Archive for May 2012
Inch High, Private Eye: The Complete Series DVD Review: Kick-Ass Hanna-Barbera Fun
It takes a little man to accomplish a big feat. Or something like that.
Read MoreWallander: The Revenge Movie Review: Original Book Author Contributes a Terrific Film Plot
Sweden’s most famous fictional police investigator is back on the beat in this new film penned by his creator, Henning Mankell.
Read MoreSummer with Monika Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Bergman in Love
Ingmar Bergman’s simple and predictable tale is highlighted by an ethereal middle third.
Read MoreCertified Copy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Certified Original
Great performances by the two leads outweigh the questionable plot shift.
Read MoreBook Review: Cary Grant: A Life in Pictures, Edited by Yann-Brice Dherbier: Handsome Book, Handsome Man
Life was a bit harder than it looked for the real “Cary Grant.”
Read MoreSummer Interlude and Summer With Monika Are the Picks of the Week
Two Bergman flicks get the Criterion treatment.
Read MoreTitanic at 100: Mystery Solved DVD Review: Compelling in Its Scope
The most in-depth investigation of the Titanic disaster yet.
Read MoreSimply Red: Live at Montreux 2003 DVD Review: At the Peak of Their Creativity
Fans of English blue-eyed soul will enjoy Simply Red’s high-energy performance at the legendary jazz festival.
Read MoreOn The Ice (2011) Movie Review: Scratching the Surface of Eskimo Culture
A film about death and guilt from a unique perspective.
Read MorePawn Stars: Volume Four DVD Review: To Pawn or Not to Pawn in Las Vegas
It balances between humorous moments and a real sense of drama.
Read MoreThe Last Mile (1959) DVD Review: Mickey at His Rooniest
A low-budget prison drama from Amicus Productions’ Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky.
Read MoreFrank Sinatra Film Collection DVD Review: Ol’ Blue Eyes at His Most Mediocre
It’s a good value for the money, but this repackaging of 10 previously released DVDs is fairly underwhelming.
Read MoreDoctor Who: Dragonfire DVD Review: Trapped in the 1980s
It didn’t light any fires for this reviewer.
Read MoreSherlock: Season Two Blu-ray Review: It’s Elementary That You Must Watch This
Benedict Cumberbatch is completely effective in the lead role of this modern take on the classic sleuth.
Read MoreThe River: The Complete First Season DVD Review: Oren Peli’s Paranormal Holocaust
There’s magic out there. Well, maybe not in this series.
Read MoreSerenity and Nathan Fillion Close 2012 Hero Complex Film Festival
My time among the Browncoats.
Read MoreEclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave DVD Review: Gems Indeed
Criterion brings us six seldom-seen surreal ditties from five masterful directors.
Read MoreChronicle (2012) DVD Review: Rebel Without a Costume
Like a 1960’s Spider-Man comic with all of the angst and none of the spandex.
Read MoreThis Means War DVD Review: A Blubbing Mess
Everything that’s wrong with Hollywood rom-coms in one movie.
Read MoreThe Secret World of Arrietty Blu-ray Review: Another Ghibli Gem
Miyazaki doesn’t direct this time around, but you’ll never be able to tell the difference.
Read More3 Women Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: 2 Actresses Can’t Save 1 Film
Even Altman finds elements pretentious and contrived.
Read MoreDesire DVD Review: A Realistic Look at Twenty-Something Sexual Mores
Laurent Bouhnik’s erotic drama explores the lives of twentysomethings in a small French town.
Read MoreSherlock: Season Two Is the Pick of the Week
The master detective does it again in another season of the update on a classic.
Read MoreBook Review: The Complete Dick Tracy, Volume 13: 1950-1951 by Chester Gould
Chester Gould and Dick Tracy ride high into the decade, proving 13 isn’t always unlucky.
Read MoreDoctor Who: Nightmare of Eden DVD Review: Drugs Are Bad, M’Kay
If CSI: Pigs in Space was an actual television program, it might look a bit like this.
Read MoreFather’s Day (2011) Movie Review: Too Modern and Too Hip for Its Own Good
An entertaining, twisted effort that can’t quite find its groove.
Read MoreBook Review: Music on Film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show by Dave Thompson
Don’t dream it, read it.
