Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke play the respective roles of soccer manager and soccer star who butt heads at the 2002 World Cup.

As the Olympic games commence this summer, Variety reports on a new upcoming film about an infamous world sports event. Comedy actor Steve Coogan is set to play former Ireland soccer manager Mick McCarthy along with the fast-rising and BAFTA-nominated Irish star Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment, Lakelands), who will be portraying Manchester United and Ireland soccer legend Roy Keane, in the Irish movie Saipan. McCarthy and Keane would suffer a public falling out and this conflict will be the focus of the film.

Saipan will be helmed by directing duo Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa. Leyburn and D’Sa have also worked together in the past on the critically acclaimed Irish comedy-drama Good Vibrations from 2013, as well as the romance Ordinary Love, which starred Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville from 2019. The duo will be directing from an original script by Paul Fraser, whose past work included the film Dead Man’s Shoes. Production is due to start this summer.

According to Variety, “The film’s title comes from the infamous so-called ‘Saipan Incident’ in 2002, when Keane was captaining the Irish national side ahead of the FIFA World Cup finals in Japan. While preparing on the tiny island of Saipan, the soccer star — known for his hot-headed temperament on and off the field — had a very public, very bitter disagreement with McCarthy, reportedly furious at the training conditions, strategy, travel arrangements, diet and also McCarthy’s competence.

A subsequent interview with Keane in the Irish press sparked a major fallout at the camp, where the footballer is said to have delivered an angry verbal tirade at McCarthy in front of his teammates, telling him to ‘stick your World Cup up your arse’ before flying back to Ireland (although McCarthy later stated he had sent him home). The incident caused a huge controversy in Irish society over who was to blame and Keane wouldn’t play for his country again until 2004, after McCarthy had stepped down as manager.”

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

A trailer for the 1986-set coming-of-age film The 4:30 Movie, the 16th feature from director Kevin Smith, has arrived online

Last Updated on July 30, 2024

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres on September 13th. Smith showed a trailer for the film to fans who attended his Hall H panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this past Saturday… and now that trailer has made its way online. Check it out in the embed above!

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

Austin Zajur (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks), and Reed Northrup (High Maintenance) play the sixteen year old friends, with Siena Agudong (Resident Evil) as the dream girl. Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Sam Richardson (Veep), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk), Justin Long (Barbarian), Jason Lee (Almost Famous), Rachel Dratch (I Love My Dad), Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory), Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog), Harley Quinn Smith (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), and Method Man (Power Book II: Ghost) are also in the cast.

The 4:30 Movie was filmed at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey, a theatre Smith now co-owns and used to hang out in every weekend when he was a teenager. Liz Destro, Josh Bachove, and Jordan Monsanto produced, with Bill Bromiley, Shanan Becker, and Jonathan Saba executive producing.

What did you think of the trailer for The 4:30 Movie? Will you be catching this movie on the big screen later this year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The Revisited series takes a look back at the 1991 film The Guyver, starring Mark Hamill, directed by Steve Wang and Screaming Mad George

A new episode of the Revisited video series has just been released, and with this one we’re looking back at the 1991 science fiction tokusatsu film The Guyver (watch it HERE)! You can hear all about it in the video embedded above.

Directed by Steve Wang and special effects legend Screaming Mad George from a screenplay by Jon Purdy that was based on the Japanese manga series Bio Booster Armor Guyver by Yoshiki Takaya, The Guyver has the following synopsis: When a researcher at the Chronos Corporation is mysteriously killed, his daughter ; her boyfriend, Sean; and a rogue CIA agent named Max Reed all suspect foul play. Sean discovers a top-secret suit of Chronos armor called “the Guyver,” which fuses to his body when he tries it on, turning him into a supremely powerful cyborg. Chronos’ evil CEO, Fulton Balcus, is enraged and sends a crew of mutant alien monsters to get the Guyver back.

The film stars Jack Armstrong, Mark Hamill, Vivian Wu, David Gale, Michael Berryman, Jimmie Walker, Peter Spellos, Spice Williams-Crosby, Willard E. Pugh, Jeffrey Combs, David Wells, Linnea Quigley, and Greg Paik. Re-Animator producer Brian Yuzna was the producer behind it.

