Hey folks, Vornoc here. Welcome to my almost-every-other-day dive into the movies I’ve been watching, collecting, and obsessing over, one Blu-ray, 4K, or box set at a time.
The work never ends, folks. Movies keep calling, discs keep stacking, and I keep watching. Here are the latest Vornoc picks that almost made the cut.
One of the most passionate documentaries about artistic compulsion ever made. Philippe Petit’s obsessive tightrope walk between the Twin Towers is captured with extraordinary craft thrilling, moving, and utterly unforgettable. The best documentary of its year.
Criterion’s 4K and Blu-ray treatment of Bertolucci’s big Oscar-sweeping epic is pretty extraordinary. The film already looks massive, rich, and visually overwhelming, and now it gets the kind of presentation that makes you go, “Yeah, okay, this is why we collect these things.”
And then you get nearly five hours of supplemental documentaries on top of it? Come on. That is shelf-candy with homework attached, in the best possible way. Weirdly, every time I watch this, I feel like putting on The Killing Fields right after. I don’t know if they’re spiritually connected in my movie brain or if I just made that up but the double-feature instinct is real.
A funny, honest, and surprisingly moving portrait of a pot-dealing teenager and his unconventional therapist in the summer of 1994. Ben Kingsley is extraordinary in what amounts to a comedic tour de force, and the film’s period texture is richly observed.
1994 always reminds me of my first year in college and the death of Kurt Cobain. That’s whacked!
The defining anime film on Blu-ray and 4K with the reverence it deserves. The animation holds up with astonishing confidence; the political paranoia and body horror remain deeply unsettling. A landmark given its ultimate landmark 4K format.
Miike’s deliriously violent yakuza horror film in maximum resolution (4K) the heightened clarity only amplifies the film’s calculated aesthetic assault.
Completely unlike anything else in world cinema. Either the most brilliantly transgressive genre exercise of its era or an unwatchable provocation both format makes that question impossible to avoid.
Yes, Tadanobu Asano that guy on the cover! He was in 3 Thor movies, Mortal Kombat 1 – 2 and Shogun the tv series.
So for anyone just discovering him: you’re welcome, kids. The man has been cool for a very long time.
This is the “Happiest Place on Earth” slowly curdling into a weird little nightmare, and honestly, that alone makes it fascinating. Shot guerrilla-style inside Disney parks which is still kind of insane the movie has this cracked, dream-logic vibes.
This is the kind of movie where you spend half the runtime watching the story and the other half whispering, “Wait… they filmed that there?” The It’s a Small World bit hits extra hard because, honestly, that ride already feels one bad mood away from becoming a full-on nightmare. And then the creepy adult weirdness kicks in and yikes the mouse ears start feeling haunted. The extras are a nice little bonus too, especially the in-character commentary, which is such a wonderfully oddball indie choice. Scrappy, sneaky, strange, and kind of amazing.