The Saragossa Manuscript Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When a movie is loved by such diverse folks as Martin Scorsese, Luis Bunuel, and Jerry Garcia, you know it ...
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Petite Maman Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
I don't get out, practically at all, so this PotW is going a little different, just like a few of ...
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In the Line of Duty: I-IV Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Michelle Yeoh recently became the first Asian actress to win an Academy Award. She won it for her starring role ...
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Branded to Kill 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Please bare with me. I don't get out much, nor have instant access to all the cinematic things that a ...
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Anna May Wong Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Well, hello there, old friends. It is your old pal Mat Brewster ready for another round of Pick of the ...
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The Seventh Seal 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Ingmar Bergman wasn't the most upbeat filmmaker. His films were dark, bleak, and pessimistic. But isn't that what life itself ...
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Sam Spade, Ruth Wonderly, the Fat Man, Joel Cairo, Wilmer, and Effie are timeless characters that inhabit The Maltese Falcon, ...
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Inland Empire is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Legendary filmmaker David Lynch just may be movie history's strangest and most diabolical director. His films tread a knife's edge ...
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Mildred Pierce 4K UHD Is Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Seeing Mildred Pierce, legendary director Michael Curtiz's celebrated 1945 adaptation of the James M. Cain novel and owning my own ...
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Dazed and Confused 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Richard Linklater's 1993 classic Dazed and Confused is not the deepest of films about the complexities of teenage life, but ...
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Three Colors Trilogy 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski, legendary Polish filmmaker, remains one of the most renowned directors in the history of cinema, ...
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This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
This POTW is going to be a little different because the film I'm choosing for this is one I haven't ...
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Imitation of Life (1934) is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Despite the popularity of Douglas Sirk's 1959 version of the celebrated Fanny Hurst novel, I actually prefer the original 1934 ...
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Criterion’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
Welcome or welcome back, whichever is applicable. If you have left over gift cards or cash from the holidays and ...
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Carrie 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
What else can one say about Brian De Palma's masterful 1976 Stephen King adaptation Carrie? It's one of the greatest ...
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, legendary genre director Tobe Hooper's wild and viciously bonkers follow-up to his groundbreaking and still ...
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Reservoir Dogs 4K UHD Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Iconic filmmaker (and equally iconic film buff) Quentin Tarantino burst onto to scene with his legendary 1992 blood-soaked debut Reservoir ...
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Daisies is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
When I first watched Věra Chytilová's 1966 game-changer Daisies, I was immediately struck by its approach to youthful rebellion, its ...
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Return of the Living Dead 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Ever since George A. Romero's masterpiece Night of the Living Dead was unleashed in 1968, everyone wanted to do their ...
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Night of the Living Dead 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
What else can you say about George A. Romero's highly influential 1968 masterpiece Night of the Living Dead?! It's one ...
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Poltergeist 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
What else can one say about Tobe Hopper's 1982 classic Poltergeist that hasn't already been said? It's a film about ...
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Blow Out 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Despite the constant comparisons to Hitchcock, celebrated director Brian De Palma does have a style all his own. Yes, he's ...
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Child’s Play 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Let's just get this out of the way. Child's Play (1988), directed by genre icon Tom Holland, still has one ...
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Tenebrae 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Of course, Dario Argento is one the great Italian masters of horror. His films are usually light of plot and ...
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Marty is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Today, 1955's Marty may not seem like an obvious choice for Best Picture, but make no mistake, it was refreshing ...
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The Virgin Suicides 4K is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Sofia Coppola has always been a filmmaker of immense interest. She loves zeroing in on the trials and tribulations of ...
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Shaft (1971) is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
I have to admit that I am not usually well-versed in the films of the now-famous Blaxploitation genre. I have ...
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The Tales of Hoffman is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Powell and Pressburger was a filmmaking duo for the ages. Their films were unlike anything you had ever seen, even ...
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Mississippi Masala is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Interracial and intercontinental romance isn't as explored in film as often as it should. Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair's gorgeous 1992 ...
