New Blu-ray Reviews

Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds Blu-ray Movie    

Beyond Genres #05

Umbrella Entertainment | 1987 | 96 min | Rated ACB: M | Sep 05, 2018 | Jeffrey Kauffman

Set against an overwhelming desert landscape, Felix (Michael Lake, Fortress) and Betty Crabtree (Rhys Davis, Dead End Drive-In) are eccentric siblings living together in an isolated homestead in a post-apocalyptic era. Modern technology is absent, with wheels and gears operating a variety of broken devices to assist their struggle to survive. When they encounter a wandering stranger named Smith (Norman Boyd), their simple lives become tumultuous as the wheelchair-bound Felix dreams of flying and Betty believes their new arrival to be a demonic presence - the characters all yearning for escape but seemingly do not know how.

Adventure / Sci-Fi

Bronco Billy Blu-ray Movie  

Warner Archive Collection

Warner Bros. | 1980 | 116 min | Rated PG | Jul 09, 2019 | Randy Miller III

Bronco Billy McCoy is the proud owner of a small traveling Wild West show. But the business isn't doing too well: for the past six months he hasn't paid his employees. At a gas station he picks up Antoinette, a stuck-up blonde from a rich family, who was left behind without a penny by her husband on their wedding night. Billy likes her looks and hires her as his assistant. She seems to bring them bad luck and the business gets even worse. In these hard times she loses her reluctance and starts to like her new way of life... and Bronco Billy.

Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Western

Moon 4K Blu-ray Movie  

10th Anniversary Edition / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy

Sony Pictures | 2009 | 97 min | Rated R | Jul 16, 2019 | Martin Liebman

In this critically-acclaimed space isolation drama, Sam Bell is a worker for Lunar Industries who is nearing the end of a three-year contract to mine the moon's surface for the precious gas Helium 3, the solution to Earth's energy crisis. As he approaches his return to Earth, Sam reflects on the lessons he has learned during his prolonged isolation and looks forward to his reunion with his wife and young daughter. But a fortnight before his departure he starts seeing and hearing strange things that lead him to suspect that his employers intend to replace him in a far more sinister way than he imagined. Sam's only companion, a small robotic computer called Gerty.

Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Psychological thriller / Surreal

The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales Blu-ray Movie  

Le Grand Méchant Renard et autres contes / Blu-ray + DVD

Shout Factory | 2017 | 83 min | Rated G | Jul 16, 2019 | Brian Orndorf

The countryside isn't always as calm and peaceful as it's made out to be, and the animals on this farm are particularly agitated: a fox who mothers a family of chicks, a rabbit who plays the stork, and a duck who wants to be Santa Claus. If you think life in the country is a walk in the park, think again! Directors Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert adapt Renner's own acclaimed graphic novel into a delirious, delightful triptych of interlocking stories, with a pacing and visual spontaneity that harkens back to classic Looney Tunes shorts and slapstick two-reelers. But underneath the gags (and there are plenty of them), the three stories offer a sensitive and beautiful portrayal of family, and the anxieties of modern life.

Animation / Comedy / Family / Foreign

Putney Swope Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + DVD

Vinegar Syndrome | 1969 | 85 min | Rated R | Jul 02, 2019 | Brian Orndorf

Dark satire in which the token black man on the executive board of an advertising firm is accidentally put in charge. Renaming the business "Truth and Soul, Inc.", he replaces the tight regime of monied white ad men with his militant brothers. Soon afterwards, however, the power that comes with its position takes its toll on Putney...

Comedy

Birdy Blu-ray Movie  

Sony Pictures | 1984 | 120 min | Rated R | Jun 25, 2019 | Martin Liebman

After two friends return home from the Vietnam War one becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.

Drama / War

Kind Hearts and Coronets Blu-ray Movie    

Remastered 70th Anniversary Collector’s Edition | Vintage Classics / Blu-ray + DVD

Studio Canal | 1949 | 106 min | Rated BBFC: U | Jun 24, 2019 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

In the early twentieth century, young Louis Mazzini vows to take revenge on his family, the D'Ascoynes, when he learns how they disinherited his mother. Working his way into their trust, Louis begins to bump off his distant relatives one by one, but complications set in when Edith D'Ascoyne, the widow of his first victim, falls in love with him.

Comedy / Crime / Dark humor

Lonesome Dove Blu-ray Movie  

Mill Creek Entertainment | 1989 | 374 min | Not rated | Oct 20, 2015 | Martin Liebman

Based upon the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Larry McMurtry and set in the late nineteenth century, this sprawling epic of the Old West is the story of the last defiant frontier, a daring cattle drive, and an undying love. Lonesome Dove continues to be a treasured classic for all generations.

Adventure / Drama / Western / Melodrama

Run the Race Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

Universal Studios | 2019 | 102 min | Rated PG | Jun 18, 2019 | Martin Liebman

Against the backdrop of high school football and track, two brothers in a small Southern town face escalating problems with two different worldviews, straining—but ultimately strengthening—the bonds of brotherhood.

