DONT LOOK BACK – DVD review
Dont Look Back (1967)–**** 2007 Deluxe Edition DVD Review Here’s how film critic Roger Ebert starts out his 1998 review of Dont Look Back: “What a jerk Bob Dylan was in 1965. What an immature, self-important, inflated, cruel, shallow little creature, lacking in empathy and contemptuous of anyone who was not himself or his lackey. Did we actually once take this twirp (sic) as our folk god?” Now here’s a quote from a 1967 Newsweek review: “Dont Look Back is really about fame and how it menaces art, about the press and how it categorizes, bowdlerizes, sterilizes, universalizes or conventionalizes an original like Dylan into something it can dimly understand. I believe the Newsweek reviewer was talking about people like Roger Ebert, a journalist who in his 1968 review complained when Dylan taunted and teased reporters who deserved what they got....
Read MoreDVD Review: The Search for John Gissing
Of all the Mike Binder films I’ve seen, The Search for John Gissing is the oldest. It’s also Binder’s most comedy-oriented film. Just arriving on DVD through good, new-fashioned Internet self-distribution, The Search for John Gissing proves once again that Binder is one of the most uniquely talented comedic writer/directors working today. John Gissing stars the prolific writer, director, and actor Binder as Matthew Barnes, a middle-aged executive who is forced to move to London with his wife Linda (Janeane Garofalo). There, it’s intended that he manage his employer’s acquisition of a German company and take over a position at the London branch. Unfortunately, John Gissing (Alan Rickman), the man Barnes is supposed to replace in London, is in charge of making sure he arrives on time for the meetings. And Gissing knows Barnes is replacing him. For Barnes,...
Read MoreDVD Review: The Page Turner
The Page Turner (2006)–*** DVD Review The Page Turner has a Patricia Highsmith-esque quality about it that makes what is a remarkably banal plot into a devious, delicious French thriller. Take the nature of the slight that results in the ensuing revenge story. A preteen girl, Melanie, fails a major musical examination when one of the judges, a professional pianist, signs an autograph in the middle of the girl’s session. The intrusion distracts the girl, making her loose her place, and ending her young career as a pianist. Flash forward some eight years later. Melanie (Déborah François), now a young woman, takes an internship with a prestigious Parisian law firm. One of the lawyers is married to Ariane (Catherine Frot), the pianist who meet with a fan during Melanie’s audition. Melanie’s internship ends with the law firm, but she...
Read MoreDVD Review: The Last Confederate
The Last Confederate (2007)–*** DVD Review Genealogical research is a hot hobby these days. But while some people spend their time at their local history centers looking through old public records, others like the people behind The Last Confederate are putting their family history on film for the world to see. There is a difference between family research and family legend. Genealogical explorations can wipe out romantic notions of runaway romances with a simple look at a marriage certificate and a birth record. The Last Confederate is a prime example of what people with deep, rich family histories can do when they stick to those old family legends. Robert Adams (Julian Adams) isn’t someone you will find in the history books (or at least, not on Wiki). This South Carolinian turned Confederate officer is known, at least to his...
Read MoreDVD Review: Dead Silence
Dead Silence (2007) DVD Review Dead Silence certainly isn’t the movie I expected from the director of Saw. It’s a solid, slightly more sophisticated horror film, one that I imagine director James Wan was thinking of making when he got his big break with the gruesome, albiet groundbreaking Saw. In fact, it was bold move, making a ghost story when hyper-graphic horror films are all the rage. Wan wasn’t rewarded with box office success. Dead Silence only grossed $15 million at the North American box office. Yet, the small scale, atmospheric horror film is a treat for audiences with enough sense to know the difference between shock and awe. I say awe because Wan’s jackhammer subtlety is controlled enough to tell a simple tale rather effectively. It’s the tale of Jamie (Ryan Kwanten), a newlywed, whose wife is mysteriously...
Read MoreDVD Review: Bridge to Terabithia
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)–**1/2 DVD Review Considering Bridge to Terabithia comes from the same studio and production company behind The Chronicles of Narnia, I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t just some super-light fantasy fare. I never did read the book, and Disney’s marketing department tried hard to exploit the fantasy elements. It was easy to assume it would be just a kiddy fantasy film. I’m glad it wasn’t. While this story of two kids with tender lives and wild imaginations isn’t a substantial work, it is definitely the solid, family-friendly product we can expect from Walden Media and Disney. The film follows Jesse (Josh Hutcherson), the only boy in a large family that is having trouble making ends meet. His tough-loving father doesn’t care much for the frivolities of Jesse’s drawing hobby, especially when there are chores...
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