DVD: Burn After Reading If you’re a fan of the Coen brothers, then you will already have the requisite tolerance for the kind of language and violence in this film, and can settle in to a comedy with a series of hard-to-like characters, all played by A-list stars, who interact in terrible ways, with an …
Category Archives: media
DVD: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
DVD: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly I’d heard for quite a while that this is an amazing film, and, when I had some spare voucher money, I saw it for a great price and snapped it up. The film is the true story of French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffers some kind of …
DVD: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
DVD: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai It’s been almost ten years since I last watched this movie. As I said earlier in the week on twitter, I remember liking it, but not why. Having rewatched it now, I am in a better position to articulate what I liked about it. The main thing …
DVD: Southland Tales
DVD: Southland Tales A new contender for most confusing film I’ve ever watched. As a big fan of Donnie Darko, I was prepared to put up with a lot, but I found that the film really tried my patience. By the third reel, it starts to make more sense, but the ending just leaves with …
DVD: Transporter 3
DVD: Transporter 3 I confess I’d been looking forward to this one. Though the second one was truly disappointing, the first film was quite watchable, and had some clever action sequences in it. The third in the trilogy takes a while to get moving, and it’s ultimately let down by the directorial approach. When the …
DVD: Gettysburg
DVD: Gettysburg this almost four and a half hour long film feels like it’s only about 3 hours long. Nonetheless, it could probably do with some trimming back: at least one scene of dialogue felt like it had already been covered by other characters. What to say of this historical epic that covers the decisive …
dvd: be kind, rewind
DVD: Be Kind Rewind Varying between a drama and a laugh-out-loud slapstick comedy, if you’ve enjoyed Michel Gondry’s other work (and I’ve only seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) then you’ll appreciate this tale of amusing characters trying to rescue a struggling video business. Danny Glover was great in this, Jack Black a little …
dvd: Network
DVD: Network An old classic, winner of 4 Academy awards (out of 10 nominations – it lost best picture to Rocky). Deservedly so, and it tells a story that still feels relevant today. Sure, there are some 1970’s cliches about the visuals and some of the dialogue, but it’s a fascinating study of the TV …
dvd: Charlie Wilson’s War
DVD: Charlie Wilson’s War, with a screenplay written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, tells the story of a US Congressman who became an unlikely hero, despite his many character flaws. Something of a celebrity vehicle, with all manner of adult content – much of it unnecessary – there are nonetheless a few moments of …
dvd: Tokyo Raiders
DVD: Tokyo Raiders. A Hong Kong film, set in Japan, with a mix of Cantonese, Japanese and English dialogue, martial arts, a romantic sub-plot, and twice as many plot twists as you’d expect from a Hollywood film. It’s an enjoyable distraction