MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY: We Already Know Whodunit

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (Blu-ray Review)

2022 / 127 min

FROM RLJE FILMS

Review by Tiger the Terrible😼

This western whodunit features a great cast, decent production design and a fairly solid premise. But while certainly watchable, Murder at Yellowstone City might be a little too long and languidly paced for its own good. It also doesn’t help that director Richard Gray throws in a phenomenally clumsy piece of foreshadowing within the first minutes, practically giving away one of its biggest secrets.

The titular town has fallen on hard times, at least until prospector Robert Dunnigan (Zach McGowan) strikes gold. But on the way back home from celebrating, he’s murdered. Sheriff Ambrose (Garbriel Byrne) immediately suspects stranger-in-town Cicero (Isiah Mustafa, aka 'the Old Spice guy') and throws him in jail to stand trial. While most assume he’s guilty (for dubious reasons), a few kinder hearts believe otherwise, such as Alice Murphy (Anna Camp), the wife of preacher-with-a dark-past Thaddeus (Thomas Jane). She’s eventually able to convince Thaddeus something’s not quite right about the whole incident, yet despite mounting evidence indicating someone else is the killer, Ambrose is too stubborn and headstrong to listen. Meanwhile, the real killer frames Cicero for a few other murders by allowing him to escape (making him look even guiltier, of course).

Edgar detects a hint of Old Spice.

Ambrose’s overzealous son, Jim (Nat Wolff), figures into the plot, as does Dunnigan’s wayward widow, Emma (Scottie Thompson). But elsewhere, the narrative juggles a larger assortment of characters than it really needs. While it’s always great to see Richard Dreyfuss still working, his character - a gay saloonkeeper - is completely superfluous. The film is also pretty slow-going for a while, with too many scenes of melodrama and grim philosophizing when we’d rather watch bullets fly. A good 30 minutes could have been trimmed from the film without significantly affecting the story, especially since it’s pretty obvious early-on who’s behind these murders. That faux-pas is on Gray, who lets his camera linger a bit too long on one particular character for us to suspect anyone else. However, the final act compensates our patience with a lively gunfight that appears to involve half the town.

With a better cast than your usual modestly-budgeted, straight-to-video western, Murder at Yellowstone City is one of those movies you watch and forget about. It’s a passable time killer if one’s hankering for a horse opera - or a horse soap opera -  but the murder mystery aspects of the story come up short.

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

DELETED SCENES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Richard Gray, actor/producer Anna Camp, screenwriter Eric Belgau, actors Scottie Thompson, Aimee Garcia, Tanaya Beatty, Isabella Ruby.

THE BURNED BARNS and SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE: Two Restored French Thrillers

THE BURNED BARNS and SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE (Blu-ray Review)

FROM COHEN MEDIA GROUP

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Cohen Media has unearthed a couple of classic French thrillers well worth checking out. One of them pairs two acting legends, while the other is a forgotten gem that - surprisingly - is one of the best films this writer has reviewed this year.

THE BURNED BARNS

1973 / 98 min

Just outside a small French village near the Cateux family farm, a young woman is found murdered. Judge Peirre Larcher (Alain Delon) is brought in to head the investigation. He immediately inquires if the Cateux family knows more about that night than they’re leading on. Still, matriarch Rose (Simone Signoret) is congenial and cooperative. She’s also highly respected throughout town and Larcher grows to admire her as well. But when it appears that one of her sons may have committed this brutal crime, tension within the family - which has been brewing long before the murder - reveals itself.

Alain is caught cheating...again.

The Burned Barns makes great use of its rustic, snowy setting, immediately establishing a melancholy tone that reflects the family’s overall unhappiness. But while the story initially unfolds like a whodunit, the crux of the film is the relationship between Rose and Larcher. There’s mutual respect - even affection - but they’re definitely at-odds, which creates an intriguing dichotomy in the many scenes they share. Delon is good, effectively conveying Larcher’s “outsider” status and the remorse he feels in subjecting Rose to incessant questioning. However, the movie belongs to Signoret, often accomplishing more with a gesture or expression than a mouthful of dialogue. A little too deliberately paced at times, with an anti-climactic conclusion, The Burned Barns is nevertheless an interesting study of a family unraveling at the seams.

EXTRA KIBBLES: INTERVIEW WITH CREW - Most of them concur that Alain Delon was kind of a dick, especially toward director Jean Chapot. In other words, this is juicy stuff.

SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE

1963 / 110 min

Five shady businessmen decide to pool their resources for a major drug purchase that could reap millions. The plan goes awry when one of them, Jabake (Jean Rochefort), decides he’d rather keep all that money for himself. He devises a fiendishly clever & elaborate plan to steal it back from their courier in-transit. However, his plans threaten to go haywire after being forced to kill the courier. The group begin to suspect each other, while Jahake is forced to commit more murder to cover his tracks when some of them find holes in his ruse.

"A little pet stain remover oughta get that right out."

Ingeniously plotted with deft film-noir touches, Symphony for a Massacre is damn-near note-perfect, from the characters & performances to the tight-pacing & unusual music score. It’s a classic case of bad guys vs. worse guys, with Jahake as its morbidly compelling centerpiece. He’s arrogant, unlikable, conniving and cold-blooded, yet even though we despise him, we’re invested in his plan…perhaps because it took so much meticulous work to set into motion.

Rescued from obscurity, Symphony for a Massacre is a knock-out thriller that deserves to be rediscovered by a new audience. Unpredictable, fast-paced and consistently engaging, it compares favorably to any French crime film you’d care to name, from any era. 

EXTRA KIBBLES: “THE SCORE” - Not actually about the music, this is a retrospective analysis of the film and director Jacques Deray; Re-release trailer.

THE POOP SCOOP: Classic Kibbles!

🙀POLTERGEIST arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Digital 9/13 from Warner Bros.

Poltergeist, the 1982 classic horror film written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on September 20, it was announced by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Suburbanites Steve (Nelson) and Diane (Williams) suddenly experience paranormal activity in their home. What starts off as minor excitement quickly turns into nasty ghostly encounters. The disappearance of their daughter Carol Anne (O’Rourke) forces the Freelings to bring in parapsychologists and a professional exorcist to exorcise their home. Directed by Tobe Hooper, produced by Frank Marshall and Spielberg and featuring Oscar Nominated Visual Effects by Richard Edlund, Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson, Poltergeist is one of the most entertaining horror films of its time.  

 

😺THE LOST BOYS arrive on 4K Ultra HD and Digital 9/20 from Warner Bros.

The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on September 20, it was announced by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.When their parents’ divorce, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) move with their mother to their grandfather’s house in a California town nicknamed, “The Murder Capital of the World.” Soon after arriving, Michael gets involved with a hell-raising motorcycle gang of vampires with a charismatic leader (Kiefer Sutherland).  When Sam becomes involved with the Frog Brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), who confess to being undercover Vampire hunters, he realizes it’s up to them to save Michael and the rest of the town from the vampire gang. The Lost Boys cast also includes Jami Gertz, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Dianne Wiest and Alex Winter. The film’s screenplay was written by Janice Fischer & James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam from a story by Fischer & Jeremias.  The film was produced by Harvey Bernhard. Richard Donner served as executive producer.

 

✈TOP GUN: MAVERICK on Digital 8/23 and 4K/Blu-ray 11/1 from Paramount

After more than 30 years of service as a top naval aviator, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot. Yet, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past when he returns to TOP GUN to train a group of elite graduates and comes face-to-face with Lt. Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his former wingman, "Goose". Bitter rivalries ignite as the pilots prepare for a specialized mission, which will require the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it. TOP GUN: MAVERICK is the #1 film of 2022 with over $1.3 billion in worldwide box office and the highest grossing film of the producer/actor Tom Cruise’s acclaimed career.  Hailed as “spectacular” (Brian Truitt, USA Today), “breathtaking” (Don Kaye, Den of Geek) and “jaw-dropping” (Sean O’Connell, Cinemablend) TOP GUN: MAVERICK lands on Digital August 23, 2022 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD November 1 from Paramount Home Entertainment. 

 

🙀THE CHANGELING ON 4K UHD on 10/25 from Severin Films.

THREE-DISC COLLECTION INCLUDES NEW 4K SCAN + BLU-RAY WITH NEW SPECIAL FEATURES AND SOUNDTRACK CD. It has been called "remarkable" (Paste Magazine), "utterly terrifying" (Mondo Digital) and "a ghost story guaranteed to freeze the blood" (Gannett). Now this "masterpiece of terror" (Reel Reviews) from director Peter Medak (THE RULING CLASS) comes to UHD like you've never seen, heard or experienced it before: Academy Award® winner George C. Scott gives "one of his greatest performances ever" (Bloody Good Horror) as a grieving music professor tormented by a paranormal horror that includes "the best séance in horror movie history" (Newsweek). Trish Van Devere (THE HEARSE), two-time Oscar® winner Melvyn Douglas (THE TENANT) and Jean Marsh (FRENZY) co-star in "one of the most terrifying horror films of all time" (DVD Beaver), now scanned in 4K from the internegative with 4½ hours of Special Features - including revealing new interviews with Medak - plus a soundtrack CD and more.

