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Drunken Angel: Criterion Collection (1948) - DVD Review
Posted on 12.10.07 by Widge @ 6:08 am
Drunken Angel Criterion Collection DVD cover art

Film:
DVD:

Japanese Title: Yoidore tenshi

Written by: Akira Kurosawa & Keinosuke Uegusa
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reisaburo Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Chieko Nakakita

Features:

  • Running audio commentary with Japanese film scholar Donald Richie
  • Making-of docu
  • "Kurosawa and the Censors" featurette
  • Essay by cultural historian Ian Buruma
  • Two chapters from Kurosawa's 1983 book Something Like an Autobiography

Released by: Criterion Collection
Region: 1
Rating: The IMDB lists this as PG-13, which makes no sense as the film was released in 1959 in the U.S. and PG-13 wasn't established as a rating by the MPAA until 1984. I'm thinking this is actually not rated at all, but regardless, be aware of some violence and language.
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

My Advice: Buy it for Kurosawa and for Criterion.

(more...)

Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
Comments: None



DVD Boxed Sets of Fantasy, Horror and um, Lynch
Posted on 12.07.07 by Widge @ 7:12 am

Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series DVD cover art
Tales From the Crypt: The Complete Seventh Season DVD cover art
Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition DVD cover art

While we're talking more television DVD, let's start right out of the gate with a set that is making lots of fans on this side of the pond happy: Doctor Who. Yes, the third series from BBC Home Video. And it's not only making people happy because David Tennant seems to be pleasing the faithful as the latest Doctor, but also because the set is stacked, folks. Fourteen episodes are here across five discs, with a sixth disc dedicated to behind the scenes footage from every episode. And speaking of every episode, they all come with a commentary track--taking part are Tennant, Russell T Davies, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman and loads of others. There's more, as though that wasn't enough to keep you watching for hours, including but not limited to a studio tour with Agyeman, video diary with Tennant, outtakes and deleted scenes. If you're a fan or know someone who is, then this is a gift for yourself or for them. Or both. Presuming you um, live near one another.

[[ Info continues... ]]

Categorized as: DVD
Comments: None




Blackwater Valley Exorcism (2006) - DVD Review
Posted on 11.24.07 by ScottC @ 8:29 pm
DVD cover art for Blackwater Valley Exorcism

Film:
DVD:

Written by Ellary Eddy
Directed by Ethan Wiley
Starring Cameron Daddo, Kristin Erickson, Randy Colton, and Jeffrey Combs (briefly)

Features:

  • Running audio commentary by director Wiley and actor Daddo
  • Featuerette: "Making of Blackwater Valley Exorcism"

Released by: Lionsgate.
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Get Behind Me, Satan.

[[ Review continues ]]

Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
Comments: None



Under the Volcano (1984) - DVD Review
Posted on 11.23.07 by Widge @ 8:47 pm
Under the Volcano Criterion Collection DVD cover art

Film:
DVD:

Written by: Guy Gallo, based on the novel by Malcolm Lowry
Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Andrews, Ignacio López Tarso, Katy Jurado

Features:

  • Running audio commentary with executive producer Michael Fitzgerald and producers Wieland Schulz-Keil and Moritz Borman
  • Select scene commentary with scribe Gallo
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Video interview with Bisset
  • 1984 audio interview with director Huston conducted by French film critic Michel Ciment
  • Behind the scenes footage
  • Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
  • Essay by film critic Christian Viviani

Released by: Criterion Collection
Region: 1
Rating: R.
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Buy it for Finney and for Criterion.

[[ Review continues ]]

Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
Comments: None



Ultraman!: Still Airwolf After All These Years
Posted on 11.15.07 by Dindrane @ 8:42 pm
Ultraman Series One Volume Two box art

There comes a time in the life of every daikaiju and/or tokusatsu fan when we must draw the line. Will we love the American Godzilla release merely because it stars our favorite giant lizard (and Ferris Bueller)? Will we love Mothra, but not Gamera, because a giant flying tortoise is just silly? Luckily for daikaiju fans everywhere, no matter where you draw it, that line always includes Ultraman, and the second (and final) volume of the original 1960s series is awaiting you on DVD.

Sure, the monsters are obviously just people wearing rubber suits, and sure, a giant alien superhero with a package is kinda scary, and sure, the actor was hired more for how he looks in skin-tight silver and red spandex than for his acting skills, but who cares? It has futuristic space guns! Something they actually called "The Science Patrol"! And the odd spaceship here and there! And giant robots! And giant other stuff! Giant! Other! Stuff! If you don't know the story already from Saturday mornings when you were ten, it is as follows: Hayata is a typical henshin character--that is, he can transform into something. In his case, he can channel the power of a giant space superhero (I mean, seriously--how can you not love it already? Just ask Ernest Cline about how awesome this show is.) from a far-off planet in Nebula M78. In this form, he commences to the kicking of evil arse, all the while looking quite fly and posing dramatically at appropriate points. Every episode, he encounters and then defeats one of a host of nasty villains, and now you can see it all in digitally restored, stereo (try that on your old 1974 TV!), with the original fascinating Japanese audio fully intact.

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Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
Comments: None



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