Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we only have one true new release of note, and it’s earlier this year’s Freaky Tales. Joining that fun little flick this week is a Blu-ray edition of one of my favorite films of all-time in Leaving Las Vegas. Throw in a pair of Criterion Collection debuts and the slate is far from a bad one. Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
Freaky Tales
Freaky Tales is a violent blast from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. If it’s not quite a full return to the majesty of Half Nelson and Sugar, it does still find them once again engaging with their indie roots. I had a ton of fun with this one, which wears all of its influences on its sleeve. My highly positive review here on the site begins like so:
At the start of their careers, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were known for emotionally complex and introspective independent dramas. Half Nelson and Sugar were spectacular and established them as storytellers who could try just about anything. A move towards the mainstream since then culminated in Captain Marvel, but Boden and Fleck have found their indie roots again. Steeped in affection for Oakland in 1987, as well as the work of John Carpenter and especially Quentin Tarantino, Freaky Tales is a tremendously entertaining ride. Does it amount to anything as substantial as their early work? No. Is it still wildly fun and one of the most purely enjoyable flicks of 2025 so far? You’re damn right it is. Plus, as an added bonus, despite having been made back in 2023, debuting at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, its desire to kick Nazi ass has only become more resonant.
Freaky Tales could easily have been made right after Pulp Fiction, the Tarantino vibe is so clearly there (Kill Bill also is very much in this film’s DNA). The difference between this flick and the countless ripoffs in the 1990s? There’s a balls to the wall, free-wheeling aspect to it that makes far more appreciation and homage than anything lazy. It’s a love letter, at it’s core, albeit an incredibly violent and often wild one.
Recommended Viewing
Leaving Las Vegas (Blu-ray)
One of my all-time favorite movies, with two of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas is a classic. It’s a downer, to be fair, but so impeccably made, you always find yourself lost in the tale. Now available on Blu-ray, it’s another excuse to check out a gem. After all, it’s the flick that made Cage an Oscar winner, so there’s that extra bit of a selling point to consider as well!
Also Available This Week
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (4K)
Great Balls of Fire! (Blu-ray)
Life Stinks (Blu-ray)
Malice (Blu-ray)
When Evil Lurks
Criterion Corner
Brazil
From The Criterion Collection: “In the dystopian masterpiece Brazil, Jonathan Pryce plays a daydreaming everyman who finds himself caught in the soul-crushing gears of a nightmarish bureaucracy. This cautionary tale by Terry Gilliam, one of the great films of the 1980s, has come to be esteemed alongside antitotalitarian works by the likes of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Kurt Vonnegut. And in terms of set design, cinematography, music, and effects, Brazil is a nonstop dazzler.”
–
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
From The Criterion Collection: “Paul Schrader’s visually stunning, collagelike portrait of the acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted the impossible task of finding harmony among self, art, and society. Taking place on the last day of Mishima’s life, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer’s past as well as gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey, exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka, and unforgettable, highly influential score by Philip Glass, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
Comments
Loading…