😺The Late, Great Ray Liotta in NO ESCAPE, on Blu-ray for the first time on 10/11 from Unearthed Films.

The Year is 2022. John Robbins (Ray Liotta), a former Marine Captain, has been sentenced for assassinating his commanding officer and is banished to a secret and remote prison island run by The Warden (Michael Lerner). In this prison of the future, inhabited by society's most violent and feared criminals, Robbins is left to the mercy of the elements and his fellow man. He finds the island divided into two camps: The Outsiders, led by the brutal and bloodthirsty Marek (Stuart Wilson); and The Insiders, led by the strong-willed, benevolent Father (Lance Henriksen) and his followers Hankins (Ernie Hudson) and Casey (Kevin Dillon). Robbins doesn't care to join either - his one aim is to break free of an island from which there is no escape. To aid him, he steals a powerful and destructive weapon from The Outsiders, sparking off a major war between the two encampments. Now bloody battle and the brutality of hand-to-hand combat will take many lives before Robbins can think of freedom again. Trapped on an island where nature can be as deadly as man, there is only one thought which keeps Robbins alive... escape...escape...escape.

ADVENTURES IN THE BUDGET BIN: Middle-Age Date Night

Report by MR. BISCUITS🐈

Date Night has changed a lot over the years.

My wife and I have been married 33 years, but even after all this time, we still go out together once or twice a week. I guess the biggest difference is we no longer party like it’s 1999. These days, Date Night usually consists of a trip to Starbucks, followed by stops at Lowe’s, Safeway, Target or any other place we need to go for hibernating supplies.

Oh, and Big Lots. Always Big Lots.

My wife, Francie, has been on a big container kick lately. For some reason, she has decided everything in our house now needs to be stored in a bin or lidded container (even stuff that already comes in its own container). In fact, we have a shitload of brand new containers laying around the house waiting for her to find something that needs containing. 

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen our cat, Stinky, lately. 

And she found even more containers at Big Lots today, about thirty bucks’ worth. Fortunately, none of them are Dave sized, so at least I won’t be suffering Stinky’s fate (not today, anyway). Her obsessive splurge more than justified me grabbing something that’s actually important: the Casablanca 70th Anniversary Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo for only $20. Though this boxed set was released 10 years ago, it’s still going for forty bucks on Amazon.

Of course, I already have the film on Blu-ray, as does every self-respecting cinephile. However, this one comes with a batch of goodies, like a poster, a set of four coasters, a hardcover book and, best of all, a five-hour documentary on the history of Warner Bros. Hell, I’d have paid twenty bucks for any of those things individually. 

Francie pretended to be impressed, as she always does when I’m excited over finding a bargain on something I absolutely don’t need. But really…what better way to cap-off middle-age Date Night than the the mother of all date movies that comes in the mother of all containers?

BABY ASSASSINS Comes with Baggage

BABY ASSASSINS (Blu-ray Review)

2021 / 95 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

All joking aside, there is a twisted logic in recruiting teenagers as professional assassins. Generally speaking, empathy is one of the last things to develop in most young adults, and with comparatively little work experience at that age, training them to suit your needs would be relatively easy. And hey…it beats flipping burgers for a living.

But Baby Assassins does not set all joking aside. The entire movie coasts on its one-joke premise, that of two typical teenage girls with an atypical job. Chisato and Mahiro (Akitani Mone & Saori Izawa) are skilled killers who really enjoy what they do. Though not quite friends, they seem to get along fairly well, at least until their bosses insist they become roommates and get “real” jobs as a cover for their actual line of work.

When someone over 40 tries shopping at Hot Topic.

Much of the film has them trying - unsuccessfully - to land and keep the type of employment befitting most teenagers, while getting on each other’s nerves in their tiny apartment. These scenes are often very funny, but just as often meandering. While Mone and Izawa are excellent, perfectly capturing teenage attitudes (and some insecurities), hearing them drone on and on about inconsequential concerns is sometimes as tiresome as listening to real teenagers.

