PHILADELPHIA UNNAMED FILM FESTIVAL 2026 - Wrap Up

PHILADELPHIA UNNAMED FILM FESTIVAL 2026
The eleventh PUFF comes to a close

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

Summer camp is over; the eleventh installment of The Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival has come and gone. This year's fest featured the debut of Camp Puff, a viewing party hosted by Philly filmmaker Jack Stallion that embraced both meanings of the word "camp" by screening Cramps! A Period Piece (a nü-camp feminist classic), and Friday the 69th (a crowd-pleasing summer camp slasher parody)!

This year, the fest and the crowds were treated to lots of eyeball trauma (within the films, not the films themselves, which were by and large quite good), more than one gag about pornographic climax countdowns, and a lot of criticisms of influencer culture. Also, complaints from a grumpy neighbor IRL, but hey, everybody has a bad day sometimes.

Below I've rounded up some of my favorite flicks, both big and small. Speaking of, this year the shorts reigned supreme for me. While I saw a bunch of great features, PUFF's short film curation is incredibly strong and very diverse (shoutout to Maria!) I always recommend attending PUFF, but especially if you're a short film appreciator. 

So let's start with the shorts. Some of the shorts this year were tremendously funny. CHÄIR (dir. Chris McInroy) about a demonic IKEA-style chair, is a simple concept, but the pacing and editing elevates it to legitimate laugh-out-loud material. A Bigfoot Christmas (dir. Kelly O'Connor) is a stop motion animated short done in the style of a Hallmark Channel film that uses our familiarity with the clichés specific to that genre to advertise a sadly, nonexistent film that would probably clean up for real around the holidays. Bike Short (dir. Kevin McDevitt) is a very silly story, based on true events, about a disagreement between two cyclists over a pair of the titular shorts. A Dish Best Served Hot (dir. Josh Kay) about a "cool boss" whose wife only allows him to eat one hotdog a year, is tremendously funny, and odd in all the right places. So much so that you can never be sure you know what will happen next. Personally, I laughed hardest at Really Good Deal (dir. Jon Plester), about the lengths folks, especially musicians, will go to for a cheap second-market purchase.

But shorts, like full-length features, can be many things, sometimes at once. I Think Something Followed Me Out (dir. Catherine Rieg) is haunting, but not frightening; an art piece utilizing video collage and poetry to capture the melancholy feeling of wandering through an abandoned mall. Pan & Stove (dir. Scott Kane) acknowledges the limitations of its amateur computer animation origins, and leans into them with a short, sweet, funny tale of the dangers of love. Or maybe it's about Capitalism. Sunspark (dir. Danny Bourque) is a much more polished computer animated story about robots and love, but is really more about what someone is willing to sacrifice for another person, and how we all have unique traits that we can use to help those we love. HVAC (dir. Jackson McKeehan), about a father and son repairing the air conditioning in a theater the night of a big performance, strikes a really fine balance between unsettling and deeply sad. Lady Puritan (dirs. Gustine Füdickar & Justin Streichman) tells an impressionistic story of the conflicts inside of us utilizing gorgeous and arresting visuals. See You on the Beach (dir. Christopher S. Bickel) is a proof-of-concept for Bickel's upcoming feature, about a film fanatic obsessed with finding the star of the film he's making. Bickel's last film, Pater Noster and the Mission of Light is a pretty gonzo experience and, if this short is anything to go off of, what he's got planned will be just as entertaining. But, perhaps my favorite, was In the Palm of Her Hand (dirs. Greta Guthrie & Jake Lazarow) which starts off silly and spooky, but in just 7 minutes manages to strike a poignant note about what it means to be included.

Now let's talk about the features.

EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER
Directed by Megan Rico & Kade Atwood
Written by Megan Rico

Edie Arnold is a Loser is a tremendous flick. Funny, touching, creative, and light on its feet, it follows Adi Madden Cabrera as the title character, a Catholic schoolgirl and outcast who, at the urging of her best friend Frances (McKenna Tuckett) forms a punk band. Not for fame, not for glory, but mostly to impress a nice punk boy, and also because it's something to do. Complications arise involving a dreamy altar boy, the school's clutch of mean girls, the instruments they've borrowed from school, and the very strict Sister Myra (Star Herrmann), but the girls will not be deterred: they're gonna open for The Sex Pistols. Yes, in 2026. Apparently, Edie Arnold is a Loser is the first film in PUFF's 11-year history that was unanimously voted for inclusion in the fest: every one who saw it loved it, and thought it should be included in this year's lineup. And I get it. This coming-of-age, punk rock, Catholic schoolgirl comedy is one of the best films I've seen all year. 

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Directed by Zach Weintraub
Written by Zach Weintraub

On the eve of selling his childhood home and evicting the tenants that live there, family man Zach (writer / director Zach Weintraub) is unsettled by the realization that he is no longer young, cool, and carefree. Finding himself with a family-free day, Zach decides to treat himself: masturbation, day-drinking, at-home-karaoke, and drug use ensue, as well as a trip to the skatepark he haunted in his youth. There, Zach finds that he can still relate to the youths, and even makes a friend (Arsenio Salvante) before finding out that this new friend is actually a tenant in the house Zach intends to sell and will soon be evicted. Too high to object, Zach takes part in a black magic ritual to curse himself and, once back at home, he finds out just how far he'll have to go to set things right. Assets and Liabilities manages to find a balance between some really diverse styles of humor (props, sight gags, physical and gross-out gags) while making a satirical statement about the follies of chasing a youth you'll never recover.

CRAMPS! A PERIOD PIECE
Directed by Brooke H. Cellars
Written by Brooke H. Cellars

Writer / director Brooke H. Cellars has created something really special and unique here. Cramps! A Period Piece gets compared to the work of John Waters a lot, which is warranted, but imagine Waters's love of camp and shocking tendencies combined with Anna Biller (writer / director of The Love Witch)'s manicured aesthetics and b-movie horror throwback tone and you're much closer. I loved the world created here. Sheltered Agnes Applewhite (Lauren Kitchen) pulling away from her judgmental family by taking a new job at a salon staffed by free-spirits, just wanting to meet a nice boy and feel at home in her body, all the while being terrorized by that very same body. I'm in love with cupcake pink Satanist Teddy Teaberry (Wicken Taylor), but all the performances are across-the-board fantastic. The dialogue is fun and quippy, the characters are arch, and it all just works, and looks great doing it.

