DVD Reviews

I stopped doubting Marvel’s ambitious or, some would argue, arrogant insistence their multi-film magnum opus would succeed after seeing the first Avengers film. That was just a masterpiece of big budget carnage, and character-driven fun. Something, if I’d remembered   ...

Alex Garland’s directorial debut, Ex Machina, is, as far as I’m concerned, the first must-see film of 2015. More human than human indeed. This is breathtaking art that is meticulously assembled to build something unforgettable. Smart, explosive, and – dare I suggest  ...

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bathroom, Ghoulies return from the toilets.  Making their blu-ray debut, courtesy of Scream Factory, the films responsible for the hilariously awful cult class Hobgoblins - Ghoulies and Ghoulies II – arrive with a heavy  ...

Action.  Atmosphere.   And Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken saying things like, "Sad story.  You got a smoke?"   Do I really need to say any more?  Escape from New York, from writer/director John Carpenter, is the perfect mix of genres from a director who could do no wrong  ...

Time to climb aboard the Grantchester bandwagon before it leaves you in the gravel! The latest British crime drama imports wit, jazz, and murder in a scenic post-war Cambridgeshire. PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery is currently the only place to see James Runcie’s Sidney Chambers  ...

The western genre is familiar territory for a lot of audiences, no matter their location.  From directors like John Ford, Clint Eastwood, and Sergio Leone, the film community has reinforced some of the basic ingredients borrowed from penny books:  the guns, the whores  ...

Getting Vincent Price out of retirement was no easy task.  The boils and ghouls over at Scream Factory have assembled a collection of supplemental material to accompany their release of 1987’s From a Whisper to a Scream and it documents director Jeff Burr’s sincere ...

There was only one thing Roger Ebert loved more than movies: Life Itself. So says the tagline of Steve James’ (Hoop Dreams) documentary about the life and work of the world’s most famous movie critic. Best known as half of the bickering pair Siskel & Ebert & the Movies  ...

“For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster.  To me that was better than being president of the United States.  To be a gangster was to own the world.” t seems rather daunting. Writing about a film that, released in 1990, has gone on to be one of the best  ...

There is a robust earnestness surrounding Richard Donner’s Ladyhawke that, to this day, remains praiseworthy.  While Warner Bros does the film a favor with this freshly minted blu-ray release, the film stands on its own as a testament to the enduring qualities of solid fantasy  ...

Old hat.  Battered suitcase.  Duffle coat.  Marmalade.  Paddington Bear has been a fixture in children’s literature since 1958.  The character hasn’t always been fashionable, mind you, but he has always been entertaining and, when it comes to children, fashion isn’t always the...

Ray Milland steps into the obsessive role Vincent Price normally played for American International Pictures in Roger Corman’s adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Burial.  While that makes the events in the film a little less theatrical, it amps up the intensity  ...

Now, THIS is how you restart a stalled franchise. Violent, gritty, and powerful, Mad Max: Fury Road is one hell of an over-the-top thrill ride. Imagine the western attitude of Red Dead Revolver mashing with the vehicular carnage in Grand Theft Auto and Fury Road is the  ...

The collection coveted by many a sci-fi fan has finally arrived courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.  Originally inspired by spacey Mormon theology concerning a planet named Kolob and the council of twelve, the original, 24-episode run of Battlestar   ...

While never a cult classic, Satan’s Blade is the textbook definition of a cult film.  L. Scott Castillo Jr.’s movie reads, bleeds, and leads with its shoestring budget, amateur acting, and familiarity and, yet, there’s something very, very intriguing about it all.  Originally filmed in...

Holy Shit, Mr. Roger Corman.  Holee Shite.  You are a God among mere mortal men.  Seriously.  Bloody Mama, starring Shelly Winters, would have been your masterpiece if your filmography and genre-hopping wasn’t so vast and extreme, changing with almost every   ...

A classic black-and-white film from the deluge of science fiction movies produced during the late 1950s finally finds its way onto blu-ray.  Independently produced, It! The Terror From Beyond Space remains an effective rubber-suited monster movie, proving that practical  ...

Long before the Fast & Furious gang was granted freedom from their past criminal activity for assisting the feds, famed film producer/director Roger Corman introduced audiences to a group of war criminals tasked to defeat a Nazi invasion in Yugoslavia for their own   ...

When we talk about the films of Sergio Leone, I wonder how many people realize we are only talking, specifically, about six movies. Six. No more and no less. And they are all inarguable considered film classics…except for one. Filmed in 1971, Duck, You Sucker! (aka  ...

What’s a historical dramatic series to do when its lead actor hungers to star in some serious science fiction movies while its ratings grow? That’s the dilemma the talent behind the BBC’s Call the Midwife faced at the conclusion of its third season. Jessica Raine – who plays Jenny Lee   ...

Okay, okay, okay. We all can agree that the star-powered disaster movie is in serious need of a vitamin shot. Hell, it’s in need of a shot of Jack Daniels (or at least the audience is) if it’s to even be taken somewhat seriously anymore. Even classics in the genre – like The ...

Samuel L. Jackson is the President of the United States. Imagine how cool that would be. The actor who can speak-shout “motherfucker” like no one else on this planet as the Commander in Chief of this great nation. That alone is worth the price of admission to see  ...

Melissa McCarthy has had a bit of a rocky career since her breakthrough, Oscar-nominated performance in Bridesmaids back in 2011. While being riotously funny, the roles that showcase her natural talent have been of short supply. Even when paired with an equally  ...

A hair-raising premise turns into a dud of a film. As a B-movie and cult fanatic, it’s a tad disappointing to tell you that the WolfCop is well below what I was expecting after seeing such promising things in its trailer. It’s about a cop who turns into a wolf and continues   ...

Hold onto your butts. This is going to be a bumpy read. Initially, I speculated that the extended embargo on press reviews for Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World was an indicator that perhaps all is not well inside the reopened park. The long-gestating blockbuster – while  ...

When it comes to producing quality entertainment for children, there are few artists that can match the talents of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The duo and their creation of Supermarionation within AP Films produced some rather exciting programs (Fireball XL5 and Stingray)   ...

And. I. Still. Have. Chills. That’s how insanely good Pixar’s Inside Out is. One could nitpick and point to faults in a frenzied middle but, with a concept as daring as the one presented here, there is simply no argument one could legitimately make to dissuade you from embracing  ...

Writer/director Neil Marshall doesn’t always get the respect he so admirably deserves. It seems that Hollywood has put all their eggs in Neill Blomkamp’s basket. Marshall, who has yet to fail my expectations, continues to deliver behind the scenes in Game of Thrones but to   ...

On the heels of the widespread attention received by Marine sniper Chris Kyle in 2014’s American Sniper, America’s military working dogs (MWD) get their turn at glory with a movie called Max, a family drama about a military dog stricken with PTSD who returns from active duty to   ...

By land AND by sea; that’s the territory of Peter Benchley’s Creature, a miniseries presented on blu-ray in two parts, which was originally broadcast in 1998 on The Hallmark Channel. Did you miss it? You aren’t alone. It certainly didn’t make a ratings killing for yet another undersea ...