Reviews – CineSavant

Matador — 4K 03/31/26

Radiance Films

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

That crazy Pedro Almodóvar had no fear and no limits — following through on his theory that sexual desire is the engine driving everything human, this beautifully-filmed, disturbingly raw horror thriller gives us an amour fou between two crazy killers, plus others equally loco de amor. A young Antonio Banderas attempts a rape to escape an oppressive mother; Eva Cobo stays true to her lover even though he may kill her. The picture is an antidote to glossy, often empty Euro-slashers; we instead get a ferocious yet humanistic look at the confluence of sex, death worship, and violent obsession. As if that weren’t enough, it’s a sensationally vibrant & colorful experience in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, from Radiance Films.
03/31/26

Read the Review

The Puppetoon Movie The Director’s Cut 03/31/26

Puppetoon Productions

Blu-ray

The original Puppetoon movie is back! In 1987 Arnold Leibovit helped secure the legacy of producer George Pal with a feature-length tribute; 40 years later, his film has been remastered in 4K and enlarged into a new Director’s Cut. The extra gallery of additonal Puppetoons is icing on the cake: it’s an impressive introduction to the stop-motion replacement animation world of George Pal. On Blu-ray from Puppetoon Productions.
03/31/26

Read the Review

Viridiana — 4K 03/29/26

The Criterion Collection

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Luis Buñuel’s top roost as a world-class filmmaker remains undisturbed: as an exile in Mexico, his commercial work continued at a high creative pitch, staying true to his surrealist principles. Invited back to fascist Spain to make a movie, he generated a masterpiece guaranteed to become an international scandal. The cinematic slap to Generalissimo Franco won top honors at Cannes, and had to be smuggled to Mexico after la dictadura ordered it destroyed. Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey and Francisco Rabal star; what may be Spain’s greatest film is now remastered in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/29/26

Read the Review

The Big Broadcast of 1938 03/29/26

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Blu-ray

Gee, now what year was this film released? Paramount’s comic radio variety extravaganza is enlivened by big-scale W.C. Fields comedy scenes, crazy antics from Martha Raye and the film debut of Bob Hope. Not to mention the science fiction premise that holds it all together: a trans-Atlantic race between giant high-speed ocean liners. Mitchell Leisen gives the show a glossy art-deco look, while Hope and Shirley Ross make movie history with the song Thanks for the Memory. We’ve always loved it, even with some klunky musical interludes. On Blu-ray from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
03/29/26

Read the Review

Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel — 4K 03/24/26

Deaf Crocodile Films

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Yet again, Deaf Crocodile opens doors to cinematic fantasy once blocked by politics and the vagaries of international film markets. This Estonian film is all but unknown here, despite coming from the reknowned authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Detective Glebsky is trapped in a snowbound ski resort with a group of eccentrics that might have a good reason for being so weird — they may be aliens in disguise, stranded and having difficulty passing for human. Director Grigori Kromanov’s audio-visual treat features a remote mountaintop location and an impressive electronica / prog music score; the Sci-fi element remains 99% cerebral. Who knows who is human, alien, a robot, or a zombie? Somebody give that Saint Bernard dog a lie detector test! On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile Films.
03/24/26

Read the Review

A Man and a Woman 03/24/26

The Criterion Collection

Blu-ray

Director Claude Lelouch used the French Art Film format to shape a story of an intimate romantic encounter, and captured a world-wide audience. Star Anouk Aimée is a radiant presence, and Jean-Louis Trintignant found his footing here as a top-rank leading man. The film’s loose photogenic look caught on, and not just for shampoo commercials. The film’s auto racing background didn’t hurt either — did Lelouch produce much of his show on the Ford Motor Company’s dime? The Francis Lai music holds everything together … and it still plays well. Criterion’s special disc extra is Lelouch’s legendary illicit car race movie … through downtown Paris at 120 mph. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/24/26

Read the Review

The Verdict (1946) 03/21/26

The Warner Archive Collection

Blu-ray

Two of Warners favorite thriller actors worked together nine times in just a few years. This mystery tale is their last pairing, and also the first feature film directed by Don Siegel. Victorian sleuth Sydney Greenstreet gets an assist from his artist friend Peter Lorre when a murder victim is found in a room locked from the inside. How did the killer get away? Don Siegel’s work is sharp, making the most of the studio’s high production values. The tightly directed suspense tale also stars Joan Lorring, whose saucy nightclub entertainer teases Lorre’s character by calling him ‘Vicky.’ On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
03/21/26

Read the Review

Salem’s Lot — 4K 03/21/26

Arrow Video

4K Ultra HD

Prime-era Stephen King never loses its appeal! Director Tobe Hooper delivers some strong visuals in this TV movie version of King’s All-American vampire tale. Reggie Nalder channels his inner Max Schreck, and James Mason provides a top class-act horror performance. Of the supporting cast we favor Bonnie Bedelia, Elisha Cook Jr. and Marie Windsor over the blond male leads. The best news is that the deluxe edition also contains the tightly-edited Theatrical Version that was screened overseas, also in full 4K. Come to the town where bloodsuckers are Blue, and where No One Rests In Peace! On 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.
03/17/26

Read the Review

Killers of the Flower Moon — 4K 03/17/26

The Criterion Collection

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Martin Scorsese’s epic (and epic length!) adaptation of David Grann’s eye-opening novel is great filmmaking with impressive performances from Robert De Niro and a marvelous showcase for Lily Gladstone, who provides the heart within a heartless tangle of utterly loathsome villains. It’s a true story, unsensationalized yet carrying an unspoken message — moral degeneracy would seem a founding principle of the human species. Come learn the awful truth about ‘Indian politics’ — such as a law that classified Native tribespeople as ‘incompetents’ in need of white guardians. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/17/26