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The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Volume 2 is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As everyone knows and has always said, Hitchcock is the ultimate "Master of Suspense". When it comes to their own ...
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From the Journals of Jean Seberg is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Iconic actress Jean Seberg was ahead of her time. She was also a woman of her time, having a few ...
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Jockey is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
This week may not have the most notable releases, but there are a few that I will highlight, including a ...
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The Godfather Trilogy 4K UHD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
What else can one say about The Godfather saga? The whole trilogy (at least parts 1 & 2) set the ...
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Hester Street is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As I mentioned in my recent review, I think that Hester Street, the late Joan Micklin Silver's fantastic 1975 film, ...
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Alligator 4K Ultra HD is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Some ideas sound really absurd on paper, but when they're put on the screen, they sometimes manage to sneak up ...
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Miller’s Crossing is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The Coen Brothers are a dynamic directing duo for the film history books. They don't make films within one particular ...
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The Piano is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As I mentioned before, acclaimed director Jane Campion still seems to be undervalued and understated in most film circles (which ...
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The Celebration is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Although I have only seen one film from the Dogme 95 movement, which was Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves ...
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All My Sons is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
Happy New Year, CS readers. Hope to see you around these parts often throughout 2022. Arthur Miller was an important ...
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Krampus: The Naughty Cut is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As a person who has somewhat gotten over the holidays, I prefer my Christmas movies to be bleak, mean-spirited, and ...
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Mulholland Dr. 4K is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Singular filmmaker David Lynch is one of the most original directors in the history of film. His stylish, and at ...
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La strada is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Italian neorealism was an influential but rather short new wave of cinema. The movement held a mirror up to portray ...
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Deep Red is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The legendary Dario Argento is arguably the Italian master of horror. Despite their fairly standard plots, his films seem to ...
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Misery 4K is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
What else can one say about director Rob Reiner's still iconic 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's 1987 novel that hasn't ...
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Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
When legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles passed away last week, it understandably caused a ripple in film history, especially in ...
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Mona Lisa is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Neo noirs are contemporary films from 1970s and '80s that do take themes and elements from classic noirs, but they ...
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Ashes and Diamonds is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
When it comes to war, there is the always the complicated struggle between fulfilling a sense of duty, or rebelling ...
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Nashville is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The late, great filmmaker Robert Altman remains one of the most beloved directors in the history of cinema. His use ...
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The Dead Zone (Collector’s Edition) is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As many of us know, Stephen King is the modern master of literary horror. Most of his works delve deep ...
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Working Girls is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Prostitution continues to be a stigmatized profession. Most people look down upon it, meaning that they think that it is ...
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Pariah is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
There are always films in the LGBTQ genre that center on white gay society and their issues of growing up, ...
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Streetwise/Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Documentaries are not always front-and-center in the film spectrum, and that rattles me. Documentaries have the powerful ability to showcase ...
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Mommie Dearest Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
When it comes to cautionary tales of celebrities and their children, I think 1981's Mommie Dearest is the mother of ...
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National Lampoon’s Animal House 4K is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
There have been many comedies about college life, such as Revenge of the Nerds, Old School, and Neighbors. As fun ...
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Speed 4K is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Say what you will about the '90s, and I'll most likely agree with you. Just like the 1980s, it was ...
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Memories of Murder is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Seeing Bong Joon Ho's Parasite awhile back, I realized that I've missed out on a lot of great, and unique ...
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Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
Over the past couple of years, I finally caught up with Steve Gerber's run on Howard the Duck, a subversive ...
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World of Wong Kar Wai is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
The great Wong Kar Wai, now-iconic filmmaker, has become one of the masters of modern contemporary cinema. He's one of ...
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Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As many film buffs know, legendary filmmaker Sam Peckinpah remains one of the greatest and most unpredictable directors in the ...
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Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Well, hi there. It has been a long time since I've written one of these. Dave has done such a ...
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Smooth Talk is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
There have been so many tales of adolescence and teenage portraits of sexual and social mores than most people can ...