The The Guyver episode of Revisited was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Tyler Nichols, Produced by Tyler Nichols and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Are you a fan of The Guyver? Let us know by leaving a comment below. This is a movie I definitely need to “revisit,” as I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the whole thing. I just remember catching glimpses of it and the 1994 sequel Guyver: Dark Hero on cable back in the day.

Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!

AppleTV+’s hit sci-fi series with an all-star cast has now secured a premiere date for its second season, according to Comingsoon.net. Season 2 of Silo will be starting on the streamer on Friday, November 15. The series will begin premiering weekly on Apple TV+ and will be dropping a new episode every Friday following its premiere until the finale airs on January 17, 2025. The logline for the series reads, “In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo.”

Yost had this to say about Silo getting a season 2: “We cannot wait for audiences around the world to immerse themselves in the epic world we have created to bring Hugh Howey’s novels to life. Apple has believed in our vision from day one and it’s an honor to have the opportunity to dig deeper into this story and peel back the layers to our characters in the Silo.“

Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, provided the following statement: “It has been enormously fulfilling to see the engrossing, atmospheric and beautifully crafted sci-fi epic Silo quickly become Apple’s number one drama series. As audiences around the world have become gripped by the mysteries and conspiracies buried within this fascinating subterranean world, viewership only continues to climb, and we are so excited for more secrets of the silo to be revealed in season two.“

The series has an impressive cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson (Doctor Sleep), Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption), David Oyelowo (Selma), Common (John Wick: Chapter 2), and Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation).

Howey began his series in 2011, and attempts to bring those stories to the screen have been coming and going since 2012. Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian were going to produce a film adaptation for 20th Century Fox. LaToya Morgan was developing a Silo series for AMC. Writer Graham Yost (Speed) is the behind the Apple TV+ Silo series and serves as an executive producer on it alongside Ferguson, Howey, Remi Aubuchon, Fred Golan, Nina Jack, Ingrid Escajeda, and director Morten Tyldum.

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Lestat joins a rock band in Interview with the Vampire season 3, and AMC has just released his first single, “Long Face”

Just last month, AMC announced that they had ordered a third season of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire – and that with season 3, the show would be moving on to the events of the second novel in Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series, The Vampire Lestat! In this story, Lestat becomes the frontman in a rock band, something that carries over into the events of the third book, The Queen of the Damned. That’s why those books were mashed together for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, where Lestat’s singing voice was provided by Jonathan Davis of Korn. If you’ve been curious to hear what Lestat’s singing voice will sound like on the Interview with the Vampire TV series, AMC has you covered: they’ve just released Lestat’s first single, “Long Face,” and you can check it out in the embed above.

Here’s the synopsis for Interview with the Vampire season 3: Resentful of the perfunctory portrayal in the trashy bestseller Interview With the Vampire, the Vampire Lestat sets his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can — by starting a band and going on tour. Gabrielle. Nicholas. Magnus. Marius. Those Who Must Be Kept. They join Louis, Armand, Molloy, Sam, Raglan, Fareed and others we can’t tell you about yet on a sexy pilgrimage across space, time and trauma. No Auto-Tuning. No Trigger Warnings. All Feels Amplified.

Season 2 of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire starred Sam Reid as the vampire Lestat; Jacob Anderson as Lestat’s companion Louis de Pointe du Lac; Assad Zaman as Rashid, Louis’ companion in present day; Kalyne Coleman as Louis’ sister Grace; Christian Robinson as Levi, an upstanding Baptist who has won Grace’s heart; and Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime. For season 2, Ben Daniels (Foundation) joins the cast as the vampire Santiago. And while Bailey Bass played the vampire Claudia in the first season, Delainey Hayles takes over the role in the second season. Guest stars include David Costabile (Suits) as Leonard, “a seasoned TV personality who has a run-in with Molloy”; Roxane Duran (Riviera) as Madeleine, and Bally Gill (Slow Horses) as “Real Rashid.”

