DVD Reviews

At the turn of last century the superhero genre was on the cusp of a major elevation in output. Despite Batman and Robin crashing and burning that franchise, films like Blade, X-Men and Spider-man were all in various stages of production and would go on to embolden the now saturated superhero  ...

Metallic hands and dark glasses!  There can be only one Dr. Gogol!   Maybe it is the warning that is issued as the film begins in total blackness or maybe it is the way that Peter Lorre is lit and filmed throughout this horror film, but Mad Love absolutely works its twisted ways in a modern viewing and ...

This life can be a long, rambling walk down a twisting highway.  Just ask Mr. Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates), the “junior birdman” who dreams of a cockfighting championship while he puts others to the side in his quest for the title.  ...

Talk about a toxic relationship! The one shared between Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his handler Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult, About a Boy) has gotten so bad that Renfield, a former real estate agent who sold his soul to the Count some 100 years ago, attends a  ...

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo.  Need I say anymore?  I don’t really think so, but I’ll flex.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a certified REEL CLASSIC of silent, cinematic horror and it begins right there with Chaney’s performance as the deaf, half-blind, hunchbacked bell-ringer of the famous Cathedral of ...

It’s TOTAL DESTRUCTION DAY!  Break out the party favors!  I meant the Geiger counters.  Gather the women ‘round and tell them the news: the sooner they have kids, the better for all of mankind!   Wait.  What?  Welcome to the paranoid world of ...

Let’s get this out of the way upfront: If you aren’t a Wes Anderson fan, then it is recommended you stay far, far away from his latest film, Asteroid City. Similarly, if you don’t “get” his brand of filmmaking, there’s really no need to waste your time reading any further, as nothing here is going  ...

It’s Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn. Are you sold on it yet? No? Alright, let’s talk: When you think about Tracey-Hepburn films, Frank Capra’s 1948 State of the Union is certainly not as revered or remembered in the way that Woman of the Year, Adam’s Rib, or even Guess Who’s  ...

Can we talk about Super Fly’s opening for a minute?  Street shot and completely on the - pardon the pun - fly, this engaging opening is one hell of a way to open Super Fly, the late Gordon Parks, Jr. (Three the Hard Way, Aaron Loves Angela) film.  Right away, we are caught up in the  ...

During a particularly stubborn bout of doing what writers do best: procrastinate - screenwriter Jimmy Warden ran across a 1985 news piece that became the seed of his next project. The true story involved the news of a 175-pound black bear that was found dead in the Chattahoochee  ...

"I've got my head. I've lost my leopard!" As far as screwball comedies go, the pairing of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn was probably seen as an odd choice in 1938. She didn’t have a hit film and Grant, hitting his comedic stride, was just coming off of The Awful Truth to ...

Spellbinding science fiction doesn’t get any more outrageous than it does here in The Brain Eaters, a 61-minute schlocky shocker from the Drive-In era of B-flicks.  This is what happens when Small Town, America finds itself at the center of a UFO invasion!  Hide the jars of pickles, Ma and  ...

With a deadline looming over the troubled sailors, Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail makes the film’s numbered days last as long as possible with its simple plot and generous humanity. Starring Jack Nicholson as the rough and rugged Billy “Badass” Buddusky, Otis Young as the sensible and strict  ...

The comedic timing.  The charisma of all involved.  The breaking of the fourth wall.  Hollywood’s definitive leading man!  What’s not to love about Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House as Cary Grant takes his physical comedy and his mannerisms from the office to home construction woes ...

Hey, BU-DDY.  Eric is out for blood.  And, really, who can blame him?!  Disfigured when some greedy commercial real estate developers set fire to his house in order to build a mall over it, Erik now hides himself in the air ducts and the subterranean passageways, cutting anyone who dares cross  ...

As if we needed something else to confirm Viola Davis’ place in the shrine of truly remarkable actresses, along comes The Woman King, an elaborately choreographed historical epic in which she towers over nearly every aspect of the film’s production ...

A psychological thriller in which Boris Karloff does NOT play a creature of the night?  Say it ain’t so?!  But it’s true.  Isle of the Dead, produced by the legendary Val Lewton, concerns itself with that which haunts Greek nightmares: the Vrykolakas and this female vampire is certainly NOT  ...

Beginning with an explosion which levels a poppy field, Cleopatra Jones is one bad mutha!  Drug trafficking is about to get the red light thanks to her blazing guns. With an undefined beauty and a ...

Since Marvel, DC, Godzilla, Conjuring, Spider-Man, and others have their own cinematic universes these days, it should be no surprise that even the Screenlife genre of filmmaking is now gaining its own universe of sorts. It’s where all of a film’s events are shown on the screen of a computer ...

Madness.  Mayhem.  And, of course, MURDER.  This is what follows the anti-archetype characters of M.  It is a thriller that is meant to unsettle the viewer with its hunt for a serial killer, making it an unforgettable REEL CLASSIC ...

Dirty O’Neil, released during the same year as The Swinging Cheerleaders and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is yet another on wild romp through exploitation flicks.  It is essentially about the love life of a small-town cop.  Filled to the bring with backseat action, corny one-liners, and lots  ...

When a film, not particularly well-liked at the time by critics, goes on to earn back four times its budget, there had to be something to it. Road House is the go-to for many Gen-Xers (myself included) for a bit of dumb fun. It’s ridiculous, set-your-brain-to-neutral, action fare; the kind made for (and seemingly  ...

The new comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson called The Hustle is an almost identical remake of the 1988 classic comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin - itself a remake of Marlon Brando’s Bedtime Story. I say “almost” because  ...

The “Brother Man from the Motherland” returns to settle yet another score!  Can you dig it? Funked up by Isaac Hayes’ incredible score and theme, Richard Roundtree is back in action as Harlem P.I. John Shaft in this trio of signature blaxploitation offerings from directors...

There is nothing more alluring to me for a night at the movies than a good old-fashioned man versus beast tale. My favourite film has always been Spielberg’s Jaws and forever will be. Even the most ill-advised and derivative of this sub-genre usually end up an easy watch for me. So long ...

Korean-born American animator, director, and voice actor Peter Sohn, known for his work on numerous Pixar films including The Good Dinosaur, Ratatouille, Monsters University, and more, steps behind the Pixar “camera” again for the company’s all-new, original feature  ...

Suspicions!  Accusations!  It’s all on the screen in this minor film noir classic.  The Suspect arrives on blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber and I, as a fan of Laughton’s performances, couldn’t be happier ...

Stop Motion animation addicts rejoice!  Monster from Green Hell has been unleashed and, for those few seconds of stop motion glory, it’s worth it! ...

“Jaaaaaaaaaammmmmeeeessss!” We’re only about one month into 2023 and there is already a film to come out that has left me completely and utterly stunned. It shocks you; it makes you squirm, and it hypnotizes you with its unnerving atmosphere and startling images. Brandon  ...

One wouldn’t normally equate Cary Grant with a family movie about adoption and the drama which lies therein, but perhaps that’s why Room for One More (also known as The Easy Way) lingers with viewers.  Grant, playing one half of The Roses, never gets time alone as his house is filled  ...