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Since Sam Raimi introduced Spider-Man into the summer blockbuster tradition 16 years ago, there have been no fewer than seven ...
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Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Towards the end of Captain America: Civil War, there is a sweeping scene in which Captain America and Black Widow ...
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The Hateful Eight is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Last Friday, I loaded the family into the car and we spent Easter weekend in our old stomping grounds in ...
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Black Mama, White Mama is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Every once in awhile you have to ask yourself whether you want the much beloved, critically acclaimed, and highly influential ...
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Brooklyn is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Though it was nominated for a slew of awards (including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Actress at the Academy Awards), ...
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Macbeth (2015) is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
What's left to say about Shakespeare? What could I possible write that would convey his brilliance? Nothing of course. He ...
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Creed and Room are the Picks of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The Oscars will be airing in a few hours from when I'm writing this (and likely a few hours before ...
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Fargo: Season Two is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When they announced they were making a TV show out of the excellent Coen Brothers films, Fargo, I was skeptical. ...
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Black Mass Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to watch gangster movies. There is just something about the ...
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Spectre is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have many fond memories of watching James Bond. I remember my dad taking me to see him in the ...
Read More Bridge of Spies Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
We're less than a month away from the Oscars and I've seen exactly three of the nominated films - four ...
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Doctor Who: Series Nine, Part Two is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have very vague memories of watching Doctor Who as a kid. This was the '80s when the long=scarfed Tom ...
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Criterion’s Inside Llewyn Davis is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Many times in these pages I've mentioned my extraordinary love for both the Criterion Collection and the Coen Brothers. When ...
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The Martian is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I subscribed to the auteur theory before I even knew what that was. That is to say as I began ...
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Sicario is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A great big thanks to Davy for helping me out last week. Extra credit since I gave him about a ...
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Bone Tomahawk Is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
Since everyone is getting over the Christmas holidays, I think they are just too stuffed with food and having to ...
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Pan is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
If the weeks leading up to Christmas are a bonanza for home-video collectors, then the actual week of Christmas is ...
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Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It's easy to get cynical and annoyed with all the remakes, reimaginings, rehashes, and sequels that seem to come out ...
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Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When I picked Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as my Pick of the Week back in April of ...
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Cooties Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I don't know about you, but I had a mighty fine Thanksgiving. The weather outside was frightful, but inside was ...
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Ikiru is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Not long ago my aunt was diagnosed with cancer. They initially thought it was in her lungs, which made for ...
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The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I remember distinctly the first time I ever watched a Hayao Miyazaki film. I was still single, but heavily into ...
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Mr. Holmes is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
By my count, there have been over 800 kajillion filmic adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. Within the last few years we've ...
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Pixar’s Inside Out is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It was a tough October. I got strep throat and followed it with a nasty virus that turned into an ...
Read More Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cats Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Autumn is by far my favorite season. The dog days of summer slip into the cool, crisp nights of fall. ...
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Jurassic World Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I was 17 when Jurassic Park came out in 1993. Even then, I knew it wasn't a great film, artistically ...
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Nakatomi Plaza Die Hard Collection is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Forgive me if I begin this Pick of the Week with a bit of a rant. In all forms of ...
Read More Tremors 5: Bloodlines Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I was 14 when the original Tremors came out. I loved it. We all did, my family and me. It ...
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Mad Max: Fury Road Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My parents were early adapters to the home-video market. They were given a Betamax sometime in the early '80s, but ...
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Two Days, One Night Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My DVD/Blu-ray collection is divided up into a few different categories. There are TV shows, foreign films, my main collection, ...
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Day For Night is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
As someone who has never made a film but absolutely loves watching them, I'm completely fascinated by movies about making ...
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have a good friend who is probably the smartest guy I've ever met. I like to joke that he's ...
Read More Orphan Black: Season Three is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have this completely random rule that I have to watch at least 10 movies every month. Now to all ...
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White God is the Pick of the Week
By Luigi Bastardo |
As a certain Italian schlockumentary once reminded us many moons ago, it's a dog's world out there. And some distant ...
