James Bond The Ultimate Collection Volumes 1 & 2Directed by: Guy Hamilton(Fox Video)For the completist, the deluxe DVD editions of 10 of the 007 movies, five per set. It’s an arbitrary grouping, so there’s no skipping on, say, the Dalton entries, but there’s plenty to enjoy in all the extras, crammed on one bonus disc […]
Film + TV
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Reds
RedsDirected by: Warren Beatty(Paramount)A grand, large-scale look at the Russian revolution framed by a love story between an American political journalist John Reed (Warren Beatty, also writer-director) and writer Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton), with Eugene O’Neil (Jack Nicholson) waiting in the wings. Both epic and intimate, extras in the two-disc edition finally see the notoriously […]
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Angel: Season 5
Published December 08, 2005. Angel: Season 5 Directed by: Joss Whedon (Fox) Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s shadow haunted this spin-off series for a few seasons, but in this, the last, it finally came into its own. The final eight episodes are both tragic and spectacular, besting Buffy’s finale by a good stake’s length. Carsten Knox […]
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Essential Steve McQueen Collection/The Steve McQueen Collection
Published December 08, 2005. Essential Steve McQueen Collection/The Steve McQueen Collection Directed by: Peter Yates (Warner/MGM) You can’t go wrong with either of two recently released Steve McQueen box sets. One has Bullitt, The Getaway and The Cincinnati Kid, the other The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven. This is the great work of the […]
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Lost: Season 1
Published December 08, 2005. Lost: Season 1 (Buena Vista) Even in its early stages, JJ Abrams’ Pacific-island-on-the-Twilight-Zone series has in spades what few lasting TV dramas achieve: universal empathy, gripping plotlines, surprise and moral conviction. If you’ve worn out your Buffy DVDs, Lost is the next best stop. It’s TV at its most authentically Spielbergian. […]
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Wordplay
WordplayDirected by: Patrick Creadon (IFC Films) One montage in Wordplay shows various celebrities—including the Indigo Girls, Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton and documentarian Ken Burns—hunkered down over the New York Times crossword. Burns breaks into a delighted smile as he notices a hidden pun. “They’re playing with us here,” he says. “That’s wonderful.” That delight’s really […]
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Manufactured Landscapes
Manufactured LandscapesDirected by: Jennifer Baichwal(Zeitgeist Films)In his renowned portraits of industrial sites, Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky highlights how profoundly human action and industrialization have altered the natural landscape. Today’s world, Burtynsky points out, is largely man-made. In her Genie-winning documentary Manufactured Landscapes, Jennifer Baichwal set out to translate Burtynsky’s photographs into a new medium. The […]
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Flannel Pajamas
Flannel PajamasDirected by: Jeff Lipsky(WEA)This tiny, intimate, often squicky look into the arc of a relationship is so painfully personal, it’s the kind of thing that makes people wonder why it’s a movie at all. (We don’t like to see ourselves onscreen! Give us pirates! Give us robots! Give us Jigsaw!) Only in the land […]
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Breathless
BreathlessDirected by: Jean-Luc GodardCriterionJean-Luc Godard helped usher in the nouvelle vague with this film about a young man’s passions of crime, romance and pop culture. In 1960, Godard’s self-aware style was completely radical. Today, Breathless remains a key piece of film history. Criterion presents it in its most comprehensive DVD release yet. Mark PalermoCategories: Best […]
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Hot Rod
Hot RodDirected by: Akiva SchafferParamountThe summer’s best comedy—but under the bait-and-hook of Judd Apatow hype, barely anyone noticed. SNL star Andy Samberg and director Akiva Schaffer legitimately get the randomness of internet humour and the shared sensibility of suburban ’80s kids than any movie that’s come before. Expect the DVD to give it a second […]
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The Office: Season Three
The Office: Season ThreeUniversal StudiosLike the season two set before it, this boxed set is packed with deleted scenes aplenty—almost all of them worth checking out. Pick up this collection and relive the season when Pam found courage, doormat HR-rep Toby got his robe stolen and the creative team behind TV’s best sitcom stopped yanking […]
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Bob & Doug MacKenzie’s Two-Four Anniversary
Bob & Doug MacKenzie’s Two-Four AnniversaryDirected by: Henry Sarwer-FonerVivendiBob and Doug MacKenzie shot out of the SCTV womb 24 years ago as a middle-finger to CBC’s demand for two more minutes of “Canadian” content. Fine, you’ll get your toques and your beer and your back-bacon, and a Hinterland-inspired intro “Koo-loo-kookoo-koo-loo-kookoo,” too. And so two hosers […]