DVD review: 3 Jean Harlow films Jean Harlow, one of the most adorable women ever to walk the Earth, died at the incalculably unjust age of 26 in 1937, after leaving an impression of her warmth, fun and loveliness that will last long past the day that any of us will be in a position to feel sorry for her. Among the most important of these is “Red Dust,” which, by some incredible oversight, was …
What movies to see this week, Dec. 7 Lincoln An amazing film from Steven Spielberg featuring one of the year’s best performances, with Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, working every possible angle to pass the 13th Amendment in the waning days of the Civil War. Holy Motors The latest unclassifiable film from the eccentric French director Leos Carax follows a man as he drives around in a …
Movies opening Friday, Dec. 7 Generation P This screen adaptation of a Russian novel traces the advent of advertising as the Soviet era crumbles in the 1990s
DVD review: ‘Fanny, Annie & Danny’ Fanny’s sister Annie (Carlye Pollack), about to marry a sympathetic druggie (Nick Frangione), gets more bad-mouthing from Mom, while brother Danny (Jonathan Leveck) shows up solely to bilk his siblings out of their dough – and stick it to Mom. Poor Dad (George Killingsworth), a Vietnam War veteran and a lost soul in the grasp of his shrieking, show-no-mercy …
Movies to see this weekend, Nov. 21 The Sessions John Hawkes plays a polio victim who can’t move his arms or legs but wants to experience sex for the first time, so he hires therapist Helen Hunt in this well-acted, humane and sexually explicit drama. A Royal Affair This fascinating story, straight out of Danish history, is about a doctor who ends up dictating Denmark’s politics through the …
Microsoft’s next Xbox console will have all sorts of bells and whistles, including Blu-ray, broadcast DVR, and—eventually—augmented-reality glasses, according to one report. Xbox World , a magazine published in the United Kingdom, has published a long feature article on what it believes Microsoft’s next console will be like, citing “industry experts and Microsoft’s own leaky boat.†The report is …
Blu-ray review: ‘Umberto D.’ Umberto D. One of the masterpieces of world cinema – and a supreme example of Italian neorealism at its very best – Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 classic is now available in pristine Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection. Battisti (who died in 1977 at age 94) achieved screen immortality on the basis of a single film
DVD review: ‘Secret Beyond the Door’ Secret Beyond the Door In the mid-1940s, Fritz Lang and actress Joan Bennett combined for a trio of magical film noirs that proved important to both careers.
New on DVD and Blu – ray , Nov. 16 Brave Mother-daughter issues in fairy-tale Scotland take center stage in this story of a rebellious teenage girl who does something really terrible to her mother – but then it’s a learning experience for all concerned. The film, directed by Jon Shenk, shows how this young and charismatic former political prisoner came to power, and details his efforts at the 2009 …
What movies to see this week, Nov. 16 Lincoln An amazing film from Steven Spielberg featuring one of the year’s best performances, with Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, working every possible angle to pass the 13th Amendment in the waning days of the Civil War. Skyfall A good-enough action movie, but a disappointing James Bond entry, with a sober, somber, downbeat Bond trying to protect M …