Honorable mention must be made to two films: First is The Killing Cell (dirs. James Bessey & Karsen Schovajsa), a found footage film that makes hugely ambitious choices for a low-budget, urban exploration style flick and sticks the landing really well, anchored by really solid lead performances. I know found footage is not everyone's jam, and I totally understand, but I've never (*knocks wood*) had a bad experience with a found footage film shown at PUFF (shoutout to Madeline!) The other film is The Barn Part III (dir. Justin M. Seaman). The Barn films, which I've only recently watched to prepare for this third installment, are tonally like if a Spirit Halloween exploded (complimentary). The thing that sets them apart from the tons of other, similar-enough low budget films, is that everything is done in-house by writer / director Justin M. Seaman and his crew, just over yonder near Pittsburgh PA. And, not for nothing, the effects work is pretty damned good. I love the dedication to the DIY spirit, especially when it's this grand in its ambitions.

That's it for this year's PUFF coverage, and as always I look forward to next year. I hope I'll see you there and I hope you'll check out any or all of the above films at your earliest convenience. Speaking of, the filmmakers behind Edie Arnold is a Loser intend to tour the film down the east coast and should be passing through Philly sometime in October, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Until next time, Long Live the Movies!

DEATH WISH Collection - Kino Lorber

Death Wish Collection
Kino Lorber

Directed by Michael Winner (1-3), J. Lee Thompson (4), Allan A. Goldstein (5)
Starring Charles Bronson, Jeff Goldblum, Laurence Fishburne, Alex Winter, Danny Trejo, Michael Parks
Language English

Purchase your copy HERE from Kino Lorber

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Collection: Excellent

Released over the course of 20 years, the five Death Wish films follow Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and his many doomed loved ones and friends. Beginning in New York with 1974's Death Wish, Kersey's wife and daughter are attacked during a robbery, leaving his wife dead and daughter catatonic. Paul spirals into paranoia and violence, becoming known in the papers as “The Vigilante”. This is the most introspective film, and seems to actually be trying to address the corrupting effect of violence on a person's humanity. At the film's end, Paul has nearly died and is forced to leave town, and has lost a lot of his humanity, but importantly, not his job as an architect (which is perhaps the ultimate "movie job").

As a franchise, it's pretty inconsistent overall. The sequels can't even decide whether they're using Arabic or Roman numerals (I will exclusively be using Arabic numerals for clarity). Their settings bounce back and forth from New York to L.A. with very little explanation, aside from Paul's company having branches in a number of cities, and find Paul regularly romancing a beautiful blonde woman and sometimes taking on the responsibilities of a surrogate dad. These folks almost always meet a horrible fate, which is almost always the inciting incident that brings the Vigilante back and allows him an excuse to go on another vengeance rampage. 

There are exceptions to these truisms. Death Wish 5: The Face of Death's love interest is the lovely brunette Lesley-Anne Down, playing a former model and head of a high-fashion empire. Death Wish 2's Geri (played by Jill Ireland, Bronson's real-life partner) manages to escape Paul's romantic orbit with her life, merely realizing that her dude is a maniac and leaving him. In Death Wish 3, the inciting incident is actually Paul arriving at an old Army buddy's apartment to find he has just been murdered by a local gang. Don't worry though, they all meet much the same fate as anyone who crosses Kersey's path while he's in one of these increasingly frequent blood fugues.

The Death Wish films have a very strange relationship to violence. Star Charles Bronson seemed largely to be against the graphic depictions of it in these films, and often clashed with Michael Winner who directed the first three. Winner apparently had a habit of writing in changes to the script to include more instances of violence with an eye on making that violence more brutal. In the first film, there is a sexual assault that is depicted with restraint and discretion towards the audience. The second film however, seems to revel in another such assault, the scene going on for minutes. But at the very least, each of these incidents serves a narrative purpose (as thin a justification as that is) by motivating Kersey's vengeance. In Death Wish 3, there is yet another assault that, while shot with greater discretion than the sequence in Death Wish 2, doesn't even serve any narrative purpose. It takes the franchise's depiction of violence from being merely brutal into actively being cruel.

It's a sour note in a film that should otherwise have been a big, dumb, 1980's action movie power fantasy. The finale of Death Wish 3 is an elaborate shootout between Kersey and other tenants of the besieged apartment block against the local gang, and both sides are armed with military grade weapons! The movie has a Chekov's rocket launcher, for Pete's sake! It should be a big violent fantasy but is ultimately tainted in my eyes by the unnecessary cruelty.

I'm pointing all of this out in case, like I was, you aren't fully familiar with the franchise as a whole, so much as with its cultural footprint. The Death Wish films veer wildly across lines of taste and logic with Kersey at times showing regret and being depicted as a human being, while at other times seeming like a serial killer akin to Michael Myers (but with guns, rocket launchers, and at one point an exploding, radio controlled soccer ball!) It's a mixed bag but there is genuine fun of the "big, dumb" variety to be had at points.

The Packaging: Excellent

When taken as a whole, as one object, the collection is modest, but perfect: the cover is a very unsubtle illustration of Charles Bronson's catcher's mitt face (complimentary) and a hand gun against a stark white background with bold black text reading 'BRONSON' and bold red text reading 'DEATH WISH', and then smaller text blocks listing the titles. It's blunt and direct and no nonsense which fits the vibe of the franchise overall (even if the individual films waver a bit from this pseudo mission statement).

Inside the sleeve are two of the sturdier Blu-ray cases and that's where things get just a little odd. One case holds the Michael Winner Death Wish installments and the cover for that one looks like the kind of bootleg you'd buy off of a blanket on the street in Kersey’s New York: three cropped images of Bronson from the posters, next to the appropriate logo. I don't mind this, like at all, but it strikes me as odd. The other case contains the latter two films, but as far as I can tell just features the artwork for Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, and aside from including both logos, makes no allusion to the final film. That's especially odd, and weirdly discordant in style from the other included disc, but not so much that I would knock this release for it. It just struck me as an odd choice(s).

