Gakuen (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is a teacher and botanist who travels alone through the wilds of rural Japan, eventually stumbling across a drought-stricken village so desperate for water that breast milk is used as a substitution. He meets in this village an old friend, Akira (Go Kato), who is married to a mysterious woman named Yuri…
Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy [Criterion Collection] Blu-Ray Review
Criterion Collection, in collaboration with Strand Releasing, bring for the first time in high definition in North America, Gregg Araki’s crazy, influential Teen Apolcalypse Trilogy, comprised of the films Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere. It’s been a long time coming, so let’s dig in! Totally F***ed Up from 1993 follows the lives…
Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembene [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review
In Emitaï, a small Diola village is being provoked by French colonialists during World War II by being forced to give them their rice harvest as a tax imposed on them. The women of the village begin to organize and push the men of the village to take a stand against the French. One way…
Peeping Tom [Criterion] 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Mark Lewis (played amazingly well by Carl Boehm) is a focus puller at a film studio who, as a side gig, also takes provocative photos of women for money. The ladies find Mark cute but a bit aloof, not realizing that he holds a dark secret rooted in his childhood. Mark is a murderer of…
The Heroic Trio / Executioners – 4K + Blu-ray Review (The Criterion Collection)
The Heroic Trio (1993) tells the story of a mysterious cult that is stealing babies from the city for nefarious purposes and the useless cops can only stand by and watch. I mean, they are kinda out of their league since Ching (Michelle Yeoh), the person snatching these kids, can turn invisible and run up…
The Three Colors Trilogy UHD review
To be honest, I am not all that familiar with the works of director Krzysztof Kieślowski until recently and had the pleasure of watching his masterpieces Three Colors Blue, Three Colors White and Three Colors Red which are all part of his Three Colours Trilogy. These are all French classics, although these are all co-productions…
History is Made at Night Blu-ray review
History is Made at Night is a comedy drama film directed by Frank Borzage, known for his romantic themes in cinema. In this tale, he incorporates romance, suspense and even destruction into his love story in a rare but perfect blending of several genres. This movie also features not one, not two, but three screen…
Mulholland Drive (Criterion Collection) Blu-ray Review
Betty (Naomi Watts) is an actress from Ontario, Canada who arrives in L.A. with gleeful positivity about her future in the movie business. She will be staying at her Aunt’s apartment for 3 months while her Aunt is away on a shoot back home in Canada. However, upon arriving at the apartment she discovers Rita…
Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn 3 Films (My Dinner With Andre, Vanya on 42nd Street, A Master Builder) (Criterion Collection) Blu-ray Review
I came to the work of Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn well over a decade ago, when one of my short films was positively compared to the duo’s original collaboration My Dinner with Andre. I had seen bits of the film before, but had never sat through the entirety of it. I immediately picked up…
Godzilla (1954) (Criterion Collection) Blu-ray Review
The first time I saw Godzilla was on a mid-afternoon screening on a local horror show in New Jersey as a child. I couldn’t have been older than 6-7, the quality couldn’t have been great, all I can remember is that it made an impact. When that giant green lizard was on screen my mind…