At Home - DVD and Book Reviews

The High Commissioner -- A Rodlor co-production, Rod Taylor’s company stamp signified more than just a tax advantage. Voyage In Time -- Do I dare to be the philistine who claims that VOYAGE IN TIME, a 1983television documentary about famed Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, will be of great interest to those who know and revere his work, but will do little for those who don’t already know something of him and his legacy? Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One -- 'Despite all it’s goofs, flaws, antiquated SFX and histrionics it is still an enthralling and fun-filled watch and undeniably a great piece of TV history.' Deathdream -- A sincere low budget horror flick on the production level of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT or BASKET CASE, DEATHDREAM’s gritty, grainy look is exactly what the subject and mood called for. If they’d had more money, it shouldn’t have gone into production value, but rather into rehearsal time and the shooting schedule. Freaks -- Imagine walking through MGM studios in 1932. You’re bump into glamorous people like Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. You’re also bump into a few pinheads, Johnny the legless boy and other "mishaps of nature". Munchhausen -- If this clever, intelligent and visually stunning 1943 German version of the Baron Munchausen story was made elsewhere, and not under Nazi rule, it would surely rank as one of the great classic fantasy films. Films made in Germany during World War II received almost no worldwide distribution. I Vitelloni -- I put this DVD on, sat back, and was absorbed into the screen as if I were in Cronenberg’s VIDEODROME. I don’t think the liner notes, eloquent though they are, begin to do the film’s visual seductiveness justice. Sam Spiegel -- In an alternate universe, Sam Spiegel would have loved producing a film about his own mythic life and times. Indeed one of the most surprising footnotes about the new biography of Sam Spiegel (Simon and Schuster) by Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni (who was an assistant on Spiegel’s last production 1983’s Betrayed) is that it is really the first real biography of this titan of mid-twentieth century Hollywood. Best Boy -- won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1980. It is one of the most profoundly moving documentaries ever made, and holds up better today, honed with DVD technology, than when it was originally released on grainy, often dark film stock. Out Of Time -- I’m pleased to admit that I knew nothing about this movie before I viewed it, which is actually quite refreshing in my line of work. Wooed by this, the cast list and the tag-line ‘How do you solve a murder when all the evidence points to you?’ S.W.A.T. -- What can I say – This movie goes to great pains to illustrate how the ‘elite force’ of the LAPD gets to be the best Special Weapons And Tactics team on the planet. UFO -- The year is 1980 – Unbeknownst to the general public, Earth is being visited by aliens from another world, abducting humans for organ transplants. Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) --A long time ago in a Hollywood far, far away, a great adventure took place… Flesh And Blood -- I was flabbergasted at how much of a difference a few minutes could make. The Gunsmoke Collection -- The show kept up a standard of writing excellence that made its simple visual/directorial style highly satisfying. The Station Agent -- We’re dealing with a ninety-minute mood piece. Run Lola Run -- This is a movie you need to watch more than once to pick up all of the all important threads and is one of the most innovative German films in years. Black and White -- Based on real events, this is a well put together movie featuring a classic underdog vs. establishment scenario. Calendar Girls -- If you're a FOUR WEDDINGS, NOTTING HILL, FULL MONTY or LOVE ACTUALLY fan then this is for you. Showtime's The Opposite Sex -- Riveting, harrowing, and deeply moving. The Album Cover Art Of Soundtracks -- No self respecting movie buff should be without this guide to over 300 album covers. Underworld -- The plot is reasonably, but not too, complicated and has a few nice twists. Batman - The Movie (1966) -- Batman was one of those TV shows you either loved or hated. Agitator. The Cinema of Takashi Miike -- (book review) I dare say at some point Miike may become as influential as Kurasawa. Taggart: DVD box Set -- Don't wait for the inevitable politically correct, watered down American copy. This is British TV at it's very best. Decasia: The State of Decay -- I’d love to see the film trimmed of several minutes, and the second half is where I’d wield the shears. Brooklyn South -- Whatever the cause of the series’ demise, it is beautifully shot and art directed. Walk on the Wild Side -- Bass’ title sequence and Bernstein’s score, these are two wonderful reasons to own the disc. The Man Who Sued God (2001) -- It’s a clever, simple premise and one you wish you’d thought of yourself. The Rules of the Game -- Well, what do you say about this…? Everything laudatory has already been said, over and over. Trouble in Paradise -- Watching this DVD is like traveling to an alternative universe, a parallel world where Hollywood made films dealing with adult sexuality in a manner that is straightforward and sophisticated but never crude.


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