Here are our latest reviews of films on DVD.
Reviews of Classic Films
Last Tango in Paris
Kenji Fujishima @ Brooklyn Magazine
A Man Escaped
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: [VIDEO ESSAY] French filmmaker Robert Bresson invented the prison escape genre in 1956 with a beautifully sparse piece of cinematic storytelling told from the personalized viewpoint of an escaped prisoner.
Recent Home Video Releases
Animals and murder comprise this week’s new releases
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: This week’s releases include two first seasons that land at opposite ends of the spectrum; a buddy cop comedy from Asia; animals taking revenge; and an adorable alien outcast.
Big House, U.S.A.
Face to Face
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
- Excerpt: Unless you have a phobia regarding subtitles, it’s the “bonus” of the full original version of Face to Face that you want to see, in Italian with English subtitles.
Fantasy runs amok in this week’s releases
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: This week’s releases include an outstanding sci-fi picture that rivals its A.I. contemporaries; a couple of entertaining animated series that rely on very short formats; and a fantastic action picture featuring Donnie Yen.
The Front Page
- Excerpt: The Front Page is a fitfully shrewd piece of early sound filmmaking that’s had the tough luck of being overshadowed by two superior remakes, and Kino’s sterling visual transfer at least allows classic film buffs to assess the movie’s place in history without fighting through material wear and tear.
He Ran All the Way
Love Unto Death
The Monster That Challenged the World
Monte Walsh
Old becomes new again in this week’s releases
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: This week’s releases include several older pictures that slid off anyone’s radar; a noteworthy comparison between possession and addiction; and a TV series that still acknowledges no boundaries.
Prime Cut
Z Storm
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
- Excerpt: There are some car chases, and a shoot out near the end, the staples virtually required in a film about any cops. More thrilling than the visceral set pieces, are the scenes that play like movements in a chess game, each side anticipating or attempting to outguess the other.
Other Reviews from 2012 and earlier
Bernie
Diego Salgado @ Guía del Ocio [Spanish]
Cherry 2000
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
- Excerpt: Over twenty-five years later, ‘Cherry 2000’ still manages to entertain and keep [us] engaged . . . It’s [Melanie] Griffith’s portrayal of the tough-as-nails heroine, and director Steve De Jarnatt (‘Miracle Mile’) is excellent in the director’s chair, perfectly balancing the action with subtle feminist undertones.
Death Bed: the Bed That Eats
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: …a mix of exploitation tropes, fairy tale poetry, black comedy gags, and arthouse pretensions, with deadpan amateur actors sleepwalking their way through a script that takes as many weird turns as that dyspeptic dream you had when you feel asleep after eating too much fried chicken and drinking too much red wine.
Dressed to Kill (Criterion)
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
- Excerpt: The major premise of the script, written by De Palma, is a twisted tale of murder and mystery, but beneath that is a filmmaker attempting to entertain while equally celebrating the craft, particularly the Hitchcock style of suspense. The split-screen technique makes the film look more interesting and appealing, yet in De Palma’s capable hands, it becomes a motif that reflects the split personalities and the secret alternate lives of his characters.
The Drums of Jeopardy
James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
- Excerpt: Cinema Fearité Presents ‘The Drums of Jeopardy’ – A Talkie Remake Of A Silent Adaptation Of A Broadway Play That Was Based On A Serialized Novel
It’s Trad Dad, aka Ring-a-Ding Rhythm
Marilyn Ferdinand @ Ferdy on Films
- Excerpt: How much you like this film may depend on how much you like the music. Still, although the film is nearly nonstop music, there is a story that Richard Lester mines for some great visual gags.
Madhouse
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
Miracles for Sale (1939)
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
The Premature Burial
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
Vampyros Lesbos
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
- Excerpt: Of all the movies within the Jesús Franco canon, which is a jaw-droppingly enormous collection for a single filmmaker, ‘Vampyros Lesbos’ . . . is probably his best-known feature. Or rather, the sleazy low-budget horror flick is probably his most infamous.
