Category: Home Viewing with Peter

The Criterion Collection has released Mitchell Leisen’s 1939 screwball comedy, Midnight, on Blu-ray. Midnight may not be one of the films you think of as one of the greatest of the so-called greatest year in film history, but it has its aficionados. Released in May of that year, the film starred Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche,…

The last film to receive major 2024 awards recognition that I hadn’t seen before, A24’s Heretic, is available from the studio on both 4K UHD and standard Blu-ray. It is also currently streaming on Max. The film is one of two 2024 releases starring Hugh Grant that is currently available on Blu-ray while also streaming…

Shout! Scream Factory has released a 4K UHD upgrade of George A. Romero’s 1988 film, Monkey Shines with an accompanying Blu-ray that includes vintage making-of documentaries of the film. Oddly, Amazon is selling the 4K package for $28.99, the old Blu-ray for $35.01, and the original DVD for $74.69, a bizarre reverse pricing strategy. Presented…

Warner Archive has upped its game with the release of no less than five major Blu-ray upgrades of films ranging from 1938’s Three Comrades to 2007’s La Vie en Rose. Three Comrades has one of the most fabled pedigrees in film history. Its source material was a 1936 novel by Erich Maria Remarque (All Quiet…

Two of the year’s most popular films are now both streaming and in release on home video First up is Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, his first film since his Oscar-winning Parasite. Filmed in late 2022 and early 2023, Mickey 17 is the film version of Edward Ashton’s 2022 science fiction novel Mickey 7 in…

Many of us make a concerted effort to see as many of the films of our favorite directors as we can. While you may be familiar with most or all the films of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, or Quentin Tarantino among those still making films, and Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford among classic film directors,…

May is Mental Health Month, a subject that the screen has explored many times. Here in chronological order are ten of the most unforgettable films that have explored mental health issues, offering insight into various conditions of human experience. One can find elements of mental health problems in characters in practically all the films made…

Criterion has released a 4K UHD/Blu-ray combination of Anora, the fastest release of a major film by the home video giant in its history. They usually take their time with their releases, typically providing upgrades of films first released by other companies. While the package is a nice one, it is also a rather dubious…

The death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday and his funeral on Easter Saturday have put renewed focus on Edward Berger’s 2024 film, Conclave, which is available for streaming and on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD. Conclave is not the first theatrical film to focus on a Catholic pope or indeed the conclave that follows…

Kino Lorber has released 4K UHD updates of two atypical John Wayne films, 1949’s The Sands of Iwo Jima and 1963’s Donovan’s Reef, both of which he initially turned down. Best known for his cowboy roles starting with 1930’s The Big Trail, Wayne starred in some of the most iconic westerns of all time including…

Warner Archive has released a Blu-ray upgrade of 1934’s Sadie McKee, a late pre-Code film that was one of Joan Crawford’s best films of the era. Warner Archive was a godsend for film collectors beginning in 2009 when it began releasing hard-to-find classic films on MOD (manufactured on demand) DVDs well into the DVD era.…

Kino Lorber has released a 4K upgrade of Al Pacino’s 1989 comeback film, Sea of Love. Pacino made his film debut in a minor role in 1969’s Me, Natalie starring Patty Duke. He then starred opposite Kitty Wynn (The Exorcist) in 1981’s The Panic in Needle Park in which they played co-dependent heroin addicts. His…

Criterion has released a sparkling 4K UHD rendition of Arthur Penn’s 1975 film, Night Moves which I remember as being my favorite Gene Hackman film in which the actor played a leading role. In it, he plays a private detective hired by a former actress to find her missing daughter played by Melanie Griffith in…

When Nicole Kidman won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival last fall for Babygirl, she joined a long list of contenders for the Best Actress Oscar. Nominated for an award here and there, she never broke through as one of the major contenders for the prize. Having finally seen the A24 release in…

Warner Home Video has released Amadeus on 4K Ultra HD. Nominated for 11 Oscars and winner of 8, Amadeus was based on Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed play originally performed in London with Paul Scofield as Antonio Salieri, the 18th Century court composer of Emperor Joseph II and Simon Callow as his rival, boy musical genius, Wolfgang…