Review by John Larkin Purchase by clicking the image above A Lean, Mean Film Noir Gem from Warner Archive I have to thank my friend, filmmaker David Guglielmo, for putting CRIME WAVE on my radar. David recently appeared in one of Cinefile Video’s “Favorites” videos, where he went through several of his personal selections at the beloved video store on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. CRIME WAVE was one of his recommendations. I had never even heard of the film, and it a

by John Larkin At first glance, ANORA and THE EXORCIST would seem to have almost nothing to do with each other. One is Sean Baker’s volatile, funny and bruising portrait of a young sex worker pulled into the fantasy of wealth, marriage, escape and emotional rescue. The other is William Friedkin’s landmark horror film about a child’s possession, a mother’s desperation and two priests confronting evil in its most grotesque and inexplicable form. One moves through strip clubs, m

Now Available to rent or own on Digital Platforms Blu-Ray releases September 22 Going into SCARY MOVIE (technically SCARY MOVIE 6), I was genuinely excited. I have always loved this franchise, especially the original film, which still brings me back to what felt like the peak era for studio comedy around the turn of the millennium. I was the perfect age for it. The first SCARY MOVIE arrived at a moment when satire could feel like a communal event. We were more of a monocultur

Purchase at MovieZyng.com Here A Lost American Classic Finally Comes Home Review by John Larkin George Feltenstein, who oversees the Warner Archive Collection, has affectionately described this release as “The Larry Karaszewski Special Edition,” and it is difficult to imagine a more appropriate name. We owe a sincere thank you to Larry Karaszewski. Best known as the acclaimed screenwriter who, with his longtime writing partner Scott Alexander, wrote ED WOOD, THE PEOPLE VS. LA

Purchase by clicking the image above For anyone who loves Ray Harryhausen, the arrival of THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD on 4K UHD is more than just another catalog release, it is a cause for celebration! This is not only one of Harryhausen’s defining achievements, but arguably the most purely enjoyable film ever built around his particular brand of handmade movie magic. Other titles may be grander, darker, or more mythologically imposing, but THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD remains the g

Christopher Nolan Finds Awe and Terror in an Uneven Epic Review By John Larkin For me, the middle of July has become Christopher Nolan season. Going back to THE DARK KNIGHT in 2008, so many of his films have arrived during this particular stretch of summer that seeing one has become something of a personal tradition. Whether I am buying a ticket or attending a screening, the experience often brings me to AMC Lincoln Square, where Nolan’s enormous images have come to feel espe

by John Larkin About a month ago, Films in Review Editor in Chief Roy Frumkes and I traveled to Monroeville, Pennsylvania, for the final Living Dead Weekend celebration to be held at the Monroeville Mall before its planned demolition. It was my first time attending the event, while Roy has a long history with Dawn of the Dead, having appeared as a zombie in the film and directed Document of the Dead, the definitive documentary on the making of George A. Romero’s horror classi

Review by Victoria Alexander I went to see MICHAEL for the music. I left the theater terrified of Joe Jackson. I am reading Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo da Vinci by Bülent Atalay. There is a brief mention that Leonardo “may never have had a sexual relationship with a woman.” The author writes that “he may have been a homosexual was long suspected by art historians.” Well, “long suspected” flies in the face of Leonardo’s accusation of sodomy, and the

Purchase at Lionsgate Limited by clicking the image above GINGER SNAPS remains one of the strangest, sharpest, and most original werewolf films ever made. Directed by John Fawcett and written by Karen Walton, the 2000 Canadian cult horror film takes one of the oldest monster-movie myths and filters it through the most volatile period of teenage girlhood: puberty, menstruation, sexual awakening, social alienation, and the terrifying realization that the body has begun making d

By John Larkin The best film festivals are not only about the movies you see. They are about the strange, unexpected collisions that happen around them. A restoration leads to a conversation. A screening leads to a memory. A party leads to a piece of movie history that you did not know existed. That was my experience at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, which ran April 30 through May 3 in Hollywood. The 2026 theme was “The World Comes to Hollywood,” a fitting idea for a

Purchase at MovieZyng.com by clicking the image above! Last year I had the privilege of seeing an early screening of the new 4K restoration of this classic documentary. In my original write-up I openly wished for a disc release of this restoration and it seems my plea has been answered in this beautiful set from Warner Archives. What follows is my original write up on not just the film but the very special night that surrounded it involving meeting George Stevens Jr. I had th

Purchase at MovieZyng.com by clicking the image above Review by John Larkin THE FRONT is an outlier in the canon of WOODY ALLEN as an actor. If most of his screen persona is built around neurotic wit, self-consciousness, romantic unease, and verbal spiraling, THE FRONT asks something very different of him. Here, he strips much of that away. His Howard Prince, a small-time bookie and restaurant cashier, is still recognizable as a Woody Allen character on some level, but he is

