Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Tommy Lee Jones has a history of playing intense characters. It's his bread and butter, often going out of his way to play men of limited emotion and short tempers. His gravitational pull to 1982's "The Executioner's Song" isn't surprising, taking on the considerable challenge of portraying murder Gary Gilmore and his bizarre behavioral habits. It's an easy lay-up role that Jones doesn't take lightly, able to find the nuance and burgeoning volatility in the part, consistently making himself the most interesting aspect of this adaptation of a Norman Mailer novel. Without Jones, "The Executioner's Song" wouldn't have much dramatic vigor, often caught leaning on the star to juice up dry scenes.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before he made a name for himself with 1988's "Psychos in Love," writer/director Gorman Bechard launched his helming career with 1984's "Disconnected," bringing one of his own short stories to the big screen. Ambition runs high in this production, with locations wallpapered with images of classic actors and filmmakers, finding Bechard trying to pay tribute to beloved cinema with this genre freak-out, which combines a serial killer story with mild Lynch-ian abstraction, hoping to generate a modicum of mystery with brief visits to the unknown. What Bechard lacks is skill, finding his introductory production struggling to connect the technical and narrative dots, ultimately offering an amateurish tour of sex and violence, and one that struggles with the basics in cinematography and sound recording. "Disconnected" isn't entirely unappealing, as some scenes do manage to hit their intended mark of insanity, but Bechard struggles to put together simple ideas, rendering the effort almost incomplete at critical moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Clint Howard has appeared in a great number of movies, but he was born to play the titular monster in 1994's "Ice Cream Man." It's the perfect marriage of actor and part, requiring Howard to go wild as a cartoonish creeper, flaring up his looks and bottoming out his voice to join horror history as serial murderer who spends as much time killing as he does crafting frozen treats. "Ice Cream Man" isn't an entirely successful endeavor from screenwriters David Dobkin (who would go on to direct "Wedding Crashers") and Sven Davison, who engage in a battle of tone, working to craft something scary that also plays like a "Goonies" sequel, unsure if they want to unnerve viewer or delight them with an adolescent adventure. "Ice Cream Man" struggles to find stable ground, but when it focuses on Howard and his grand commitment to the role, it delivers the genre goods, as wild-eyed and raspy as hoped for.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

The cruel reality is that while Robin Williams was a brilliant performer, arguably one of the funniest men around, his taste in film scripts left much to be desired. We all have fond memories of "Aladdin," "Good Will Hunting," and "Good Morning, Vietnam," but 1990's "Cadillac Man" is an excellent reminder that Williams couldn't always spin gold from lackluster writing, starring in what seems to be some type of madcap hostage comedy, but mostly emerges as an unfunny, unfocused mess, and one that's depending on the lead actor to do some heavy lifting in the joke department. Perhaps director Roger Donaldson was looking for a change of pace after achieving more sobering box office hits with "No Way Out" and "Cocktail," but he's not the guy for levity, keeping "Cadillac Man" frustratingly muted when it comes to punchlines and inspired insanity, gifting the feature a sense of darkness that's all wrong for the manic mischief it's hoping to communicate. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

While an anticipated release during the summer of 1988, few expected "Die Hard" to do much business, with industry coverage focused on the size of Bruce Willis's paycheck, not the masterpiece he was starring in. When "Die Hard" became one of the biggest moneymakers of the year, rival studios wanted their own version of the "Die Hard on a blank" formula, which began to take shape during the 1990s. Sure, we all have fond memories of "Speed" and "Under Siege," but there are countless forgotten rip-offs, including 1991's "The Taking of Beverly Hills." The picture was meant to entertain with rampant violence and make a big screen hero out of star Ken Wahl, and it's certainly a loud distraction, with plenty of mindlessness orchestrated by director Sidney J. Furie. "The Taking of Beverly Hills" is ultimately too one-note to compete in the subgenre, but it certainly has its heart (or fist) in the right place, with the production trying to generate as much mayhem as possible with the one-man-army premise.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There's always a certain degree of difficulty when translating French farce to American moviemaking. The graduation requires special handling to balance out European sensibilities, helping to rework certain sexual freedoms for audiences who may not be used to such forwardness. 1984's "Blame It on Rio" is a remake of 1977's "In a Wild Moment," with director Stanley Donen feeling the urge to translate an iffy premise for a comedy, helping the cause by relocating the action to South America, with its gorgeous locations and general celebration of the human body. The screenplay, by Larry Gelbart and Charlie Peters, attempts to preserve the French rhythms of the original work, but it's not an easy task, asking viewers to sit through a story that's not loaded with appealing characters, demanding a high level of silly business that isn't there. "Blame It on Rio" attempts its own take on a free-flowing examination of temptation and relationship woes, and while the cast is ready for action, there's not much here that works beyond a few one-liners and the visual appeal of the titular location. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

