Ridley Scott directs Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in the explosive, oddly conventional terrorism thriller Body of Lies. Family cinema gets a needed shot of the dark in the Gil Kenan apocalyptic adventure movie City of Ember. And Guy Ritchie returns to the London crime genre with the crafty, tireless gangster thriller RocknRolla. Also in theaters: The Spanish film Rec gets an American makeover in the unfortunate Quarantine. Jonathan Demme and Anne Hathaway explore severe wedding day blues in Rachel Getting Married. Suicide, family, and the Mississippi Delta make for powerful cinema in Ballast. Director Mike Leigh decides to walk on the sunny side of the street in Happy-Go-Lucky. And the life of football star Ernie Davis is revisited in the obvious, but kindly bio-pic The Express. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: The Duchess, An American Carol, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Religulous, Appaloosa, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Blindness. Eagle Eye, Miracle at St. Anna, Nights in Rodanthe, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Lakeview Terrace, Hounddog, Burn After Reading, and Flash of Genius. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

It seems like a higher and higher percentage of DVD releases are TV shows. Want to know which ones are worth picking up and which ones you should just catch as reruns? DVD Talk has you covered with our extensive TV on DVD reviews. This week's notable entries include: Robot Chicken: Season Three - the show sticks to the formula that has made the series a cult hit: quirky, distasteful and wonderfully irreverent humor; The Munsters: The Complete Series - Universal is putting out this boxed set that features some of their most legendary monsters just in time for Halloween; and Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season this season is truly a return to the darkly comic style that made the show such a cultural phenomenon. Other shows recently reviewed include:  Trial and Retribution - Set 1, This American Life - Season 1, and CSI: NY - The Fourth Season.  Want more?  Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVDTalk database.

With all of the new DVD announcements it's easy to miss some a title or two. Recently announced DVDs and Blu-ray discs of note include: Spinal Tap [Blu-ray] Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls are back and in high definition. This movies started the mockumentary genre and it's still one of the best. 1-20-09; Based on the hit British series, HBO's Little Britain USA arrives on DVD on 1-13-09; and the Frank Capra/Jimmy Stewart classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington comes to DVD on 12-09-08 with a newly restored image. Other newly announced titles include: Moonlight - The Complete Series on 1-20-09, and Alan Resnais' Same Old Song on 12-16-08. Keep track of all the upcoming DVDs with the DVDTalk Release List.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: Saddle the Wind - John Cassavetes and Julie London enliven this Robert Taylor western from the fading MGM studio. A great appearance by Charles McGraw; written by Rod Serling and directed by Robert Parrish; The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration - Paramount's multi-disc Blu-ray set has stunning new restored transfers of the whole trilogy: The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. Plus fine new documentaries and interactive guides; and Icons of Horror Collection: Hammer Films - Sony cleans out their vault of horrors with four desired Hammer titles: Terence Fisher's rare The Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll with Christopher Lee, the excellent thriller Scream of Fear with Susan Strasberg, the so-so sequel The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, and The Gorgon, a creepy Terence Fisher effort with Barbara Shelley, Chris Lee and Peter Cushing. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Some solid releases are making their way to studio shelves this week. The top titles include:  Touch Of Evil - 50th Anniversary Edition [review 1, review 2] - the kind of scholarly, celebratory treatment of a fantastic film that has only become possible in the last decade thanks to the advent of DVD technology; Sleeping Beauty: Two-Disc Platinum Edition [DVD review], Disney has brought out the big guns with a shimmering new 2.55:1 transfer, a sublime fresh audio mix, and a fantastic collage of old and new supplements; and 30 Rock: Season 2 [review 1, review 2, review 3]- all three writers highly recommend the set. When was the last time that happened? Other releases of note include:  The Visitor [review], and new edtions of three classic Hitchcock films: Vertigo [review], Rear Window [review], and Psycho [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.

It's an exciting time of the year! Every fall Hollywood starts releasing their biggest hits to cash in on the holiday shopping season. Confused as to which discs to buy and which to pass up? No worries the DVD Talk Review Database has you covered. Here are some of the stand out discs you might want to check out: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull an exquisitely crafted, lightning-paced thrill ride; Forgetting Sarah Marshall - comic genius tucked inside the misery of romantic rejection; and Errol Flynn - The Warner Bros. Western Collection - A quartet of westerns staring the swashbuckling star including Virginia City, San Antonio, Montana, and Rocky Mountain. Other recent reviews include: Kenny, Abel Gance's silent anti-war epic J'Accuse, and Lou Reed's Berlin.  Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week and the ability to browse reviews by studio.

Bill Maher hates Jesus. Well, maybe he doesn't, but he certainly has enough venom toward faith to fill a documentary in the comedy Religulous. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen team up to bring justice to the old west in the wonderful western Appaloosa. And the kids aren't alright in the hipster Michael Cera teen comedy Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. DVD Talk critics Brian Orndorf and Jamie S. Rich have a listen. Also in theaters: Talking dogs and zero laughs await those brave enough to sit through Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Dakota Fanning does her best Streep impression in the long-awaited end-of-innocence drama Hounddog. The stirring tale of the intermittent windshield wiper is told in the Greg Kinnear film Flash of Genius. The world loses sight and immediately disintegrates in Blindness. Conservatives get their shot at multiplex glory in the political spoof An American Carol. And Simon Pegg swoops in and saves another anemic comedy in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Eagle Eye, Miracle at St. Anna, Nights in Rodanthe, Choke, The Lucky Ones, Smother, The Duchess, My Best Friend's Girl, Lakeview Terrace, Ghost Town, Burn After Reading, Righteous Kill, Humboldt County, Igor, and Battle in Seattle. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

Advertise With Us

Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum | Careers
Copyright © DVDTalk.com All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use