• Blu-ray Review – The Rubber Gun

    Director Allan Moyle is best known for his work in Hollywood, overseeing such endeavors as 1990’s “Pump Up the Volume,” 1992’s “The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag,” and 1995’s “Empire Records.” The helmer actually made his debut in Canada, exploring the counterculture scene in Montreal with a collection of characters who deal with drugs, art, and life itself. 1977’s “The Rubber Gun” is a freeform examination of relationships and investigation, with Moyle joining actor Stephen Lack (who would go on to star in David Cronenberg’s “Scanners”) to loosely script a study of a “family” facing various tests of loyalty as they experience the world on their terms. “The Rubber Gun” has no dramatic meat to it, and displays of acting reach maddening lengths, but it definitely retains some appeal with its time period and setting, with Moyle trying to capture a moment in these young lives as they face the reality of responsibility coming for them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • A Visit to Vinegar Syndrome Minneapolis

    After opening stores in Bridgeport, Denver, Toronto, and Pittsburgh, Vinegar Syndrome, the titan of cult film restoration and distribution, has arrived in Minneapolis. The company has expanded their shopping options, planting themselves in the Midwest to deliver all the goodies the brand is known for. Vinegar Syndrome Minneapolis opened their doors this weekend for a soft open of their new location, welcoming the faithful and the curious into a business that’s all about physical media goodness, emerging as a mix of hip record store and old Suncoast, only most of the covers and displays favor all the delightfully depraved imagery the fanbase has come to expect from the company. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Blood Relatives

    Noah Segan has been a bit player for most of his career. He’s maintained steady friendships with filmmakers such as Rian Johnson to help acquire more visible roles, and he’s often found in genre entertainment, getting used to the demands of monsters and bloodshed. Segan makes his feature- length directorial debut with 2022’s “Blood Relatives,” taking a shot at overseeing his own starring vehicle, also handling the screenplay for this tale of a vampire who lives as a loner suddenly facing the presence of the daughter he never knew about. Horror happenings are limited in the endeavor, which is much more interested in creating a dramatic space for the main characters and their push to form a relationship. Segan has a tale with potential in “Blood Relatives,” and it steadily builds into an engaging study of parental responsibility for the first half of the effort. Segan can’t sustain early momentum, with the picture eventually losing its way, but he gets it up and running with authority, creating an interesting addition to the vast world of vampire cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Norm: The Tale of Norm MacDonald

    "Man with blue eyes and dark curly hair looking at the camera indoors, with blurred background and casual setting."

    When Norm MacDonald passed away in 2021, nobody took the news harder than other comedians. In an industry of rivalries, bitterness, and ego, MacDonald was someone who managed to transcend ugliness, uniting colleagues in a collective appreciation of wit, delivery, and a general personal presence that was unique and, for the most part, uncompromising. Director Judd Apatow oversees the construction of “Norm: The Tale of Norm MacDonald,” which isn’t the usual in talking head-focused documentary filmmaking. Instead of allowing others to lead the way, Apatow turns to MacDonald himself to guide the viewing experience, compiling clips from television, film, podcasts, and social media to track the subject’s adventures in comedy and life. “The Tale of Norm MacDonald” is unusual in many ways, but for fans of the comedian, the picture is a superb reminder of talent and timing, and Apatow manages to bring some illumination to a very private life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Street Fighter (2026)

    After the wild success of the video game “Street Fighter II,” Hollywood was right there to exploit the now red-hot brand name. They tried to make sense of the fighting game in 1994, with the Jean-Claude Van Damme-starring “Street Fighter” looking to turn the tale into a study of politics and military might. It didn’t set the world on fire. There was another pass in 2009’s “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li,” and the film was almost entirely, and rightfully, ignored by the public. The game has also been turned into television shows, comic books, and animated pictures. There’s been no shortage of “Street Fighter” adaptations over the decades, and now Hollywood is willing to try again. The new “Street Fighter” aims to more closely replicate the video game atmosphere, and director Kitao Sakurai (“Bad Trip”) is ready to put on a show with the movie, filling it with violence, soundtrack selections, and personal vendettas, generating at least a passably fun viewing experience that’s out to please the fanbase and, once again, launch a new big screen franchise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Let’s Have Kids!

