Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Writer/director Orson Oblowitz explores the ugliness of Los Angeles in 2017's "The Queen of Hollywood Blvd." It's a study of a woman who's spent too much time in the shadows, dealing with all the crime and perversion she can handle over the course of one special day. Oblowitz isn't exactly reaching for originality with the tale, as the seedy side of the city has been the focus of many productions, inspiring a push to make a more colorful and angry understanding of moral corruption and violence, hoping to wow viewers with bright colors and exaggerated performances while barely tending to storytelling needs. "The Queen of Hollywood Blvd." is all flash and little substance, and even the flash starts to wear thin in a hurry. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1969's "Prague Nights" is an anthology film, something like a "Tales from the Darkside" with a little sex comedy attitude. It's not out to frighten viewers, merely looking to beguile them with four stories of temptation gone wrong, each dipping into fantasy as a way to jazz up otherwise plodding morality tales. Directors Jiri Brdecka, Milos Makovec, and Evald Schrom attempt to conjure a magical mood for the picture, using all kinds of moviemaking tricks and artful heft to generate a surreal mood for the feature, which doesn't always win with storytelling intent, but remains fascinating with its impressive visuals. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Marital blues and relationship concerns are the focus of "Maybe I Do," which examines communication struggles between people trying to figure out what they want from life and love. Writer/director Michael Jacobs touches on universal feelings of uncertainty and fatigue, offering a dramedy that concentrates on the inner lives of characters and their stunted ways of self-expression. To help the cause, Jacobs has brought in a capable cast willing to explore the itchiness of such doubt, with leads Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, William H. Macy, and Diane Keaton offering committed performances to help Jacobs reach his larger points about the demands of trust. "Maybe I Do" is frequently supported by thespian strength, as Jacobs gets a little too windy with his dialogue exchanges, losing pace as he tries to make something meaningful while the natural flow of the material leads to a potentially farcical conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987's "Lust for Freedom" marks the directorial debut for Eric Louzil, a B-movie man who would go on to help stock video store shelves with "Fortress of Amerikkka," "Bikini Beach Race," and "Class of Nuke 'Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown." Louzil isn't one to pay close attention to the fine details of filmmaking, and he comes right out of the gate with a blunt instrument of entertainment with "Lust for Freedom." It's a women in prison picture, following a grand tradition of exploitation entertainment, only Louzil doesn't have a big imagination for revulsion and revenge. He mostly stumbles through this tedious endeavor, receiving help from Troma Entertainment, who worked to bring the effort up to a sellable run time, giving the feature plenty of padding, which does little to make an already listless production exciting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With "Altered Innocence: Vol. 2," the label once again aims to find a fresh audience for a collection of short films with LGBTQ+ themes and atmosphere, also dealing with endeavors exploring the growing pains of adolescence and the curious ways of mystery. These are 11 offerings that vary in tone and creative approach, and a few of them dip into more surreal, sexualized territory, also reflecting on the filmmaking experience. "Altered Innocence: Vol. 2" hopes to share underappreciated or forgotten shorts from a wide variety of moviemaking voices from around the globe. Some of these selections aim for laughs or tears, while a few gradually expose the horrors of life, but they all offer a distinct creative fingerprint, delivering cinematic stories from burgeoning talent. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of strange creative choices went into the making of "Mafia Mamma," which attempts to offer viewers some big laughs and acts of shock value, trying to turn underworld life into a sandbox for star Toni Collette. She's in Goldie Hawn mode here, asked to carry a story of a personal awakening that also touches on criminal management and broad romantic activity. Collette is more than capable of playing daffy, but her choice of material is underwhelming, with screenwriters J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon unable to master a balance of light and dark "Mafia Mamma" requires. The picture is all over the place, but it's never funny, which appears to be the primary goal of the endeavor. Instead of laughs, the effort grows tiresome, which only inspires director Catherine Hardwicke to hit harder when it comes to wacky misadventures in organized crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writers Alison Brie and Jeff Baena previously collaborated on 2020's "Horse Girl." They share a fondness for bizarre material and deep character work, playing with tonality and comedy as they visit some shadowy psychological spaces. The duo returns with "Spin Me Round," which has the initial vibe of an upbeat workplace farce, but Baena (who directs) and Brie (who stars) aren't committed to a straightforward tale of everyday pressures and absurdities, committed to strangeness that's slowly massaged into the material. Much like "Horse Girl," "Spin Me Round" has moments of greatness, but the work eventually runs out of inspiration, getting grabby with silliness and sinister business in the second half, which doesn't line up with the breezy peculiarities of the first half. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1995's "Party Girl" wasn't a box office success, but it managed to slip into "cool film" territory, making its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and raising the profile of star Parker Posey, who was in the midst of creating an acting career for herself. Co-writers Harry Birckmayer and Daisy von Scherler Mayer (who also directs) endeavor to use the actress's singular screen energy to power a look at a twentysomething character in New York City confronted with the waywardness of her life, creating a dramedy that awkwardly goes from slight wackiness to insignificant heart. "Party Girl" gets by with its NYC energy and club music soundtrack, providing a vivid snapshot of the scene as it was in the mid-90s, but it's not a terribly compelling character study, with the writing often unsure how seriously to take the main character and her seemingly insincere ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's easy to see how a film like 2004's "Highwaymen" made it through the development stage. The screenplay by Craig Mitchell and Hans Bauer offers a serial killer story in a post-"Seven" industry, and one with ghastly details and a mood of dread, dealing with an unusual murderer and his highly specific interest in making victims suffer. It's also car-based action from director Robert Harmon, who delighted many with his initial take on vehicular mayhem in 1986's "The Hitcher," returning to the world of revving engines and evildoing on the open road. The package is promising, but something went wrong in the execution. "Highwaymen" offers a premise that takes some effort to accept, following the mission of one man trying to stop a crazed, mangled individual using his car to slaughter innocents. It's pure ridiculousness sold with complete seriousness by Harmon, with the feature stuck between absurdity and solemnity, lacking a cast capable of selling the odd tonality of it all. The helmer delivers some car-smashing action and tries to make sense of screwy predators and prey, but the endeavor doesn't rage hard enough to provide a B-movie ride, stuck with heavy amounts of exposition to deliver and a cartoony antagonist to sell as an actual threat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

During his interview on this Blu-ray release, co-writer/actor Jeff Kanew (who directed "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Troop Beverly Hills") credits his absolute love for Sergio Leone's 1966 epic, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," as the prime inspiration behind 1968's "The Wicked Die Slow." However, Kanew had no access to a budget and limited filmmaking experience, trying to replicate the ways of the sun-baked, Italian-born spaghetti western in rural New Jersey during the autumn season. It's a bad idea from conception, but co-writers Kanew and Gary Allen have their motivation, working with director William K. Hennigar to stumble through this patience-testing collection of real-time events and gratuitous violence, sold without a moment of style or tension. It's meant to celebrate the western genre, but nobody seems to have a clue what they're doing, making a backyard production that's unusually hostile to female characters and genuinely seems to hate viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the onslaught of holiday-themed entertainment that arrives every year, there's now "Christmas with the Campbells," which has the appearance of a typical Hallmark Channel distraction for viewers who can't get enough of the yuletide spirit or remain incapacitated in front of a television due to the consumption of too much egg nog. However, it's not just another anodyne offering of cheer and romance, but something approaching a mild parody of such small screen comfort food. Screenwriters Barbara Kymlicka, Dan Lagana, and Vince Vaughn (who co-produces with Peter Billingsley) hope to add a streak of naughtiness to the proceedings, getting rascally with this take on small town Christmas experiences and relationship tentativeness. "Christmas with the Campbells" is a little too permissive with improvisation and crudeness, but there are laughs to be found in this bizarre mix of earnestness and silliness, and the cast comes ready to play. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Few filmmakers enjoyed a wilder career ride in the 1980s than Martin Brest. In 1982, the helmer was set to follow-up his 1979 offering, "Going in Style," with "WarGames," guiding the project through development and the beginning of principal photography. A few weeks into the shoot, Brest was fired, with his vision for the picture not matching up with producer and studio expectations. This would be a career-ending situation for most, but Brest endured such public humiliation, eventually securing work on "Beverly Hills Cop," which already went through pre-production woes and tonal hesitation. Under Brest's command, "Beverly Hills Cop" found its creative footing, becoming the highest-grossing movie of 1984, a year with an insane amount of hits. Brest went from being canned to becoming king in a matter of years, with all eyes on his follow-up project. 1988's "Midnight Run" wasn't nearly the hot release many expected it to become, but it capably sustained Brest's ability to manage action and comedy, aiming to do something dense yet approachable with the screenplay by George Gallo (who's been milking this credit for the last 35 years). There are hearty laughs and some thrills and chills in the effort, and Brest certainly has an advantage with his cast, with Robert De Niro refreshingly itchy and Charles Grodin capably dry as they take the lead roles, offering an appealingly strange take on buddy comedy chemistry while supporting players all find their grooves in this assembly of angry people and road trip antagonisms. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1994's "Hung Jury" takes a long time to reach whatever passes for a plot here, and there's some hope that writer/director Gary Whitson is going to try for an Agatha Christie-type of viewing experience involving a collection of characters and a murderer on the loose. Or perhaps a game of "Clue," with personalities colliding as danger draws near. The man behind W.A.V.E. Productions, Whitson doesn't really go for anything distinct with the endeavor, which asks a lot of viewers with an extended run time and only a marginal interest in story. Instead, the W.A.V.E.