Both cases feature slim booklets with essays about the appropriate films from film historian Paul Talbot, author of the Bronson’s Loose! series of books, one of which is dedicated exclusively to the Death Wish films. He also provides a commentary track for each film, so if the essays are anything to go by, those should be well researched and highly informative (but in the interest of full transparency, I haven't gotten to any of them yet).

The Audio + Video: Good

This is a situation where the less you notice the transfer the better it inherently is. The only times I actively thought about it was when something was off. There are a few bumps in the road but honestly not many for a five film franchise. Death Wish 2 for instance, has a few moments with a distracting amount of film grain. They are all extremely short, and all when Paul goes to various safe houses to either pick up guns or make a fake I.D. I'm guessing these sections of the original film must have been damaged, since other similarly low-light sequences look great. Beyond those, I never had issues with the look of the films at all.

Sonically, I again largely had no problems. The one huge exception was Death Wish 4: The Crackdown which just has an awful balance. The dialogue varies in base volume from scene to scene, and all the action is dialed up WAY louder, meaning I spent my entire viewing riding the volume button on my remote, and constantly being pulled out of the film because I'm too busy not hearing the first sentence of a conversation, then anticipating that the next story movement might get painfully loud again. Beyond that, I never thought about the mix at all. In some of the other installments, there is some obvious disparity occasionally between bits of dialogue that had obviously been recorded later and weren't perfectly replicating the sound of the scene they had been placed in, but nothing egregious.

Personally, I never mind film grain until it becomes a distraction, by which I mean it looks like the drugs just kicked in and you can see every atom dancing. Similarly, I'm not bothered by older audio not being crystal clear. The audio for the original Death Wish was recorded a half century ago; a little fuzziness or barely audible hiss is to be expected. These things, while maybe not ideal, are certainly understandable and make the film feel more real and human. So-called “perfection” is boring.

Special Features: Good

There aren't really very many special features aside from commentary tracks (seven of them spread across five films) and trailers for other Bronson films (a whopping sixteen films, with a few duplicate titles on multiple discs), but what's here is enjoyable. There are interviews with supporting actors John Herzfeld (a subway mugger in Death Wish) and Kirk Taylor (The Giggler in Death Wish 3), both theatrical and unrated cuts for Death Wish 2, and the alternate ending for Death Wish 3 with optional commentary.

Would I have liked more features talking about the evolution of the franchise, from installment to installment? Sure, but I'm guessing the aforementioned commentary tracks from Paul Talbot will be able to scratch that intellectual itch for me, when I finally dive into them.

• Commentaries on all five Death Wish films from Paul Talbot
• Commentary on Death Wish 2 with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• Commentary on Death Wish 3 with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• Interview with actor John Hertzfeld (18:24)
• Interview with actor Kirk Taylor (8:27)
• Death Wish radio spots (1:31)
• Death Wish TV spot (1:04)
• Death Wish 3 alternate ending (11:01)
• Trailers:
• Death Wish (1974) (2:21)
• Death Wish 2 (1982) (1:55)
• Death Wish 3 (1985) (1:41)
• Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) (1:35)
• Death Wish 5: The Face of Death (1994) (1:01)
• Violent City (1970) (3:54)
• Cold Sweat (1970) (2:36)
• Chato's Land (1972) (2:10)
• The Valachi Papers (1972) (3:24)
• Mr. Majestyk (1974) (1:34)
• Breakout (1975) (1:34)
• Breakheart Pass (1975) (3:07)
• The White Buffalo (1977) (1:52)
• Caboblanco (1980) (2:50)
• Murphy's Law (1986) (1:31)
• Assassination (1987) (1:58)

In Summary: Buy it on sale

I'm rating the collection as a whole very highly because Kino has done a very thorough job with it, but obviously each individual film's content and quality varies, as mentioned above. If you're a Death Wish fan or Charles Bronson completist looking to acquire nice transfers of the franchise in one handsome package, this is your chance. If you've seen one or two and are curious about the rest, I'd still recommend it, but it really depends on how flexible your enjoyment-o-meter is.

I think the first film is the best one as a film, even if I feel like it misses its own point in the end. Death Wish 2 is the worst overall, with very little showcasing Paul Kersey as anything resembling a human being. Death Wish 3 is fun in an over-the-top way, but does feature that one moment of unnecessary cruelty, which is a bummer. Death Wish 4: The Crackdown feels so much like an anti-drug PSA mixed into a Death Wish movie, which is so odd that it actually becomes enjoyable. Finally, Death Wish 5: The Face of Death embraces a cartoonish quality in both the villains and Paul's methods of dispatching them that it really ends up being entertaining (hot take: if the villains from 5 were in the drug storyline from 4, you'd have the best sequel by a mile). I'd love to know your rankings.

PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) - Criterion

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
Criterion

Original Release Date August 9, 1985
Written by Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, Michael Varhol
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Louise Salinger, Alice Nunn
Language English

Purchase your copy from Criterion HERE

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Movie: Excellent

Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a masterpiece. Nothing before or after it so perfectly hits all the home runs this film does. Everything about it, great and small, works. And I love all of it to the point that it's hard to pin down what my favorite aspects are. The characters and performances are weird, but the world around them is fun and only occasionally scary. Even then, it's a carnival spookhouse type of scary rather than being anything too serious. It's a world where Pee-wee (Paul Reubens) who is definitely a ...kid? ...guy? ...imp? can hitchhike and end up riding with both an escaped convict on the run AND later, a ghost and end up basically making friends with both. At one point, he angers an entire biker bar and then wins them over with the guileless power of dance! The dance isn't very good, but it's perfect!

