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90 Minutes to Prove it All: The Relentless A/V Assault of Chris Pratt’s MERCY on Blu-ray

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Sands, Steel, and Seven Centuries: A First Look at Rupert Wyatt’s DESERT WARRIOR

Rupert Wyatt is a filmmaker who understands the weight of a landscape. From the overgrown urban decay of Rise of the Planet of the Apes to the pressure-cooker tension of The Gambler, he has a knack for making the environment feel like a primary character. With the first trailer for Desert Warrior, Wyatt is turning his lens toward seventh-century Arabia, and the scale looks appropriately massive. The footage introduces us to Princess Hind, played by Aiysha Hart (We Are Lady Parts), a figure who refuses to be traded away as a concubine to the ruthless Emperor Kisra. This isn't just a domestic dispute; it’s the spark for a historical pivot point. Sir Ben Kingsley appears to be leaning into the menace of Kisra, providing a formidable anchor for the conflict. When Hind flees into the desert with her father, the trailer shifts gears into a survivalist epic, eventually bringing her into the orbit of a legendary bandit played by Anthony Mackie. Mackie has been busy lately with high-concept...

The Microscopic Frontier: INNERSPACE 4K Blu-ray Review

Joe Dante is a mad scientist of the suburban variety. He takes the familiar comforts of our living rooms and the mundane routines of our lives, then he injects them with a frantic cartoon energy that feels like it might burst at the seams. Seeing Innerspace for the first time on a grainy VHS tape back when I was eleven or twelve years old felt like discovering a secret transmission from a much cooler, more chaotic dimension. My parents had a top-loading VCR in our basement that made a heavy mechanical clunk when you pushed the tape down, and that sound was the starting bell for a journey into the microscopic. Back then, I didn’t know who Dennis Quaid was and was only familiar with Martin Short as Ed Grimley, but to me, after watching Innerspace, they were the two halves of a perfect comedic brain. The movie starts with a premise that should be terrifying, a miniaturized pilot injected into the body of a hypochondriac grocery clerk, but Dante turns it into a high-speed chase that never ...

New Trailer: Black Mandala Unveils the Nerve-Shredding Survival Horror SHED

Black Mandala has officially released the trailer for SHED, a gripping survival horror film that promises to turn a simple farm building into a claustrophobic house of mirrors. Directed by Steven J. Mihaljevich, the film has already begun making waves on the festival circuit, securing major wins at the UK Film Awards and a premiere at the prestigious Screamfest LA. A Nightmare on Christmas Eve Forget the holiday cheer. SHED centers on 10-year-old Mia (Mani Shanks), who finds herself accidentally locked inside a farm shed on Christmas Eve. The situation turns from a mistake into a nightmare when a violent stranger descends upon the property. What follows is a uniquely intimate horror experience, told almost entirely from Mia’s perspective. Trapped and isolated, the young girl must endure hunger and mounting fear while grappling with the horrifying realization that something catastrophic has happened to her family, all while the killer remains only meters away. The Cast and Creative Team...

Phoenix’s Most Glamorous Derby Party Just Got a Major Upgrade

If you’re looking for a reason to dust off your best fascinator or break out the seersucker, look no further than May 2nd. The Stella Artois Derby DayClub is returning to Turf Paradise, and this year, the organizers aren’t just bringing back the same old party, they’ve basically rebuilt the experience from the ground up. Presented by Sanderson Lincoln, the event is positioning itself as the premier spot in the Valley to watch the 152nd "Run for the Roses." But while the Kentucky Derby is the main attraction, the new amenities at Turf Paradise might just steal the show. New Ways to Lounge The biggest buzz this year surrounds two brand-new additions. For those who enjoy a slower pace, the "Million Dollar Mingle Cigar Lounge" is making its debut. For a $50 add-on, guests get a reserved seat in a dedicated lounge, a premium cigar, and a glass of bourbon. It’s designed to be an intimate, comfortable escape from the high-energy crowd. If bourbon isn't your speed, ther...

