The wife and I are big fans of cozy murder mysteries. There is just something nice about sitting down after a long day and watching interesting people solve a murder. I never watched Murder, She Wrote when it originally aired, but we’ve recently started watching it, and I just love it. I think that officially makes me an old man now.
You can read about it and all the other interesting releases coming out this week here.
I’m on record as being a pretty big fan of the Japanese horror boom of the early 2000s, collectively known as J-Horror. I’ve written about several of those films and weirdly seem to explain exactly what J-Horror is in each of them (so to learn more, just click this link and read one of them). While I am a fan, I haven’t really delved deeply into the genre, and most have only seen the bigger names.
This set from Arrow Video looks like a fun way to dig a little deeper. I’ve only actually seen one of these films, Noroi: The Curse, which is also the only one I’ve ever heard of. But with titles like Isola: Multiple Personality Girl and Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, how can I not be excited by it? Arrow presents these seven films in a nice-looking box and has filled them with loads of extras.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Drop 4K UHD: This thriller has a fun premise – a single mom on her first date in years begins receiving increasingly threatening phone messages with terrible demands.
The Return of the Living Dead 4K UHD: This ridiculously silly and ridiculously fun zombie flick from 1985 gets the UHD treatment from Shout Factory.
The Wiz 4K UHD: This modern update of The Wizard of Oz has an all black cast and some super fun musical numbers. Criterion has the release.
The Wedding Banquet: Romantic comedy about a gay Taiwanese-American who agrees to marry a straight Chinese girl for her to get a green card. I’ve not heard of this before, but it’s got Lily Gladstone in a supporting role, and I’ll watch her in anything.
Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf: Spanish director/actor Paul Naschy made several films with him, starring as a werewolf. I’ve seen a couple of them and thoroughly enjoyed them. Adding a Dr. Jekyll twist to this sounds really fun.
Lord of Illusions: Scott Bakula stars in this Clive Barker film about a private detective trying to protect his client from a deadly cult. I didn’t much care for this when it first came out, but I’ve been meaning to give it a rewatch.
Sean Connery 007 James Bond Collection 4K UHD: There have been so many different releases of these films, it is hard to keep up, but if you are looking for a cheapish collection of just Sean Connery playing Bond then this is for you.
I’m obviously a big fan of Doctor Who. There are lots of old, Classic episodes still missing (the original tapes were erased by the BBC to save money). Some of those missing episodes still have existing audio but no video. Sometimes they’ll take that audio and animate the video so we have something to watch.
They recently did that with a William Hartnell story called The Savages, and I’ve made it this week’s pick.
There’s also a new Soderberg, a big boxed set of Blaxploitation, and much more coming out this week. Click here to read more.
There aren’t any major new releases this week. Mostly it is 4K UHD upgrades of things that have been previously released on Blu-ray. Criterion has two releases including my pick the classic In the Heat of the Night and the french musical Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
There’s also a boxed set of Star Trek movies, a cool looking double-pack of silent films and a few other things, all of which you can read about over at Cinema Sentries.
Typically, I choose but one film or boxed set as my pick of the week. But every now and again, I simply can’t choose just one film, and I have to go with multiple picks. This week, three Clint Eastwood classics are getting UHD upgrades with nice-looking Steelbook cases, and I want them all.
Clint Eastwood is one of the great actors and directors out there. He’s been consistently making good films for sixty years, and he doesn’t seem to be willing to stop.
The three films – Dirty Harry (1971), Pale Rider (1985), and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) aren’t necessarily the very best of Clint Eastwood but they are all good films in their way (if I’m being honest I’ve not seen either of them in a long while so I don’t have anything intelligent to say about them at the moment) and they will make a nice addition to anyones collection.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Anora 4K UHD: This Oscar-winning film from last year is about a sex worker who marries an Oligarch and then faces the consequences when her husband’s family finds out.
Paddington in Peru: I’ve not seen any of the Paddington films but everyone says they are delightful.
Star Trek: Section 31: Michelle Yeoh stars in this Star Trek film about a secret division of Starfleet tasked to protect the United Federation of planets, but she must also learn to deal with some dark secrets. The reviews have been savage.
V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal: Arrow Video presents this collection of straight-to-video films from Japan. You can read my review here.
Murderrock 4K UHD: Vinegar Syndrome presents this ridiculously silly, gory, and surprisingly beautiful Giallo of Lucio Fulci in UHD. You can read my review of the movie here.
My admission with this week’s pick is that I’ve never been a huge fan of Tombstone. I remember when it came out all of my friends just loved it. They constantly quoted it. I was late to watching it and I remember when I finally caught up with it I thought to myself, “this is it?” I’ve seen it a couple of times since then and it has grown on me.
Val Kilmer gives a terrific performance and there is some good stuff in their. I think it was a case of it being hyped so much that it just couldn’t be as good as it had been built up to me in my mind.
