Female Filmmakers in Focus: Rebecca Miller on “Mr. Scorsese” (October 1, 2025)
The work of filmmaker and historian Martin Scorsese needs no introduction. The director behind countless iconic and award-winning films like “Taxi Driver,” “The Departed,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” has been a part of the American film firmament for over half a century. At the same time, his tireless work preserving and promoting world cinema history is practically unparalleled.
It is on this vast canvas that filmmaker Rebecca Miller paints “Mr. Scorsese,” her five-episode exploration of Scorsese, the man. Miller aims to look deeper into Scorsese’s soul via interviews with the filmmaker himself, his long-time collaborators and companions like Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Isabella Rossellini, contemporaries like Brian De Palma, Paul Schrader, and Steven Spielberg, and even childhood friends and his three daughters, Catherine, Domenica, and Francesca. Miller weaves their insightful observations and anecdotes about Scorsese at various points in his life with footage from Scorsese’s many projects to interrogate the connections between his personal and professional lives, which often blur into one indistinguishable body of work.
No stranger to the limelight herself, Miller is the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and photographer Inge Morath. She attended Yale University, where she studied painting and literature. In the 1980s, Miller began showing her work at galleries, often including non-verbal films to accompany the exhibits. In the early 1990s, she had supporting roles in films by the likes of Alan J. Pakula, Paul Mazursky, and Mike Nichols. In 1995, her debut feature film “Angela” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Her next film, “Personal Velocity: Three Portraits,” was adapted from short stories from her own book, which had been named the best book of the year by The Washington Post in 2001. She directed her husband, Daniel Day-Lewis, in the father-daughter drama “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” in 2005, and adapted her own writing again for the 2009 ensemble dramedy, “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.” She followed that up with the screwball comedy “Maggie’s Plan” starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore. Her most recent film, “She Came to Me,” opened the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. With her first foray into documentary filmmaking, 2017’s “Arthur Miller: Writer,” she turned her lens inward, exploring her father’s storied life and career.
For this month’s Female Filmmakers in Focus column, RogerEbert.com spoke to Miller about crafting a portrait of Martin Scorsese, the man, through the lens of his film work, finding the story in the editing process, and what it’s like to connect with another artist on a deeply personal level.
Scorsese has had such a long career. What was the genesis of the project?
It was really gradual. It was something that was generated independently. My producing partner, Damon Cardasis, and I were discussing who my next subject would be for a documentary, who we might want to make a film about. I immediately mentioned Marty. We started working on it at the beginning of the pandemic. We did the first two interviews on my porch because we had to. We self-financed the first couple because it was just our friends coming to shoot it. It was very independent, leading from the front, which is what I like to do. Then we began to accrue material because Marty was all for it. He wanted to do it. We had access to some archives, including those of his company. Then Apple came on board. Then I still thought that I was making a feature film for over a year, but then I realized I couldn’t fit in. I had to expand. I really felt it needed to be multiple parts.
Damon Cardasis and Cindy Tolan, my producers, were really behind the idea. So, my editor, David Bartner, and I started sketching it out. First, we thought it was two episodes; then we began to realize that it had a structure quite different from what I thought. We really started busting down the walls and realizing, no, this is a long piece of work. It’s five hours instead of an hour and a half. That’s when we began this other, big journey, and luckily, Apple and Molly Thompson, who was the executive that we worked with there, who was the head of docs there, were very open to it. That’s one of the good things about our time now, that a filmmaker has that elasticity.
The structure reminded me a bit of “The Last Movie Stars,” Ethan Hawke‘s documentary about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, which is also, I think, six parts. That length allows you to really delve into the various eras of a talent and how their careers evolve as their personal lives change. Was that on your radar at all while you were working on this, even though they were being made seemingly in parallel?
I believe that’s true. I think I saw it a little later, but by then, we knew what we were doing in terms of the number of episodes.
Obviously, you’ve made a documentary about your father, Arthur Miller, and you’ve made a lot of feature films. I’m always curious about filmmakers who go back and forth between documentary and narrative. If you find one more challenging than the other? They’re such different modes of filmmaking, unless you talk to Werner Herzog.
The big difference is that you don’t have a script for a documentary, or I don’t have a script for a documentary. So the editing is the writing, if you see what I’m saying. You have the words or the units of energy, which are the pieces of film, and then you’re putting them together in certain formatting for the set grammar or sentences, which are film sentences, right? And so that’s the process of writing, whereas with a screenplay and a narrative movie, I have a screenplay which I work on for a long time.