Read MoreDoctor Who: The Happiness Patrol DVD Review: Don’t Worry, Be Happy or Else
A story made better when the context is known.
Read MoreUnderworld: Awakening Blu-ray Review: Can This Series Really Have a Nadir?
Kate Beckinsale returns for another easy paycheck.
Read MoreHell on Wheels: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review: The Boiling Melting Pot
Solid writing makes the show worth watching in spite of its dusty historical setting.
Read MoreNever Stand Still Movie Review: A Love Letter to Dance, Dancers, and the Legendary Jacob’s Pillow
Ron Honsa’s Never Stand Still gets to the heart of why people dance and why where they dance makes all the difference.
Read MoreChapter Two (1979) DVD Review: Dull Neil Simon Melodrama
James Caan sinks into one sappy quagmire of a film.
Read MoreG.I. Joe: Renegades: Season 1, Volume 1 DVD Review: All Set Up with No Payoff
Knowing is half the battle, but not knowing is a far greater victory.
Read MoreBeing John Malkovich Is the Pick of the Week
With his first film, Charlie Kaufman proves he is a writer worth watching.
Read MoreBeing John Malkovich Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Remarkable Achievement
One of the most original and prescient films of our generation.
Read MoreOutlaw (2007) Movie Review: Vigilante Violence Without Narrative Conviction
Sometimes it’s not enough to want revenge and justice, you have to have a plot too.
Read MoreNobody Else but You Movie Review: A Marvelous Piece of Cinema
A classic in its own right.
Read MoreNew Year’s Eve (2011) Blu-ray Review: Acquaintance with This Film Should Be Forgot
It disappointed more than it charmed.
Read MoreIsland of Lost Souls (1932) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Of Monsters and Men
Owning a copy of this movie should be the law.
Read MoreTonight You’re Mine Movie Review: A Totally ’80s Idea in Modern-Day Indie Garb
Very reminiscent of the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset franchise.
Read MoreThe Complete Jean Vigo Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Career in Four Films
What’s essential for some isn’t always for others.
Read MoreLa haine Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Seething Portrait of a Vicious Cycle
Mathieu Kassovitz offers up no easy answers in his compelling, unsettling 1995 film.
Read MoreTom and Jerry: Around the World DVD Review: A Bad Trip
Yet another “best of” set that fails to deliver.
Read MoreLa Haine Is the Pick of the Week
A choice between a arty French flick and bad horror has me pretending to be more cultured than I am.
Read MoreThe Three Stooges (2000) DVD Review: Nowhere Near as Bad as its Reputation
A heartfelt but nevertheless fabricated biography of America’s longest running comedy team.
Read MoreFlicka: Country Pride Blu-ray Review: Talk About Beating a Dead Horse
Clint Black, Family, Flicka, Country Pride,
Read MoreJess + Moss DVD Review: Delivers in a Very Roundabout Way
It exists somewhere between generic indie and art/experimental film.
Read MoreThe Avengers (2012) Movie Review: Merry Marvel Mayhem
Joss Whedon delivers an epic superhero team-up full of action and laughs.
Read MoreThe Ultimate Marvel Marathon: 15 Marvelous Hours of Movies
One epic day spent in a movie theater.
Read MoreStar Trek: The Next Generation Cast Reunites at Calgary Expo 2012
An event 25 years in the making.
Read MoreStrip Strip Hooray! DVD Review: A Sexual Sextuplet of Sleaze
Once again, Something Weird is afoot; and I’m pleased as punch about it.
Read MoreThe Innkeepers Blu-ray Review: A Carefully Crafted Genre Exercise
Indie horror filmmaker Ti West’s latest has much to admire, but ultimately feels like a formal exercise.
Read MoreCirkus Columbia Movie Review: A Fairly Good Motion Picture
Tanović’s film explores impending war through the eyes of personal relationships, but the human element isn’t developed enough to make a satisfying impact.
Read MoreA Hollis Frampton Odyssey Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Essential Collection of Avant-Garde Treasures
Criterion goes for broke in this thorough and fascinating collection of 24 films from the experimental artist.
Read MoreW.E. Blu-ray Review: Evidently, Madonna Didn’t Have Enough Material for One Whole Film
This is one weird sequel to W.
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