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 ...
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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 ...
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Book Review: Salome’s Last Dance by Daria Tessler
By Mat Brewster |
Portland artist Daria Tessler's second comic book published by Fantagraphics is a short, strange trip that finds influences from such ...
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Book Review: Sydney Pollack: A Subliminal Existentialist by Wes D. Gehring
By Davy |
Director/producer/actor Sydney Pollack (1934-2008) was one of the unsung heroes of cinematic and popular culture. His films ranged from Depression-era ...
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From the Couch Hole: The Information’s Unavailable to the Mortal Man
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, it was just you 'n' me once upon a time . . . in Hollywood. We caught a ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Book Review: Daughters of Snow and Cinders by Núria Tamarit
By Steve Geise |
When a determined young adventurer sets out into the wilderness in search of gold, she quickly encounters threats from the ...
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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 ...
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Book Review: Jessica Lange: An Adventurer’s Heart by Anthony Uzarowski
By Davy |
Being a film lover, I have read a few actor/actress biographies in my time, but I've rarely come across one ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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From the Couch Hole: Simple and Free
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, there was a summer freeze and a fire walks with me. We went to the Kazbar and said ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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
By Gordon S. Miller |
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
By Steve Geise |
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
By Greg Hammond |
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
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 ...
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From the Couch Hole: While Color Lights Up Your Face
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, there was a fire witness to the inferno of the honey habanero chips. Beau is afraid that it ...
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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 ...
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Book Review: Eddie Muller’s Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir
By Davy |
I am not a drinker whatsoever, but I do love film noir. So, Noir Bar, the delightful new photo-book by ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Review: The End of a Prehistoric Era
By Gordon S. Miller |
In my review of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete First Season, I called the series an “animation masterpiece.” As the ...
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From the Couch Hole: To Take the Blues Away
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, we zoomed in on blackout cake and baby bundts. We had a cam ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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? ...
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His Dark Materials: The Complete Season Three Blu-ray Review: A Fitting Finale for this Series
By David Wangberg |
All too often, successful television shows go on longer than they should. Most of the time, it results in the ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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From the Couch Hole: You Chased the Day Away
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, we had a beef with the worst ice cream to ever cross paths with the Couch Hole. But ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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Book Review: The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca
By Greg Hammond |
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Bram Stoker Award Finalist Eric LaRocca is a collection of “literary dark ...
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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 ...
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Book Review: Night Terror by John Kenn Mortensen
By Mat Brewster |
On more than one occasion I've had a dream where I woke up, got up from bed, and went to ...
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From the Couch Hole: Show Me Where to Look
By Shawn Bourdo |
Previously on FTCH, we were down at the Mendocino County Line pushing daisies and looking for bodies, bodies, bodies. The Peeps ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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