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Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau is the Pick of the Week
By Davy |
As an extreme film lover, I'm always torn between variety. Sometimes, there is too much to choose from, and it ...
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The Fugitive: The Complete Series is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
Hello, PotW readers. Mat 's desktop computer went to that great IT department in the sky over the weekend, so ...
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The Imitation Game is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Whenever a film based upon real events comes out, there is always a lot of discussion over how historically accurate ...
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Into the Woods is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A funny thing happened on the way to posting this week's pick. Yesterday, I wrote the words you will read ...
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The Soft Skin is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Before she became a stay-at-home mom (and forced me to get a real job, le sigh) my wife taught French ...
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Pride (2014) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When I'm not writing about movies and televisions shows, I run The Midnight Cafe, a little blog that deals in ...
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Arrested Development: Season 4 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
So often when writing this series I have to admit that I haven't seen the things that I pick, or ...
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Guardians of the Galaxy Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My recent visit to Wizard World solidified the fact that while I like geeky things I am not in anyway ...
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Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I've been blogging now for a little over ten years. I started back in 2004 when my wife and I ...
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Drunk History: Seasons 1 & 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have an unusual sense of humor. I generally don't find the things that the apparent majority of people find ...
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It Happened One Night Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When I bought my first DVD player back in 1999 I vowed that I would only buy really great movies ...
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Lots of TV Series Sets Are the Picks of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
You've got to love the (extended) Christmas season. It seems like every year it gets pushed farther and farther up ...
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Stanley Kubrick: The Masterpiece Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For nearly as long as I can remember and certainly for as long as I've taken cinema seriously, I've been ...
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Deliver Us from Evil (2014) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In case you've been stuck inside without any form of media (or a calendar) over the last month, Halloween is ...
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Snowpiercer Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My in-laws have been spending the week with us. Mostly this is just swell as they are wonderful people who ...
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X-Men: Days of Future Past Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I like the idea of X-Men more than I usually like the execution. The mutant concept with all of the ...
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Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There is a fairly constant discussion in my home over the television. Or rather how much of it my child ...
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Chef Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In college, I had a friend who majored in theater. One day he hit me up to help him out ...
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The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology and Halloween: The Complete Collection Are the Picks of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A couple of years back I decided to finally sit down and watch the notoriously graphic horror movie A Serbian ...
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Eraserhead Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
People always carry on about how wonderful children are - how amazing and beautiful they can be, how they change ...
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A Long Way Down Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I first heard of Nick Hornby through the movie version of his musically obsessed book High Fidelity. The film stars ...
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Line of Duty: Series 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It seems like forever since I've had a really challenging pick of the week. Hardly at all this summer have ...
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Blandings: Series 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I can't remember when I first heard of P.G. Wodehouse. He seems to just always exist in my memory. I ...
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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Some folks wax nostalgic about the days when MTV actually played music videos; I get all teary eyed thinking about ...
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The Railway Man Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife, like all red-blooded women (and more than a few red-blooded men) loves Colin Firth. She practically drools anytime ...
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Community: The Complete Fifth Season is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
We finally got high speed internet last Wednesday. It is a little ridiculous how excited I am about it. I ...
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Noah (2014) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I went to see Noah with a group of friends on opening weekend. We were a pretty diverse bunch in ...
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The Essential Jacques Demy Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Living with my parents is beginning to take its toll. After much looking and consideration, we decided to move into ...
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Under the Skin is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Random story: my father recently got on my mother's computer which is set up slightly different than his own device. ...
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Nymphomaniac Volume I & Volume II Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I suppose every film lover keeps some sort of list of films they feel they should watch at some point. ...
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Cannibal Holocaust Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In the small town in Oklahoma where I grew up, we had a surprisingly big video store. They had taken ...
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A Hard Day’s Night Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A few weeks after we got married my wife and I caught a showing of A Hard Day's Night at ...
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The Grand Budapest Hotel Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Over the last few years, I've regularly complained that the local cineplexes all show the same overblown blockbusters and none ...
