Physical media never takes a week off but sometimes they sleep in a little. Such as this light week that has Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress starting off with a stone-cold classic thriller from Criterion upgraded to 4K. Kino has more film noir, a double feature with Agatha Christie AND Bert I. Gordon plus the terrifying presence of Klaus Kinski as a Nazi. There’s an animated cat who gives massages and everyone’s favorite bear in a rain slicker.

0:00 - Intro

6:53 - Criterion (The Wages of Fear 4K)

13:32 - Kino (Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIV, Crawlspace, Endless Night/Picture Mommy Dead 4K)

34:56 - Shout (Ghost Cat Anzu)

39:21 - Warner (Paddington 2 4K)

43:41 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Gladiator II, Red One, Kraven the Hunter, Den of Thieves 2, The Count of Monte Cristo)

52:36 – New Blu-ray Announcements

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Another light week of releases, but are any of them good? Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy talk you through five of them including a documentary on a better person in charge of the Washington Post (Becoming Katharine Graham). Ed Harris factors into two releases this week including a woman manifestsing her PTSD through her fellow soldier (My Dead Friend Zoe) and a crime comedy with an all-star cast (Riff Raff). There is also a bitcoin hostage thriller (Cold Wallet) and an underwater true story that the filmmaker has re-made from their own documentary (Last Breath).

0:00 - Intro

1:56 - Becoming Katharine Graham

7:24 - My Dead Friend Zoe

16:28 - Cold Wallet

22:37 - Riff Raff

32:17 - Last Breath

46:52 - Outro

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski run down titles you can get on physical media this week and, not gonna lie, there’s a lot of baggage. There’s the Mick Jagger film that say on the shelf for two years along with Lindsay Lohan’s collaboration with Paul Schrader and William Friedkin’s infamous Al Pacino murder mystery set within the gay community. Not to mention John Wayne playing Genghis Khan and the poor timing for an Eric Red horror film. But even controversy can be put aside for cinema sunshine. You can now get Milos Forman’s Mozart film in its original theatrical incarnation. Maybe you don’t even remember the issue parents had with one of the loveliest coming-of-age films of the ‘90s. And why would you say anything controversial about Carol Reed’s masterpiece? All that plus Guillermo Del Toro’s debut and the genius of poking fun at documentaries on this week’s Blu-ray show.

0:00 – Intro

3:13 - Criterion (Performance 4K, Cronos 4K)

22:43 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Joy of Sex, Virtuosity 4K, The Canyons)

48:18 - Arrow (Cruising 4K)

1:05:54 - Kino (The Conqueror, Graveyard Shift 4K, Body Parts 4K)

1:24:14 - Sony (My Girl 4K)

1:37:39 - LionsGate (The Third Man 4K)

1:44:22 - Warner (Amadeus 4K)

1:55:51 – New Television on Blu-ray (Noble House, Documentary Now: The Complete Series)

2:01:01 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Hard Truths)

2:05:13 – New Blu-ray Announcements

It’s a light week for movies so Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy work with what they have with four titles that you may or may not want to work with. They include a new Chicago horror film from director Mickey Keating (Invader). Daisy Ridley is a window washer who goes from pane to McClane when eco-terrorists take over her building (Cleaner). Christoph Waltz is an aging hitman with a protégé (Old Guy). Finally, Osgood Perkins is back with a Stephen King adaptation where things do not go well for anybody. (The Monkey)

0:00 - Intro

2:22 - Invader

9:26 - Cleaner

22:19 - Old Guy

31:00 - The Monkey

45:19 - Outro

It’s physical media time with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guiding you through this week’s releases which includes a pair of late indie staples from the ‘80s now in 4K. There’s a pair of John Candy comedies from the same decade, Burt Reynolds directing a comedy about suicide and one about the life of Frances Farmer. Pick your poison in Richard Dreyfuss directing porn (within the movie) and the unspeakable horrors of Roger Corman mutant rapists. Keanu Reeves is a demon hunter and David Fincher gets upgrades for his underrated B-movie thriller and the origin story of another demon.

0:00 - Intro

2:37 - Criterion (Crossing Delancey 4K, Drugstore Cowboy 4K)

19:24 - Kino (Summer Rental, Uncle Buck 4K, Frances)

41:13 - MGM (Inserts, The  End, Uptown Girls)

1:01:51 - Shout (Humanoids from the Deep 4K)

1:13:16 - Warner (Constantine 4K)

1:21:52 - Sony (Panic Room 4K, The Social Network 4K)

1:41:21 – New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Last Summer, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Nosferatu, The Order, September 5, Weekend at Taipei)

1:46:15 – New Blu-ray Announcements

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to regular reviewing duties this week and they put a nine-spot on the board. There are a pair of documentaries involving Sly Stone (Sly Lives) and the Zep (Becoming Led Zeppelin). The director of Saint Frances & Ghostlight shows the horror of being a doctor (Rounding) while a young woman involved in one night stands may have been literally ghosted (The Dead Thing). Paolo Sorrentino has another tale of beauty (Parthenope) while Miles Teller & Anya Taylor-Joy snipe themselves into each other’s hearts fighting monsters (The Gorge). Then it’s a week of sequels including a continuation of Renee Zellweger’s beloved character (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), everyone’s favorite marmalade-loving bear (Paddington In Peru) and the tale of a new Captain and a new President (Captain America: Brave New World).

