Synopsis: Somewhere in Nazi Germany there is a concentration camp. And in that camp there are seven crosses, one for each of the men who dared to escape. One by one, the Gestapo hunts the seven down and returns them to the crosses…and death. Until there is one cross left…and one man is trying to escape it. 

Main Feature: The Seventh Cross is an enjoyable thrilling film. It tackles faith, conviction and morals. The film's plot thesis is sold even more so for the audience with the casting of Spencer Tracy. The venerable acting legend made a career of portraying honorable yet vulnerable men. His character arc in The Seventh Cross is no different, one holding to his convictions while a changing environment envelopes him and his purpose. Jessica Tandy and her real-life husband Hume Cronyn are equally deft for the dark subject. The Warner Archive transfer is one of top notch video and audio presentation. Some might find the natural grain too much, but it suited me just fine. 

Bonus Features: The film's original theatrical trailer comes with a trio of short films from director Fred Zinnemann. As with Warner Archive titles, no digital code. 

Final Call: The Seventh Cross is a post-war film showing the dark aftermath of WWII, with it's lead showcased wonderfully, and an updated transfer to match the quality on screen.

Grade: B+

Synopsis: It's an incredible cinematic adventure as the legendary Sinbad sets off on a dangerous journey to the mysterious Island of Colossus. His quest is to break the spell cast over his beloved princess by a diabolical magician. But before he can save her, Sinbad must battle an awesome collection of mythical monsters, the man-eating Cyclops, a saber-wielding skeleton, a ferocious two-headed bird called the Roc and a fire-breathing dragon.

Main Feature: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad can be a marvel to look at. The then-groundbreaking special effects by the legend that is Ray Harryhausen can appear jaunted to modern audiences, but in certain lights, it's breathtaking in it's technique and outcome. The 4K release here (from a new UHD scan of the negative), the grains is nice and balanced, with the Harryhausen scenes mostly coming across gorgeous, even if the ultra HD output is a double-edged sword--accentuating both the good and the bad. Regardless, my presentation and setup look quite good. The film itself is still an enjoyable, entertaining adventure film of old, holding up mostly well. 

Bonus Features: The 4K disc carries a wonderful almost-hour long featurette of a 1998 TV special called The Harryhausen Chronicles that includes talking heads like George Lucas, Tom hanks and Harryhausen himself, among many others. Also, the original promo trailer is included. The Blu-ray disc of this dual set appears to be an exact version of the 2008 Blu-ray. based on my research, the standard HD presentation for the film on that disc is less than stellar, but is full of a dozen or so bonuses to appreciate over the main feature. 

Final Call: Despite the 4K format's good & bad presentation of the old school Harryhausen effects, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is still worth a trip.

Grade: B+

Synopsis: When Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) arrives in America from the Mediterranean island of Mypos, he shows up unannounced on the Chicago doorstep of distant cousin Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker), forcing two strangers into an unlikely room situation. Balki, an earnest shepherd with boundless optimism and a love for American culture, clashes with Larry, an uptight aspiring photographer. Despite their differences, the pair gradually grow from fifth cousins three times removed into best friends.

Main Feature: Perfect Strangers was better than the handful of episodes I recall seeing when I was younger during the initial airing. A comedy of errors, of sorts, Perfect Strangers feels a bit ahead of it's time. Given it's olive branch approach to culture clashes between the Cold War superpowers, it has a Norman Lear-esque quality on bringing differences together. Considering it's about family from opposites sides--of the world and ideology--it feels even more present in our America today. While Pinchot and Linn-Baker (currently recurring on CBS' Ghosts) never achieved heights of superstardom (Pinchot's scene-stealing cameo in Beverly Hills Cop notwithstanding), they were part of the 1980s zeitgeist for a bit. The HD transfer is a high quality and fans should enjoy this set. It's an imperfect show definitely with a finite lifespan. 

Bonus Features: None. Given the relatively low MSRP for this set, no surprise they cut that corner (or drive future streaming revenue). 

Final Call: Perfect Strangers was a cultural dance of joy for 1980s sitcoms.

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Thirteen American colonies unite in rebellion, win an eight-year war to secure their independence, and establish a new form of government that would inspire democratic movements at home and around the globe. What begins as a political clash between colonists and the British government grows into a bloody struggle that will engage more than two dozen nations and forever change the world.

