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Book Review: Christmas in the Movies: Revised & Expanded Edition by Jeremy Arnold

Personally, I think my favorite Christmas movie is 1974's Black Christmas, which can be referred to as an anti-Christmas one. ...
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A bowl of ice cream sitting on a table.

From the Couch Hole: Don’t You Love the Farce

Previously on FTCH, there was a haunting in Venice and Carmella Creeper is dead again in The Void. In Flavortown, ...
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Crime and punishment blu - ray.

Crime and Punishment (2002) Blu-ray Review: Too Much Punishment

Crispin Glover plays Roskolnikov in Menahem Golan’s adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. Roskolnikov has recently published a ...
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Farewell My Concubine 30th Anniversary Movie Review: Leslie Cheung Shines Once More

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Chen Kaige’s searing epic is returning to U.S. theaters with a new 4K restoration ...
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The Exorcist 4K UHD Review: William Friedkin’s Masterpiece

William Friedkin's The Exorcist is based on the novel and screenplay by William Peter Blatty. The film opens in Iraq, ...
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New York Stories Blu-ray Review: A Disappointing Trio from Three Great Directors

To quote the concluding narration from the Naked City (1958-1963) TV series, “There are eight million stories in the naked ...
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After Dark, My Sweet Blu-ray Review: A Strong Film Noir from Director James Foley

Based on the novel by Jim Thompson, After Dark, My Sweet, stars Jason Patric (in an early outing meant to ...
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Book Review: “You Talkin’ To Me?” The Definitive Guide to Iconic Movie Quotes by Brian Abrams

Someplace, somewhere, sometime at the appropriate moment we've all blurted out a quote lifted right from what we deem a ...
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Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! DVD Review: Plays Cards Across a Vast Spectrum of Fandoms

The 35th entry into the Scooby-Doo! Direct-To-Video Movie series arrives on September 26, 2023. Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! continues a ...
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Book Review: Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck in Les Misérables and War and Peace by Giovan Battista Carpi

Disney presents a new addition to the Fantagraphics series of collected cartoons. In this volume we get both “The Secret ...
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Book Review: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Christmas on Bear Mountain” by Carl Barks

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "Christmas on Bear Mountain" is Volume 5 in Fantagraphics' The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. The ...
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La Bamba Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Soars Far Above Other Hollywood Biopics 

La Bamba (1987) is the story of Richard Valenzuela, known better as Ritchie Valens, a name associated with a song ...
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From the Couch Hole: I’ve Been Out Walking

Previously on FTCH, Archer and Gator were not accused in the killing of a Chinese bookie. I ranked the best ...
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School of Rock 20th Anniversary Blu-ray Steelbook Review: It Still Rocks

Richard Linklater’s School of Rock was released 20 years ago and is still proof that a family film doesn’t have ...
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Nil by Mouth Blu-ray Review: A Strong, Gripping Example of British Cinema

The British kitchen sink and social realist dramas of the 1950s and 60s were emotional and draining, but they don't ...
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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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Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters, and the Legacy by Emily Zemler

Author Emily Zemler, who describes her younger self as “a black clothing-clad weirdo” in the Introduction, helps commemorate the 30th ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: As the Ocean Crawls Onto the Shoreline

Previously on FTCH, the enforcer Josey Wales named the best soda ever. It was in a broken dream that Python ...
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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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Book Review: Totem by Laura Pérez

In Laura Pérez’s beautiful, bewildering graphic novel, a flashback begets another flashback, unidentified characters drift in and out of the ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: In the Days Between the Hours

Previously on FTCH, the muskrat love between Frances and Margot got the Mayans kicking and screaming at the wedding. The ...
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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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Book Review: Eden II by K. Wroten

K. Wroten’s sophomore graphic novel is a sprawling, 452-page meditation on the bleak existence faced by the current twenty-something generation. ...
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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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Book Review: Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings, and Photographs from Television’s Original Genius

Ernie Kovacs was a comic pioneer in television as well as a television pioneer in comedy. During the 1950s, both ...
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From the Couch Hole: Doin’ the Town and Doin’ It Right