In 1993, Michael Madsen was just getting started on an acting career that would find him playing all manner of squinting bad guys, stuck in a cycle of cinematic crime sprees that play to his natural way with brooding intensity. Coming a year after his star-making turn in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," Madsen starts to get comfortable with a loquacious crook routine in "Trouble Bound," forced to create chemistry with co-star Patricia Arquette for a road movie that's largely about their softening interplay. Writers Darrell Fetty and Francis Delia go the southwest noir route with the picture, creating a chase between bad guys and troubled people, but they only come up with half-baked ideas, creating a film that spends half its run time trying to be dangerous, and the other half fighting to be funny and flirty.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's interesting to watch a feature about alien activity that genuinely feels like it comes from another world. In fact, 1982's "Liquid Sky" is made on Earth, but co-writer/director Slava Tsukerman doesn't pay attention to such planetary limitations, masterminding a deep dive into art-world interests during the rise of the New Wave movement in New York City, coming up with a take on period tastes that merge in-the-moment filmmaking with genre touches, going the sci-fi route to explore the strange marriage of personal expression and self-harm. Tsukerman isn't making a movie about a scene, he's creating one with "Liquid Sky," which revels in its abstraction, blasting the screen with style and color, defiantly remaining out of bounds as it provides viewers with a specialized viewing experience, which resides somewhere between challenging and ridiculous.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most chillers work very hard to conceal the identity of their primary antagonists. Mystery tends to encourage tighter suspense, leaving it up to the viewer to conjure images of evil before the real thing is finally ready to make its screen debut. 1979's "The Dark" states right off the bat that an alien is on the loose in L.A., killing potential frights as the production exposes what's really lurking in the shadows long before director John "Bud" Carlos is ready to expose villainy to the light. It's a mistake, the first of many in this tepid horror endeavor, which always seems more excited to highlight banal conversations than dig into the possibilities of its extraterrestrial enemy, offering only a lukewarm whodunit where everyone already knows whodunit before the main titles.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Once the figure of youthful idealism in 1988's "Platoon Leader," Michael Dudikoff returns to duty in 1995's "Soldier Boyz," maturing into a gruff leader of a makeshift military force. Losing all semblance of wartime commentary to march ahead as a boomy actioner, "Soldier Boyz" goes the "Dirty Dozen" route, mixing combustible personalities and mercenary challenges, with director Louis Morneau making sure to blow something up every 15 minutes, keeping the audience awake as they're forced to endure clichés between blasts of jungle-based hostilities. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While cinematic inspections of the Vietnam War were already in place by the time "Platoon Leader" was released in 1988, it's the awards-sweeping success of 1986's "Platoon" that's truly the reason why the movie came to be. Hungry for their own take on wartime misery and the death of innocence, Cannon Films brings an adaptation of James R. McDonough's memoir to the screen, but they go about it in a distinctly Cannon Films fashion. Instead of hiring a thoughtful person for the job, they bring in Aaron Norris, a man who's already had his way with Vietnam, helming "Missing in Action III," which starred his brother, Chuck. Instead of bringing on a capable star, they hire "American Ninja" hero, Michael Dudikoff, who seems like a nice guy, but can't quite reach imagined dramatic heights with this deathly dull actioner.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Some will watch "The Whales of August" for its dramatic content, but most coming to the 1987 production are most likely spending time with the picture for a chance to see stars Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Ann Sothern, and Vincent Price in action near their end of their respective careers. It's premiere time with acting legends, and director Lindsay Anderson understands just what he has here, permitting the ensemble to make the most of the feature, which is an adaptation of a David Berry play. "The Whales of August" isn't particularly thunderous went it comes to creating tension, and the story is practically nonexistent, but it does offer an opportunity to watch icons in motion, generating unusual chemistry with a tale that plays to their advanced ages, addressing the pain of the golden years, especially when true communication between loved ones is blocked. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

