10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“American Pie“
“Apollo 13“
“Clueless“
“Dazed and Confused“
“The Departed“
“Hostiles“
“Jurassic Park“
“On Swift Horses“
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre“
“Wet Hot American Summer”

7 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

“Bring Her Back“

Australian duo Danny and Michael Philippou followed up their breakout hit “Talk to Me” with one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of the year, now available on Blu-ray exclusively through A24’s online shop. This column is designed mostly for highlights, but since enough people like this movie significantly more than I do, I’ll make an exception. I think it wallows in way too many of the tropes of “Grief Horror,” and is just cruel when it comes to most of them. Still, Sally Hawkins is incapable of delivering a subpar performance, and A24 has handled the movie’s transfer to home media well, including a commentary, a featurette with Hawkins and the brothers, and even postcards. Consider carefully the message you’re sending if you use them.

Special Features

• A commentary with the directors
• One deleted scene
• In-depth making-of featurette
• Six collectible postcards

“Cairo Station” (Criterion)

Criterion continues to endeavor to expand its catalog beyond white, European, and typically male directors, making significant progress this month with releases from Egypt, Taiwan, and a female director in the American South. The first of those alphabetically is largely considered an essential film in Egyptian cinema and the neorealist movement of the ’50s. Yousseh Chahine’s 1958 noir is a stunner, a movie that tells the story of a man who becomes obsessed with a soda seller at the titular station, eventually turning that obsession into violence. Dismissed at the time by a country that wasn’t ready for anything this intense in their cinema, it took generations to find a responsive audience, and now has a 4K physical release that should grow that admiration even more.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New 2K digital restoration of Cairo as Seen by Chahine (1991), a short documentary by Youssef Chahine, with an introduction by film scholar Joseph Fahim
• New interview with Fahim
• Chahine . . . Why? (2009), a documentary on the director and Cairo Station
• Excerpt from Chahine’s appearance at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by Fahim

“Compensation” (Criterion)

Inspired by the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem of the same name, Zeinabu irene Davis’ 1999 drama was relatively buried for a generation, only recently receiving its well-deserved flowers with releases in 2024, when it was also named to the Library of Congress’s Film Registry. In fact, after playing TIFF in 1999 and Sundance in 2000, “Compensation” was entirely unavailable until Criterion included it on their streaming platform in 2021. They then undertook a restoration, which screened at NYFF and CIFF in 2024. Now that restoration is available on physical media, it’s a stunning collection that also includes a commentary, Q&As, two short films by Davis (made 37 years apart), and more. The best thing that Criterion does is to be an essential lifeline for films that would have otherwise been lost to history. This is a great example of how well they continue to do that.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Zeinabu irene Davis, in collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Wimmin with a Mission Productions, and in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring Davis, screenwriter Marc Arthur Chéry, and director of photography Pierre H. L. Désir Jr.
• Q&As with members of the cast and crew
• Two short films by Davis, Crocodile Conspiracy (1986) and Pandemic Bread (2023), the latter with audio commentary featuring Davis and cast and crew members, and descriptive audio
• Interview with Davis from 2021
• New program about select archival photographs and adinkra and vèvè symbols in the film
• Trailer
• English subtitles and intertitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Racquel Gates, a director’s note, and a conversation between Davis and artist Alison O’Daniel about the process of captioning the film

“A Confucian Confusion”/”Mahjong” (Criterion)

Criterion has released Edward Yang’s films in the past, including essential editions of “A Brighter Summer Day” and “Yi Yi,” his most acclaimed films. They’ve now accompanied those with a double feature of the Taiwanese director’s fifth and sixth works, 1994’s “A Confucian Confusion” and 1996’s “Mahjong.” Both films have been given the 4K restoration treatment with a new interview and a new conversation between Michael Berry and one of the best living film critics, Justin Chang.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restorations, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
• Excerpts of director Edward Yang speaking after a 1994 screening of A Confucian Confusion
• New interview with editor Chen Po-wen
• New conversation between Chinese-cultural-studies scholar Michael Berry and film critic Justin Chang
• Performance of Yang’s 1992 play Likely Consequence
• PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim and a 1994 director’s note on A Confucian Confusion

“The Phoenician Scheme“

Wes Anderson’s feels like it came and went rather quickly, launching at Cannes in May, in worldwide theaters right after, and on home media before the end of July (with a truly hideous cover). While Mr. Anderson will be a part of the biggest Blu-ray release of 2025 later this year when Criterion drops a box set of most of his work, this one gets a pretty standard bare-bones edition release that includes only three mini-featurettes. There’s no way this is the final word on one of the more purely enjoyable films of 2025, so consider this a placeholder until Criterion gets around to it in 2026 or 2027.