I do think it is about time for me to try it again, and this nice looking disc might be the way to do it. You can read all of my thoughts here.
Wong Kar-wai is one of those directors who is beloved by cinephiles (the Criterion Collection gave him an entire boxed set a few years ago) but who I’ve not really given his due. I’ve only seen three of his films. I loved two of them – Fallen Angels and Chungking Express, and was indifferent about the third – My Blueberry Nights. To be fair that last one was most people were indifferent about. I watched it because it starred Norah Jones whom I love. At the time I had no idea who Wong Kar-wai was.
But Chungking Express is fantastic. It explores the interconnected relationships between four random people living in a city of some seven million people. It has style to spare and loads of heart.
Criterion is giving it a 4K upgrade and I’m making it my pick of the week. With an asterix. That boxed set still looks really great, and I’m not sure this would be worth the upgrade if you already own it. I don’t but I’ll still probably save my money and buy it someday rather than this upgrade.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Batman Ninja Vs Yakuza League: I love me some alternative Batman stories. There have been a few movies with Batman as a ninja and this one turns the Justice League into Yakuzas.
Sands of Iwo Jima 4K UHD: I’ve never seen any of the John Wayne WWII movies. I’ve always heard they were pretty bad, but I’d still like to give them a shot as I love his westerns.
Donovan’s Reef 4K UHD: This John Wayne films reminds me a bit of Hatari! in that it isn’t a western, it is set in an exotic location and its pretty light on plot but heavy on charm. It helps that it also stars Lee Marvin and the two of them are living happy bachelor lives in the South Seas until a pretty girl from Boston shows up.
The Good German 4K UHD: This Steven Soderberg take on Casablanca got terrible reviews when it came out but time seems to have improved people’s takes on it. I’m a big fan of the director but never got around to it, so now seems like the perfect opportunity.
The Eel: Radiance Films presents this Japanese film about a man who kills his wife when he finds her sleeping with another man. After a prison stint he returns home and tries to live a normal life. Complications ensue.
Heart Eyes: Modern slasher about a Valentine’s Day killer.
King of New York 4K UHD: Christopher Walken stars in this crime saga from Abel Ferrara. I watched it ages ago and wasn’t impressed but a lot of people I like like it so I may have to give it another go.
It is a nice week in new releases. There is a very cool looking set of French thrillers from Radiance Films, a new Film Noir boxed set from Kino Lorber (I’ll have that review ready later this week) a ridiculous 1980s slasher in UHD, a very fun Gena Davis/Samuel L. Jackson thriller and of course one of the funniest movies ever made gettting the HD Criterion treatment.. Click here to see all the info you need.
People keep asking me what I thought of A Complete Unknown. I love movies. I’m a huge fan of Bob Dylan. It seems like a no-brainer of a question. Trouble is I still haven’t seen the film.
Truth is I just don’t care for biopics, especially ones that cover ground I’m already familiar with. I’m quite familiar with this part of Bob Dylan’s life, I don’t need to see a fictionalized version of it.
I’m sure I’ll watch it at some point. It got good reviews and Edward Norton’s portrayal of Pete Seeger was highly praised. But I’m in no hurry about it. I suppose now that it is getting a Blu-ray release I may find time for it.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Companion: This robotic companion goes murderously haywire horror film stars Sophie Thatcher who I’ve been enjoying on Yellowjackets.
Mufasa: The Lion King: Normally I wouldn’t bother mentioning these dumb Disney “live-action” remake/reboot/rewhatevers of classic films. But this one was directed by Barry Jenkins so it is probably worth a look.
Love Hurts: Ke Huy Quan stars in this dude with a shady past is pulled back into it action/drama. The reviews have been terrible, but I love Ke Huy Quan so I’ll give it a look.
Mabuse Lives!: Fritz Lang made a couple of Dr. Mabuse films in the early part of his career. Thirty years later he was asked to make a sequel. It was a success and so several more were made. Eureka Entertainment has boxed these late sequels all up. The films include: The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, The Return of Dr. Mabuse, The Invisible Dr. Mabuse, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse, and The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse.
Sometimes I debate what my pick of the week should be – should I choose something I haven’t seen but am really excited about, or should I choose something I already love getting a nice release?
On one hand, it makes sense that I would pick something that I’ve already seen. I know the movie is good and therefore I can stand by my recommendation. On the other hand, when a highly anticipated film makes its home video debut that’s exciting. Or it used to be. Maybe I’m coming from a time when home video releases were exciting. I’m old enough to remember when a movie hit the theater and if you missed it you had to wait until it came out on video. But I guess now they hit streaming services even earlier.
Whatever, I went with the more traditional pick this week. Night Moves is a terrific little 1970s noir, and Criterion is giving it the 4K treatment. But in case you were wondering, I thought pretty hard about picking The Brutalist, which I haven’t seen but has received rave reviews.
You can read all my thoughts on this week’s releases here.
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