0:00 – Intro

1:13 - Becoming Led Zeppelin

7:54 - Rounding

17:02 - Sly Lives!

23:00 - The Dead Thing

32:25 - Parthenope

39:22 - Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

55:43 - The Gorge

1:06:50 - Paddington in Peru

1:15:46 - Captain America: Brave New World

1:31:08 - Outro

The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here and so is comic book expert Erik Laws to talk with Erik Childress on how it plays out. Does it follow through on some of the ideas raised by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or is it merely just continuing a story most many have forgotten about? Laws fills in the blanks left by the treatment of Shira Haas’ Widow and the remnants of the Serpent Society. Is this a genuine new beginning for the Universe or does it continue the rut that has befallen the MCU since Endgame.

Erik Childress & Peter Sobczynski bring you this week’s physical media roundup which includes a great upgrade for the family involving a cat and a mouse. Horror fans get some 4K upgrades from four different decades. Film Noir gets several different takes including through the mind of Woody Allen. A legendary black filmmaker championed over the years by Sergio Mims gets his whole collection. There are early appearances by Sam Elliott, Sean Penn and John Cusack along with a reappraisal of a current Oscar contender. A more positive reappraisal has been happening for years with a Shane Black film now in 4K and Peter takes us down the rabbit hole of the time Jean-Luc Godard made a Shakespeare adaptation for Cannon Films.

0:00 – Intro

3:09 - Criterion (King Lear)

17:26 - Warner Archive (Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection)

21:31 – Warner Bros. (The Nice Guys 4K)

30:18 - Kino (Oscar Micheaux: The Complete Collection, Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIII (Rope of Sand / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Never Love a Stranger), Play It Again Sam, Hot Pursuit)

57:11 - Fun City (Lifeguard, Racing with the Moon)

1:08:50 - Universal (Conclave 4K)

1:13:42 - Arrow (Alice Sweet Alice 4K)

1:22:52 - Shout Factory (Galaxy of Terror 4K, Ghosts of Mars 4K, The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K)

1:35:21 – New Blu-ray Announcements

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return after more than a week in Park City plus virtual screenings for this year’s Sundance Film Festival and they are here to talk about 15 of their favorite films. They include a pair of body horror films about the terror of living happily ever after. There is also the horror of being a parent especially if you live next to the worst kind of Karen. Music plays a role in a lovely story about a washed-up folk singer and a lottery winner plus the heartbreaking tale of an artist taken away from us too quickly. There are more documentaries about the first deaf Oscar winner, teenagers who took on the environmental concerns of their community, the troubling legacy of To Catch a Predator and the consequences of delaying that colonoscopy.  Audiences were treated to standout performances from Dylan O’Brien and the genuine discovery of the debut by a name to remember, Eva Victor. All that plus generational tales of Palestine and the building and rebuilding of America. 

0:00 - Intro

5:44 – The Ugly Stepsister

11:03 – The Ballad of Wallis Island

16:16 – It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley

20:04 – Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

26:26 – The Perfect Neighbor

35:25 – Predators

43:04 – Twinless

48:33 – If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You

54:01 – Andre is an Idiot

57:48 – All That’s Left Of You

1:01:08 – Rebuilding

1:05:33 – Together

1:11:03 – Middletown

1:15:33 – Sorry, Baby

1:23:10 – Train Dreams

1:31:47 – More Sundance Mentions

1:34:29 - Outro

After some time off for Sundance, Movie Madness returns to get you caught up on the latest and greatest in Blu-rays. Erik Childress talks to Peter Sobczynski about a couple 4K upgrades from Criterion for Paul Thomas Anderson and Anthony Mann. There are rom-coms with Cary Grant and Clark Gable while Al Pacino tries to find love with possibly a serial killer. They’ve got a possessed authoritarian in the White House (from 1933) and a killer whale on the loose. Music documentaries for Joan Jett and Joan Baez and one of Dario Argento’s best. But it all comes down to a remastered version of a butchered Michael Mann film and a trio of upgrades for one of the kings of sexploitation, Russ Meyer.

0:00 - Intro

2:48 - Criterion (Winchester ‘73 4K, Punch Drunk Love 4K)

19:34 - Warner Archive (Gabriel Over the White House)

26:40 - Kino (Houseboat, Teacher’s Pet, Shout at the Devil, Orca 4K, Sea of Love 4K, W***e)

1:09:47 - Magnolia (Bad Reputation, Joan Baez I am a Noise)

1:15:25 - Severin (Opera 4K, Vixen 4K, Supervixens 4K, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens 4K)

1:56:33 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Keep 4K)

2:10:53 – New TV on Blu-ray: (House: Complete Series, Quantum Leap (2022): Complete Series, Frankenstein Jr. And the Impossibles: Complete Series, Wait Til Your Father Gets Home: Complete Series, Twin Peaks Z to A)

2:15:52 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (The Coffee Table, Hundreds of Beavers, Juror #2, A Real Pain, Werewolves, Wicked)

2:16:37 – New Blu-ray Announcements