Vikings: The Complete Third Season DVD Review: Praise Odin or Jesus, Vikings March On
History's Vikings takes to the shores of new lands with this DVD release of the third season of this Irish-Canadian ...
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The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) Blu-ray Review: Anarchy, Sentiment, Family, Karaoke
Director Takashi Miike is credited with seven or eight films in the year 2001 alone, depending on who you ask. ...
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Wrestling with Satan DVD Review: Putting Beelzebub in a Sleeper Hold
Directed by Paul Aldridge and Tom Borden, the 2009 documentary Wrestling with Satan explores the Christian Wrestling Federation over the ...
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Fed Up Movie Review: Oh Sugar, It’s a Drag
The subject of Stephanie Soechtig's Fed Up could not be more pressing. The numbers presented in this 2014 documentary are ...
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Under the Skin DVD Review: Being Human…Sort of
Based on Michael Faber's 2000 novel, Under the Skin is a compelling motion picture about discovering humanity from an alien ...
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The Missing Picture Movie Review: A Fascinating, Creative, Heartbreaking Piece of Art
Directed and written by Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture is a fascinating and creative documentary. This 2013 picture ...
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Riot in Cell Block 11 Criterion Collection DVD Review: Stuck in Folsom Prison
Directed by Don Siegel, the 1954 movie Riot in Cell Block 11 offers a gritty, authentic look at the prison ...
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Extreme Bears DVD Review: Another (Mostly) Winning Set from BBC Earth
A triple feature of sorts from BBC Earth, Extreme Bears is two discs of grizzlies, pandas, and polar bears in ...
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Zaytoun Movie Review: A Heavy Subject with a Light Touch
More than a little melodramatic in places, Eran Riklis' Zaytoun is a tale of unexpected friendship in seemingly impossible circumstances. ...
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The Lady Vanishes (2013) DVD Review: A Moody and Sensual Take on White’s Novel
Diarmuid Lawrence directs The Lady Vanishes, a BBC and Masterpiece Films production that originally aired in March of 2013. Now ...
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I Used to Be Darker Movie Review: The Music of Falling Apart
A patient, musically-driven motion picture about the breakdown of a marriage, I Used To Be Darker analyzes the fallout of ...
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The Long Day Closes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Terence Davies’ Personal Vision of Liverpool
Terence Davies plumbs his Liverpool upbringing in 1992's brilliantly dense The Long Day Closes, a film that is as much ...
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Paradise: Hope: Seidl Concludes His Trilogy with Grace
Ulrich Seidl closes his Paradise trilogy with 2013's Paradise: Hope, the most sensitive offering of the bunch. Following up the ...
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The Future (2013) Movie Review: A Challenging but Rewarding Experience
Alicia Scherson's The Future is an absorbing motion picture with no shortage of challenges for the audience. The 2013 feature ...
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The Paradise: Series One DVD Review: Love, Silk, and the Big Sell
An adaption of Émile Zola's novel Au Bonheur des Dames, this BBC television series is a sumptuous and sensual look ...
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Silk: Series One DVD Review: A Capable British Courtroom Drama
British screenwriter Peter Moffat is no stranger to the legal system in his home and native land. A former barrister, ...
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Paradise: Faith Movie Review: The Power of Christ Is Compelling
Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Faith is the second film in the Austrian director's Paradise trilogy. It comes on the heels of ...
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Hidden in the Woods DVD Review: Hell Is Other People
Directed by Patricio Valladares, Hidden in the Woods is a grimy but somewhat silly exploitation film from Chile. While this ...
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I Married a Witch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Low on Magic, High on Fumes
Directed by René Clair, I Married a Witch is low on magic and high on fumes. Its major selling feature ...
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In the Fog Movie Review: Unwavering Morality from Sergei Loznitsa
Sergei Loznitsa's In the Fog is a compelling, careful drama about guilt and honour in the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union. Because ...
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La Cage aux Folles Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: “Utter Hell” to Make, Pure Heaven to Watch
Director Édouard Molinaro considered the making of his La Cage aux Folles as "utter hell," but it's hard not to ...
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Sinbad: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review: Harmless Fun on the Well-dressed Seas
Many of television's heavy-hitters are filled with wrenching moments, whether "red weddings" or situations so presumably staggering that they set ...
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Frankenstein’s Army Blu-ray Review: For the Folks Back Home in Russia
In Richard Raaphorst's entertaining Frankenstein's Army, history is a fluid thing. Applying traditional logic, or perhaps what Alfred Hitchcock would ...
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Post Tenebras Lux Movie Review: From Darkness to Light, From Beauty to Madness
The thunder rolls often in Carlos Reygadas' Post Tenebras Lux ("light after darkness"), a film that seems almost destined to ...
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Bill Moyers: Faith & Reason Collection DVD Review: The Intersection of Belief and Logic
An extensive and intelligent collection that should be part of the library of any Bill Moyers fan, the Faith & ...
