DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us Pulp Fiction (4K Ultra HD) (Steelbook) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75465 Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:36:48 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

No way does Pulp Fiction need more glowing admiration. As I mentioned in my review of Jason Bailey's book on the subject, what other violent, profane, R-rated film has had such an impact on popular culture? Quentin Tarantino's second film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994, earned a host of Oscar nominations, and sits high up on many "best of" lists. It is not my favorite film from the director - that would be Jackie Brown - but it is certainly a livewire good time. I watch this film every couple of years and always find something new to like; from character nuances to soundtrack beats to sly humor that lands just right. That Pulp Fiction is fast approaching its thirtieth anniversary seems unreal, and Paramount has given the...Read the entire review

]]>
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75452 Mon, 05 Dec 2022 18:54:35 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

A few months ago, I took a bus trip to Boston with some friends to catch a weekend sporting event. The first bus had broken down, the second bus (and its driver) had missed picking up some additional passengers three different times, and we spent approximately nine hours on the road for what should have been a five hour trip. We got to the hotel to find we were overbooked and our group was split into two hotels. After a short night, en route to the stadium the next day, we were sideswiped by an ambulance that took our side view mirror off with them. Fortunately, we were able to get back home safely. It may be easy to look at how crappy the trip was, but the experience of the trip itself has left us with a shared, slightly unique experience that was more memorable than the event we were going to see.

It's the journey and the experience that helps make Planes, Trains &a...Read the entire review

]]>
Orphan: First Kill (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75413 Sat, 22 Oct 2022 19:24:17 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

I always enjoyed Jaume Collet-Serra's Orphan; it is a fun thriller with a schlocky premise and committed performance from Isabelle Fuhrman as killer prostitute turned faux 12-year-old Russian orphan Esther. I was bummed to see I apparently sold off my Blu-ray copy of the original a few years back when I whittled down my collection, but such is life. Now that the secret is out about Esther, I was not sure whether this sequel, coming roughly 13 years later, had a story to tell. While there are certainly some issues with Orphan: First Kill, I also enjoyed this origin story, particularly its own schlocky twists and turns. Fuhrman is great, again, and she is joined by Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland and Matthew Finlan. William Brent Bell directs, and this is certainly a step up from his Read the entire review

]]>
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75411 Thu, 20 Oct 2022 18:17:55 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I had known coming into the film one of the gimmicks behind Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, but wanted to experience it for myself to see what it is and sure enough, it's fun, but hadn't the animated family film with martial arts been done before, several times in fact? Kung Fu Panda had it done and buried awhile back, but here we are doing old things with new wrinkles I guess.

Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) is lead director from a screenplay written by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, with additional credits to Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger. And if that quintet sounds familiar to you, it's because they wrote Blazing Saddles, so yes, this is a loose tribute to the 1974 classic, with nods to the 1990s Se...Read the entire review

]]>
Scream 2 (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75401 Tue, 18 Oct 2022 22:15:46 UTC Highly Recommended

...Read the entire review

]]>
Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75408 Fri, 14 Oct 2022 16:27:48 UTC Recommended

The Movie:


Just in time for Halloween, Paramount Studios bundles together all seven of the Paranormal Activity movies, including Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin, which is exclusive to this collection, and a fairly sprawling documentary on the series titled Unknown Dimension: The Story Of Paranormal Activity. Each film, with the exception of Next Of Kin, is offered up in its original theatrical version as well as its extended cut, which is a nice touch, although those expecting loads of extra features may be ultimately disappointed. But before we get into that, let's go over the movies themselves.


