Reviews Archive for November, 2011
Wilmington on Movies: Red Desert
Red Desert (Four Stars) Italy; Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964 Red Desert — Michelangelo Antonioni’s first feature in color, and a landmark of ‘60s Italian cinema — is a hypnotic portrait of a neurotic woman, Guiliana (played by the director’s then muse/lover, Monica Vitti), whose psyche begins to disintegrate in the bleak terrain of the…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVD. The Rest: The Change-Up, 13, Bolt
“The Change-Up” (Two Stars) U.S.: David Dobkin, 2011 (Universal) The Change-Up, a big star body-swap comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, is a movie that begins with baby poop jokes and climaxes with its two “heroes” urinating together in a public fountain, before an audience. And you can almost hear the moviemakers yelling at each…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Classic. Park Row.
Park Row (Three and a Half Stars) U.S.: Samuel Fuller, 1952 (MGM Limited Edition Collection) Sam Fuller, one of the toughest of the tough guy auteur/directors, is best known for his two-fisted war movies (The Big Red One) and his hard-as-nails film noirs (Pickup on South Street). But the show he often called his best…
Read the full article »The DVD Wrapup: Harry Potter, Better Tomorrow, Atlas Shrugged, Identification of a Woman, In a Glass Cage, Blue Velvet, Sleeping Beauty …
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: Blu-ray Any attempt to provide a concise synopsis of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,” would require spoiling surprises that have been gestating for 14 years. Longtime fans of the amazing series of movies and books probably will have already seen the finale, however, and…
Read the full article » 4 Comments »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Box Set. Raffaello Matarazzo’s Runaway Melodramas.
Raffaello Matarazzo’s Runaway Melodramas (Four Discs) (Three and a Half Stars) Italy: Raffaello Matarazzo’s, 1949-1955 (Criterion Collection) Eclipse One of the great pleasures of covering a DVD beat is opening another Eclipse set from Criterion, especially if, as in this case — a four disc box of postwar romantic melodramas directed by the lesser known…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two” (Three and a Half Stars) U.S./U.K.; David Yates, 2011 (Warner Bros.) Part I. Hallows Eve All fine things must come to an end, and so finally has the Harry Potter series: the books first of all, and now the movies, climaxing at last in a final explosion, a…
Read the full article » 1 Comment »Wilmington on Movies: A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (Two and a Half Stars) U.S.: Todd Strauss-Schulson (2011) Comedy sometimes thrives on taboos transgressed and sacred cows slaughtered, and very few cows are left standing after the irreverent and cheerfully offensive bad taste orgy that is A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. The movie, a comedy…
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: Tower Heist
Tower Heist (Two and a Half Stars) U. S.: Brett Ratner, 2011 Tower Heist. Wheww! That was one hell of a movie. Hell of a movie! Brett Ratner: Rush Hour! Rush Hour 2!!. Rush Hour 3!!! He‘s one moviemaker who can really make a movie move. Didn’t ya think? Are you kidding me?…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs: The Rest. Water for Elephants, The Last Mountain, Rare Exports/Santa Claus Conquers the Martians; Haunted Summer; Sands of the Kalahari; The Man in the Net
Water for Elephants (Three Stars) U.S.: Francis Lawrence, 2011 Water for Elephants is an old-fashioned romantic picture done in new-fangled ways, and it‘s so good for such a long time, that it seems a shame, at the end, to feel so let down by it. But that’s how it goes… Director Francis Lawrence’s show, co-starring…
Read the full article »The DVD Wrapup: Cars 2, Tabloid, Crazy Stupid Love, Water for Elephants, Snow Flower Trespass, Phantom of Opera …
Cars 2: Blu-ray If you loved the first “Cars,” which rolled off the Pixar production line in 2006, it’s better than even money that you’ll enjoy “Cars 2.” If not, the sequel probably won’t change your mind. You either dig anthropomorphic automobiles or you don’t. Neither am I’m sure kids will care to sit through…
Read the full article » 6 Comments »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Box Sets. Toy Story Ultimate Toy Box Collection;Toy Story 3D Trilogy
The Toy Story Ultimate Toy Box Collection (Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD/Digital) (10 discs) (Four Stars) U.S.: John Lasseter/Lee Unkrich, 1995-2010 (Walt Disney Video) The Toy Story 3D Trilogy (Blu-ray 3D) (Three Discs) (Four Stars) U.S.: John Lasseter/Lee Unkrich, 1995-1999-2010 (Walt Disney Video) The Great American Feature Cartoon Trilogy, The Godfather Trilogy of feature cartoons actually (see below),…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: New. Crazy, Stupid, Love
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” (Three and a Half Stars) U.S.: Glenn Ficara & John Requa, 2011 1. Crazy, Crazy, Stupid, Love. That’s the name of the new Steve Carell-Ryan Gosling-Julianne Moore romantic comedy, from the directorial team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You, Phillip Morris), and the title actually does consist of those three…
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs. Pick of the Week: Blu-ray. Cars 2
Cars 2 (Also Blu-ray) (Three and a Half Stars) U. S.: John Lasseter (co-director Brad Lewis), 2011 (Walt Disney) Cars 2 is another Pixar feature cartoon for kids, adults, old people and everyone in between — especially if they have a crush on post-‘50s car culture. I don’t, but I could feel the curious, obsessive auto-loving…
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