Writer/director Park Hoon-jung is not one to shy away from the darkness that exists within humanity (I Saw the Devil) or a hidden world within it (the Witch series). Whether in the bright of day or the shadows of night,… Read More ›
Home Release
“Aliens” never looked better than in 4K!
Multigrain, harvest grain, 12 grain, whole grain, there’s a whole lot of grain for everyone. Now, if this irritates you to your core, then you’re probably happy about the reports that the James Cameron restorations look like Madame Tussauds, however,… Read More ›
The first two entries in “The Long Arm of the Law Saga” join the Asia Collection of 88 Films via a collector’s edition.
Restorations are a great way to not only preserve cinema history, they are also a way for films that may have been lost, forgotten, or otherwise kept to a region or country to find new audiences. For 88 Films, specifically… Read More ›
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 ›
You may not want this life, but you’re going to want this 4K UHD 25th anniversary edition of sports dramedy “Varsity Blues.”
January 15th, 1999 — Joey (Katie Holmes) and Dawson (James Van Der Beek) were still an item, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) was not yet fast nor furious, and, though we knew not to trust Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the world… Read More ›
The mysteries of “The Abyss” surface digitally in the new 4K UHD edition.
The last article I wrote for Elements of Madness, rather ironically, was a 4K home media review of another James Cameron film, Titanic, which hit 4K Blu-ray last month. Now, as if churning out the rest of his catalog and… Read More ›
“Satanic Hispanics” on Blu-ray falls short as an anthology.
No one who is involved in making movies goes out of their way to make anything less than spectacular. This does not mean every movie is going to be gold, nor does it mean every movie is going to be… Read More ›
“The Inspector Wears Skirts” joins the ranks of the 88 Asia Collection in 2K.
First hitting Hong Kong theaters with 1986’s action comedy Naughty Boys (扭計雜牌軍), filmmaker Wellson Chin Sing-Wai’s follow up is that of the female-led The Inspector Wears Skirts (霸王花), released as Top Squad in the U.S., has Sibelle Hu (The Seventh… Read More ›
Yūzō Kawashima’s grifter dramedy “Elegant Beast” receives the restoration treatment from Radiance Films.
There have always been stories about grifters, liars, and thieves for about as long as there have been heroes and heroines. Sometimes they’re lovable arbiters of chaos, sometimes always in it for themselves. Each time, though, they are often thought… Read More ›
The Criterion Collection releases a fifth Guillermo del Toro edition with his co-directed adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
In a world in which streamers rarely release their films on physical formats and legacy studios are beginning to delete finished films (either for tax purposes or to just remove from servers), there’s something truly wonderful about the relationship developed… Read More ›
“Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” is ready to come home in digital and physical formats.
It’s been said time and time again, and I believe I’ve even made the exact sentiment in another review prior but it deserves to be said again, if you love physical media then you, we, I, have to do everything… Read More ›
Come out of your shell anytime you like with the latest TMNT animated adventure, “Mutant Mayhem,” out on home video.
There’s a saying in the Buffyverse that, when paraphrased, states, “To every generation there is a Slayer.” The same can be said for fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird,… Read More ›
James Cameron’s action spycraft rom-com “True Lies” finally receives the high-definition treatment it deserves.
For a certain type of film fan, there’s been a question swirling around in their minds for decades now and it’s centered on writer/director James Cameron. No, it’s not about when the next Avatar entry in the expected five-film series… Read More ›
Director Frant Gwo’s “The Wandering Earth II” embarks on a physical release via Well Go USA.
Memory is a strange thing. It doesn’t work like I thought it did. We are so bound by time, by its order. But now I am not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings. – Arrival (2016) In 2019,… Read More ›
Get even more Masaaki Yuasa bang for your buck with this five-film box set release from Shout! Studios and GKIDS Films.
Whimsical, musical, juvenile, comedic, romantic, adult, absurd — each of these singular words could easily describe the work of filmmaker/artist Masaaki Yuasa. Whether telling a “one crazy night” story or a rom-com or a time-traveling serial killer rock show, each… Read More ›
“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 ›
Jump into a viewer-friendly historical financial escapade immersed in humor with the home release of “Dumb Money.”
Movies about finance can be difficult to translate to the big screen. The complicated terminology and history can feel overwhelming to those unfamiliar with that world. The GameStop stock short-squeeze is a prime example of this very thing. It’s a… Read More ›
“Love Actually” is available on 4K for the first-time to send a tingle in your fingers and toes.
When it comes to holiday films with major casts, there have been *many* of them over the years. But if we narrow the field just a little to those specifically focused or centered on/around a holiday, we end up with… Read More ›
Shout! Studio’s 4K UHD edition of “Clue” is no red herring.
In today’s theatrical market, making a movie off an established intellectual property (IP) is standard practice. Successful book? Make it a movie. Successful television series? Make it a movie. Successful video game? Keep attempting to make it a movie. Successful… Read More ›
Yo, Johnny! I see you in 4K as Studio! Studios releases “Point Break” in first-time 4K UHD.
There are movies which, whether you’ve seen them or not, no matter where your cinematic knowledge or pleasures come from, you have knowledge of and the understanding that the film is generally received well. Some of these movies are regarded… Read More ›