Saves a Jam-packed Script
By Gordon S. Miller |
After Doctor Strange director and co-writer Scott Derrickson stepped away due to creative differences, director Sam Raimi was given the ...
Read More Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 13 and The Gizmoplex Debut Today
By Kent Conrad |
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a show that will not die. It has moved through so many incarnations, starting on ...
Read More Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection Blu-ray Review: The Good, the Bad, the Painful
By Rons Reviews |
Being intrigued by the titles in this collection, and the fact that I had not heard of the three Science ...
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