DVD Talk: March 2015 Archives

This week several great movies are coming out, including a few that shouldn't be missed: Interstellar [review] - a riveting film... it's sci-fi on the surface, family drama down below, and the resulting combination hits exactly right almost every step of the way; The Imitation Game [review] - a quality awards season movie with polished performances, a class production, and an 'important' topic; and Day of Anger [review] - one of the all-time greatest Spaghetti westerns, this Arrow release includes two versions of the film: the original Italian cut and the truncated international release. Other reviews of note include: The Shanghai Story [review], The Quiet Gun [review], and Gravity: Diamond Luxe Edition [review]. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Interested in the latest TV on DVD reviews? DVD Talk has you covered! This week's notable entries include: The Bob Newhart Show: The Final Season - there are a hell of a lot of laughs left in this last go-around of one of the all-time great sitcoms; Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXII - there's more than enough entertainment in this set of four fun episodes; and The Legend of Korra: Book Four - this final season is intelligent, action-packed, and highly entertaining. Want more? Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVD Talk database.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews and articles including: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Peter Jackson finishes out both the three-film Hobbit Saga and the six film Middle-earth Saga with a 2.5 hour picture that's at least 60% battle scenes; Forbidden Hollywood Volume 8 - four more worthy and surprising pre-Code thrillers to tease us with incipient immorality and questionable subject matter, not to mention risquÃ© situations and suggestive dialogue; and Goodbye to Language - Jean-Luc Godard is back again with a theoretical treatise in the form of a near random assemblage of sort-of scenes that sort-of tell a story, but really add up to more academic questioning and intellectual position arguments Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Some pretty cool discs are being released this week. Check out these new titles: The Thin Blue Line: Criterion Collection [review] - a landmark documentary that not only changed the genre as a whole...but more importantly, saved a man's life in the process; Convicts [review] - this film features an excellent performance by Robert Duvall as a senile plantation owner in 1902 Texas; and Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida: Criterion Collection [review] - Errol Morris' first two films explore absurd human behavior in a uniquely humane and respectful way. Other reviews of note include: Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean [review], At War with the Army [review], and Best Seller [review]. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

This week the DVD Talk Review Database has some great new entries, including a few discs you may have overlooked. Recent DVD reviews include: The Shanghai Story - an obscure but singularly lurid, suspenseful, and unique Cold War thriller; Top Five - Chris Rock has finally crafted a vehicle for himself that takes full advantage of his gifts as a joke-teller and a storyteller; and What Did You Do in the War Daddy - this Blake Edwards film is a smartly written and executed comedy that's also refreshingly lighthearted. Other recent reviews include: The Wild Affair, The Facts of Life, and Best Seller. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

DVD Talk Attends SXSW: Spy, Hello, My Name Is Doris, and She's The Best Thing In It http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list.php?reviewType=Theatrical&rss=032015

DVD Talk reviewer Jeff Nelson has been in Austin, Texas attending South by South West, the annual music, technology, and film conferance. He was there for the movies of course and here are reviews of some of the ones he's had a chance to see: Spy - writer/director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy team up once agin for this comedy that is an absolute blast... the entire cast is infectious in their sense of humor, as the laugh-per-minute ratio is rather impressive; Hello, My Name Is Doris - Sally Field delivers an exceptional performance in this dramedy about a woman finding herself, and learning to accept where she is in life; and She's The Best Thing In It - this documentary is an absorbing experience that explores character acting from one of the masters. Other SXSW films include: The Invitation, Trainwreck, Petting Zoo, Honeytrap, and Unfriended Check out these, and more, in DVDTalk's Theatrical Review section.

