Yes, yes, and yes: it’s another new release Tuesday … that fateful day of the week when the studios release their wares on an unsuspecting populace for general entertainment consumption! Some interesting genre bits coming down the pike today, so let’s take a quick look into a few of them, shall we?
Smallville. Ahhhh, Smallville. Honestly, it was a show that I couldn’t get into when it aired live. (Surprised?) Somewhere around the time of its fifth season starting on television, I think that’s when the wifey and I went and invested some time watching the program. We found it good enough to binge so we could catch up with it and then join it live. I think we hung with it all the way through it’s ninth season, at which point we decided it had gone a bit too far off the rails into either straight predictability or bizarre twists on the ol’ Supes mythology that we tuned it out. We’ve always said that we need to go and watch its final season just to see how the writers wrapped it all up. Now that the complete series run is out on video, maybe we’ll do just that. It’s available in stores on Blu-ray today.
Criterion is releasing The Incredible Shrinking Man from its library today as well. This is a flick that I watched a few times in my youth but have never revisited now that I’m fully ripened and mature. (Haha!) I have some vague recollections of it, but honestly it’s a film that’s mostly lost in my memories. A few months back, I reached out to the folks at Criterion, and they were good enough to send me a complimentary copy of this release … so I’ve my work cut out for me as I’m going to watch and pen a full review in the next few days. Interested readers keep your eyes peeled on the MainPage.
Dario Argento. I wrote a bit about the auteur yesterday (in my review of Demons, which releases on video today). Italian Horror films aren’t for everyone – no sub-genre of a major genre ever truly is – but his films generally are (ahem) a cut above the competition. (Snicker snicker) I’d stop short of calling them a ‘learned experience;’ they’re just a different breed of films, though with some striking similarities to U.S. B-movies. His Demons is worth seeing for its technical prowess – the disk also includes Demons 2 which I’ll be reviewing this week, too (short skinny: I enjoyed it much more than the first one) – but don’t look for much traditional storytelling.
Corridor Of Mirrors. Hmm. This is another of today’s releases that I’ll be penning a review over, so I won’t say much about it at this time. I watched it yesterday (for the first time). It’s a 1948 Fantasy than honestly is a bit more melodrama than I like, but it does offer up some incredible imagery and a few good performances. This one comes from the reliable Cohen Media Group. While the story is a bit uneven – maybe even surprisingly choppy – it does make a few twists and turns audiences might want to know more about. Again, watch this space … a review will be up shortly.
As is always the case with New Release Tuesday, there are a few others (link to Blu-ray.com); but I don’t want to spoil all of the surprises. I like to leave you to your own digging as I think that’s always required if you’re thinking of investing in a new flick or two. And never forget: buyer beware!
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
Smallville. Ahhhh, Smallville. Honestly, it was a show that I couldn’t get into when it aired live. (Surprised?) Somewhere around the time of its fifth season starting on television, I think that’s when the wifey and I went and invested some time watching the program. We found it good enough to binge so we could catch up with it and then join it live. I think we hung with it all the way through it’s ninth season, at which point we decided it had gone a bit too far off the rails into either straight predictability or bizarre twists on the ol’ Supes mythology that we tuned it out. We’ve always said that we need to go and watch its final season just to see how the writers wrapped it all up. Now that the complete series run is out on video, maybe we’ll do just that. It’s available in stores on Blu-ray today.
Criterion is releasing The Incredible Shrinking Man from its library today as well. This is a flick that I watched a few times in my youth but have never revisited now that I’m fully ripened and mature. (Haha!) I have some vague recollections of it, but honestly it’s a film that’s mostly lost in my memories. A few months back, I reached out to the folks at Criterion, and they were good enough to send me a complimentary copy of this release … so I’ve my work cut out for me as I’m going to watch and pen a full review in the next few days. Interested readers keep your eyes peeled on the MainPage.
Dario Argento. I wrote a bit about the auteur yesterday (in my review of Demons, which releases on video today). Italian Horror films aren’t for everyone – no sub-genre of a major genre ever truly is – but his films generally are (ahem) a cut above the competition. (Snicker snicker) I’d stop short of calling them a ‘learned experience;’ they’re just a different breed of films, though with some striking similarities to U.S. B-movies. His Demons is worth seeing for its technical prowess – the disk also includes Demons 2 which I’ll be reviewing this week, too (short skinny: I enjoyed it much more than the first one) – but don’t look for much traditional storytelling.
Corridor Of Mirrors. Hmm. This is another of today’s releases that I’ll be penning a review over, so I won’t say much about it at this time. I watched it yesterday (for the first time). It’s a 1948 Fantasy than honestly is a bit more melodrama than I like, but it does offer up some incredible imagery and a few good performances. This one comes from the reliable Cohen Media Group. While the story is a bit uneven – maybe even surprisingly choppy – it does make a few twists and turns audiences might want to know more about. Again, watch this space … a review will be up shortly.
As is always the case with New Release Tuesday, there are a few others (link to Blu-ray.com); but I don’t want to spoil all of the surprises. I like to leave you to your own digging as I think that’s always required if you’re thinking of investing in a new flick or two. And never forget: buyer beware!
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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