Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Blu-ray) by Oktay Ege Kozak The Movie:As long as social and political paranoia and the fear of "the other" permeates society, there will always be room for a new adaptation of Jack Finney's pulp sci-fi/horror novel Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Or its inspiration, Robert Heinlein's Puppet Masters, or any of the multitudes of comedic takes on the premise like The Faculty or The World's End).The premise of "pod people" from space integrating their consciousness into ours by making copies of ourselves that look and sound like us, but aren't us, can always be and is always retooled over certain periods in order to take full advantage of the social paranoia that it can bring to the audience. Considering the period when an Invasion adaptation is made is almost as fascinating as watching that adaptation.Don Siegel's 1956 film was almost all about the red scare and 1950s idyllic small-town Americana'...Read the entire review »

Citizen Kane: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) by Justin Remer The Movie: Long ballyhooed as one of the greatest movies of all time -- and maybe the greatest -- Orson Welles's debut feature Citizen Kane has inspired filmmakers and puzzled civilians for decades. (THIS is the greatest movie ever made?! My kid could make something more entertaining with their iPhone!) It both made Orson Welles's film career and cast an impossibly long shadow that he never managed to get out from under -- despite an impressive filmography that includes later masterpieces like Touch of Evil and Chimes at Midnight. Buoyed by his status as a wunderkind whose Mercury Theatre ...Read the entire review »

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (Blu-ray) by Ryan Keefer The Movie: Hey kids, let me tell you a story about a movie studio that really liked a source material to the point where they thought they could create an American James Bond, but more of a lunch pail type who did secret missions to thwart hostile forces from potentially overthrowing the government> Sounds good, right? What if I also told you they cast a guy who was older than Daniel Craig when he did Casino Royale, or older than Sean Connery when he did Thunderball, and as his Asian mentor is a very American guy? Well, that really happened! Bless the 1980s and their craziness. The "Destroyer" books from by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir were adapted into a screenplay by Christopher Wood (Moonraker) and directed by Guy Hamilton, (Live and Let Die) w...Read the entire review »