Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (South Korea, 2017, Well Go USA, Blu-ray, NR, 139 min.). This intriguing and ultimately emotional fantasy film depicts a fireman's trek through a Buddhist afterlife, where his earthly existence is judged by gods and goddesses through seven trials to determine whether he should be reincarnated. The film, co-written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa (also 2018’s “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days”), is based on a Korean webcomic by Joo Ho-Min, here credited as the co-writer. The film was a huge blockbuster in South Korea during the holiday season of 2017.

The film begins with a horrific skyscraper fire, with Kim Ja-hong (Cha Tae-hyun of “My Sassy Girl,” “Miracle of Giving Fool”) struggling fearlessly to save a little girl trapped in an upper floor. With the girl tucked inside his jacket, the fireman is being lowered to the ground when the burning rope finally breaks. The fall appears to have a happy ending, as the little girl runs to the safety of her family and Kim is shocked to think he survived such a fall – except he has not.

As he surveys the carnage of the fire, he is ignored by everyone, until two spirits tell him they are among the three guardians who will escort him through 49 days of seven trials that will examine his life and whether he is worthy of reincarnation. They are security specialist Deputy Guardian Hewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon of “The Spy Gone North”) and Assistant Guardian Lee Deek-chun (Kim Hyang-gi of “Innocent Witness,” “Space Sweepers”). Once whisked to the afterlife, he meets the third, Guardian Gang-lim (Ha Jung-woo of “The Chaser,” “The Handmaiden”), their boss.

The film opens with text of a Buddhist scripture that states “the dead are judged seven times over 49 days. Tried by deceit, indolence, injustice, betrayal, violence, murder and filial impiety.” If they pass, they get to be reincarnated. From the trio of guardians, we learn it has been 422 years since the last honorable death. Gang-lim has reincarnated only 47 souls in 100 years. Due to his efforts in saving people, Kim is called a paragon, the first in 19 years. So, being reincarnated is posed as a somewhat rare occurence.

As Kim is drawn up by a vortex that transports him to the afterlife, he cries out that he needs to see his mother one last time. This desire is key to the backstory that is revealed during the trials, especially after his younger brother Su-hong (Kim Dong-wook of TV’s “The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince”) appears as an attacking vengeful spirit. The seventh trial completes the backstory and offers an emotional resolution.

 The first trial is of murder and the case involves an indirect murder, as Kim went and saved several others in a fire, after a trapped colleague told him to do so. The second trial is of indolence, that is how he lived his life, and scenes from his life are displayed as a backdrop. During the deceit trial, Kim learns he can talk to his mute mother in a dream if he reincarnates. At this point, the film becomes more special effects heavy, as monsters attack, including his soldier brother’s vengeful spirit. We soon learn what happened to the brother and why he might be vengeful.

The order of the rest of Kim’s trials are injustice, betrayal, violence and filial impiety, some of which he was intitled to free passes through as a paragon.

The film is constantly entertaining and does not feel its length. The ending not only resolves Kim’s case, but sets up the sequel as we learn the three guardians have a chance to escape their own kind of limbo and be reincarnated themselves, if they successfully lead a few others souls through to reincarnation.

The extras are a brief behind-the-scenes look, including webcomic author Ju (3:59), and character profiles (2:11). Grade: film 3.75 stars; extras 1.25 stars

Rating guide: 5 stars = classic; 4 stars = excellent; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = fair; dog = skip it

I Met Him in Paris (1937, Universal, Blu-ray, NR, 86 min.). This is yet another Claudette Colbert film. (We recently reviewed her in “Zaza,” “Skylark” and “Maid of Salem.”) She is a game, winning performer as fashion designer Kay Dunham, who has saved up five years for a trip to Paris. After she says goodbye to her dull boyfriend Berk Sutter (Lee Bowman of “Third Finger, Left Hand”), she announces she is rebelling against “everything that is sweet and conventional.”

In Paris for three weeks, she soon meets two men in the hotel’s American Bar. The first is playboy and failed novelist Gene Anders (Robert Young of “Crossfire,” TV’s “Marcus Welby, M.D.”), who immediately comes onto her. The other is Anders’ older, more unemotional friend, playwright George Potter (Melvyn Douglas of “Hud,” “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”). Over the next few days, Potter horns in on Dunham and Anders’ dates, as he knows Anders’ secret that he is married and because he has growing affection for Dunham himself.

