ROOFMAN (4K): There's More Than Toys in the Attic

ROOFMAN (4K UHD)

2025 / 125 min

Paramount

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Burgler😺

Roofman is another one of those movies that, if unaware it was a true story, you probably wouldn’t believe a minute of it. Of course, one could still question how accurately it depicts the people and events, but what’s the fun in that? Since I knew nothing about robber/fugitive/toy store squatter Jeffrey Manchester beforehand, I found it pretty fascinating, though not the movie I was expecting.

Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey, a former soldier who struggles to hold a job after being discharged. He’s congenial and brilliant, but despite his best intentions, is also pretty irresponsible and clueless when it comes family obligations. Then he hatches a meticulous plan to start robbing local McDonald’s restaurants, always going in through the roof at night and waiting until the manager arrives the next morning. After committing over 40 robberies, he’s finally caught and sent to prison.

He later escapes and ends up hiding out in a Toys ‘R’ Us store…where he lives for months. Hiding during the day and coming out at night, these scenes amusingly show Jeffrey using what’s available to live more comfortably, which includes disabling security cameras and setting up his own surveillance system with baby monitors. He also begins to take a vested interest in some of the employees, especially single mom Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst), with whom he develops a relationship once he’s bold enough to start leaving the store.

Ultra-decaf.

Though frequently funny, especially the first half, Roofman isn’t quite the straight comedy I was expecting. Jeffrey’s exploits - both his criminal activities and life in the store - are pretty amusing. At the same time, there’s a melancholy undertone throughout the narrative. Jeffrey’s extraordinarily likable and friendly, but we suspect things won’t end well for him. More tellingly, Jeffrey himself seems increasingly aware that none of what he’s doing is sustainable…not so much through his narration, but Tatum’s affecting performance (it might be one of his best).

Similarly, the romance between Jeffrey and Leigh is charming, but what I mostly felt was sympathy for the latter at being so thoroughly duped (no matter how good Jeffrey’s intentions are). Personally speaking, what made me saddest was being constantly reminded that there aren't any more Toys 'R' Us stores. Still, as stranger-than-fiction stories go, this is a little overlong but mostly entertaining, with solid performances by a cast that includes LaKeith Stanfield, Peter Dinklage and Ben Mendelsohn in prominent supporting roles. Just don't go expecting a laugh riot.

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES - Based on Actual Events and Terrible Decisions is a look at the true story that inspired the film, as well as cast & director interviews; Chasing the Ghosts: The Director’s Method showcases director Derek Cianfrance; A Good Place to Hide is about the effort to recreate a new Toys ‘R’ Us store in an abandoned building where one used to be (this is the most entertaining of the bonus features); Driving Lesson is about the used car test drive sequence; Choir Practice looks at rehearsals of the church choir sequences.

DELETED/ALTERNATE SCENES

Catnip Reviews: PREDATOR: BADLANDS, SNAKES ON A PLANE and BLOOD OF REVENGE

Snack-sized opinions from the frisky felines at Free Kittens…

PREDATOR: BADLANDS (Digital) - One could argue that Predator should never have become a franchise in the first place, but we don’t live in that world, do we? That being said, if you simply must keep returning to the well, this is the way to do it and director Dan Trachtenberg is the breath of fresh air the series needed. By thinking outside the box, he’s given us the wonderfully minimalist Prey, followed by an unexpected turn to animation with Predator: Killer of Killers. His latest, Predator: Badlands, may be the most surprising detour yet. The first film to feature its titular character as the primary protagonist, it further explores the creatures’ social structure and rites of passage through hunting. It’s also a hell of a lot of fun, with an engaging story, violent action, humor and even a few emotionally affecting moments. The film also introduces a vivid world where damn near everything - including plants - is trying to kill you. And don’t be put-off by the PG-13 rating. Badlands is just as violent and bloody as others in the franchise…there just aren't any human casualties. This digital release includes several short featurettes, deleted scenes and an audio commentary, with 4K, Blu-ray and DVD editions coming February 17. (2025/107 min/20th Century Studios).