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Paradise: Love Movie Review: Ulrich Seidl’s Grim Arcadia
The first film in Austrian director Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy is the fascinating and troubling Paradise: Love. Initially, Seidl had ...
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The Ice Storm Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Person’s Body Is His Temple
There is a moment in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, now available on Criterion Collection Blu-ray, where the 14-year-old Mikey ...
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Combat Girls DVD Review: Looking for a Place to Happen
An alarming, ceaselessly compelling motion picture from Germany, Combat Girls touches on a subject often left behind and treats its ...
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The Ghastly Love of Johnny X Movie Review: A Too-Hip Good Deed
Nearly nine years in the making, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X is the creation of director Paul Bunnell. This ...
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Safety Last! Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Time Is Money
The matter of Harold Lloyd's lack of fame has been of much discussion over the years. He is often cited ...
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Medium Cool Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Theatrics of Observation and Social Crisis
Filmmaker Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool walks the tender line between fiction and non-fiction, using the cinema vérité method to beg ...
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Mike Leigh's wonderful Life Is Sweet is less a film about something and more a film about the thrust of ...
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Garbage: One Mile High…Live Blu-ray Review: One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Garbage
Garbage's Shirley Manson spends a large part of One Mile High…Live traipsing a ring mid-stage like a prizefighter. She sporadically ...
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2+2 Movie Review: Something About These Swingers Doesn’t Add Up
A pompous yet dull sex comedy from Argentina, 2+2 is more exasperating than entertaining. It is apparently the highest-grossing comedy ...
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Yossi Movie Review: Of Love, Loneliness and Humanity
A sensitive, careful and subtle motion picture, Eytan Fox's Yossi is a wonderful exploration of loneliness and longing. This 2012 ...
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Bill Moyers: Beyond Hate DVD Review: A Timeless Exploration of Hatred
Bill Moyers once again provides compelling and timeless programming with Beyond Hate, a documentary that first aired in 1991. The ...
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Pierre Etaix Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bringing Etaix’s World to Life
“The defining characteristic of comic cinema,” says French comic, clown and filmmaker Pierre Etaix, “is that it begins with a ...
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One Life Blu-ray Review: Nobody Does It Better
With 007 handling narration duties and some of the best nature cinematography splashing across the screen, One Life is yet ...
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Badlands Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Exploration of Isolation, Realism, Self-Image, and Violence
Terrence Malick's debut explores isolation, realism, self-image, and violence with the filmmaker's lyrical elegance, setting the footing for an opus ...
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Murdoch Mysteries Collection: Seasons 1-4 DVD Review: A Canadian Historical Mystery Gets a Box Set
The first episode of Murdoch Mysteries offers a clear vision of exactly how the Gemini-nominated will work. Set in 1890s ...
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The Ballad of Narayama Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Kinoshita’s Kabuki Theatre Envisions Ubasute
The concept of ubasute is at the centre of The Battle of Narayama, the 1958 film by Japanese director Keisuke ...
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My Worst Nightmare (2011) Movie Review: American Rom-Com Goes French
A French romantic comedy that wholeheartedly and gleefully embraces almost every cliché of its American genre counterparts, My Worst Nightmare ...
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Bully (2011) Blu-ray Review: A Disappointing Approach to a Complex Issue
At the end of Lee Hirsch's Bully, we're told that "Everything starts with one." This is a reference to the ...
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The Tin Drum Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Schlöndorff’s German Fable
A dazzlingly dark and often very funny fable, The Tin Drum is a terrific motion picture. The 1979 film by ...
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Bill Moyers: Becoming American DVD Review: An Engrossing, Absorbing Documentary
Now available on DVD from the good people at Athena, Bill Moyers: Becoming American is an engrossing three-part documentary about ...
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Lapland Odyssey DVD Review: Karukoski’s Jussi-winning Comedy is a Middling Affair
Directed by Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski, Lapland Odyssey is a pretty standard guy movie wrapped up with a cute bow. ...
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Gandu DVD Review: A Daring Bengali Film Low on Substance
Directed by Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee), Gandu is an interesting but not entirely convincing Bengali film. It arrives packed with danger, ...
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Dreams of a Life Movie Review: The Tale of Joyce Vincent
Written and directed by Carol Morley, Dreams of a Life is a stunning documentary that tells a story that could ...
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Iron Sky Blu-ray Review: What Happens When Moon Nazis Tangle with Sarah Palin
Directed by Finnish filmmaker Timo Vuorensola, Iron Sky nails down all the blockbuster tropes in a ludicrous tale that actually ...
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Unforgivable Movie Review: More Turns Than a French Soap Opera
Directed by André Téchiné and based on a novel by Philippe Djian, Unforgivable is kind of an odd duck. It ...
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Trilogy of Life Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Three Films, Countless Tales
Italian filmmaker, poet, philosopher, writer, and sometimes actor Pier Paolo Pasolini has certainly generated his fair share of controversy. He's ...
