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DVDs on the Shelf
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Written by Trent Daniel
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 |
 Though District 9 is perhaps the most surprising of the best picture nominees, viewers of this but thought provoking sci-fi film know that it has earned at least some recommendation from the academy and puts newcomer Neill Blomkamp on the short list of promising young filmmakers.
When used by a gifted and imaginative artist, the sci-fi genre can be used to make profound statements regarding our world and the human condition in a fresh and imaginative way. Blomkamp does such a thing: his story about the unwelcome arrival of a rather pathetic hoard of alien visitors is a harsh rebuke of his native South Africa’s apartheid past in particular and of the way, in general, societies throughout history have treated outsiders.
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Read more... [DVD Review: District 9]
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DVDs on the Shelf
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Written by Trent Daniel
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Monday, 01 March 2010 |
 A Serious Man is a dark comedy starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, and Adam Arkin. Directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen.
It is fitting that the protagonist, one Larry Gopnik is a physics professor in this typically challenging-but often rewarding-Coen brothers film. He seems to believe that he can use formulas to find a logical resolution to nearly any question, yet he fills his giant blackboard with unintelligible calculations that look impossible on the surface. Indeed, even he refers to challenging paradoxes of physics, such as Schroedinger’s cat and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which basically means “we can never know what is going on.”
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Read more... [DVD Review: A Serious Man]
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DVDs on the Shelf
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Written by Trent Daniel
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Thursday, 25 February 2010 |
 Triangle is a horror film starring Melissa George, Michael Doorman, Rachael Carpani and Henry Nixon. Directed by Christopher Smith.
Have you ever had a dream in which you run and run and run from the same dangerous or scary place, only to somehow return again and again? Few films have captured this nightmare as successfully as has Triangle, a disturbing and effective thriller out of Australia.
The plot: Jess (George), a single mom, takes an invitation to sail on a yacht with a friend and a few pals. However, she cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong. Her fears are soon realized when, in the middle of the sea, the wind suddenly dies and a thunderstorm appears out of nowhere. The ferocious storm soon capsizes the yacht, stranding the survivors on the overturned hull. A huge ocean liner soon passes and the survivors jump on board, relieved that they are seemingly saved. However: 1) the huge ship is seemingly deserted and 2) Jess is convinced that she has been on board before. To further complicate matters, there does appear to be another passenger on board-one who does not intend to let any of the others leave alive. To reveal more would spoil the surprises.
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Read more... [DVD Review: Triangle]
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DVDs on the Shelf
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Written by Trent Daniel
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Thursday, 18 February 2010 |
 The Hurt Locker is a war drama starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty and Guy Pearce. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
“War is a drug.”
Those words, placed on the screen at the start, effectively synopsize one of the best films of 2009. The Hurt Locker is set in Iraq, but it is not so much an anti-Iraq war film (though the film makes it painfully clear it is no vacation over there). It is instead about a solder, one Sgt. William James, who becomes addicted to war (or more precise, the high of being at the razor’s edge of violent death). Away from this edge, he seems lost. In a painful but honest confession near the end, he makes it clear what his true love is.
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Read more... [DVD Review: The Hurt Locker]
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DVDs on the Shelf
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Written by Trent Daniel
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
 The Proposition is a western starring Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson. Directed by John Hillcoat.
After seeing how fitting the Australian Outback was as a setting for a Western, I am surprised it hasn’t been used more often. Desolate, threatening, untamed, yet beautiful, the Outback works just as well as John Ford’s beloved Monument Valley or Sergio Leone’s fearsome Spain.
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Read more... [DVD Review: The Proposition]
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| Results 1 - 9 of 75 |
DVD Review: District 9Though District 9 is perhaps the most surprising of the best picture nominees, viewers of this but...
DVD Review: A Serious ManA Serious Man is a dark comedy starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, and Adam Arkin. Directed...
DVD Review: TriangleTriangle is a horror film starring Melissa George, Michael Doorman, Rachael Carpani and Henry...
DVD Review: The Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker is a war drama starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty and Guy...
DVD Review: The PropositionThe Proposition is a western starring Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson....
DVD Review: Jennifer's BodyShoot, I was hoping I’d like this one.
I am an unapologetic fan of horror films (and sometimes...
Watch the first trailer for Disney's futuristic action pic, 'Tron Legacy.'