Now, it’s true that sometimes when I’m shooting a screenplay, it changes, and certainly when you’re cutting a feature film, the order of scenes can change. You cut scenes, you manipulate scenes. And there is an element of rewriting in feature film work, but, for the most part, the writing, in my case, has been done prior, whereas in documentary, you might have a sense of what the structure of the whole thing is, but you really are making it up as you go along.
One thing that I think is particularly important to Scorsese, both as a person and a filmmaker, is his relationship with faith. I love the way your film starts with him wanting to be a priest and sort of weaves in and out of his relationship with faith, much like a roller coaster. Was that something you knew early on was going to be a through line, or did you find that in the final edit?
That was one of the things that drew me to him in the first place, actually, was knowing about his Catholicism. Then, knowing that some of the films were quite violent, he obviously had a fascination with those worlds. I thought, How do those things go together? I had an instinct, a hunch, that the spiritual journey was at the core of his whole life, but I didn’t know how. I think one of the journeys that I was on, and that you’re on when you’re watching it, is seeing how. How does that way of looking at the world go with the films? How did they create the films? And how do even the films that seem the furthest away from a religious point of view actually fit in with that point of view? To me, that was very, very interesting.
He is talked about as a violent filmmaker, but Scorsese’s violence really feels like internal violence that gets externalized, because these men don’t know any other way. But I never really knew that that was something Scorsese had in himself. It was really refreshing to have him discuss that. Was that something he talked about early on, or was it after several sessions that he felt comfortable talking about that?
I think we reached that point, possibly around the third or fourth interview, which would have been about eight or nine hours into our conversations. It was a way in. I used the films as stepping stones in terms of chronology, so I would know where I was going, but I was also following the breadcrumbs in terms of how he wanted to tell the story and flesh out the life around the films.
There were a few films and projects that were left out that, as a fan, made me a bit sad. “Bringing Out The Dead” has a little bit of a mention. “Hugo,” I think there was a poster in the background at one point, and then “Boardwalk Empire,” there wasn’t anything. At one point, did you have an expansive version where you covered everything, or were you selective from the start?
First of all, the documentary is not a filmography, so it’s essential to keep that in mind. Because of this man’s truly Shakespearean output, some films are not covered. One of the things I was afraid of was that it would become a list film, like often happens with documentaries on great filmmakers or artists, where the format is “and then he did this, and then he did this, and then he did this.” And that’s not what this film was. This film is really about the dance between the filmmaker, the artist, and the man, and how the man created the films, and how the films, in turn, created the man. It’s this back and forth, back and forth.
Something like “Hugo,” in a way, is such a big subject that I would almost have to really make a diversion because it is a massive subject. I think it’s an absolutely fantastic film. So it has nothing to do with that. It’s more that I wasn’t able to embed it in terms of the storytelling. And that’s where, unfortunately, you know, the cruelty of having to cut stuff comes in. I mean, it’s terrible, but you can’t include everything. Like his television work, many of his documentaries are not covered. If I had started to try, you would also reach a point where, if you don’t shape something and don’t make strong choices to shape it, then the edit starts to diffuse the energy.
I love that you called it a portrait, which is a nice callback to your film “Personal Velocity.” But I also like that you called it a portrait because it really is an exploration of how the art reflects him, as opposed to, like you said, a filmography. Whereas, if you were doing a film called “Scorsese: Filmmaker,” then you would absolutely need to do a deep dive into “Hugo,” because it’s so deep about his love of the craft and history of film.
Absolutely. Then what you’re saying is central to why I called it a portrait, because a portrait implies somebody is making the portrait. And if that’s my portrait of him, the way I see him, then I’m telling the truth as I saw it, and it leaves room for examination by other people. We do deal with thirty-two films, and that’s a lot, but you’re absolutely right. That’s correct.
You’ve spoken with many of his collaborators, and I was wondering if there were anyone you would have hoped to include but weren’t able to, or if there were any bits that ended up on the cutting room floor during the shaping process?
Inevitably, some things are good but cannot be included. It’s also true of feature films. With “Maggie’s Plan,” there were forty-five minutes of dialogue that were cut from that film. That’s because very often somebody looks at someone, and in a movie that says more, you know, a picture’s worth a thousand words. Sometimes I write more than I need so that I can figure out what lands the best. However, similarly, there were some incredible stories, but another story made the point even better. You don’t want to repeat too much, as this can exhaust the viewer. You also have to keep feeding them. It’s about the drip feed of information, and how to keep pulling a viewer in.
Films are a kind of hypnosis, right? You make a pact with the viewer, so it’s all about how to keep that string taut. You land the fish, and then you have to keep the string taut; if you’re too diffuse, the string gets slack, and the fish escapes. And you want the fish to come all the way through the series, to watch the whole thing. The big tension, for me, was how to keep the viewer’s attention while telling this story, which is also this man’s life, without making it a list or a filmography. Because it still has to function as a film.
