Archive for January 2012
Three Outlaw Samurai Criterion Collection DVD Review: Three is the Magic Number
A serviceable samurai yarn spotlighted by a rewarding underdog story and above average fight scenes.
Read MoreThe Big Year Blu-ray Review: One of the Best Family-Friendly Comedies of 2011. Seriously!
Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson prove they still have something to give.
Read MoreThe Magnetic Monster DVD Review: A Very Good Science-Fiction Film
An older scientist’s experiments with magnetics get seriously out of hand.
Read MoreAfter Fall, Winter Movie Review: Love in the Time of Desperation
Schaeffer revisits his character from 15 years ago and develops another ill-fated romance.
Read MoreThe Magnificent Ambersons Is the Pick of the Week
Orson Welles does it again.
Read MoreJane Eyre (2011) Movie Review: Director Cary Fukunaga Sets the Bar High for Future Adaptations
Rare is the film that excels in so many facets.
Read MoreTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Movie Review: A Well-Toned, Subtle Spy Thriller
It has a certain understated tension that makes it well worth a look.
Read MoreQueen: Days of Our Lives DVD Review: They Made the Rockin’ World Go Round
The full story of Queen, one of the greatest bands in rock history.
Read MoreIf…. Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Portrait of the Student as an Angry Young Man
Malcolm McDowell is captivating in his film debut.
Read MoreSo This Guy and a Girl Went to Sundance
Amanda and Max were lucky enough to make it out to the Sundance Film Festival and talk about what it is really like.
Read MoreThe Moment of Truth Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Heady Symphony of Sound and Image
Francesco Rosi’s bullfighting film is an intimate and immediate experience.
Read MoreJulia (2008) Movie Review: You Aren’t Required To Like Her At All
Erick Zonka directs a wonderfully complex Tilda Swinton as Julia in a twisty tale of a kidnapping gone horribly awry.
Read MoreMysterious Island (1961) Blu-ray Review: Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo? Sold!
Twilight Time joyfully fills that gap in your Ray Harryhausen Blu-ray collection.
Read MoreThe Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman DVD Review: A Look at One of Their Most Enduring Works
The story of the band’s final album made with Jim Morrison.
Read MoreA Separation Movie Review: A Worthy Recipient of Academy Accolades
Hope that this Oscar nominee is coming soon to a theater near you.
Read MoreGodzilla (1954) The Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Legendary Monster Makes its Debut
A worthy addition to any fan of the genre’s movie collection.
Read MoreIron Monster and Sesame Heroes DVD Review: A Crossover Recommended for Kids and Their Parents
Sesame Street and superheroes meet to educate and entertain.
Read MoreIn Time DVD Review: An Enthralling Science-Fiction Thriller
I really enjoyed this film.
Read MoreU2: From the Sky Down Is the Pick of the Week
Once again Bono saves us.
Read MoreThe Overcoat (1952) DVD Review: A Genre-Bending Satire from the Age of Neorealism
Alberto Lattuada’s overlooked The Overcoat is a smart blend of bureaucratic satire, tragicomic character piece and surrealist fantasy.
Read MoreDirty Girl DVD Review: She Disappoints
Well, it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen.
Read MoreBelle de Jour Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: How Severine Got Her Groove Back
A luminous young Catherine Deneuve crafts a memorable portrait of a bored, rich housewife exploring her dangerous proclivities.
Read MoreThe Pruitt-Igoe Myth Movie Review: An Absolutely Fascinating Documentary
How building a better tomorrow destroyed a community’s ‘today.’
Read More10 Things I Hate About You: Season One, Volume Two DVD Review: Canceled Too Soon?
Look at it this way: it’s completely free of Julia Stiles and her patented pouty face!
Read MoreBucky Larson: Born to Be a Star Blu-ray Review: A Cinematic Ipecac
So bad, it makes “It’s Pat” look like a classic.
Read MoreThe Black Cobra / No Survivors Please DVD Review: Two Kooky Titles from West Germany
VCI wisely pairs up two forgotten curiosities — and the results are pleasing.