There's something about Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" that beguiles filmmakers, and long before Darren Aronofsky nailed the biggest hit of his career with 2010's "Black Swan," co-writer/director Peter Del Monte used the world-famous ballet to inspired creepy events in 1989's "Etoile." The duality found at the heart of "Swan Lake" permits an easy transition to genre moviemaking, and Del Monte, while not heading in an overt horror direction, sparks to the potential of a ghost story of sorts, merging dance with otherworldly experiences, generating a chiller that toys with reality, identity, and the blinding power of young love. "Etoile" has its issues, but its strangeness is appealing, with Del Monte finding stillness in the growing nightmare, taking cues from stage performances to introduce a sort of artfulness to a production that's poorly cast, and features a ridiculous ending that needs to be seen to be believed.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1975's "Pick-Up" gives off the impression that it's going to follow the sexploitation rulebook, opening with a flirty standoff between a motor home driver and two young women who would do anything for a free ride. And, for a few moments, the picture maintains the B-movie allure, offering teasing glimpses of nudity and bad behavior, lubricated by marijuana and the liberation of the open road, shadowed somewhat by reminders of mysticism and strangeness to come. And holy moly, does "Pick-Up" ever get weird.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After handling documentary duties with Lily Tomlin's "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," director John Bailey elected to spice up his helming career with a red-hot noir. A respected cinematographer, favored by Lawrence Kasdan ("The Big Chill," "Silverado," "The Accidental Tourist"), Bailey constructs "China Moon," a lusty, twisty mystery that offers a little more visual heft than a Tomlin performance, taking the action to Florida, where characters engage in sex, lies, and murder. Bailey isn't redefining the beloved genre with "China Moon," but he does make a pretty picture, keeping the effort visually interesting while the screenplay by Roy Carlson struggles to keep things compelling, slogging through some tedious plotting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

In his final film role, Laird Cregar, the star of "The Lodger," finds himself back in period London trouble in "Hangover Square," though it's a very different type of serial killer story. More of an obsession chiller than a tale of murder, "Hangover Square" strives to give viewers a stranger viewing experience while hoping to keep up momentum from "The Lodger," with returning helmer John Brahm working to spin the picture in a slightly different direction, going for more operatic conflicts than atmospherics ones.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it's fascinating to watch World War II movies produced after the global event, the ones made during the conflict carry a special atmosphere, with productions trying to manage the jingoistic needs of the war effort with the more sobering reality of military duty. 1944's "Since You Went Away" is not a gritty offering of wartime observation, but the David O. Selznick-produced picture has its moments of honesty and concern, blending bits of reality in the overall melodrama, which gives itself a whopping three hours of screen time to take shape.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After years spent making trouble for other directors, actor Sean Penn elected to take matters into his own hands for 1991's "The Indian Runner," assuming helming and screenplay duties, taking dramatic inspiration from "Highway Patrolman," a song off Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album, "Nebraska." Penn would go on to have an erratic career behind the camera (scoring with "The Crossing Guard" and "Into the Wild," but stumbling recently with "The Last Face"), but it's interesting to see early cinematic interests immediately taking shape, with this American tale of brothers and disaster blending the raw energy of a Cassavetes picture (the helmer is thanked in the end credits) and the screen poetry of a Malick movie, ending up muddled and heavy-handed, but not without stunning moments of pure visual communication. "The Indian Runner" doesn't feel like a complete story (an expected result when inspiration comes from a five-minute-long song), but it's not without beautifully human moments and certain directorial flair from Penn and his tireless ambition to put everything rattling around his head on the screen.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1984's "The Ambassador" is a Cannon Films production, and I'm not entirely sure if producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus want to encourage peace in the Middle East with this feature or welcome its demise. It's a bizarre effort from the beloved B-movie factory, bringing traditional action thriller beats to Israel, making a tough guy endeavor while dealing with longstanding hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians. The screenplay by Max Jack (who loosely adapts an Elmore Leonard novel) appears to be interested in the dialogue between warring sides, but director J. Lee Thompson doesn't have much patience for stillness, filling "The Ambassador" with sex and violence, including a few nightmarish encounters peppered with the kind of gushing wounds more commonly on view in a horror film.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

There's been a longstanding Hollywood fascination with the works of author Jim Thompson. He's a writer specializing in dark poetry, creating ugly characters involved in ugly business, unable to touch the bottom of the pool when it comes to the depths of horrible business. Of course, this is catnip to filmmakers, with 1997's "This World, Then the Fireworks" a particularly itchy adaptation of a Thompson novella, with the production working very hard to make as claustrophobic and freewheeling a movie as possible.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com