Chris Chiarella

Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Halloween Horrors on 4K and Blu-ray
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 23, 2024
Not exactly a profound epiphany, I’ll admit, but I believe that the reason so many of us look forward to Halloween each year is that it’s simply a fun holiday. It’s fun to dress up, it’s a fun excuse to eat more Snickers Almonds than usual, and it’s even fun to be scared, particularly in the controlled environment of the home theater.
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Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Deadpool & Wolverine
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 22, 2024
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A lot was riding on Wade Wilson’s red-spandex-clad shoulders. Not only did he have to save his friends, his world, and reality as we know it (more on that in a moment), but he had to stick the landing of his movie trilogy and resuscitate the notoriously flagging Marvel Cinematic Universe. And with his audacious threequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, he did it.

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Bad Boys: Ride or Die 4K Blu-ray Review – Explosive Atmos, Razor-Sharp Visuals
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 05, 2024
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The Bad Boys action-comedy franchise will be turning 30 next year, and there’s no denying that—with this fourth film, Ride or Die—it’s feeling a little long in the tooth.

As if to illustrate that point, too-cool detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) is finally tying the knot, while his partner Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) suffers a near-fatal heart attack that compels him to reevaluate his life.

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Best TV Shows on Disc
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 03, 2024
Even in the face of streaming’s runaway success, TV shows on physical media remain pretty damned popular, aided in large part by the studios’ aggressive ongoing HD and 4K remastering of the classics—largely in service to archiving and to providing the best possible quality on the aforementioned streamers—in addition to the collectability of the latest and greatest series. Whatever the reason, a generous and eclectic new crop has arrived for our viewing enjoyment, so clear some room on those shelves.

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Two “Killer” Classics Slay on 4K
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 28, 2024  |  Published: Sep 29, 2024
The Ladykillers (1955)
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Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
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This month, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has dropped a pair of classic crime flicks, a dark comedy and one of the all-time great whodunnits. I first discovered The Ladykillers back in film school, and its endearing British charm remains central to its enduring appeal.
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3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Repo Man: A 40-Year Punk Classic Reborn in 4K
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 18, 2024
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In both its content and execution, Repo Man succeeds at capturing a mood, an attitude, the vibe of the era and the place where it was created, and is without a doubt the most punk movie I’ve ever seen.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Best of the Boxes, Summer 2024
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 15, 2024
What’s better than a movie on Blu-ray or 4K? How about a whole bunch of movies on Blu-ray and/or 4K, thoughtfully assembled with impressive A/V quality and copious bonus content? Some of these collections were obviously easier to configure, presenting as they do beloved movie series in their entirety, while others no doubt took a bit more effort to populate across a common theme, and we tip our summer bucket hats to the folks who made ‘em all happen.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
End-of-Summer Sizzlers: Top Movies on Disc
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 23, 2024

Once again, the studios have saved some of their very best releases for the warm weather months. Settle in with a cool drink for a wide variety of films—and a couple of soundtracks—both high-profile and under-the-radar, across a range of genres, decades, and even different languages.

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Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
La Femme Nikita
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 16, 2024
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Anne Parillaud stars as La Femme Nikita (or just plain “Nikita” on the title card), a feral young heroin addict convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, before a shadowy government organization swoops in and procures her for an elite training program. Her old life is over as she is polished into a resourceful super-agent, ready to do whatever her bosses ask whenever they call, even if it means killing at a moment’s notice. The 1990 French spy thriller is superbly restored on 4K Blu-ray.

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Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Bound
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 09, 2024
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After early stints writing comic books and the screenplay for Richard Donner’s Assassins, the Wachowskis (Lana and Lilly) were ready to make their directorial debut with Bound, an edgy suspense thriller with a surprisingly sweet, intense love story at its core. Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon star as two women who concoct a risky scheme to steal $2 million from the mob as a way out of their mob-connected lifestyles. As often happens, their careful plotting counts for nothing when miscalculations send the plan sideways.

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