Paranormal Activity:


The first movie in the series, from 2007, was written and directed by Oren Peli and made for fifteen grand using his own home as the movie's solitary location. Paranormal Activity has much in common with a p...Read the entire review

]]>
Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75385 Fri, 30 Sep 2022 18:45:21 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movies:


Paramount goes back to the Star Trek well with this new set, a new collection reissuing the six original theatrical films from the franchise on UHD for the first time and on remastered Blu-ray (and following a steelbook release that really isn't that old… but which contained only the first four movies, making this a bit irritating, and understandably so, for those who put money down on that earlier offering). There isn't much here at all in terms of new extra features, but the presentation quality is very strong across the board. But first, the movies…


Star Trek: The Motion Picture:


Directed by Robert Wise and released in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is set in the 23rd century and the story begins when the Starfleet's Epsilon 9 monitoring station discovers an alien presence inside an energy cloud heading to Earth. A trio of...Read the entire review

]]>
Back to the Beach - Paramount Presents (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75354 Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:45:40 UTC Highly Recommended


Back to the Beach (1987) took audiences and critics by surprise. A reunion/sequel/throwback to AIP's "Beach Party" movies of the 1960s, movies starring Annette Funicello and/or Frankie Avalon, this quasi-final series entry's achievements are modest but the fun-factor is undeniable. Director Lyndall Hobbs infuses its unambitious broad satire with several outstanding set pieces. It captures the spirit of the original films while mostly successfully updating it for the 1980s. The original movies were noted for their celebrity cameo appearances, and the cameos in this one are well-chosen and mostly delightful, though best appreciated if the viewer is not aware of them beforehand.

The original series began with Beach Party (1963), gaining steam with up to t...Read the entire review

]]>
The Lost City [4K UHD] Ultra HD https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75347 Fri, 19 Aug 2022 15:49:52 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I recently became a member of a new club, one that sends you member updates, a magazine, has a powerful voting bloc and mentions other members' ages as if they were part of a school graduating class. It's not SAG, it's the AARP, though Sandra Bullock (58) is apparently a member of both, and good on her for doing so! That she still has the capability to act in the romantic action/comedy genre is a testament to her talents, even as she co-stars with someone more than 15 years her junior in The Lost City.

Aaron and Adam Nee co-wrote and co-directed the film, which has Bullock cast as romance writer Loretta Sage. She is successful but the tragic death of her husband as left her creativity sputtering, and finishing a novel focused on Dash, a charming, Fabio-type (Tatum, Magic Mike XXL). She does publicity ...Read the entire review

]]>
The First Wives Club (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75333 Fri, 12 Aug 2022 16:01:40 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Until receiving this disc to review, I had not seen Hugh Wilson's The First Wives Club since being dragged to see it in theaters with my mom and grandmother back in 1996. Based on Olivia Goldsmith's bestselling novel and featuring committed performances from Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Better Midler, the film offers enough camaraderie and energy to entertain. What the film lacks, however, is edge. This PG-rated dramedy might have been more successful had it taken more risks, livened up the script and let these actresses really let loose. The concept of divorcees seeking revenge against the men who wronged them promises some venom and sass, but The First Wives Club feels awfully polite. Even so, it has earned a cult following among women of a certain age, and the trio of lead actresses is certainly in fine form.

On their final day of college, f...Read the entire review

]]>
Good Burger Limited-Edition Steelbook (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75323 Tue, 02 Aug 2022 17:05:50 UTC Skip It

The Movie:

Holy cow it's been 25 years since Good Burger was released! In related news, holy cow it's been 25 years since Good Burger was released! A film that appears to be based on little more than one single television sketch on the Nickelodeon show All That had enough momentum behind it to be a fully formed feature film. And it did fine as far as Nickelodeon films of the time went, but apparently there's been a cult following of the film? Like, are people thinking there's some stoner underpinnings to it? Because it's not inherently silly that I could tell. I say this as someone fully out of the demographic when the film came out, and am even further from it since then.

Brian Robbins of Head of the Class lore directed the film that stars Ed (Kel Mitchell, Read the entire review

]]>
The Contractor (2022) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75293 Tue, 28 Jun 2022 22:54:59 UTC Rent It

THE FILM:

\r\n

The pandemic and related rise of streaming-video platforms and exclusive releases has been interesting. Suddenly, movies that would have crashed and burned at the box office are billed as big-ticket items on streaming services. The initial HBO Max premiere releases like Dune and The Matrix Resurrections are perhaps the exceptions, as they were planned theatrical releases, but production companies were willing to sell the distribution rights to many of these films for a reason: they're trash. Tarik Saleh's The Contractor falls somewhere in the middle. It is competently made and acted, relatively entertaining, and entirely generic and forgettable. The film wrapped production in late 2019, then STXfilms sold the distribution rights to P...Read the entire review

