Mark Palermo

Bridge to TerabithiaDirected by: Gabor CsupoDisneyIt’s telling that the DVD has alternate kids and grownups’ audio commentaries. The movie version of the Katherine Peterson book is substantial family entertainment because it doesn’t underestimate its audience. The discovery, friendship and loss felt by two sixth-graders recall when kids’ movies weren’t afraid of being life experiences. Bridge […]

A Boy Named Charlie Brown/Snoopy, Come Home/This is America, Charlie BrownDirected by: Evert Brown, Bill Melendez(Paramount)The two first Peanuts theatricals, A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Come Home, are still impressive for their forays into experimental imagery over dialogue exposition. This is America, Charlie Brown is an eight-part educational miniseries on American history. All […]

Twin Peaks – The Definitive Gold Box EditionParamount/Inland Empire, Absurda/RhinoEverything but the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me gets thrown on the boxed set of David Lynch’s TV benchmark. From the pilot (first time on Region 1 DVD) to the astoundingly dark last episodes, Twin Peaks’s genius was that it lived at the very […]

Grandma’s Boy: Unrated EditionDirected by: Nicholaus Goossen(Fox)First, Adam Sandler repeated kindergarten. Then Rob Schneider experienced life as a gigolo. Now, Allen Covert is a 30-something video game tester who has to live with his grandma. Wait a second…What?? Grandma’s Boy achieves the impossible feat of making the idiot-comedy subgenre less pretentious by giving it a […]

Seven SamuraiDirected by: Akira Kurosawa(Criterion)One of the first movies released on DVD by Criterion, the double-dip may seem like just a cash grab. It’s really a massive three-disc film school package on Akira Kurosawa’s samurai epic. About as “fun” as universally recognized classics ever get, Seven Samurai is nearly perfect.Mark PalermoCategories: Best of the year […]

The Films of Alejandro JodorowskyDirected by: Alejandro JodorowskyAnchor BayAnchor Bay’s most exciting DVD release in several years comprises the Spanish surrealist’s intriguing Fando y Lis, his iconic El Topo and his absolute masterpiece, The Holy Mountain. They’re packaged with soundtrack albums, commentaries, an early short film and documentaries on his life. Jodorowski’s films push narrative […]

Amazing Stories: The Complete First Season(Universal)This prime time fantasy series was producer Steven Spielberg’s mid-’80s answer to The Twilight Zone. On DVD, it’s also a good showcase for forgotten works by big time filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante and Clint Eastwood. Like most anthologies, it’s uneven; Amazing Stories often has great setups without much […]

Veronica Mars – The Complete Third SeasonWarnerA very good show that’s frustrating because it seems like it should be great. And that makes the somewhat undercooked third season a compulsive watch. Veronica’s freshman college year is host to more noir mystery, which the series keeps funny and poignant. The tricky success of the recently cancelled […]

LA Story: 15th Anniversary EditionDirected by: Mick Jackson(Lions Gate)Steve Martin used his observations on life in LA as material for this romantic comedy. Even if you dislike the genre and have never been to the titular city, it’s more identifiable—funnier, warmer, centred on people rather than idols—than anything that’s come since. Before director Mick Jackson […]