Alan Taylor, who directed the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, executive produces Interview with the Vampire and directed the first two episodes of the show. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul producer Mark Johnson is overseeing the building of AMC’s Vampire Chronicles franchise. Rolin Jones, co-creator and showrunner on the first season of the HBO series Perry Mason, is the creator, showrunner, and writer of the Interview with the Vampire series. Jones and Johnson executive produce the show alongside Taylor. Anne Rice’s son Christopher Rice is also on board as executive producer, and Rice receives an executive producer credit as well.

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times about Interview with the Vampire season 3, Jones said, “Lestat becomes a rock star. Let’s start there. We’re going to do a lot with that and are excited about potentially working with Daniel Hart who’s done the music for the first two seasons. We’re going to try to beat Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rocky Horror. We’re about to try to make a little pop masterpiece.“

Are you looking forward to Interview with the Vampire season 3? What did you think of Lestat’s first single? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

After a month of playing on the big screen, the A Quiet Place spin-off A Quiet Place: Day One is getting a digital release this week

The sci-fi horror A Quiet Place franchise headed to New York with its latest entry, A Quiet Place: Day One, which received a theatrical release on June 28th (you can read our review at THIS LINK) – and after a month of play on the big screen, the film is now set to receive a digital release tomorrow, July 30th! The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD SteelBook physical media release will follow on October 8th.

While John Krasinski directed the previous two films, he produced A Quiet Place: Day One and passed the helming duties over to Michael Sarnoski, director of the Nicolas Cage drama Pig (watch it HERE). Jeff Nichols (The Bikeriders) was attached to write and direct A Quiet Place: Day One for a while, but when he dropped out he was replaced by Sarnoski. The story, which is credited to Krasinski and Sarnoski, does take place in the same world established in the first two movies, but doesn’t involve the Abbott family, the characters we followed through the first two movies. Deadline’s sources said that after seeing Pig and being blown away by the film, Krasinski was quick to put Sarnoski on the short list of directors to take a meeting for the project. While insiders say Sarnoski’s vision for the film was still his own and different from what Krasinski had done with the first two, he still gave a pitch that fit the tone of the world they had created and felt he was the perfect fit for their next installment.

Krasinski produced A Quiet Place: Day One under his Sunday Night banner, while Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller producing through their company Platinum Dunes. Krasinski’s Sunday Night partner Allyson Seeger served as executive producer.

The film stars 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Alex Wolff of Hereditary and Pig, and Joseph Quinn, who is better known as Eddie Munson from the most recent season of Stranger Things. Djimon Hounsou, who played “Man on Island” in A Quiet Place: Part II, reprises that role here.

Here’s the official synopsis: Experience the day the world went quiet in this terrifying continuation of the A Quiet Place universe. When Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) returns home to New York City, her simple trip turns into a harrowing nightmare when mysterious creatures that hunt by sound attack. Accompanied by her cat Frodo and an unexpected ally (Joseph Quinn), Samira must embark on a perilous journey through the city that has suddenly gone silent, where the only rule is to stay quiet to stay alive.

A press release notes that fans who purchase the film on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, or Blu-ray will have access to over 50 minutes of thrilling bonus content. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how the attack on New York was filmed and how the crew built and destroyed a massive Manhattan set. Hear from cast and filmmakers as they discuss the characters’ dangerous journey of survival, plus see deleted and extended scenes not shown in theatres. Bonus content: – Day Zero: Beginnings and Endings—Hear from John Krasinski, cast, and crew as director Michael Sarnoski takes the reins for this character-driven prequel. – In the City: Chaos in Chinatown—See how the production crew recreated Manhattan from scratch in order to destroy it. Plus, hear from some new and familiar faces from the franchise. – The Exodus: Against the Tide—Go behind-the-scenes of the exodus sequence that employed over a hundred extras and a clever mix of practical and visual effects. – The Long Walk: Monsters in Midtown—Meet Frodo the cat and the animal trainers behind the fantastic feline performance. Plus, filmmakers detail Sam, Eric, and Frodo’s long walk through the city. – Pizza at the End of the World—Hear from cast and crew about why a quest for pizza when the world is under attack poignantly speaks to our humanity. – Deleted and Extended Scenes

Are you glad to hear that A Quiet Place: Day One is getting a digital release this week? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

George Lazenby, who played James Bond only once — in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — announced he is done with acting.