]]>
Grease 2 (40th Anniversary Limited Edition SteelBook) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75295 Mon, 27 Jun 2022 22:15:00 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

What in the hell did I just watch?! Somehow I never caught Grease 2 before June 25, 2022, when I grabbed the disc from its nifty SteelBook packaging, slid it into my Xbox and hit play. I will proudly go on record and say I am a big fan of Grease, Randal Kleiser's 1978 film based on the 1971 musical and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. I was introduced to the original as a child - well before I understood some of the raunchier jokes - and can still recite much of the dialogue and song lyrics from memory. That film has memorable characters, catchy songs, colorful set pieces and an overall sense of fun. Grease 2, well, it tries to both copy and outdo its predecessor to very mixed results. That it is considered a campy favorite at this point is not surprising; some of ...Read the entire review

]]>
Raiders Of The Lost Ark Limited-Edition Steelbook [4K UHD] (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75286 Thu, 23 Jun 2022 19:48:08 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:


Directed by Stephen Spielberg and release theatrically in 1981, Raiders Of The Lost Ark introduced the world to the cultural phenomena that would become Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), Indy to his friends, an archeology professor who also has a side hustle of sorts where he works as an adventurer. He travels the world, finds his way in and out of trouble, and manages to amass various treasures and artifacts along the way.


After narrowly escaping from a temple in Peru with his life after successfully stealing a gold idol and then being almost pummeled by a massive boulder, Jones loses the treasure to his arch-nemesis, Belloq (Paul Freeman), a French archeologist employed by the Nazi regime. When Jones learns through his university connection, Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), that the Nazis are trying to uncover the whereabouts of the Biblical Ark Of The Cove...Read the entire review

]]>
Beverly Hills Cop II [4K UHD] (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75262 Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:31:46 UTC Recommended

The Movie:


Released three years after the box office success of 1984's Beverly Hills Cop, director Tony Scott's 1987 sequel, Beverly Hills Cop II, maybe not so surprisingly takes place in Beverly Hills, California. Here, a rash of high profile jewelry thefts carried out by a gang called Alphabet Crimes has the cops working overtime to try and put a stop to the crime spree. Unfortunately for the cops and the citizens they are to serve and protect, they aren't really getting anywhere.


Detectives Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) are assigned to the case but are found out of line by their superior officers when they try and bring in the F.B.I. to help out. Oops, the top brass isn't happy about that and so they assign Rosewood and Taggart down to traffic duty, removing them from the case. Captain Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) takes the l...Read the entire review

]]>
Infinite Ultra HD https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75260 Tue, 31 May 2022 16:11:34 UTC Rent It

Infinite:

I was all prepared to enjoy Antoine Fuqua's 2021 effort Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, a glossy, metaphysical action flick. But after about 20 minutes it became clear why this didn't get a theatrical release, and it wasn't just the pandemic. (Although that played a part; in the before times this would have spent a week or three in theaters before limping home.) No, what makes Infinite not much more than a decent Rent It option on a Friday night when you Just. Can\'t. is the fact that it actually takes itself seriously.

After a voice-over set-up we're thrown into a pretty great high-speed car chase in Mexico with a dude cauterizing a leg wound with the cigarette lighter (fact check - cars don\'t have those anymore) before employing some intense offensive driving skills that include using controlled acceleration to launch bricks like from...Read the entire review

]]>
The Untouchables [4K UHD] (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75261 Tue, 31 May 2022 16:10:48 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

I can add The Untouchables to the list of films that I'd seen when it first came out, and seen in the movie theater with my Dad. I'm not sure what interest I'd had in seeing it, but my Dad was a fan of a lot of people in the film and given its backdrop he was a sucker for films like that. So maybe seeing this and To Live and Die in L.A. when I was impressionable screwed me up more than whatever treatment Dad gave me, I don't know.