This is a world where a really nice, custom Schwinn is one of the axes on which an entire world turns. Everyone who sees it loves it, and some, like local rich kid Francis (Mark Holton), covet it with an entitled, jealous avarice. When his beloved bike goes missing, Pee-wee is set on this quest to retrieve it that will lead him across the United States, through numerous different film genres, in and out of the lives of enough colorful characters for two parades. The aforementioned convict, ghost, and biker gang; a diner waitress (Diane Louise Salinger) straight out of a Douglas Sirk -style melodrama who yearns for adventure and romance but can't escape the orbit of her boyfriend who looks like Bluto's stunt double; cowboys, fortune-tellers, and magicians abound, and Pee-wee is friends with an entire BMX team, who seem to travel exclusively as a pack! It's just so vivid, so diverse, and above all, so joyous.

It's hard for me to fully express how much I love Pee-wee. He is, as I said, somewhat ageless; honestly more akin to a trickster god than anything resembling a real person. He's innocent and direct in the way everyone says they appreciate in children but secretly find kind of hilariously annoying. He's also a little stinker. He tends to stir shit up, but most especially when people are trying to rain on his parade. It's never too severe. You'll just end up chewing some prank gum or something equally innocuous. Most people that encounter more severe consequences, only tend to do so as a result of their own actions, by trying to force him to fit into their more ordered, less freewheeling world. But maybe most importantly to me is that Pee-wee is allowed to be uncool. He is allowed to fail, to embarrass himself, to faint, and to be afraid, and then is allowed to recover from it all, perhaps with a tossed-off "I meant to do that." He doesn't let it phase him.

Paul Reubens was a treasure. As Pee-wee Herman, he projected a sense of freedom that was formative and important to me as a young person. He was free to follow his passions, free to be weird and uncool and to take those things in stride, free to just express himself within the world and, in the language of the film, the world loves him for it. These qualities are powerful things to internalize, I say as someone who is still trying to do so. I'm glad that I, and other weirdos at large, have someone like Pee-wee as a lighthouse. 

The Packaging: Excellent

This is the standard Criterion release plastic case, wider and sturdier than your usual Blu-ray cases, which is a good start. The cover illustration, by Luigi Olivadoti, captures the child-like feel of Pee-wee and his world, as well as the zaniness, and the almost impossibly overstuffed feeling of the film with an image crammed full of vehicles, animals, people, dinosaurs, a devil, and the horrifying visage of Large Marge (Alice Nunn). It's colorful and practically vibrates with energy; all of which perfectly matches the feel of the film contained within. One fantastic detail is there is an additional, bespoke illustration on the disc itself, of Pee-wee in the middle of his dance from the biker bar! I've loved disc art since my days collecting CDs, and this one is a winner.

There's also a booklet with an essay by podcaster Jesse Thorn that dives into the origins of the film, and the careers of Tim Burton and especially Paul Reubens. Thorn does a really excellent job of explaining the arc of Pee-wee's rise as well as the queer undertones to the persona, which while not explicit, are undoubtedly there. Representation is important, even if you only fully realize it in hindsight.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

The Criterion transfer here looks and sounds incredible, and there's so much to see and hear! The constant changes in location, and the revolving door of characters who appear for mostly a single scene means there are always new visual and design styles. Interiors, exteriors, day, night, on sets, on locations, with all kinds of crazy costumes and design eye candy! That's not even mentioning the German impressionist moments, the neon lights and other crazy colors, the stop motion, etc. I love when a release includes the original, unrestored trailer (as this release does) and you're really able to appreciate all the work done to improve the visual clarity and color balance.

The audio, specifically Danny Elfman's score, sounds just absolutely incredible. To be clear, I had no problem with the dialogue or sound effects mixing or anything like that, but what really caught my attention was that score. Elfman uses his usual bag of eclectic tricks; whimsical instrumentation being the primary one, but also a zany quality that perfectly encapsulates Pee-wee's energy. My favorite bit is when Pee-wee heads to rival kid Francis' house to confront him and knocks on the front door, which Elfman underscores by mimicking Pee-wee's many fast knocks followed by big, heavy knocks. It's a rhythm that's present in a lot of the film and I wonder how much of that originated from this scene and was incorporated retroactively?

Special Features: Excellent

The special features here are truly excellent, with several reasonably lengthy features dedicated to exploring just how this unicorn of a film came to exist. There's also a really touching reunion (emceed by Dana Gould!) where you fully feel how special this group of people are, and how special the film still is to them. But. Given how integral Tim Burton's early short work (Frankenweenie [1984], and Vincent [1982]) was to him landing this gig--a fact that is repeated numerous times throughout the features--I would really have liked to see them included here.

Tim Burton & Richard Ayoade (28:10)
"I Meant to Do That" (37:38)
Deleted Scenes (11:06)
Paul Reubens on Hollywood's Master Storytellers (36:10)
Reunion (24:26)
Trailer (1:26)

In Summary: Must Own

It's a miracle that Pee-wee Herman got over. The character just feels too unique and too odd to have been given the chance to find such a wide and lasting appeal. Pee-wee still feels special, and there might be no better encapsulation of Pee-wee or his ethos than Big Adventure. Here, Pee-wee has no agenda aside from experiencing and enjoying the world and passively encouraging others to do the same.

The film is, likewise, a miracle. It launched Tim Burton and Danny Elfman's careers in cinema, which are undoubtedly net positives for weirdos and outsiders everywhere. The inherent gentle and inviting strangeness of the characters and world feel more like a cartoon come to life than numerous movies where that is the actual plot. Pee-wee's first film shows that even the biggest of adventures can come from some of the most mundane events, if you're just open enough to pursue them.

Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2026 - Preview

PHILADELPHIA UNNAMED FILM FESTIVAL 2026
The Festival’s 11th Year Celebrates Camp in Multiple Ways!

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival runs from Aug 25th - Aug 30th at Theatre Exile in Philadelphia. Get your tickets HERE.

The Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival celebrates their 11th year at the end of August, which, frankly, kicks ass. PUFF was founded as a film festival that defied easy genre definitions. Like a cinematic junk drawer (complimentary), PUFF was a catch-all for any films that were worth checking out but ran the risk of flying under the radar, regardless of how they might be categorized. The fact that the fest has been going for over a decade is a truly monumental achievement. Just ask anyone who does anything.

