Video and DVD
The Great Escape on Blu-ray
As a widely acknowledged classic with a virtually unrivaled ensemble cast, John Sturges’ The Great Escape (1963) honestly hardly needs my endorsement. Still, The Great Escape brings together Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn in an action film that is every bit as harrowing as it is exciting. [...]
Missed Connections
The internet has made it a lot easier to generate relationships. On top of dating sites, there are social networking sites, apps, and one of the easiest technologies to utilize: local “missed connections” sites. These sites, which allow people living in a certain area to find the charming strangers-in-passing that they were infatuated with for [...]
Mighty Fine
Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri; The Usual Suspects) is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his business afloat. In that spirit, he moves his wife (Andie MacDowell), and two daughters (Jodelle Ferland and Rainey Qualley) to Louisiana so his business can take advantage of new southern tax credit legislation being proposed to the Senate. [...]
French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1928
The five films collected in this set from Flicker Alley were produced at the Films Albatros studios in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil, where the studio’s core group of artists was composed primarily of Russian émigrés, as the title suggests. Although the focus of the set is extremely specific (presenting only the work of Russian [...]
Clandestine Childhood
Clandestine Childhood is a story of strength in a world that is teetering on the edge of chaos. The beautiful, simplistic cinematography captures the world through the eyes of a child. Set in Argentina in 1975, Clandestine Childhood is the story of a young boy named Juan whose parents are activists during the Dirty War. [...]
Strictly Ballroom on Blu-ray
Strictly Ballroom (1992), the first entry in Baz Luhrmann’s “Red Curtain Trilogy” (followed by Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001)), is by far the most charming of the series but also, tragically, the most overlooked. As an Australian import about organized, competitive ballroom dancing (preceding by a decade the trend in television that [...]
Broken City
Broken City opens on New York City detective Billy Taggert (Mark Wahlberg) on trial for the murder of a young man whilst on duty. He claims self-defense, of course, but the public’s convinced that events transpired otherwise. Ultimately, though, Billy’s acquitted due to a lack of evidence. We learn precious little about Billy during this [...]
Deadball
Deadball is- well, maybe that’s the best place to start. Deadball simply is. Even days after watching the movie, the fact that Deadball exists is nothing short of amazing. Not because the movie itself is shocking, but because I’m still trying to figure out… why? I mean, I know a blame lot of swill I [...]
Behind The Orange Curtain
Prescription drug dependency is an epidemic that is taking over the United States. The abuse of prescription medications has already claimed more lives than car accidents in America annually. 40 years ago, prescription drugs were not nearly as common as they are now, and dependency on them was something millions thought impossible. But a new [...]
K-11
When Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic) turns up in some kind of ward for the criminally insane, accused of killing his wife’s lover, I imagine he feels a bit like Alice; tumbling down the rabbit hole. He’s disoriented, drunk and/or high, with moments of lucidity but it takes him about half the film to really find [...]
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