MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE UNEARTHLY AND RED ZONE CUBA (DVD)
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 180 minutes |
“Red Zone Cuba” and “The Unearthly” are Shout Factory’s latest standalone “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ DVDs. They’re solid episodes, but it’s a shame these are bare bones releases like the other standalone DVDs…
Posted on August 18, 2011 by Brad Cook
THE JOURNEY: FROM 1 TO 1000 (DVD)
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 104 minutes |
Adam Kontas’ “The Journey From 1 to 1000″ chronicles the personal and professional highs and lows of his Hollywood aspirations since 2000, when he moved to LA from Ohio…
Posted on August 17, 2011 by Brad Cook
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: VOLUME XXI: MST3K vs. GAMERA (DVD)
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 585 minutes |
“MST3K Volume XXI: MST3K vs. Gamera” continues in the tradition of Shout Factory’s excellent MST3K sets with copious bonus features that examine this show’s run of five Gamera movies during its third season…
Posted on August 2, 2011 by Brad Cook
BUSTER KEATON: THE SHORT FILMS COLLECTION (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 500 minutes |
“Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection 1920-1923″ offers not only 19 restored shorts from one of the silent era’s comedy greats but also a cornucopia of bonus features that will fill your knowledge of all things Keaton. This is an excellent three-disc set from Kino…
Posted on July 27, 2011 by Brad Cook
TRAILERS FROM HELL!: VOLUME TWO (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 158 minutes |
“Trailers From Hell!” features various prominent film folks talking about the trailers for much-loved, oft-maligned, and mostly-forgotten movies…
Posted on July 12, 2011 by Brad Cook
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: HAMLET (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
This episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ tends to be dismissed by many fans, but it’s not a bad one. It’s just that “Hamlet” seems to come from out of left field in a series full of Godzilla films, Roger Corman productions, ill-conceived low-budget sci-fi and horror films…
Posted on June 21, 2011 by Brad Cook
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: GUNSLINGER (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
“Gunslinger” is a classic “MST3K” episode that skewers a 1956 Roger Corman western. The writing staff probably felt like they were shooting fish in a barrel with this one. Unfortunately, this standalone DVD from Shout! Factory is devoid of extras…
Posted on June 21, 2011 by Brad Cook
THE GREAT DICTATOR: CRITERION COLLECTION (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 125 minutes |
Criterion’s two-disc release of Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” is another great example of the company’s “film class in a box approach”…
Posted on June 8, 2011 by Brad Cook
UNKNOWN WAR (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 990 minutes |
Like all historical events, the fighting between the Soviet Union and Germany during World War II was too complex for a simplistic explanation, and as Sunderland’s interview shows, even a 16.5-hour documentary doesn’t necessarily cover everything…
Posted on May 30, 2011 by Brad Cook
SOMETHING WILD: CRITERION COLLECTION (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 113 minutes |
Plenty of strait-laced businessmen engage in funky extracurricular activities — I’m sure you can find lots of Ralphs in Accounting who become Leo the Horned One in an S&M dungeon at night…
Posted on May 17, 2011 by Brad Cook
THE COSMOS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 169 minutes |
This is a nice introduction to astronomy for anyone who wants a broad overview of the subject. Host Adam Hart-Davis does a good job of picking up where people like Carl Sagan left off; he’s an affable guy who comes across as if he’s your uncle chatting with you during a holiday gathering…
Posted on April 14, 2011 by Brad Cook
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: VOLUME XX (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 360 minutes |
Unfortunately, this set isn’t quite as good as some recent ones, particularly the recent “Volume XIX,” but we can’t expect Shout! Factory to hit a home run every time…
Posted on March 8, 2011 by Brad Cook
STAR WARS BEGINS (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 139 minutes |
This fan-made film takes us through “Star Wars” and liberally sprinkles in commentary bits, interview clips, behind-the-scenes footage and photos, on-set and alternate audio, and deleted scenes as it seeks to chronicle the film in a new way…
Posted on February 28, 2011 by Brad Cook
MST3K: BEGINNING OF THE END + THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES… (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 180 minutes |
The stars I assigned to these DVDs does not reflect the quality of these episodes — like other “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ fare, they’re solid shows with plenty of laughs. My problem is that neither has any bonus features…
Posted on February 21, 2011 by Brad Cook
BROADCAST NEWS: CRITERION COLLECTION (DVD)
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 132 minutes |
Criterion’s new edition of “Broadcast News” offers a smattering of bonus features that help place this influential film not only in the context of movie history but also in the context of prolific writer/director/producer James L. Brooks’ long career.
Posted on January 25, 2011 by Brad Cook