This year's shenanigans kick off on Tuesday August 25th with the now traditional filmmaker meet-up: professionals from the local (and relatively local) film scene, networking and building community. It's free, and if you're "in the biz" (as nobody worth knowing says) it seems like a great way to make some friends, some connections and maybe finally get that project off the ground. The actual screenings kick off on Wednesday night and run through Sunday, with feature-length flicks and multiple blocks of short films! This year also features Camp Puff on Thursday the 27th, an evening of screenings with a summer camp vibe! Appropriate attire is encouraged.

Below, I’ve compiled a round-up of some of the films on offer, and one of the short film blocks that I’m most looking forward to checking out! 

CAIN CAME HOME
Directed by Brett Glassberg
Written by Brett Glassberg
Acquire tickets HERE

Described as "a surreal, time-bending ghost story about estranged twin brothers", Cain Came Home looks very interesting. The repeated use of the phrase "...ghosts in this house...", the obscure camera angles, and the black and white cinematography lend the trailer a perplexing tone that I find really appealing. Apparently, the plot involves a man played by writer / director Brett Glassberg, and also named Brett, who is moving back into his childhood home. I'm guessing that the ghosts are maybe both of the phantasmal AND emotional varieties, or maybe, both? Find out when this screens on Wednesday, August 26th.

FRIDAY THE 69TH
Directed by Alex Montilla
Written by Alex Montilla
Acquire tickets HERE 

I love the Friday the 13th films, and the summer camp horror subgenre as a whole. I also like pornography (I watch it for the articles!) and I especially like the idea of a horror parody that combines these two things. Set in 1981, Friday the 69th finds a porn production trying to cash in on the slasher craze by filming their usual erotic fare at a summer camp with a tragic backstory and being menaced by a killer beekeeper. Will this be something akin to Wet Hot American Summer, but with a lot more over-the-top, '80s-style teen murder? Find out at Camp Puff on Thursday, August 27th! 

THE BARN PART III
Directed by Justin M. Seaman
Written by Zane Hershberger, Justin M. Seaman
Acquire tickets HERE

I have a confession to make: I haven't checked out either of the previous Barn films, though they HAVE been on my to-watch list for quite a while now. Beginning in 2016 with the original The Barn, some unwitting teens seem to have unleashed three evil beings (a pumpkin head, a scarecrow, and an undead miner ?) that have apparently been semi-persistent problems for them as well as the nearby town. The Barn Part III seems to take place years after the initial unlashing, with the surviving crew worried that the beings will return yet again. Perhaps join me in double featuring the first two Barn installments in time to experience Part III on Friday, August 28th!

SUGAR ROT
Directed by Becca Kozak
Written by Becca Kozak
Acquire tickets HERE 

This one seems w-i-l-d! After surviving an assault by a sinister ice cream man, Candy (Chloë MacLeod) finds herself impregnated with a supernatural monster baby, and finds her body slowly transforming into ice cream! This transformation also seems to make her irresistible to other people, as the trailer showcases several people involved in semi-sexual scenarios devouring Candy because they love the sweet taste! I'm expecting to be left feeling uncomfortable, craving a sweet snack, and rocking out to the punk soundtrack when this plays on Saturday, August 29th.

LOCAL SHORTS BLOCK
Acquire tickets HERE

PUFF 11 boasts over 70 titles, which sounds impossible if you're not aware of one very important fact: PUFF's got love for the shorties! With five discrete blocks of short film programming spread across the fest, as well as one block of music videos, you're certain to find something right up your alley. Everybody loves the Horror Shorts Block (which plays on Saturday evening), and that one is always a barnburner, but my hometown pride makes the Local Shorts Block my personal recommendation. Drop by at noon on Sunday, August 30th and take in the assortment of short films from local filmmakers!

CRIME 101 (2026) - MGM

Crime 101
MGM

Original Release Date February 13th, 2026
Written by Bart Layton, based on a novella by Don Winslow
Directed by Bart Layton
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Nick Nolte, Monica Barbaro
Language English

Purchase your copy from Orbit HERE 

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

Overview:

Crime 101 comes to 4k from MGM. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Bart Layton, the film is a worthwhile entry into the west coast crime genre. MGM's release of Crime 101 features an excellent video transfer and audio package, but lacks additional features to sweeten the deal.

The Movie Itself: 3.5 stars

I know what you're thinking: if I haven't seen the first 100 Crime movies, will I understand what's going on? Don't worry. Crime 101 doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything when it comes to the west coast crime genre, but it does a very satisfying job of fitting right into that niche. The characters are interesting and given room to breathe, the performances are solid, and the world constructed around everyone is appropriately oppressive. Even the American accents are ...pretty decent.

Crime 101 is adapted from a novella from author Don Winslow, who is known for his crime fiction. The film feels like it's an adaptation, too. These characters feel more nuanced and have more interiority than many similar characters created specifically for film or television (it's a crowded field and you know it). Chris Hemsworth, abandoning both his regular accent and much of his natural gruffness, plays Davis, a crook who is great at planning heists that net him large sums of money, give him an easy escape route and, importantly, harm no one aside from insurance firms. He's smart, and has managed to avoid anyone even realizing his crimes are connected until Lou (Mark Ruffalo), a police detective with an intuition about these things, begins to drill down on them.

Luckily for Davis, Lou's superiors would rather the various robberies get solved whether they arrest the right people or not, and Lou's dedication to doing things the right way hasn't made him a lot of friends on the force. There's also Sharon (the great Halle Berry) who works for exactly the kind of insurance firm that Davis targets. She's great at her job, but has been overlooked for promotion again and again, and now that her history seems to be repeating itself: here comes Davis to woo her and get her to feed him valuable (no pun intended) information.

I love the way Hemsworth plays Davis when Davis is on a grift verses when he's being genuine. For instance, he begins an actual relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro) and in all of their interactions, you can feel Davis actively TRYING to be as open and relaxed as he APPEARS when he's at similar dinners with Sharon. But in those instances, he's playing someone else, someone for whom money isn't a concern; the person he ultimately wants to become. Davis is much more comfortable being anyone but who he really is inside.