David Mamet (Heist) adapted the book of the same name into a screenplay that Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible) would direct. Set in 1930 Chicago, the focus is on Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner, Bull Durham), and his quest to arrest Al Capone (Robert De Niro...Read the entire review

]]>
The Godfather Trilogy (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75257 Thu, 26 May 2022 17:09:36 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILMS:

The impact and legacy of the The Godfather Trilogy cannot be overstated; these films are a permanent part of American culture and film history. Memorable quotes line the mouths of many, and the films - the first two at least - are synonymous with "best picture of all time" for film junkies and casual moviegoers alike. I cannot help but picture Marlon Brando, rising from the ashes of a near Hollywood blacklisting to the defining performance of his career as Mafia patriarch Don Vito Corleone, when I think about the trilogy. Adapted from the pages of Mario Puzo's crime saga by Director and Writer Francis Ford Coppola, the trilogy could have been an exploitative glorification of organized crime and violence but instead is a masterful rumination on family, ambition, and atonement. Not unlike the Friday the...Read the entire review

]]>
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75242 Thu, 19 May 2022 23:19:04 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

...Read the entire review

]]>
Scream (2022) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75236 Wed, 11 May 2022 16:47:09 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Reboots are tough. So are delayed sequels. It is also difficult to recapture the 1990s magic of a film like Scream, whose director Wes Craven and talented cast created something of a phenomenon; a film that is scary, funny and wholly entertaining. There is also the "meta" aspect of Scream and its countless imitators. Not every movie does a good job using self-referential humor and wink-wink dialogue. Craven and writer Kevin Williamson found the right balance for this amid some violent kills and teenage angst. More than a decade after Scream 4, which holds up pretty well, the franchise is resurrected by Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gil...Read the entire review

]]>
Ordinary People - Limited Edtion (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75227 Wed, 04 May 2022 18:19:20 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series


I saw actor-turned-director Robert Redford's film of Ordinary People (1980) several times in the 1980s but not since, and was pleased to find it just as powerful and superbly acted as it struck me then. Adapted from Judith Guest's 1976 novel, the movie is a family drama grappling with subject matter very difficult to pull off cinematically: deeply repressed feelings of anger and guilt, mental illness with no easy fixes, conflicting desires to face and bury fundamental family problems. The film is not perfect, as it's a little pat here and there, and its depiction of psychotherapy is clinically realistic but also idealized. But it was a startlingly good directorial debut for Redford, who never topped it, and it fully deserved the box-office success and critical acclaim it received.

Read the entire review

]]> Jackass Forever (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75223 Tue, 03 May 2022 19:50:01 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I'm the same general age as Johnny Knoxville and remember Jackass from its modest beginnings on MTV to its numerous movie versions, and I get the understanding of making these movies; they don't cost much to make and then generate a bunch of money several times over budget. . They're also funny to a degree, which we'll get into in a second. I also get the need for Knoxville, Chris Pontius and friends to know that the bumps they take require longer and longer to recover from, so Jackass Forever attempts to bridge those two gaps.

Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze direct the film, put the cameramen in position for the stunts and in T...Read the entire review

]]>
Coming 2 America (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75197 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:32:43 UTC Recommended

It's been said a billion times, but sequels are both loved and hated- they're loved because it gives viewers a chance to see a continuation of a favorite movie, but they're hated because often the sequel just can't live up to the quality of the original. 1988's Coming To America was the result of an idea star Eddie Murphy had years prior and was one of that year's high points and has become an all-time favorite among many. More than 30 years later, Coming 2 America tries to recapture some of that magic, and left me with rather mixed feelings.

Most of the original movie's cast are back here- Eddie Murphy is Prince Akeem of the fictional African country Zamunda, still married to the American woman he met in the first...Read the entire review

]]>
Shooter (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75190 Wed, 23 Mar 2022 17:02:02 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) is the best sniper in the military, but is left to die behind enemy lines in Ethiopia when his handlers go rogue. Several years later, Swagger is living alone in rural Wyoming. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) tells Swagger the government believes someone is planning to kill the President of the United States, and Swagger is needed to stop the assassination. He travels to several U.S. cities and determines the only likely site for the killing is Philadelphia, where the president is set to speak alongside Ethiopian Archbishop Desmond Mutumbo (Dean McKenzie). The research request turns out to be a setup, and Swagger watches from afar as someone kills the archbishop. Swagger is also wounded, labeled the culprit, and goes on the run, eventually enlisting the help of a sympathetic rookie ...Read the entire review

