Here are our latest reviews of films on DVD.
Reviews of Classic Films
Aladdin
- Excerpt: Review of the new Blu-ray.
The Cat and Canary (1939)
Kristen Lopez @ Journeys in Classic Film
The Ghost Breakers
Kristen Lopez @ Journeys in Classic Film
The Invisible Woman (1940)
Kristen Lopez @ Journeys in Classic Film
Island of Lost Souls
Recent Home Video Releases
Blind Chance
Dusty Somers @ World Cinema Paradise
- Excerpt: An early narrative work from Krzysztof Kieslowski, the film displays ingenious technical brilliance, but only hints at the metaphysical masterpieces that would come in The Double Life of Véronique (1991) and The Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994).
Heart of Midnight
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
- Excerpt: I have to respect Matthew Chapman for making a film that makes no attempt to appeal to popular tastes. And Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance is worthy of greater attention than has been given to this otherwise little seen film.
The Honeymoon Killers
Dusty Somers @ Cinema Sentries
- Excerpt: The only film ever directed by opera composer Leonard Kastle, The Honeymoon Killers wears its influences on its sleeve, but never feels derivative or carbon-copied.
Jauja
Dusty Somers @ World Cinema Paradise
Jurassic World 3D
- Excerpt: Review of the new Blu-ray.
Kwaidan
- Excerpt: Kobayashi’s directorial control of these milieus is total, which is apropos given the fact that Hearn’s stories feature characters in thrall to the whims of outside forces. For what ultimately amounts to slim (in incident, if not necessarily in length) and predictable tales of ghostly infringement on quotidian life whereby the arcs and the outcomes are more or less the same, it’s the complete harmoniousness of the mise-en-scène that keeps them engrossing on a moment-to-moment level.
Masterworks of American Avant-garde Experimental Film 1920-1970
Dusty Somers @ World Cinema Paradise
- Excerpt: It hardly feels presumptuous to label Flicker Alley’s new experimental film box set a strong contender for release of the year, even taking into account a few forthcoming heavy hitters, like Arrow’s Rivette box and Criterion’s long-awaited Apu Trilogy.
Mister Johnson
Dusty Somers @ World Cinema Paradise
- Excerpt: Released alongside Breaker Morant (1980) by Criterion, Mister Johnson is the decidedly less acclaimed work from Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford. It’s not a forgotten masterpiece, but it’s a fairly worthy discovery or rediscovery with an impressive debut performance at its center.
My Own Private Idaho
Jordan M. Smith @ IONCINEMA.com
Northern Limit Line
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
La Sapienza
Dusty Somers @ World Cinema Paradise
- Excerpt: It might take a little bit for one to get used to the very precise formalism of La Sapienza, the latest feature from U.S.-born French filmmaker Eugène Green. Green’s frames are often painstakingly symmetrical, placing the subject in the exact center, and his shot-reverse shot sequences are bracing, if discomfiting, sometimes facing each person head-on, the camera encroaching with each cut.
Testament of Youth
- Excerpt: Review of the new Blu-ray.
Wer
Other Reviews from 2014 and earlier
Burnt Offerings
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: Offering a few creepy moments along the way, the movie crawls to a non-surprise ending.
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell/The Living Skeleton
Jamie S. Rich @ Criterion Confessions
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Leaving Las Vegas
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Mr. Jones
Daniel Lackey @ The Nightmare Gallery
Poltergeist
Kristen Lopez @ Journeys in Classic Film
The Spirit of ’45
Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog Film Reviews
Varan the Unbelievable
James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
- Excerpt: Cinema Fearité Presents ‘Varan The Unbelievable’ – One Of The Toho Avengers’ Minor Characters
