Highly Recommended In 10 Words or Less A true American success story Reviewer's Bias* Loves: Creepy Jake Gyllenhaal, morally-questionable “heroes” Likes: Thrillers Dislikes: TV news Hates: The current state of journalism The Movie Jake Gyllenhaal is an extremely talented and versatile actor, but to this reviewer, he's never better than when he's making audiences uncomfortable, going back to his …
Recommended For a number of years I lived in and around Hollywood, surrounded by neighbors with big dreams. Many were would-be actors who had moved to Southern California from other parts of the country, convinced they were an audition away from becoming the next Johnny Depp or Julia Roberts, though they always spent a lot more time working on their tan around the swimming pool talking about it …
Recommended Jacques Rivette's Le Pont du Nord is a strange and dream-like character study of two women drifting through Paris with a surreal sense of urgency. They meet by chance (or perhaps fate), and end up accompanying each other on a wild chase through the city, where they are both the chasers and the chased. On one level, their situation seems to involve corruption of the highest order …
Recommended The Movies: Shout! Factory's Scream Factory imprint celebrates the humorous side of the horror movie with this double dose of vampire comedy films presented on a single Blu-ray disc.
Highly Recommended Jean de Florette / Manon of the Spring – Blu-ray Review Based upon thenovel written by Marcel Pagnol, Jean de Florette and Manonofthe Spring are double-billed films which were distributed with thenotationof being Part One and Part Two respectively.
Highly Recommended Pom Poko Blu-ray Review Pom Poko is a storyrooted in Japanese folklore. This is an essentially modern fablesurroundingthe idea of magical shape-shifting raccoon dogs living in Japan.
Highly Recommended Nekromantik 2: If watching Nekromantik was a red badge of courage for gorehounds in the 1990s, going back for seconds was simply a sign that you were truly insane. Now, with the weight of years, (and director Jorg Buttgeriet's helpful included extras on these releases) I realize that the Nekromantik movies aren't so much shock machines, as they are warped love stories
Highly Recommended The Movie: Pork Chop Hill is an excellent Korean War-set combat film from 1959. Like Sam Fuller's Fixed Bayonets! and Anthony Mann's Men in War before it, Pork Chop Hill puts us on the ground with a group of G.I.s facing an impossible mission that's all risk for questionable reward
Recommended The Movie: There's a bit of bait-and-switch going on with My Old Lady , the film directing debut of New York playwright Israel Horovitz (adapting one of his own plays). The playful title, the slightly cutesy accordion music by Mark Orton, the romantic shots of Paris, and the shticky introductions to the characters all lead unprepared viewers to assume that they are being offered a …
Highly Recommended Bandit Queen (1994) is a fascinating though grueling Indian-British co-production about the life of Phoolan Devi (1963-2001), a real-life modern day bandit in rural India.