Cinema

​Marx Brothers Blu’s the ideal antidote to Election Day blues

November 2nd, 2016

By Christopher P. Jacobs

christopher.jacobs@email.und.edu

Next week’s presidential election is perhaps the most divisive and least-anticipated in recent history. None of the three main candidates comes close to having a majority voter appeal or enthusiastic support, to the extent that a vote for any one of them is essentially a vote against the other two. It’s a week that will likely inspire various modes of personal escape, even if only temporary, from the cares and fears of modern…

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​DuVernay’s “13th” essential viewing

October 26th, 2016

Featuring a deep bench of authorities, scholars, politicians, ex-convicts, and dissenters, Ava DuVernay’s outstanding documentary “13th” arrives on the eve of a national election.

Put together in near secrecy and opening the New York Film Festival, “13th” uses as its starting point the titular reference to the United States Constitution’s amendment that abolished slavery – “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” That minor…

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​Castle horror classics on Blu-ray double-feature

October 26th, 2016

This summer Mill Creek Entertainment released four William Castle films on bargain double-feature Blu-rays. Several additional Castle movies are available from different companies. The best introduction to his work is probably the disc containing “Homicidal” and “Mr. Sardonicus.” Both are 1961 productions and make ideal Halloween season viewing.

Producer-director William Castle made a wide variety of films and TV programs from 1939 through 1975. But he gained a public reputation…

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​The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (2016)

October 19th, 2016

Ron Howard’s awkwardly titled “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” covers familiar turf for longtime fans of the band, but the film’s handsomely presented content may appeal to younger generations just discovering the music of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr.

While the world might not exactly need yet another document in the expanding library of movies about the Fab Four, Howard approaches the theme suggested in the title with the exuberance of a devoted…

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​Halloween on Blu-ray: The Universal Classics

October 19th, 2016

By Christopher P. Jacobs

christopher.jacobs@email.und.edu

Late October is when people often get the unnatural urge to watch horror movies. There is no lack of Blu-ray editions of recent horror-thrillers loaded with gory dismemberments, flowing blood, and psychologically twisted villains. By comparison, horror films made before the 1968 ratings system often seem to depict a progression of slightly disturbed but endearingly eccentric old friends.

Back in 2012 Universal released eight of its…

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​Restoration breathes new life into 3-D sci-fi classic

October 12th, 2016

By Christopher P. Jacobs

christopher.jacobs@email.und.edu

Continuing in the vein of Halloween-appropriate horror/sci-fi/fantasy films for October is a new Blu-ray released last week and at an unexpected bargain price of only $8 - $10 (currently available only from Best Buy in the U.S.).

“It Came From Outer Space” (1953) has long been considered one of the major science-fiction films of the 1950s, largely due to its thoughtful story by Ray Bradbury, polished direction by Jack Arnold,…

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​Tipping’s “Kicks” a strong debut

October 12th, 2016

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

An intuitive and energetic coming of age drama that trades the Val Melaina neighborhood of Vittorio De Sica’s Rome in “Bicycle Thieves” for current day Richmond in the Bay Area, Justin Tipping’s “Kicks” marks one of the year’s most memorable features. Tipping’s directorial debut, “Kicks” hovers over the shoulder of teenager Brandon (Jahking Guillory) through an incident that quickly escalates to a series of choices that lead to…

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​Just Your Voice: “Life, Animated”

October 5th, 2016

Based on Ron Suskind’s 2014 book “Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism,” the documentary feature “Life, Animated” tells the story of Suskind’s son Owen, who at the age of three withdrew into a nonverbal world that devastated his family.

Diagnosed with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Owen speaks only what his parents describe as “gibberish” until a viewing of “The Little Mermaid” reveals that Owen is capable of cognitively sophisticated…

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​October-themed obscurities on outstanding Blu-rays

October 5th, 2016

October is well-known as the Halloween season, inspiring numerous screenings of horror films or films with horror-fantasy elements. Last week I reviewed “Chandu the Magician” (1932), a kind of off-beat semi-horror film with Bela Lugosi, new to Blu-ray. This week I’ll continue the horror theme with a low-budget obscurity from the late 1950s that deserves a second look.

But October is more than horror movie month. It’s also the end of the major league baseball season and the…

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​Insert your own pun

September 28th, 2016

By Greg Carlson

Winner of the grand jury prize for best documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg’s “Weiner” is one of 2016’s must-see features.

Following the unbelievable NYC mayoral campaign of disgraced politician Anthony D. Weiner from the inside, Kriegman and Steinberg’s movie boasts a compelling up-close-and-personal take on high stakes elections and higher risk narcissism.

Granted incredible all-access passes to Weiner’s…

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