The Series
Really, AMC? That's your plan for maintaining the momentum of a hot new series? Leaving viewers annoyed and angered after a season-long mystery was left completely unsolved by the end of its 13-episode run on June 19? So now, viewers--at least those who return--will have to wait perhaps close to a year before the mystery of who killed Rosie Larsen continues. Will they remember all the clues and characters? Will they even care? It's a dangerous game AMC is playing, and could ultimately result in lower ratings. The backlash began just seconds after cliffhanger "Orpheus Descending" aired--an entry I can only describe as unsatisfying. My buzz? Mellowed. My excitement? Subdued. My gushing ...Read the entire review

With the murder of Nicholas Berg in Iraq all over the news it's becoming clear to many people for the first time that there are commercial contractors in dangerous locations around the world doing civilian work. These guys aren't envoys or ambassadors and they're not active soldiers or officers. They're regular people who accept extremely high-risk jobs at extraordinary pay scales. They accept the risks as trade-off for the added reward. Even though they know that their lives are in jeopardy going in, however, what sometimes happens to them still goes beyond the conduct of civilization.

The short documentary Held Hostage in Colombia is a look at the ongoing fate of Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell, three US contractors hired by a subsidiary of mega-corp Northrop Grumman to fly high-risk missions over the drug-producing nations of South America. This needle-in-a-continen...Read the entire review

I remember the first, and only other, time I saw Under the Skin (1997). It was one of those films I just stumbled upon late one night on a movie channel. I had no idea what it was about, who was in it, and just started watching it because I flipped onto the channel as the opening credits were rolling. In the opening shot Samantha Morton is nude, laying on a couch, drawing a cartoon face on her belly, her sweet voice in voiceover, her face reminded me of a bygone silent movie star, I gave it a chance and was soon sucked into watching the movie.

Sisters Rose (Claire Rushbrook- Secrets and Lies) and Iris (Samantha Morton- Jesus Son, In America) Kelly compete for the affections of their mum. Iris is the younger (Morton was 19 at the time of filming) and more free spirited, while Rose is a bit older, a married housewife expecting her first child. When their mother is suddenly di...Read the entire review

Movie: Artistic movies tend to be looked at by professional critics with rose-colored glasses. Rather than appreciate a straight-forward plot, decent camera work, solid acting and all the other aspects the majority of us seem to enjoy, they often look for some deeper meaning, even when there simply isn't any to be found, in order to justify their salaries. By no means does that suggest that all critics are high on pretentious films or that they all have their heads in the clouds but having tried for a week to decipher a little known release, Maelstrom, I've come to the conclusion that some people would enjoy watching grass grow and write about it with high praise in order to convince likeminded people that they didn't get it either.

The movie is narrated by a fish about to be cleaned and gutted at a processing plant by a large blue-collar worker. Yes, it started off pretty bizarrely, t...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE

The Independent is one of those movies that I had never heard of before, had no idea what to expect, and wasn't particularly looking forward to watching which just goes to show that a film doesn't have to be "big" to be good. This little gem of a movie proved to be one of the more enjoyable surprises I've found in my DVD player this year, and I would like to especially recommend it to those who visit DVD Talk frequently.

Why do I recommend it more highly to regular DVD Talk readers as opposed to the masses out there who may surf by to read a review or two? Because I feel safe in saying that the regular visitors of this site have a real love of film, and this movie is made for those fans most notably the fans who can't get enough of those old cheesy movies that showed up on Mystery Science Theater 3000 every week.

The Independent is a come...Read the entire review

THE FEATURE
After spending half an evening watching the bthere DVD, I've decided to devote the rest of my life to creating a time machine. I don't care how much money I must spend, or how difficult the task proves to be, I will do whatever it takes to get my two hours back.

Designed like a magazine on disc (with a table of contents and everything!), bthere offers 24 "articles" that you can view in bulk or one at a time. If you've watched the promotional teaser on the Web, you know bthere promises scantily clad women, cool gadgets, fast cars, loud music, and a plethora of comedy. In a strange bit of deception, the DVD actually offers none of those things. Instead, you get snippets lasting 1 to 6 minutes, containing hollow stabs at entertainment that amount to pointless fluff. And all those snippets add up to a shocking waste of two hours.

My evening with bthere...Read the entire review