Videophiled: Takeshi Kitano’s ‘Violent Cop’ and ‘Boiling Point’

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 24, 2016 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

Violent Cop (Film Movement, Blu-ray, DVD) Boiling Point (Film Movement, Blu-ray, DVD) Takeshi Kitano has a way of making stillness into tension in his crime films. In the opening shot of Violent Cop, Kitano’s 1990 directorial debut, the camera holds on the...

Videophiled: Woody Allen’s wistful ‘Café Society’ and John le Carré’s ‘Traitor’

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 19, 2016 | Reviews, What's Hot

Café Society (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, DVD) You never know what you’re getting with a new Woody Allen film. His career is as erratic as ever. So it’s a pleasure to note that Café Society (2016), while well short of masterpiece, is Allen in fine form. Set in...

Videophiled Halloween: the original ‘Cat People’ and ‘Carrie’ and John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ – remastered and deluxe

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 16, 2016 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

The original 1942 Cat People (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) was made on a low budget for RKO’s B-movie unit, the first in an amazing series of B-horror films from producer Val Lewton that transcended its origins. It’s a masterpiece of mood and psychological...

Videophiled Classic and Cult: Bill & Ted and World War II

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 15, 2016 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

Samuel Fuller writes and directs Fixed Bayonets! (Kino Classics, Blu-ray), a Korean War platoon drama set in snowy winter mountains. The small-scale production focuses on a small squad of American soldiers ordered to hold a mountain pass while their division retreats...

Videophiled: ‘X-Men Apocalypse’ and ‘Ghostbusters’ 2016

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 11, 2016 | Reviews, What's Hot

X-Men Apocalypse (Fox, Blu-ray, 4K HD, DVD, VOD), the sixth in the official X-Men big screen franchise (the ninth if you count the Wolverine and Deadpool spin-offs) and the third film in the prequel trilogy, is cut to fit into the big screen mythos as carved out of...