A Vietnam vet becomes involved in voyeurism, avant-garde theatre, and terrorism in Brian De Palma’s pointed satire Hi, Mom! Now on 4k & Blu-ray from Radiance Films.
Short Film For You [Ani-May 2026]
The Bootleg Files: Putting on the Ritz
BOOTLEG FILES 939: “Putting on the Ritz” (1974 animated short by Antoinette Starkiewicz).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Perhaps as part of a collection of the filmmaker’s work.
Earlier this week, I did an essay on “International Animation Festival,” a PBS series that aired in the mid-1970s. That series, which was hosted by British actress Jean Marsh, introduced viewers to rarely-seen animated shorts from European, Canadian, and independent American animators.
Continue reading
Short Film For You [Ani-May 2026]
Body Heat [1981] [Criterion 4kUHD & Blu-Ray]
A sleazy southern lawyer is pulled into a murder plot in Lawrence Kasdan’s 1981 noir Body Heat, now on Criterion in 4k UHD & Blu-Ray.
Backrooms [2026]
A furniture salesman and a psychologist find themselves trapped in a never-ending labyrinth of danger and discomfort. Backrooms, Kane Parsons’ 2026 film, works best when it focuses on the horror and oddity, but falters when it tries to give it a story.