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I believe that even the casual observer will make note of the fact that Mr. Scorsese had directed far more crime dramas than musicals, and The Departed, based upon the 2002 Andrew Lau / Alan Mak directed Infernal Affairs, is a wonderful example. In transition, the film grew from the 101 minute...

I recall the 2004 version of this film being fun entertainment, and with no knowledge of the 2024, I initially went to the inter-web for some public opinion on the positives and negatives of the two films, how they're the same and different. The first reference I found was from what appears to...

Andrei Tarkovsky's 1983 Nostalghia is one of those dream-like films that must be experienced. But for home theater purposes, it has never really worked as the film grain, fog and overall imagery play against it for so much of the film. With the new restoration, being offered in 4k via Kino...

Paul Leni's original silent version of The Cat and the Canary, starring Laura La Plante is a beautifully produced Universal horror film that will lead into those more famous examples that came a few years hence. Beyond the most obvious, think James Whale's The Old Dark House. With film...

There's a special look to black & white VistaVision productons, and that attribute is shown of beautifully in Arrow's new Blu-ray of the 1957 The Tin Star, a wonderful Anthony Mann western. This is a beautifully rendered Blu-ray, with a gorgeous gray scale, and a sharp, beautifully rendered...

Night Swim, the most recent offering from Blumhouse and Universal arrives on Blu-ray in quality form, with superb image and audio quality. The news here is for slipcover collectors, who may relish in the matte finish imagery combined with glossy blood red embossing for the title font. Will...

"It's not where you start, it's where you finish..." In her first feature film as director, Zelda Williams takes a screenplay by Diablo Cody, very loosely based upon a book from c. 1818, and turns it into a genre-bending horror / teen rom-com. Filled with tiny connections - the mention of Aunt...

Rolling Thunder is a 1977 release via AIP. It's a classic example of a Hollywood revenge drama, which holds up moderately well today. It was shot by Jordan Cronenweth, and his work is reproduced nicely via a 4k scan of the OCN in the new Shout Select release. While I can't speak to the...

In a way, the linking of Jon Mirsalis *, and Ben Model, who is akin to a 19th century traveling judge, performing silent music score for fans and teaching as he goes, is a meeting of eagles. Those who love the "silent" cinema are familiar with both. Probably best to quality these words with an...

We've discussed previously in these words how Mr. Bogart went from receiving fourth billing to star billing in almost the blink of an eye and a bit of luck with the right projects. He'd been around for a dozen years, but with second billing in High Sierra (also an Ida Lupino film) and then The...

I've always found the opening of John Ford's 3 Godfather's at once quite sad, and yet it makes me smile whenever I see it. A 1948 film that "introduced" Harry Carey, Jr. is memorialized to his father - one of the stalwart of the silent western era of cinema. Mr. Carey, Jr. was actually...

As we near another American election, and truth sometimes hides in the shadows, a big question returns to who is actually controlling government, if not the citizenry? In the original 1962 version, the insidious plot involved foreign entities. In Jonathan Demme's 2004 version, which is not...

Train to Busan is a Korean zombie flick, and a decent one. Pretty much throughout, it had a name coming to mind. That of silent film curator and performer Ben Model. Admittedly, It's an odd connection, but it comes down to the term "Undercrank," which is the name of his company, and a term...

Paint Your Wagon, a 1969 motion picture based upon the 1951 Broadway musical by Lerner and Lowe has been derided since it appeared on movie screens. As directed by Joshua Logan, it can be beautiful at times, work at times, but ultimately never makes it. Mr. Logan also directed Camelot for Jack...

The two feature film versions of Stephen King's first published novel, Carrie (1974), could not be more alike... or more different. Both are good, but for different reasons. Kimberly Pierce's version is less sexualized, with far more background given to Carrie's mother, here played by...

Criterion's new Blu-ray of William Dieterle's original cut of All That Money Can Buy is one of the must owns of the 2024 release schedule. Cut from its original 107 minute running time to 85, and recently restored by UCLA in an effort led by archivist Scott MacQueen, the film (and the resultant...

Another Cameron film that's been languishing in DVD hell for decades, finally makes it way - not to Blu-ray - why stop along the way - but direct to 4k UHD, using the same secret sauce that's used for the other two in this release series, as well as for Titanic. I'm aware that there are those...

Over four decades James Cameron has "only" directed about a dozen films. Far fewer than John Ford. But all of these had the complication of sound. Disney (bless their souls) is about to release three that fans have been craving since the days of the mutoscope - so it seems. Aliens (1986), The...

I'm a purist when it comes to film. And there may be purists that line up with burning torches when they see the new 4k UHD release of James Cameron's Aliens, which was released way back in 1986, beautifully shot on film by Adrian Biddle. Original prints were on the grainy side, as a higher...

The slipcover for Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things is the most beautiful I've seen thus far in 2024. It's incredibly designed, with printing and overall workmanship that bring to mind Wilton carpets and Connolly hides. Printed over a white base is full color matte imagery that literally appears...

I don't know how Hugo was taken through post. It was shot with an Arri Alex in 2.8k and finished in 2k. Looking at Arrow's 4k UHD variant, there's a definite up-tick from standard issue Blu-ray, although I'm not certain whether it's from added resolution or the higher data throughput allowed...

Who knew that Australia, had deserts and prairies akin to the great United States. And rumor has it (a fun film) that they're larger than the State of Delaware put together. Shot by David Eggby, whose work you know, even if his name doesn't ring a bell, did a gorgeous job of capturing the turf...

Steven Soderbergh is an interesting filmmaker. His work runs the gamut from genre to genre, without missing a beat. With Contagion, a 2011 sci-fi film about a world-wide epidemic, it reaches rather far in subject matter, creating a frightening concept. It's been out as a Blu-ray, but WB has...

I was hoping to put this off until June, however… I’m currently working on 8 projects, and yesterday realized that my computer, a 2021 iMac 24” with 2TB of memory, was running at just under 90% capacity, after removing some data. The computer itself has been fine reading and writing large...

It's an odd thing. Try to figure out why an important film like The Shootist, a magnificently melancholy film about not only the passing of the old west, but the final time we'd see John Wayne on screen, in a situation almost semi-autobiographical. I'm unaware of any release better than the...

This thread will be added to as time permits. I'll begin by noting that discs coming out of Columbia have been superbly crafted, same with most WB and Universal product. Paramount is now hitting a standard which should also allow safe pre-orders. Therefore, no surprises here. From what I've...

One of the interesting attributes of the studio system during the classic era of the twenties through fifties, was the pecking order of contract players through the years, and Raoul Walsh's 1939 The Roaring Twenties is a perfect example. James Cagney first appeared in a WB production (The...

Scream Factory has a new release of Universal's Darkman from Sam Raimi, and this time it has a 4k upgrade. It's a restorative effort, and one might presume that Universal keeps their negatives in a swamp and runs them through meat grinders, a bit akin to the way the Out of the Blue was treated...

I've always been a huge fan of John Sturges' 1956 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Great cast - Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, John Ireland, with support from Earl Holliman, Dennis Hopper, Whit Bissell, DeForest Kelly, Martin Milner, Lee Van Clef, Olive Carey, Jack Elam...

I love re-visiting films from my childhood. Herbert Ross' 1984 Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon, and a whole lot of very young looking actors has arrived from Paramount in 4k UHD form, and the film is as good as it was 40 years ago, ie, it's sweet and holds up reasonably nicely, with a hot...