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True Detective: Season 1 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A big thanks to Gordon for handling this column last week while I was away. As he noted I've moved. ...
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Barbary Coast Is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
I don't know if Mat's mentioned it, but he and his family are in the process of moving to another ...
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An Adventure in Space and Time Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Though I do remember watching some Tom Baker-era Doctor Who as a kid, one probably needs to call me a ...
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The Monuments Men Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It occurs to me that the Classic Hollywood Star no longer exists. Stars like Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Audrey ...
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Her Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Spike Jonze is an immensely talented, eternally creative, and absolutely brilliant artist. Yet I can't say that I really like ...
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Veronica Mars (2014) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There has been so much great TV playing over the last decade that its really impossible to keep up with ...
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Mr. Selfridge: Season 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I'll probably be labeled a terrible dad for admitting this, but there has been a lot of television watching in ...
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Master of the House Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
You know its a slow week for new releases when a friggin' Tyler Perry movie is the number-one seller on ...
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Philomena Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife tends to avoid sad films, sad songs, sad everything. She says life is tough enough on its own ...
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August: Osage County Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I was born and raised in Oklahoma. This isn't necessarily something I'm proud of. I mean I didn't really do ...
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Broadchurch: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It is a little embarrassing to say now, but I came to Doctor Who a bit late in the game. ...
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The Wolf of Wall Street Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
About this time every year when we get our tax refund back, the wife and I give ourselves a hundred ...
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American Hustle Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My mother often says I was born in the wrong decade - that I should have grown up in the ...
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Inside Llewyn Davis Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
If I were to remove my critic's hat when you asked me to name my favorite director, I'd likely go ...
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12 Years a Slave Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The 86th Academy Awards show was on last night. It was watched by a lot of people. Usually I'm one ...
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Gravity Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I'm really not a Sandra Bullock fan. She's attractive and certainly charming, and I really can't knock her acting chops, ...
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Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In the months after my daughter was born, I watched an enormous amount of movies and television. As anyone who ...
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Ender’s Game Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In the world of science fiction I consider myself a fan, but not a fan-boy. By which I mean that ...
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Dallas Buyers Club Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I believe I first saw Matthew McConaughey as "past his prime, but still picking up high school girls" David Wooderson ...
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Blue Jasmine Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
When I was a pubescent teenager, I used to stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights watching the USA ...
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Rififi Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In the middle of Jules Dassin's 1954 film noir Rififi, which is the father of all heist movies, lies a ...
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Top of the Lake Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Some weeks you gotta ignore the masses and pick what you want. Okay, admittedly I pretty much do that every ...
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Don Jon Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Welcome back. I decided to take last week off because me, the wife and the wee one were off visiting ...
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Prisoners Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
While I am very much a fan of horror, gore, violence, and bloody, anger-filled cinema, my wife is most certainly ...
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Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With some regularity we invite various people, usually university students, over to the house to watch films. Several of them ...
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Dead Like Me: The Complete Series Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I really thought that the first week of December would find us with loads of great new releases. I really ...
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Breaking Bad: The Complete Series Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Who knew a show about an average, normal guy turned very, very bad (or as show creator/runner Vince Gilligan used ...
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The World’s End Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy is not so much a trilogy as it is three films made by the same ...
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Nosferatu (1922): Deluxe Remastered Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My transition from a kid who really liked going to the movies to a full-blown cineaste was long and slow. ...
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The Right Stuff: 30th Anniversary Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Halloween has just ended. Thanksgiving is still weeks away. Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas? The makers ...
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Monsters University Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Pixar. Its name is associated with quality. The company almost single-handedly ushered in a new era of brilliant animation that ...
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The Vincent Price Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Gordon S. Miller |
Aside from Christmas, I can't think of another holiday that guides people's viewing habits like Halloween. Horror movies become all ...
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Love Actually: Tenth Anniversary Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For much of my life I was a hum-bug. I hated Christmas and all its crass commercialism. I do like ...