I don’t know that I’d ever really heard his two older daughters speak about what it was like to be his daughter during those various eras of his career. He’s someone who has had a kid, it seems like, every fifteen years. I think it’s Domenica who says it was almost like each of them had a different dad. What was the process of speaking with his daughters and getting such personal stories from them?
Well, it was a privilege to be able to talk to them. I love how really different the three women are. They’re all different. They’re all partly reflections of the period of his life when they were born. With Catherine, you can still feel the shadow of his mother and the neighborhood, as she was deeply entrenched in that part of the family, and you could sense it. Then you have Domenica, and the era in which she lived is part of her. It’s the same with Francesca; it’s fascinating. It’s really interesting how that happens.
I was curious if you felt any parallels, as a daughter raised by a very famous creator, to any of their stories?
Well, I also have a half-brother and half-sister from an earlier marriage, and I ended up in the marriage that lasted. It’s a layering, and it’s complex. And so I was able to understand that domain, that sort of geometry, pretty well.
As a filmmaker, making a film about a filmmaker, was there anything in talking with him or talking with his collaborators that helped you grow as an artist, or think about the art differently?
I think endlessly, and I don’t even know yet, because I haven’t made another film yet. But I do feel it’s a bit like I went to graduate school. I do think that’s what happened. I went to graduate school. I got to sit at the feet of one of the greatest film artists that’s ever lived. I got to listen to him, talk to him, think about and unpack his films, watch them again and again, and revisit some of the films that influenced him. I don’t know yet the impact of all that absorption. You don’t really know how an education like that will affect you.
He has a wealth of cinematic knowledge and love, and I really appreciated the way you incorporated that throughout this film, providing little clips so that, similarly, if you’re a young student watching this film, it serves as a guideline to try to discover those films for yourself. Was that part of why you wanted to include film clips?
Absolutely. No man is an island, and he synthesized enormous amounts of influence and made it his own, metabolized it and made it his own, and then invented things that had never really been presented before. He very much, really, completely submerged himself in cinema in general. I would also say that he is really almost like a film evangelist.
His belief in cinema as an art form is so tremendous. There’s the Film Foundation and the work that he does in terms of preserving film, saving films, working with young filmmakers who wouldn’t necessarily have a voice, giving them the chance to make films. He is always looking for ways to advance this art form. I wasn’t able to make that aspect a significant part of this documentary, as I was telling a story, but it is such an important part of his life.
I think one of his daughters mentions that he’s always working. Did you find that to be true? Was it hard to schedule him, because he’s clearly always working on something?
I have to say, I think that because of the pandemic, because he was unable to work for a while, he couldn’t make films. Nobody could make films. It put him into this place, both of interest, but also just being stuck in his study, and he was really excited to get out of there. So he traveled upstate and was on our porch. We did those first interviews, and that helped a great deal. He had all this extra time. By the time he could work again, we had established the roots, and he was committed. We then continued on as the protocol changed, and although we were still wearing masks, we could be inside, and so on. Once vaccines became available, we were able to proceed further.
They were always very generous. I mean, my interviews with him could last four hours. One time, it went so long that I had to stop because I couldn’t really see him anymore. We had a Zoom interview once, which isn’t in the film, except for the audio. We use quite a lot of that audio. It’s a great interview, but it didn’t look as great visually because it was on Zoom. But during the interview, there was no one in the room with him, and I realized, wow, this is great. I thought I should come back and get rid of my whole crew, like they set up the cameras and then they leave. It worked, except we had to do a lot of reframing later, because he would move, and all of a sudden, he was down here, you know, at the bottom of the frame, or whatever, and we couldn’t change lighting.
So at the end of this thing, where there was nobody around to change the lighting, I had to stop and say, “There’s no more light.” But it did make for what felt like more intimate conversations, I think.
I think that really comes across, just how comfortable he was during some of these interviews to really share from deep inside himself. What, for you as a storyteller, does that feel like to know that you’re sharing such a deep part of somebody with somebody?
You mean with the audience?
Well, I guess when you’re in the room, but also when you’re able to put it in the film. So both ways.
In the room, it felt very much, weirdly, like we were all alone. I mean, in fact, we were all alone in a lot of those interviews, but there was a kind of bubble that formed around us. In a way, this was a twenty-hour conversation of sorts, over a period of years, and we would go pretty deep and drop back in. Because he was willing to do that, and because the chemistry worked. You just don’t know how those things are going to work out in terms of our minds and how they mesh with our personalities.
