It all started with an idea from writer John-Michael Tebelak, who wanted something more than the usual when it came to a celebration of faith. He dreamed of a way to reinvent such love, to give the story of Jesus and his teachings a different spin, helping to reach a new audience understandably bored with the rigid ways of Christian storytelling. Tebelak eventually teamed with composer Stephen Schwartz, coming up with "Godspell," a musical that proved its worth during its 1971 off-Broadway debut, even inspiring a 1972 production with a cast that included Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, and Andrea Martin (Paul Shaffer was the musical director). While enjoying popularity and profit, it didn't take long for the show to hit the big screen, with 1973's "Godspell" hoping to share its unique take on faith and love with a larger audience. It's a film that's eager to please, with director David Greene working to retain the theatrical presence of the material while unleashing it on New York City, setting his cast free to romp around hop spots as they emphatically deliver a hippie gospel for a new generation of believers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before his career began to take flight, there was a moment in the late 1970s when Mickey Rourke was just beginning to show interest in acting, but he wasn't sure Hollywood had interest in him. Playing bit roles in big movies such as "1941" and "Heaven's Gate," Rourke elected to pour his frustrations into a screenplay loosely based on his own experiences as a boxer, taking years to shape what would become the 1988 feature, "Homeboy." There's definitely a lived-in quality to the picture, which deals with desperate people and bruised minds, but Rourke works to achieve something profound through the art of aimlessness, coming up with static drama that fails to do little more than showcase the star's acting, also saving room for co-star Christopher Walken to do what Christopher Walken usually does. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We currently live in a "RuPaul's Drag Race" world, where the pageant and attitude of drag cultural is zapped into living rooms everywhere, giving fans a weekly sampling of unparalleled glamour and often wickedly funny humor. In 1987, such showmanship was regulated to the underground, with "Paris Is Burning" presenting a peek into the ways of the Ball circuit in New York City, where those who dream of fame and fortune are gifted an all- day competition to "live the fantasy" and show off their inner wonderfulness. Director Jennie Livingston has the challenge to collect and assemble an understanding of what appears to be a widespread community of aspiring "realness," compacting such a dense world into 77 minutes of entertainment and information. There's immediacy to "Paris Is Burning," which doesn't offer documentary hospital corners, with Livingston presenting more of an in- the-moment picture with distinct LGBTQ personalities who live, love, hope, and dare to present themselves in the showiest manner possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Doing well with their horror releases, Hammer Films stepped away from the scary stuff for 1959's "The Ugly Duckling." Taking inspiration (or "ideas stolen") from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," the movie offers a comedic take on shifting identities, putting actor Bernard Bresslaw in charge of portraying a two personalities emerging from one man. While the source material is meant to deliver chills, "The Ugly Duckling" aims for laughs, ending up as more of a precursor to "The Nutty Professor," with a gentle slide into a British gangster picture. It's not exactly a distinctive creative detour for Hammer, but Bresslaw makes it all worthwhile, doing his part to act up a storm while the screenplay fumbles with funny business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With a title like "Murder in Greenwich Village," there's a certain expectation for elements of violence, deception, and general evil. The 1937 Albert S. Rogell picture actually offers very little suspense, moving forward as something of a screwball comedy, with the near-misses of love the star of the show, not sinister business with shady characters. Thankfully, there's a cast here putting in their all to make the screenplay by Michael L. Simmons stand up and shout, delivering ideal finger-snap dialogue and thespian emphasis to generate a different sort of screen energy than what the title implies. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While David Lynch recently organized a return trip to "Twin Peaks," writer/director Jennifer Reeder wants to keep the celebration going with "Knives and Skin." While not directly an ode to Lynch's exploration of the damned, Reeder certainly pays tribute to the helmer's ways with garmonbozia, manufacturing her own take on the twisted residents of a seemingly normal town, where the death of a young girl begins to unravel everything. Reeder likes to keep matters tangled and unreal at times, and her stab at a screen mystery is attempted with dull storytelling skills. She's better with the weird stuff, but just barely, as "Knives and Skin" quickly loses itself to strained idiosyncrasy, often showing its work when it comes to conjuring screen oddity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Raw Courage" demands a lot from its audience just from the main title sequence. One of the first images in the picture is a shot of Ronny Cox spreading Vaseline on his crusty feet, working the substance around his toes and into the skin. There's a point to it, as the actor portrays a long- distance runner preparing for an extended marathon, but it's quite the introduction, offering a harrowing visual before the rest of the film has a chance to get going, with subsequent frights not quite as potent as a greasy Cox foot. Thankfully, "Raw Courage" stays away from corn chip toenails for the rest of the feature, which is actually an effective B-movie that pits athletes against militia morons in the vast New Mexico desert, taking in all the hostility and panic such a premise provides. Perhaps foot fetishists might get a little more out of the endeavor than most, but the effort connects as low-budget escapism, doing well with most chases and levels of characterization. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The screenplay for "The Killing Time" (credited to Don Bohlinger, James Nathan, and Bruce Franklin Singer) looks to bring a piece of film noir to the mid-1980s. Many productions have tried to do it, and the quest continues to this day, but the effort presented here is noticeable, bringing the story to life with mysterious characters, the planning of a crime for the love of a woman, and the eventual unraveling of such an illegal endeavor. Director Rick King isn't hiding his influences, but he's not exactly massaging them either, delivering a half-hearted presentation of all-gone-wrong cinema, hoping to amplify the viewing experience with barking villainy, violence, and an offering of softcore sex. Trouble is, King doesn't bring "The Killing Time" to life, content to make a sluggish movie that's not particularly turned on by its own mischief, while suspense is minimal at best. Sure, there's Beau Bridges in a rare leading man turn, tasked with keeping the feature together, but the actor's intermittent excitement and shirtlessness isn't enough to make the picture interesting, while the writing eventually goes to sleep, unable to produce enough nail-biting encounters to make the sit worthwhile. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Working to bring a special immediacy to the world of documentaries, Albert and David Maysles (along with Charlotte Zwerin) launch their new wave of "direct cinema" with 1969's "Salesman." Instead of swinging for the fences with a big topic to explore, looking to rattle the world with importance, the helmers decide to explore different side of capitalism with the picture, which traces the labor of four bible salesman, with the group sent out into the world to provide high-pressure techniques to poor people to purchase an expensive book they don't need. "Salesman" is a tale of survival in many ways, and it's a crime story in others, with the Maysles refusing to do anything but document the moments they share with the subjects, highlighting their exploits, leaving ultimate judgement of character for the viewer to decide. As an early form of Maysles craftsmanship, the feature is an incredible cinematic document, and a vivid time capsule of the hustler's life in the 1960s, with these predators nervously toying with their prey. It's also a wildly uncomfortable movie to watch, but that seems to be the point, as the production doesn't sugarcoat anything about the men, who live for the sale, on an endless quest for the almighty dollar. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the deep sea of family entertainment, it takes a lot to get noticed. There has to be something dramatically compelling or visually stunning to acquire attention, and while it has all the good intentions possible, "Swift" just doesn't have enough personality to keep viewers involved in the tale for what becomes a very long 90 minutes. Directors Christian Haas and Andrea Block offering admirable messages on community and acceptance, but the effort is missing something special to help it rise above the competition. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com