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Much Ado About Nothing (2012) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have a geek confession to make. I'm not really a fan of Joss Whedon. I don't hate him. He's ...
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The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I want to say that it is impossible to hate The Wizard of Oz, but if the internet has taught ...
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Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I watched Doctor Who periodically as a kid. It wasn't a show I loved, or made sure I was home ...
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The Bling Ring Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Sofia Coppola has only directed five films in her entire career. I've only seen three of them, and I wasn't ...
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Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I grew up in the late '80s/early '90s and slasher flicks informed my early film life. Sort-of. My parents wouldn't ...
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Five Dolls for an August Moon Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It is a weird week for releases. There is a ton of television coming out - both old and new ...
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The Great Gatsby (2013) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I read The Great Gatsby when I was in high school, or possibly early in college. Whenever it was, I ...
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Amour Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I rarely go to the theatre anymore - too much trouble, too expensive, and audiences are way too obnoxious. Even ...
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The Mindy Project: Season One Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have an odd relationship with the American version of The Office. For the first few seasons, I loved it. ...
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The Sapphires Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Sometimes it pisses me off knowing that I'm gonna die before so much cool stuff is invented. Every day I ...
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Banshee: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There is so much good, interesting TV on these days I can hardly keep track. At the beginning of this ...
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Trance Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I don't always love Danny Boyle's movies, but they are always interesting. From the pounding music and jump-cuts of Trainspotting ...
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Evil Dead (2013) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
People love to slag on sequels and especially remakes. Whenever one is announced, the Internet explodes with righteous anger calling ...
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Spring Breakers Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It makes a certain amount of sense that actresses who have spent their childhoods on squeaky clean television shows to ...
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The House I Live In Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Several months ago I made a very deliberate decision to avoid the news in general and politics in specific. It ...
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Upside Down Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Every week as I write this column, I am amazed at just now many movies are released each week. Hundreds ...
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Stoker Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It is a great week to be a movie fan. This week's DVD/Blu-ray releases have a little something for everyone. ...
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Wild Strawberries Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
From time to time in this weekly series I like to discuss the ways and means to which I choose ...
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Breaking Bad: The Fifth Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With but a half season to go Breaking Bad is very near to completely proving itself to be one of ...
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The Grass Is Greener Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I guess Memorial Day weekend doesn't really rate in the DVD-seller's handbook. There is a whole lot of not-much coming ...
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Rick Steves Europe: All 100 Shows (2000-2014) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife and I love to travel. At last count we have visited 21 other countries. That isn't a brag, ...
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Cloud Atlas Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Sometimes you gotta go with your gut. I tend to take this Pick of the Week thing a little too ...
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Band of Outsiders Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I can't remember the first time I watched a foreign language film. I remember watching some on Bravo (back when ...
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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Seasons 1-3 Are the Picks of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I am not what one would consider to be a trekkie (or a trekker or if you want to get ...
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The Impossible (2012) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Sometimes it seems that we are constantly engulfed in tragedy. If it isn't a school shooting, it is an earthquake ...
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Django Unchained Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The very last scene of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2 shows Uma Thurman's character cuddling with her daughter. It ...
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Hyde Park on Hudson Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Who would have thought that Dr. Peter Venkman could be so poignantly fragile as Herman Blume in Rushmore? Who in ...
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Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One: Avengers Assembled is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I am not much for comic book movies. This is likely due to me not having read many of the ...
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Lincoln Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Time and time again Daniel Day-Lewis proves himself to be our greatest living actor. He doesn't make a lot of ...
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Les Miserables Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For a large part of my life I've been a theatre geek by accident. In high school, I took several ...
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Life of Pi Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It is good to see that in this post-Oscar season we're finally getting large crops of interesting DVD releases. This ...
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Wreck-It Ralph Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Like a million other boys I grew up playing video games. I cannot begin to fathom how many countless hours ...
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The Master (2012) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Though I had only seen but one of the nominated films, I sat with my wife and watched the entirety ...
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Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I came to George RR Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Fire and Ice through the TV show Game ...
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Skyfall Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The conclusion of the whole internet debacle is that I now have satellite internet. The commercials all hype the high ...
