Hearts and Minds is a documentary about the Vietnam War, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 1974. It was almost unheard of the time for a “popular” documentary to get the prize, but this came after Woodstock’s win in 1970 which opened the door. It was a very important film, one of the … Continue reading Hearts and Minds – Blu-Ray Review →

Buck and the Preacher is a hugely important American film for numerous reasons. It was the directorial debut of Sidney Poitier, who was the first African-American movie star. It's also one of the first studio films directed by an African-American (Gordon Parks beat him to it by only two years with The Learning Tree). It was the … Continue reading Buck and the Preacher – Blu-Ray Review →

The Scary of Sixty-First is a film you have probably never heard of unless you are chronically online, something I sadly am. It's the directorial debut Dasha Nekrasova, who also wrote and co-stars in the film. You may have seen her in Succession or Mr. Robot—or her legendary "Sailor Socialism" viral moment where she owned an … Continue reading The Scary of Sixty-First – Blu-Ray Review →

BFI has now released the third of its four boxsets of Ingmar Bergman's large body of work. The second set has Summer with Monika, The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, covering the period in which Bergman really figured out his style. All of the sets deliver a mixed bag, with films ranging from the sublime to the atrocious—Bergman and … Continue reading Ingmar Bergman Volume 3 – Blu-Ray Review →

Just in time for Halloween, Warner Bros. has re-released last year's two-part Batman: The Long Halloween as a single mammoth film that runs for nearly three hours. It's an adaptation of the highly popular and acclaimed 1996/97 comic book run, which was a great source of inspiration for Matt Reeves' live-action film The Batman from … Continue reading Batman: The Long Halloween – Blu-Ray Review →