Category Archives: Movies

The horror of anti-Semitism spirals in America and beyond. We know love conquers all.

We are based outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a mere eight minutes from Squirrel Hill, where the Tree of Life massacre shattered the peaceful community. It became the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the U.S.

Such horror and hate crosses the Atlantic. Over the last two decades, a rise in physical attacks and verbal assaults on Jews has been recorded in many countries across Europe. At the same time an increasingly fractured world has exposed deep political, social, and racial division, especially in France.

Laura Fairrie’s Spiral is the story of how a cycle of fear, hatred, and violence has taken hold. In portraying the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France and in the wider world, the film trains its gaze on individuals, witnesses on all sides of the conflicts that have fueled this escalation.

Explore the legacy of the master’s leading ladies in “Hitchcock’s Heroines”

Whether played by Grace Kelly, Doris Day, or Ingrid Bergman, the heroine of an Alfred Hitchcock picture is always the same: stylish, regal, and elegant.
Explore the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s leading ladies—their iconic roles, unforgettable costumes, and timeless style in Hitchcock’s Heroines (Insight Editions, $29.99).

Author Caroline Young chronicles six decades of glamorous style, exploring the fashion legacy of these amazing women. Meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated with studio pictures, film stills and original drawings of the costume designs, each chapter focuses on a specific actress, revealing insights into a fascinating period of movie history.
This deluxe book pays tribute to the women of Hitchcock’s era, who were considered some of the fashion icons of their time and inspired styles that continue to be celebrated and imitated today. These leading ladies broke barriers, made history, and transfixed audiences around the world.

Afraid of the dark? No? You will be scared shitless by “The Dark”

The Dark, the biggest hit of 2018 for Dark Sky Films, is now the horror DVD of the new year. On the outskirts of a small town lies Devil’s Den, a mysterious tract of woods where many have entered but no one has ever left. The local legend is that the spirit of a girl who was horrifically murdered there haunts (and hunts in) this dense forest, brutally slaying anyone who dares to step into her terrain.

When a young man with a dark past crosses her path, a series of events are set in motion that may lead to redemption for two tragically tortured souls. Part gothic fairytale and part chilling horror, director Justin P. Lange’s debut feature balances rich imagery with a brutal and bloody story of unlikely kindred spirits who must defend themselves against the villainous powers of the “normal” world.

Starring rising actors Nadia Alexander and Toby Nichols, The Dark has been called “an ingenious reworking of the zombie genre” by Film InquiryHorror Society praised it as “one of the best horror films of the year: 10 out of 10.”

A sneak peek into the action-thriller “Backtrace”

The lone surviving thief of a violent armored-car robbery is sprung from a high-security facility and administered an experimental drug in the action-thriller Backtrace, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD and Digital on February 19 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. 

Starring Ryan Guzman, Sylvester Stallone and Matthew Modine, the Backtrace Blu-ray and DVD includes the featurette “Making Backtrace” and cast/crew interviews.

Hayden Christensen and Harvey Keitel star in the chilling sci-fi thriller, “The Last Man”

Lionsgate is ready to open the gate to a world of nifty new DVDs. Sometimes that world is a bit, well, disturbed.

In this chilling dystopian sci-fi thriller, Hayden Christensen plays Kurt, a vet suffering from PTSD who comes home to an unholy, unruly land. The world is bad, no question—but local street prophet Noe (Harvey Keitel) says it’ll get even worse when a catastrophic storm strikes.

https://youtu.be/KpQJe8zsFdo

As Kurt heeds Noe’s advice and readies for the apocalypse, he meets sultry Jessica, who also begins to believe. Even as the planet falls apart, Kurt finds his life finally coming together.

Until . . .

Can this fine family survive a solar disaster? Unlock the answer in “After Darkness”

A new year. New DVDs that demand to be seen. Now up: Hope begins at the end of the world in After Darkness, available on DVD, Digital and On Demand on January 15 from Lionsgate.

Natalia Dyer and Kyra Sedgwick highlight this sci-fi thriller about a family’s fight to survive a solar disaster. As skies darken and hopes grow dim, the Beatys try to stay sane in a lavish home with every possible comfort . . .  except sunshine. Raymond (Tim Daly) plans to have his family transported to a secure underground bunker. But as he makes a gruesome discovery, the greatest threat to the Beatys’ survival may be near—or inside—their home.

A taut thriller directed by Batan Silva.

“Operation Finale” follows the astonishing true story of an Israeli intelligence agent

Follow the astonishing true story of an Israeli intelligence agent who brought Hitler’s deadliest lieutenant to justice in the intense and gripping film, Operation Finale, arrives on Digital on November 20, and on Blu-ray combo pack, DVD and On Demand on December 4 from Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Brimming with incredible performances from Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, Operation Finale is also backed by an amazing supporting cast including Mélanie Laurent, Lior Roz, Nick Kroll, Haley Lu Richardson, Joe Alwyn, Pepe Rapazote and Greta Scacchi .