Previously on FTCH, we were all dressed for the Fall Festival in harmony with the rabbits and the frogs. There ...
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Book Review: Horror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope by Brad Weismann

The horror genre is still regarded by many as the bastard stepchild of film. A lot of people continue to ...
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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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Book Review: Memoirs of a Man in Pajamas by Paco Roca

This is not a new graphic novel by Spanish cartoonist Paco Roca. Instead, it’s a compilation of archival autobiographical comic ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Is This the Only Place You Thought to Go

Previously on FTCH, what we did in the shadows was rad and included some teenage mutant ninja turtles. The Super ...
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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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Book Review: Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work by Ian Nathan

Housed in a slipcase, Ian Nathan's Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work takes readers on an unofficial and ...
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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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Book Review: Starseeds 3 by Charles Glaubitz

By any conventional literary measure, the Starseeds series is bewildering and left so far open to interpretation that it’s difficult ...
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From the Couch Hole: Too Long in the Wind, Too Long in the Rain

Previously on FTCH, we let out with a "Chim Chim Cher-ee" even when some Pudd'nheads said, "It's bad for ya." ...
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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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Book Review: Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge “Cave of Ali Baba” by Carl Barks

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge “Cave of Ali Baba” is Volume 28 in Fantagraphics' The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. It ...
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Strangers in the House Blu-ray Review: French Masters of Mystery

In a large, shambling, mostly empty mansion, a loud noise clangs upstairs. It is loud enough to awaken Hector Loursat ...
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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 Movie DVD Poster With a Character

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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Werewolf Jones Sons Deluxe Super Fun Comic

Book Review: Werewolf Jones & Sons: Deluxe Super Fun Annual by Simon Hanselmann and Josh Pettinger

I am not by any means a prude, but I should have never read Werewolf Jones & Songs: Deluxe Super ...
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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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Book Review: Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman

Science fiction is a genre that has predicted many current inventions. And yet, at the time of release, certain movies ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: When The’s ‘Ardly No Day Nor ‘Ardly No Night

Previously on FTCH, we were hanging on the telephone for the Omega Man and Boba Fett. There was Juneberry, Joe ...
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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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Robot Monster Blue Ray Poster in Color

Robot Monster: 70th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Review: A Dream Release for 3-D Fans

Bayview Entertainment celebrates the 70th anniversary of Robot Monster with an impressive release that features a quality restoration by 3-D ...
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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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A Woman Standing in Front of a Poster Holding an Axe

From the Couch Hole: I’m in the Phone Booth, It’s the One Across the Hall

Previously on FTCH, the biggest part of me was a combination of Oppenheimer and Obi-Wan and a mashup of Twinkies ...
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Midsummer Scream Game Board Poster

Midsummer Scream 2023 Review, Part 2: Sunday Spooky Sunday

Throughout the 3-day weekend, the exhibit floor was packed with hundreds of vendors for all one's spooky season needs, from ...
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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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Midsummer Scream 2023: Hall of Shadows Review: Each Attraction Showcased an Impressive Amount of Work

The Hall of Shadows is a section of the exhibit floor filled with haunted attractions. CalHaunts, a Southern California group ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Try to Stay in the Middle

Previously on FTCH, there was the return of the Killer's Hook and the Pickwick Papers said, "Thank you for smoking." ...
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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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Aber Bergen: Complete Series DVD Review: Divorce Norwegian Style

When married partners of a law firm divorce, their office is left in flux as they try to continue working ...
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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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Book Review: Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Count Roquefort Case and Other Stories: The Disney Afternoon Adventures Vol. 3

The third in Fantagraphics reprint series, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Count Roquefort Case and Other Stories: The Disney ...
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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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Justice League: Warworld Blu-ray Review: A Minor Installment in the Tomorrowverse

Justice League: Warworld is the latest entry in the Tomorrowverse, the current iteration of the DC Animated Movie Universe. While ...
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Book Review: Scrooge McDuck: The Dragon of Glasgow by Joris Chamblain and Fabrizio Petrossi