The film has a few other plot lines and threads involving Davis' frequent underworld sponsor (an amazing, growling Nick Nolte) and the rival crook he brings in (a truly despicable Barry Keoghan) which just continues to spiral into more and more unhinged, dangerous action. Ultimately, everything coalesces into a satisfying finale that should [mild SPOILERS] end up as the backdoor pilot for a new Columbo series starring Mark Ruffalo.

The Packaging: 3.5 stars

This is, as we say, perfectly cromulent packaging. It's your standard black 4k case, with a cardboard sleeve. This is the first physical release for Crime 101, so both the sleeve and the interior cover just reproduce the most common poster imagery for the film: a mildly stylized image of L.A.'s 101 freeway seen from the ground. In the negative space created by its shadow are the faces of the main cast: Hemsworth, Berry, Keoghan, and Ruffalo. In the foreground, a man in a ski-mask stands next to a muscle car. Beyond the innate neo-noir appeal of that image, nothing about the packaging is unusually aesthetically unique. It's a by-the-book first run release, but not of poor quality.

The Video: 4 stars

Not to repeat myself too much, but Crime 101 doesn't exactly change the game visually, though it is doing its thing really well. Obviously, all west coast crime films will inevitably owe something to Michael Mann one way or another. Between Thief (1981) and Heat (1995), Mann almost single-handedly locked-in the look of crime in L.A. (though a hat must also be tipped to 1985's To Live and Die in L.A., directed by William Friedkin). Crime 101 synthesized Mann's influence, utilizing both the wet streets and twinkling city lights of Thief, and the concrete blue shadows of Heat at varying times.

All of which looks excellent. Cinematographer Erik Wilson (who was director of photography on ALL THREE Paddington films!) unsurprisingly (he did all three!) handles the look of Crime 101 and makes it look easy. The film premiered earlier this year, so this isn't a restoration situation, but the transfer is solid. The shadows are deep, the city has texture, and the colors are sharp, (but not as saturated as in To Live and Die) and overall, this is just a slick looking thriller. 

The Audio: 4 stars

The sound here is, similar to above, very solid and the mix and balance are well-considered. I have a three-channel soundbar and never had any real issues. Sonically, this is a Set It and Forget It film, and that's a good thing. Nothing pulls me out of a movie like having to adjust the volume over and over to the point that I end up anticipating upcoming volume spikes. Despite the film having about as much casual volume dialogue as it does revving engines and gunfire, I never had to ride the volume knob. 

The soundtrack music and score never unintentionally drowns out the ambient sounds in a given scene either. Ormon (Keoghan), for instance, is introduced riding a motorcycle through downtown L.A. to an aggressive track from Run the Jewels, and the sound of the bike's engine under the track makes the sequence feel incredibly energizing. Later, Davis and Maya dance in his apartment to the radio. The song that plays is a live Bruce Springsteen track and even all the additional noise of an audience cheering doesn't muddy the sonic waters; you can still hear their conversation perfectly clearly.

The Supplements: 0 stars

So. This is where snagging a brand new, first run release tends to stumble. The disc has no additional materials at all. No preproduction or making of documentaries, no commentary tracks, no promotional featurettes, not even a trailer. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's a bit of a double-edged sword in my opinion: it's a release purely for folks who dig the movie enough to own it. But by that same token, doesn't someone who loves the movie enough to snag the initial release deserve access to the deeper well of insight that bonus features provide?

Final Thoughts: Worth a Look 

I have repeatedly used the word 'solid' in this write-up, and I am about to do so for what I hope is the final time: As a film, Crime 101 is solid. If you caught it earlier in the year and want to have a copy on-hand, or you've simply heard good things, this release won't disappoint. If, however, you really like the flick and want to learn about the making of it, how difficult it may have been adapting it from page to screen, or what it was like working with Nick Nolte, you will be left wanting more.

RADIOLAND MURDERS (1994) - Kino Lorber

Radioland Murders
Kino Lorber

Original Release Date Oct. 21st, 1994
Written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, Jeff Reno, Ron Osborn, story by George Lucas
Directed by Mel Smith
Starring Brian Benben, Mary Stuart Masterson, Ned Beatty, Michael McKean, Larry Miller
Language English

Purchase your copy HERE from Kino Lorber

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Podcast Director & Staff Writer, cohost of the Hate Watch / Great Watch Podcast

The Movie: Good

Radioland Murders is an interesting beast. Half relationship on the rocks drama, and half classic Hollywood whodunnit romp complete with mile-a-minute repartee, pithy rejoinders, and wacky shenanigans. Allegedly the original version of the script was balanced more on the relationship side with the radio station storyline as the backdrop, before overcorrecting the other way and finally ending up somewhere in the middle. But along the way, we're given a whirlwind look at what putting on an old school variety radio show might have looked like under some very specific circumstances.

It's the night of the maiden broadcast of upstart radio station WBN in Chicago and everything is in a madcap state of chaos, and that's before the murders begin. When the station's number one sponsor demands last-minute script changes, assistant director Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson) has to wrangle her soon-to-be ex-husband Roger (Brian Benben) and the rest of the writers to rework a whole night's worth of entertainment! As every department makes their last minute preparations and the show's broadcast time creeps steadily closer, no one is expecting that a murderer may be in their midst, but shortly after the curtain rises, the bodies begin to fall.

I love murder mysteries and whodunnits, but this isn't really much of one. Even setting aside the sheer number of theoretical suspects, I don't think there's ever really any clues set out for the audience to follow, yet the movie spends a lot of its run time following that thread, to the detriment of the relationship story between Penny and Roger. We never really get a great idea what their issues were, they just seem vaguely exasperated by each other. While that is very much in keeping with the film's inspiration, and is very cute, it really just means that the main obstacle keeping them apart is that Roger pretty quickly becomes the police lieutenant (Michael Lerner)'s prime suspect. This leads to perhaps the film's strongest facet: the screwball comedy of it all. There are outlandish costume changes, police chases through the hallways, even some gunplay for comedic effect! Roger even ends up climbing the enormous letters on the exterior of the building and later holds off the cops with a firehose! It is genuinely quite zany.