George Lazenby will return in…nothing, actually. Lazenby, a literal one-time James Bond portrayer, has announced at the age of 84 that he has retired. You might even be surprised to know that he was still working, but Lazenby has occasionally been appearing in various movies over the past few years.

In a social media post this week, George Lazenby wrote, “This hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s time to announce my retirement from work. Therefore, I won’t be doing any more acting or making public appearances, doing any more interviews or signing any more autographs as of today. It’s been a fun ride but getting older is no fun. I would like to thank my manager and friend, Anders Frejah, for helping me since 2013 – the best representative I ever had. I can now concentrate on spending more time with my family. My sincere gratitude to everyone out there for your love and support over the years. It has meant a lot to me. George xx.”

Unlike every other 007, George Lazenby actually made his feature debut as James Bond in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, taking over temporarily for Sean Connery, who would return for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever (hey, a $1.25 million salary was tough to turn down back then). That distinction of only having ever played Bond once gives Lazenby a special place in movie history. He, too, was the youngest Bond ever, playing the character at the age of 29.

But one couldn’t possibly say that George Lazenby was only that. The Australian-born actor should also be respected for working across an array of genres that included everything from epics (Gettysburg) and giallo (Who Saw Her Die?) to Asian action flicks (The Man from Hong Kong) and TV dramas (you name it!). According to IMDb, Lazenby currently has two movies slated for release: Z Dead End and Mundije 2, both of which he plays the US President in.

While lacking much of an impact following On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, George Lazenby will always be James Bond, and so will always be mentioned whenever a new 007 is cast. And for what it’s worth, Lazenby has thrown his support behind Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

What is your favorite George Lazenby performance? Share your pick below!

Now that audiences have seen Eddie Murphy return to the new Beverly Hills Cop, we look back at a one-off action film in his resume.

After years of dwelling in development hell, Eddie Murphy has finally returned to his iconic cop character, Axel Foley, in the new Netflix sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. When Murphy broke out with both 48 Hrs and the 1984 original, he became a powerhouse as a comedic actor with a penchant for crossing over into action. However, he was never quite fully seen as an action star like Bruce Willis was when he overshadowed his career in Moonlighting with the movie Die Hard. In the ’90s, Murphy tried to take a swing at a more serious tone with the action vehicle Metro from 1997. And we take a look at this less-talked-about film movie his filmography on this entry of Revisited.

When it comes to Murphy and cop characters, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to the cultural milestone that is Axel Foley. It’s the perfect marriage of comedy and action as the character is a good detective who has a talent for using his street smarts to crack his cases, all while using his quick-thinking, fast-talking abilities to con his way through a myriad of situations.

When it came time to do part 3, among the number of behind-the-scenes stories about the production, it was said that Eddie had wanted to play Axel more serious in that entry. According to Bronson Pinchot, who portrayed Serge in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, when he did his scenes with Eddie, he noticed that he was in low spirits since he was coming off of a number of recent flops. After being tied to a certain personality for a large chunk of his career, it’s understandable that at a certain point, Murphy would likely want to change things up and explore more of his range. And since Murphy wanted to play Axel more seriously, certain scenes would explore that a bit as Axel showcased a sliver of a temper when he took the murder of Chief Inspector Todd very personally. Beverly Hills Cop III didn’t hit with fans for many reasons and the more serious action film that Murphy would hope for would come in the form of Metro.

Right off the bat, you’re treated to an ominous, but flashy credit sequence. There’s no pop song in this opening. It’s gritty and the temperature of the vibe feels cold, despite taking place in another area of sunny California. We’re introduced to Murphy playing Scott Roper — a hostage negotiator for the San Francisco Police Department. The film eases us in with some early levity as Roper is revealed to be playing the ponies and he throws a humorous fit when his horse doesn’t come in.

