Here are our latest reviews of films on DVD.
Recent Home Video Releases
I Used to Be Darker
- Excerpt: Co-writer and director Matt Porterfield has a keen eye for behavior, and he peppers his movie with lots of insightful moments. The only downside is they never really add up to a complete something.
Other Reviews from 2011 and earlier
Aaltra
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Amityville 3-D
Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: Like an old Kleenex, disgusting and disposable.
The Amityville Horror
Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: It all started here . . . that’s not good news.
Amityville II: The Possession
Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: Just don’t think and you’ll be okay.
Bad Lieutenant
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Alongside “Reservoir Dogs,” Able Ferrara’s 1992 tour-de-force crime drama provides an epic showcase for Harvey Keitel’s impressive acting abilities.
Brutalization
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee Coffee and more Coffee
City Lights
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee Coffee and more Coffee
Clear and Present Danger
Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
Erotic Blackmail
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee Coffee and more Coffee
The General
Himatsuri
The Hunt for Red October
Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
Iron Doors
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: … asks the gross, but mesmerizing, question: if you were locked inside of a concrete room for days with no hope of escape, how long would it take before you started drinking your own urine and eating maggots to survive?
The Leopard
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: An inadvertent precursor to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1976 masterpiece “1900,” Luchino Visconti’s magnificent 1963 adaptation of Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s only novel is a historically rich tale of a generational shift during the Italian Revolution in Sicily circa 1860 – This is Italy’s version of “Gone With the Wind.”
Many Wars Ago
Joshua Brunsting @ The CriterionCast
Jamie S. Rich @ DVD Talk
- Excerpt: An effective, potent, and still-relevant war movie from Italy in 1970, Many Wars Ago tells a straightforward tale of things going all crooked out on the front lines of WWI.
Middle Of The Night
Joshua Brunsting @ The CriterionCast
Ms. 45
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Ms. 45 is a guilty pleasure, cheesy camp and a true cult item.
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Abel Ferrara’s funky and nasty 1981 cult über thriller is a feminist take on the good-old-bad-old days of ’70s and ’80s Manhattan that gave rise to films like “Death Wish” and “Taxi Driver.” Screenwriter Nicholas St. John teaches his own school of dramatic form with an unprecedented double inciting incident that will blow your mind.
Nostalghia
- Excerpt: Nostalghia is deliberately paced, demanding its audience’s attention, yet providing much to pay attention to.
Odd Obsession
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee Coffee and more Coffee
Patriot Games
Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
The Princess Bride
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Rob Reiner’s glorious comedy adventure is a delightful tribute to vintage fairy tales of old. Almost 30 years later and the picture has lost none of its luster.
Raging Bull
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
Rififi
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: However much associated as a classic film noir, Jules Dassin’s adaptation of Auguste Le Breton’s pulp novel serves more accurately as the premiere caper film. John Huston’s “The Asphalt Jungle” (1950) was a telling precursor to “Rififi,” but Dassin’s unforgettable centerpiece safecracking sequence — devoid of music or dialogue — gave birth to a new subgenre of movies, the heist film.
Rocky
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
Sorcerer
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: William Friedkin leveraged the influence he accrued with the enormous box office successes of “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist” — both films also won Oscars — to live out his dream of remaking Henri-Georges Clouzot’s groundbreaking 1955 thriller “Le Salaire de la Peur” (“Wages of Fear”), albeit with a sharper socio-political-corporate commentary and an even tougher visual style.
The Sum of All Fears
Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
The Tale Of Zatoichi
Joshua Brunsting @ The CriterionCast
To Be Alive!
Phil Hall @ Film Threat
- Excerpt: The 1965 Academy Award winning documentary short
