Recent Film DVD Reviews

It's not a standard issue dealer movie, featuring strong performances, a shrewd narrative structure, and subtle, smart resistance to stereotypes.

Wednesday, April 2 2003

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

By Michael S. Smith

The film is full of perfectly executed scenes.

Maid in Manhattan (2002)

Jennifer Lopez has made a lucrative habit of reprising her story in most of her fictional incarnations.

The Killers (1946)

The line between victims and violators is almost erased, now that playing by the rules seems little more than an antiquated affectation.

Entertainer’s Basketball Classic at Rucker Park: The Second Season (2003)

The players at Rucker Park feel like 'superheroes,' and they've got the nicknames and convention-defying games to prove it.

The Awful Truth (1937)

By Elbert Ventura

Never sappy, The Awful Truth is at once light on its feet and grounded at heart.

Tuesday, March 25 2003

You Can’t Take It With You (1938)

By Chris Robé

Reveals the liberation offered by non-alienating work and examines the matrices between class and gender, as few other films do.

In a Lonely Place (1950)

Put simply, the eyes cannot be trusted, not in film noir generally, and especially not in In a Lonely Place.

I See a Dark Stranger (1946)

The wealth of detail about gay life at the time and the often adverse public perception of homosexual behavior ensures Victim's lasting fascination as a social document.

Gloria (1980)

By Chris Robé

Cassavetes himself was not happy with his script.

Tuesday, March 18 2003

Once Upon a Time (1944)

By A.E. Souzis

On its surface a classic fairytale, it can also be read as commentary on Hollywood's role in wartime America.

Making the Misfits (2001)

By Jonathan Kiefer

There's a cautionary tale in the notion that life sometimes imitates art enough to destroy both, and this piece might have striven harder to assess which is the greater American tragedy.

Joe and Max (2002)

By Tobias Peterson

Meditates on the space these celebrity athletes occupied for their respective societies, serving as reluctant folk heroes and symbols for their nations.

Half Past Dead (2002)

Ja is partnered with Steven Seagal, the fading action/martial arts star who not only refuses to go away.

Ciao! Manhattan (1972)

By John G. Nettles

Sedgwick was one of the Tragic Muses, those women who did not so much make things happen as stand still and allow things to happen to them.

Auto Focus (2002)

'Auto Focus' is, as its title suggests, about self-interest and -obsession.

Friday, February 28 2003

Tommy (1975)

By John Demetry

The Who's rock opera Tommy still rocks.

Not of This World (Fuori dal mondo) (1999)

By Jonathan Kiefer

Giuseppe Piccioni is no cynic (or he pretends not to be), but he does have a healthy respect for the many ways in which people fail to come together.

Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)

For all the violence, Heavy Metal 2000's sexual iconography remains its major attraction, and that is mostly because it is everywhere.

Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (1964)

By Michael S. Smith

It is about kids played by adults, a comedy, a tragedy, a buddy movie, a heist picture, a romance, an exercise in style, and a paean to B-movies and American gangster films.

American Psycho 2: All American Girl (2002)

By Steven T. Boltz

When the greatest compliment that can be paid a film is 'Shatner was good,' you know you're looking at a new depth of badness in contemporary cinema.

Thursday, January 30 2003

It All Starts Today (Ca Commence Aujourd’hui) (2000)

So physically vigorous is It All Starts Today that at times, it resembles an action picture staged before blackboards and on playgrounds.

Bounty Dog (1994)

By Chris Elliot

There's much more going on 'outside' of the film . . . than inside it.

Thursday, January 23 2003

Siddhartha (1972)

By John Demetry

Justine contends with lascivious lesbians, foppish fags, and bombastic bullies at every turn.

Shoeshine (Sciuscià) (1946)

By Stephen Tropiano

Focuses on the disintegration of a friendship between two Italian youths who fall victim to the state's juvenile detention system.

Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records (2002)

Even though Sam Phillips recorded many black artists, there are hardly any, aside from Thomas, to be found in the film.

Friday, January 17 2003

Invaders From Mars (1953)

By Mike Ward

We don't know what's out there, but we're pretty sure it isn't up to any good.

Thursday, January 9 2003

Trapped (2002)

Scary as this sounds -- Courtney Love channeling Claire Standish or Andie Walsh -- it might explain a few things about what was going on in Trapped.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) - PopMatters Film Review )

By Chris Robé

Lotte Reiniger used film to... investigate the connections between past and present traditions.

Thursday, December 19 2002

Don’s Plum (1995)

By Nikki Tranter

And so the clichés begin.

Tuesday, December 10 2002

Two Women (1998)

By Lesley Smith

Tahmineh Milani charts the tragedy of stunted aspiration and the social subjugation faced by female participants.

Sunshine State (2002)

If there's anyone you'd want to have talking you through his movie, it would be John Sayles.

The Rocking Horse Winner (1950)