From there, we get a sequence that shows why Roper is one of the best at his practice. A hysterical bank robber, played here by Donal Logue – who would be showing up in Blade a year later — has taken hostages when his attempted robbery goes wrong. Roper goes in for a face-to-face and the tension keeps ratcheting up with every second the robber gets more unhinged. Murphy doesn’t try to humorously fast-talk his way through this situation, he instead tries to be a calming as possible as one guard has already been shot and a room full of frightened people are at the whim of a madman. This whole scene sets up what an astute analytical mind Roper has and how he can calculate a situation in mere seconds.

The kind of science that goes into reading a hostage situation is explored more as Roper gets a new partner – Kevin McCall, played by Michael Rapaport. McCall is a sharpshooter on the force who is graduating into the negotiator field. And Roper is taking him under his wing. There isn’t too much by way of a buddy cop comedy here, as it becomes the C-plot in the movie. But what IS there is pretty fun as the duo have a good dynamic and the scenes of negotiation training are interesting. The film would have definitely benefitted from more of this plot and to show the audience more about what goes into perfecting their talent. The funniest scene in Metro also comes from this plot and looks like it might be only part where Eddie was willing to go all out improvising as he plays the voice of the hostage taker during a training simulation.

Another subplot where some of the comedy comes from is when Roper dances around rekindling the romance between him and his ex, Veronica, played by Carmen Ejogo. It’s implied that she and Roper used to have a pretty serious relationship, even having a dog, with whom they now share custody. We’re introduced to the fractured couple as Scott wants to get back with Veronica, and he’s bothered by the fact that she’s seeing a baseball player. This subplot builds some character, but for the most part, it gets pretty cliched as it’s revealed that it was Scott’s preoccupation with work that pushed Veronica away. And while the two are sometimes at odds, there are also some bright spots in the relationship as they try to recapture some of the magic and Eddie gets to play around with some fun flirty humor.

The first 20 or so minutes are kept light enough that Murphy gets to indulge in familiar territory. Then, the movie switches gears when the main story starts. Scott’s friend, Lt. Sam Baffett, played here by Art Evans, wants to make a quick stop to question a possible lead on a case he’s working on. Baffett meets with a man named Michael Korda, portrayed by Michael Wincott. Korda starts very mild-mannered and unassuming until his true nature is revealed and he murders Sam rather brutally. Scott finds Sam’s body and starts pursuing Korda. And this pursuit would go on for the rest of the film.

While people may be getting Beverly Hills Cop déjà vu with this plot device, it’s here that you can see the juxtaposition in the characters played by Eddie. In Metro, although Eddie once again partakes in a quest to find a close friend’s killer, his Scott Roper has a darker edge to him as he becomes obsessed with vengeance. When they finally meet face-to-face, Korda develops his own personal rivalry with Roper and the two engage in a game of cat and mouse throughout the movie. This becoming more personal with both men is what really amps up the tension and makes Metro a heavier kind of film.

Eddie’s Roper is a master of keeping cool during hostage situations, but when Korda attempts to hit him in his personal life, he doesn’t hold back one bit. Wincott brings his own intensity to the table, which is especially jarring when we’re introduced to him as a pretty personable, cultured guy. Then he puts his gruff voice to work and his Korda straddles the line of a psycho killer.

Where Metro excels Beverly Hills Cop is in the action and thrills department. The numerous hostage negotiation scenes put our hero characters in uncertain situations where the factors can effectively build up the suspense. After we’re given a more basic scenario in the beginning, later in the movie, Korda makes his own stand off and plays with different rules that shows Roper that he’s dealing with someone of a different breed. And when things go to hell, the action gets going as we’re treated to a lengthy chase scene through the streets of San Francisco. It’s a pretty fun sequence and the movie takes advantage of the city’s treacherous roads. Interestingly, when Metro was in production, Michael Bay’s The Rock was hitting theaters and featured a very similar sequence with a high-speed chase through the same streets. You even see an ad for The Rock in the background of one of the shots. They both even involve the city’s famous cable cars in their respective chases.

