Once again a John Woo flick is getting the 4K UHD treatment and once again I’m making it my Pick of the Week. I’ve never seen Once a Thief, never even heard of it if I’m being honest, but it sounds interesting to me. Read all about it and everything else that’s coming out over at Cinema Sentries.
One Battle After Another was one of my favorite movies of 2025. I saw it in the theater, I watched it streaming at home, and now I’m going to own it on 4K UHD. It is a great movie. You can read my thoughts on it in my post about my favorite films of 2025 here.
Unfortunately, this disc comes with no extras. Apparently there is a Steelbook coming out in March that has some extras, but as far as I can tell, it has already sold out. Maybe Criterion will hook us up sometime in the future. Until then, this looks like it. I’m still making it my pick of the week because I love the movie, and I’m excited to own it on home video.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Wicked: For Good: A movie based on a musical that was based on a book that was made into a movie that was adapted from a book. Or something. Wicked was a smash hit on Broadway. It was based on a book that adapted the beloved Wizard of Oz novel by Frank L. Baum (which of course became a beloved movie.) They stretched the musical into two movies, and this is the second one.
Roofman: Based on a true story, this drama/comedy stars Channing Tatum as a man who robbed a bunch of fast food joints by cutting through their ceilings. He got caught, went to prison, broke out of prison, and wound up living inside a Toys R Us. The trailers make it look like a silly, fun movie, but there is quite a bit of downer drama mixed in.
Doctor Who: Tom Baker Complete Season Two: If you like classic Doctor Who these Blu-ray sets of complete seasons are amazing. This one includes the following stories: Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Android Invasion, The Brain of Morbius, and The Seeds of Doom.
Springsteen: Delivery Me From Nowhere: I still haven’t seen that Bob Dylan biopic, so don’t ask me about this one.
Snakes on a Plane 4K UHD: It seems so strange today to think about the build-up to this movie. People were so excited about it. Mainly because that clip of Samuel L. Jackson saying a very funny thing was everywhere. But then the movie came out, and it was kind of a dud, (or so I’ve been told – I still haven’t seen it), and we all moved on. But if you are a fan, then Arrow Video is giving it the UHD treatment.
Fackham Hall: This very silly comedy, which is basically a Downton Abbey spoof, was cowritten by Jimmy Carr, a British comedian who hosts about half the panel shows airing in England right now.
Captain Blood 4K UHD: Criterion is releasing this Errol Flynn swashbuckler about a physician who becomes a pirate after being unjustly imprisoned.
The Dead 4K UHD: John Huston’s adaptation of the James Joyce short story of the same name gets the Criterion treatment.
Death on the Nile 4K UHD: After the success of the Sidney Lumet-directed Murder on the Orient Express, EMI Films wanted to adapt another popular Agatha Christie story. This was the natural selection. Albert Finney bowed out of playing Hercule Poirot again, so Peter Ustinov jumped in his shoes. This star studded mystery has some lovely on-location shooting in Egypt. You can read my review here.
Evil Under the Sun 4K UHD: Death on the Nile was successful enough that they adapted yet another Agatha Christie. You can read my review here.
The Mirror Crack’d 4K UHD: Yet another Agatha Christie adaptation. This one doesn’t feature Poirot. Instead, Angela Lansbury is playing Christie’s other famed detective, Miss Marple. I watched this one several years ago and found it rather dull, which is why I do not have a review for you.
Lucifer: The Complete Series: Based on a DC Comics series, this show follows Lucifer Morningstar, aka Satan, as he abdicates his throne as ruler of Hell and moves to Los Angeles to run a nightclub.
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, No. 5: The famed director (my favorite) has been working with the Criterion Collection, creating these boxed sets of lesser known films from around the world. This set features Chronicle of the Years of Fire, Yam Daabo, Kummatty, and The Fall of Otrar.
