Kino Lorber Presents: MONEY FOR NOTHING

This title releases on June 4th.

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Fear the man with nothing to lose. Actually, fear the moron who by happenstance gets a stash of money and can’t keep his mouth quiet in a small town where everyone loves to talk. Money for Nothing has a lot going for it: John Cusack in his prime, a funny little story, and the always scene-stealing late, exceptional Philip Seymour Hoffman, who left this earth way too soon. Money for Nothing is the 90s cliche trope movie — a down on his luck guy finds a stash of money and trouble ensues, but what most movies with this plot lacks, Money for Nothing has a lot of: heart.

Money for Nothing is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ration with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. You can buy the movie HERE.

Kino Lorber Presents: BLACK MOON RISING Blu-Ray 2K Restoration

All I knew before watching Black Moon Rising for the first time is that it stars Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton (in between Terminators and before she did her chin-ups), Kino is releasing it, and the director might be a Creedence Clearwater Revival Fan and perhaps got the title of the song he wanted to use as the title of this movie slightly wrong. (There’s no other reason I can explain the title of this movie.)

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MVD Releases a Retro-Covered Collector's Edition of DOUBLE IMPACT on Blu-ray, Makes You Feel the Impact and Love It!

When I was 10, my friend Anna and I mowed my front and back lawn, as well as raked the leaves to get a VHS if Double Impact. I still remember that day like it was yesterday because we worked hard for that VHS. It was mine, and I watched it religiously. Twice the Van Dammage? Sign me up. JCVD was my cinematic superhero as a kid, and I’ve never looked back.

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BRIGHTBURN Capsule Review: An Illuminating Look at a World Where Superman is Evil

What if Superman came to earth and was evil? If you are familiar with his universe, what if Zod was sent to earth instead of Superman as a baby? The outcome is David Yarovesky’s clever, thrilling, and very gory BRIGHTBURN.

BRIGHTBURN is a clear homage to Superman. I has the backdropping of his origins — lands on a small town farm and a married couple take him in as their own. The problem here is their child, Brandon Breyer (Jackson A. Dunn, sporting a superhero iterated alter ego name like Peter Parker or Wade Wilson), is one evil son of a bitch.

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Warner Bros. Presents: ISN'T IT ROMANTIC Blu-ray

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson is the king of movie within a movie. His second feature film, The Final Girls, blew audiences away at its SXSW world premiere. That movie is about a bunch of teens stuck in a 1980s slasher film that’s filled with 1980s slasher cliches. His third outing, Isn’t it Romantic, is anti-rom-com rom-com. It stars Rebel Wilson as Natalie, someone who grew to hate rom-coms. She bops her head and winds up being stuck in real life rom-com and must figure out the key to getting out, even if that means doing what she doesn’t care for: falling in love. Isn’t It Romantic is a super cute and astute date movie. It has the laughs guys will love, and all the rom-com cliches purposely inserted as a wink to the audience while also being a rom-com as whole.

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Kino Lorber Presents: THE LANDLORD

This title releases on May 14, 2019 .

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For the first time ever, finally, Hal Ashby’s The Landlord is now available on Blu-ray, thanks to the prominent boutique label, Kino Lorber. Before May 7, 2019, the only way to see this movie was to buy an overpriced DVD on eBay. I patiently waited for an inevitable Blu-ray release, and Kino delivered.

The Landlord is Hal Ashby’s first movie, and a very ambitious one. (You may recognize the name — he went on to make a little movie called Harold and Maude.) Starring a young and handsome Beau Bridges, The Landlord follows Bridges’ naive and rich 29-year-old brat still living off his parents money who buys an apartment building in an inner-city section of Brooklyn. Having no idea what he’s doing, he learns he’s way in over his head and there’s more that comes with being a landlord than just owning the building. It’s deemed a comedy and a satire on gentrification, but I didn’t see that. I saw a really great love story. It does touch on topical elements like racism and how narrow-minded the rich can be — two things still topical and, ahem, both are current president is guilty of — but I found it more moving than funny.

