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CINEMATIC SORCERESS: THE FILMS OF NINA MENKES Blu-ray Review

CINEMATIC SORCERESS: THE FILMS OF NINA MENKES Nina Menkes is an incredibly intimate and brutally honest filmmaker. With a career spanning three decades, she has continually looked inward to reflect on the world around her. Her films have a journal-like quality, focusing on quiet moments of contemplation through characters who never feel like they are performing. Voyeurism without a male gaze. She often creates beautiful, stark imagery that highlights isolation in natural and inhabited landscapes. The Films The Great Sadness of Zohara (1983) Magdalena Viraga (1986) Queen of Diamonds (1991) The Bloody Child (1996) Phantom Love (2007) Dissolution (2010)  2-Disc Set Special Features: •  6 uncoated 4x6 postcards   •  New 2K restoration of  Magdalena Viraga   •  New 4K restoration of  Queen of Diamonds   •  New 4K restoration of  The Bloody Child   •  New remaster of  The Great Sadness of Zohara   •  New remaster of  Phantom Love   •  New video interview with Nina Menkes and Mike Plante

TAKE OUT Blu-ray Review

THE FILM The American dream has rarely seemed so far away as in Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou’s raw, vérité TAKE OUT, an immersion in the life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant struggling to get by on the margins of post-9/11 New York City. Facing violent retaliation from a loan shark, restaurant deliveryman Ming Ding has until nightfall to pay back the money he owes, and he encounters both crushing setbacks and moments of unexpected humanity as he races against time to earn enough in tips over the course of a frantic day. From this simple setup, Baker and Tsou fashion a kind of neorealist survival thriller of the everyday, shedding compassionate light on the too often overlooked lives and labor that keep New York running. Following Films Rating ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ THE TRANSFER Following Films Rating★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ SPECIAL FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by directors Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack • Audio commentary featuring Ba

THE AMUSEMENT PARK Blu-ray Review

Directed by George A. Romero Written by Walton Cook Starring Lincoln Maazel The Film: Films go lost for tons of reasons; they are made of highly flammable chemicals, they weren't stored properly, and occasionally because nobody thought there was any interest in hanging on to the film that was discarded. Once a film of interest becomes "lost" it can take on mythic status. The people who did see it, rave about it, and certain film fans will become ravenous with desire. Their hankering to see the film will build it up in their minds to something it never was, nor could it ever be. Enter George A. Romero's THE AMUSEMENT PARK, a film released on Blu-ray 46 years after its completion, a film that never had distribution and was never intended to. See this particular slice of celluloid was commissioned by the Lutheran Society as a PSA against ageism and elder abuse. What Romero delivered was a psychedelic fever dream that handles the subject of aging with nightmarish glee.  M

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY DVD Review

  Directed by : Richard Gray Starring: Eric Belgau, Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane, Isaiah Mustafa, Anna Camp, Aimee Garcia, and Richard Dreyfuss  The Film In the opening moments of MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY, we are introduced to a picturesque but dusty town that appears to be past its prime. A city that was built on dreams of prosperity, dreams that were never fulfilled.  When a local prospector strikes gold a newfound sense of hope fills the community. Could they finally be turning the corner and making good on the promise that caused so many to head west? Well, no. The prospector is found dead and the local Sheriff is quick to blame a quiet newcomer.  But nothing is so simple in this sleepy western town, and more than a few of the locals have secrets to keep and reasons to kill. As the brutal murders continue, pitting neighbor against neighbor, Yellowstone City goes down a bloody path to a final showdown that not all will survive. Following Films Rating: ★★★☆ The Picture Quality MURDE

Umma Blu-ray Review - UMMA

  The Film Sandra Oh has been consistently one of the most underutilized actors of the last 20+ years. I first became aware of her when she landed a recurring role on the HBO series ARLI$$, the show itself is (was) fine, not great, not bad, just a slightly above average half-hour comedy. That being said, Sandra Oh was always phenomenal on the show, she brought humanity to even the most absurd moments and delivered comedic relief when the air needed to be released from a scene.  The same can be said about her work on GREY'S ANATOMY, a long-running powerhouse that might not be my cup of tea, but her work as Dr. Christina Yang is undeniable.  UMMA (the Korean word for mother) is one of Oh's first forays into genre fare and the results are pretty remarkable.  The film is centered on a mother (Sandra Oh) and her daughter (Fivel Stewart) who have settled into a quiet life on a farm in the middle of America about 60 miles outside of nowhere. I was raised in a town called Winder Georgi

V/H/S 94 Blu-ray Review

  Written and directed by an ensemble filmmaking team including : Jennifer Reeder (Knives and Skin), Chloe Okuno (Slut), Simon Barrett (The Guest), Timo Tjahjanto (Impetigore), Ryan Prows (Lowlife), Steven Kostanski (PG: Psycho Goreman) Produced by : Josh Goldbloom, Brad Miska and Kurtis Harder (Spiral), Executive Produced by : David Bruckner (The Night House) and Radio Silence (SCREAM, Ready or Not) Starring : Anna Hopkins (“The Expanse”), Christian Lloyd (“American Gods”), Kyal Legend (“Backstage”) and Budi Ross.  The Film(s) In V/H/S/94, after the discovery of a mysterious VHS tape, a brutish police swat team launches a high-intensity raid on a remote warehouse, only to discover a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy. Holy Hell - Directed by Jennifer Reeder A story about dirty cops getting what they deserve. A satisfying wraparound that ties all the films together and gives the piece an overall sense of thematic symmetry