Torso: A pretty sleazy Giallo finds beautiful women hiding out from a serial killer inside an isolated country villa. Naturally, the killer finds them there, and they have nowhere to run. I reviewed the movie (not this release) here.
Though I haven’t seen them in many, many years, I have a great fondness for the Pink Panther movies. Kino Lorber is releasing all five of the original films (but not that dreadful remake with Steve Martin) in UHD. Sadly, there is no boxed set, but I grouped them together anyway for my pick of the week.
There are a few other interesting things coming out this week as you can see in my post over at Cinema Sentries.
I don’t know why John Woo films suddenly keep getting the 4K UHD treatment with loads of special features added to boot, but I am here for it. I’ve not actually seen Bullet in the Head, but it stars Tony Leung and is about three male friends who grow up in the slums of Hong Kong and attempt to escape from the oppressive poverty only to increase their troubles, and that is enough for me.
This is a Shout Factory release. It comes with a 4K UHD disc, a Blu-ray, and a third disc full of extras. Those include new audio commentaries, alternate cuts, deleted scenes, and more.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Falling Skies: The Complete Series: One imagines this is coming out because its star, Noah Wylie, has been getting critical acclaim for his starring role in The Pitt, the second season of which comes out later this week. This series is about an alien invasion and how humans try to get their planet back.
Shameless: The Complete Series: I only saw a few episodes of this American remake of a British show about a family of misfits (led by the always great William H. Macy). I liked it okay, but not enough to keep me coming back.
Dead Man 4K UHD: Criterion has updated their release of this Jim Jarmusch film to UHD. Johnny Depp stars as a wanderer who finds himself wanted for double murder. In his flight he comes across a man who helps him reinvent himself. I haven’t seen this in many years. I didn’t like it that much back then, but I’ve come to love Jarmusch, so this deserves a revisit.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley: Documentary about the late, great singer.
Under Siege: Arrow Video presents this “Die Hard on a Ship” action flick starring Steven Seagal. A bare-bones release of this film came out a few months ago (I reviewed it here), but Arrow is packing it with their usual flair.
Tron: Ares: I remember watching the original Tron back in the 1980s. I liked it, and I really liked the video game, but it wasn’t something that I truly loved. So I never bothered with the last sequel, and I have little interest in this one.
Pee-wee is in the Criterion Collection! I love Pee-Wee Herman and his Big Adventure is one of my favorite things. I love that it is getting the royal treatment in UHD.
It is a good week for other releases including something from David Byrne, Hammer Horror, PT Anderson, Hong Kong cinema and more. You can read all about it here.
I totally forgot to write a Pick of the Week this week, and now it seems foolish to write about things that already came out. But I still want to let you all know what came out that I find interesting, so you get images instead of my endless prattle.
Apologies for the delay in posting this, and for the complete lack of posts this week. I got some kind of nasty stomach bug on Monday and was completely down and out. I’m feeling much better now, but that totally threw my week off.
I’ve also had some kind of pretty intense pain in my hip area for the last several weeks. I finally went to the doctor last week and now I’m in physical therapy and that stuff is no joke. I’m about as sore as a loser right now.
Anyway, John Woo films have been getting some pretty awesome home video treatment this year and his excellent film The Killer is this week’s pick.
After my disastrous semester attempting to get a master’s degree, I got a really great job working on an EPA-funded project in northeastern Oklahoma. Being young and single, I moved myself to Joplin, Missouri, which was the nearest place approximating a city, and thus had things for a young, single man to do after work.
I went to the movies nearly every weekend and often invited my various coworkers. I have very specific memories of inviting a friend to see Eyes Wide Shut and both of us walking out with that look in our eyes. Neither of us had any idea what to make of the film, but we were sure we’d seen something special.
I’ve only come to appreciate it more as the years have gone by. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have hardly been better, and watching Cruise wander through an increasingly paranoid labyrinth of sexual obsession is a deep and enjoyable ride.