]]>
The Ultimate Aang & Korra Blu-ray Collection (Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75182 Mon, 14 Mar 2022 20:52:39 UTC Recommended

The Collection:

Paramount has released a new box set combining their previous complete-series Blu-ray sets for Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-08) and its sequel, The Legend of Korra (2012-14). Presumably, this is to prime the marketplace for the live-action Avatar remake series that is filming now. The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-ray Collection is principally previously-released material, although a new folder has been slipped into the packaging that contains 8 collectible art cards and a new Blu-ray disc featuring two sizable featurettes looking back at the two series.

DVD Talk already has numerous reviews of...Read the entire review

]]>
Clifford the Big Red Dog (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75168 Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:46:40 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I remember reading the "Clifford the Big Red Dog" series of films when I was a wee lad many moons ago, having never thought about whether they would be adapted to another medium than Norman Bridwell's books. Sure enough they were made into television material and the call to turn the dog into a movie character was inevitable. I guess doing a CG dog next to live action people wasn't something I saw coming?

Adapted by Jay Scherick, David Ronn and Blaise Hemingway and directed by Walt Becker (Wild Hogs), Emily (Darby Camp, Big Little Lies) is staying with her Uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall, Jungle Cruise) when she encounters an older man named Mr. Bridwell (John Cleese, Read the entire review

]]>
Escape from L.A. (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75152 Mon, 21 Feb 2022 17:29:19 UTC Recommended

...Read the entire review

]]>
Wayne's World - 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75145 Wed, 16 Feb 2022 17:36:13 UTC Recommended

The Movie:


Directed by Penelope Spheeris and spun off from the infamous series of Saturday Night Live sketches, 1992's Wayne's World follows the exploits of Wayne Campbell (Mike Meyers) and his sidekick Garth Algar (Dana Carvey), a pair of metalheads that are the host and co-host of the public access show shot in Wayne's basement after which the movie takes its title. Wayne and Garth aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer but they like to have a good time and, if nothing else, they love to party.


Their lives change very quickly when an advertising executive named Benjamin Oliver (Rob Lowe) finds out about the show and decides it would be a great outlet for one of his clients, Noah Vanderhoff (Brian Doyle-Murray), to advertise his chain of video arcades on. But before we get to that part of the story, Wayne and Garth head out one night to The Gas Works, thei...Read the entire review

]]>
Juice (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75133 Tue, 08 Feb 2022 17:09:43 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Ernest R. Dickerson graduated from Spike Lee's cinematographer to feature filmmaker with this 1992 drama, which spotlights four black teenagers living in Harlem. The film benefits from strong performances and solid cinematography but does not have quite the impact of contemporaries Boyz N the Hood or Menace II Society. Shot on location in Harlem, Juice marks the big-screen debut of enigmatic rapper Tupac Shakur, who portrays quasi-villain Roland Bishop, a man who becomes addicted to a fast, violent lifestyle. Before breaking bad, Bishop spends time with friends Quincy "Q" Powell (Omar Epps), Raheem Porter (Khalil Kain) and Eric "Steel" Thurman (Jermaine Hopkins) doing what boys do; cutting class, hitting on women and sp...Read the entire review

]]>
Harold and Maude (Paramount Presents) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75128 Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:03:05 UTC Recommended


My recollection of Harold and Maude (1972) is that it much more aptly defined the ‘70s cult movie than, say, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), appealing as it did to a broader spectrum of introverts, eccentrics, cineastes, and other social misfits. It seemed to be screening constantly on college campuses, at revival theaters and art houses well into the early-1980s and, subsequently, airing a lot on early cable television and it was a popular early home video release. I had probably seen it 10 or 15 times by 1985 but I don't think once since then.

