By the end of Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 detective drama, Stray Dog, there is not a character that escapes the fray without rolling around in the mud, figuratively and literally. Every decision has consequences, and every action has a reaction. Some, more… Read More ›
Films To Watch
Arrow Video’s HD restoration of director Park Chan-wook’s “JSA: Joint Security Area” is an opportunity to learn from the past.
One of the great things about boutique distributors like Criterion, Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, and others is that whether a film is lost or beloved, they find new life via a new release. Even though the major studios are starting to… Read More ›
Fistful of Features: Week of February 23rd
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a weekly column that celebrates film preservation through physical media and discusses cinematic treasures from every genre to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. There are many great labels that are doing incredible work… Read More ›
Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop” offers a compelling look at the life of adolescent immigrants.
Two years after the release of Man Push Cart (2005), writer/director Ramin Bahrani followed it with Chop Shop (2007), a thematic continuation of the immigrant story he began with Ahmad the Pakistani food cart owner. Though actor Ahmad Razvi does… Read More ›
Ramin Bahrani’s melancholic “Man Push Cart” joins the Criterion Collection.
It’s interesting how things rarely change with time. There are incremental changes, sure, shifts in the way people dress or the meanings of words, but, largely, there are some things which remain. A sadness, a true melancholy, shrouds our existence,… Read More ›
Can you find the real “Archenemy” when the film comes to home video?
The deconstruction and evaluation of superheroes in cinema and television didn’t begin with Zack Snyder or Eric Kripke, though they are the ones most widely known for it at the moment. Their stories take a darker look at the notion… Read More ›
Explore somewhere unexpected in time anomaly dramedy “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.”
Books are a frequent source of mining in cinema. Sometimes their adaptations becomes something larger than possibly imagined (The Shawshank Redemption), while others support the notion that the imagination of the reader trumps anything celluloid can conjure (Artemis Fowl). Audiences… Read More ›
Armed with beautiful animation and a compelling story, “Jiang Ziya” is well worth the wait.
Originally slated for February 7th, 2020, the second-part of the Fengshen Cinematic Universe went into stasis until a brief theatrical rollout in October 2020. Now, though, nearly a year after it was to hit cinemaplexes, Jiang Ziya (also known as… Read More ›
Explore the time-bending sci-fi drama “Synchronic” from the comfort of your home.
The theatrical release of creative team Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s Synchronic did not go exactly as either had hoped. Though it did receive a rollout via traditional and drive-in theaters, Moorhead, Benson, and producer David Lawson implored audiences to… Read More ›
A true story, “The Mauritanian” presents the moral failings of a country who mistakes vengeance for justice.
… We think of justice as a quality that may exist in a whole community as well as in an individual, and the community is the bigger of the two. Possibly, then, we may find justice there in larger proportions,… Read More ›
Check out the unexpectedly life-affirming apocalypse world of “Love and Monsters” on home video.
Despite how things may look from a cinematic perspective, there have been a number of reputable films released this year. In fact, one of the best things to come out of reduced access to theaters is an increase in access… Read More ›
Ten Films From 2020 That Stuck With Me
With 2020 over (finally), it’s time for EoM to unveil its Fifth Annual Sticky List! If you’re unfamiliar with the Sticky List, these are the films which made me want to watch, rewatch, discuss, and share. While certainly several films… Read More ›
Explore Alejandro Iñárritu’s first feature film, “Amores perros,” in a brand-new way thanks to its addition to the Criterion Collection.
Before The Revenant (2017), before Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), before Biutiful (2010), and before 21 Grams (2003), writer/director Alejandro Iñárritu made his feature debut with 2000’s hard-hitting Amores perros, a title translated to English as “Love’s… Read More ›
Go deeper into the inverted world of “Tenet” via home video.
After revitalizing the superhero genre with his Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012), taking on the heist thriller with Inception (2010), and exploring the sci-fi family drama with Interstellar (2014), writer/director Christopher Nolan has become somewhat of a pillar in modern filmmaking… Read More ›
16 years later, Michael Mann’s “Collateral” is as strong a neo-noir as ever. But does HDR improve or distract?
In the included commentary for Collateral, director Michael Mann comments that the film picks up in the third act of a standard film. He’s not wrong at all with this description as the audience is given a clue of location… Read More ›
Reintroduce yourself to the Daywalker in the first-time 4K UHD home release of “Blade.”
In the ‘90s, you couldn’t take two steps without seeing Wesley Snipes projected somewhere. A gifted actor and martial artist, Snipes demanded audiences’ attention with a varied list of projects including White Men Can’t Jump (1992); Passenger 57 (1992); Rising… Read More ›
40 years later seems like a perfect time to revisit Robert Altman’s Broadway-esque “Popeye” in a special edition home release.
December 12th, 1980, isn’t that important to many people. Hanukkah had just ended, I wasn’t quite born yet, and Christmas was still just a glow in the distance. What it did bring is Robert Altman’s live-action ode to E.C. Segar’s… Read More ›
“Possessor” is a cinematic experience unlike anything else this year.
There’s something particularly wonderful about a film that challenges you, one which unnerves, unsettles, and burrows in, prompting contemplation past its clear end. This happens with joyful films like Over The Moon (2020), whose infectious songs linger, instilling a desire… Read More ›
Paramount Pictures releases four Eddie Murphy classics to help you get excited for “Coming 2 America.”
In preparation for the original December 2020 release of Coming 2 America, Paramount Pictures, with great anticipation, organized a wealth of home release material to celebrate Eddie Murphy. Even though audiences now have to wait until March 2021 for Coming… Read More ›
Return to Busan in the highly anticipated “Peninsula,” available on home video.
2016’s Train to Busan (Busanhaeng) is a marvel of a film. Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho and co-written with Park Joo-Suk, the story of a zombie outbreak in South Korea beautifully balances the emotional stakes (father-daughter) with the larger scope implications… Read More ›