The Criterion Collection is releasing it in 4K UHD and I’m happy to make it this week’s pick.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
The Long Walk: Based on a Stephen King book (who was using the nom de plume Richard Bachman), this dystopian film pits a group of young men in a contest to the death, that will be televised. A game show offers a major prize to the man who can continue walking at a steady pace the longest. If anyone slows down, they are shot (by a gruff military man played by Mark Hamill). I’ve heard good things.
The Conjuring 4: Last Rites 4K UHD: I love The Conjuring. I think it is one of the best horror films of the last fifteen years. I love the story, I love the filmmaking, and it has ample amounts of jump scares and an unsettling atmosphere. The sequels have been a series of diminishing returns. I hear this fourth and probably last film (at least the last Conjuring film; I suspect the various spin-offs will continue churning out films for some time to come) is pretty lousy. Still, I love finishing a series so I’ll no doubt get to this soon.
Pride and Prejudice (2005) 20th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD: I’ve never been able to get into Jane Austen. I’ve tried to read several of her books several times and never managed more than a few chapters. I don’t know why, exactly. My wife absolutely adores her. For a long time I hated the cinematic adaptations of her stories. But one day I got offered to review the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. That is my wife’s very favorite thing, so I thought it would be a wonderful present for her. But as it was a review item, I had to watch it. So I did, and then I reviewed it. Turns out I rather loved it. I’ve since come around to several other Austen adaptations (but I still haven’t managed to read anything by her.)
This adaptation of Pride and Prejudice doesn’t get quite the love the BBC miniseries does, but my wife says it is still quite lovely. It stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and Matthew Macfayden as Mr. Darcy. It has a new UHD print and lots of extras.
The Agatha Christie Collection 4K UHD: We are big fans of Christie in our house, and especially of the various cinematic adaptations that have been made of her work over the years. There is something so cozy about watching a murder mystery be solved amongst the beautiful English countryside. This set includes four films (Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), The Mirror Crack’d (1982), and Evil Under the Sun (1982) all of which I might argue are the definitive versions of each story.
Anemone 4K UHD: Daniel Day-Lewis stars in this drama directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis about a hermit living in the woods who is contacted by his estranged brother (played by Sean Bean) in an attempt to put their lives back together after a tragedy.
The Death Wish Collection: The original Death Wish stars Charles Bronson as a man who starts out as a pacifist, but once his daughter is sexually assaulted all bets are off. The first one attempts to have something to say beyond just Charles Bronson blowing people away, but it isn’t very good at it. The sequels get increasingly silly (but strangely better once they drop all pretense of depth). Kino Lorber has packaged them all up in a nice looking little set.
French Film Noir Collection Vol. II: When I first learned about film noir, I thought it was a very small genre. In my mind I thought it was relegated to classics like The Third Man, and The Big Sleep. That was a silly thought, and I don’t know how it got into my head, but it wasn’t until years later that I realized how big the genre really is. The thing is, of course, that film noir is a very malleable genre without any hard rules as to what it really is. And it wasn’t just relegated to the United States; you can find noirs in just about every country that makes film. I’ve not actually heard of these four films, but I love a good film noir and I’m excited to see what the French have done with it. This set includes the following films: Rhine Virgin / The Beast is Loose / Trapped by Fear / The Passion of Slow Fire.
Alec Guinness Masterpiece Collection 4K UHD: My generation knows Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films, but the actor had a very long career making all sorts of films. This set collects four films (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers) from his early years making comedies for Ealing Studios. I’ll have a full review up soon.
Sleepless 4K UHD: Dario Argento’s giallo-esque thriller from 2001 is far from his best work, but it isn’t bad either. It feels a bit like a great artist reimagining his hits rather than a brand new work by a master firing on all cylinders. You can read my Friday Night Horror review of the film here. Vinegar Syndrome has this release.
