Recommended Though a majority of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu's films share similar themes and his trademark “slow and steady” visual approach to storytelling, An Autumn Afternoon (1962) has the most in common with his 1949 drama Late Spring . Both feature a widowed patriarch living at home with a fully-grown, unmarried daughter who is prodded into seeking a husband
Recommended The Movie: How To Murder Your Wife is one bizarro movie which tells a very adult story in a childlike manner (at times, it felt like live-action Disney comedy with naughty bits). An item from the MGM/UA back catalog given a polished Blu Ray re-release thanks to the folks at Olive Films, this loopy, underseen 1965 comedy is ripe for a re-appraisal.
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 It's not every day that animated films—especially those featuring furry woodland critters—delve into extensive mythologies, introduce us to multi-layered characters, and manage to insert a genuine sense of danger into the story; then again, Martin Rosen's Watership Down (1978) isn't your average animated film. Based on Richard Adams' eponymous 1972 novel, this tale of …
Highly Recommended The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Blu-ray Review One of the most ambitious and intelligent films ofthe yearwas The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby . Written and directed byfirst-time feature filmmaker Ned Benson, the filmmaking was bold,original, andunusual compared to other contemporary dramas.
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