Bad City Blu-ray Review

 

• Director ‏ : ‎ Kensuke Sonomura
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Hitoshi Ozawa, Akane Sakanoue, Katsuya, Masanori Mimoto, Tak Sakaguchi
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ English
• Language ‏ : ‎ Japanese (DTS 5.1), English (DTS 5.1)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Well Go Usa
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Widescreen, Subtitled
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 58 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2023

 

         Crime and gangster films coming out of Japan have a wide range of styles, approaches, and budgets. While some belong to the low budget Japanese V-Cinema straight-to-video tradition, others are more artistically respected and subtle in their depiction of organized crime and the violence associated with it. Bad City falls somewhere in the middle, leaning into the spectacle without losing sight of realism and becoming entirely exploitation.

 

Aporia Blu-ray Review

 

• Director ‏ : ‎ Jared Moshe
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Judy Greer, Edi Gathegi, Payman Maadi, Faithe Herman
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (DTS 5.1)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Well Go Usa
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Widescreen, Subtitled
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 43 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 12, 2023

         When the independent film Primer (2004) was made and released for $7,000, it proved that the budget of a blockbuster wasn’t necessary to make a time travel film. Since Primer, there have been numerous low budget and independent productions to take on the sci-fi premise. There have been so many indie time-travel movies released that the approach in Aporia feels somewhat unoriginal, despite containing a unique twist on the premise.

 

Persian Lessons Blu-ray Review

 

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• Director ‏ : ‎ Vadim Perelman
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Lars Eidinger
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Cohen Media Group
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ Germany
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 7 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ July 18, 2023

 

        I don’t envy anyone attempting to make a movie about the Holocaust at this point, as these narratives have become so common that the tragedy has turned into cinematic tropes. Aside from the occasionally unexpected unique approach, like Life is Beautiful or Jojo Rabbit, films about the Holocaust have a difficulty standing out. Although Persian Lessons doesn’t attempt to completely reinvent the formula, it does have an original premise, albeit one that requires a moderate ability to suspend disbelief. What helps to sell the storyline is the subtly expressive performance by Nahuel Pérez Biscayart.