Elements of Madness

Recent Posts - page 33

• Kelsey Egan’s sophomore effort “The Fix” offers challenging ideas within an accessible action body horror package.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 23, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  In 2021, director/co-writer Kelsey Egan brought audiences within the perimeter of a private utopia tucked away within a greater ecological threat that destroyed memories in her sci-fi thriller Glasshouse. Exploring the connection between memory and trauma, Egan challenged audiences to… Read More ›

• 4K UHD release of “Jackie Brown” stuns in 4K but with no extras in the overhead bin.

  By justin waldman on January 22, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  When 2022 was happening and the announcement that Quentin Tarantino’s first feature ever was going to be released in 4K, everyone was foaming at their mouth with anticipation that not only was this going to be a *good* release but… Read More ›

• Pedro Almodóvar’s first English language film, “The Room Next Door,” is an ode to a life lived and what comes next.

  By Michelle Swope on January 21, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  As painful as it can be for everyone involved, death is inevitable. You might be able to delay its arrival, but ultimately, death comes for all of us, and we will all leave someone behind to grieve our passing. Grieving… Read More ›

• Both halves of Quentin Tarantino’s fourth film, “Kill Bill,” receive a first-time 4K UHD edition and special edition steelbook via Lionsgate Limited.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 21, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  “The Bride: You and I have unfinished business. Bill: Baby, you ain’t kidding.” – Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004) It’s 2025 and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is actively developing his 10th, and rumored final, film. Though incredibly divisive for the dialogue… Read More ›

• The rollercoaster of consistency in the Sony Pictures “Venom” series comes to a flat end with “The Last Dance.”

  By Douglas Davidson on January 21, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  When the trailers first dropped for director Ruben Fleischer’s Venom (2018), audiences got a taste of something truly exciting as it looked like Sony Pictures might take the Marvel Comics villain-turned-anti-hero and introduce him through a body horror-like science fiction… Read More ›

• “The Colors Within” fill out the latest musical high school drama by filmmaker Naoko Yamada.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 20, 2025 • ( 1 )

  

  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. – The Serenity Prayer There’s a frequently quoted adage “youth is wasted on the young.”… Read More ›

• Enter the mind of a killer in 4K UHD with Arrow Video’s limited edition restoration of “The Cell.”

  By Douglas Davidson on January 19, 2025 • ( 1 )

  

  2025 is feeling like *the year* for director Tarsem Singh and his fans. First, the announcement for his upcoming 4K UHD restoration of The Fall (2006) by Umbrella Entertainment (possible theatrical and home release vs. one or the other) and,… Read More ›

• “The Grifters” slip into the Criterion Collection with a 4K UHD Blu-ray release.

  By justin waldman on January 18, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  The Criterion Collection always tries to curate releases that get the cinephile community excited and talking about their addition to Criterion’s Closet and film lovers’ shelves. The quality of release is always top-notch as it’s filled with a plethora of… Read More ›

• “Back in Action” is a comfortingly dependable family action comedy that will warm your January doldrums.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 17, 2025 • ( 4 )

  

  January is often viewed by those who track film releases as a doldrums period. Either theaters are filled with awards-hopefuls or the titles that studios/distributors dump in hopes of recouping some of their investment. Yes, this even applies to digital… Read More ›

• The “Conclave” home release on 4K has unanimous support.

  By Andrew J. Eisenman on January 16, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  The sin Cardinal Lawrence fears may be “certainty,” but Conclave (2024) is a film forged with it, and the 4K UHD home release is no different. The extras include a featurette on the making of the film and a director’s… Read More ›

• Richard Pryor’s soul-baring, uneven biopic “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling” gets a digital 4K Blu-ray upgrade with The Criterion Collection.

  By Blak Cinephile on January 15, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  For better or worse, beloved comedian Richard Pryor’s semi-autobiographical film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is an ‘80s film, through and through. From the start, we have the classic neon glow of the film’s title backed up by… Read More ›

• The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release of 1973’s “The Mother and the Whore” exceeds the 4K release in quality and value.

  By Andrew J. Eisenman on January 14, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  Last week I got an admittedly excessive 4K UHD Blu-ray in the mail. Normally $75.99, I caught it at 48% off at $39.20. It was the 40th Anniversary Edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and it came… Read More ›

• Tiffany Kim Stevens’s darkly comedic satire “Trigger Happy” threatens to cross-over into reality.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 13, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  Satire of any sort is a difficult storytelling genre to nail. Go too far in one direction, people dismiss the ideas as far-fetched and implausible (ex. the revelation of Sorry to Bother You (2018)); go too far in the other,… Read More ›

• Crime drama “Eat the Night” seeks to explore real versus digital existance.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 10, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  The real world is a mess. Just about everywhere you look there’s something to be despondent about, whether it’s the state of the global climate, the power grab by nationalist parties within global governments, or the general vibe of “get… Read More ›

• Donnie Yen’s “The Prosecutor” receives verdicts of guilty for attempting too much and not guilty for the entertainment it provides in the process.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 9, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  Like many in the Hong Kong scene, Donnie Yen has worn and continues to wear many hats. He’s been a member of a stunt team (The Miracle Fighters) and an actor (Tiger Cage; Blade II), sometimes on the same project;… Read More ›

• Family drama “Daruma” brings its desire for perseverance and good fortune home.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 8, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  Contrary to what some American politicians (and some of their base) would tell you, having children isn’t a cure-all. In the same way that pets for the holidays are a great idea filled with visions of beautiful smiles and joyous… Read More ›

• Is what’s in the box worth it for the 30th anniversary 4K UHD edition of David Fincher’s “Se7en”?

  By Douglas Davidson on January 7, 2025 • ( 3 )

  

  Filmmaker David Fincher has released some of the most beloved thrillers in modern cinema. If “beloved” feels like too strong a term, certainly “dissected” and “explored” would be appropriate. Making the leap from music video to cinema with the contentious… Read More ›

• Come for the chaos, stay for the commentary track on filmmaker Jason Reitman’s home edition of “Saturday Night.”

  By Douglas Davidson on January 6, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  For 49 years and 50 seasons, the Not Ready for Primetime Players have entertained audiences with positively insane sketches, zeitgeist-hijacking music videos, and musical moments that have shifted entire industries in the live sketch program Saturday Night Live. It’s a… Read More ›

• “Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom” is a sky sail ride into the future by way of filmmaker Matt Busch.

  By Douglas Davidson on January 3, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  “No wish that I fulfil will bring true happiness, for that comes from within. Any desire you seek, you have the power to achieve yourself. And, the journey is its own reward.” – The Jinn of Wisdom in Aladdin 3477:… Read More ›

• “Hellboy: The Crooked Man” withers away in the dark on Blu-ray.

  By Dalin Rowell on January 2, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  In the opinion of this writer, we don’t thank Guillermo del Toro enough for his contributions to cinema. From his beautiful tribute to creature features via The Shape of Water (2017) to his dedication to animation with his Pinocchio (2022),… Read More ›

• ‹ Older Entries
• Newer Entries ›