My Latest Radiance Films Pick Ups! | Hi, Mom! 4K, Taxidermia & More

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:01][music] >> Hello and welcome back to my DVD film.

[00:00:12]It's time for the Radiance pick up video this month.

[00:00:15]I picked up the film bundle again.

[00:00:18]Radiance continue to be one of the most unpredictable boutique labels around.

[00:00:24]Definitely one of my favorites.

[00:00:26]Every month feels like you're just spinning a roulette wheel between art house cinema, exploitation political thrillers, extreme cinema, Hong Kong action, or completely forgotten cult films. And May's pick ups is one of the most eclectic batches of films from them in a while.

[00:00:45]Since last month, cuz every month is just crazy.

[00:00:48]And honestly, there is one here that I'm really excited to check out cuz I've never seen before and it's got a great star and a great pedigree behind the the camera. The other ones I don't know too much about.

[00:01:00]But Radiance have never let me down. So I am really excited about. So the first one, the one I'm most excited to watch, and I'm going to watch it straight after this video, is Hi, Mom!

[00:01:11]Directed by Brian De Palma, starring Robert De Niro.

[00:01:16]A very young Robert De Niro.

[00:01:19]And it's basically that's that's why I'm going to watch it. It's new Hollywood cinema, 70s filmmaking with De Palma and De Niro.

[00:01:30]It just sounds interesting. And apparently the film kind of mixes political satire, voyeurism, black comedy.

[00:01:38]And has De Niro as an aspiring filmmaker watching people from their apartment window.

[00:01:45]So you can see how that fits into De Palma's wheelhouse. And I'm just kind of curious to see how it leans into the comedy aspect of it, you know, um De Palma would go on to use that for blowout body double those kind of movies, but I just I'm curious to see how it fits into this kind of tonal comedy that they have going here. Uh the fact that Radiance are giving it a 4K suggests that it's a really important film for me. Um from what they've done with their 4Ks, it makes me sit up and pay attention and it's usually something special. Uh next up for them as Aesthetics of a Bullet.

[00:02:27]Now, this is a another reason why I absolutely love Radiance films. It's the kind of film that I would never have discovered without the them bringing it forward and the title alone just makes me sit up with curiosity. And that's before you look at the pedigree. We've got Sadao Nakajima again here. Um he's done a couple of films and here there appears to be Jailbreaker. He did the the the Godfather trilogy, Japanese Godfather trilogy.

[00:02:57]I'm really curious to see what this will lean into um again cuz I after the Precious Jailbreaker, I was really curious about the filmmaker, so I'll be interesting to see where that goes. Um looking at the trailers and things, Criminal Underworld uh has that kind of specific kind of '80s early '90s Japanese crime aesthetic.

[00:03:18]They've got so much trust with Radiance at the moment that I I get excited about films I know very little about because they end up becoming favorites even though I know very little about them.

[00:03:31]Then we have uh I'd say the one that kind of looms the largest over this because it's Jacques Rivette and it's long.

[00:03:44]It looks intimidating in the best possible way. It's a historical epic about Joan of Arc split into two parts, the battles and the prison.

[00:03:56]And they are lengthy. Um both of the films almost running at 3 hours uh minimum of 2 hours 40, I think it is for one of them.

[00:04:08]And they it feels daunting. It feels like one of those things that's going to be tough to put on. I'm definitely going to break into the two parts um and give it a a go from that.

[00:04:20]From what I've kind of read about it, it's not a conventional biopic. Much more grounded, a much more human portrayal of Joan of Arc without the mythologizing that you kind of usually get. So it's it's going to have to be one that I'm in the right mood for before the next Radiance package comes out.

[00:04:39]Which is bizarre about a spin on that.

[00:04:41]Next up we have Jean-Paul Belmondo in The Professional.

[00:04:47]Uh now I am super excited because cuz you know me and my love for Italian films. And it was the the exactly what the kind of European crime thriller that I absolutely adore. Uh Belmondo here apparently plays a secret agent betrayed by his own government on a mission to Africa. Um Who escapes and comes back for vengeance. Sold. That's all I need I I know I'm going to love this one.

[00:05:16]I love Belmondo. Um I love the idea of the story. I love Italian films in general, particularly from this era, particularly in this genre. Everything about it just screams out that I am going to absolutely love this one. And next up we have the first release from a sub label Chasm from Radiance and that is Taxidermia. Now this looks terrifying.

[00:05:44]Uh it's a Hungarian film. It has a reputation of being grotesque, disturbing, surreal, and deeply uncomfortable.

[00:05:53]So, it's not really a kind of Sunday matinee kind of feeling about this one.

[00:05:57]Um I I have looked at the trailer. I've read reviews, and I feel I'm still deeply unprepared for what this is going to deliver.

[00:06:08]Definitely one of the most extreme films that's come from Radiance or their sub-labels.

[00:06:12]Uh and again, need to be in a bit of take that mood to see what I'm going to get here. Yeah, I'm interested.

[00:06:19]You What you've got to love about this pick-up bundle is how well it represents Radiance as a boutique. You've got some new Hollywood satire. You've got Japanese action cinema.

[00:06:33]Um you've got French arthouse historical epics, cult Italian action classics, and a European Eastern body horror film.

[00:06:45]Like, there's no through-line. They're all over the place, and that's great.

[00:06:49]It's the unpredictability that gives Radiance the edge and has made them one of my favorite boutique labels. So, yeah.

[00:06:58]Absolutely stacked month of Radiance pick-ups. Uh the one I'm most excited about is High Mom. Um I haven't seen it.

[00:07:05]I'm going to check it out immediately.

[00:07:07]Um but honestly, every single one of these looks interesting in one way or another.

[00:07:13]Did you pick up the bundle? I would love to know what is your only pick-up one or two of the titles. Let me know what you picked up. Gives me an idea of your kind of taste as well, and what you're most excited about coming from Radiance. I'd be interested in that as well. As always, there is more content up here.

[00:07:27]You can see more of my stuff in the description box below are links to Patreon, membership program, manbeefilms.com. Always the ways you can support me. Thanks for watching.

[00:07:36]I'll see you next time.