More TV shows have made their way on to DVD and Blu-ray, and DVD Talk has got them covered. Check out our reviews of the newest TV releases including: Maude: The Complete Series - a shrewd inverse of All in the Family this is one of the all-time great situation comedies... it hit the ground running and remained spectacularly funny, clever, and insightful through its entire run; Space Dandy: The Complete First Season - conceived by acclaimed anime legend, Shinichiro Watanabe this episodic comedy is an ambitious, well directed series; and The Bob Newhart Show: Season 5 - Perhaps not consistently as funny as earlier seasons, this fifth season still gets laughs anytime Newhart lays out a line, blinks rapidly, pauses a few beats, and then stammers out a qualifier that puts you right on the floor" Want more? Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVD Talk database.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews and articles including: The Falcon and the Snowman - John Schlesinger and writer Steve Zaillian knock us out with this superb true-life story of two well-off guys in Los Angeles that take their grudge against the system way too far; Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie reenacts the Thanksgiving Garbage Massacree for some good laughs, though the film is overall moody and downbeat... but it's also a rare picture about the hippy dippy era that has not become an embarrassment; and The Soft Skin - FranÃ§ois Truffaut goes Hitchcockian (a little) in this visually intense examination of an 'ordinary' episode of adultery. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Another banner week for DVDs with the studios releasing some great films and boxed sets such as: Ride the Pink Horse: Criterion Collection [review] - an entertaining yarn, director Robert Montgomery strikes a perfect balance of tense action and thoughtful character-based scenes; The Lady from Shanghai [review] - a new reissue of this Orson Welles noir from budget label Mill Creek Entertainment sources a 4K restoration that plays like an optimized theatrical presentation; and The Wild One [review] - one of those truly iconic films, and while it's very definitely a product of its time, Brando's â€˜cool' factor has not been diminished one iota over the decades. Other reviews of note include: My Girl [review], Vice and Virtue [review], and Troop Beverly Hills [review]. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

The Breakfast Club - 30th Anniversary Edition

Some great DVD and Blu-ray reviews have been added to the the DVD Talk Review Database recently including: The Breakfast Club - 30th Anniversary Edition - the 30th Anniversary of this classic John Hughes film touts a remastering from the original film elements and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless audio track; Blood Car - director Alex Orr serves up a truly effective pitch black comedy... an incredibly fun, well made and pointed satire; and Traitors - a unique and fascinating film about two women discovering what it is to support one another. Other recent reviews include: Wigstock: The Movie, Accidentally Preserved: volume 2, and Hardcore Devo Live!. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Planning a trip to the local multiplex this weekend? Here are DVD Talk's reviews of the latest theatrical releases: Cinderella - a perfectly lovely fantasy that seems to have risen off the pages of the ancient story to delight audiences; Chappie - a uniquely told and crafted sci-fi film that goes even further down the road of cinematic experimentation than most; and Focus - Will Smith play a con man in his latest film that features a tired plot, a terrible script, and awful acting. Other recent films include: Fifty Shades of Grey, Paddington, Foxcatcher, Jupiter Ascending, Leviathan (2014), American Sniper, Inherent Vice, Into the Woods, The Imitation Game, Selma, Wild, The Babadook, Birdman, Dracula Untold. . Check out these, and more, in DVDTalk's Theatrical Review section.

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders

TV on DVD remains very popular with more and more favorites being released. New TV reviews include: My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders - a quality little collection with some very enjoyable episodes including the Weird Al-guesting "Pinkie Pride"; The Chair: The Complete First Season - a very interesting reality show where two filmmakers are given the same screenplay and a budget of $850,000 to realize it... viewers get a real look at the day-to-day on a movie set run by first-time filmmakers; and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): Retreat! - there's a terrific mixture of humor, action, and heart on display here, while the series' ambitious visual design continues to strike the right balance between "over-the-top goofiness" and "dark and creepy." Other shows recently reviewed include: Puff the Magic Dragon: Triple Feature, Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean - Remastered 25th Anniversary Collection, and Sirens: The Complete First Season. Want more? Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVD Talk database.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews and articles including: Kiss Me Kate - George Sidney does Cole Porter and Shakespeare justice in an adaptation of a successful Broadway play. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayon are feuding exes trying to co-star in "Taming of the Shrew", and being none too civilized in their manners; The Liberator - Edgar Ramirez plays the liberator of a huge part of South America, SimÃ³n BolÃvar, in an expansive epic that concentrates on the man and not details of history... get ready for a couple of sexy love scenes; and Muscle Beach Party - This second moive in the series of course teams Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon in a cheerfully sexless infatuation on the beach, surrounded by the usual surfing, dancing suspects. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