In terms of sharing with the world. I’m grateful that he decided to adopt this attitude towards the film, where he was quite honest. I think that it could perhaps help another generation of people who might have known him just from “The Departed” period to think, oh no, there was this whole other very interesting part of his life, and that then they can go and discover the films again too.
I also particularly loved how open De Niro was in his conversation with you. He and Schrader both talked a bit about the copious amount of drugs during the making of “New York, New York,” which is a crazy movie. I actually really love that film, but it’s always one of his that is thought of as a disaster. But then, when you see what was happening behind the scenes, it’s like a miracle that the movie exists. How many interviews did you conduct with De Niro that he was so open?
We did one interview. I’m not sure if he had spoken to Marty already, but he seemed to have some sense that that was the vibe, that this was for real, and this wasn’t going to be about deflection and stuff like that. I did know Bob a little bit, not in an intimate way. I don’t know exactly, except that once he knew that I knew certain things that Marty had been talking about, he was like, “Oh, okay, so that’s the kind of conversation we’re going to have.”
I thought it was refreshing to hear all the conversations you had with Scorsese’s childhood friends, particularly Sally, the friend’s brother who came in unexpectedly. That part was really funny. Those conversations reveal how much his films reflect, especially those early films, the people he grew up with. Were they all brought in through Scorsese?
I got the contact of Robert Uricola, Salvatore’s brother, through Marty, who was still in touch with him, and John Bivona, as well, who was another of his friends, and Joe Morale, who was Marty’s best friend growing up. Marty and his office helped organize these larger groups around the table and at the cafe as well. It was carefully thought through about who would be the best people to be in the same room with each other. De Niro had his friend, Butch Picarello. Then we had Robert Uricola and Marty.
I do feel that, even though Marty didn’t see the film until it was basically finished, we made the film together. It’s hard to work, but I was following the breadcrumbs. I was going through his mind because he opened the doors and allowed for the connections. Then, when I saw certain things, I thought, ‘Okay, so I’m going to need an interview with this person, that person, or that person.’ Then sometimes, in the case of these larger get-togethers, he would help me figure out who could be there. I think for him, preservation is essential, and it was important that these people were documented. Robert Uricola just died recently. Robbie Robertson just died. You know, it’s crucial that these people were documented.
What do you hope viewers, especially younger viewers, get from this series when they’re finished watching it?
First and foremost, I want people to return to the films or see them for the first time. Many younger people are familiar with his films from “The Departed” onwards, or “Gangs of New York” onwards, so there’s a treasure trove waiting for them, including “Taxi Driver,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and even “Mean Streets.” These are great, great films. “King of Comedy,” what a masterpiece, but not everybody knows that film. So that’s one thing.
Another thing I find very beautiful is how many times in his life he failed and had to pick himself back up again, reinvent himself as a filmmaker, essentially, and start anew. I think that is inspiring on a personal level and as a filmmaker. I think that’s inspiring for anyone. You don’t have to be an artist. When we fall down, we have to pick ourselves up. And that’s tough, and he had to do it a lot of times, and that, to me, is very beautiful.
In this column, I speak to women who make films. In my previous column, Sierra Falconer, who made “Sunfish (& Other Stories On Green Lake,” studied your film “Personal Velocity: Three Portraits” while she was making her own film. I was wondering if there are any other women who make films that either inspire you or whom you think readers should seek out?
Jane Campion was a huge influence on me, and I actually befriended her somewhat. I happened to be in Australia at a certain point, and I showed her a script I had, and she said, “I think you’re gonna have a career.” It was a truly empowering and optimistic moment for me. Because it wasn’t a given that you were going to get to make films as a woman in that period, you were thought of as a little bit ridiculous in a certain way. At least I was, I think, when I first said I wanted to make films. There was very little traction. And when she told me that, she was just about to make “The Piano,” actually, and look what happened there. So I would say she was the big one for me.
“Mr. Scorsese” premieres this Saturday, October 4th, at the New York Film Festival and will be available on Apple TV+ on October 17th.
