courtesy of Docudrama Films The well-made 90-minute film documentary may be mankind’s most efficient mode of communication. When put together by skilled filmmakers, the feature-length documentary can convey quite massive amounts of information while providing wit and heart and functioning as, you know, a movie. Such is the case with the historical documentary Sholem Aleichem: […]
Glenn McDonald
Posted inFilm & Television
The West Memphis Three are free … what about the real killer?
West of Memphis opens Friday (see times below) Our rating: In 1993, three young boys were found brutally murdered in the small community of West Memphis, Ark. In the maelstrom of initial disclosures and media coverage, it was reported that the bodies found in a drainage ditch showed signs of ritual murder.
Posted inCulture
A gorgeous but flimsy Oz
Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company Oz the Great and Powerful** starsOpens FridayIn the opening scenes of Oz the Great and Powerful, director Sam Raimi’s pretty but rickety prequel to The Wizard of Oz, huckster stage magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) is preparing for his show with traveling circus. The year is 1905. The place […]
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DVD+Digital: Eco horror, crustaceous isopods and The Bay
courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment It’s Fourth of July in the seaside tourist town of Claridge, Md., on the Chesapeake Bay. All is well. The parade is forming up on Main Street. The kids are tubing out in the harbor. The annual crab eating contest is in full swing. Then the bad things start to […]
Posted inCulture
DVD+Digital: Oscar winners, runners-up and release dates
By all accounts, the 85th annual Academy Awards was a star-studded affair, with glamorous people saying glamorous things in glamorous clothing. Sadly, I missed this year’s telecast due the fact that Seth MacFarlane makes me want to go on a tri-state killing spree. If you’d like to catch up with some of the Oscar winners […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Following a group of Brits through their lives in 56 Up
56 Up opens Friday (see times below) Our rating: Director Michael Apted’s Up series is one of the most intriguing projects in the history of documentary film. Initiated in 1963, the series began with a profile of 14 British 7-year-olds from various walks of life. Every seven years since then, Aptedan assistant on the first […]
Posted inCulture
DVD+Digital: Brando, Kazan and On The Waterfront
courtesy of the Criterion Collection Director Elia Kazan’s classic 1954 drama On The Waterfront tells the story of dockworker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), a once-promising boxer whose life is derailed when he gets mixed up with mobbed-up labor union honchos on the NYC waterfront. As you may have heard, Terry coulda been a contender. On […]
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DVD+Digital: Game of Thrones, 30 Rock and TV binge watching
courtesy of HBO Home Entertainment In the days before DVD/VHS, Netflix and endless online options — back when we had a little sanity left — TV binge watching was confined to weekend basic cable marathons. If you wanted to see all the episodes of a particular show in sequence, this was your sole option. Only […]
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DVD+Digital: Denzel Washington, DVD extras and Flight
courtesy of Paramount Pictures After nearly a decade of experimentation with motion-capture animation, director Robert Zemeckis returned to live action filmmaking last fall with Flight, starring Denzel Washington. The film tells the story of commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker, who must confront his demons after crash landing a airliner while drunk on vodka and high […]
Posted inCulture
DVD+Digital: Colors, shadows and Tales of the Night
courtesy of Cinedigm In recent years, I’ve become fascinated with animated foreign films for kids. There’s so much good stuff out there — some recent examples include The Secret of Kells (Ireland), Chico & Rita (Spain), A Cat in Paris (France) and Ponyo (Japan). These are movies you’re unlikely to see in theaters, so you […]
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