Read MoreWings (1927) Blu-ray Review: Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
Wings will transport you into the wild Blu-ray yonder.
Read MoreReal Steel Blu-ray Review: A Good Movie, A Great High-Definition Experience
A familiar story told well.
Read MoreBelle de Jour Is the Pick of the Week
A French classic gets me all excited.
Read MoreTraffic Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Thrilling and Uncompromising Look at the War on Drugs
Steven Soderbergh’s seemingly opposite sensibilities mix marvelously in this four-time Oscar winner.
Read MoreEat This New York DVD Review: Jumbled Restaurant Documentary Proves Unsatisfying
Displaying many of the same problems — only magnified — that plagued 2011’s Page One: Inside the New York Times, this 2004 effort from the same filmmakers underwhelms.
Read MoreColombiana DVD Review: Uninspired, but with a Decent Soundtrack
Luc Besson amalgamates all of his previous films into one.
Read MoreFrom Straight to Bizarre: Zappa, Beefheart, Alice Cooper, and LA’s Lunatic Fringe DVD Review: A Must for Zappa-philes
A study of the L.A. “Freak Scene” like no other.
Read MoreWest Side Story (1961) Blu-ray Review: Celebrating 50 Years of Dancing in the Streets
It’s “Cool” for the most part, but there are a few issues.
Read MoreThe Fighter (2010) Movie Review: Family, Loyalty, and Boxing
Sometimes what happens outside the ring is just as interesting as the fights, and that’s certainly true for The Fighter.
Read MoreBoardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
It took me awhile to latch on my this new HBO series now has me hooked.
Read MoreSid & Nancy Blu-ray Review: Grotesque and Sublime Doomed Love
Alex Cox’s anarchic, funny and beautiful evocation of the punk era gets a solid Blu-ray upgrade.
Read MoreThe Moth Diaries Movie Review: The Worst of 2011
The thing that replaced 3-D as the biggest threat to Film in 2011.
Read MoreI’m Glad My Mother Is Alive DVD Review: Study of Post-Adoption Scars Falls Flat
Father-and-son team Claude and Nathan Miller hamstring their promising film with structural issues and a cop-out ending.
Read MoreBody Puzzle DVD Review: Gory Goofy Great
A wacky half-giallo/half-horror offering from Lamberto Bava.
Read MoreSabu! Criterion Collection DVD Review: Adventures With The Immensely Charming Child Star
The undeniable charisma of Sabu is on full display in this collection of three of his first four films.
Read MoreGlee: The Concert Blu-ray Review: Fun Performances, Lame Interludes
The kids put on an entertaining show but are hampered by fan interviews interspersed between songs.
Read MoreThe Snowtown Murders Movie Review: The Killer is the Step-Dad Beside Me
And I thought River’s Edge was frightening.
Read MoreDesign For Living Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Pre-Codiest of the Pre-Codes
Director Ernst Lubitsch’s classic rom-com is a three-way delight.
Read MoreIn the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds Blu-ray Review: Uwe Boll is Back, and Badder than Ever!
It’s Dolph Lundgren vs. the Renaissance Faire rejects.
Read MoreGreat White Death DVD Review: A Silly Sharksploitation Schlockumentary
CFS Releasing drops the ball by giving us an out-of-sync Glenn Ford.
Read MoreJustified: The Complete Second Season Is the Pick of the Week
Timothy Olyphant and Elmore Leonard create a fun, entertaining, if not exactly perfect series.
Read MoreSolaris (1972) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Explorations in Outer and Inner Space
Andrei Tarkovsky psychological film spends too much time looking inward.
Read MoreThe Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Review: Ponderous Movie, Worse Blu-ray
An utterly underwhelming high-def disc of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s similarly lackluster sophomore feature.
Read MoreThe Big Year DVD Review: Great Heart and a Sweet Story
Not a lot of big laughs, but it has big heart.
Read MoreThe Left Hand of God DVD Review: Another Fine Humphrey Bogart Flick
Wait, Bogie? As a priest? Well, not quite.
Read MoreMost Anticipated Films of 2012
I expect to see these in the theater.
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