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Jubal Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Underrated Western Gem

Written by Brandie Ashe Delmer Daves' 1956 film Jubal is sometimes dismissed as simply a cowboy retelling of William Shakespeare's ...
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When Comedy Went to School Movie Review: Spends Too Much Time on Where It Went to School

There is no question that the post-Vaudeville era of comedy and that which was exhibited in the resorts located in ...
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Lord of the Flies (1963) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Lightning Struck Twice

William Golding was 43 years old when his first book was published. The year was 1954, and the title of ...
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From the Head Movie Review: What Happens in the Bathroom, Stays in the Bathroom

If you want to see truly raw, unadulterated portrait of humanity, you don't go to a church or a library. ...
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Bullet to the Head (2012) Blu-ray Review: Stallone Takes Us Back to the Past. Again.

When I first saw some sort of shrapnel about Sylvester Stallone being in a film entitled Bullet to the Head, ...
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Lord of the Flies (1963) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Definitive Version of a Classic Text

Written by Kristen Lopez I vividly remember the Lord of the Flies unit in my seventh grade class. I'm not ...
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The Life of Oharu Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mizoguchi’s Breakthrough Masterpiece

The Film The film that made Kenji Mizoguchi an international sensation and the first in a string of masterpieces that ...
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Blood and Sand (1941) Blu-ray Review: Three-strip Technicolor Death in the Afternoon

Growing up in the shadow of your father is never an easy task for a young lad - especially when ...
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The Life of Oharu Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Downward Spiral

While watching this film, I was reminded of another tale of a classy lady who gradually becomes marginalized: Anna Karenina. ...
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American Courtesans Movie Review: More Case Study than Documentary

American Courtesans is a documentary by Kristen DiAngelo and James Johnson about the world of women who work as escorts ...
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The Way, Way Back Movie Review: Visits Other Films Along the Way

Writers/directors Nay Faxon and Jim Rash certainly provide the audience with intriguing characters in The Way, Way Back, each with ...
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Wolverine: Origin DVD Review: The Best There Is at What He Does

Ever wonder about how Wolverine got his start? So did the rest of the Marvel Comics Universe and its readers, ...
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The Life After Death Project DVD Review: An Academic Approach to the Afterlife

Paul Davids' Life After Death Project has had an interesting stay in my house. Hearing it was a SyFy project ...
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Phantom (2013) Blu-ray Review: This Submarine Story Sinks Fast

Written by Michael Nazarewycz Back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, it seemed that there were two types of actors: ...
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The Matador (2005) Review: A Hitman Movie That Misses

Written by Chris Morgan If people know Pierce Brosnan as an actor at all, it is probably from his stint ...
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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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Life Is Sweet Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mike Leigh’s International Breakout

Mike Leigh films can be comedies but you'd never put the phrase "light hearted" in front of that description. His ...
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Stoker Blu-ray Review: A Film to Be Savored

India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) is a shy, isolated young girl devastated by the loss of her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) ...
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The Guard Movie Review: When Irish Guys Are Quipping

Written by Chris Morgan The Guard, the 2011 debut film from John Michael McDonagh, is both fairly original and overly ...
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21 & Over Blu-ray Review: If You’re Itching for a Good Teen Party Flick, Look Somewhere Else

The 21st birthday has become a symbolic rite of passage into full adulthood. At least that's what everyone wants to ...
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Movie 43 Blu-ray Review: At Least the Sketch Comedy Movie Got the Sketch Part Right

Written by Michael Nazarewycz I'm a big fan of sketch comedy. I've been watching Saturday Night Live (for better or ...
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Brazil Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Dreams and Nightmares Courtesy of Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam's dystopian classic Brazil, a film about a man fighting against an oppressive system, led to life imitating art ...
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In Old Arizona Blu-ray Review: Proof Not All Classics Are Classic

When Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace first started teasing moviegoers and nerds everywhere in the late 1990s, ...
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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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Cinema Sentries

Things to Come Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Overly Didactic Technical Marvel