Home Entertainment Guide: “28 Years Later,” “Materialists,” “Superman,” “Jurassic World Rebirth,” More (September 30, 2025)
10 NEW TO NETFLIX
“10 Things I Hate About You““28 Years Later““Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret““The Blackening““Bombshell““Daddy’s Home““Karate Kid Legends““Liar Liar““The Pledge““San Andreas“
15 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD
“28 Years Later“
Danny Boyle’s long-awaited sequel to “28 Weeks Later” is a truly insane and ambitious blockbuster. There aren’t a lot of filmmakers would even attempt something this bizarre, much less get Sony to put up $60 million for it. Set the titular time after the virus that decimated England, Boyle shot his film on iPhones, included more prosthetic penises than seems reasonable, and even embedded a Brexit commentary in his action flick. At its core, it’s a traditional coming-of-age action narrative about a young man who discovers that not only is the world unsafe but that adults in it will betray you, but it’s also just a visually stunning piece of work, a movie that looks like nothing else that played in a multiplex this year. The Sony Blu-ray quality is fantastic, showing off Anthony Dod Mantle’s unforgettable cinematography, but the special features are a little slight. With another movie coming in January and a third Boyle flick in production, a more special edition of this seems inevitable, but this will do for now.
Special Features:
Days to Years
Capturing the Chaos
The Survivors
Becoming The Infected
Behind The Cameras
“Creepshow 2” (Arrow)
Arrow Home Video continues its admirable quest to give even the most unloved horror sequels the kind of treatment typically reserved for widely acknowledged masterpieces. While George A. Romero and Stephen King’s 1982 anthology flick “Creepshow” is widely considered a classic of its era, you would have trouble finding anyone willing to say the same about its follow-up, which was directed by Michael Gornick and dropped five years later.
This sequel had some notorious production problems (there were supposed to be five stories but the budget was cut so badly that it was trimmd back to three), and was widely hated by critics (29% on RT), but I’m here to defend at least “The Raft,” based on a short story included in King’s great Skeleton Crew. I think about it every time I’m on a raft in a lake (which is more often than you might think).
More importantly, Arrow nailed another horror release with interviews, commentary, and much more; however, the coolest feature might be a comic adaptation of “Pinfall,” one of the aforementioned canceled segments that was originally written for the first “Creepshow.” Given it’s never been included in a short story anthology, it feels like a must-own for King collectors.
Special Features:
Audio commentary with director Michael Gornick
Screenplay for a Sequel, an interview with screenwriter George A. Romero
Tales from the Creep, an interview with actor and make-up artist Tom Savini
Poncho’s Last Ride, an interview with actor Daniel Beer
The Road to Dover, an interview with actor Tom Wright
Nightmares in Foam Rubber, an archive featurette on the special effects of Creepshow 2, including interviews with FX artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero
My Friend Rick, Howard Berger on his special effects mentor Rick Baker
Behind-the-scenes footage
Image gallery
Trailers & TV spots
Original screenplay galleries
Creepshow 2: Pinfall, a Limited Edition booklet featuring the comic adaptation of the unfilmed Creepshow 2 segment “Pinfall” by artist Jason Mayoh
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Mike Saputo
“Daybreakers“
Ethan Hawke is having an incredible year with one of the most acclaimed new shows (“The Lowdown“), an upcoming drama for which he should be considered for an Oscar (“Blue Moon“), and a soon-to-be-hit horror sequel (“Black Phone 2“). One of the best actors of his generation, there was a time when he seemed to be struggling to figure out the next phase of his career, appearing in genre flicks like “Staten Island” or “What Doesn’t Kill You.”
Even in this stretch of his filmography, Hawke distinguishes himself by working with interesting directors, including the Spierig brothers, who broke through with “Undead” in 2003 and would work with Hawke again on the fascinating “Predestination.” In between was the 2009 vampire flick “Daybreakers,” now given a 4K steelbook treatment with an excellent new cover and even new special features. The release also includes a commentary by the Spierigs and their short film “The Big Picture,” from 2000.
Special Features:
NEW Building the World of Daybreakers
NEW Art and Craft: The Actors of Daybreakers
NEW Gag Reel
NEW Art Department and Lighting Tests
NEW Costume, Hair, and Make-up Tests
NEW First Subsider Test
NEW Make-up Effects Tapes
NEW Stunt Department
NEW On the Set of Daybreakers
Making of Daybreakers
The Big Picture (The Spierig Brothers Short Film)
Audio Commentary with Co-Directors Peter and Michael Spierig and Creature Designer Steve Boyle
Theatrical Trailer
Poster Art Gallery
“Elio“
The first ten minutes of “Elio” are a tender study of a grieving child who becomes so lonely that he wants an alien species to take him away from everything. It’s a reminder of how empathetically Pixar can handle this kind of material. Sadly, the rest of “Elio” is largely a different movie, an adventure story of a kid and his alien BFF saving the universe.
While it remains largely inoffensive in a time when family entertainment from major studios can often be horrible, it squanders that early potential. And Pixar clearly saw the writing on the wall, burying this more than any movie they had made previously. Part of me wants to defend “Elio” because I dislike that Pixar has become a nostalgia factory that only supports its sequels. But even if we need more original Pixar ideas, we also need better ones than that.
