The Marlon Brando CollectionDirected by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz(Warner Home Video)When Brando died, the eulogies remembered his work in The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. But the second tier work assembled in this Warner Bros. set invites rediscovery. From fighting tyranny in the highly criticized, but still enthralling Mutiny on the Bounty […]
Film + TV
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Seven Samurai
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 […]
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The Bela Lugosi Collection
Published December 08, 2005. The Bela Lugosi Collection Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer (Universal) All substance, no gristle. The Bela Lugosi Collection has a couple of trailers, but that’s it as far as extras go. What it offers is five movies for about $5 each. Three of them (Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Black […]
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Freaked
Published December 08, 2005. Freaked Directed by: Tom Stern, Alex Winter (Anchor Bay) Alex Winter (the Bill half of Bill and Ted) directed and starred in this 1993 oddity that also featured Keanu Reeves as Dog Boy and Mr. T as the Bearded Lady. Freaked was initially conceived as a showcase for The Butthole Surfers. […]
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My Summer of Love
Published December 08, 2005. My Summer of Love Directed by: Pawel Pawlikowski (Alliance) Two Yorkshire girls become friends and then lovers under the sun-dappled trees of the eternal summer afternoon. It’s not all pastoral bliss: teenaged boredom, betrayal and innocence are served up and cut down. The commentary by director Pawel Pawlikowski is essential. Carsten […]
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The Wizard of Oz: Collector’s Edition
Published December 08, 2005. The Wizard of Oz: Collector’s Edition Directed by: Victor Fleming (Warner) The movie seen by everyone who’s ever seen a movie receives another DVD treatment. But this extensive collection has the feel of something ultimate. The third disc of extras, with Oz films that predate this one, is the most enticing. […]
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The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of ScotlandDirected by: Kevin MacDonald(Fox Searchlight)In The Last King of Scotland, the vain young doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) heads to Uganda on a whim. He spins a globe and points randomly, then leaves his home in Scotland to launch himself into a country he hasn’t learned about. It’s 1971 and famed […]
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Away from Her
Away from Her Directed by: Sarah PolleyMongrel MediaNear the end of Away from Her, straightforward Marian (Olympia Dukakis) calls Grant (Gordon Pinsent) to ask him out on a semi-date. “I wanted to say, I know you’re not single and I don’t mean it that way. I’m not, either. But it doesn’t hurt to get out […]
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The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour
The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the TroubadourDirected by: Michael BliedenImageFor the last few years, comedians Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford and Zach Galifianakis (AKA The Comedians of Comedy) have been crafting ridiculously hilarious pieces of comedy gold, then performing them in an anti-comedy-club tour of rock venues. Tragically, their show will never come […]
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Waitress
WaitressDirected by: Adrienne Shelly20th Century FoxMany of the lines characters in Waitress spout at each other are tiny pieces of only-in-movies poetry. Crusty diner patron/owner Old Joe (Andy Griffith) describes pregnant waitress Jenna (Keri Russell)’s pie passionately, “Then you’re flooded with chocolate, dark and bittersweet, like an old love affair… strawberry: the way strawberry was […]
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Robot Chicken: Season 2
Robot Chicken: Season 2Shadowmachine FilmsCall it Television Entertainment 2.0: Make it brief, to adjust for the attention spans of viewers raised on TV who indulgein chronic herbal habits. Plumb pop culture, using stop-motion animation and mass-market toys, dolls and action figures, to create scathing, often gut-bustingly hilarious, spoofs. Rerun forever.Carsten KnoxCategories: Best of the year […]
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The Brown Bunny
The Brown Bunny Directed by: Vincent GalloKinetiqueThe most infamous film in recent years is finally available to see on DVD. As with most over-hyped vanity projects, it’s neither as awful or shocking as the ink would lead one to believe. The first 70 minutes of the film detail Bud Clay (writer – director – producer […]