Author Archives
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“The Unknown Country” arrives at its destination, your home.
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon, Certain Women) has had quite a year. She’s the front-runner for the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in a Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Hugo) film. She was marching with her union SAG-AFTRA… Read More ›
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“Napoleon” smells like a good time.
“Please don’t wash, will arrive in three days” wrote Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife Josephine once upon a time. The man liked a strong smell, and that’s part of the historical record. Reactions to Ridley Scott’s (Alien, The Last Duel)… Read More ›
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The Criterion Collection’s “The Last Picture Show” remaster gives filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich one last wish.
The whole sad affair is finally viewable at home with the new 4K restoration of Peter Bogdanovich’s iconic The Last Picture Show, whose Criterion release includes the new black and white edition of the Texasville’s director’s cut, previously only purchasable… Read More ›
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“Unrest (Unrueh)” is the hot labor movie for Hot Labor Fall, and a Best of 2023.
Even though practically no one has seen it, Unrest (Unrueh) is certainly the film of 2023. The best film? Easily a top 10. The most relevant? Absolutely. 2023, the year of Hot Labor Summer, now Hot Labor Fall. The WGA… Read More ›
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“Scooby-Doo! And Krypto, Too!” heralds trouble for Hollywood. And it’s pretty good, too!
With the WGA Strike officially over with a ratified deal and the SAG-AFTRA negotiations seemingly going well, an era of Hollywood filmmaking is ending while another begins, and somehow the 2023 home release of Scooby-Doo film Scooby-Doo! And Krypto, Too!… Read More ›
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“Killers of the Flower Moon” sees several masters at work both on and off camera.
Killers of the Flower Moon is an achievement in cinema. Respectful, relentless, and remarkably paced, the film sees the 80-year-old master filmmaker, “Maestro Scorsese” as younger filmmakers call Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street, Goodfellas), prove himself to be… Read More ›
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Cauldron Brings “City of the Living Dead” to 4K UHD in Time for All Saint’s Day.
The video rental store horror classic City of the Living Dead (1980) has arrived in gloriously gory 4K UHD from Cauldron and is a perfect pickup for the Halloween season. Originally distributed in the U.S. as “The Gates of Hell,”… Read More ›
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Lincoln Center brings “The Barefooted Young” to NYC.
Screening one last time at Lincoln Center in NYC on Tuesday, September 12th, at 8:30 p.m. as part of their massive Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: the 1960’s exhibition is Kim Ki Deok’s The Barefooted Young, a 1964 South Korean film… Read More ›
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West African film “Mami Wata” is a contender for Best Looking Film of 2023. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
As the ocean rises and falls, and the tide is the guarantor of its own return, so too does the astonishing black and white photography of Mami Wata step return a bygone style to modern folklore for a modern moment…. Read More ›
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The “Roman Holiday” 4K UHD 70th Anniversary home release edition is a proper celebration.
Roman Holiday (1953) debuts on 4K UHD Blu-ray from Paramount Pictures on August 15th, 2023, 13 days ahead of the film’s 70th anniversary. In a related note, this author’s lungs are full of fresh air. This 4K release is, at… Read More ›
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Ilulian Postelnicu thrills as put upon cop in “Men of Deeds.”
What matters more? Getting things done or getting them done the right way? That’s the question at the heart of Paul Negoescu’s Men of Deeds (Oameni de treabă), screening in select NYC theaters beginning August 4th and in L.A. at… Read More ›
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“East of Eden” another empty gesture from Warner Bro. Picture’s 100th celebration.
Releasing alongside our previously reviewed Rio Bravo (1959), the WB100, 4K UHD edition of Elia Kazan’s East of Eden (1955) hit the streets on August 1st, 2023, and like Rio Bravo and many of the WB100 editions, it’s a perfect… Read More ›
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Heavyweight Warner Bros. Pictures classic “Rio Bravo” gets lightweight 4K UHD release.
Howard Hawks’s Rio Bravo (1959) is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray as part of Warner Brothers-Discovery’s WB 100: Celebrating Every Story for $24.99. It should be less. Starring John Wayne (The Searchers, El Dorado), Dean Martin (Ocean’s 11, Something’s… Read More ›
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Sneaky link with Jean Grémillon’s “Lady Killer” at Metrograph NYC.
Originally premiering at this year’s Canne Film Festival, the new 4k restoration of Jean Grémillon’s Lady Killer (1937), aka Gueule d’amour (1937), is headed for the US, opening August 4th at Metrograph NYC where it will screen for a one-week… Read More ›
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A24 horror movie “Talk To Me” makes misery terrifying.
Talk to Me’s Mia (Sophie Wilde (You Don’t Know Me, The Portable Door)) is still using an outdated iPhone because it contains irreplaceable memories of her dead mother. She also doesn’t put a case on it. This marriage of grief… Read More ›
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Actor Lily Gladstone’s “The Unknown Country” is no fly-over film.
The Unknown Country is a noisy film. A small, internal road drama steeped in cinema verité, it mixes score with the noise of the real world — overlapping voices, clinking dishes, the radio that refuses to shut up. Radio has… Read More ›
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Third Window Films invites you to take a peep at Katsuhito Ishii.
*Disclaimer: Elements of Madness received check-discs of this product, and as such this review will not cover any box art, packaging, or included literary materials that are included with the product.* Katsuhito Ishii, Japan’s Robert Rodriquez, rebel V-Cinema wave filmmaker,… Read More ›
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“The Iron Prefect” finally gets the spotlight thanks to Radiance Films.
“Filmmaking is also nation making.” – Pasquale Squitieri, via Domenico Monetti The Iron Prefect (1977) is a nearly perfect limited edition out from Radiance Films. Previously screened in the United States and released on DVD as I am the Law,… Read More ›
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“Biosphere” is fertile ground for a good time.
It’s always strange when a film, its release date set months or years in advance, syncs up with current events. Of course, a writer’s job is often to synthesize their experiences and see how they will evolve down the road,… Read More ›
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“Scarlet” soars on red romantic wings.
The hope found in love is the only hope we have, or at least, that’s what Pietro Marcello‘s Scarlet (2023) seems to be saying. This French period piece is firmly rooted in the cynical positivity of the meta-modernist era. Everything… Read More ›