Scrooge McDuck is best known from either DuckTales, or from the 1983 Disney Short, "Mickey's Christmas Carol." There he played, ...
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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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Book Review: The Complete Peanuts 1987-1988: A Lovingly Curated Collection of Charles M. Schulz’ Brilliant Strips

For nearly 50 years, Charles M. Schulz captured the hearts and imaginations of readers with his beloved Peanuts characters. Charlie ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: There’s a New Sun Arisin’

Previously on FTCH, the heat was on Indiana Jones and we were holdin' onto yesterday. We said what we would ...
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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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Book Review: Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: Operation Galleon Grab by Giorgio Cavazzano

While never a major draw in the United States, comic book stories starring the main line Disney cartoon characters, Mickey ...
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Book Review: Alison by Lizzy Stewart

Alison is a plain teenager getting by in a small English town, running out the clock on her high school ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: My Yesterdays Have All Gone By

Previously on FTCH, the last of Sheila went to Asteroid City for the Ultimate Coca-Cola on a beautiful day. The ...
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Book Review: Dear Mini: A Graphic Memoir, Book One by Natalie Norris

Natalie Norris was just 16 years old when she was shipped off from the U.S. to France for a summer ...
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Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Vol. 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—inspired by baroque music and an opera, Les Caprices de Marianne—took his collaborators to ...
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From the Couch Hole: Don’t Let It Get Away

Previously on FTCH, the brotherhood celebrated their Independence Day with beef, brownies, and a side of soylent green. The Sandman ...
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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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Anais Nin A Sea of Lies by Leonie Bischoff

Book Review: Anaïs Nin: A Sea of Lies by Léonie Bischoff

Diarist and author Anaïs Nin lived an extraordinary and controversial life. From Henry Miller to John Steinbeck, she had many lovers ...
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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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Book Review: Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies 1932-1935: Starring Bucky Bug and Donald Duck

Previously available from IDW/The Library of American Comics in 2016, Fantagraphics has now released their edition of Walt Disney's Silly ...
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From the Couch Hole: See the Lights Do a Long Slow Fade

Previously on FTCH, Arthur reminded us "The best that you can do is fall in love with Churro Kit Kats." ...
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Book Review: The Planetoid and Other Stories by Al Feldstein and Joe Orlando

After over 30 volumes in the long-running Fantagraphics EC Artists’ Library series, Joe Orlando’s sci-fi stories return to the spotlight ...
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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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The Venture Bros.: The Complete Series DVD Review: The Magnum Opus of Jackson Publick & Doc Hammer

The Venture Bros.: The Complete Series is a repackaging of the previously released seven seasons of the cult favorite, Adult ...
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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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Book Review: Nudism Comes to Connecticut by Susan Schade and Jon Buller

Imagine having a scandalous but fascinating tale buried deep within the branches of your family tree. Then imagine having the ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: I Know It’s Crazy but It’s True

Previously on FTCH, we asked, "Do you hear the rain when you're gone?" It's a Gilded Age at the Grindhouse ...
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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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Book Review: Eddie Muller’s Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir: A Complete Package

Dark corners. Quiet conversations. Secrets that get spilled after a few too many. This could be a scene from a ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: And in the Day, Everything’s Complex

Previously on FTCH, the 100th episode was brought to you by Dr. Pepper Float, Cuban Sandwich, and Strawberry Lymonade. Mr. Blue ...
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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 Review: 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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Rain Man Blu-ray Review: Irresistibly Good

For years, I had made references to Rain Man or had people make references to the movie because of how ...
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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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Book Review: Listen, Beautiful Márcia by Marcello Quintanilha

Brazilian favelas typically evoke images of poverty, drugs, and desperation, as most notably explored in the film City of God. ...
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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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A Clear Glass Bowl With Three Scoops of Ice Cream

From the Couch Hole: And Today Is the Day We’ve Waited For

Previously on FTCH, there was a sick puppy with a problem of the jugular vein. We had to go slow West ...
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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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Book Review: Doris Danger: Giant Monsters Amok by Chris Wisnia & Ricky Sprague

As the American comic book industry developed in the '60s, it became significantly less diverse. Superheroes eventually became, essentially, the ...
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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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Inside comedy by david steinberg.