    “Let’s Have Kids!” is not a particularly original movie, examining a friendship crisis in the middle of a pregnancy experience, putting two lifelong pals in a confusing place as life demands test their once unbreakable bond. Co-writers Ellie Knaus and Adam Sztykiel (who also makes his directorial debut with the effort) appear to be putting some biographical details into the material, which does feel lived-in at times, offering an understanding of the changes that occur once children enter the picture. And reality is welcome in a feature that’s often too formulaic to really hit its emotional targets, showing fatigue with sitcom-like moments. “Let’s Have Kids!” isn’t sunk by familiarity, finding performances capably maintaining charm and humor throughout the film, giving the endeavor touches of personality to help fight the plasticized nature of the writing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Whalefall

    “Whalefall” comes from the mind of author Daniel Kraus, with his 2023 book following the panic and pain of a young man processing the death of his father, going diving in the ocean to work through his complex feelings. It’s the stuff of classic literature, pitting man against nature during a tender time of extraordinary vulnerabilities. The main character is soon sucked into the mouth of a roving sperm whale, left with an hour of oxygen to find his way out, which is the stuff of classic survival cinema. Director Brian Duffield (who did well with 2020’s “Spontaneous” and 2023’s “No One Will Save You”) has the challenge of merging two sides of “Whalefall,” and he’s mostly successful with the adaptation, making sense of interior lives and ferocious battles for air and several forms of liberation, keeping suspense mostly involved with a story that deals with whale-related horror, but primarily wants to be a study of fathers and sons. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – A Talent for Murder

    Works from author Patricia Highsmith have been cinematically explored for the last 75 years, with filmmakers drawn to the writer’s sense of seduction and threat, delighting in her fascination with murder. The “Ripliad” has been a particular source of inspiration, examining the ways of character Tom Ripley and his strange personal entanglements and propensity for violence. “A Talent for Murder” isn’t an adaptation of a Highsmith book, but an idea born from playwright Joanna Murray-Smith, who turns her 2014 stage production into a screenplay that toys with the world of Highsmith and her interactions with someone hired to bring her out of seclusion. “A Talent for Murder” strives to blur the line between reality and fantasy, putting director Anton Corbijn (“Control,” “A Most Wanted Man”) to work generating a special aura of pulsating creativity as the characters get down to business in this enjoyable riff on the literary highlights of Tom Ripley. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Tenzing

    Director Jennifer Peedom has built most of her career around the study of nature, with emphasis on the mysteries of mountains. She scored critical hits with documentary endeavors such as 2015’s “Sherpa” and 2017’s “Mountain,” and examined the labor of mountaineering in other efforts, getting a full sense of the dangers and passions involved with such extreme physical challenges. Peedom looks to summon all this experience for “Tenzing,” embarking on a dramatic understanding of the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest, which involved leadership from Tenzing Norgay. There have been many stories about activity around Everest, leaving screenwriter Luke Davies (“inspired” by the book “Tenzing: Hero of Everest,” by Ed Douglas) to find a more emotional approach to the tale, mixing elements of an underdog story with the pained ways of climbing. “Tenzing” runs too long, spinning its wheels at times, but Peedom successfully captures an epic quality to the picture, also overseeing many strong performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – DreamQuil

    Alex Prager is a celebrated artist and creator of short films. She’s invested in imagery, looking to grab viewers through powerful compositions and artful additions, and Prager accepts a feature-length challenge in “DreamQuil,” joining co-writer Vanessa Prager for this study of reality as humanity faces the lure of an AI-filled tomorrow. It’s an enticing exploration of purpose handed a stylish and semi-satirical approach by the helmer, who’s attempting to build worlds of temptation and domestic complication on a small budget. It’s debatable if “DreamQuil” manages to land its big ideas on identity, but Prager certainly makes an interesting looking picture, and the story’s early turns carry some dramatic power, bringing the audience into a mystery of behavior and a quest for a solution that’s open for a more aggressive examination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Love of Your Life

