Author Archives
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Imprint Films brings Akira Kurosawa’s unfinished film, “The Sea is Watching,” to Blu-ray.
The Sea is Watching is the latest splash in the ongoing wave of previously unavailable East Asian films coming to America through boutique Blu-ray labels, this one through Imprint: Asia. It’s the second-to-last screenplay from one of the greatest Maestros… Read More ›
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The Best and Worst “Scooby-Doo” films debut in HD on the same Blu-ray.
Most Scooby-Doo films are just alright. They are often glorified hour-long episodes of the series, or Archie Comics-style cameo machines. But starting in 1998 and ending in 2003, there was a run of good-to-great straight-to-VHS films, Scooby-Doo! On Zombie Island… Read More ›
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“Dogfight” is a heavyweight film and a lightweight Criterion release.
Nothing in the 1991 film Dogfight is black and white, no matter what the greyscale filter on the box’s cover art and poster may imply. Or maybe, everything is. A cable classic that found its audience after release, Dogfight couldn’t… Read More ›
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“Challengers” is a Movie Star Grand Slam!
A backwater tennis court, a “challenger” tennis tournament, in Rochelle, New York. Mike Faist (West Side Story; The Bikeriders) as Art and Josh O’Connor (La Chimera; Cinderella) as Patrick are battling on this small-town court. Zendaya’s (Dune Part Two; The… Read More ›
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“Monster” brings our global, idiotic anxiety about teachers home on Blu-ray.
Monster (2023) was one of the best films of last year that no one saw, as is typical of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (Shoplifters; Nobody Knows) films as of late. It’s also part of a worrying trend and aftershock of American politics… Read More ›
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You’ll like the movie “I Like Movies” quite a lot.
“I like movies” is not just something I tell people at parties, it’s also the title of Chandler Levack’s debut feature film. If you’re someone who reads pieces like this review, this is a film with something to say about… Read More ›
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Go see “House” already, it’s perfect. [Japanese Horror Fest]
Running from March 1st – 14th at Film Forum NYC, a 25-film Japanese Horror festival gives New Yorkers the chance to see Nobuhiko Obayashi’s (The Little Girl Who Conquered Time; His Motorbike, Her Island) House (1977). This Japanese blockbuster was… Read More ›
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Catch the failure of America’s pandemic messaging in 4K with “Contagion.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., Steven Soderbergh’s (Ocean’s 11, Logan Lucky) Contagion (2011) shot to the top of the streaming charts. At the time, the CEO of Warner Brothers was going all in on their streaming service HBO… Read More ›
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Radiance Films brings a forgotten “Great” back with “Allonsanfàn” on Blu-ray.
If you’ve never heard of the Italian Napoleonic drama Allonsanfàn before today, don’t worry, almost no one has. I had not heard of it until Radiance Films announced this Blu-ray release, and one of Vulture’s film critics Bilge Ebiri quote… Read More ›
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“Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny” rocks out on Blu-ray release from Shout! Studios.
Earlier this winter I embarked on a project of finishing all of the excessively thorough special features on my David Fincher movies, The Social Network (2010), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Gone Girl (2014), etc.. Hearing artists of… Read More ›
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Pair “The Taste of Things” with a good meal for the perfect Valentine’s Date.
It was December 16th, 2023, when I received the text “Do u want soup tonight?” to which I replied, “Yeah I can do a soup.” The dinner invitation came from fellow film buff Scott Rogers, who, along with his partner… Read More ›
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“The End We Start From” stumbles on its own finish line.
The End We Start From is the rare conventional “we’ve seen this before” genre film that edges ahead of its competition by way of its unconventional dedication to reality. It also squanders that edge in the name of reaching some… Read More ›
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“Freud’s Last Session” is a thorny bore and a great idea.
Freud’s Last Session may not have been with C.S. Lewis, Christian Apologist and author of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to be, but what this film presupposes is: maybe it was? Set on the day Hitler’s Nazi Germany… Read More ›
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Criterion brings French cinema to the children with “The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse” collector’s set.
Albert Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon (1956) is a contender for the greatest short film of all time. Lamorisse is often overlooked in discussions of the French New Wave, including by his peers, and his other, sparse works, Bim, the Little… Read More ›
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“Fremont”’s search for home arrives at your door via Music Box Films.
Newcomer Anaita Wali Zada’s Donya is desperate for a dream, and, like those who know her, by the second act of Babak Jalali’s (Radio Dreams, Frontier Blues) Fremont, you’ll be desperate for her to find one, too. It’s been a… Read More ›
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“Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” is a triumph among TV movies.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie is a home-run. The best Monk yet in fact. It retains the broad, schmaltzy tone that made the long-running series so appealing as whole-family entertainment, but it expands on the tragic underpinning of… Read More ›
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The “Messiah of Evil” devours the screen with Radiance Films’s special edition release.
Featuring not one but two of the great film prologues of the 1970s New Hollywood era, the high-minded horror classic Messiah of Evil (1973) is the latest release from independent Blu-ray distributor Radiance Films. Earlier this year a limited edition… Read More ›
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See ripped hacker Hemsworth in 4K, and “Blackhat” Director’s Cut in 2K via Arrow Video.
You’ll believe a computer nerd can be handsome and ripped. Or maybe you won’t. It’s Michael Mann’s (Thief, Heat) Blackhat (2015), and it’s finally releasing in 4K UHD from Arrow this Tuesday, November 28th. But more importantly, the 2K Director’s… Read More ›
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The kids are not alright: Shinji Sōmai’s “Typhoon Club” makes it’s Blu-ray debut from Third Window Films.
A typhoon’s coming… Typhoon Club (1985) that is! Arriving November 27th from Third Window Films, Shinji Sōmai’s youth cinema masterpiece debuts on Blu-ray. Note: This review is based on a pre-production check disc and will not cover any packaging or… Read More ›
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The 4K release of “The Fugitive” is worth the pursuit.
30 years ago, the running came to an end. Again. This time, on the silver screen, not the TV one. It was Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars) vs. Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black, No Country… Read More ›