KITTY CONSENSUS: 😼😼😼😼

SNAKES ON A PLANE (4K UHD) - Snakes on a Plane was always more of a marketing campaign than a movie. Exploiting a deliberately stupid title and Samuel L. Jackson’s public persona (and his indelible way with expletives) briefly turned the film into something of a cultural phenomenon, especially on the internet. But once the hype died down and the smoke cleared, what remains is a competent-but-unremarkable disaster/killer critter hybrid that panders to the yahoo crowd with cheap shocks and gratuitous sex, all clumsily inserted to earn an R-rating. Though it never became the cult film it was obviously aspiring to be, there’s some sleazy fun to be had if you’re in the right frame of mind and Jackson looks like he’s having a great time. I’m not sure a movie like this really benefits from the 4K treatment, but Arrow’s got it if you want it, along with a big batch of new and archival bonus features. (2006/105 min/Arrow Video).

KITTY CONSENSUS: 😺😺😺

BLOOD OF REVENGE (Blu-ray) - This early yakuza film will be of historic interest for fans of the genre. Set in 1907, the film focuses on rising tensions between yakuza families following an assassination attempt on one of the leaders, who then aspires to go straight and turn his family into a legitimate organization. This is the first yakuza film by Tai Kato, a director whose films not particularly well known on this side of the pond. But in Japan, he became one of the more respected names in the genre. Perhaps not a violent as some hardcore fans may be used to, Blood of Revenge is still pretty entertaining, with good performances and impressively vivid production design, making it worth seeking out. This Blu-ray features a great restoration, as well as an early short by Kato and video essay. (1965/90 min/Radiance Films).

KITTY CONSENSUS: 😼😼😼

SHELBY OAKS: A Hodge-Podge of Tropes

SHELBY OAKS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 91 min

Neon/Decal Releasing

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Hey, at least Shelby Oaks isn’t another found footage film, which I feared it was going to be during the first ten minutes before settling into its story. Unfortunately, the shift to a traditional narrative doesn’t help that story much.

“Paranormal Paranoids” is a popular YouTube series featuring four hosts visiting places that are supposedly haunted. While investigating the abandoned ghost town of Shelby Oaks, three of the hosts are brutally murdered and the last, Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) goes missing, presumably kidnapped by whoever killed her co-stars. Since it was all caught on camera, the incident becomes an unsolved mystery with worldwide attention.

12 years later, Riley’s older sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), is being interviewed about the disappearance. She believes Riley is still alive, and after a surprise visit from a stranger (who kills himself on her porch), she discovers a tape in his hand. Instead of turning it over to police, Mia watches the tape, which seemingly confirms what she always suspected, much to the consternation of her semi-estranged husband. 

When DoorDash is late.

Mia’s marital woes have little to do with the plot - nor does the husband, for that matter - and is part of what sometimes makes the movie aimless and meandering. Compelled to look for Riley on her own, the search leads her to Shelby Oaks and the abandoned prison where the visitor at her door was once incarcerated, as well as an amusement park featured in Riley’s show. Further muddying the works are incidents from the sisters’ childhoods (depicted through flashbacks), when some kind of monster lurked outside their bedroom window.

These elements are tied together at the end, but writer-director Chris Stuckmann struggles to successfully combine supernatural and psychological horror, often resorting the cheap jump-scares over methodically building dread. Truth be told, Riley’s disappearance and Mia’s investigation aren't all that interesting to begin with, partially because we aren’t really invested in these characters, but mainly because - despite a couple of effective scenes - the story is mostly a hodge-podge of tropes we’ve seen before.

The film does come to a gruesome and somewhat creepy climax, punctuated by decent special effects. But it’s too little, too late. While Shelby Oaks is occasionally atmospheric and boasts a good lead performance by Sullivan, it's narratively convoluted and ultimately forgettable. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING OF SHELBY OAKS - A multi-chapter doc with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Chris Stuckmann.

“PARANORMAL PARANOIDS” - Four ‘episodes’ of the faux documentary series depicted in the film.

“THE FINAL TAPE” - Video footage used in the film.

“CRIME SCENE” GALLERY” - A few gory stills.

TRAILERS & TV SPOTS

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER: Fast, Ferocious and Funny

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Blu-ray)

2025 / 162 min

Warner Bros

Review by Princess Pepper😸

Best movie of 2025? Yeah, right, I remember thinking not too long ago. Not if it’s a Paul Thomas Anderson film. 