Baby Assassins is ultimately more fun when focusing on the girls in action, especially once they run afoul of the Yakuza by assassinating one of its prominent members. They appear amusingly nonplussed by their dire circumstances, even when severely outnumbered during the fiery climax. Violent, bloody and extremely well-choreographed, the rousing conclusion is both funny and jaw-dropping. You just gotta sift through some baggage to get to it.

Pick Up THE BLACK PHONE

THE BLACK PHONE (Blu-ray Review)

2022 / 104 min

FROM UNIVERSAL

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

In this case, the apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Black Phone is based on a story by Joe Hill - Stephen King’s son - and bears quite a few similarities to some of Dad’s work. 

Taking place in 1978, the story involves the disappearances of several kids in a Colorado suburb at the hands of “The Grabber” (Ethan Hawke), who drives around in a balloon-filled black van to abduct his victims. Throughout the film, his face is partially or completely hidden by a series of creepy metallic-looking masks (and it’s a safe bet you’ll see them for sale at Spirit Halloween this year). Hawke turns in a great performance, relying mostly on his eyes and voice to creep us out.

Like some of King’s most beloved stories (and the films adapted from them), the protagonists are children…siblings Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who live with an abusive, alcoholic father. Finney is timid and bullied in school, while Gwen is a little more defiant. When kids begin disappearing, she also has the unique ability to see what’s happened to them in her dreams.

When you're compelled to kill, but it's also League Night.

The Grabber abducts Finney and imprisons him in a dark, sound-proofed basement, periodically coming down to torment him, sometimes intentionally leaving the door unlocked so he can punish him for trying to escape (part of the Grabber’s sadistic game). But when he’s alone, Finney gets calls from a broken black telephone attached to the wall. The callers are the Grabber’s recent victims, who warn him that he’ll die horribly if he doesn’t find a way out. Each was murdered before they could escape themselves, so they pass-on what they learned about the basement - and their killer - to Finney. Meanwhile, Gwen tries to find him through her dreams, a skill her late mother once claimed to have (though Dad insists it drove her to suicide).

“Gifted” kids, outcasts, bullies, balloons, an abusive home, indifferent or ineffective adults, the period setting, terror in a small town…sounds like half of King’s bibliography, if you ask me. Still, The Black Phone takes those elements and spins them into a dark, compelling psychological horror tale with supernatural elements. There’s a bleak aesthetic to nearly every scene that’s almost oppressive, exacerbating the tone (the use of Super 8 for certain scenes is particularly effective). The film is seldom all that scary, but the dread is almost constant, and because the premise centers around the murder of children, this could tough sledding for some viewers. By this time, however, we’re too invested in Finney and Gwen to give up on them. Hawke and the Grabber may be the film’s centerpiece - at least in the promotional campaign - but the movie belongs to the kids, who are engaging, sympathetic and perfectly played by Thames and McGraw. 

Other than a few lapses in plausibility and one or two needlessly stupid supporting characters (i.e. Max), The Black Phone is smart, suspenseful and culminates in a nerve-wracking climax. This might be the best Stephen King movie that King himself had nothing to do with.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - “Answering the Call:Behind the Scenes of The Black Phone”; “Ethan Hawke’s Evil Turn”; “Devil in the Design”; “Super 8 Set”

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Scott Derrickson

“SHADOWPROWLER” - A pretty good short by director Scott Derrickson.

DELETED SCENES

DVD & DIGITAL COPIES

Movie Night with Dave & Stinky: HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941)

FLATLINERS: Resurrected in 4K

FLATLINERS (4K UHD Review)

1990 / 114 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Tiger the Terrible😺

Until now, Flatliners has never been very well presented on home video, not even Blu-ray. 

It was a fairly sizable hit in 1990, especially since Pretty Woman had just turned Julia Roberts into a bankable star. But like much of director Joel Schumacher's work, it's undoubtedly a product of its time and typical of the type of high-concept horror favored by major studios, featuring a beautiful cast with great hair who normally wouldn't be caught dead dabbling in the genre. Along with Days of Thunder, Flatliners might be the most 80s movie that wasn't actually released in that decade. Its glossy production and hot ensemble cast made it play more like Young Guns & The Lost Boys than any serious exploration of what lies beyond death. And that's just fine, because it was still enjoyable in the moment.

 

Flatliners has always been one of those films we watched and then moved on…out of sight, out of mind. At least until someone would happen to bring it up during a conversion and we’d recall, "Isn’t that the one with Kiefer Sutherland? I seem to remember it being pretty good." 