The action and suspense scenes in Metro are plentiful. It’s easy to see that this is what Eddie had in mind when he wasn’t enthusiastic about doing Beverly Hills Cop III. Metro opened on the Martin Luther King holiday weekend of 1997 and would actually place 2nd under Chris Farley’s Beverly Hills Ninja. The movie would gross $74 million globally on a $55 million budget. Thomas Carter, who directed the film, admitted that he probably shouldn’t have made it an R-rated movie and thinks that it was a factor in the lukewarm reception. The film was never regarded as one of Eddie’s best, but he mentions in an interview with our own Chris Bumbray that he likes the film. Michael Rapaport, however, was less forgiving as he calls the movie, “Wack.” And he said, “It was really disappointing to me. The banter, the sh**-talking that you hear me doing here, we were trying to do that but the director was trying to do some other sh**. He thought he was making Seven.“

The film has its cult of fans, with many thinking it had the teeth that Beverly Hills Cop III was lacking. Or that it was a welcome change of pace for Eddie. So, now that Axel F is out, but you’d like to see what a more intense action film with Eddie is like, give Metro a look.

A surprising amount of prominent, classic movies are unavailable on disc or streaming, including classics like Dawn of the Dead, The Beach and Strange Days.

Recently, I wrote an article about how Ron Howard’s Cocoon was hard to find in any format. It came out on DVD many years ago but went out of print and has never been issued on Blu-ray. You also can’t find it digitally on any platform. This is a perfect example of why you should always hang on to your physical media, as I’m lucky enough to own the now out-of-print DVD of that movie, and while it’s far from an ideal copy, it’s something. 

But that got me thinking. What other movies are hard to find? I opened up the forum on Twitter, and I was shocked by how many prominent films aren’t available digitally and have gone out of print on disc, making them all the more precious for collectors. At the same time, there are some happy endings, such as Martin Campbell’s No Escape, which got a beautiful Blu-ray recently; too many of these films are caught up in legal limbo (or studio antipathy). 

Here are 10:

The Beach:

Danny Boyle’s adaptation of the classic Alex Garland novel has always been controversial. The casting of this movie led to a long-term rift with Ewan McGregor (who was supposed to play the lead) which was only healed when they re-teamed to do T2: Trainspotting. Leonardo DiCaprio wound up playing the role, and the film received mixed reviews when it came out. It’s actually quite a good movie, with it sporting Boyle’s classic, frenzied energy and a killer soundtrack of 2000-era electronica gems. It also led to Boyle and Garland collaborating on 28 Days Later; the rest is history. However, The Beach has never been out in North America on Blu-ray, although unlike some movies on this list, it’s easy to find digitally. You can buy a copy in HD on most digital retailers, and it’s streaming on Disney Plus in Canada and Hulu in the U.S. Still, a physical media release would be nice. 

Cocoon: 

The one that started it all. How does a movie that won Don Ameche an Oscar and revitalized the careers of Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, and the great Wilford Brimley go out of print? This is the movie that made Ron Howard an A-list director, and it was enough of a smash hit that it spawned a (pretty crappy) sequel, which, ironically, is very easy to find. What’s going on here? Disney may be working on a significant restoration, but it’s been gone for a long time.

Strange Days: 

Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days was a major flop when it came out in 1995 but has since been reevaluated as a classic. As it stars Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Lewis and Angela Bassett and is widely considered one of the greatest films of the nineties, some significant release – possibly through a company like Criterion would seem like a no-brainer. However, Disney has been sitting on this one for a while now, with the likely culprit being that James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment owns the movie. Presumably, any redux has to be cleared by him. With The Abyss, True Lies and Aliens all getting 4K re-releases, Strange Days may be coming. This one is streaming on Max but in the wrong aspect ratio. The existing DVD is non-anamorphic, meaning it gets window-boxed on your TV unless you stretch it out.

Showtime: 

This minor Eddie Murphy/ Robert De Niro comedy made a decent amount of coin when it came out, but it wasn’t a blockbuster. Yet, it’s a decent little action comedy, with a funny performance by William Shatner as himself. While it came out on DVD in an excellent anamorphic transfer, and you can buy it digitally in HD, it’s never been issued on Blu-ray.

