8 years ago
DVD/Streaming (10 posts found)
Blu-ray Review: “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a staple of children’s literature, so perhaps it’s surprising that it took Hollywood more than 40 years to get a movie adaptation off the ground. But in many ways, Alexander is just as unsuccessful...
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Blu-ray Review: “101 Dalmatians”
Here’s a fun fact: adjusted for inflation, the 1961 film 101 Dalmatians is the second-highest-grossing animated film ever. Ever. More than Frozen, more than The Lion King, more than the Shrek movies. Only Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has raked in more cash....
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Blu-ray Review: “Tales from Earthsea”
The avatar for Studio Ghibli is Hayao Miyazaki, as much of an icon as Totoro ever was. He’s a Japanese Walt Disney in terms of being the public face of the company as he is a passionate filmmaker as well as being a pioneering hero in hand-drawn animation. But ...
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Blu-ray Review: “Pom Poko”
The Blu-ray format has been around so long that, depending on the studio, we’re reaching the point where catalog releases from major studios are dwindling. For the Walt Disney Company, we’re soon approaching the end in terms of their animated canon releases; w...
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Blu-ray Review: “John Wick”
John Wick leaps into motion with such swift, shameless emotional manipulation that the whole thing threatens to collapse into self-parody before it can begin. The eponymous hero (Keanu Reeves) watches tapes of his late wife in a flash-forward, and he even rece...
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Blu-ray Review: “Porco Rosso”
Porco Rosso, much like Kiki’s Delivery Service, sets the stage for Hayao Miyazaki’s gorgeous final film, The Wind Rises, as much as it succeeds on its own merits. It’s a story set against the backdrop of the impending Second World War, focusing on the power an...
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Blu-ray Review: La Cienaga
Distributor: Criterion
Release Date: January 27, 2015
MSRP: $29.95
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Film: B+ / Video: A- / Audio: A- / Extras: C
The constant menace of ennui lingers over every frame in La Cienaga, director Lucretia Martel’s stunning début that unfolds wit...
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Blu-ray Review: “The Zero Theorem”
Distributor: Well Go USA
Release Date: January 20, 2015
MSRP: $29.98
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Film: C- / Video: B+ / Audio: B / Extras: C-
The Zero Theorem begs comparisons to Terry Gilliam’s magnum opus, the ornate dystopian epic Brazil, from the word go: It feat...
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Blu-ray Review: “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant”
Distributor: The Criterion Collection
Release Date: January 13, 2015
MSRP: $39.99
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Film: A / Video: A / Audio: B+ / Extras: B-
We meet fashion designer Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen) when her live-in partner/S&M sub Marlene (Irm Her...
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Blu-ray Review: Tootsie
Distributor: The Criterion Collection
Release Date: December 16, 2014
MSRP: $39.99
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Film: B / Video: A- / Audio: B+ / Extras: B+
The iconic glow of Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie undoubtedly resides in its impressive cinematic shelf life, but it’...
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