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The Sessions Movie Review: An Astonishingly Frank and Compassionate Film
The Sessions is one of the best films of 2012. Directed by Ben Lewin and based on the experiences of ...
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Touch: The Complete First Season DVD Review: A Complex, Entertaining Supernatural Thriller
Created by Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland, Touch is one of those rare television shows that isn't afraid of ...
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The Black Tulip (2010) Movie Review: A Cluttered, Lumbering, Simplistic Mess
Directed by activist, director and actress Sonia Nassery Cole, The Black Tulip is Afghanistan's official entry for the 2011 Academy ...
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The Slut Movie Review: A Provoking but Detached Film from Israel
At the beginning of Hagar Ben-Asher's The Slut, a horse leaps over a fence, runs freely, and is eventually hit ...
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In the Mood for Love Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Astonishing Meditation on Longing
Wong Kar-wai's wonderful, stunning In the Mood for Love sparkles on Blu-ray thanks to Criterion Collection. The 2000 film, nominated ...
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The Face of Fu Manchu DVD Review: Obey Fu Manchu or Hey, Nice Moustache!
Designed strictly for lovers of pulp serials and potboilers, The Face of Fu Manchu is a dated Don Sharp joint ...
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The Raven (2012) Blu-ray Review: A Miscast Muddle
Directed by James McTeigue, The Raven is a silly film with a silly premise that has no idea how silly ...
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Children of Paradise Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Film is Paradise
Widely hailed as one of the finest French films of all time, Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise is an astounding ...
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The World Is Not Enough Movie Review: This Bond Is Not Enough
As the 19th entry in the James Bond film series, The World Is Not Enough is a disappointment. Directed by ...
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New Girl: The Complete First Season DVD Review: Nothing New to See Here
How much one enjoys New Girl is entirely contingent on how much one enjoys the geek chic of star Zooey ...
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Oslo, August 31st DVD Review: A Brilliant, Thoughtful Piece of Art
When one feels that life is passing him or her by, it can be unbearable to see those who “have ...
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Bonsai DVD Review: Surprisingly Low on the ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’
Directed by Cristián Jiménez and based on a novel by Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra, Bonsái is an affectionate film about ...
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Heaven Strewn DVD Review: A Desert-kissed Exercise in Style
Directed, written and produced by Jeremiah Gurzi, Heaven Strewn is a well-made motion picture with some interesting cinematic touches. It ...
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Madame Bovary (2000) DVD Review: An Erotic Take on an Erotic Classic
When Gustave Flaubert first delivered the sexy seeds of his romantic tragedy, Madame Bovary, to the literary world, he was ...
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Here (2011) DVD Review: The Story Is Still Asleep
Braden King’s Here opens by informing us that “the story is still asleep.” In the case of the filmmaker’s vision ...
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Shallow Grave (1994) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Boyle’s Debut Shows Promise and Little Else
Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and available now thanks to Criterion Collection, Shallow Grave is a bleakly ...
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Missing in Action 2: The Beginning Blu-ray Review: Braddock Returns in this Misplaced Prequel
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning “explains the rage” behind Chuck Norris’ James Braddock from Missing in Action, but it ...
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Missing in Action Blu-ray Review: This B-movie Is Missing Its Action
Missing in Action has largely been considered a Rambo rip-off – and a bad one at that. Now available on ...
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Civilization: The West and the Rest DVD Review: Niall Ferguson’s Cultural Arrogance Clouds This Series
British historical Niall Ferguson presents Civilization: The West and the Rest, a BBC documentary series with six episodes. The program ...
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This Means War DVD Review: A Blubbing Mess
This Means War is one of the most abrasive, frustrating, mind-numbingly terrible films of 2012. It presents itself as a ...
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Father’s Day (2011) Movie Review: Too Modern and Too Hip for Its Own Good
Produced by the famed Troma Enterainment, Father’s Day is a pretty middling affair. The flick comes written and directed by ...
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Cirkus Columbia Movie Review: A Fairly Good Motion Picture
Directed by Danis Tanović, Cirkus Columbia was the Bosnian entry for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Oscar. It is a ...
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Letter Never Sent Criterion Collection DVD Review: Kalatozov’s Take on Man Vs. Nature
Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov and cinematographer Sergey Urusevsky only worked together on three films, but each has left an indelible ...
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Midnight in Paris Movie Review: A Beautiful Fantasy
Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is a delightful piece of comic fantasy. It is, at times, hysterical and touching, a ...
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The Ides of March Movie Review: Beware the Ides of Clooney
No less than the collapse of a doe-eyed young man’s faith in politics stands at the core of The Ides ...
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Movie Review: A Well-Toned, Subtle Spy Thriller
If there’s anything that makes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy work, it’s its tone. The Tomas Alfredson picture is based on ...
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