Don’t get me wrong…Anderson’s a fine director. Even gifted in many respects. But while I acknowledge he’s made a lot of films worth seeing, I’ve personally never found them to be anything exemplary. Unlike, say, Scorsese or Tarantino, I’m not compelled to see a movie simply because he’s the director. Admittedly, though, I have not yet seen a few of them, including There Will Be Blood, which is widely considered a masterpiece, so you might wanna take my assessment of Anderson’s career with a grain of salt. Yeah, I know…shame on me.

However, One Battle After Another is unlike anything Anderson’s done before. A violent action thriller with healthy amounts of black comedy, it’s epic in scope and length. But despite running nearly three hours, it never feels that long because, in addition to assembling a superlative cast and writing great characters, Anderson demonstrates surprising skill at creating propulsive, tension-filled action sequences. 

Spiritually similar to Ari Aster’s Eddington - especially regarding some thematic elements - I don’t necessarily concur that this was the best of 2025, but yeah, it’s a masterpiece…certainly the most immersive and engaging Anderson film I’ve ever seen. At times, it’s also the funniest, almost as if the Coen Brothers snatched Anderson’s laptop and added their own darkly humorous touches to the story.

Speaking of which, I’m refraining from going into too much detail about the plot, partially because it’s something best seen than read, but also because it goes in unexpected directions that are best experienced cold. But in a nutshell, Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an explosives expert who falls in with a group of anti-fascist revolutionaries called French 75, led by Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyanna Taylor), with whom he has an intense personal relationship…and a newborn child, Charlene. When Perfidia’s caught by police, she’s offered witness protection by gung-ho (and psychotic) military colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) in exchange for ratting out her friends. He’s also obsessed with Perfidia herself after a bizarre sexual encounter of their own.

Leo cosplays as a Walmart customer.

Fast forward 16 years…Pat is in hiding and goes by the name of Bob Ferguson, struggling to raise his teenage daughter, now Willa (impressive newcomer Chase Infiniti). He’s overly protective and extremely paranoid, exacerbated by drug and alcohol abuse. Concurrently, Lockjaw is trying to join a secretive and powerful hate group, who give him carte blanche to hunt down immigrants by any means necessary. He’s also obsessed with tracking down Bob and Willa, the latter in particular, for reasons that are shocking and repellant enough to make Lockjaw one of the more memorable movie villains in recent memory….with Penn delivering a performance that’s both comical and unnerving.

In fact, all of the performances are topnotch. The older DiCaprio gets, the better he is at disappearing into characters, and along with his turn as Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this ranks among his best roles. Elsewhere, Benicio del Toro is memorable as Sergio, who protects undocumented immigrants and saves Bob’s life (more than once), while Regina Hall is excellent as ex-French 75 member Deandra, assuming the task of hiding Willa as Lockjaw closes in. Interspersed throughout the story are intense, believable action scenes. The climactic car chase is particularly noteworthy, depicted with such creative simplicity that one wonders why nobody ever thought of doing it that way before.

I don’t know what I was expecting from Anderson, but it certainly wasn’t this, and I mean that in the best way possible. One Battle After Another is deserving of all the critical praise it’s getting and surely worth multiple Oscar nods (which it’ll likely get). The film didn’t suddenly convert me into PTA fan, but should he ever decide to tackle another action thriller, I’m totally onboard.

ICEFALL: Embrace the Bad Decisions

ICEFALL (Blu-ray)

2025 / 96 min

Decal Releasing

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

Let’s say you’re speeding across a frozen lake on a snowmobile, then suddenly stop because you notice there’s a guy placing a few beartraps in your direct path. You have two options…make a slight course correction, or throw caution to the wind and try to plow right through them. Which would you choose?

That’s what I thought. However, one of the bad guys in Icefall chooses the latter, with predictable results. He’s thrown off his snowmobile, and after a brief scuffle with the protagonist, ends up with his head in the jaws of one of those beartraps. It's a pretty gnarly way to die, to be sure, and the film’s best death scene…but jeez, how dumb can you get?

