Author: Rebecca Wright

Boyhood (Blu-ray)

Filmed over a twelve year period using the same cast, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is impossible to discuss without at least mentioning how it was completed. This wasn’t a case of special effects wizardry. Instead, the cast and crew gathered annually…

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On Golden Pond (Collector’s Edition) (Blu-ray)

An unconventional Hollywood blockbuster, On Golden Pond is a character driven drama that explores aging, mortality, and reconciliation. Based on the play by Ernest Thompson, On Golden Pond finally earned legendary actor Henry Fonda a Best Actor Academy Award in…

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Rope of Sand (Blu-ray)

Produced by Hal Wallis and directed by William Dieterle, Wallis had intended Rope of Sand as a reunion for Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. When that plan did pan out, he settled for Burt Lancaster in the lead, and a…

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Yentl (Blu-ray)

Adapted from the 1975 play by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer—and in turn, Singer’s earlier short story “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy,” Yentl was a true passion project for Barbra Streisand, which took her more than a decade to bring…

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The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Blu-ray)

Edinburgh, 1932. Jean Brodie (Maggie Smith) is a dedicated teacher at the very conservative Marcia Blaine School for Girls. “I am in the business of putting old heads on young shoulders,” she says to her class, “and all my girls…

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The Guest (Blu-ray)

We open on a man jogging, seen only from behind. His strong gate, and forceful breathing suggests he jogs with purpose. Then, a title card slams down over a blaring synth, as if to confirm our suspicions. This man isn’t…

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Safe (1995) (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)

There are no homicidal maniacs on the loose, nonetheless, Todd Haynes’ Safe is a truly terrifying film. The horror comes from what at first appears normal and familiar—life in the suburbs. ‘Typical life’ gives way to a self-inflicted, existential crisis…

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) (3D Blu-ray)

Based on a comic that first appeared in 1984, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) had a successful movie franchise in the 1990s, and has been revived in director Jonathan Liebesman’s (Wrath of the Titans, Battle Los Angeles) 2014 live…

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Pumping Iron (Digital HD)

Available on Digital HD for the first time, Pumping Iron is the 1977 bodybuilding documentary that introduced much of the world to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Through the years, I’ve seen parts of the film, but never sat down and watched the…

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