Drama / Sport

Steamboy Blu-ray Movie    

スチームボーイ

Umbrella Entertainment | 2004 | 129 min | Rated PG | May 01, 2019 | Jeffrey Kauffman

From the leader in anime and internationally-renowned director of AKIRA, comes Katsuhiro Otomo's long-awaited epic anime STEAMBOY. Victorian London is attacked by an army of futuristic, mechanized war machines and only Ray Steam - the young, brave inventor who knows the astonishing secret behind the invading force's incredible power - stands between the city's survival and ultimate destruction. Over 10 years in the making and Katsuhiro Otomo's first feature-length film since AKIRA, STEAMBOY is one of the most elaborate animes ever made!

Action / Adventure / Anime / Fantasy / Foreign

Hale County This Morning, This Evening Blu-ray Movie  

Cinema Guild | 2018 | 77 min | Not rated | Jun 18, 2019 | Brian Orndorf

Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, this film is constructed in a form that allows the viewer an emotive impression of the Historic South - trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously a testament to dreaming.

Documentary

I'll Take Your Dead Blu-ray Movie  

Shout Factory | 2018 | 86 min | Not rated | Jun 04, 2019 | Brian Orndorf

William has a simple job: he makes dead bodies disappear. This isn't something he likes to or even wants to do, but through circumstances out of his control, his little farm house in the country has become a dumping ground for the casualties of the gang-related murders in the nearby city. His daughter, Gloria, has become used to rough-looking men dropping off corpses and is even convinced that some of them are haunting their house. After a woman's body is dumped at the house, William begins his meticulous process when he realizes she's not actually dead. As the gang activity increases, William patches the woman up and holds her against her will until he can figure out what to do with her. As they begin to develop a very unusual respect for each other, the woman's murderers get word that she's still alive and make plans to go finish what they started.

Horror / Thriller

The Gingerbread Man Blu-ray Movie  

Kino Lorber | 1998 | 114 min | Rated R | Nov 13, 2018 | Dr. Stephen Larson

Lawyer Rick Magruder has a one-night-stand affair with caterer Mallory Doss. He becomes hooked on her, and when he learns her nut-case father Dixon is threatening her, he puts the weight of his law firm behind Mallory, has Dixon arrested and subpoenas her ex-husband Pete to testify against Dixon in court. Dixon is sent to an asylum, but escapes from there and the lives of many people are in danger.

Thriller

Rhinoceros Blu-ray Movie  

Kino Lorber | 1974 | 104 min | Rated PG | May 07, 2019 | Jeffrey Kauffman

In the face of a modern urban life devoid of anything but an uninterrupted parade of dehumanizing compromise and disappointment, Stanley (Gene Wilder) tenuously guards his fragile individuality in between gulps of booze. The only solace he enjoys is commiseration with his self-consciously sophisticated neighbor John (Zero Mostel), and his unspoken adoration of a warmly sympathetic co-worker Daisy (Karen Black). But as a surreal comic apocalypse begins to transform, one by one, everyone into a rhinoceros, the non-conformism that seemed like Stanley's downfall may be his only salvation.

Comedy / Fantasy

Gaslight Blu-ray Movie  

Warner Archive Collection

Warner Bros. | 1940-1944 | 114 min | Not rated | Jun 25, 2019 | Randy Miller III

Paula's aunt Alice Alquist, a famous entertainer, is murdered in her home. Paula, who lives with her aunt finds the body. Police fail to find the killer and Paula is sent away to school. Ten years later, Paula returns to London with her new husband. They take up residence in her aunt's house, which she has inherited. However, he has a secret which he will do anything to protect.

Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Horror / Mystery / Thriller

Used Cars Blu-ray Movie    

Eureka Classics

Eureka Entertainment | 1980 | 113 min | Rated BBFC: 15 | Aug 12, 2019 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.

Comedy / Dark humor

Cinderella Blu-ray Movie  

Anniversary Edition | The Signature Collection / Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

Disney / Buena Vista | 1950 | 74 min | Rated G | Jun 25, 2019 | Martin Liebman

Cinderella, treated as a slave by her selfish stepfamily, dreams of going to the Prince's ball. She gets her wish courtesy of her Fairy Godmother, who warns her to be home by midnight, or else...

Animation / Family / Fantasy / Musical / Romance

Cinderella 4K Blu-ray Movie  

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy

Disney / Buena Vista | 2015 | 105 min | Rated PG | Jun 25, 2019 | Martin Liebman

The story of "Cinderella" follows the fortunes of young Ella whose merchant father remarries following the tragic death of her mother. Keen to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother Lady Tremaine and her daughters Anastasia and Drizella into the family home. But, when Ella's father suddenly and unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully renamed Cinderella since she used to work in the cinders, Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honor her mother's dying words and to "have courage and be kind." She will not give in to despair nor despise those who abuse her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an employee at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul.

Adventure / Drama / Family / Fantasy / Romance / Period

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie  

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy

Disney / Buena Vista | 2019 | 130 min | Rated PG | Jun 25, 2019 | Martin Liebman

A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Family / Fantasy

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Blu-ray Movie  

40th Anniversary Edition

MPI Media Group | 1974 | 83 min | Rated R | Jun 08, 2018 | Martin Liebman

A tale of five friends en route to visit a grave in Texas who end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.

Horror / Thriller / Dark humor