Special Features:
Inside the Communiverse: The World and Characters of Elio
Out of This World: An Astro Q&A
Astronomic Art Class: Ooooo and Glordon
Extraterrestrial Easter Eggs and Fun Facts
Galactic Gag Reel
Deleted Scenes
“Flow” (Criterion)
One of the most unexpected Oscar winners was this Latvian tale of a cat trying to survive a dystopian future with rising water levels. Rather than just give the critical darling the Janus Contemporaries treatment like they’ve been doing with a lot of recent arthouse hits, Criterion gives “Flow” the full boat of special features, including new interviews and a new commentary with director Gints Zilbalodis.
As they’ve been doing often lately with new filmmakers, they include short films from early in his career, both with commentaries by the director. There is also a making-of documentary called “Dream Cat” about the making of the film. Everyone talks about the Oscar win (and nomination for International Feature), but here’s another cool piece of trivia: This is the most-viewed theatrical film in Latvian history, and has made over 50 million Euros worldwide on a budget that’s a fraction of that. People love “Flow.”
Special Features:
4K digital transfer, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, approved by director Gints Zilbalodis
4K digital master of Away (2019), Zilbalodis’s debut feature
One 4K UHD disc of Flow and Away and two Blu-rays with Flow, Away, and the special features
New audio commentary featuring Zilbalodis
Full feature-length animatic
New interviews with Zilbalodis and cowriter-coproducer Matīss Kaža
Dream Cat (2025), a making-of documentary produced for Latvian Television
Aqua (2012) and Priorities (2014), short films by Zilbalodis, with new commentaries by the director
Unused-shot reel, with new commentary by Zilbalodis
Trailers, TV spots, and proof-of-concept teasers
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
PLUS: An essay by critic Nicolas Rapold and collectible stickers
“Friendship“
Just as Tim Robinson’s brand of cringe humor is about to return to pop culture in HBO’s “The Chair Company,” A24 drops his acclaimed anti-buddy comedy in which the “I Think You Should Leave” star plays the most awkward guy in suburbia. It may be written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, but “Friendship” clearly channels Robinson’s sense of humor, and all of his fans should snag this A24 online shop exclusive.
He plays Craig, a guy who becomes a bit too attached to the new guy in his neighborhood, a meteorologist played by the always-likable Paul Rudd. Robinson is all-in for this story of a friendship that approaches stalking, and A24 has given the future cult classic a solid release with a commentary and deleted scenes. One more thing: This movie wins the award for tagline of the year: “Men Shouldn’t Have Friends.”
Special Features:
Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew DeYoung, Director of Photography Andy Rydzewski, and Conner O’Malley
Deleted Scenes
“Men Talking in the Dark” Extended Q&A with Eric Rahill, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, and Andrew DeYoung
Conner O’Malley Extended Garage Scene
Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography
“The Good, The Bad, The Weird” (Arrow)
This might be my favorite Arrow release of the year, and that’s a high bar to clear. 2008’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird” is a wonderfully gonzo Korean Western from the brilliant Kim Jee-woon, who also directed “A Tale of Two Sisters” and “I Saw the Devil,” two modern horror masterpieces that I’d love to see get the Arrow treatment too.
“GBW” is a gorgeously shot film that centers on two of the best Korean actors of their generation: Song Kang-ho, of “Parasite” fame stateside, and Lee Byung-hun, of “Squid Game” and the upcoming “No Other Choice,” in which he may do his best work to date. They are just two parts of this creative, funny, thrilling film. Arrow pulls out all the stops, offering multiple versions of the movie, multiple audio commentaries, new interviews, and stunning artwork. Get this one.
Special Features:
DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
4K MASTER approved by director Kim Jee-woon
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Includes both the International and Korean versions of the film presented via seamless branching
DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio on both cuts of the film
Optional English subtitles
Audio commentary by film critic James Marsh and film critic and producer Pierce Conran
Archival audio commentary of the International Cut by director Kim Jee-woon and actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung
Archival audio commentary of the Korean Version by director Kim Jee-woon, cinematographer Lee Mogae, lighting director Oh Seung-chul, and art director Cho Hwa-sung (Korean Version)
Introduction to the film by Kim Jee-woon
DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
Corralling Chaos in the Desert, an interview with director Kim Jee-woon
Dusty Dust-ups and Sweaty Saddles, an interview with martial arts coordinator Jung Doo-hong
Archival making-of films and featurettes
Trailer gallery
Image gallery
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
Perfect bound collector’s book featuring writing by Darcy Paquet, Kyu Hyun Kim, Cho Jae-whee and Ariel Schudson
Three postcard-sized artcards
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
“Hellbender” (Arrow)
The Adams Family becomes a more essential part of the genre landscape every year. Their truly excellent “Mother of Flies” is currently making the fest circuit after lauded screenings at Fantasia and Fantastic Fest. Be sure to check it out when it drops early next year.
