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DVD

DVD Watch: 'My Neighbor Totoro'

When Japanese animation icon Hayao Miyazaki moved in next door to My Neighbor Totoro, it was almost a disaster. Instead, 25 years later, the tale of two Japanese girls and their magical troll friend has earned a Blu-ray release as a landmark cartoon feature. Read More | Comment »

11:00AM Tue. May. 21, Richard Whittaker

DVDanger: 'Crimewave'

There are two Sam Raimis: There's the one that does considered, heartfelt adult dramas, and then there's the crazy bastard who throws everything at the screen and sees what sticks. Sensible Sam was AWOL in 1985 when Rabid Raimi was making Crimewave. Read More | Comment »

8:47AM Sat. May. 18, Richard Whittaker

DVD Bonus: Meet the Fraggles

I met Red Fraggle once. No, seriously, I did. Read More | Comment »

8:00AM Wed. May. 15, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'The Bletchley Circle'

The Bletchley Circle, which aired this spring as a miniseries on PBS and which today hit shelves in DVD form, is a fantastically well-produced thriller that tracks four talented women in 1950s London. Read More | Comment »

5:41PM Tue. May. 14, Monica Riese

DVD Watch: ‘Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene’

When profiling a man who made his living on the page, the visual possibilities are unavoidably limited. Lucky then that Graham Greene’s books were so often adapted to screen. Read More | Comment »

2:40PM Tue. Apr. 30, Kimberley Jones

DVD Watch: 'Night of the Hunted'/'The Grapes of Death'

With his hypnotic tales of vampires and supernatural seduction, French horror director Jean Rollin seemed to have no North American peer: But the two latest releases from his cinematic crypt reveal the cult director as a mirror of David Cronenberg. Read More | Comment »

12:38PM Tue. Apr. 23, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'The Central Park Five'

Late Eighties New York was a city of schism: black vs. white, rich vs. poor, haves vs. have-nots. After a decade of Wall Street boom and the introduction of crack cocaine to the urban core, the wedge between rich whites and poor blacks was driven deeper than ever. Read More | Comment »

10:01AM Tue. Apr. 23, Monica Riese

DVD Watch: 'A Monster in Paris'

Sure, Dreamworks and Pixar are the Goliaths of the animation game, but A Monster in Paris (Shout! Factory, $14.97 [$24.97, 3-disc Blu-ray]) is the story of the little guy. Literally. Read More | Comment »

9:34AM Tue. Apr. 16, Monica Riese

DVD Watch: 'A Man Escaped'

The films of Frenchman Robert Bresson, the great postwar filmmaker known for his minimalist visual style and transcendent spiritual imperative, are not always inviting to first-time viewers. Read More | Comment »

2:35PM Tue. Mar. 26, Marjorie Baumgarten

DVD Watch: ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’

Imagine if someone took, say, Yosemite Sam and pushed through his hair-trigger temper and buffoonery to make a flesh-and-blood, aching human out of so much cartoonishness. Now meet Colonel Blimp. Read More | Comment »

11:05AM Tue. Mar. 19, Kimberley Jones

DVD Watch: 'Wreck-It Ralph' Ultimate Collecter's Edition

A serious question: How can a film with a sub-two hour run time, and only a handful of extras, require a four disc edition? Read More | Comment »

12:00PM Tue. Mar. 5, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake'

Try to sum up Cartoon Network's series Adventure Time, or even explain it. Can't be done. It's like asking why Muppets are furry, or how come Wile E. Coyote gets that kick-ass delivery service in the middle of the desert. Read More | Comment »

8:00AM Sat. Feb. 23, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'Fat Kid Rules the World'

I will always like Matthew Lillard. In a fairer world, everyone would forget Wing Commander and Hackers, and just talk about SLC Punk! and how great he was in The Descendants, and his fun, respectful treatment of Scooby Doo. Maybe his transition to director will finally get him the credit he deserves. Read More | Comment »

4:20PM Tue. Jan. 22, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much may be the more come-hither of his two takes on the same tale – it’s got color, American accents, and big stars in Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. But ask Guillermo del Toro and he’ll tell you the American version is an empty, flashy billboard next to the original 1931 “Vermeer.” Read More | Comment »

10:30AM Wed. Jan. 16, Kimberley Jones

DVD Watch: 'Sleep Tight'

If you endured the malformed Texas Chainsaw 3D this weekend, you'll know how not to make a monster sympathetic. Spanish thriller Sleep Tight may not make a creep cuddly, but it delves deeply and convincingly into the twisted vision of a sociopath. Read More | Comment »

1:00AM Tue. Jan. 8, Richard Whittaker

'Derby Baby' Growing Up in Public

In sports, it's easy to tell when the game is over. The whistle blows, and you're done. In sports documentaries, it's a lot harder to know when you need to call cut. And for Dave Wruck and Robin Bond, creators of Roller Derby doc Derby Baby: A Story of Love, Addiction and Rink Rash, the overtime was as long as the main event. Read More | Comment »

8:00AM Sun. Jan. 6, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: When Horror Came to Shochiku

Imagine a world where Twila Tharp released the Friday the 13th films. That was kind of what happened when Japan's Shochiku studio produced a handful of shocking, daring and bizarre horror films. Read More | Comment »

4:10PM Tue. Dec. 18, 2012, Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: 'V/H/S'

For a generation of horror fans, true shocks will always come with that fuzzy glow of an old rented tape. So horror anthology V/H/S, by name alone, will evoke memories of late nights and secret showings. Read More | Comment »

12:47PM Tue. Dec. 4, 2012, Richard Whittaker

DVD/VOD Watch: ‘The Invisible Made Visible’

Still kicking yourself for missing The Invisible Made Visible, May’s live production of radio show This American Life that was simulcast in sold-out theatres across the world? Kick no more: The two-hour show is now available for a $5 download or a $16 DVD. Read More | Comment »

11:05AM Tue. Nov. 20, 2012, Kimberley Jones

DVD Watch

The late Sixties were not terribly flattering to Otto Preminger. The filmmaker responsible for so many hits over the decades with movies as diverse as the film noirish Laura, the musical Carmen Jones, and the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder, was losing his popular touch toward the end of his career. Read More | Comment »

11:05AM Tue. Nov. 13, 2012, Marjorie Baumgarten

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