Competing with these plots is the radio broadcast itself. We keep cutting away from the film's dueling focal points (the murder and the romance) to the booth, to the writers' room, to the foley dept., to the various bands and orchestras performing on the stage, to backstage as folks quickly change sets on the enormous rotating turntable preparing for the next number. Maybe it's just me, but I was almost more interested with those, perfectly ordinary, comings and goings than I was with the more bombastic storylines.

Like I said, an interesting beast. I don't think there's really a "bad" aspect to the film. All the performances are fun and memorable and attention-grabbing, the murders are creative and varied enough to keep your interest, and Masterson and Benben have a real livewire chemistry that makes their relationship fun to track. But at some point it becomes impossible to keep caring equally about ALL these disparate elements. About halfway through, the film narrows its focus more to follow the wrongfully accused Roger as he tries to prove his innocence, but it still doesn't ever give you room to breathe. As good as it is, I found it hard to stay engaged as things went on.

The Packaging: Good

This is your typical slim, blue plastic Blu-ray case with a cover image that feels like a throwback to the posters of yesteryear: Penny and Roger peeking around the stage curtain at someone collapsed, presumably dead, in the spotlight onstage. All this is lacking from those old Hollywood posters are the inset illustrations of other notable stars and, usually, quite a lot of text. This cover is recreated on the cardboard sleeve as well. It's nothing remarkable, but it is quietly very appealing.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

This looks and sounds fantastic, but isn't showy about it. The film as a whole is very, not dark exactly, but muted. The overall color scheme of the film is composed of deep, velvety blue tones, and peachy ambers, with pops of a cherry red dress here, or the purple curtain behind Claudette Katsenback (Anita Morris), the station' "Va Va Voom Girl". The lighting is very soft in a lot of the film, like the bounce lighting in the booth, and instead of looking dim, everything feels really warm, intimate and comforting.

Likewise, the sound mix isn't showy, but is just really solid. I mentioned the mile-a-minute dialogue up above, and underneath that, there's always a lot going on sonically. People backstage are always yelling or talking over each other, there is frequently music coming from the stage, or a performance, and the folks in the booth are using the headset mics to communicate to certain characters almost constantly. But you're always perfectly able to clearly hear all the dialogue and appreciate how witty it is.

Special Features: Average

The bonus features here are a little thin, though I will say I really enjoyed the Brian Benben interview, which is where I got that tidbit about the script's original focus that I mentioned above. He also states that apparently this film, which was the brainchild of George Lucas, is in a shared universe with American Graffiti (1973), with the parents of Richard Dreyfuss' character in that film also being named Penny and Roger Henderson. Georgie boy was really all about that cinematic universe business right from the jump, hunh?

Be forewarned: for some reason, the trailer for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is incredibly loud. Why?

• Audio commentary by entertainment journalists / authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry
• Brian Benben's Radioland Murders Memories: Interview (17:32)
• TRAILERS
• Radioland Murders (1994) (2:05)
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) (1:28)
• Brain Donors (1992) (1:30)
• Cry-Baby (1990) (1:58)
• Kingpin (1996) ( (1:28)
• MouseHunt (1997) (2:05)

In Summary: Snag it at a yard sale

Radioland Murders isn't bad by any means, but it can't commit to being any one of the things it's paying homage to, which makes it just okay across several genres. While I think all the individual pieces are very well done from the writing, to the performances, to the look, the tone, and the gags; somehow it fails to cohere into a unified-feeling whole. It just feels very scattered. However, if you're big into the style of old Hollywood films, or whip crack back-and-forth dialogue I would definitely recommend checking it out.

There's one last aspect of Radioland Murders worth mentioning: the incredible cast. George Burns, Michael McKean, Stephen Tobolowski, Christopher Lloyd, Corbin Bernsen, Rosemary Clooney, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dylan Baker, Billy Barty, Harvey Korman, Joey Lawrence; Radioland Murders is worth a watch for the murderer's row (no pun intended) of supporting cast members alone, and maybe you'll find the rest of it hooks you as well. At the very least, you'll be much better at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

HOUSE PARTY (1990) - Criterion

House Party
Criterion

Original Release Date March 9th, 1990
Written by Reginald Hudlin
Directed by Reginald Hudlin
Starring Christopher Reid, Christopher Martin, Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell
Language English (subtitles available)

Purchase your copy from Criterion HERE

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Podcast Director & Staff Writer, cohost of the Hate Watch / Great Watch Podcast

The Movie: Excellent

Kid (Christopher Reid) just wants to go to the titular House Party at his friend Play (Christopher Martin)'s house, but he's got a few problems: it's a school night, there are bullies on the lookout for him, and his dad (Robin Harris) just received notice from Kid's school that he was involved in an altercation with the bullies earlier that day. Is that going to stop him? Nah. But once at the party, he's got new troubles: Will anybody dance with him? Can he get with one of the girls he likes? Can he even pick one? And, will he get to perform for everybody?

A huge part of the appeal of this film is the cast. Kid 'n Play are a blast, and Robin Harris is a charming curmudgeon as Kid's dad. Tisha Campbell and A.J. Johnson as Sidney and Sharane are just impeccably cool girls who give Kid 'n Play a run for their money on the dance floor; the assortment of buddies are all fun, including Daryl Mitchell and Martin Lawrence; even the bullies played by Paul Anthony, Bowlegged Lou, and B-Fine (all members of the hip hop / R&B group Full Force) are heightened, silly brutes. In one of the bonus features, a cast reunion, they recall how open writer / director Reginald Hudlin was to letting them rewrite their characters and make them unique. It shows, as does the genuine love they all still have for each other, and both pay off hugely for the film.