    Surprisingly, “Love of Your Life” isn’t based on a book. Screenwriter Julia Cox (“Nyad”) certainly takes inspiration from literary offerings for the feature, employing a patience with storytelling as she creates a decade of life for a character experiencing the highs and lows of relationships that alter her personal ways. There’s obvious intimacy in play here, but also something of an epic quality as years pass and situations change, giving the film a lot to work with despite not following much of a plot. Director Rachel Morrison (who impressed with 2024’s “The Fire Inside”) goes dreamy and dramatic with the endeavor, following Cox’s lead as they embark on a mission to detail the inner life of a woman who’s worked hard to detach herself from the world. “Love of Your Life” is a tearjerker, but also deeply felt and involving for the most part, breaking free from soap opera-y entanglements to deal with hard emotions and troubling behavior. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Hallowarrior

    There are a lot of horror movie options that arrive every Halloween season. It’s a crowded field of competitors, but most fail to become memorable, even with heavy amounts of violence and disturbing content. “Hallowarrior” is no roller coaster ride of a film, but writer/director Ben Sottak (making his feature-length helming debut) manages to cook up atmosphere and urgency with the low-budget offering, and he’s committed to the Halloween vibes of the picture, examining a holiday preserved by a young woman after the rest of the world succumbs to a plague. “Hallowarrior” eventually gets around to more physical peril, but it’s mostly a study of a stand-off with periodic breaks to deal with gory and dire events, and Sottak provides some suspense in the stillness, best when he gets weird and wilder with the small-scale production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Crawlers

    “Crawlers” is a spider attack picture, trying to sustain the subgenre after two previous efforts, 2023’s “Infested” and 2024’s “Sting,” failed to attract audiences. Writer Jayson Rothwell hopes to keep things eventful with the endeavor, managing a limited budget and many personalities with escalating trouble set inside an apartment building, ready to explore the inhabitants and the critters out to make life horrible for those who can’t escape. There’s not much of a set-up, but the material has the benefit of speed, getting survival challenges going fairly quickly, creating a few effective sequences of suspense. It’s the rest of “Crawlers” that disappoints, as Rothwell doesn’t have a big enough imagination for an effective final act, and director Angel Gomez Hernandez can’t land big enough scares during the run time, eventually losing suspense as the production tries to find a way out of the cinematic mess it’s created. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Las Vegas Girls

    Director Carlos Tobalina endeavors to make a private detective tale with 1983’s “Las Vegas Girls,” but he doesn’t seem to have enough story or even footage to complete it. But hey, that’s not going to stop the helmer, who tries to slap together a semi-coherent tale of a runaway in Sin City, and the two professionals hired to find her and bring her back to her guardians. There could be suspense, maybe drama or light comedy, but Tobalina ends up with a mess that doesn’t seem to have any idea what it wants to be. Even for adult cinema, “Las Vegas Girls” is fairly slapdash, wandering around from scene to scene without much in the way of focus. There are plenty of erotic detours, as to be expected, but it’s strange to watch Tobalina basically give up on the offering at the halfway mark after establishing a case with some potential in the screenplay. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Oriental Hawaii

    1982’s “Oriental Hawaii” doesn’t spend much time outdoors. It certainly looks like the production spent a few days on the islands, but director Carlos Tobalina isn’t too committed to using such natural splendor to his advantage. He has an adult film to tend to, and one that makes a few curious creative decisions. While it initially appears to be a study of early ’80s financial desperation during a brutal recession period, the endeavor (scripted by Leslie Norton) quickly turns into a series of seduction sequences, with several involving incestuous appetites. “Oriental Hawaii” is very blunt, as Tobalina doesn’t have interest in messing around with characters and location, focused on extended sequences of erotic adventure, throwing a family into the mix with a pair of comely borders to see what happens during a single day of intense boundary exploration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Mai Lin vs. Serena