Main Feature: When it comes to Ken Burns' documentaries, you know you will get a wealth of information and expert talking heads matched up with celebrity narration. For the most part, Burns is spot-on, and even in lesser subjects, its still intriguing and curious. The American Revolution is lacking that usual Burns gravitas despite the heavy hitters involved. Plus, while his documentary series are of great length, this one just seems long and plodding along. It is missing the exceptional pacing of The Civil War or the showmanship of Baseball. Perhaps he has set the bar so high for others that he now has trouble reaching his own plateau. Don't get me wrong--as a lover of US history, The American Revolution is still a watch for me. But as a Burns' fan, I need him to do more. 

Bonus Features: Zero extras. 

Final Call: The American Revolution might've been televised but doesn't live up to it's subject matter. 

Grade: C-

Synopsis: Reformed ex-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) has finally built a straight, honest life with his devoted wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk). But that fragile American dream shatters in the dead of night when a wounded former cellmate crashes into his home after a deadly gas-station holdup. Trapped in a tightening vise, Lacey is terrorized by a pair of escaped San Quentin thugs—including a menacing early performance by Charles Bronson (billed as Charles Buchinsky) and the unhinged Timothy Carey—who extort his help for a high-stakes bank heist. On their trail is Detective Lt. Sims (Sterling Hayden), a cynical, toothpick-chewing force of nature who operates with a disturbing edge of righteous sadism. Sims doesn't care about rehabilitation; he wants his targets caught, and he's more than willing to use the terrified newlyweds as bait.

Main Feature: Crime Wave is a wonderful film noir with constant noir legend Hayden mixing it up. It's a kinetic 70-something minute thrilling piece of cinema. Its a dynamic piece of work that is lean and mean, pulls no punches. It is just a thrilling movie to watch. And Warner Archives new transfer is beautiful to look at. 

Bonus Features: There are some basic extras of classic Warners cartoons and the film's vintage trailer in SD, but the audio commentary with two noir aficionados--Film Noir Foundation president Eddie Muller and author James Ellroy--is the crown jewel of the limited bonuses.

Final Call: With an excellent 4K print scan, Crime Wave is gritty and almost criminal to skip.

Grade: B+

Synopsis: ​Return to the universe of The Office with the new hit mockumentary series, The Paper. The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch now focuses their cameras on a declining Midwestern newspaper whose newly arrived editor-in-chief Ned Sampson sets out to restore the once heralded Toledo Truth Teller back to its former glory.

Main Feature: Who knew the US version of The Office would be a source of world-building, interwoven crossover spin-off material? Sure, individual characters could easily have gone onto their own adventures ala Frasier Crane. But the show's premise and structure already featured plenty of that, mostly in the cold opens. Instead, they turn to the characters BEHIND the camera, namely the faux documentary crew that followed the Dunder Mifflin crew. Enter The Paper. This filming crew follows a fledgling local newspaper in an age of social media breaking the news; opinions taken as facts and facts taken as opinion; and tangible media items on thin ice. It is interesting that The Office feels timeless even now even thought the basis of the show is for the characters to push an item that would apply to that list on my list. So it's humorous already at the start to see The Paper report on a group of characters still trying to keep the dying thing from the original flagship show alive. And The Paper is good enough. The characters are not as memorable in this first season--then again, the first season of The Office was abysmal that when I first watched it (first time was only couple years ago), I almost gave up before it really started. Thankfully, it did get started, so The Paper can be given the same benefit of the doubt. Domhnall Gleeson carries his father Brendon's geens and has sharp comic timing. He's an interesting person to build around. But we had barely tapped the surface layer of Steve Carell when The Office started. Of what I have seen, Gleeson and his company show promise for an even better season 2.

Bonus Features: None.

Final Call: The debut season for The paper is fit enough to print.

Grade: B

Synopsis: Pamela Anderson shines as a glamorous Vegas showgirl whose 30-year career at Le Razzle Dazzle, the last remaining revue, is coming to an abrupt end. When the show's closure in two weeks is announced, she tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter while leaning on her brassy former-showgirl best friend (Jamie Lee Curtis). Directed by Gia Coppola and featuring an original ballad by Miley Cyrus, this inspiring portrait of a resilient woman also stars Dave Bautista and Billie Lourd.

