Videophiled: The ennui of ‘The Lobster’ and the extraordinary ‘April’

by Sean Axmaker | Aug 4, 2016 | Reviews, What's Hot

The Lobster (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, DVD) – Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos describes his English language debut as his film about love (following Dogtooth, his film on life, and Alps, on death). Which is not necessarily to call it a love story. It is, in its own way,...

Videophiled Blu-ray: ‘Holy Grail’ at 40, Capra’s ‘You Can’t Take It With You,’ two by Jess Franco, Disney’s ‘Aladdin,’ and more

by Sean Axmaker | Dec 26, 2015 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 40th Anniversary Edition (Sony, Blu-ray) – After a career of inspired skit comedy, the unbalanced minds of Monty Python pounded the Knights of the Round Table into their own skewed square hole for their first “real” feature film (I’m...

Videophiled Halloween Sets: the indie horrors of Larry Fessenden, son of vintage giant creature features, and the ultimate ‘Army of Darkness’ on Blu-ray

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 29, 2015 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

Larry Fessenden isn’t the most well-known of indie-horror filmmakers but he should be. As a writer / director, he’s taken the classic horror genres and turned them inside out, and he’s produced or co-produced dozens of films, including Kelly...

Videophiled Halloween: ‘The Brood,’ John Carpenter’s ‘Vampires,’ ‘Kwaidan,’ and ‘Rocky Horror’ at 40

by Sean Axmaker | Oct 27, 2015 | Home Viewing, Reviews, What's Hot

The Brood (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) – I’d seen David Cronenberg’s The Brood before watching the terrific new Criterion edition but it never really registered the way it did this time. Perhaps the quality of the presentation (newly remastered from a 2K...

Videophiled: Academy Award nominee ‘Timbuktu’ and collector’s editions of ‘Dog Soldiers’ and ‘Soul Plane’

by Sean Axmaker | Jun 25, 2015 | Home Viewing, What's Hot

Dog Soldiers: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray+DVD) – “If we engage the enemy, I expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot of you.” Neil Marshall ransacks and revitalizes every cliché in the book in this howling good reworking of the...