Conclave (2024) 4K UHD Review

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My wife and I lived in France for about a year back in 2004-2005. While there we traveled a bit around Europe. One of my favorite activities was visiting old Cathedrals. These monuments to Christ and the Church fascinate me. I come from the Church of Christ and they abhor pomp and circumstance, rituals, and any type of artifact or icons. Those visits started a lifetime fascination with the rituals of High Church.

Conclave is about one of the biggest Church rituals – choosing a new Pope. It pays out like a murder mystery/thriller and is tons of fun. Its stacked cast includes Ralph Finnes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini. You can read my full review here.

The Tall Target (1951)

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There are loads of different types of film noirs but The Tall Target might just have the strangest subject matter of them all – protecting Abraham Lincoln from an assassination attempt (no not that one, but a different one. On a train. One that kind of, sort of really happened.)

It is pretty great, too. Dick Powell stars as a copper who thinks the President is going to get killed in Baltimore on a stop he’s making to speechify before he gets inaugurated.

It is a good little mystery with some great noir photography. You can read my full review here.

The Sign of the Cross (1932)

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I love a good Pre-Code film. These films were made before the censorship of the notorious Production Code really took effect. Most of them are pretty tame by today’s standards, but there is something wild about watching a film from the early 1930s that is more progressive in its dealings with sex and violence than most of the films that came after it for 30 years.

The Sign of the Cross is one of the most notorious Pre-Code films, for a lot of reasons but mainly because it features Claudette Colbert taking a naked milk bath.

It is completely wild, but it is also a pretty good movie. You can read my full review at Cinema Sentries.

Se7en (1995) 4K UHD Review

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As I mentioned in this week’s Pick of the Week I’m a big fan of David Fincher’s Se7en. What’s astonishing is that this was just his second feature film. He’d made numerous music videos before entering the world of movies, so he knew his way around a set and behind a camera. But his first feature film, Alien3, was a disaster. The studio constantly interfered, the box office was disappointing and critics mostly hated it (there has since been a “Director’s Cut” of sorts and it’s actually pretty good).

My point is that it is something of a small miracle he was able to make another film at all, that he made something so audacious, so freaking good as Se7en is a testament to Fincher’s confidence and vision so early in his career.

They just released a nice 4k UHD version of the film and it looks amazing. You can read my full review here.

Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969)

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Kenji Fukasaku’s Japan Organized Crime Boss is a film about a man lost in time. He’s an old Yakuza who still lives by a code. But he’s been in prison for a while and that has made him want to live a quiet life. But like Michael Corleone the people all around him keep dragging him back in. But those people don’t have a code. The world is changing and it’s left him behind.

This is a good film, but a more thoughtful film than you might imagine with that title. It is shot like a documentary and is building a mythology around the Yakuza that probably never existed. You can read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

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I’m still trying to learn how to watch silent movies. I have the hardest time keeping my mind from wandering. It helps when the film is full of interesting visuals like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and when it comes with a beautiful new transfer like this release. Ditto when it has some good music to go with it. Read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.

Little Women (1994)

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Though I am the right age to have grown up with this adaptation of Little Women, I only first watched it a few years ago. I’ve come to love both the story (or at least cinematic adaptations of the story, for I’ve never read the book) and this particular adaptation. This new 4K UHD release is a stunner as you can read in my review over at Cinema Sentries.

Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) 4K UHD Review

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In the past few years, I’ve only gotten into Werner Herzog, but I’ve gotten into him in a very big way. His documentaries are endlessly fascinating, but I find his narrative films most interesting. Even when they aren’t great, they are clearly made by someone with great passion and skill.

Aguirre, The Wrath of God is probably my favorite film of his. I recently reviewed the new 4K UHD release from Shout Factory which you can read over at Cinema Sentries.

North by Northwest (1959) 4K UHD Review

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In my most recent movie journal, I rated North by Northwest with one star. Reader CleJackson noted this and said he was looking forward to reading my one-star review.

Of course, that rating was an accident. North by Northwest is one of my favorite movies. It is the perfect entertainment. It is Alfred Hitchcock at the height of his powers directing Cary Grant at the height of his charm.

I love it so much. I did review the new 4K UHD release of the movie and I definitely did not give it a one-star rating. You can read my thoughts over at Cinema Sentries.

Evil: The Complete Series DVD Review

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Evil is one of those shows I wouldn’t think I would like but it turns out I really love. It is basically a procedural that started out on broadcast TV. I normally avoid that sort of thing. But it was created and show-runned by Robert and Michelle King who have made a habit of taking established broadcast TV tropes and turning them into something original.

The concept – three people, a priest, a lapsed-Catholic psychologist, and an atheist scientist investigate paranormal shenanigans for the Catholic Church – is pretty standard broadcast TV stuff. But they made it really fun. This is especially true after the first season when it was dropped by CBS and became a streaming-only show. Then it gets really good and weird.

You can read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.