 

Maybe that’s why it’s always been unceremoniously thrown out on home video whenever a new format was introduced. Sony’s DVD and Blu-ray releases were little more than perfunctory. Then Mill Creek Entertainment gave it a shot a few years ago, even creating a decent looking SteelBook package for the occasion. But they totally dropped the ball with the movie itself…no extras and - typical of Mill Creek - zero attempt to upgrade the picture or sound.

"You think they heard 'no pickles?'"

But hell, the movie must have its share of fans. Why else would they follow it up with a (crappy) sequel/remake 27 years later?

Those fans are gonna absolutely love Arrow Video’s new 4K UHD release. While far from the best 4K picture I’ve ever seen, it’s the best Flatliners has ever looked in any previous format…by a wide margin. The film sounds great, too, serving up DTS-HD Master Audio in both 5.1 and 2.0. And for the first time - a big batch of brand new bonus features are thrown in, including numerous interviews with various people involved behind the scenes. This release also gets my vote for Arrow’s best looking cover of the year, with super cool artwork.

Aesthetically, the movie itself certainly shows its age, but remains reliably entertaining without ever being memorable, emphasizing style and its photogenic cast over themes or substance. Whether it’s viewed as a slab of fond nostalgia or an overlooked gem by a new audience, one thing is certain…Flatliners hasn’t gotten this much TLC since it was first released

EXTRA KIBBLES

“THE CONQUEST OF OUR GENERATION” - Interview with screenwriter Peter Filardi.

“VISIONS OF LIGHT” - Interview with cinematographer Jan de Bont & lighting technician Edward Ayer.

“HEREAFTER” - Interview with assistant director John Kretchmer.

“RESTORATION” - Interview with production designer Eugenio Zanetti & art director Larry Lundy.

“ATONEMENT” - Interview with composer James Newton Howard.

“DRESSING FOR CHARACTER” - Interview with costume designer Susan Becker.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By critics Bryan Reeseman & Max Evry.

TRAILER

IMAGE GALLERY

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Includes 2 essays, “Land of the Almost Dead: Flatliners and a Historical Overview of the Near-Death Experience,” by Amanda Reyes &”See You Soon: The Surprising Spirituality of Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners”; cast, crew & restoration credits.

REVERSIBLE COVERS - With new & original artwork (the new artwork is far cooler).

FLYING GUILLOTINE 2: Heads Up...and Off

FLYING GUILLOTINE PART 2 aka Palace Carnage (Blu-ray Review)

1978 / 92 min

FROM 88 FILMS

Review by Tiger the Terrible😼

Flying Guillotine 2 is another one of those cult obscurities that has Quentin Tarantino’s seal of approval. You can certainly see its influence on Kill Bill Vol 1, especially the deliriously over-the-top swordplay and the weapons of the title.

The flying guillotines themselves are pretty insane…saucer shaped buzzsaws attached to a chain. The user throws it out, where it lands on the victim, drops a black blade-lined veil around their head and swiftly decapitates them. Then he collects the head by yanking it back like a yo-yo. Fortunately, we get to see these things at-work early and often, the preferred weapon of tyrannical emperor Yung Cheng (Feng Ku) to vanquish his enemies.

Those enemies are Hans who are part of a resistance movement determined to kill Cheng and end his reign of terror. One of them, Ma Teng (Lung Ti), has even developed an umbrella-like device that stops the guillotines. Cheng responds by directing his military strategist to design a bigger-and-better flying guillotine. Meanwhile, the strategist’s daughter, Na Lan (Szu Shih), is secretly working with the resistance and goes undercover at the emperor’s palace to steal the plans for the new guillotine.

When Hubcaps Attack.

Of course, the plot, performances and characters are perfunctory because Flying Guillotine 2 is all about brawls & beheadings. The action sequences are brilliantly-choreographed ballets of close-quarters mayhem, though not nearly as graphic as the concept suggests. We may not be all that invested in the story or characters, but watching everyone slice & dice each other for 90 minutes is fairly entertaining.

Speaking of which, even though Flying Guillotines 2 is technically a sequel, it pretty much works just fine as a stand-alone film. I gotta say, though, the ending sucks, concluding with a mid-action freeze-frame during the climax…no resolution, no denouement. It might be the most maddeningly abrupt conclusion to a film since The Birds. Was that intentional or did someone brain-fart during post? 

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Mike Leader & Arne Venema.

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Features an essay, “Watch Out for the Flying Guillotines!,” by author Barry Forshaw.

REVERSIBLE POSTER - Featuring vintage artwork.

REVERSIBLE COVER - Featuring vintage artwork.