The film follows the gripping true story of the 1960 covert mission of legendary Israeli intelligence agent Peter Malkin (portrayed by Isaac) as his secret mission leads him to infiltrate Argentina and capture Adolf Eichmann (Kingsley), the Nazi officer who masterminded the plans that sent millions of innocent Jews to their deaths in concentration camps during World War II, and bring him to justice. Oscar Isaac is also a producer, alongside Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger under their Automatik company and Jason Spire’s Inspire Entertainment.

Operation Finale on Blu-ray and DVD also come with a special bonus featurette that takes viewers deep into the remarkable covert operation that rewrote history.

Vincent Cassel is stunning in Cohen Media Group’s “Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti”

In 1891, painter Paul Gauguin is already well-known in Parisian artistic circles, but he’s tired of the so-called civilized world and its political, moral and artistic conventions. Leaving his wife and children behind, he ventures alone to the other end of the world— Tahiti—consumed with a yearning for original purity, and ready to sacrifice everything for his quest.
Impoverished and alone, Gauguin pushes deep into the Tahitian jungle, where he meets the native Polynesians and, most importantly, the young Tehura, who will become his muse and inspire his most iconic works of art. During his two-year stay the artist will experience and health problems and existential crises – but with the beautiful girl to carry him through.

Welcome to Cohen Media Group’s Blu-ray and DVD Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti.

Vincent Cassel, one of modern world cinema’s leading stars,  gives a career performance as Gauguin, remarkably conveying the interior life of a great painter who has given up everything for his art. Co-starring with him are Tuheï Adams, in a striking cinema debut as Tehura, and multiple César Award nominee Malik Zidi(Water Drops on Burning Rocks).
Cohen Media Group’s Blu-ray and DVD of Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti include the featurettes Vincent Cassel is Gauguin and Life and Painting of Gauguin, among other extras.

“God Knows Where I Am” is a disturbing, deeply profound gems

We love when we get a cinematic clutch on great (and usual) flicks. Witness God Knows Where I Am (Juno Films), the story of Linda Bishop, a well-educated New Hampshire mother who suffered from severe bipolar disorder with psychosis, who was intermittently incarcerated and homeless, inevitably being committed for three years to a state psychiatric facility. Successfully fighting her sister’s protective attempts to be named her legal guardian, Linda was able to refuse treatment and medication, and eventually procured an early, unconditional release, despite the lack of post release planning.

Upon her release, she wandered 10 miles down the road from the hospital, broke into an abandoned farmhouse and lived off of rainwater and apples picked from a nearby orchard for the next four months, through one of the coldest winters on record. Unable to leave the house, she became its prisoner, and remained there, a prisoner of her own mind, eventually starving to death.
Her body was discovered several months later and with it a diary that Linda kept documenting her journey. The diary is poignant, beautiful, funny, spiritual, and deeply disturbing. In tackling the subject matter, the filmmakers began from a social justice perspective but their focus quickly shifted to a more intimate and artistic exploration.
How does one depict the interior landscape of a person who is imprisoned by the mind? How does one build empathy for a person who is no longer alive? The story is told from a variety of perspectives, including her own, through recollection and first person narrative.
God Knows Where I Am is both a study of systemic failure and also a testament to the artistic and independent spirit of Linda Bishop. In a state known for its motto of “Live Free or Die”, Linda wanted to live free but given her mental illness, this proved to be a fatal decision. The film poses many provocative questions including the issue of civil liberties of the mentally ill–if one’s mind is not free, how can one truly exercise free will?

Vincent Lindon brings the life and loves of great sculptor “Rodin” to life

Paris, 1880. The 40-year-old sculptor Auguste Rodin finally receives his first state commission, The Gates of Hell, which will include The Kiss and The Thinker, two of his most famous creations. Constantly working, he shares his life with his lifelong partner, Rose,  and his mistress, young Camille Claudel, the gifted student who becomes his assistant and a talented sculptor in her own right during a decade of passion, mutual admiration and creative collaboration.
Following their painful breakup, Rodin continues to work relentlessly while facing both the rejection and enthusiasm provoked by the sensuality and originality of his sculptures. Rodin’s statue of Balzac, long in the making and rejected during his lifetime, will become the starting point of modern sculpture.

Cohen Media Group will release the 2017 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or nominee Rodin on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms on October 2.  The biographical drama, starring Vincent Lindon as the great sculptor, is the latest from Jacques Doillon, the multiple award-winning director of Ponette, La Drôlesse and dozens of other films that have made him one of the most esteemed European auteurs of the last 40 years.

Bonus features on the Blu-ray and DVD include the featurette Sculpting Rodin.