Blu-ray Wish List for 2018

We hear all the time of the demise of physical media, causing anxiety and dread from movie collectors like myself. A couple of months ago I was in a Costco and saw only two titles on Blu-ray: Dunkirk and a season of A Game of Thrones. Just last week I went to another Costco and saw no DVDs or Blu-rays. I’ve heard reports that some theatrical releases will only be offered streaming or on a non-physical digital platform. I’m hoping there are enough of us physical media lovers out there for these products to continue, even if that means only the boutique labels will release them.

So while I’m glad to have any new DVD and Blu-ray releases on the horizon, I always have a list of titles I hope to one day see on Blu-ray. Some of these titles have never been released on any format, others are currently available on DVD transfers that are less than adequate. With that in mind, here are the movies I’d most like to see on Blu-ray soon in order of my personal sense of urgency. As far as I know, none of these films have ever had a North American or UK release.

Annihilation (2018) Alex Garland

“I don’t know…”

This seemingly innocuous, non-committal sentence is one we hear so often we take it for granted. The sentence could denote lack of knowledge, the clouding of memory, a reflection on bigger concepts and ideas. Or it could simply be a lie. These words are spoken in the film by two different people in two different contexts, but this simple sentence might just hold the key to understanding Annihilation.

Growing Up with Movies: Revisiting Night of the Living Dead (1968)

(SPOILERS)

I recently revisited George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, a movie I first saw in 1971 when I was nine years old. Was I too young for such a movie? Maybe. After reading this reminiscence, you might be able to tell me what you think about how it shaped me as a movie-goer. (It’s difficult for me to evaluate that with any objectivity.) In later years I saw bits and pieces (no pun intended) of the movie on cable TV, but didn’t really give it much thought until I bought the Criterion Blu-ray on a whim. So 50 years after the release of the film – and 47 since I saw it – here are my thoughts, starting with three observations:

Film Noir Releases in March 2018 UPDATED

If you’re new to my monthly Film Noir Releases posts, welcome! My goal is to cover all the first-time releases to Blu-ray and DVD, usually passing over reissues unless there’s a good reason to include them. (I also tend to leave out more recent films from the last several years.) Unless otherwise noted, the following are all North American Region A Blu-ray discs. I often use the terms “film noir” and “neo-noir” rather loosely, so while you may quibble with some of my choices, I hope these are films you’ll at least consider. As always, if you know of any film noir or neo-noir films I’ve left out, please let me know in the comments below. And thanks for reading.

While March includes a few interesting North American releases, now may be the time to consider a region-free Blu-ray player if you haven’t already done so. But if you want to stay within the U.S. and Canada, Twilight Time, Kino Lorber and ClassicFlix offer some nice titles in March. Let’s get started.

Movies Watched in January 2018

Before you get too impressed, many of these are short films and 12 titles are movies I saw at Noir City 16. I wish I had time to talk about all of them, but I’ve linked to those I’ve discussed previously and highlighted those I enjoyed quite a bit. (You can also see what I’m watching on Letterboxd.) Hopefully there’ll be something here for you to investigate as well.

Noir City 16: Day 5, 1946 – The Blue Dahlia and Night Editor

Day 5 of Noir City 16 found Eddie Muller on fire. Not literally, of course, but with an introduction (paraphrased here) that brought the house down:

Noir City 16: Day 4, 1945 – Conflict and Jealousy

Jack Warner just didn’t get it. He couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about over Humphrey Bogart, despite the fact that the actor’s portrayal of Rick in Casablanca was one of the main reasons Warner was able to take home the Oscar for Best Picture. So what was Bogart’s reward for delivering such a performance? Eddie Muller provided the answer: playing a wife-killer who’s obsessed with his dead wife’s sister.

Noir City 16: Day 3, 1944 – Destiny and Flesh and Fantasy

The films on Sunday’s double feature share an odd history. Destiny was originally intended to be the first installment of an anthology film (also known as omnibus or package films) called For All We Know (eventually retitled Flesh and Fantasy), directed by Julien Duvivier. Duvivier, a major figure in French cinema, had previously made an anthology film in 1942 called Tales of Manhattan starring Charles Boyer. That film contained six episodes* involving a cursed black formal tailcoat and how it affects the people who wear it.

Noir City 16: Day 2 Part II, 1943/1944 – Shadow of a Doubt and Address Unknown

Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt is a film I’ve seen many times and have even screened at the library as part of our Great Movies series. While it’s a very familiar film, I’d never seen it with a crowd as large as the one at Noir City.

Noir City 16: Day 2 Part I, 1942 – This Gun for Hire and Quiet Please, Murder

I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be present at the start of a huge cultural moment, or at least a huge cinematic moment, such as the first pairing of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. I got a taste of what it must’ve been like during Saturday’s “A” picture, This Gun for Hire. I wonder if Paramount had any inkling of just how popular this pairing would become. (Ladd and Lake made seven pictures together, appearing as themselves in three of them. See listing below.)