The Criterion Collection recently issued a double-feature containing both the 1946 and 1964 versions of the film noir classic The Killers, loosely based on a 1927 short story by Ernest Hemingway. Each film is a classic in its own right, so kudos to Criterion for resisting any temptation to release them separately. On top of...
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August 30, 2015August 30, 2015Television
Blu-ray Review: Once Upon a Time – The Complete Fourth Season
What has become of the ABC hit series Once Upon a Time? It’s still addictively entertaining, no suggestion otherwise will be found here, but it seems to be edging further and further into ‘guilty pleasure’ territory. Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD well in advance of...
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August 3, 2015August 3, 2015Film
Blu-ray Review: The Fabulous Baker Boys – Twilight Time Limited Edition
So many people know and love The Fabulous Baker Boys, it’s hard to believe so few people saw it during its original theatrical run in 1989. According to Box Office Mojo, this critically-acclaimed film was only the 60th highest-grossing of that year. It may not have drawn in moviegoers, but it sure garnered an audience...
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June 9, 2015June 9, 2015Film
Blu-ray Review: The DUFF
“Duff” is an acronym for “designated ugly fat friend.” In the new teen comedy The DUFF, Mae Whitman holds that dubious title as Bianca Piper, always flanked by her conventionally hotter friends, Jess (Skyler Samuels) and Casey (Bianca Santos). Never mind that Bianca is neither “ugly” nor “fat,” that’s not the point. As very frankly...
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March 8, 2015March 8, 2015Video
DVD Review: Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B
Singer and actress Aaliyah accomplished a great deal in her brief career before tragically perishing in a plane crash on August 25, 2001 at the age of 22. Several multi-platinum albums and chart-topping singles, plus co-starring roles in the feature films Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned, are obvious highpoints. The biopic Aaliyah:...
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March 3, 2015March 3, 2015Video
DVD Review: To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms is an extremely well-intentioned movie starring Kat Dennings as a young woman struggling with depression, addiction, and self-harming. It’s based on the true story of Renee Yohe (Dennings) and her support group of friends, including Jamie Tworkowski (Chad Michael Murray). The real Tworkowski not only penned the book upon...
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February 23, 2015February 23, 2015Film
Blu-ray Review: Life Itself
Steve James (Hoop Dreams) directed the documentary Life Itself, an adaptation of the late film critic Roger Ebert’s memoir of the same name. Ebert was involved in the production, bravely allowing the disfiguring results of his surgical procedures to be photographed up close by James’ unflinching camera. Ebert’s work as one of the most influential...
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December 7, 2014December 7, 2014Interviews
An Interview with Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation
The weekend of December 12-14, 2014 will find Seattle- and San Francisco-area Trekkers convening at Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek Convention. Among the celebrity guests appearing at the concurrent conventions is none other than Jonathan Frakes, aka Commander Riker on seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and its four feature films (two of...
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December 2, 2014December 2, 2014Music
Music Review: Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11
Volume 11 of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series offers a monstrous amount of material in a handsome, boxed-set package. Simply put, Columbia/Legacy’s presentation treats The Basement Tapes as they should be: a culturally and artistically important historical document. After all, the whole concept of the bootleg record started with these recordings. Bob Dylan, staying far out...
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November 16, 2014November 16, 2014Film
Blu-ray Review: The Expendables 3
Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on November 25 is Sylvester Stallone’s latest all-star action blowout, The Expendables 3. Those who decried the PG-13 rating will eagerly anticipate the Blu-ray’s unrated edition (the theatrical cut is included as well), but don’t expect anything too different. The unrated version only adds five minutes and they don’t add...