It is time again for me to talk about all the cool new Blu-ray/UHD releases coming out this week. This week’s pick is a trilogy of films that essentially launched John Woo’s career and created en entire new genre (gun fu). There are lots of other things coming out this week including Howard’s End, a new Ken Burns documentary, a couple of Criterion releases and more.
You can read all about it over at Cinema Sentries.
I’m mildly obsessed with Alison Brie, and I don’t know why. I loved her on Community. I enjoyed her in that one season of Glow I watched (nothing wrong with the show; I just got distracted and never got around to watching the rest). I’ve seen her in various other things that were fine. But she’s been in a million other things that I’ve not watched. Honestly, I don’t think she’s that great of an actress – she’s fine, but not amazing. And she chooses a lot of projects that I have no interest in. But still, I like her. She feels like an actress from another era. She would have been huge in the 1980s.
What I do really love about her is that she seems to have shied away from really big projects. Like the Lego Movie was probably the most mainstream thing she’s ever done, and that was a relatively small part. For years now she’s worked in smaller, more independent films (and some ridiculous animated TV shows) rather than try to climb the ladder to super fame. I appreciate when an artist is happy doing what they want instead of always trying to be famous.
I know very little about Together. It stars Brie and her husband, Dave Franco. It is a horror movie about a married couple who move to the country and are attacked by some kind of supernatural presence. Apparently, this means their bodies start to meld together. The few images I’ve seen show their lips stuck together, stretching outwards. I love a good body horror picture, and I appreciate that Brie continues to make weird films that won’t appeal to everyone.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: 50th Anniversary 4K UHD: Milos Forman’s Oscar winning film is based on a Ken Kesey novel. Jack Nicholson stars as a brash rebel sent to a mental institution where he rallies the patients against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched. I’ve not seen this in years, but I’m looking forward to catching it in UHD.
Burden of Dreams 4K UHD: In 1979, Werner Herzog took a film crew deep into the Amazonian rain forest to make Fitzcarraldo, a film about a man determined to move a steamship over a mountain. Herzog being Herzog, he decided that rather than use special effects, his film crew would literally move a steamship over a mountain. The film was plagued by setbacks, including accidents, poor weather, Klaus Kinski acting horrible, and an actual native attack. All this was documented by Les Blank in his documentary Burden of Dreams. It is one of the greatest making-of movies ever made. Criterion has the release.
The Howling 4K UHD: One of the great werewolf movies gets a nice Steelbook from Shout Factory.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale/The Ultimate Legacy Collection: I stopped watching this historical drama somewhere in Season Four, I think. It is one of those shows that I loved for a while, and then it all became a bit too much. But it was a huge hit and it chugged a long for several more seasons and a few movies. They just released what they are promising to be the final movie, and as such, they’ve also produced a big boxed set of everything.
The Luc Besson Collection: Luc Besson is a director who has made some great films (Leon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita) and some utter garbage (The Messenger The Story of Joan of Arc). The garbage turned me off enough that I stopped paying him much attention. This boxed set includes Le Dernier Combat, Atlantis, Angel-A, Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.
Caught Stealing 4K UHD: This Darren Aronofsky film about a regular guy trying to survive amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York kind of came and went without much fan fare. I’m looking forward to catching up with it.
The Naked Gun: This remake of the popular 1980s-1990s film series got surprisingly good reviews and did pretty well at the box office. I loved the original films, but I tend to no longer like super silly comedies in my old age. But I’ll probably give it a shot for old times sake.
Creepshow: The Complete Series: I don’t think I ever watched this series, but I did enjoy the two films as a kid. It is an anthology horror series hosted by a creepy ghoul.
The Mask 4K UHD: Arrow Video gives this comedy that finds Jim Carrey at the height of his powers the UHD treatment.
Freakier Friday: Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan return in this legacy sequel to a remake of the 1976 Disney classic. This time it’s a quadruple swap with Lohan’s character’s daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter swapping alongside the Curtis and Lohan characters. Hilarity, no doubt, will ensue.
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