Anders professes his love for her after a week and invites her to vacation with him in Switzerland. Potter, of course, is against this, but his attitude makes Dunham accept the offer, but only as platonic friends.

Once on the trip, though, platonic turns to kissing, as she falls for Anders, but she has challenged Potter to come along. At the Swiss resort, which has a clerk (Fritz Feld of “Bringing Up Baby,” “Hello, Dolly!”) whom Anders constantly frustrates, the trio engage in ice skating, skiing (some humor with Young) and a hilarious tobogganing run, which has brakeman Anders quickly fall off and later has Dunham fall onto the track, but in harm’s way.

Things get a bit complicated when an unexpected guest arrives. The film is directed by Wesley Ruggles (“The Bride Comes Home,” “London Town”). Grade: film 3 stars

Anemone (Universal, 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, R, 125 min.). The film, about two brothers trying to reconnect for the sake of one’s son, is way too leisurely paced and thus, overly long. Its strengths are the cinematography by Ben Fordesman (“Saint Maud”) and the acting of Daniel Day-Lewis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronan Day-Lewis, his son and the film’s director. This is Ronan’s first feature film, after a short and a music video.

The direction is a bit heavy-handed, promising a greater meaning that never successfully arrives. This includes some late weirdness with a giant salmon and a phosphorescent creature, maybe supposed to be a deer, but with a human face. There are lots of silences between dialogue as Jem Stoker (Sean Bean of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, TV’s “Game of Thrones”) arrives at the deep-in-the-woods (except later when it seems near a town, a carnival and the ocean) hovel of his hermit brother Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis of “There Will Be Blood,” “Lincoln,” “My Beautiful Laundrette”), whom he has not seen in 20 years. This, by the way, is Daniel Day-Lewis’ first film in eight years.

Jem has sought out Ray because Ray’s soldier son Brian (Samuel Bottomley of “Ghost Stories,” “Tyrannosaur”), whom he has never seen, has gone absent without leave after beating someone almost to death. Brian has been raised by Jem and his mother Nessa (Samantha Morton of “Minority Report”) and is tormented about rumors of his father, who allegedly killed a would-be prisoner of war, a young lad in Northern Island during The Troubles.

During Jem’s visit, Ray, who uses the f-word a lot, barely speaks to Jem at first, but then takes him on hikes, runs along the beach, swimming in a lake, hunting and to a pub for beer. They walk by a carnival set up for no reason except for some pretty lights. Then there is a tremendous hail storm that they have to flee through to get back to the cabin, but which also pierces a window back home in Brian’s bedroom, which is way too far for the storm to be occurring at the same time. There are several cuts back to Brian and Nessa, including when she tries to explain Ray’s disappearance from her life, despite her being pregnant with Brian.

Overall, the film wastes some good acting with its too leisurely pacing and some odd choices, like the far-too-intense hail storm or the scene of the brothers dancing, only to Bobby Krlic’s industrial rock score. There also is Ray’s lengthy story of getting disgustingly even with a priest who molested him sexually. The film’s name comes from the flower that the brothers’ father used to grow. Grade: film 2.5 stars

The Brain Hunter (2013, BayView, Blu-ray, NR, 83 min.). A quiet little Midwest town is disturbed by a crashing meteorite, which resulted in high radioactive levels and a portion of the town sealed off by the government. Now 20 years later, Cemetery Town is disrupted again by a series of killings, in which the victims’ brains go missing. The town's gruff caretaker Cliff (Gerard Luning) is in the center of the chaos, as he has been caring for a brain-eating space creature.

Arriving in town is London doctor Von John (Paul McGillicuddy), who has an artifact, The Crest of Exodus, which shows the Brain Eater’s backstory to a detective and apparently can be used to restrain the creature.

The frequently silly film, written and directed by Robert Resto (also a second “Brain Hunter” film), also includes four teens who just have to go to the killing area, although the timing seems days after when one’s parents go away for the weekend. He is Scott, whose friend Frank becomes a victim.

The sole extra is behind-the-scenes footage (4:17). Grade: film and extra 1.5 stars

Law & Order: The Complete Original Series, Seasons 1-20 (1990-2010, Universal, 98 DVDs, NR, 330 hours). This set includes every episode from the first 20 seasons. Dick Wolf's primetime series covered the dedicated New York City police who investigated crimes and the district attorneys who prosecuted the offenders. It was known for its hard-hitting, ripped-from-the-headlines style. The series showcased the talents of numerous stars from stage and screen, and had intelligent writing and riveting acting.

