Tag: U.S. Indie Blu Ray Review
Criterion Collection: Do the Right Thing (1989) | Blu-ray Review
Just in time for the film’s thirtieth anniversary, the Criterion Collection resurrects Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing with a 4K restoration for...
Sorry, Right Number: Day Gets Telephonically Terrorized in “Midnight Lace” (1960) | Blu-ray Review
Doris Day finds herself the target of a malevolent murderer in Midnight Lace (1960), the performer’s last dramatic role prior to her retirement from...
American Horror Project Volume 2 | Blu-ray Review
In their continuing attempt to resurrect forgotten genre obscurities from the crumbling facades of horror’s heyday, Arrow Video took three years to curate the...
Under the Shadow of Shaft: Big Pimpin’ in Moses’ Willie Dynamite (1974) | Blu-ray Review
There are a limited number of archetypes birthed out of the brief but significant Blaxploitation movement in 1970s American cinema, which spawned several icons....
Tuesday Blus: Sweet Child O’Mine in Paul Newman’s Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Considering its pedigree, it’s a surprise The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds fell...
Life | Blu-ray Review
Daniel Espinosa’s blatant Alien carbon copy Life may have received overwhelmingly mixed reviews, but the sixty million budget endeavor ended up taking in just...
Criterion Collection: The Before Trilogy | Blu-Ray Review
The cornerstone of Richard Linklater’s filmography (no, not Boyhood) finally assumes a space in the Criterion Collection, the auteur now proliferating the label with...
The Driller Killer | Blu-ray Review
Highly indebted to Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader’s 1976’s Taxi Driver, a classic portrait of urban sleaze and anti-social behavior, (perhaps more than anyone...
Equals | Blu-ray Review
Conceptualizing the future in tangible terms tends to limit the supposed endless possibility of parameters, and this is most certainly evident in a growing...
A Hologram for the King | Blu-ray Review
Director Tom Tykwer’s international co-production A Hologram for the King unfortunately failed to generate much buzz following its premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival...
Too Late For Tears | Blu-ray Review
Today, director Byron Haskin is best remembered as the director of the 1953 version of The War of the Worlds, and prior to his...
Dolemite | Blu-ray Review
Vinegar Syndrome launches its new Blaxploitation Blu-ray/DVD series with the venerable Dolemite starring Rudy Ray Moore as the iconic persona, often overshadowed by more...
The Stuff | Blu-ray Review
At long last, Arrow Video releases the stateside restored version of Larry Cohen’s 1985 cult classic, The Stuff, previously available only in the UK...
The Last Detail | Blu-ray Review
Hal Ashby remains one of the most curious auteurs to rise out of the prosperous 1970s American studio era, his titles maintaining an indelible...
Sonny Boy | Blu-ray Review
Shout Factory unveils a neglected cult item with its recuperation of Sonny Boy, a tawdry late 1980s obscurity with some awesome WTF grotesqueries. Although...
A Bucket of Blood | Blu-Ray Review
Though producer Roger Corman’s contributions to independent cinema are arguably unparalleled, the enduring quality of his directorial efforts is another story. By the end...
Devil in a Blue Dress | Blu-ray Review
Director Carl Franklin followed the success of 1992’s break-out thriller One False Move with his most notable work to date, Devil in a Blue...
Roar | Blu-ray Review
The sole directorial outing of Noel Coward arrives on Blu-ray, the infamously troubled production, Roar. The 1981 film received a limited theatrical re-release earlier...
Manglehorn | Blu-ray Review
David Gordon Green’s listless character study Manglehorn, starring a pleasantly unassuming Al Pacino arrives on Blu-ray shortly before his next (and unfortunately unpleasant) feature...
Black Caesar | Blu-ray Review
Cult director Larry Cohen’s sophomore feature, Black Caesar gets a Blu-ray treatment courtesy of Olive Films. One of two bona fide Blaxploitation efforts Cohen...
Heaven Knows What | Blu-ray Review
The story of how the directorial brothers Benny and Joshua Safdie found their muse and star, Arielle Holmes, for their latest feature seems like...
Criterion Collection: Dressed to Kill | Blu-ray Review
Criterion beautifully restores Brian De Palma’s early masterpiece, Dressed to Kill, his 1980 title often lumped in with a quartet of other films categorized...
Blue Sky | Blu-ray Review
The 1994 film Blue Sky is something of an anomaly from the mid-90s. Filmed in 1991, it would be the last film feature of...
Wild | Blu-ray Review
Grossing just under forty million domestically and scoring two Academy Award nominations (for its actresses Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern), Wild arrives on Blu-ray...
The End of Violence | Blu-ray Review
Arriving for the first time on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films is Wim Wenders’ 1997 existentialist take on the definition of violence and its...
St. Vincent | Blu-ray Review
The independently produced dramedy from helmer Theodore Melfi received a mostly positive critical reception following its premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival...
The Drop | Blu-ray Review
Coming off the white hot success of his hard hitting, Oscar nominated debut, Bullhead, Michaël Roskam signed on to helm a Hollywood backed crime...
The Guest | Blu-ray Review
Enjoying a healthy festival run after its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and a tour that brought it to SXSW and Toronto,...
Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Blu-ray Review
Long unavailable for home viewing, Robert Altman’s 1982 title Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean has languished as a...
Begin Again | Blu-ray Review
After having been picked up for a cool 7 million dollar and some change price tag by the Weinsteins at the Toronto Int. Film...
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition | Blu-Ray Review
There’s no denying the cultural magnitude of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 grindhouse classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Inspiring legions of seminal directors, as well as...
Criterion Collection: Love Streams | Blu-ray Review
John Cassavetes’ magnificent swan song, Love Streams receives the Criterion treatment this month, an addendum to the previously released five-title collection from the auteur....
Phantom of the Paradise | Blu-ray Review
Just in time for its 40th year anniversary, Shout Factory has amassed a glorious Blu-ray remastering of Brian De Palma’s 1974 classic, Phantom of...
Fading Gigolo | Blu-ray Review
After making a substantial profit at the box office during its Spring 2014 release (via Millennium Ent.), the mild media fury surrounding the continuing...
Wild at Heart | Blu-ray Review
Midway through David Lynch’s Palme d’Or winning, bizarro road-tripping love story, Lula tells her lover Sailor, ‘This whole world is wild at heart and...
Criterion Collection: George Washington | Blu-ray Review
As director David Gordon Green returns to the mind frame of independent cinema with a duo of films like Prince Avalanche and (especially) the...
Criterion Collection: Nashville | Blu-ray Review
Robert Altman’s Nashville resurfaces for the home video market in a nicely packaged DVD/Blu-ray combo set from Criterion. A Best Picture nominee from 1975,...
Shoot the Sun Down | Blu-ray Review
Kino resurrects an odd curio with Shoot the Sun Down, a counter-culture Western from 1978, notable for headlining Christopher Walken just prior to his...
Killing Season | Blu-ray Review
Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and two-time Oscar nominee John Travolta appear together onscreen for the first time in a bathetic mano-a-mano action...
To The Wonder | Blu-ray Review
In the wake of The Tree of Life, cinephiles expected the impossible of Terrence Malick's follow-up feature, and when it failed to meet their...
Criterion Collection: Seconds | Blu-ray Review
Selected for the Main Comp at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966, John Frankenheimer’s Seconds is a grim, nightmarish thriller that embodies many distinctive...
