Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

The aftermath of World War II is explored in 2014's "Giovanni's Island," with the Japanese production examining the changing ways of power, clashing cultures, and family ties. Director Mizuho Nishikubo has quite a story to manage, with the horrors of conflict and the warmth of friendship offering a tonal challenge for the helmer. The animated movie delivers on its emotional mission, giving viewers plenty of heartbreak and confusion to handle, and while the endeavor gets a little carried away when it comes to the experience of deep feelings and personal loss, "Giovanni's Island" remains an interesting sit, touching on a corner of wartime history to help process such profound loss. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" is a terrific example of acting, and how it's capable of supporting a viewing experience when the material periodically dips into uninspired areas of drama. The star is Lesley Manville, who made powerful impressions in "Phantom Thread," "Another Year," and "Ordinary Love," and she returns to full power in her latest turn, which distances her from the usual emotional severity she's normally hired to communicate. As the title suggests, "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" is entertainment, mixing lighter feelings with a comedic approach, but Manville doesn't ignore the possibilities of the character, delivering a full-bodied performance that carries the feature at times, backed by an impressive supporting cast and occasional moments that land their intended fuzzy feelings. It's not the most rousing endeavor, but small creative goals help the film remain as charming as it possibly can. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the early 1980s, Bill Murray joined co-writer/director John Byrum ("Inserts," "Heart Beat") on a journey to bring W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel, "The Razor's Edge," to the screen. However, the writing process went slowly, and the studios weren't entirely interested in the idea, unsure what to make of Murray's sudden quest to attempt a more dramatic performance when he was riding high with successful comedies. Enter "Ghostbusters," with Dan Aykroyd putting together a dream team for his spooktacular gut-buster, including Murray, who suddenly had leverage, eventually committing to the Ivan Reitman endeavor in exchange for studio support for his pet project, with Columbia Pictures permitting the actor to make "The Razor's Edge" right before his start date on "Ghostbusters." So, if you think about it while closing your eyes and hopping on one foot, Murray's big chance to do something different is thanks to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Or Slimer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Mei Makino makes a strong helming debut with "Inbetween Girl," examining the turbulent life of a teenager caught up in trouble when it comes to love, family, and sex. It follows recent dives into the adolescent heart, including "Eighth Grade" and "Edge of Seventeen," with Makino committed to providing an honest examination of the female experience, with the main character handling the pressures of home and hallway interactions with a thin grasp on her emotional health. "Inbetween Girl" is intimate and humane, and it's also absolutely wonderful, with Makino making an effort to create a layered, knowing study of deep feelings without giving into the temptation of melodrama. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Gerald Potterton (who passed away in 2022) is perhaps best known as the director of 1981's "Heavy Metal," and rightfully so, as he oversaw a wonderful animated effort to bring R-rated comic book worlds to the screen. But there was more to his career, with 1971's "The Rainbow Boys" exploring the helmer's oddball sense of humor and love of the Canadian wilderness, following characters on the hunt for a fortune in gold, using what's left of their wits to get there. "The Rainbow Boys" is a strange feature, mixing personal problems with slapstick comedy, and Potterton certainly seems like he's having a ball with the endeavor, though it's debatable just how much of that enthusiasm reaches the audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

B.J. Novak is a celebrated comedian, author, and a cast member on "The Office," which, according to the internet, is the greatest television show of all time. He's hunting for a new challenge with "Vengeance," making his directorial debut with his take on American characters and podcast culture, also working in a murder mystery at times. Novak also writes and stars in the feature, accepting an enormous amount of responsibility to deliver a tightly constructed whodunit with heavy presence of a Texas insanity. Novak gets most of the way there with "Vengeance," which pieces together rather cleanly for its first two acts, delivering a rich sense of personality and dramatic purpose, even when the story is uncomfortably similar to the hit show, "Only Murders in the Building." The helmer can't stick the landing, but Novak offers amusingly exaggerated observations and behaviors with the film, which remains an engrossing sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To make a quick impression, writer/directors Peter and Michael Spierig elected to make a zombie film to help break into the movie industry, using the tried and true method of genre storytelling to kickstart their careers. 