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Picks of the Last Three Weeks
By Mat Brewster |
Cinema Sentries has been without a Pick of the Week, where we comment on the new DVD/Blu-ray releases, for the ...
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To Rome with Love Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Woody Allen is New York City. The celebrated director set the majority of his films in the city, and often, ...
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The Hour 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With the huge success of Mad Men there have been a number of shows who have tried to capture a ...
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Cosmopolis Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
You might have noticed the absence of The Pick of the Week here at Cinema Sentries last week. The reason ...
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Masters of the Universe: 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With essentially every television show and movie ever made now available at the click of a button, nostalgia is taking ...
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The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
One of the more liberating things about college was to find people just as passionate about movies as I was. ...
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The Dark Knight Trilogy Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With his Dark Knight Trilogy, Christopher Nolan not only created one of the greatest comic-book adaptations but one of the ...
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Luck: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
You would think that the Tuesday after the big Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday madness that we'd have a week ...
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Doctor Who Limited Edition Gift Set Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Just the other day I was complaining to my wife that the new Doctor Who series is incredibly expensive here ...
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Lawrence of Arabia (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The phrase "They don't make them like they used to" is trite, banal, and way over-used, yet sometimes, it's also ...
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Rashomon Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Not to get too philosophical for a post about upcoming DVD releases, but as I've gotten older the nature of ...
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Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Halloween is quite possibly my favorite holiday. I love all the decorations, the excitement of all the little children (and ...
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Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There comes a time in every movie fan and critics life when he must make certain admissions. Perhaps it is ...
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Mad Men: Season Five Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I came late to the Mad Men game, not watching an episode until about a year and a half ago, ...
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Prometheus Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Used to be people gathered around the water cooler to chat about television, movies, and music They'd get a refreshment ...
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Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Halloween has become one of my favorite holidays. In the 10 years we've been married, the wife and I have ...
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Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I've always had something of an odd relationship with James Bond. My parents were never huge fans of the franchise ...
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Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Through four films and a television series, Indiana Jones has become one of the great heroic icons of all time. ...
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30 Rock: Season 6 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In 2006, network television released two separate series about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of Saturday Night Live-esque sketch comedies. Studio 60 ...
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The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I'm a child of the '80s therefore I am a Star Wars man. As a kid, I watched the original ...
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Homeland: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A few weeks back my family and I took a vacation in Florida. We surfed, we swam, we walked, we ...
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Bernie Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There are times when I feel really clued in. On those days I'm caught up with and can talk intelligently ...
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Community: The Complete Third Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It took me awhile to catch onto Dan Harmon's smart, quirky, meta-comedy Community, but now that I have, I have ...
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Marley Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In my mind there is a connection between Bob Marley and Che Guevera. I doubt the two ever met and ...
Read More The Grand Illusion Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Jean Renoir's classic film, The Grand Illusion, has had a long, strange journey since its release in 1937. The German's ...
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The Last Days of Disco Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
The original G.I. Joe animated series is currently streaming on Netflix. I loved that show as a kid. I have ...
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Singin’ in the Rain: 60th Anniversary Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Dusty Somers |
Far and away the most popular American film musical ever made, Singin' in the Rain lives up to its reputation. ...
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Muddy Waters & the Rolling Stones: Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Legendary rock band the Rolling Stones were steeped in the early Chicago blues style (in fact their name comes from ...
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The Pirate Movie Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I was recently reading an article about how It's a Wonderful Life would never have been a much beloved classic ...
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Hinoshi Inagaki’s The Samurai Trilogy Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Sometimes when I look at the new releases one blaring question comes straight to my mind: why haven't I watched ...
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Lina Wertmuller Collection (Love & Anarchy, The Seduction of Mimi, All Screwed Up) is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
After my sophomore year in college I took some summer classes. Summer at this college was intensely boring as the ...
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Harold and Maude Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There are a few really interesting titles coming out this week, and I had a hard time deciding which one ...
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Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Whenever I hear people grumble about how bad television is these days, I just roll my eyes and mutter under ...