Special Features

• The Cast
• The Airplane
• Marseille Bob’s
• Zsa-zsa’s World

“Shoeshine” (Criterion)

Vittorio de Sica’s final masterpiece boasts a bit of trivia that could win you the next contest at your local watering hole: This is the first movie to win the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, an award introduced in 1947. And yet it doesn’t have the same legacy as subsequent winners from the early years, such as “Bicycle Thieves,” “Rashomon,” and “La Strada.” And yet this one had its loyal fans, including Pauline Kael and none other than Orson Welles, who said, “…the camera disappeared, the screen disappeared; it was just life.” Criterion has remastered the film in 4K and included a new program about its place in the Italian Neorealism movement. The coolest special feature is a radio broadcast from 1946 featuring De Sica himself.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by The Film Foundation and the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Sciuscià 70 (2016), a documentary by Mimmo Verdesca, made to mark the film’s seventieth anniversary
• New program on Shoeshine and Italian neorealism featuring film scholars Paola Bonifazio and Catherine O’Rawe
• Radio broadcast from 1946 featuring director Vittorio De Sica
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar David Forgacs and “Shoeshine, Joe?,” a 1945 photo-documentary by De Sica

“Vermiglio“

From “Shoeshine” to another Italian work of realism made eight decades later (but set in the 1940s). Maura Delpero’s gorgeous drama was the Italian entry for the award that “Shoehine” inaugurated last year and took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, winning Best Film at the Italian equivalent of the Oscars. Delpero tells the story of a mountain village in Northern Italy in 1944, when a World War II deserter happens upon the town, falling in love with a local girl named Lucia. With relatively ordinary lives set against gorgeous painterly backdrops, “Vermiglio” is a haunting piece of work, a movie that takes Delpero to a new level of respect. Again, the Janus Contemporaries line of releases might raise some controversy here, as this release is gorgeous but lacks the special features that the Criterion proper release might have eventually included.

Special Features

• Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Maura Delpero
• Trailer

“Yeah, let me get a…A24 horror movie.”

“How original.”

“And with a plot that’s a metaphor for grief.”

“Daring today, aren’t we?”

I kid, but you gotta admit, it feels like we’ve gotten a boat load of horror films like this for years now. Hereditary, Lamb, Midsommar and Talk to Me are just a few out of the very long list of films that fit this criteria, with all of these being produced or distributed by A24, who really kinda brought this film archetype into the modern era. But it’s a topic that has been around for decades, from The Babadook to Don’t Look Now. And you know, there’s nothing wrong with the topic. I just think it needs a little something something to make it feel unique and iconic.

And you know, 2022’s Talk to Me kinda did it for me. YouTubers turned directors Danny and Michael Philippou managed to take the idea of grief processed through horror and turn it into a fresh paranormal romp that used speaking with the dead as a clever coping mechanism. Plus, the film had a fun and unique voice to it, so naturally, I got excited to see what the brothers ended up doing next. But unfortunately, much like the themes in the movie, the directors may be caught in a loop.

Bring Her Back is chock full of visceral moments that are sure to scare, unnerve and maybe even make you laugh, proving that the Philippous have the sauce to make an engaging horror movie. But while I found Talk to Me feeling fresh despite a tried and true idea, their sophomoric outing feels like it lost a bit of that flavor. The narrative and ideas are far less interesting than what they cooked up in their previous film, while the heavy handed, symbolic nature of its themes felt a tad too oppressive and lacked subtlety. Their unique voice still comes through in their writing and camera work, but I found it does not always mesh well with the story this time around. That being said, this is still better than horror films this year has to offer, but where I expected progression, I found a bit of running in circles.

Tragedy strikes a pair of step-siblings when their father dies in a freak accident, forcing them into the foster care system, and eventually, the home of Laura, a foster mom who recently lost a daughter of her own. She takes a quick liking to Piper, who is visually-impaired similarly to her deceased child, but acts a bit less welcoming to Andy. Things are made even more tense when they meet Laura’s other foster child, Oliver, who silently stalks about the house with a strange, dark aura to him. Laura’s intentions slowly become clear that she means to use Piper to not only fill the void of her dead daughter, but to use her as a sacrifice to bring her back to life.

One of the things that I appreciate about the Philippous that I’ve found in both of their films is that they know how to write and direct horror characters that feel genuine and authentic. It really helps to make their decisions far more understandable, even if we don’t always agree with them. Not to mention that they seem pretty good and picking out solid actors. Sally Hawkins does a phenomenal job as Laura, an eccentric but seemingly caring woman who is the uncontested mayor of Gaslight City. She manages to be so likable and vile at the same time, tapping into some very real loss that she also scummily weaponizes when it benefits her most. Something unique to her that you don’t see a lot of in these cult/exorcist movies is that she does not have a solid grasp on things. She’s far from a master planner who has every last detail figured out. She makes mistakes that cost her dearly, and it was pretty refreshing to see this spin on a character like this.

