Out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD July 30, 2024
The world of car racing, seen from through the lives of three drivers and the women who love them.
Phantoms (1998) [4K UHD]
Now Available from Shout! Factory. The Novel is Also Available.
Believe it or not, in 1998 Ben Affleck wasn’t the biggest star in the world. He was still coming down from being pigeonholed as the “villain” actor, and was working to transition from supporting actor to leading man status. With “Phantoms” he is basically paying his dues for what is a pretty standard horror thriller. Affleck is very good in the role as a local sheriff whose ill fitted cowboy hat is almost a character in and of itself. Like the hat, “Phantoms” is a silly vehicle for a collective of pretty great up and comers including Nicky Katt, Liev Schreiber and Rose McGowan to name a few. There’s also the wildcard veteran a la Peter O’Toole for good measure.
The Fall Guy (2024): Extended Edition [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
Now Available from Universal Pictures.
If you told me that they were going to turn a somewhat memorable 1981 action series starring Lee Majors in to a big budget action comedy, I would have been very skeptical. Lo and behold there should have been a market for it, because “The Fall Guy” is all kinds of good Hollywood shenanigans. It’s loud, funny, and action packed, and stacks a respectable cast of big stars. This includes Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, both of whom are still riding the success of their huge movies from 2023. Sadly, that didn’t carry in to big numbers; that’s a shame since “The Fall Guy” has some big franchise potential.
Tchao Pantin (aka So Long, Stooge) (1983) [Radiance Films]
Out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD July 30, 2024
A gas station attendant meets a drug dealer when he hides in his station one night, the two of them strike an unexpected friendship, leading the both of them through unexpected life events.
Hell is a Teenage Girl (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2024]
There’s a great movie desperate to be set free with Stephen Sawchuk’s “Hell is a Teenage Girl” and sadly it’s only a pretty good movie when all is said and done. There’s so much lore and back story hinted at that the movie, at fourteen minutes, barely scratches the surface of. And we’re told that protagonist Parker is blamed for her dad being the Springsboro Slasher. But why? There are a lot of “But Why?’s” that will be spouted during the short. Although it is a neat, creative (if not wholly original) short, there’s just so much more tinkering and glossing up that needs to happen before/if a feature is ever greenlit.
Lina Suh, Director of “Meeting You, Meeting Me”
Up and coming filmmaker Lina Suh took time out of her busy schedule to discuss her newest drama “Meeting You, Meeting Me,” a great film about the bond and friendship between two women the spans years. Suh discusses her inspiration, casting and her methods for staging some powerful moments of tension. “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is currently hitting the festival circuit.
Five Favorite Mike Flanagan Productions—So Far [Fantasia Film Festival 2024]
This year, Fantasia will be awarding their 2024 Cheval Noir career award to U.S. filmmaker Mike Flanagan. “For his imaginative and heartfelt horror visions; boundary-breaking achievements in making soulful, character-driven genre television commercially viable without compromises; and the extraordinary work he’s done in popularizing landmark authors to a new generation, While it may strike some as odd to bestow an achievement award to an artist who’s almost certainly not yet reached a mid-career place, Flanagan has been so extraordinarily prolific and consistently brilliant in his output that the filmmaker has already accomplished several lifetimes of creation.”
In honor of his stellar achievement, here are five of My Favorite Mike Flagan productions – so far. As he has a long, rewarding life of filmmaking and film curating ahead of him, I imagine this list will look different in fifteen years.