Not that Icefall depends entirely on the stupidity of its characters to move the plot along. Sometimes it depends on lapses in logic, like when a crew of elite killers steal millions in cash, then put it onboard a plane for safe keeping, a tracking device attached to one of the cases. The plane crashes in a remote lake, which then freezes over. Five months later, the case is pulled from the lake by widowed local poacher named Harlan (Joel Kinnaman), which alerts the bad guys to its location. My question is this: Shouldn’t that tracking device have shown them where the plane went down in the first place?

Ian and Cara attend a Packers game.

Still, I kind of enjoyed the film, most of which consists of these robbers, led by Drake (DeVaughn Nixon), chasing Harlan and Native American game warden Ani (Cara Jade Myers) across the ice and through the woods. Danny Huston, playing the crew’s mastermind, eventually shows up to add menace and shoot a few of his own people. Also featured is the late Graham Greene in one of his final roles. Too bad his character serves no real purpose other than berating Harlan. And despite cover art suggesting Harlan is a kick-ass man of action, he’s not indestructible and actually spends a lot of his time running away. In a way, that’s kind of refreshing.

Despite a bit of dull character exposition regarding Harlan’s past, the budget-conscious action scenes keep things moving along nicely. There’s gunplay, a few bloody brawls and - personally speaking - my introduction to the concept of methane bubbles...pockets of gas trapped in frozen lakes that are revealed to be extremely flammable (as one character discovers the hard way). Icefall ain’t the brainiest thing ever made, but by embracing its dumber aspects rather than condemning them, there’s some fun to be had here.

THE POOP SCOOP: Classic Kibbles Edition!

UPCOMING KIBBLES THAT MAKE US PURR!

The Original WESTWORLD on 4K February 24 from Arrow Video. Director and writer Michael Crichton (author of the bestselling novel Jurassic Park) thrilled and scared viewers with what technology can do at an immersive amusement park. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, hours of special features, and newly commissioned extras. There is also a Blu-ray release.

EXCALIBUR on 4K February 24 from Arrow Video. Director John Boorman (Deliverance) brings you the definitive cinematic telling of the life and enduring legend of King Arthur, not seen in previous family friendly movies about Camelot. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative by Arrow Films presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 for the first time on home video,and hours of special features, and newly commissioned extras. There is also a Blu-ray release.

Dave’s a little pissed…POINT BLANK Coming to 4K and Blu-ray April 21 from Criterion Collection. Free Kittens’ CEO bought himself an older Blu-ray copy of this action classic, then literally the next day, Criterion announces this release! Director John Boorman brought the gangster drama into new realms of modernist abstraction with this stylized revenge thriller, which transforms hard-edged pulp into a kaleidoscopic psychological puzzle. Lee Marvin is iconically cool as the enigmatic Walker, who, after he’s betrayed and left for dead by his best friend during a robbery, embarks on a brutal quest for vengeance, aided by a jaded ex-moll (a sensational Angie Dickinson) who has her own complex motives for helping him. Capturing Los Angeles locales with a surreal pop-art eye, Boorman locates the existential dread lurking beneath the city’s sunlit surface. In addition to a 4K restoration, this disc comes with a bunch of bonus features.

MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN on 4K and Blu-ray April 14 from Criterion Collection. The anarchic irreverence of British comedy legends Monty Python is at its most inspired in this brilliant send-up of the blockbuster biblical epic. In a stable in ancient Jerusalem, a child is born—a child who will grow up to be . . . Brian (Graham Chapman), an ordinary Judean who goes on to live an extraordinary life, becoming entangled in a plot to overthrow the Roman empire and being mistaken for the Messiah, among other unlikely events. Featuring ribald Roman puns, sharp political commentary, and an audacious crucifixion-themed musical number, the Pythons’ most ambitious film is a hilarious satire of dogma and blind faith in which nothing is sacred. In addition to a 4K restoration, this disc comes with a bunch of bonus features.

BEN-HUR Coming to 4K on February 17 from Wanter Bros. The winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, Ben-Hur stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. Includes new and vintage bonus features.

THE RUNNING MAN on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on March 3 from Paramount. From the novel by Stephen King and directed by Edgar Wright, The Running Man is a fun, unhinged deadly game show where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. 

The Late, Great Udo Kier in MY NEIGHBOR ADOLF on Blu-ray February 10 from Choen Media Group. When a mysterious old German man (played by Udo Kier) moves in next-door, Polsky suspects that his new neighbor is... Adolf Hitler. 