Following Films Podcast: Matt Robbins on FEDS Season 2

On today’s episode, we are diving into the high-stakes world of true crime and the intricate process of bringing procedural intensity to the small screen. Joining us is Executive Producer Matt Robbins to discuss his work on the series FEDS, which is currently airing on Investigation Discovery. We’re specifically looking at the upcoming episode, "Gangbuster," which premieres on April 1st. It’s a compelling look at a community in Southern Florida gripped by a wave of unsolved shootings, and the story follows rookie FBI Special Agent Jessica Box as she attempts to dismantle the gang responsible. In our conversation, Matt and I talk about the balance between the gritty reality of gang violence and the character-driven narrative of a rookie agent finding her footing under immense pressure. We also touch on the collaborative effort between federal and local law enforcement that makes this particular episode so authentic. It’s an insightful look at the storytelling behind one of the...

The Frequency of Ghosts: THE HISTORY OF SOUND Blu-ray Review

Oliver Hermanus has a particular knack for capturing the kind of longing that feels like it’s vibrating just under the skin. With The History of Sound, he’s taken Ben Shattuck’s prose and turned it into a film that feels less like a traditional period romance and more like a fragile, scratched recording of a memory. It premiered at Cannes before making its way to us via Mubi, and while it carries the aesthetic weight of a high-end historical drama, it’s the intimate, almost whispered connection between Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor that keeps it from ever feeling like a museum piece. The story starts in 1917, in the shadow of a world about to break apart. Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor) are students at the New England Conservatory of Music, two young men who find each other in a pub and instantly bond over a shared obsession with folk music. Their connection is immediate and physical, a brief window of warmth before the United States enters World War I. The conservatory shuts ...

More Than a Bad Night’s Sleep: DREAM EATER Blu-ray Review

I’ve never made it to the Laurentian Mountains, but every time I see them on screen, they just seem so peaceful. Huge, quiet, beautiful. But Dream Eater doesn’t care about any of that calm. In this one, the mountains stand there frozen, almost judging, as a single cabin’s world crumbles inside. This isn’t your typical found footage scare fest, either. Dream Eater, directed by Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams, proves there’s still plenty of life and dread left in a genre people love to dismiss as played out. Forget cheap jump scares or flashy effects. The filmmakers dig deep, focusing on the small, uncomfortable unraveling of the people at its center, until the whole thing feels a bit too real. I'm genuinely shocked by what Blind Luck Pictures pulled off on a $100,000 budget. They turned next to nothing into something huge. In the film, Mallory is a documentary filmmaker. Her boyfriend Alex is starting to lose himself to a violent sleep disorder, and it’s getting w...

Clout, Cameras, and the Cost of Proximity: LURKER Blu-ray Review

Alex Russell’s Lurker is the kind of movie that makes you want to set your phone on fire and move to a cabin in the woods, yet you can’t look away from it for a single second. Premiering at Sundance before hitting theaters via Mubi in late 2025, it’s a psychological thriller that feels less like a fictional story and more like a biological study of the modern fame machine. It’s a film about the jagged, blurry line where fandom ends and stalking begins, and how easily the people we admire can become the people we own. At the center of this spiral is Matthew Morning, played by Théodore Pellerin with a jittery, desperate energy that is deeply uncomfortable to watch. Matthew is a retail worker in Los Angeles, the kind of guy who feels like he’s constantly auditioning for a life he hasn't been invited to yet. His break comes when a rising pop star named Oliver, played by Archie Madekwe, walks into his store. Matthew doesn't just ring him up; he performs for him, playing a deep cut f...

Unfinished Business in the Aftermath: WE BURRY THE DEAD Blu-ray Review

Zak Hilditch has a gift for making the end of the world feel uncomfortably small and intimate. In We Bury the Dead, he moves away from the global panic of These Final Hours and the period piece dread of 1922 to give us something that feels like a heavy, dirt-stained funeral shroud. Set in the immediate, muddy aftermath of a U.S. military experiment gone wrong off the coast of Tasmania, the movie isn't interested in the why of the catastrophe as much as the how of the mourning. It is a film about the physical, back-breaking labor of grief, and it is easily the most grounded work Daisy Ridley has ever put on screen. The setup is bleak and procedural. An experimental weapon detonates, wiping out Hobart and leaving the rest of the island’s population brain-dead. But as the military and civilian volunteers quickly realize, these bodies don't stay still. They regain motor function, becoming a quiet, stumbling breed of the undead that are more tragic than they are terrifying. Ridley p...