Main Feature: The Last Showgirl is a film to be seen, even if it has flaws and isn't the dynamic comeback for this infamous lead that was hoped for. For all of her notoriety, Anderson can shine in certain settings. Baywatch aside for obvious reasons, her humor was tapped into on TV during the early run of Home Improvement; and I will add the cult of Barb Wire (messy, yes, but schmaltzy cheeseball fun). She is embracing time, and none more evident and even cathartic than The Last Showgirl. There is plenty to love int his film, with supporting players like Curtis and Bautista really giving their all to amplify the assets inside that Anderson carries. The final execution is uneven, though, and Coppola is not as skilled at directing as a couple others in that family. In another's hands, Anderson's best work--and this is definitely that--would have been even more precise (This film screams Sofia Coppola, not just saying due to the family). 

Bonus Features: Just a pair. Standard behind the scenes featurette is paired with an intriguing half-house featurette conversation between Anderson and Curtis. 

Final Call: The Last Showgirl isn't the greatest strutting of Anderson's stuff, but it's still a worthwhile look at aging glamour that hopefully with provide her with a renaissance to elevate what this film started to stage.

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Produced and directed by comedy veteran Bud Yorkin, Start the Revolution Without Me broke ground for a comedy revolution. It takes the tumultuous "let-them-eat-cake" days of the French Revolution and gives everyone a figurative pie in the face. The story begins when two sets of identical twins—one pair of bumbling peasants (Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland) and one pair of arrogant aristocrats (also Wilder and Sutherland)—are separated at birth. Decades later, on the bloody eve of the French Revolution, a case of mistaken identity tosses the wrong brothers into the wrong lives. As the guillotine looms and the palace of Versailles descends into absolute chaos, these four unlikely heroes must navigate royal trysts, deadly duels, and a plot to overthrow King Louis XVI.

Main Feature: Let's start wit this: Start the Revolution Without Me has been given a wonderful restored presentation on this Warner Archive disc. The problem is the film is still not one that fully clicks. Wilder is legendary no matter what, with this film at the true peak of his comedy power and genius. Sutherland equally a star of the 1970s and a magnet of comedic wit and hilarity (his Oddball in Kelly's Heroes is exactly that, and is one of the greatest characters in all of cinema--I will die on that hill). he concept and melding of them both just doesn't work. Funny bits are few and far between, but it is still a film I can enjoy from now and then.

Bonus Features: The ho-hum Warner Bros cartoons and film's theatrical trailer in SD are lackluster, made up by the 2003 DVD carryover commentary track with Wilder, and Yorkin.

Final Call: Start the Revolution Without Me is a mediocre showcase of two revolutionary funny men of the 70s, with cinephiles appreciating this restorative release more than anything. 

Grade: C+

Synopsis: From Morgan Neville, Academy Award -winning filmmaker, comes an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes glimpse at Lorne Michaels, the man who built Saturday Night Live, shaping television and culture for generations. 

Main Feature: Lorne is a documentary that captures intimate moments of the famed SNL creator and TV pioneer and specific backstories. Problem is--this is nothing new or groundbreaking in the doc genre nor is it providing any info that isn't already shared by those who worked with him or from the man himself. It feels like it's purpose was to get the notoriously camera shy Lorne Michaels on camera. That being said, the film is still a smooth, efficient look at how Michaels operates. 

Bonus Features: None. 

Final Call: Lorne might not be the primetime peek behind the curtain of the real man that fans are looking for but still compels hardcore live fans.

Grade: C+

Synopsis: In Stars Hollow, a charming, slightly off-center town known for green lawns, clapboard houses, and enough quirky characters to fill every hayride, parade and picnic for miles, headstrong 32-y.o. Lorelai Gilmore carves out a comfortable, warm, caffeinated life for herself and her equally willful teen daughter Rory. When Rory's attention turns from dreams of private school and Harvard to boys and adolescent self-reliance, single mom Lorelai begins noticing more of her own rebellious youth in Rory.

Main Feature: Gilmore Girls is a time capsule not just for style, catchphrases and the like. It's a microcosm of a kind of TV show that could band people together with a niche love for the genre it was covering. This was a show for mothers and their daughters. It was one that fathers could learn and connect to their female counterparts. This is just wholesome entertainment, a Hallmark move/series before there was the avalanche of such entries. Warner Bros. has released a long-desired Blu-ray set that includes the original series run and the Netflix special season. The HD transfer is of high quality, with the show holding up well, filling a void no longer at the forefront of TV or streaming. Fans will clamor for it, no doubt. 

Bonus Features: Extras amount to basic featurettes and interviews, etc. that, according to my quick research, are nothing new and carryovers from previous season DVD releases. 

Final Call: Call me an idiot, but Gilmore Girls is a fun trip of small-town nostalgia entertainment truly telling of what made some of the 2000s special. 

Grade: B