Book Review: Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades by David Steinberg

David Steinberg is a man of many talents. He performed improv at Second City before becoming a stand-up comedian known ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: I Fell Asleep Amid the Flowers

Previously on FTCH, in the pitch black we were slip slidin' away down the quicksilver highway with an old pro. The ...
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Book Review: Out of My Head: The Imaginary Creatures of Josep Baqué by Brian Chidester

Josep Baqué was an artist with whom very few are familiar. His artwork went mostly unknown, as he never shared ...
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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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Book Review: Salome’s Last Dance by Daria Tessler

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

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

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

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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Book Review: Daughters of Snow and Cinders by Núria Tamarit

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

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

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

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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Leonardo dicaprio brad pitt poster

From the Couch Hole: Simple and Free

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 Movie Poster on display of the website

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 Warning on display of the website

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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James cagney and de havilland strawberry blondes blu ray.

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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From the Couch Hole: While Color Lights Up Your Face

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

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

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 rwby super heroes and monsters blu - ray.

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One Blue-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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Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Review: The End of a Prehistoric Era

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

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…

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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His Dark Materials: The Complete Season Three Blu-ray Review: A Fitting Finale for this Series

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

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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Pop Tarts Apple Jacks Cheese Box

From the Couch Hole: You Chased the Day Away

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

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 trees grew because i was there by eric larocca.

Book Review: The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca

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

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

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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Closeup shot of white dog face

From the Couch Hole: Show Me Where to Look

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

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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The Hunters: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 DVD Review: A Man Called Backström

A grumpy old retired cop is slogging through his golden years as a security guard at a start-up gold mine ...
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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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Bodies Bodies Bodies Poster on display of the website

From the Couch Hole: As the Sun Sank West

Previously on FTCH, we were a good person made of stardust who traveled from the meta moon to the Garden State. ...
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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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Reality Bites Poster on display of the website

From the Couch Hole: Stare into Space

Previously on FTCH, we had three cheeses in our chips and fruity cereal in our ice cream. It was stormy weather ...
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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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Book Review: Fools Die on Friday by Erle Stanley Gardner

Donald Lam knows the girl's a phony. He knows from the second he sees the monogram on her cigarette case ...
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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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Book Review: The Heavy Bright by Cathy Malkasian

A young girl is tasked with a seemingly impossible quest: to hunt down and destroy 999 black eggs closely held ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: You’ve Really Made the Grade

Previously on FTCH, we mused about once upon a time in the West with roulette and a poker face. We drove ...
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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.

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: That Old Hollywood Stomp

Babylon (2022; dir. Damien Chazelle) does for silent movies what Boogie Nights (1997; dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) did for ‘70s ...
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Book Review: Ephemera: A Memoir by Briana Loewinsohn

Briana Loewinsohn’s debut graphic novel heralds the arrival of an intriguing new talent already operating at a masterful level. Her ...
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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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Book Review: Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir (Revised and Expanded Edition) by Eddie Muller

Author Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation and host of TCM's Noir Alley, once again serves ...
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Book Review: T*ts & Cl*ts 1972-1987: An Underground, Women-made Comix Gets the Fantagraphics Touch

Out this month, Tits & Clits 1972-1987 (Fantagraphics Books) compiles for the first time (in a single, handsome volume) all ...
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Closeup shot of a cat sitting on the cloth

From the Couch Hole: Well, My Time Went So Quickly

Previously on FTCH, we went under the silver lake to investigate the Dain's Curse with cavemen. There was fast twitch and ...
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Book Review: Mickey and Donald: For Whom the Doorbell Tolls

In 1999, a teacher at Disney’s Italian school for cartoonists presented his students with a prompt: select a short story ...
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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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Book Review: Evita: The Life and Work of Eva Perón by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Alberto and Enrique Breccia

Fantagraphics continues their series of Alberto Breccia releases with this graphic biography of the polarizing Argentine icon, Eva Perón, popularly ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Not Really Sure How to Feel About It