Before then, pick up the latest Arrow edition of one of their works, 2021’s twisted “Hellbender.” Arrow turns this one into a study of the family that acts, writes, and directs together, not only allowing all four of them to do a new commentary but including a 2021 short film by Zelda called “Fort Worden,” and four music videos made for the band within the film (who also handle the music in the new one, by the way, because of course they do).
Special Features:
Brand new audio commentary with filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams and Lulu Adams
From the Forest She Rises, a brand new video essay by filmmaker Jen Handorf
Black Magic Tricks, a featurette on the visual effects by VFX artist Trey Lindsay
Behind-the-scenes compilation footage
Fort Worden (2021), a short film by Zelda Adams
Four music videos: Hit and Run (2024), Drive (2021), Lovely (2021) and Black Sky (2020)
Original trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris and original artwork by Sister Hyde
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Natasha Ball and Kat Hughes
“High & Low” (Criterion)
One of Akira Kurosawa’s best films (and that’s truly saying something) was remade this year in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” which takes the basic premise of the 1963 original and then truly turns it into a Lee film in the second half. It’s a great example of how to do a remake, blending both the original voice and your own.
But this isn’t about Spike, as we’ll sadly probably never get a Blu-ray of that Apple TV+ original. This is about Akira, who shot this thriller about a man (Toshiro Mifune) who struggles when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped after being mistaken for his own. Criterion has released this before, but has gone back and given it the 4K treatment, including archival material such as an interview with Mifune and a Toho Masterworks documentary about the making of this masterpiece.
Special Features:
New 4K digital restoration, with 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
Documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
Interviews with actors Toshiro Mifune and Tsutomu Yamazaki
Trailers and teaser
PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie
“Jurassic World Rebirth“
It’s hard to believe we’ve now had more “World” movies than “Park” movies, as this is the fourth flick since the relaunch of the franchise based on the hit novel by Michael Crichton about people who resurrect dinosaurs. “Jurassic” feels like it becomes bigger every year with theme park rides, video games, Netflix cartoons, and more. But how about the movies? This is another bland CGI blockbuster, a story of a team that travels to a former dinosaur facility to extract some samples and gets caught up in dinosaur chaos again.
While I appreciate the simplicity of the plot (it’s essentially the first movie in which scientists go in and need to get out), the overabundance of CGI strikes me as lifeless. None of it creates the same sense of wonder that we experienced from Spielberg’s original over three decades ago. You should know that this is an impressive Blu-ray, complete with alternate opening, deleted scenes, featurettes, and two commentaries. At a time when studios seem to be pulling away from physical media, kudos to Universal for producing this one so well.
Special Features:
ALTERNATE OPENING
DELETED SCENES
RAPTORS – Featuring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
MUTADON ATTACK – Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH: HATCHING A NEW ERA
THE WORLD EVOLVES – Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast and filmmakers.
OFF THE DEEP END – Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND – Follow the cast and crew’s footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
REX IN THE RAPIDS – Brace for a T. rex encounter that’s different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel.
DON’T LOOK DOWN – Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
MINI-MART MAYHEM – Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movie’s mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage.
GAG REEL
MEET DOLORES – Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
MUNCHED: BECOMING DINO FOOD – Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
A DAY AT SKYWALKER SOUND – Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
HUNTING FOR EASTER EGGS – Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, PRODUCTION DESIGNER JAMES CLYNE, AND FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JACK RAVENSCROFT
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, EDITOR JABEZ OLSSEN, AND VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR DAVID VICKERY
“Lilo & Stitch“
I don’t know what to say anymore about the live-action remakes of Disney and now DreamWorks titles that haven’t been said repeatedly by critics all over the world. Most of them are soulless echoes of the original, and it feels like people I talk to agree with their artistic vacuity, and yet they make a FORTUNE. This one made more than its source did in its entire run on its first weekend, ending up with over $1 billion worldwide. They’re already working on the sequel. Can we ensure that one doesn’t resemble a Disney+ original? Please? I’m begging.
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
‘Ohana Means Family: Making Lilo & Stitch – Learn how an animated classic becomes an instant live-action favorite. Explore the challenges of bringing Stitch into the real world, how the familiar images of the original were recreated, and join returning cast members on a set that embodies ‘ohana.
