The Package is a 1989 suspense-thriller directed by Andrew Davis and stars Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones and Joanna Cassidy and arrives on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber on June 13th
The Superman: 5-Film Collection has four movies making their debuts on 4K, though really only two of them are worth a damn. I suppose if you’re a Superman fan, maybe it’s worth it, but probably only when it’s on sale.
The less said about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the better. It was a misfire from the go and even the charms of Christopher Reeve could make this watchable.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut does a valiant job giving viewers Donner’s original concept for the sequel and utilizing not only some new visual effects but some rehearsal footage to give as complete of a vision as possible.
Superman II is hardly perfect and with Richard Lester replacing Richard Donner probably made for a whiplash of a movie in terms of tone, but this still managed to be an entertaining sequel though the goof levels were taken up a notch.
Twilight is a perfectly watchable neo-noir crime drama thanks in large part to a great cast with Newman, Sarandon and Hackman giving great performances, however the script isn’t the best and really not much memorable with the direction either.
Superman: The Movie is a special movie that perhaps the current generation might find a bit hokey in its innocence, but I think it still holds up pretty well, albeit I’m still not a big fan of some of the goofier moments.
Get Shorty is a fun, frilly crime-comedy thanks to some snappy dialogue and enjoyable performances from the entire cast including Travolta, Hackman, Russo, DeVito and the late Denis Farina.
Geronimo: An American Legend is a excellently made historical drama from renowned filmmaker Walter Hill and with a great group of cast headlined by Gene Hackman, Wes Studi (as the title character), Jason Patric and Matt Damon in one of his early roles, this is a great film.
Scarecrow is a bit of a gem, one that I honestly never heard of though I guess it’s easy to get lost amongst the 1970s classics like The Godfather, Rocky, Taxi Driver and A Clockwork Orange just to name a few. Hopefully with this Blu-ray it will be re-discovered.
It is quite the time we live in for media, even if the physical is on the decline, as now after decades where it lived only on the bootleg forum, we finally get to see Superman: The Movie – Extended Cut aka the TV Version, restored in HD and although I’ll be sticking with the other version.
While not exactly an obscure movie from the ‘70s, Night Moves has been largely forgotten or lost amongst the classics of what was arguably the best decade for cinema. Hackman is, per usual, amazing.
Unforgiven is probably one of the best westerns ever made and it’s a movie that transcends audiences so if you’re like me and don’t normally watch those kinds of movies, give this one a shot: it features fine performances, fine direction and a story that is compelling from beginning to end.
Eureka is a bit of a forgotten film from the 1980s, one that is doubtful to be mentioned amongst Gene Hackman’s greats with an uneven story that goes from an adventurous first half, the best part, to a Citizen Kane-like story for the second and a third act playing out like a bad episode of “Law & Order”.
No Way Out was a pleasant surprise of a thriller featuring good suspense and a solid performance by Kevin Costner with honorable mention to Will Patton. To cap things off, the ending had a nice and unexpected twist.