House Party started as Reginald Hudlin's college thesis short film (which is included in the bonus features of the disc) and eventually drew the attention of New Line Cinema, who had noticed that a large portion of their horror film audiences were black youths, and decided: why not market something specifically for that audience? The resulting film is surprisingly gentle, whimsical, and largely good-hearted, while not ignoring the concerns of black teens (and larger issues overall). Kid and Play, as well as the extended cast, are incredibly likeable and harken back to the teen films that inspired Hudlin in the first place.

Like those films, there's a certain lightness to House Party. Robin Harris plays Kid's dad as stern, but not abusive. The bullies beat on Kid at school, but he dusts himself off and has no lingering signs of the fight. Even the patrol cops who repeatedly bust Kid (and others) for offenses as wide-ranging as crashing a garden party (DJed by George Clinton!) to walking while black are dealt with as pests and not symptoms of crushing systemic racism. It doesn't ignore any of these things, it just chooses to address them with its finger on the scale to preserve the tone. House Party also contains, I think, my favorite dance-off in all of cinema? It just comes up so organically and is so thoroughly entertaining that it never fails to put a smile on my face.

Beyond just being a very fun watch and filled with energy, creativity, and whimsy, House Party takes the teen comedies of the 1980s and filters them through the rise of hip-hop into an unquestionable facet of popular culture at large. Obviously, teen comedies persisted, but very few since have managed to capture the innocence of that '80s heyday. Similarly hip-hop would shift focus to gangsta rap with, again, less examples of more lighthearted "party rap" breaking into the public consciousness in the same way. House Party truly captures this brief but important cultural turning point, while also functioning as a farewell to the teen films it was based on. A true time capsule that deserves to be experienced, perhaps for the first time.

The Packaging: Excellent

This is such a solidly designed release! From the color palette, to the slight reworking of the original House Party logo, The Criterion packaging perfectly captures the fun that runs throughout the film.  There was a trend of really brightly colored clothing that came from the late '80s and ran through the early '90s that's occasionally misidentified as "Hypercolor" (which was actually a line of color changing clothing that reacted to heat, but I digress) and the palette of vibrant yellow, plastic red, powder blue and a deep, soft violet calls back to that while avoiding becoming a neon eyesore. There's a vitality to it that's just eye-catching.

The cover art, a recreation of Kid 'n Play doing their Kickstep dance during the dance-of sequence, painted by Gabe Tiberino is recognizable but impressionistic enough to stay visually interesting to look at. My personal favorite detail is that the booklet, which includes a fantastic essay by Michael Harriot, even unfolds in the accordion style of audio cassette inserts of the era.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

This is a fantastic transfer. The most impressive thing for me was the color balance. There are a lot of very vibrant colors in this movie, and in the clothes from this era, and managing to make them all pop without any specific one dominating is really impressive. The film grain is still present, but it's barely noticeable, let alone distracting, even in the exterior night shots. I love the look and the feel of film grain. There is a tangible quality that really appeals to me, especially when the film is from or set in an earlier era. I know folks get knocked quite a bit for talking about the "warmth" of vinyl records or cassette tapes, but there is just something to the added texture that mild tape hiss adds that completely changes the energy of a piece of music. Film grain is like that.

One last quick visual aside: While I was watching one of the early scenes, I noticed that Kid has two white-furred monster or werewolf masks on the top of his bookshelf and now I’m obsessed with that detail. If it wasn’t for this visual upgrade, I might not have even noticed! 

But speaking of music; the audio mix here was excellent overall. I have a three-channel soundbar and overall I had no issues. I'm usually most critical of having to ride the volume knob for a film; the act of seesawing from quiet dialogue to loud sound effects or score is not only a repeat frustration, but fully takes me out of the film. Because of the way the film is structured, I did have to make a few adjustments. The dialogue in the early scenes at Kid's house was just a hair too quiet after the opening dream sequence which is all sound effects and score. But after a few minor adjustments, I pretty quickly found a perfect balance.

Special Features: Excellent

For a relatively short list of bonus features, these are incredibly informative! The Actor's Reunion feature, which I mentioned above, is really heartwarming, showcasing the genuine affection they all have for each other even after all this time. I was genuinely amazed at just how much of the feature film's DNA was included in the original short film, from scenes and story beats down to specific lines of dialogue. The trailer itself is actually great because, though it's advertising a movie called House Party, it really doesn't reveal too much of the party! It also was a nice contrast by which to appreciate the restoration. You can really see how faded the film looks in an unrestored state.

But my favorite feature is the interview between film professor Racquel Gates, writer / director Reginald Hudlin and his co-producer brother Warrington. It's insightful not only into the genesis of the idea, and into how the short film led to the feature, but it also addresses the film's one stumbling point for me. There are some instances of casual homophobia thrown around, which, as with the same thing in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), I always forget is in there. And listen, I understand that it was a different time, but it's still, in both cases, a blemish on an otherwise wonderfully bright and lighthearted film. Here, Reginald Hudlin explains that the inclusion of these terms was purely from mild ignorance, and not intended to be hurtful in any way. It is, to be fair, how kids talked then, as well as now unfortunately, but it's still encouraging to see a filmmaker asked directly and to respond with conviction and empathy.

• "House Party": Storytelling from the Inside Out (31:53)
• Actors Reunion (37:57)
• Reginald Hudlin's Student Film (20:48)
• Trailer (1:27)

In Summary: Must Own

I have a fondness for House Party that I wasn't consciously aware of beyond the vague concept of it being a movie I love, which when you've watched as many films as I have, is a pretty broad category. But upon rewatching it for this review, I was hit with the most powerful nostalgia. This is what the early '90s was, for me. Not the high school drama, parties, bullies, and girls; that was a few years off yet, but the style, the music, and the vibe of it. It's also, divorced from that nostalgic filter, just a very delightful movie. 

It's not perfect ("who among us", y'know?) but it comes very close, and does so with a sense of genuine fun that's hard to top. I know that reviewers who use "fun" as a positive often get quite a bit of flack, but I challenge you to NOT have fun watching House Party. Yes, it has deeper cultural relevance, and addresses important aspects of black culture, but it is also unmistakably just plain fun. And fun is good, I recommend you try to have as much of it as you can. Criterion's House Party release is a great starting point.