Drawn to Life – Check out scenes from the animated original film alongside their live-action counterparts to see how these beloved key moments were faithfully recreated. And uncover some easter eggs along the way!
Bloopers – Take a look at some of the fun mishaps on set with the cast and crew of Lilo & Stitch.
Scenes with Stitch – Hear Stitch talk about some of his favorite scenes as he watches the movie play.
“Materialists“
Celine Song’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated “Past Lives” is a smart movie that knows it’s smart. Sometimes, that intelligence is a drawback in scenes where characters played by Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal sometimes sound more like screenwriters’ creations than real people. As a matchmaker and the millionaire she personally matches with, both performers are engaging; however, the real MVP of the movie is Chris Evans, who delivers his most relaxed and genuine performance in years. He’s a bit miscast in that it’s hard to believe he’d struggle as much as he does into his mid-30s (he’s kind of a “unicorn” in a different way), but it’s so great to see him in something this naturally charismatic.
As much as I love “Past Lives,” this is a bit of a step down, but it’s not the sophomore slump you may have heard. And, even with its flaws, I wish we saw more films like it.
Special Features:
Director Commentary with Celine Song
“The Math of Modern Dating: Making Materialists” featurette
Composer Deep Dive with Japanese Breakfast
Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography
“The Phoenician Scheme“
Wes Anderson is the king of physical media this month with a fantastic box set from Criterion of his first 10 movies that I’ll cover separately later this week. Also recently released? His 12th film is this clever 2025 comedy about a man who reconciles with what matters in life after several attempts to kill him. While that might sound more melodramatic than Anderson typically attempts, this movie smartly weaves issues of religion and business into another Anderson diorama film, one of precise compositions and quirky characters.
After how much I adored “Asteroid City,” I think this mid-life crisis Wes may make for one of the more interesting stretches of his career. Note: This is a bare-bones edition with an awful cover. Safe bet it’s a placeholder for an inevitable Criterion release in the next couple of years.
Special Features:
Behind THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
The Cast
The Airplane
Marseille Bob’s
Zsa-zsa’s World
“Superman“
The highest-grossing superhero flick of the year is James Gunn’s launch for his vision of the DCU, a complete dismantling and restart for some of the most famous heroes in world history (with the possible exception of Matt Reeves’ “Batman” films, which appear to be progressing). Gunn does a few smart things with his take on the Man of Steel. One, he eschews the origin story everyone knows by heart and drops us into a Metropolis already reckoning with their alien hero. Two, and this is even more important, he discards the cynicism that has drowned so many recent DC films for a story of kindness.
I think “Superman” is a tick overrated and not my favorite Gunn, but I like what it promises for the future of all the heroes now under the Gunn empire. The Blu-ray? It’s pretty slight for one of the biggest films of the year, failing to include a commentary or deleted scenes. However, it does have that rocking WB 4K video quality, which is the best of the major studios.
Special Features:
Krypto Saves the Day!: School Bus Scuffle – (5:32)
Adventures in Making Superman Featurette (60:00)
Icons Forever: Superman’s Enduring Legacy – Featurette (6:05)
Lex Luthor: The Mind of a Master Villain – Featurette (5:18)
Kryptunes: The Music of Superman – Featurette (6:31)
Paws to Pixels: Krypto is Born – Featurette (5:54)
Breaking News: The Daily Planet Returns – Featurette (5:23)
The Ultimate Villain – Featurette (5:30)
The Justice Gang – Featurette (10:37)
A New Era: DC Takes Off – Featurette (4:53)
“This is Spinal Tap” (Criterion)
“Spinal Tap II” just hit theaters and was greeted largely with a shoulder shrug. The real news about everyone’s favorite ’80s rock stars is that they have joined the Criterion Collection with a new 4K special edition approved by Reiner himself and STUFFED with special features. There are three audio commentaries, including one that features the band members in character. Not enough? How about 89 minutes of deleted scenes? Does anyone remember the special “Spinal Tap: The Final Tour”? You can have that now, too. There are even interviews about the largely forgotten Back from the Dead, the band’s reunion album from 2009. It’s everything a Tap fan could ever want in one Blu-ray release.
Special Features:
New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Rob Reiner, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Alternate 2.0 uncompressed stereo soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
Three audio commentaries, featuring Reiner; actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer; producer Karen Murphy; editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda; and band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls
Conversation between Reiner and actor Patton Oswalt
The Cutting Room Floor, featuring ninety-eight minutes of outtakes
Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1982)
Excerpts from The Return of Spinal Tap (1992)
Interviews with the band for its 2009 Back from the Dead album
Trailers, media appearances, and music videos
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Alex Pappademas