Filmed in New York City, each episode’s first half hour is the investigation of a crime (usually murder) and the apprehension of a suspect by NYPD homicide detectives, while the second half is the prosecution of the defendant by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. While the plots are based on cases that recently made headlines, the motivation for the crime and the perpetrator often are much different. The 20 seasons totaled 431 episodes. A revival started in 2020 and is into a fifth season.

The show started a revolving door casting in season two. The longest serving main cast members of the series are Jerry Orbach (“Dirty Dancing,” “Beauty and the Beast”) as Det. Lennie Briscoe in 274 episodes, S. Epatha Merkerson (“Jacob’s Ladder,” “Lincoln”) as Lt. Anita Van Burn in 381 episodes, and Sam Waterson (“Serial Mom,” “The Great Gatsby”) as Executive Assistant District Attorney/District Attorney Jack McCoy in 405 episodes. Other longtime cast members are Jesse L. Martin (“Rent,” TV’s “The Flash”) as Det. Ed Green for 198 episodes, Steven Hill (“The Firm”) as DA Adam Schiff, Leslie Hendrix (“Arthur,” TV’s “Gotham”) as Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers in 143 episodes, Fred Thompson (“The Hunt for Red October,” “No Way Out”) as DA Arthur Branch in 116 episodes, Chris Noth (“Sex and the City” and its TV series) as Det. Mike Logan in 111 episodes, and Benjamin Bratt (“Coco,” “Miss Congeniality,” “Traffic”) as Det. Rey Curtis in 95 episodes.

In later seasons, New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, attorney William Kunstler and Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano all appeared on the show as themselves. Local personalities also had recurring cameos as fictional characters, including Donna Hanover and Fran Lebowitz as judges.

Extras include deleted and extended scenes; cast profiles; a set tour; and crossover episodes. Among the series’ wins were the 1997 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series for Waterston in 1999 and Orbach in 2005 (awarded after his death), and numerous Edgar Awards for Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay. Grade: series 3.75 stars; extras 2 stars

Wally Gator: The Complete Series (1962-63, Warner Archive Collection, 2 Blu-rays, NR, 267 min.). A true people-person alligator, Wally (voiced by Daws Butler of “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear,” TV’s “The Jetsons”) is driven by his excessive curiosity and his bon vivant inclinations to seek out new experiences beyond the city zoo where he hangs his porkpie hat in this 52-episode animated series. Donning a variety of hilarious disguises, Wally escapes the care of dedicated zookeeper Mr. Twiddle (voiced by Don Messick of “Tom & Jerry: The Movie,” TV’s “The Jetsons”) only to end up crying "Oh, fuddle-dee-doo!" as he lands himself in a series of ever more ridiculous (and dangerous) jams.

His jams include being mistaken for a dragon by a clan of medievalist monster fighters, almost ending up as the final ingredient in a witch’s magic potion, and becoming a stunt gator in Hollywood action films.

The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally aired as one of the three segments in the syndicated block “The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series.” The other two segments of the series were “Touche Turtle and Dum Dum” and “Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har” (see below). All the episodes have been remastered. Grade: series 3 stars

Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har: The Complete Series (1962-63, Warner Archive Collection, 2 Blu-rays, NR, 267 min.). Talk about odd couples. The zippy, happy-go-lucky Lippy the Lion (voiced by Daws Butler of “Wally Gator” in the style of Joe E. Brown) is always looking for action, while Hardy Har Har (voiced by Mel Blanc of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny characters) is a hangdog, hapless hyena who never laughs. So, naturally the pair are inseparable. Blanc used the same voice as he used for the postman on the “Burns and Allen” radio show.

Constantly on the lookout for the next big score, the always-optimistic Lippy leads a skeptical Hardy into a multitude of misadventures despite Hardy's "worry-wartin." They travel to the Wild West, deserted islands, country clubs and racetracks. The 52 episodes have been remastered from the best available film elements.

After the series, the duo has been infrequently included in the cast of Hanna-Barbera's ensemble shows (such as “Yogi”s Gang”), but they are no longer constantly pursuing Lippy's get-rich-quick schemes. Their personalities continued unchanged, with Lippy still the smiling optimist and Hardy the moaning pessimist. Grade: series 3.25 stars