Additionally, Bill Barratt and Sora Wong do a solid job at selling the misery of their situation as Andy and Piper respectively. Andy’s protectiveness of Piper, along with his own inner demons, makes for quite the big brother character who catches onto things early, but doesn’t want to ruin the newfound happiness his sister has found. Meanwhile, Wong brings a much appreciated representation of the visually-impaired, though, at times, she does fall into some of the trappings that come with characters like this, more often than not losing her agency because of her affliction. And our resident spooky-looking kid, Oliver, played by Jonah Ren Philips, does quite the serviceable job with a rather predictable character archetype. He nails all the cliches, but it’s those brief moments of emotional terror that we get that really shows off the kid’s talent. The monstrous transformation he endures is no easy feat, but Philips carries it all with an impressive amount of commitment.

But of course, there are plenty of gnarly special effects work at play to really sell the horror of what goes on in that house. There are moments that are pretty unrelenting involving bodily harm that are definitely not for the squeamish. I didn’t know you could more or less curb stomp yourself, but this movie found a way, and the effect of broken, bloody teeth is absolutely brutal. But maybe you’re more of the skin flaying type. Well, don’t worry, because you’ll get to see an arm peeled like a potato not much later. And like Talk to Me, the sound design makes all of these moments even more revolting, though thankfully, they’ve seemed to ditch making their jump scare noises 200 decibels this time around. I and my ruptured eardrums thank you.

In their prior film, the Philippous used an embalmed hand as the centerpiece of their themes. It served as a literal metaphor for reaching out to the afterlife, but it also served as the embodiment of the addictions that can be formed when grief isn’t properly worked through. And this time around, the focus of the film is circles. Circles in the yard, circles on the windows, circles on the soft spot of the head; there are so many damn circles. There’s a lot of different ways for the symbolism to be interpreted; it could mean the cycle of parental abuse that befell Andy that he fears he will continue himself, or the cyclical nature of death and rebirth represented in Laura’s plan. Either way, I think we are circled to death here to the point where it feels a bit overbearing. It’s not the most unique form of symbolism either, feeling a lot like how Christian symbolism gets overplayed in a lot of media. And unfortunately, it doesn’t really service any kind of unique or intriguing take on these aforementioned themes. If anything, it feels a bit redundant considering their prior film already kind of handled these themes to far greater success in my eyes.

And because Bring Her Back doesn’t have as engaging of a narrative structure to tackle these themes again, I found this to feel a bit more generic and empty than what I expected from a follow-up. This was the time to continue pushing the envelope, but not only does it feel like the brothers have kept their feet firmly in place, at times it feels like they’ve even taken a step back. This is especially prevalent in the climax, which forgoes a big, expected blowout with more of a quieter character moment that does show some maturity, but ultimately felt too restrained for a film that already felt like it was pulling its punches. While I loved the more visceral moments, they ultimately serve less of narrative purpose and are rather there to shock because that’s what horror movies should do, right? But there’s not much else other than flesh to sink your teeth into at the end of the day. Despite its nihilistic attitude and depressing outcomes, I wasn’t nearly as shaken as much as you would think despite the best attempts from the actors.The pieces are there to connect grief, abuse and trauma into an engaging story, but they just don’t really come together here.

Bring Her Back will ultimately deliver on a solid horror experience for most, even if I think it lacks the splintered and energizing identity that would make me come back to Talk to Me. Performances are certainly no short of substantial, and the scariness more often than not delivers with disgusting gore and haunting images, but for me, it was sorely missing something that pulled me in and made me see this as something more than just a horror movie. That’s the kind of thinking that put A24 on the map for me, and I sure as hell hope they can bring that mindset back eventually. Hell, I’ll get a demon stuffed inside me to do it. Then again, I have been drinking, so don’t hold me to that.

RATING

CIRCLE OF TRAUMA

There’s something so devilish about a circle, right? What are you doing walking around here without any edges? In truth, circles are commonplace in a lot of horror films, usually for the means of summoning something not belonging to this world. But here’s one circle of salt that won’t be summoning a demon (as long as you’re behaved). The Circle of Trauma is a tropical-leaning, slightly bitter sweet cocktail that utilizes mango and melon, two fruits that actually have a bit of prominence in the film. The combination is quite refreshing, with a little bit of mint appearing on the back end to give your mouth a pleasant cooling sensation.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5oz spiced rum
• 1oz midori
• 1oz grapefruit juice
• 5 mint leaves
• 1/2oz lime juice
• top: soda water
• rim: salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Take a rocks glass and rim it with a lime wedge, then coat the rim in salt.
2. Add ingredients to a shaker and shake to chill.
3. Strain into prepared glass over ice.
4. Top with soda water.