2003's "Undead" is a homegrown production from Australia, with the siblings working with small sets and their own digital effects to create a bloodbath, and one with a distinct sci-fi angle to help increase onscreen chaos. The Spierigs remain ambitious with their plans for the general mayhem of "Undead," but this production spirit doesn't translate to a ripping good time with deadly enemies and community hellraising. The endeavor tuckers out quickly, with the Spierigs unable to sustain elements of horror and sci-fi in a feature that doesn't have much to offer viewers after the opening act. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the 1990s, Joel D. Wynkoop wanted to become a prolific moviemaker. He made his helming debut with 1985's "Twisted Illusions," but really aimed to make his mark years later, soon delivering an enormous number of movies for the home video market. 1992's "Lost Faith" is the first shot fired, with Wynkoop overseeing a feature that transforms him into an action hero, with lengthy martial arts showdowns and women to save, delivering a celebration of all things Joel D. Wynkoop. Unfortunately, film wasn't the future for the writer/director/star, who selects a shot-on-video approach for the endeavor, which contributes to the overall sloppiness of the picture, and it quickly becomes painfully ridiculous. "Lost Faith" is a mess of ideas, with Wynkoop struggling to make storytelling decisions, often too distracted by his own awesomeness to really care about anything else. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018's "Lieutenant Jangles" is an Australian production looking to celebrate rogue cop films from the 1980s, doing so with a tiny budget and limited patience for playing anything straight. Co-writer/director Nic Champeaux goes broadly comedic with the endeavor, which tries to charm viewers with displays of raunchy behavior and cartoon ultraviolence, believing more is more with this type of wacky production. There's a lot of noise and constant penis references in the feature, but laughs are a bit more difficult to find. Champeaux and Co. certainly seem like they had fun making "Lieutenant Jangles," but such mischief is seldom infectious. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director John Michael McCarthy has something in mind with "Damselvis, Daughter of Helvis," but he's not in the mood to share it with viewers. One can appreciate the faint plan to create a graphic novel-style viewing experience with this tale of a young woman and her mission to meet her undead parent, but the details of this universe are mostly muddled and incomplete. Instead of providing cinematic polish, McCarthy delivers a shot- on-video event, and while the production has room to do pretty much whatever it wants, the helmer remains fixated on generating a confusing offering of pursuit, religion, and surreal experiences, supplying a rock and roll slide into screen stasis one too many times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's easy to describe "Anvil!" as a real-world version of "This is Spinal Tap," but the comparison is incredibly accurate. The comedy of "Spinal Tap" certainly didn't come out of thin air, leading me to believe that the antics of the Canadian metal band Anvil must've played some part in the 1984 comedy classic. While suitably absurd and prone to spotlighting rock cliché humiliation, "Anvil" is a far more loving film than it seems at first glance. Taking a second look at the career of a band who was always this close to the success of their brothers in the headbangin' business, "Anvil!" is a stupendous document of perseverance and crushing music industry realities, brought to life by two men who somehow managed to keep the devil horns raised through decades of disappointment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmed in 1983, "Attack of the Beast Creatures" (a.k.a. "Hell Island") is a tiny monster movie before tiny monster movies became all the rage in the decade, boosted by the tremendous success of 1984's "Gremlins." Director Michael Stanley and writer Robert Hutton don't have a decent budget, but they have access to a forest, some actors, and a collection of little puppets, setting out to create a horror picture about survival in a remote location. "Attack of the Beast Creatures" isn't a hugely cinematic experience, but there's some charm in the deadly attacks of little ghouls and the humans struggling to make sense of the situation before they're eaten alive. It's not always a compelling endeavor, but when Stanley and Hutton get around to making a mess of things, the effort is enjoyably goofy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's not every day when one encounters a tale of black magic mixed with post-Civil War antagonisms. 1992's "Death Magic" looks to blend wartime madness with astral curiosity, giving co-writer/director Paul Clinco a semi-interesting start to his shot-on-video endeavor, showing a little more ambition than the average backyard production. It's a no-budget offering of exploitation, with some gore and emphasis on nudity, but Clinco doesn't lean into the trashier aspects of the movie. Instead of summoning madness, the material becomes caught up in the ways of the occult and bland relationships, moving away from the central menace of a dead military monster pulled from beyond to exact revenge on his enemies. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The emotional lives of teenage boys are examined in "Goodbye, Don Glees," a Japanese animated feature that shows little restraint when detailing the agony of deep feelings. Writer/director Atsuko Ishizuka takes inspiration from Rob Reiner's "Stand by Me," arranging a highly sensitive study of adolescents trying to make sense of the world, going on a journey into the wild that helps them to focus on dreams and mistakes, with occasional shenanigans undertaken along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Like many films before it, 1973's "Santo vs. Doctor Death" brings the legendary lucha libre figure to the screen. He's a man of action in a tight silver mask, tasked with solving crimes, defeating villains, and, when possible, engage in lengthy wrestling sequences. "Santo vs. Doctor Death" maintains the formula of the movie series (with over 50 pictures to enjoy), finding star Santo taking on a determined enemy, which, for this chapter, involves strange happenings in a remote castle owned by a curious art restoration expert. It's museum activity meets body slams in the endeavor, which maintains a steady pace and interest in physical activity, keeping things compelling while the screenplay labors to generate a diabolical plan for the masked avenger to pull apart with his bare hands. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The success of the Blaxploitation subgenre inspired many filmmakers to try to participate in the gold rush, working with whatever they could to slap together a sellable product for a specific audience. 1974's "Solomon King" is an example of such small-time ambition, with writer/director/star Sal Watts trying to shape his own starring vehicle, delivering a valentine to his personal style and swagger. In the era of "Shaft" and "Superfly," "Solomon King" doesn't offer much craft or substance, though it remains a determined backyard production, with Watts using his homebase of Oakland to the best of his ability, trying to transform a section of the city into a global incident. He doesn't exactly succeed, but the randomness of the endeavor is something to behold. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1991's "The Black Crystal" arrives on Blu-ray, making its disc debut courtesy of AFGA, who elect to sell the picture with cover art title font that's an exact copy of the 1982 Jim Henson/Frank Oz masterpiece, "The Dark Crystal." It's a bewildering artistic choice, as the features have nothing in common and share no production connection, sure to leave those expecting to see a Gefling or two greatly disappointed. Instead of high fantasy and exquisite puppet work, "The Black Crystal" (which is titled "The Black Triangle" on the film) offers a no-budget thriller involving ill-defined magic and lengthy scenes of people driving. So much driving. Writer/director/composer/editor/star Mike Conway, who may have some type of automobile fetish, attempts to create excitement in the wilds of Tucson, Arizona with the endeavor, arranging a hunt for a special crystal pyramid involving an Average Joe and the jeans-only cult that wants to kill him. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1983's "Dressed in Blue" brings viewers to Spain to meet special individuals dealing with life experiences in their own way. These transgender women are brought together by director Antonio Gimenez Rico, who provides brunch for the group, capturing their natural dynamic, and he follows their stories as well, with a docudrama approach, endeavoring to highlight daily adventures, survival needs, and desires. "Dressed in Blue" is an interesting study of personality, but it connects more directly as an examination of personal history, learning more about these lives, with various psychological and physical challenges revealed as the subjects decide to open up for the camera. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the material was in development during the 1970s, "WarGames" hit at the perfect time when it was ultimately released in the summer of 1983. With Cold War tensions rising again between the United States and the Soviet Union, coupled with a nuclear arms race between the superpowers, it was time for a movie to analyze such lunacy via the rise of teen cinema, putting a bright but reckless young man from Seattle on the race to stop the end of the world. "WarGames" had timing, but it also offers a sharp script from Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, who help to bring Hollywood into the personal computer age, and direction by John Badham is crisp, delivering some of the finest work of his career, endeavoring to bring a little extra personality into a feature that's loaded with suspense and surprises. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1979's "Walk Proud" hopes to present a gritty look at Chicano culture in Los Angeles, highlighting the rule of street gangs as power plays erupt into violence, and individual futures are threatened by dismal economic and societal opportunities. The production demands some type of name to help the endeavor's box office prospects, and weirdly, they settle on Robby Benson. Perhaps the most unthreatening actor of the '70s and '80s, Benson hopes to transform himself in the part, going "brownface" for his portrayal of a young man caught between his gang affiliation and his personal potential, with love on the line. Benson is such a strange choice for the character but, to his credit, he commits to the tone of Evan Hunter's screenplay, working to bring a sense of confusion and frustration to the effort. "Walk Proud" has interesting ideas and some level of interest in community politics, and while it refuses to avoid crushing melodramatic events, director Robert Collins handles the first half of the movie with care, capturing the energy of a time and place. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com