Ashby is know for his profound early, seminal work: Harold and Maude, Being There, The Last Detail, Coming Home (where he nabbed a Best Director Oscar nomination), and In the Heat of the Night (where took home the Best Film Editing Oscar). The Landlord bombed when it first released but gained a cult following decades later. I’ve been trying to watch this movie forever and hat tip to Kino for giving it a proper Blu-ray release.

If you’re looking for a triple bill, there are two great companion pieces to watch with The Landlord: Oscilloscope’s Hal, which is an exceptional documentary about Ashby, and Warner Archives’ The Super (yes, the 90s Joe Pesci movie). Both The Landlord and The Super are both similar in so many ways and carry the same them but they are world’s apart.

With an aspect ratio of 1.85.1 restored in 1080p from the film’s negative, The Landlord fills your screen, making the movie larger than life. The look is crisp but still has that old school 35mm feel and look.

Pre-order The Landlord HERE.

Kino Classics Presents: RHINOCEROS and SEX MADNESS REVEALED

The below titles release on May 7th, 2019,

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If you find yourself asking, What the hell am I watching?, don’t worry, you’re asking the right question. You’re watching the farce Rhinoceros starring late, great comedy duo Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder (who co-starred together in Mel Brooks’ The Producers). It’s strange to talk about the movie if you haven’t seen it because the plot sounds like an acid trip gone really, really bad. Set up like a play (which is first was starring Mostel, who won a Tony for the same character he plays in the movie), the movie is shot in only a few locations and the camera barely movies. Here’s the plot, hang on tight. Functioning alcoholic Stanley (Wilder) has a problem, all his friends and everyone around him are turning into a Rhinoceros. No reason or rhyme why, they just are. Rhinoceros is slapstick comedy at its best and bogth Wilder and Mostel used all the freedom they had to do what they do best, make us laugh. (And make us laugh is what we they do.) Co-starring is the late, under-appreciated Karen Black, who gets some good scenes in this film. Rhinoceros is an absurd, slapstick comedy that was way ahead of its time. This is what makes Kino Lorber/Classics great, they discover little gems like this that most people (myself included) would have never heard of or seen if it weren’t for this boutique label.

Rhinoceros is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 1080p resolution and 2.0 mono audio.

Rhinoceros is available for pre-order here.

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If you’re a fan of Mystery Science 3000, Sex Madness Revealed is for you. Patton Oswalt (a MS3000 alumnus) voices as Jimmy Morris of the fictional Film Dick Podcast and commentates on 1938’s Sex Madness with Chester Holloway (Rob Zabrecky), the odd grandson of Sex Madness’ director, Dwain Esper. As the movie continues, the recording of the podcast gets just as weird as the movie they are commenting on.

Sex Madness Revealed is presented in color 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and is available in two formats: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and mono 2.0

Sex Madness Revealed is available for pre-order here.

Criterion Collection Review: Jackie Chan's Police Story Duology

Before Tom Cruise was breaking his ankle doing his own stunt, and other A-list actors were given high-fives for doing “some of their own” as well, international martial arts star Jackie Chan was pulling off body-shattering, slack-jawing stunts nobody will touch today, back in the 80s. Thrown off buildings, through glass, escaping exploding buildings — he pushed his limits as far as humanly possible with well choreographed fight scenes — albeit with the notion of, “let’s hope this works” practical thinking (often the stunt didn’t, which you can always see in his outtakes during the end-credits). Chan is unmatched when it comes to death-defying stunts.

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DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE Review: Dragged Across Two Hours and Forty Minutes of Nothing

In 2015, S. Craig Zahler first wowed audiences with his ultra-violent feature debut, the excellent western horror BONE TOMAHAWK. This movie pulses Sam Peckinpah. Then in 2017, he again blew his now fanbase away with a modern grindhouse movie with a beefed up Vince Vaughn called BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99. Both films follow a similar method — slowburn with a hyperviolent payoff worth your time. So it’s excepted that he would do it once again with his latest, DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, which only has a cool title going for it.