Dawn of the Dead: 

This one comes with a caveat. George A. Romero’s zombie classic has been released on a beautiful 4K disc internationally and is region-free. Yet, it still needs to get a North American release on 4K and isn’t available digitally, which is a shame. Younger horror fans watch most of their stuff this way, and one hates to think they could be missing out on one of the genre’s best movies. Dawn of the Dead recently got a theatrical re-release for its 45th anniversary via Redband releasing. So, perhaps a North American 4K Blu-ray release isn’t far off.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar: 

This 1977 film helped establish Diane Keaton as a star and was a significant hit. It’s based on the true story of a teacher who was played the bar scene in the early seventies and was eventually murdered by a man she had a one-night stand with. It’s a haunting film with a disturbing ending, but very hard to find. It’s only ever been released on VHS and Laserdisc, with rights issues surrounding the film’s music, which is what’s kept this in limbo. It doesn’t help that Paramount Pictures is famously slow regarding releasing library titles. Again, this would be a great one for the Criterion Collection.

UPDATE: This is apparently streaming on Paramount Plus in Europe, but NOT North America.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: 

We recently covered this movie in our series Fantasizing About Fantasy Films, which was available on DVD/ Blu-ray for a while. Yet, Disney has vaulted this Ray Bradbury adaptation, and you can’t stream it or buy it digitally, either.

The Blood of Heroes (aka Salute of the Jugger):

This post-apocalyptic action movie comes from David Webb Peoples, the writer of Blade Runner, Unforgiven and Soldier. It was a rare directorial effort that reteamed him with Rutger Hauer, who stars opposite a young Joan Chen and Vincent D’Onofrio. Legal rights limbo has kept this one obscure in North America, with various cuts circulating in bad transfers. Hopefully, it gets some kind of restoration, and it’s a neat little sci-fi movie.

John Woo’s Hong Kong Films: 

Recently, John Woo mentioned that he would love to restore his Hong Kong classics with a company like Criterion, but that the rights to most of the movies are caught up in legal limbo. The Killer and Hard Boiled are streaming and on Blu-ray (albeit in interlaced transfers), but A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 and Bullet in the Head are MIA.

The Heartbreak Kid:

Elaine May is a revered figure on film Twitter, but her biggest hit, The Heartbreak Kid, which got remade by the Farrelly Bros, is impossible to find. This is a shame as it’s one of star Charles Gordon’s best movies and features two Oscar-nominated performances by Jeannie Berlin (also May’s daughter) and Eddie Albert. 

What titles have we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The official trailer for Hellboy: The Crooked Man has arrived out of SDCC, trying to stand on its own outside of its predecessors + Interviews from SDCC!

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is inviting you to “witness the birth of all evil” as the official trailer for the upcoming adaptation of the comic book character has dropped. And yes, that includes a raccoon that buries itself in your mouth.

While we have already seen Jack Kesy in character as Big Red and even got a teaser release earlier this month, this full-length trailer gives a better idea of just what Kesy hopes to bring to Hellboy and more of what the plot entails. It, too, shows off the visual style that looks to be fittingly in line with the styling of the comic series – which comes from writer Mike Mignola and Dark Horse – while also bringing forth the horror elements. It, too, could serve as a tribute to late artist Richard Corben, who passed away in 2020.

The Crooked Man finds “Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia. There, they discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man. In the comic, The Crooked Man was an eighteenth-century miser and war profiteer named Jeremiah Witkins who was hanged for his crimes yet returned from Hell as the region’s resident Devil.”

Fans are rightly skeptical of another Hellboy movie…at least if it’s not going to star Ron Perlman and be directed by Guillermo del Toro. Sure, we all want Hellboy 3 with that duo and most of us – David Harbour included – know just how bad the 2019 effort was, but visually The Crooked Man looks like it’s trying to stand on its own. That it has a budget of just $25 million – which is half of the previous movie – might put some people off, but hopefully it is stretched creatively.

But wait – there’s more! We also interviewed the cast members, Jack Kesy, Jefferson White (Yellowstone), Adeline Rudolph, director Brian Taylor (Crank) and the creator of the character himself, Mike Mignola! Check out the interviews below directly from Comic Con!

What do you think of the official trailer for Hellboy: The Crooked Man? Are you more excited than you were after the teaser? Chime in in the comments section below.