DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

Quite simply, Two-Lane Blacktop is the purest road movie to ever exist. Revisiting Monte Hellman’s classic is not unlike listening to remastered Jimi Hendrix on 180 gram vinyl; a mood-altering earnest trip through the countercultural consciousness complete ...

The family tree gets a bit uprooted in the fantastic Hannah and Her Sisters.  Set between two family thanksgivings, this 1986 offering from writer/director Woody Allen is rich in storytelling flow – as the characters take turn narrating the events – and ...

Don’t call it a comeback.  He’s been here for years.  Yeah, I said it.  I couldn’t think of a better opener than quoting a little LL Cool J for you all.  And, listen, it’s deserved.  Arnold Schwarzenegger, last seen firing blanks in The Expendables 2, returns for another ...

With inspired gonzo guffaws and slapdash guerrilla filmmaking stylings, Sleepers is the funniest Woody Allen film to appear before his artistic vision made him a household name.  Allen, a longtime fan of silent clowns like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, throws ...

Sweat. Dust. Violence. And beer. These are the outback facts of life in Ted Kotcheff’s hard-hitting Wake in Fright.  An Australian film long thought lost due to the ravages of time, Wake in Fright stands proudly alongside Mad Max and Picnic at Hanging Rock as high ....

Ready for something new from Jason Statham?  Something like a romantic comedy?  Look elsewhere.  This is meat and potatoes Statham.  The protagonist of a series of thrillers by the author Donald Westlake, writing under the pseudonym Richard Stark ...

“Gross,” my wife said to me while studying the artwork on Olive Films Blu-ray release of Paramount’s Ticks, a low-budget creature feature from 1993.  It was followed by, “what the hell is wrong with you?” Ticks, to be sure, is my cup of malt-o-meal comfort ...

Bursting with the same joy captured inside Domenico Modugno’s recording of Volare, To Rome with Love continues Woody Allen’s successful European vacation.  The comedy is just shy of the usual laughter and a definite step down from his most successful film ...

The unsettling case of the West Memphis Three gets yet another documentary - that’s four now. But West of Memphis is different. Aside from the passing of time - some 18 years - that has uncovered additional evidence, recanted testimony, and incompetent forensics...

Searching for Sugar Man clocks in a swift 85 minutes but the true story it tells – about an unknown folk-rock artist from Detroit, Michigan who doesn’t even know he’s bigger than Elvis in South Africa – is one you will never forget.  Rodriguez is his name ...

It has been a decade since last we heard from director Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hours) and his latest, Bullet to the Head, offers no explanation for the ten year silence.  No apology needed from the maestro, mind you.  Just sit back and enjoy the one-liners.  Bullet to ...

Well, at least it tries to do something different with the whole superhero genre.  Imagine if DC’s Justice League or Marvel’s The Avengers were fractured and driven apart by one of their villains for all eternity.  Imagine if that villain was Jigsaw from the SAW series ...

It’s been heralded as a minor classic.  It’s also the first movie to showcase zombies – whether the walking dead or just poisoned.  Let’s be honest, though.  It’s far beyond the appropriate time to recognize Victor Halperin’s White Zombie as a masterpiece of horror. ...

Yippee ki yay, double-dipper! It’s Die Hard’s 25^th anniversary celebration but you won’t find much of a party going on here.  The disappointing collection from 20^th Century Fox is essentially the same transfers we’ve seen before, making this only a stop-gap release until ...

Digital or film?  Those are your choices for the future of moviemaking.  Do we fall forward or fall back and rely on the natural look of film to carry us into the future?  Discuss.  Chris Kenneally’s new documentary, Side by Side, is certain to heat up the conversation ...