End of Year Blu-ray Review Fest: Part 4

The End of Year coverage has been fun, but we’re breaking out of this mold and going for one big push soon.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold

The End of the Year coverage wouldn’t be complete without talking about Dora and the Lost City of Gold. While this surprisingly strong future cult classic wasn’t one of my favorites of 2019, it almost made the list. Isabela Moner was quite the discovery, as she made the titular Nick character come to live for an adult audience. Still, the film is minded to kids in that classic vintage action-adventure mold. Throw in some jokes about Swiper and Boots, then you got yourself a gumbo. Dora the Explorer wasn’t the greatest movie. However, it worked on that surprise level. Paramount and Nick could’ve plummeted this film, but they chose to aim smart. We should honor them for it. The Blu-ray comes with deleted/extended scenes, bloopers and featurettes.

Tel Aviv on Fire

Tel Aviv on Fire is an Israeli film about the country’s conflict with Palestine. It also has to deal with soap operas, creative differences and beating up on writers. A fun time is had by all. If you’re looking for a lighter foreign film in recent release, this will do it. Not everyone wants the heavy-handedness of Parasite. The Blu-ray comes with a featurette.

Shade

Shade is a film I covered earlier in the year. It’s one of those modern RKO releases that allowed Sylvester Stallone to get back to those between Kitty and Study’s and Rocky roots. The problem is everything he turns out in the vibe quickly turns into Paradise Alley level of work. The Blu-ray comes with a ton of special features from a commentary, featurettes, trailers and more!

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? was a film released in 1975 that couldn’t exist in any other time. Why is that? Well, because it is a compilation of newsreels and film clips set to music from the 1970s. It is literally every other Boomer video on YouTube released as a theatrical project. Watch it for the oddity, but stay for the one hour of rare Pathe newsreels from the era.

Bad Company

Bad Company gets a 40th anniversary documentary release. That’s pretty cool for a documentary that I didn’t know existed in the first place. If you’re not familiar with Bad Company, they are every other cassette available at the Car Wash. Not the good Car Wash, but the one that was big in 1990 and now barely exists next door to the Sonic. The Blu-ray is pretty impressive with a robust new audio track. Still, Filmrise kept the original grain on the transfer. Truly impressive End of Year material.

Imprisoned

Imprisoned is a film that came my way from Cinema Libre. I always look forward to their releases, as they are usually films that are slipping below my radar. The End of Year coverage is defined by its ability to slip in those quiet films. Still, it’s a fascinating movie shot in Puerto Rico before Hurricane Maria arrived. Loaded with special features that let Edward James Olmos and Equitas Entertainment Partners talk about their importance of the film…it’s truly great.

The End of Year Blu-ray Review has concluded