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Summer Interlude and Summer With Monika Are the Picks of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I've barely made a dent in the 64 films that director Ingmar Bergman made in his lifetime, but the handful ...
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Sherlock: Season Two Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I have a very mixed relationship with Sherlock Holmes - I am both utterly fascinated with the character, and more ...
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Being John Malkovich Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I suppose it is fair to say that the majority of filmgoers primarily see films based on who is in ...
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La Haine Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife teaches French at university while I stay at home and raise our one-year-old daughter. It is an unconventional ...
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George Harrison: Living in a Material World Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
One of my dark, secret musical confessions is that I don't particularly like George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass. ...
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The Organizer Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
A couple of weeks ago I talked about how, in choosing each week's pick, I pretend someone gives me a ...
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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Say what you will about Tom Cruise's personal life, his weird religion, or his lack of real acting chops, but ...
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The Iron Lady Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I've been doing these Pick of the Week posts for awhile now and so I've developed a sort-of rule system ...
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Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Since nearly the moment she was born my daughter has loved Sesame Street. She's entranced by it. For the longest ...
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David Lean Directs Noel Coward Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
This week, the Criterion Collection is releasing a boxed set of four films written by playright Noel Coward and directed ...
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The Muppets (2011) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Like millions of other kids I grew up watching many of Jim Henson's creations including Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, ...
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The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife is a nerdy Francophile - she adores everything French especially its arts. I didn't know it before we ...
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Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I got about half-way through Game of Thrones when it first came out before tuning out. This was not long ...
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Hugo Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I think I mentioned before in this series that I haven't seen very many films in the theatre this year. ...
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J. Edgar Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There's an old Seinfeld joke where Jerry and George are talking about bringing a date to a party. Jerry insists ...
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The Rum Diary Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For the last week my wife and I have both had terrifically terrible head colds. We create create quite the ...
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Downton Abbey: Series Two Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
In the first few weeks after my daughter was born my wife, my mother-in-law, and myself spent a great deal ...
Read More The Magnificent Ambersons Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Years ago when I was just out of high school (or possibly just out of college - who can remember ...
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U2: From the Sky Down Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
You know it is a heck of a week for movie releases when the top seller on Amazon is a ...
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Belle de Jour Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My wife is a Francophile, that is to say she is a great lover of all things French. She learned ...
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Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I'm generally terribly behind on my TV watching. I am, what they call now, a cord cutter. I don't have ...
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Justified: The Complete Second Season Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
This first week of January has already picked up some steam from the dismal choices we had in the last ...
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The Borgias: Season One Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
If I was in charge of releasing movies each week I don't suspect I would put my big pictures out ...
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Midnight in Paris Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
My brother is four years older than me so when I was just a kid he was a lusty teenager ...
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
If it isn't already distinctly clear from reading my weekly picks, let me state it directly now: I rarely get ...
Read More The Lady Vanishes (1938) Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
With Christmas right around the corner one would imagine the movie studios would be releasing a slew of awesome movies ...
Read More 30 Rock: Season 5 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
If it were up to Mat Brewster the regular guy, the non-writer, the man with the statuesque physique but ever ...
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12 Angry Men Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
There are several interesting films coming out on Blu-ray this week and it was hard to just pick one of ...
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I came to the Harry Potter universe a little late. I didn't see the first movie until the fourth one ...
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Cars Collector’s Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
For the longest time it seemed that Pixar could do no wrong. Over the last 16 years they have consistently ...
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Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen a Laurel and Hardy film. In fact, the only Laurel and Hardy anything ...
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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory 40th Anniversary Edition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Roald Dahl wrote children's books that are full of dark, sardonic humor, mean and nasty villains, and a complete lack ...
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The Tree of Life Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
Terrence Malick has only directed five feature films in his nearly 40-year career. I'd say he lacked ambition except that ...
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Ken Burns’ Prohibition Is the Pick of the Week
By Mat Brewster |
It is a great big week for Blu-ray releases, but I've got to give the edge to a regular DVD ...
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