Ace director Donald Siegel uses superior direction to transform a so-so who-dunnit into a thrilling big screen spectacle, using the Grand Canyon as a backdrop for a multiple murder set in an Arizona mining town in decline. The cameraman focusing on the scenery and the hair-raising stuntwork — everything we see is real — is…

Ermanno Olmi’s three-hour saga is a masterful ethnographic recreation of the long-gone way of life of Italian tenant farmers, virtual slaves working for a landowner. We see the entire agrarian lifestyle, with hints of modern times on the way. An ever-present backdrop of spiritualism and faith keeps the laborers going. Using unprofessional actors and an…

Did Republic’s serial-makers lose their marbles? This is an endurance test of a thriller, with 12 chapters that refuse to advance a story beyond the same repetitive ambushes and fistfights. It’s got monsters in the form of giant crawfish bred to… well, bred for almost no reason at all. With Phyllis Coates and Myron Healey….

Do rediscovered ‘lost’ movies always disappoint? This Depression-era pre-Code science fiction disaster thriller was unique in its day, and its outrageously ambitious special effects — New York City is tossed into a blender — were considered the state of the art. Sidney Blackmer and a fetching Peggy Shannon fight off rapacious gangs in what may…

  Being called the French Hitchcock does Claude Chabrol a disservice, as his dark thrillers approach mystery and suspense almost completely through character, not cinematics. These three very good 1990s productions are completely different in tone and approach, and each showcases a stunning French actress. Betty, Torment (L’enfer), The Swindle (Rien ne vas plus) Blu-ray…

A lengthy talk-fest interview of the underrated filmmaker, who takes us through his life story as a personal journey, not a string of movie assignments. Sidney Lumet seems to attract a lot of criticism, and so did this docu for not challenging his opinions or rubbing his nose in his less admirable movie efforts. The…

It’s hard to think of a musical that would benefit more from a Blu-ray boost than Ken Russell’s kaleidoscopic all dancing, all singing send-up of theatrical clichés on the music hall stage, circa 1925. We’re just happy that the adorable Twiggy got to be put in a film like this, to be enjoyed forever. The…

Screen horror gets a fun-ride boost with the adventures of a trio of home-alone kids squaring off against demons from, ‘right in their own back yard.’ Creative, expertly daring special effects heighten a perfect spook thriller for young kids, that’s has more and better ‘Boo’ moments than most of the hardcore genre classics of its…

Charlie Bronson cashed in big with this lightweight action thriller co-starring Jill Ireland and Robert Duvall. Did Duvall get involved because the original concept was a serious look at political scandals between big business, the CIA and Chile? The clues from the real source story are still there. Breakout Region B + A Blu-ray Koch…

Yep, yet another fleet of giant alien spaceships has Earth surrounded, but Denis Villeneuve’s movie is not your garden variety invasion fantasy. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner have a limited time to figure out how to communcate with alien creatures whose intentions are a complete unknown. It’s a rare sci-fi thriller that succeeds on a…

Lewis Milestone’s poetic character study of an infantry landing in Italy gives us a full dozen non-cliché portraits of men in war, featuring a dramatic dream team of interesting character actors. Dana Andrews was the only big star in the cast, joined by hopefuls Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges and John Ireland; the standout crew includes…

The story of Mildred and Richard Loving could easily have become a sledgehammer epic about social injustice. Writer-director Jeff Nichols instead sticks to the facts and recounts their ordeal with a quiet subjectivity that neither exaggerates nor sanctifies. The result is a marvelously affecting demonstration of how a civilized, progressive America rights a wrong. Ruth…

  The Edge of Seventeen Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date February 14, 2017 / 34.98 Starring – Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Hayden Szeto, Alexander Calvert. Cinematography- Doug Emmett Film Editor –…

  Manchester by the Sea Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Lionsgate 2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 137 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.99 Starring – Casey Affleck, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Liam McNeill, C.J. Wilson, Gretchen Mol, Michelle Williams, Matthew Broderick. Cinematography – Jody Lee Lipes Film Editor –…

  Hacksaw Ridge Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Summit Entertainment 2016 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 139 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.99 Starring – Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Pegler. Cinematography – Simon Duggan Film Editor – John Gilbert…

  Valkoinen Peura (The White Reindeer) Region B Blu-ray VLM Media (Finland) 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat / 68 74 min. / Street Date November 25, 2016 / Available from CDON.COM / €19.95 Starring: Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissilä, Åke Lindman, Jouni Tapiola, Arvo Lehesmaa. Cinematography, Editing: Erik Blomberg Costume, Wardrobe, Makeup: Mirjami Kuosmanen Original…

  One Million Years B.C. Blu-ray KL Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91, 100 min. / Street Date February 14, 2017 / Available from Kino Lorber 29.95 Starring: Raquel Welch, John Richardson, Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper Special visual effects: Ray Harryhausen Art Direction: Robert Jones Film…

  When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 100 96 min. / Street Date February 28, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring: Victoria Vetri, Robin Hawdon, Patrick Allen, Drewe Henley, Sean Caffrey, Magda Konopka, Imogen Hassall, Patrick Holt, Jan Rossini, Carol Hawkins, Maria…

  Inferno 3-D Region B (+A ) Blu-ray Panamint Cinema (UK) 1953 / Color / 1:33 flat / 83 min. / Street Date August 10, 2014 / Available from Amazon UK  / £19.99 Starring: Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Henry Hull, Carl Betz, Larry Keating, Robert Burton. Cinematography: Lucien Ballard Editor: Robert L. Simpson…

  Gabriel Over the White House DVD-R The Warner Archive Collection 1933 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 86, 102 min. / Street Date October 20, 2009 / available through the Warner Archive Collection / 17.99 Starring: Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, Arthur Byron, Dickie Moore, C. Henry Gordon, David Landau, Samuel…

  Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 855 1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.95 Starring Carmen Maura, Fernando Guillén, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano,…

  Love in the Afternoon Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider. Cinematography: William C. Mellor Film Editor: Leonid…

  What a Way to Go! Blu-ray KL Studio Classics 1964 / Color B&W / 2:35 enhanced widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 111 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald Gardiner,…

  Mildred Pierce Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 860 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2017 / Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick, Moroni Olsen, Veda Ann Borg, Jo Ann Marlowe, Butterfly McQueen….

  The Lair of the White Worm Blu-ray Lionsgate / Vestron 1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date January 31, 2017 / 34.97 Starring Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee, Christopher Gable, Lloyd Peters. Cinematography: Dick…

  Dr. Orloff’s Monster Blu-ray Redemption / Kino Lorber 1964 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / El secreto del Dr. Orloff, Brides of Dr. Jekyll, Les maitresses du Dr. Jekyll / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring: Hugo Blanco, Agnès Spaak, Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui, Luisa Sala,…