There are some new titles coming out that might make it worth a trip to the video store this week. Check out these recent releases: Life of Riley [review] - The final film of French director Alain Resnais, it is an odd but fitting note for the 91-year-old filmmaker to leave this world on, and certainly a piece of work worth checking out; Listen Up Philip [review] - THis story of a writer (Jason Schwartzman) who lets his success go to his head feels a more artistic and intelligent version of an after school special; and This Ain't No Mouse Music! [review] - a documentary profiling Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz, a music obsessive of the first order who has made a career of finding unknown music he loves and managing to connect it with a larger audience. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Check out the latest reviews that have been entered into the DVD Talk Review Database including: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 - director Francis Lawrence and company create a compelling first part that feels like its own, worthy entity and and Jennifer Lawrence again excels as girl-on-fire Katniss Everdeen; Foxcatcher - this docudrama of the strange, tragic relationship between wrestling and heir John du Pont is terrifically interesting and features a trio of wonderful performers with some fascinating main characters all under the direction of the masterful Bennett Miller; and Accidentally Preserved Volume One - a funny and interesting collection of nine rare shorts from the silent era featuring some talented comics. Other recent reviews include: In the Land of the Head Hunters / In the Land of the War Canoes, The Interview, and Life Partners. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Some great TV shows have made their way onto DVD recently including: Batman: The Television Series -- The Second Season, Part One - This show is a pop art mix of chapter serial thrills, broad-yet-straightfaced satire, goofball slapstick, and a surreal, hyper tone of comic book fantasy; Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Complete Series - disarmingly charming and impressively elaborate puppet series produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in their emblematic "Supermarionation" process; and Gunsmoke: The Eleventh Season - Volume Two - these 16 black-and-white episodes are another terrific round of great Western drama. Want more? Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVD Talk database.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews and articles including: To Sir, With Love - Sidney Poitier takes control of a class of unruly students and improves their lives, by demanding respect and in return offering his good will, good advice, and excellent example; The Prowler - Scheming cop Van Heflin cheats, lies and murders his way toward a life where he can "make money while he sleeps" -- all he has to do is seduce an unhappy wife (Evelyn Keyes) and get her radio-personality husband out of the way; and The Sure Thing - Rob Reiner's first light comedy teams a young John Cusack and the charming Daphne Zuniga for a dumb but diverting college break/road trip. Not bad but awfully inconsistent. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Some great discs are being released this week. Check out these new movies: The Bridge [review] - a highly disturbing, intensely moving documentary about suicide and mental illness; Blacula / Scream Blacula Scream [review] - This pair of 70's blaxploitation vampire films are strange and ridiculous and stupid and clever and terrible and wonderful, and finally on Blu-ray; and Exterminators Of The Year 3000 [review] - a "so bad it's good" film, Shout Factory's Blu-ray serves up a perfectly capable A/V presentation and a few minor but thoughtful supplements. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Some cool discs have been reviewed over the past week. Check out these recent entries: The Theory of Everything - this docudrama based on the true life story of Stephen and Jane Hawking tells an important story and is highlighted by some impressive production elements and extraordinary performances; Love and Death - forty years after its initial release, this Woody Allen film remains a highly rewatchable, brilliantly polished comedy gem; and The Marcel Perez Collection - a colllection a ten incredible and funny shorts by a forgotten silent film comedian that fans of early cinema should seek out. Other recent reviews include: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, The RKO Brown & Carney Comedy Collection (The Adventures of a Rookie / Rookies in Burma / Girl Rush / Genius at Work), and Video Nasties - The Definitive Guide: Part 2. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.