PREDATOR: BADLANDS on Digital Now and Blu-ray, 4K and DVD February 17 from 20th Century Studios. Director Dan Trachtenberg steers the Predator franchise into bold new territory, with audiences enthusiastically embracing his vision. 

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN on 4K February 16 from Warner Bros. Academy Award winners Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star in this true story as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation leads to the downfall of President Richard Nixon. In addition to a 4K restoration of the film, this release includes new and vintage bonus features.

It’s about damn time! Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON on Blu-ray, 4K and DVD March 24, 2026 from Criterion Collection. An epic elegy of greed, betrayal, and murder, Scorsese brings a dark chapter of American history to the screen with gripping narrative power and a profound feeling for the weight of systemic injustice.

The Sobering Nuclear War Classic, TESTAMENT, on Blu-ray March 17 from Criterion Collection Taking a hauntingly intimate approach to an often sensationalized subject, the singular Testament depicts one family’s daily life in the wake of nuclear devastation. 

The Original 3:10 TO YUMA on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD February 3, 2026 from Criterion Collection. Based on a story by Elmore Leonard, 3:10 to Yuma is a thrilling, humane action movie, directed by the supremely talented studio filmmaker Delmer Daves with intense feeling and precision.

NETWORK on 4K and Blu-ray February 24 from Criterion Collection. This media satire, directed by Sidney Lumet from a brilliantly incisive script by Paddy Chayefsky, is a no-holds-barred New Hollywood classic remains as fearlessly funny as it is unnervingly relevant.

FRIGHTMARE Gets Tromatized

FRIGHTMARE (Blu-ray)

1981 / 86 min

Troma Entertainment

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

1981’s Frightmare (onscreen title, The Horror Star) is a slasher film with a pretty cool premise, that of a legendary horror actor coming back from the dead to slaughter a batch young people. But while watchable and competently made on a low budget, there ain’t much in the way of panache.

Conrad Ragzoff (Ferdy Mayne) is a legendary (and arrogant) horror movie icon whose best days are behind him, resorting to appearing in a commercial. He’s also a murderer, having killed his director and agent for disrespecting him. Then after Conrad himself unexpectedly dies, a group of drama students steal his body and bring him to a big old house to party.

However, Conrad has a party planned of his own. He explodes from his coffin to commence offing these kids one by one. Sometimes the kills are creative and bloody, other times kind of unremarkable. Some of the cast is interesting, though. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to Christopher Lee, Mayne is wonderfully hammy, while former Hogan’s Heroes beauty Nina Talbot enjoys a few scene stealing moments. Then there’s pre-Re-Animator Jeffrey Combs in an early role, acting circles around his less gifted co-stars before losing his head.

Conrad Ragzoff: Motivational Speaker

But Frightmare is somewhat undone by a meandering pace and a story that seldom rises above perfunctory. Too bad, really, because the concept itself had the potential to put a wild spin on the old slasher formula. As is, however, the movie isn’t completely without merit. 

No stranger to home video, Frightmare has been released on Blu-ray before, but this time Troma Entertainment is doing the honors. The overall picture and sound are pretty decent, while the bonus features are a combination of those from Vinegar Syndrome’s 2015 Blu-ray and Troma’s own DVD release from 2005. The Troma-produced supplements have little or nothing to do with the movie itself, mostly just a bunch of self-promotion, some featuring the world’s oldest 12-year-old, Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Man with a Camera is an audio interview with director of photography Joel King (and the best of the bonus features); A Gory Lesson From the Set of Meat for Satan’s Ice Box has Lloyd Kaufman discussing his participation in another low budget splatter flick (and has nothing to do with Frightmare); Troma in Times Square also has nothing to do with Frightmare; Perhaps you can  tell me why Radiation March is included here.

3 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By writer-director Norman Thaddeus Vane; 2) By David Del Valle and David DeCoteau; 3) By members of a podcast called The Hysteria Continues. All three are listed as separate bonus features.

INTRODUCTION - By Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rechon, which mostly consists of the former trying to be funny.

MUSIC VIDEO - “Innards!” is a musical tribute to, you guessed it, Troma and Lloyd Kaufman.

ARTWORK GALLERY

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