First, a circus performer’s trapeze act goes awry, killing her sister. Then a housewife stabs her hubby for no good reason. A horoscope of “You will not live until Christmas. You will meet death at your own hands” causes one woman to down a drink of “lemonade with bitters,” then turn a gun on herself. […]
DVD reviews
Posted inArts & Culture
The Steel Trap
Jim Osborne (Joseph Cotten, Citizen Kane) is an all-American, suit-and-tie family man who commutes to work, where he’s the assistant manager of a bank. To get into the vault, he and his fellow execs take turns entering safe codes as a safety measure … but he’s smart enough to memorize the others’ numbers. That’s because […]
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Annie Hall
But is its recent Blu-Ray release a worthwhile buy for fans of the Woodman? Well, if you haven’t seen the 1977 Academy Award winner enough times to quote it verbatim, or if you have but don’t own it, sure, it’s definitely worth a purchase. But Allen movies are notoriously no-frills on DVD and Blu-Ray, and […]
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Zaat
About all it takes is a big ol’ syringe full of Re-Animator fluid, a dunk tank with electric cables, and a room full of primitive equipment resembling the games no one plays at Chuck E. Cheese. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Zaat, a 1971 regional Z movie that no one was calling to be restored […]
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Immortals
Set in 1200-something-rather BC, it comes helmed with the same acuity of visuals Tarsem Singh brought to The Cell and The Fall, where every pixel appears to have art-directed to a near death. One may wonder why some characters look raring to go for a parade of nightmares, but one cannot deny how stunning it […]
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Justice League: Doom
It’s the latest of DC Universe’s 13 animated features for the PG-13 crowd, following the recent “Batman: Year One,” more-than-decent “Green Lantern: Emerald Knights” and dull “All-Star Superman.” A chalice-carrying lunatic appropriately named Vandal Savage (voiced by Phil Morris) offers members of the Legion of Doom (including Cheetah, Mirror Master and — timely! — Bane) […]
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Martha Marcy May Marlene
Writer/director Sean Durkin’s unsettling “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” now available on Blu-ray and DVD, explores the dark side of that need for human connection: the giving up of identity and individual will to be included. Those offering that extreme Faustian bargain are most often men, and quite often power-hungry to the point of psychosis: Jim […]
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Hell on Earth
But as the old saying goes, lightning doesn’t strike twice — “Hell” is as dreadful to watch as “Spawn” is fun. “Based on a true story … sort of,” the horror comedy with a cast of unknowns focuses on Bobby (Brett Fallon), a young man who, despite being handicapped, is clearly the older version of […]
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War of the Arrows
So consider it high praise that “War of the Arrows” offers an experience decidedly different. While far from the first arrow-based film, this South Korean effort is arguably the classiest and most exciting in memory. Set in the early 17th century, “War” deals with the Manchu empire at large, and the bonds of a family […]
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The Deadly Spawn: Millennium Edition
In this New Jersey-lensed low-budgeter, a meteor (or something like it) crashing into the woods unleashes an alien menace in the single most hideously decorated house in film history, where the tables, walls and chairs are painted Pepto-Bismol pink. Among the seemingly infinite family members inside the multistory home are a monster-obsessed kid (Charles George […]