Previously on FTCH, it was a thematic whale of a tale about Dicky Moe, Moby Dick, Mobius, the Whale, and we ...
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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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The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Review: Filmation’s First Animated Iteration of the Caped Crusader

Filmation followed up The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967) with The Batman/Superman Hour (1968), securing the rights to the first ...
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Melville Moby Dick Book Cover

From the Couch Hole: Call Me Ahab

Previously on FTCH, the was a killing and a nightmare that was meaner than evil. The strawberries and cream mixed with ...
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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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Book Review: The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1927

Krazy Kat is the kind of thing that doesn't happen. The comic strip ran for almost 30 years despite irritation ...
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Robert Townsends Hollywood Shuffle Poster

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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Small Cute Cat sleeping on the couch

From the Couch Hole: I Know Your Eyes in the Morning Sun

Previously on FTCH, we had a red harvest in the pastures of plenty. There was a starry flare that brought a ...
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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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Book Review: Talespin: Flight of the Sky-Raker and Other Stories: The Disney Afternoon Adventures Vol. 2

Disney Afternoon was a staple of after-school procrastination for nearly a decade, from 1990-1997. Several of those years included my ...
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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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A fistful of dollars poster on display of the website

From the Couch Hole: I Slept on the Ground in the Light of the Moon

Previously on FTCH, we went from Pandora to the High Plains and drifted back to the water. The yellowjackets were breaking ...
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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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Book Review: Spa by Erik Svetoft

Swedish writer/illustrator Erik Svetoft's Spa is a Kafkaesque adventure that plunges into a Lynchian nightmare. Set in a high-class, luxury ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: ‘Cause We All Have Wings

Previously on FTCH, I thought that top guns were mad men. I went maverick over tangy Cheetos that take my breath ...
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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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Book Review: The Extraordinary Part: Book One: Orsay’s Hands by Florent Ruppert and Jerome Mulot

The latest work from powerhouse French graphic novelist duo Ruppert and Merlot imagines a world much like our own with ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Watching in Slow Motion

Previously on FTCH, during a rainy night in Georgia, we were turning red like a spicy nacho dip. Or was it ...
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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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Book Review: Kevin Smith: His Films and Fans, Compiled & Edited by David Gati

No matter what you think of director Kevin Smith, there’s no denying that the 52-year-old filmmaker has something out of ...
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From the Couch Hole: Tryin’ to Find a Warm Place to Spend the Night

Previously on FTCH, further on up the road with the Swiss Miss, things on Pandora were all quiet on the Western ...
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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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Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live In ‘76 Album Review: A Night of Marvin Medleys

Originally released on DVD in 2007, Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live In ‘76 is now available on vinyl and CD ...
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Maigret (1960): Season 2 Blu-ray Review: This Series Keeps Getting Better

While I was writing my review for Season 1 of Maigret, I kept wondering if I'd be able to find ...
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From the Couch Hole: Where the Road Is Dark and the Seed Is Sowed

Previously on FTCH, we kicked off the third year of FTCH with some roadwork with Tar that was so easy even ...
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Book Review: Rock on Film: The Movies That Rocked the Big Screen by Fred Goodman

Author Fred Goodman takes readers on a tour of Rock on Film for Turner Classic Movies. After revealing his first ...
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From the Couch Hole: Take That Look of Worry, I’m an Ordinary Man

Previously on FTCH, way back in 2022 we left you with a cliffhanger as Valdez was coming. There was a Zapp ...
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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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Book Review: Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen by Steve Rosen

While there have been many books chronicling Eddie Van Halen’s life and music, Steve Rosen’s Tonechaser is by the far ...
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Book Review: Being Bond: A Daniel Craig Retrospective by Mark Salisbury

Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time to Die reminded us all how much of an impact ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Best of the Rest 2022 – Haunted by the Ghost of You

From 2005-2013 and 2014-2021, I punctuated each year with an ever increasingly complex Best of List. In 2020 I returned ...
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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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From the Couch Hole: Best of TV/Streaming 2022 – Let Justice Be Done Though the Heavens Fall

From 2005-2013 and 2017-2020, I punctuated each year with an ever increasingly complex Best Of List. In 2021, I returned ...
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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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