FullReviews Index - page 2
DVD Pick: [i]Touch of Evil — 50th Anniversary Edition[/i]
Touch of Evil DVD review, including a review of Touch of Evil the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Touch of Evil DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Youth Without Youth[/i]
Youth Without Youth DVD review, including a review of the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Youth Without Youth is an adventurous film exploring multiple dimensions of human consciousness. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Youth Without Youth DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]United 93[/i] (Special Edition)
United 93 (2006) is a docudrama that chronicles some of the events occurring during the Islamist terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, that killed about 3000 people. This is one of the most powerful you-are-there films ever made. It is riveting and gut-wrenching, yet respectful and, in some ways, inspirational. But it is heartbreaking, and there's no question that for many viewers, it is too harrowing. Read a full-length review of United 93 on DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Seven Samurai[/i] Three-Disc Set
Seven Samurai is masterpiece of world cinema. The first time I saw it, I knew I wanted to see this film again and again. Repeating viewings of Seven Samurai on DVD have been rewarding. Criterion Collection released a luxurious three-disc edition of Seven Samurai that is one of the best DVDs of the year. Read a review of Seven Samurai on DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Vertigo[/i] (Collector's Edition)
Vertigo DVD review, including a review of Vertigo the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Vertigo DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Recount[/i]
RecountDVD review, including a review of Recount the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Recount DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Taxi Driver[/i] (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Taxi Driver DVD Review that looks at the movie and the DVD special features. Taxi Driver is a well-made Hollywood studio movie, yet it has the feel of a European-style personal film. Find out more in the Taxi Driver DVD review.
DVD Pick: [i]Vampyr[/i] (Criterion Collection)
Vampyr DVD review, including a review of Vampyr the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Vampyr DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Shine a Light[/i]
Shine a Light DVD review, including a review of Shine a Light the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Shine a Light DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Wild Reeds[/i]
Wild Reeds DVD review, including a review of Wild Reeds the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Wild Reeds DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]Under the Same Moon[/i]
Under the Same Moon DVD review, including a review of Under the Same Moon the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the Under the Same Moon DVD.
DVD Pick: [i]There Will Be Blood[/i] (2-Disc Collector's Edition)
There Will Be Blood DVD review, including a review of There Will Be Blood the movie, DVD details and bonus materials. Read Ivana Redwine's review of the There Will Be Blood DVD.
DVD Pick: Sweeney Todd (2-Disc Special Edition)
Review of the Sweeney Todd DVD, including a look at the movie and the DVD special features. Ivana Redwine's review of the Sweeney Todd DVD.
DVD Pick: Thank You for Smoking
A review of Thank You for Smoking on DVD.
DVD Pick: The Threepenny Opera (Criterion Collection)
Die Dreigroschenoper was a big hit on the Berlin stage, and in 1930 a movie company began the process of adapting it for the screen. The film director was G.W. Pabst, whose movies were among the most artistically successful during the 1920s. Pabst's films are marked by social and political concerns, which made him a good fit for the Brecht-Weill material and helped him to add the proper visual dimension. The movie version of Die Dreigroschenoper, which was released in 1931, is a masterpiece.
DVD Pick: Summer Palace
Summer Palace DVD review that explores both the movie and the DVD extras. Summer Palace is is a Mandarin-language film about a willful, passionate young woman grappling with her feelings toward a man she falls madly in love with. Find out more about in Summer Palace DVD review.
DVD Pick: Sweeney Todd (2-Disc Special Edition)
Depp has given brilliant film performances over the years, and he turns in yet another as Sweeney Todd, the throat-slashing mass murderer. Playing opposite Depp is lead actress Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, who grinds up Todd's victims and bakes them into meat pies. Burton creates an atmospheric, horror-movie London where the blood flows freely.
DVD Pick: Sunshine
Sunshine DVD Review: A visually dazzling sci-fi thriller with some interesting ideas, Sunshine is set in 2057 when the sun is putting out less and less heat, causing Earth to become colder and colder. Read more about this movie in the Sunshine DVD review.
DVD Pick: Yi Yi (Criterion Collection)
In 2002, a Sight & Sound magazine critics' poll ranked Yi Yi (2000) among the ten best films of the preceding 25 years. Set in Taipei, the largest city in Taiwan, Yi Yi chronicles the emotional struggles of a middle-aged, middle-class businessman and his extended family over a period of a few months in 1999. Despite its intimacy and unity of time and place, the film's length of nearly three hours and its large number of speaking roles give it some of the feel of a sprawling epic.
DVD Pick: Talk to Me
Talk to Me DVD review that explores both the movie and the DVD extras. Talk to Me successfully navigates some tricky changes in emotional tone and gets powerhouse performances from Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Find out more about the film in this review of Talk to Me on DVD.
DVD Pick: The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The Wind That Shakes the Barley DVD review that looks at both the movie and the DVD special features. The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a powerful drama set during the Irish War of Independence and the almost-immediately-following Irish Civil War. Find out more by reading the The Wind That Shakes the Barley DVD Review.
DVD Pick: Simon Schama's Power of Art
The Power of Art is more like a dynamic college-level lecture series than a documentary. The series mixes art photography, location shooting, and dramatizations with Schama's lectures. Read a review of Simon Schama's Power of Art on DVD.
DVD Pick: Venus
Venus is a literate, upbeat little British movie about mortality. Venus starts out darkly comic, then moves into pathos and finally comes back with an upbeat ending. Read a review of Venus on DVD.
DVD Pick: Volver
Volver is one of the best ensemble pieces you'll ever see. In addition, Volver is a highly original work that is perfectly accessible to mainstream audiences. Read a review of Volver on DVD.
DVD Pick: The Sound of Music 40th Anniversary Edition
Ever since I was a child, I've been enchanted by The Sound of Music, and after seeing this film on DVD, I can see why I've always loved it. Now that I'm older, I consider The Sound of Music to be a guilty pleasure, but it is still one of my favorite movies. I agree with those who say the characters and situations aren't completely believable, but that is also part of the charm. I can forgive this film its flaws--many of which are the flaws of an old-fashioned musical.