    When you think major onscreen matchups, there’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” “Freddy vs. Jason,” and “Aliens vs. Predator.” Perhaps even “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” The adult film business has their titans as well, with director Carlos Tobalina daring to bring to the screen the match up of the century…well, maybe just 1982, in “Mai Lin vs. Serena,” which puts the performers on a quest to prove their worth as they make a wager to see who can score a top role in a new X-rated endeavor. The production certainly doesn’t get ambitious with the idea, primarily sticking with extended carnal encounters featuring the stars and their adventures around various businesses and living spaces, putting its faith into the appeal of Serena and Mai Lin as they explore their appetites and compete for big money and an employment opportunity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Madness

    1994’s “Madness” (a.k.a. “Eyes Without a Face”) has a premise of some potential, tracking the growing horror around a comic strip writer and the copycat killer using inspiration from the creator to torment the woman as lives are taken around town. Screenwriter Lorenzo De Luca is challenged to create a viable mystery out of a horrific situation, generating a traditional thriller structure with a defined giallo approach. Director Bruno Mattei is tasked with creating an exciting chiller filled with red herrings and surges of brutality involving victim suffering, including the killer’s love of eye removal. Both men fail “Massacre,” which isn’t too energized to do much of anything with its idea, remaining a mostly snoozy viewing experience that struggles to build suspense, and a lack of style doesn’t help the cause. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Animals (2026)

    Ben Affleck returns to directing with “Animals” after reviving his helming career with 2023’s “Air.” Affleck also co-scripts with Billy Ray and Connor O. McIntyre, and takes a leading role, emerging as a man of many jobs on the production, which moves away from the lighter corporate gamesmanship of “Air” to deal with political and personal entanglements during a long night in Los Angeles. The feature is something of a riff on Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” (which Spike Lee remade last year as “Highest 2 Lowest”), putting the characters through a test of morality and financial strain as they confront an unthinkable situation of sacrifice. “Animals” isn’t a rousing thriller, but Affleck lands many scenes of suspense, and brings together a capable team of actors to explore the pressurized situation, also playing into election season insanity as political gain often battles honor in this offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Other Mommy

    Director Rob Savage is working on his genre interests, sticking with horror offerings such as 2021’s “Dashcam,” and he found success with 2023’s “The Boogeyman,” which managed to attract an audience. Savage is back in the darkness with “Other Mommy,” which is an adaptation of a book by Josh Malerman (titled “Incidents Around the House,” which is not something that pops on a marquee), joining screenwriter Nathan Elston for a study of a seven-year-old girl who’s tormented by a demon that’s desperate to take over her body and experience life as a human. It’s an icky premise stuck inside a labored picture, finding the moviemaking fighting to make something that’s clearly designed for literary exploration make sense as a cinematic experience. “Other Mommy” has a little visual punch at times, as Savage works hard to put on a show, but it’s a dud everywhere else, unable to summon suspense or even make much sense as it speeds through the central crisis. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Matchbox: The Movie

    Hollywood making movies out of toy lines is nothing new. The Matchbox brand of little cars has been around since 1953, and let’s be real here, there’s not a lot to be done with the toys on a cinematic level. Screenwriter David Coggeshall (“Orphan: First Kill,” “The Family Plan”) accepts a challenge to transform a collection of little vehicles into an action movie event, and he does so by…mostly ignoring what Matchbox cars are. “Matchbox: The Movie” is a baffling viewing experience, as Coggeshall comes up with a global spy thriller and team comedy, not a celebration of child playthings, and he generates an incredibly generic plot in the process. Director Sam Hargrave (“Extraction” and its sequel) has been hired to deliver big thrills, and there’s a lot of screen activity to help distract from the reality of Coggeshall’s uninspired writing and a general disregard for the brand. There’s just not enough physical peril to save the film from slipping into dull routine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com