Recent DVDs Reviews

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Thursday, November 12 2009

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

By Cynthia Fuchs

Pray the Devil Back to Hell vividly conveys the pain endured and resistance mounted by women of diverse backgrounds and faiths during Liberia's civil war.

The Secret Policeman Rocks!

By Terrence Butcher

It pains me to suggest that watching The Secret Policeman Rocks! is akin to swallowing a tablespoon of humanist medicine...

Wednesday, November 11 2009

The Human Condition

By Michael Buening

It’s a testament to both Kobayashi’s work and the feelings of the Japanese people after WWII that such a harsh attack on Imperial Japan was made at all, let alone that it succeeded at the box office.

Man Stroke Woman: The Complete Series

By Christel Loar

This is an hilariously off-kilter sketch comedy filled with often unexpected payoffs and utterly hysterical visual gags -- in addition to its wickedly funny cast.

Zorro: The Complete First and Second Seasons

By Bill Gibron

Thanks to Disney's desire to preserve its heritage for future generations to enjoy, these limited edition box sets are like stepping back in time and witnessing the series premiere as it originally aired.

Tuesday, November 10 2009

Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered

By Alistair Dickinson

A TV gem from decades ago finds itself compiled in a DVD set that will delight its viewers, whether they've seen "The Germans" a thousand times before, or have never been anywhere near a Flying Circus.

North by Northwest

By Bill Gibron

This is thrilling, sexy, funny, fresh, inventive, exhilarating, and ultimately, a first-class illustration of the "they don't make them like they used to" adage.

White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life

By Bill Gibron

While they might be right out of the Saturday Evening Post with their Norman Rockwell-esque moralizing and message, one cannot deny how thoroughly entertaining and iconic they both are.

Monday, November 9 2009

You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977–1984

By Chris Barsanti

If this smart, long-winded documentary proves anything, it’s that there are a lot of scars left from those bruising early days of the Chicago scene, and few are ready to stop scratching at them.

Merry Sitcom: Christmas Classics From TV’s Golden Age

By Terrence Butcher

The overarching theme among these stories is an often unacknowledged tension between affluent postwar consumer culture and a more austere mode of living.

Note By Note: The Making of the Steinway L1037

By J.M. Suarez

The attention to detail and sheer amount of time devoted to building a piano is extraordinary, and Niles makes a compelling case for Steinway’s approach.

Friday, November 6 2009

Adult Swim in a Box

By W. Scott Poole

This is a compilation for that large demographic that yearns for narratives about a large, talking milk shake ordering a wife from Chechnya, or the micronauts going on a breast-climbing expedition. You know who you are.

The 39 Steps

By Chadwick Jenkins

In Hitchcock's world, we don't write the play; we just have to know when to act.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren’t Pillows Edition)

By Bill Gibron

it's safe to say that John Hughes has a secure legacy in Hollywood laughfests. No matter the age bracket, this film stands as one of his very best.

Thursday, November 5 2009

The Stepfather (1987)

By David Camak Pratt

Unlike Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, the monstrous title character of The Stepfather is both plausible and a rich metaphor.

Wednesday, November 4 2009

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

By Evan Sawdey

Another one of Davies' overwrought space melodramas winds up imploding on itself, but the DVD special feature is a treat worth savoring.

Girlfriends: The Seventh Season

By Valerie C. Gilbert

Like Sex and the City, to which it is often compared, Girlfriends is more product and champion of a pro-sex "postfeminist" culture than it is a relic of the past.

Tuesday, November 3 2009

Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin

By Evan Sawdey

Heavily based on The Manchurian Candidate, the political intrigue here makes this one of the best Doctor Who adventures ever filmed -- no, really.

All Tomorrow’s Parties

By Thomas Britt

This more often than not pays proper attention to the artistic prowess on display, which saves it from playing too laboriously like someone else's vacation slideshow.

Monday, November 2 2009

Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen

By Evan Sawdey

It's not that this particular story was bad -- we've just been lead to expect much, much better from this sci-fi warhorse.

The Taking of Pelham 123

By Ben Travers

Money makes The Taking of Pelham 123 shine, but no amount of cash can buy creativity.

Sunday, November 1 2009

Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl

By Evan Sawdey

Psychic grandmas, the theory of evolution, and a gun-weilding Tom Baker makes for one of the most tension-filled Doctor Who outings of the "classic" era.

Friday, October 30 2009

Drag Me to Hell

By Jake Meaney

Sam Raimi’s attempted return to the horror/comedy genre that was his stock in trade for the early part of his career is neither particularly horrific nor all that funny.

Thursday, October 29 2009

Jackass: The Lost Tapes

By Chris Robé

The Jackass Boys embody a forward momentum that teeters towards the eradication of all that they can't stand: hypocrisy, condescension, and perhaps worst of all, the dull throbbing boredom of routine.

Champions Forever: Ali—The Lost Interviews

By Scott Jordan Harris

The selling point of this release is its extras, and specifically its half hour of previously ‘lost’ interviews with Ali.

Wednesday, October 28 2009

Callan: Set 1

By Thomas Britt

In Callan, the audience occupies a place of privilege, having access to this secret intelligence service, the high-risk information it manages, and the thrilling jobs it must carry out for the government.

Private Century

By Shaun Huston

Not a single shot in Private Century is original to Sikl or his collaborators. This is a profound illustration of the significance of editing to the nature of film as an art and craft.

Tuesday, October 27 2009

Cinema Different: Different Cinema Volume 3

By Sarah Boslaugh

Nine selections from the 10th annual Festival des Cinemas Differents de Paris show a broad range of styles and approaches by contemporary film and video artists.

Monday, October 26 2009

Lie to Me

By Rachel Kipp

That this is not another procedural show is in large part due to actor Tim Roth, who injects life and mystery into a part that on paper reads like a watered down version of Dr. Gregory House.

The Elephant King

By Alistair Dickinson

A familiar story about two naive, young Westerners that head to the Far East in search of adventure and inner-peace. Latent Orientalism interferes with the visual delights.

Sunday, October 25 2009

The Chieftains - Live at Montreux 1997

By Christel Loar

This DVD enthusiastically shows a collaborative collective at the peak of its prowess, melding many musical traditions with swift, deft fingers into its own interwoven representation of Irish culture.

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