Review by John Larkin Andy Serkis Brings Orwell to the Barnyard for a New Generation I did not expect my first major Angel Guild event to involve Andy Serkis, George Orwell, and rentable piglets. I recently became an Angel Guild member, subscribing not only for myself but for my family. Ironically, that membership, not a traditional press invitation through FILMS IN REVIEW, is what allowed me to attend this special New York premiere event for ANIMAL FARM. But as someone who h

Click the image above to purchase directly from Lionsgate Limited First, full disclosure: Roy Frumkes, owner of this publication, conceived the idea for THE SUBSTITUTE and co-wrote the screenplay for this 1990s action classic with Rocco Simonelli, who also contributes to Films in Review. When I got my class list the summer before starting freshman year at SVA, I remember reading off the names of my professors to my father: “…Roy Frumkes, Storytelling 101.” Then I read the cre

Purchase at MovieZyng.com by clicking the image above There’s a version of my family history where ART CARNEY is my grandfather. I’m not kidding. Carney grew up in Mount Vernon, the same place my grandmother Dorothy Larkin and my father are from, and Dorothy went to the same high school as him. Family legend has it Carney once asked her out and she turned him down. She later married someone who would end up abandoning the family, so maybe she passed on the better option. Mayb

Warner Archive Blu-Ray Review CLICK TO PURCHASE at MovieZyng.com by Roy Frumkes Ever wonder what it would be like to see an unexpurgated Johnny Weissmuller/Maureen O’Sullivan Tarzan film from the golden days of Hollywood? Well, now’s your chance. There was such a gem, but it had barely snuck past the chomping jaws of the nascent censorship board when the alarms went off and TARZAN AND HIS MATE, the second of the MGM series, was disemboweled. Three cuts of this loose-loinclot

By John Larkin One of my favorite aspects of great filmmaking has always been the choice of music that closes out a film. The right song becomes the final statement of the story. It is the emotional conclusion and the last feeling an audience carries with them after the screen fades to black. When used well, a song that bridges the final scene into the end credits can leave a powerful and lasting impression. It shapes how the ending is remembered and gives the film a sense of

by Victoria Alexander MERCY stars Chris Pratt as a detective (Chris Raven) who has been accused of killing his wife. It’s 2029, and Chris wakes up locked in a chair after a brutal alcoholic blackout. He had destroyed a bar and fought with patrons and the police, who arrested him. Chris finds himself in the Mercy Chair. The judge (Rebecca Ferguson) is an AI-created entity. Once arrested and brought to the Mercy Chair, the accused — who is presumed guilty — has 90 minutes to pr

Purchase by clicking the image above Newly Restored Reviewed by Roy Frumkes This was an uncommonly large restoration effort by a great many skilled hands, and while the human drama of the film has diminished over time, the several expansive desert sequences have remained unsurpassed, even by 1962’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. (Interestingly, Robert A. Harris is a major player in both films. Has he been harboring something quirky about desert locales?) The cast is also exceptional, do

Review by John Larkin MARTY SUPREME is a reminder that the work of a great director is not merely technical. They do not simply assemble strong production design, confident cinematography, or skilled performances. At their highest level, they transmit something less tangible, an energy, a frequency, directly through the screen. When it works, the audience does not simply observe the film; they absorb it. Josh Safdie understands this instinctively. With UNCUT GEMS, the Safdie

Purchase by clicking the image above or clicking HERE Blu-Ray review by Roy Frumkes Smartly, as concerns the Golden and Noir ages, bundling several titles together often makes older collectibles more attractive…if the choices are shrewd. Because often these collections share a title or two, we are left to whittle down, according to your taste, which batch has the best non-overlappers, rather than having to buy them both and live with the duplicate(s). Here’s a prime example:

Purchase on DVD here! Review by Victoria Alexander Pure cinematic brilliance. Crowe mesmerizes and creates a devastating, fully committed, shocking character. The best film and performance of the decade. Makes OPPENHEIMER look like a petty squabble among ego-driven company men. Russell Crowe powerfully delivers the magnetic character of Adolf Hitler’s fanatically devoted Nazi, Hermann Göring. Crowe delivers the multi-faceted enigma of one of Hitler’s most influential and powe

Purchase by clicking the image above or HERE AWAKENINGS captures the spirit of early 1990’s New York filmmaking in a way few films of that moment did. Even though the story takes place in 1969 and 1970, the production feels steeped in the atmosphere of the city in which it was made: the outer boroughs, the institutional buildings, the scuffed linoleum floors, the light falling through aging hospital windows. Penny Marshall shot in real locations throughout Brooklyn and the Br

The Americas: Complete Limited Series 4K UHD can be purchased HERE Review by John Larkin After years spent behind a camera and staring at timelines, scopes, and screens, I didn’t realize how much distance I’d put between myself and the living world those images are meant to reflect. THE AMERICAS, narrated by Tom Hanks, reconnects me to something essential. Watching it in 4K feels less like consuming content and more like being reminded of the Earth’s scale, patience, and quie