Read the Review

Cutter’s Way — 4K 03/17/26

Radiance Films

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

A fresh 4K encoding reveals a finer visual texture on Ivan Passer’s highly-respected film, which features career-best performances by its stars. Disaffected 20-somethings in Santa Barbara investigate a murder and then try to blackmail a corporate CEO; it’s a superb coda to the ’60s counterculture generation. John Heard is the maimed, one-eyed veteran already judged unstable, Jeff Bridges the yacht bum who gets by on his good looks, and Lisa Eichhorn the most forlorn woman of the early ’80s, in need of a reason to give a damn about something. Jordan Cronenweth’s cinematography and Jack Nitzsche’s music track couldn’t be bettered; the movie is a lonely wail against a moral undertow that is distinctly American. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Radiance Films.
03/17/26

Read the Review

Classe tous risques — 4K 03/14/26

The Criterion Collection

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

In what some consider the best classic crime film to come from France, writer-director Claude Sautet and writer José Giovanni give star Lino Ventura the role of Abel Davos, a convicted crook in a squeeze play. When he tries to return to Paris he’s forced to abandon his wife and boys as both the law and his faithless cronies close in for the kill; he gets help from gunman Jean-Paul Belmondo and a girl they meet on the road, Sandra Milo. It’s a tense situation at all times — Davos’s consistently outwits his foes, but his good luck can’t last forever. Remastered in 4K Ultra HD, it looks like a new picture. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

03/14/26

Read the Review

The Man Inside 03/14/26

Powerhouse Indicator

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator dips into the Columbia library for a Warwick Films production from Albert R. Broccoli and Irving Allen. It’s an international genre blend that would seem a stab at the perfect mainstream box office formula — crime violence, a tough American star, a sexy European star, upbeat music and comic relief around the fringes. Bruiser Jack Palance plays it non-brutal, Anita Ekberg is a cool femme fatale and Nigel Patrick is an eccentric jewel thief. It’s a definite pecursor to Broccoli’s future James Bond franchise. On Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
03/14/26

Read the Review

Mogambo 03/10/26

The Warner Archive Collection

Blu-ray

John Ford went to Africa and brought home a fine remake of a 1930s pre-Code hit, with its original star Clark Gable. Clark has his hands full juggling leading ladies of the next generation, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Gable is still the he-man center of attention; his advancing age is not a restrictive factor, not quite yet. The adaptation takes advantage of the African locale with the added oomph of Technicolor. It was box office gold for MGM, even with a much more chaste ‘bath in the tropics’ scene. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
03/10/26

Read the Review

The Day and the Hour 03/10/26

KL Studio Classics

Blu-ray

René Clément all but invented the resistance movie in France and returned to the topic several times. This story of an American flier and a Frenchwoman avoids political sentiment and escapist excesses, concentrating on Simone Signoret’s luminous performance as a woman facing the worst that Occupied France could dish out. It’s a multi-language production, filmed from Paris to the Pyrenees. Stuart Whitman is the American pilot, and the French cast is choice: Geneviève Page, Michel Piccoli, and Reggie Nalder. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/10/26

Read the Review

Playtime — 4K 03/07/26

The Criterion Collection

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Reviewer Charlie Largent plumbs the comedic mystery of Jacques Tati’s eccentric conceptual masterpiece, originally filmed in 65mm. Tati’s iconic character is adrift in a modern Paris of glass buildings and confusing habits, observing ‘civilization in action’ in one fascinating set-piece after another: an Airport passenger space, a cubicle-forested office, a trade show, the debut of a chi-chi nitery. It’s like a giant game of Where’s Waldo Tati … and mysteriously, charmingly positive-minded. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/07/26

Read the Review

The Second Woman 03/07/26

Film Masters

Blu-ray

Upscale country-club noir: James V. Kern’s well-directed psychological drama has become semi-obscure for a number of reasons but has been resurrected in decent shape, yielding a handsome show with some unusual casting. Trying once again to play against type, Robert Young is a troubled architect who may have a murderous skeleton in his closet; cheerful light comedienne Betsy Drake is terrific as an assertive woman who won’t let go of his problem. Independent producer Harry Popkin gives the show an air of glamour — the setting is the beautiful shoreline between Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey. On Blu-ray from Film Masters.
03/07/26

Read the Review

Excalibur — 4K 03/03/26

Arrow Films

4K Ultra HD

Not every John Boorman film landed on target, but this fantastic take on the Arthur legend is a big winner. Beginning the story a generation back with Uther Pendragon deepens our understanding of Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot. Excess romantic bathos is dropped in favor of a return to the mystical roots that would underpin epics to come, including Tolkien. Merlin and Morgana (Nicol Williamson & Helen Mirren) are the really crucial characters, and the ensemble of knights and knaves is chosen for acting ability: Nigel Terry, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Gabriel Byrne, Katrine Boorman, Liam Neeson, Corin Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Ciarán Hinds. It’s a beautiful remaster, for the first time at its original 1:66 aspect ratio. On 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.
03/03/26

Read the Review

Stranger on the Third Floor 03/03/26

The Warner Archive Collection

Blu-ray

The stylized visuals in this RKO mini-masterpiece are more extreme than any of the German expressionist classics said to have influenced it. A cub reporter experiences a nightmare of crazy injustice, a psychological payback for his own testimony that convicted a killer on circumstantial evidence. The pale and forlorn face of Peter Lorre haunts this very strange melodrama, pitched somewhere between horror and a new style yet to be identified: film noir. Lorre is great, but so are the leading players Margaret Tallichet, John McGuire and especially Elisha Cook Jr.. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
03/03/26

Read the Review