I recently stumbled across “Muriel’s Wedding” on Blu-Ray and was hesitant to buy it at first – simply because I have seen it countless times on VHS, DVD and on tv. Anyway, I bought and rewatched it – and I’ve never seen the film in such great image quality. I definately recommend getting the digitally restored Blu-Ray to revisit Porpoise Spot and the film itself – still a perfect heartfelt comedy and a timeless classic. So – as the last update for this year and as an early Christmas present to all you visitors – here are Blu-Ray captures from the film in wonderful high definition. Enjoy the Holidays everybody and see you all in 2022.

“Nightmare Alley” opened in US theaters this Friday, unfortunately to a dismal box office revenue. As Forbes let’s us know, “Guillermo del Toro’s very good and very ambitious Nightmare Alley never had a chance. Even with solid reviews and decent buzz, the period piece film noir melodrama earned just $1.192 million yesterday, setting the stage for a $1.95 million opening weekend. That’s below even the over/under $5 million “Covid normal” for the likes of King Richard, The Last Duel and Last Night in Soho, closer to the $2.3 million launch of Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence. Again, these are exactly the kind of big-budget, adult-skewing, star-driven, non-franchise studio programmers everyone claims Hollywood never makes.” The film hasn’t been released in European countries yet (which won’t make a big difference with everything shutting down due to the new Covid variant), so here’s hoping for a swift home-video release. To wrap-up the updates on the film, new pictures, tv spots and a making of featuring an interview with Toni Collette have been added to the site. Enjoy.

While we’re eagerly anticipating next week’s theatrical release of “Nightmare Alley” in the US (and hopefully a press tour for the film that will include at least some virtual appearances by Toni), an international trailer for the United Kingdom has been released, giving us more glimpses of Toni’s Zeena Krumbein, a featurette with a focus on the film’s noir effect, as well as a couple of television spots have been released. All clips can be viewed below and in the video archive.

Better late than never, I’m happy to finally cover one of the COVID film casualties that is “Dream Horse”. After a well received premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the film was postponed, canceled, re-scheduled and postponed again during the chaotic theatre restrictions during the first year of the pandemic. The film finally released theaters in a couple of countries and went straight on-demand in others. Over time, I have almost forgotten that the film even existed, so I was greatly surprised to find it on Blu-Ray a couple of days ago. Screencaptures from the film, an on-set interview and the b-roll have been added to the photo gallery. Make sure to grab your copy or find it on a streaming service, as it’s just the perfect film for a rainy Sunday (or any other day of the week).

Released Thursday by Searchlight Pictures, the trailer for del Toro’s first film since the Oscar-winning Shape of Water teases a neo-noir psychological thriller that features Cooper starring as down on his luck but charismatic “carny” Stanton Carlisle. While at a traveling carnival, Carlisle meets and endears himself to Toni Collette’s clairvoyant Zeena, as well as her mentalist husband Pete, played by David Strathairn. Eventually, with the aid of mysterious psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Blanchett), the duo begin to plot a grift with some newly acquired knowledge, setting their target on dangerous and skeptical tycoon Ezra Grindle, played by Richard Jenkins. In the minute and a half trailer, Cooper’s Carlisle is seen admitting under the pressure of a lie-detector test that he is a medium and someone who can read minds “under the right circumstances.” But when asked if Carlisle is in contact with the beyond, Jenkins’ character responds as Cooper’s character is seen fake fainting in front of a crowd. “We’ve had our fair share of snake charmers in the past. We deal with them,” Grindle ominously promises. Fellow stars Collette, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe and Clifton Collins Jr. also make appearances in the trailer that features a colorful collage of fire, money, violence, blood and deception. Based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel of the same name, with a screenplay co-written by Kim Morgan and del Toro, Cooper and J. Miles Dale serving as producers, Nightmare Alley opens in theaters on Dec. 17.

The stars are aligned for Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” his adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 noir novel that was quickly turned into a 1947 movie starring Tyrone Power. As GoldDerby writes, The Searchlight movie, out December 17 in theaters only, is among the top early contenders for Best Picture and Best Director according to the Gold Derby odds. “Is he man or beast?” Dafoe’s character, who oversees the fringe carnival where Cooper’s Stanton Carlise initially works, intones twice in the teaser – before and after images of tension, fright and oddity flash across the screen. But Stanton isn’t a werewolf, so much as anti-hero whose soul is corrupted by his decisions. “The carnival is almost like a microcosm of the world,” del Toro told Vanity Fair. “Everybody’s there to swindle everybody. But at the same time in the carnival, the [workers] know they need each other. In the city, much less so.”