Looking Paramount's new Blu-ray, things about the film that bothered me only slightly then now play like fundamental flaws. Much of the film is still pretty wonderful, and with the new video transfer and remixed Cat Stevens score, one can also appreciate how beautifully the film was photographed and edited, something I'd not noti...Read the entire review

]]>
Reds - 40th Anniversery Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75127 Tue, 01 Feb 2022 20:09:33 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series


Reds (1981), the epic historical drama about journalist and political radical John Reed, is by a country mile the best film Warren Beatty ever made as director-producer-star and co-writer. All of his movies are intriguing yet all are also flawed in various ways; here, what would normally be deficiencies actually work to the picture's advantage, notably the casting of Beatty as Reed and Diane Keaton as feminist journalist Louise Bryant.

There's nothing quite like it. It's a bona fide thinking man's epic, superior to David Lean's not-dissimilar Doctor Zhivago (1965) even though you'll need PhDs in post-Czar Russian politics and early 20th century American radicalism to completely follow the complexities of what unfolds onscreen. It's a rare great movie in which its greatness is the sum of its parts.

Ironies abound. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, here's a movie celebrating t...Read the entire review

]]>
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75121 Mon, 17 Jan 2022 16:16:59 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:


It's always a gamble to reconnect with material that gave one joy during their teen years. Will it age well, or will it just remind one of the cringe-inducing awkwardness and unsophistication of youth? Beavis and Butthead was such a gamble for me.


At fourteen, I was the perfect age for appreciating the shenanigans of two supremely stupid early teen burnouts (Voiced by Mike Judge) entirely driven by their reptilian brain being fed non-stop by vapid pop-culture that only glorified materialism, a corporate sanitization of sex, and empty charisma.


On its surface, there was a form of rebellion against normality that came with the zen distillation of life into junk food, crude humor, and pop culture. And of course, the characters' annoyingly infectious laugh helped a bit. Upon revisiting Beavis and Butthead as an adult, and with the hindsight of creator Mike...Read the entire review

]]>
The Wolf of Wall Street (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75111 Thu, 06 Jan 2022 18:26:34 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

I love Martin Scorsese and I love this bombastic, bacchanal, autobiographical film about Wall Street trader Jordan Belfort, who served two years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $110 million in restitution for defrauding hundreds of everyday Americans. The Wolf of Wall Street is told from Belfort's perspective, and our Quaalude-loving hero is played with great success by Leonardo DiCaprio. My buddies and I have watched the first half hour of this film dozens of times before hitting the bars. If you know the film, you know Jordan's introduction to Wall Street at the hands of coke-fueled trader Mark Hanna, represented by a hilarious Matthew McConaughey here, is cinema gold. And then there is gorgeous Margot Robbie as Jordan's wife Naomi, the Duchess of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and a side-splitting Jonah Hill as Jordan's idiot friend and partner Donnie Azoff...Read the entire review

]]>
Ragtime: Paramount Presents (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75113 Wed, 05 Jan 2022 15:27:27 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:

E.L. Doctorow's classic novel of early 20th Century New York, Ragtime, is famously a patchwork of numerous different story threads, many featuring historical figures. Robert Altman was an early candidate to direct a film version of the novel, and one envisions that he might have tried to include as much of the patchwork feeling from the book as he could. Instead, director Milos Forman and his Hair screenwriter Michael Weller fashion their 1981 take on the novel into a more focused, if still quite sprawling and lush, film.

The story is anchored around a middle-class family in New Rochelle, twenty-some miles outside the city. The family members are good and decent, in a nondes...Read the entire review

]]>
The Addams Family (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75108 Mon, 03 Jan 2022 17:36:36 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

It had been at least a decade since I watched Barry Sonnenfeld's spooky comedy The Addams Family, starring the late Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci. Based on Charles Addams' cartoons and the 1964 television series, the film involves the macabre, wealthy Addams family, who lives in a crumbling mansion and offends the townsfolk with their bizarre mannerisms. Gomez Addams (Julia) still mourns the decades-long absence of his brother Fester (Lloyd), who left after the pair fought over women. Gomez's doting wife Morticia (Huston) reminds him that they have much to be thankful for, including creepy kids Wednesday (Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman). The family is rounded out by Grandmama (Judith Malina), butler Lurch (Care Stricken), hairy Cousin Itt (John Franklin) and disembodied hand Thing (Christopher Hart). The family decides...Read the entire review

]]>