-iness of the picture dominates, as the helmer is less concerned about building suspenseful points of pressure, instead more interested in the fetish potential of the shot-on-video effort, which is loaded with extended scenes of bondage, suffering, and weirdly tame sexploitation additions, making the 114-minute-long journey punishing for those who aren't watching this feature for highly specific thrills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Donald Farmer has been making movies for quite some time (including "Red Lips," "Catnado," and "Chainsaw Cheerleader"), but practice doesn't always make perfect. He's a filmmaker aiming to deliver no-budget exploitation fare, and he successfully achieves his goal with "Debbie Does Demons," but actual creative effort isn't present here. Instead of polish and pace, the endeavor is a low-tech exercise in horror comedy, with amateur actors and dire technical achievements working together to make a screen mess for Farmer, who seems to be delighted with the results. I doubt most viewers will share his enthusiasm, with the backyard production a difficult sit, as the helmer doesn't have any grasp of storytelling or editing, while padding is an unofficial star of the effort, finding Farmer clawing his way to a 74-minute-long run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2014's "Young Bodies Heal Quickly" is meant to be a cinematic experience from writer/director Andrew T. Betzer, who blends elements of Terrence Malick, Harmony Korine, and many more artful filmmakers for this study of human behavior and low impulse control. There's a thin slice of story to snack on, with the rest of the picture devoted to Betzer's interests in imagery and exaggeration, offering a wandering endeavor that's occasionally stimulated by oddity and carried by lovely cinematography from Sean Price Williams ("Good Time," "Her Smell," "Tesla"). Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Robert Urich was primarily known as a television personality, with Hollywood working very hard to make him a household name, keeping him employed as much as possible during the 1970s and '80s. There were hit shows such as "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire," with Urich showcasing a rugged screen presence that helped to define masculine characters for the small screen during this era of T.V. entertainment. The actor attempted to jump to the big screen along the way, with 1982's "Endangered Species" one of his earliest leading roles, bringing his leathery ways to a film co- written and directed by Alan Rudolph, a helmer known for more nuanced offerings of character and tone. The pair go to work with something of a character actor convention in the picture, which strives to set an eerie tone concerning cattle death, shadowy military plans, and small-town tensions. "Endangered Species" is a paranoid thriller from the 1970s trying to find an audience in the 1980s, with Rudolph attempting to make as strange a movie as possible while still dealing with storytelling formula. It works for most of the run time, with the production generally capable when it comes to providing an unusual viewing experience that's also quite cliched, making heads spin while eyes roll. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019's "Attack of the Demons" is an animated production, with director Eric Power using cardstock art to create a loving ode to monster movies. The picture resembles "South Park," but it carries a much different energy, with Power endeavoring to transfer the concerns and attitudes of twentysomethings to genre entertainment, joined by screenwriter Andreas Petersen. "Attack of the Demons" looks great, with a wonderful homegrown vibe to the effort, which keeps Power busy cooking up terrific visuals for the feature. As a monster-killing genre exercise, there's not much momentum to the film, which isn't the most pulse-pounding or humorous offering of horror. Still, there's fun to be had with all of the art and carnage, as Power and Petersen clearly have great affection for the premise, working to build up some insanity while retaining a drier sense of humor and heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1975's "Gina" offers marketing that suggests the feature is a hard-edged crime story featuring brutal acts of violence and cool-blooded characters. There's more to the picture than grindhouse interests, with respected director Denys Arcand ("Jesus of Montreal," "The Decline of the American Empire") trying to mix together various moods with the work, tempting viewers with rough business while actually delivering a fascinating study of corporate exploitation and working-class misery, also taking a long look at the strange ways of rural Canada. "Gina" isn't forceful, but it's a wild sit, with Arcand taking the material in all sorts of directions, occasionally finding his way back to criminal dealings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Aleksandr Ptushko continues his exploration of fairy tales with 1966's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan," which is an adaptation of a poem by Alexander Pushkin. Once again, the helmer puts on a wholly impressive show of filmmaking force, creating a fantasy realm that deals with the demands of love, family, and heroism, with the Russian epic taking time to build a wild vision of unreality as the details of such cinematic embellishment are carefully handled by Ptushko and his marvelous adoration for moviemaking imagination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019's "At the Video Store" is a valentine to the way things were in the home video business, with director James Westby taking a nostalgic look at the experience of being inside a building dedicated to movie rentals, exploring walls covered with posters, aisles filled with different selections, and meeting patrons and employees who share a love of cinema, with this intensity varying greatly. It's a snapshot of an era when homegrown businesses could thrive, creating a deep connection between the owner and the customer, establishing a relationship that could carry on for years, possibly even generations. For those in a mood to simply bathe in the warm waters of memory, "At the Video Store" does the trick, with Westby providing a sense of time and place with the documentary, offering thoughts from a decent variety of people involved in the industry or simply in awe of it. Structure and depth is more elusive with the endeavor, as the helmer goes for more of a scattergun approach when it comes to telling this tale, with the film lacking depth and patience as it speeds from one moment to the next. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com