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Creed II 4K Blu Review: A Knockout 4K Release

Creed II is a good sequel, and that’s all it needs to be. It doesn’t try to be better than the first film because director Steven Caple Jr. – an odd choice to follow the great Ryan Coogler, but this rookie held his own – as well as Sylvester Stallone (who co-wrote the screenplay), knew that trying to top a masterpiece – Creed – would be next to impossible. Creed is the second best in the Rocky Balboa franchise, and I will fight anyone who disagrees (note: must be shorter than 5’5’’ and weight less than 100 pounds)

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A STAR IS BORN 4K Blu-ray Review: A Star is Reborn

A STAR IS BORN has been remade three times, and I think there is a reason for this: this is a movie that every generation can relate to — love, loss, tragedy, successful and the pitfalls that come with it — dealing with all of these at once in today’s fast-paced society.

A STAR IS BORN looks great in 4K — there’s not many films that don’t. A STAR IS BORN gives you the option to watch in Dolby Vision or HDR10, and my recommendation is HDR10. More contrast and brighter colors. (I hate Dolby Vision — it’s dim and makes everything look washed out.)

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JUDGMENT NIGHT Blu-ray Review: EMILIOOOOOO!

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Back in the 90s, acclaimed actor-turned-multihyphenate Emilio Estevez was everywhere: YOUNG GUNS II (a personal favorite), MEN AT WORK (another personal favorite), FREEJACK, LOADED WEAPON 1 (I love this films and will fight you if you do not), the beloved THE MIGHTY DUCKS, and now it brings us to the 1993 classic, JUDGMENT NIGHT, starring Estevez, a young Stephen Dorff (BLADE), Cuba Gooding, Jr., that guy from House of Pain, and actor-turned-vicious-villain, Denis Leary. (Oh, and Jeremy Piven is in this, too, with a decaying hairline, 90s-style pants nobody would be caught dead in, and his same ole cocky attitude.) The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins who directed PREDATOR 2 and BLOWN AWAY, so this film has "irresistible 90s movie" written all over it.

Let me get this out of the way — I’m one of Emilio’s biggest fans. Like many, I grew up watching his films: BREAKFAST CLUB, REPO MAN, MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, STAKEOUT (and its subsequent sequel), YOUNG GUNS, and those mentioned above in the previous paragraph. I remember the first time I watched JUDGEMENT NIGHT — it was at my dad’s, very late at night, I was 10, and it felt like I was in the movie. The atmosphere of the movie’s dark, brooding night sucked me in. I still get that feeling when I watch it.

JUDGEMENT NIGHT has never been on Blu-ray before, so if you have a giant TV like me, the DVD version wasn’t so great. Thanks to the great folks over at Warner Archive, you can now watch this film in glorious 1080p.

If you are an Emilio enthusiast like me, don’t move, don’t whisper, don’t even breathe — but the movie now right here.

HALLOWEEN Review: The New HALLOWEEN is Thrilling, Chilling, Savage, and the Most Fierce Entry in the Franchise Since the Original

“Are you afraid of the Boogeyman? You should be.” — Laurie Strode, sole Michael Myers survivor

If you’re reading this, you know who the Boogeyman is: Michael Myers. (If you don’t, stop reading, call your parents, and berate them for not giving you a good childhood.)

The original Halloween made its debut in 1978, cementing itself as one of the greatest horror films of all time. It opened the floodgates to countless slasher knockoffs and blessed us with horror icons such as Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. It also spawned now 11 sequels, reboots, and reimaginings, with only a few being worth a watch, either for nostalgia or because they’re so bad they’re fun. (Rob Zombie’s “reimagining” diptych can burn in hell.) After countless duds, David Gordon Green’s Halloween is finally a worthy sequel that John Carpenter’s slasher needed. It’s scary as hell and gives the Laurie-Michael feud a finale that fans deserve.

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