This Week’s Best Bet
After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic “Ring” and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for “Dark Water” (2002 — Japan), another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common
Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:
When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case in “Cult Killer” (2024), starring Alice Eve, Antonio Banderas, Olwen Fouéré, Shelley Hennig, Nick Dunning and Paul Reid. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims. From Allied Vaughn … “The Phantom Warrior”, is the origin story of the masked vigilante, Nemesis Knight. A new breed of superhero for a changing world. From
Foreign Films:
A seemingly simple taxi ride across Paris evolves into a profound meditation on the realities of the driver and his fare, a 92-year-old woman whose warmth belies her shocking past in “Driving Madeleine”” (2023 — France). Charles (Dany Boon) is a taxi driver in Paris, and he is having a very bad day. Enter Madeleine (Line Renaud), an immaculately groomed nonagenarian, who informs Charles that the trip today will not be a direct one. She is moving into a nursing home and would like to make some stops along the way predicting that this might be her last car ride through the city. Their ride takes them through the momentous locations of her life and their brief friendship deepens as Madeleine listens to Charles confess his own worries. On DVD, Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group …
Special Interest:
“Lynch/Oz” (2024): The themes, images, and cultural vernacular of Victor Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz” continue to haunt David Lynch’s filmography — from his early short “The Alphabet” to his recent television series “Twin Peaks: The Return.” Arguably, no filmmaker has so consistently drawn inspiration — consciously or unconsciously — from a single work. Is Lynch trapped in the Land of Oz? If so, what can we learn about his body of work by taking a closer look at how it intersects and communicates with that legendary fantasy? In turn, what do Lynch’s films have to say about the enduring resonance of one of America’s most beloved classics? Through six distinct perspectives, Alexandre O. Philippe’s “Lynch/Oz” helps us reexperience and reinterpret “The Wizard of Oz” by way of David Lynch, delivering new appreciations of both. On DVD, Blu-ray from Janus Contemporaries.
All DVDs and Blu-rays are screened on a reference system consisting of an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers, and Power 10 subwoofer.