The Film An impressive technical achievement, even if its didacticism threatens to overwhelm all other elements, H.G. Wells' Things to ...
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Safety Last! (1923) Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Silent Comedic Masterpiece

The three comedic geniuses of the silent film era were Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. For various reasons, ...
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LAFF 2013 Review: A Compelling Look at Our Nixon

Former vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon became the 37th President of the United States on his ...
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Marketa Lazarova Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Defiantly Experimental

You know how Game of Thrones gets really confusing with the various warring clans populated by so many characters that ...
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Cinema Sentries

Things To Come (1936) Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Unforgettable Piece of Cinematic History

H.G. Wells has had a number of books turned into classic films, including The Island of Lost Souls (1932), and ...
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The Last Ride (2012) Blu-ray Review: It Should Never Have Been Taken

I will start this review by stating that I am a huge Hank Williams Sr. fan and I like old-school ...
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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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Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium 25th Anniversary Edition DVD Review: A Wonderful Keepsake

This two-disc DVD set from Eagle Rock Entertainment, commemorates the 25th anniversary of Queen's iconic concerts at London's Wembley Stadium ...
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A Good Day to Die Hard Blu-ray Review: Lots of Action with Little Substance

It's been 25 years since the inaugural film of the Die Hard franchise was released in theatres to mass audience ...
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Last Shop Standing DVD Review: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Store

As music sales have declined over the last decade, the retailers hit hardest have been the independent record stores. In ...
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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Review: A Movie on Cruise Control

Written by Chris Morgan It seems somewhat improbable that the Mission: Impossible film franchise would deliver a fourth installment in ...
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The Girls in the Band Movie Review: A Fascinating Story About Women in Jazz

When asked to name prominent female jazz artists, most fans can list Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, or Billie Holiday. All ...
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Dark Skies (2013) Blu-ray Review: A Compelling Family Drama Undercut by Aliens

I have never been a big fan of alien movies because they have never been particularly scary to me. More ...
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Cinema Sentries

Man of Steel (2013) Movie Review: A Movie Made Solely to Sell Kiddie Meals

Upon the release of Skyfall, regular ol' filmgoers and trolling fanboys alike started to point out all the similarities between ...
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Life Is Sweet Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Chocolate Thrust of Life Itself

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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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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Wild Strawberries Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Beautiful, Complex, Symbolic Film

I am 37 years old. With luck, I'll live another 37 before I die. At the middle of my life, ...
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Prometheus (2012) Blu-ray Review: A Feast for the Senses, An Appetizer for the Mind

Ridley Scott's return to science fiction and the universe he established with the classic film Alien is a visual masterpiece.  ...
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Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse Movie Review: The Epic Ordeal Behind An Epic Film

Written by Chris Morgan Apocalypse Now is a legendary film, but, as many movie fans know, the production of Francis ...
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Masaki Kobayashi Against the System DVD Review: Angry and Elegant Political Films

Known for his exemplary samurai film Harakiri and three-part World War II humanist epic The Human Condition, Masaki Kobayashi wasn't ...
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Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie Review: A Lot of Hot Air

Written by Michael Nazarewycz In case I haven't said this before, I am a sucker for nostalgia - particularly ‘80s ...
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Cinema Sentries

Man of Steel (2013) Movie Review: Man of Action, but Little Thought

Director Zack Snyder, producer Christopher Nolan, and writer David S. Goyer have delivered an adaptation of Superman that is parts ...
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Teenage Rebel DVD Review: Without a Clue (or Widescreen)

In the 1950s, a life-threatening menace began to rear its ugly head to all good, God-fearing, red-blooded Americans who valued ...
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Now You See Me Movie Review: A Lot More Magic Could Have Saved It from Mediocrity

J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is a cocky, up-and-coming magician. Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) is his former assistant who is ...
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LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite Blu-ray Review: Holy Bricks, Batman!

I recently slammed the achingly buffoonish LEGO Star Wars Blu-ray while lamenting that LEGO would have been much better served ...
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Call Me Mister DVD Review: That’s MISTER Mister to You

Adapting a series of comedic sketches into a feature film is probably not the wisest move one can make. Sure, ...
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