Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is one of the greatest animated films ever made. Period.
Stiller and especially Watts continue to amaze, the latter so much so I’m starting to think she’s worthy of award consideration come the end of the year (it won’t happen but I’m not going to let that stop me from dreaming that it potentially could all the same). I like [While We’re Young], flaws and all, and in many ways this might just be the most accessible motion picture Baumbach has ever directed.
The Cat Returns might not be Studio Ghibli at its absolute best but that still makes it one of the better animated efforts young, old and everyone in-between alike are likely ever to see. Disney’s presentation is stellar, and as such fans are urged to snatch this Blu-ray up the very second it goes on sale.
[Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers] has plenty of lo-fi charm, and while its central exploitive elements aren’t anywhere near as questionable as the first film’s it still has enough blatantly in-your-face material to satisfy even the most demanding of genre fans for the majority (but not all) of its brief 80 minute running time.
I don’t care what the haters say, I love Wolfen…It’s filled with exquisite moments that get my pulse racing and bring a smile to my face. Warner Archive’s Blu-ray presentation is sensational, and even with no special features to speak of this is a disc fans should have been racing to get their hands on the moment it went on sale.
Intimate, profound and deeply emotional, this is a magnificent portrait of world events and how religious fundamentalism is perverting theological dogma in order to feed its own insidious hunger, director Abderrahmane Sissako delivering a character-driven stunner that only gets better with each subsequent viewing. Magnificent.
I’d never watched HBO’s The Wire before receiving this complete series package in the mail for review, I now can’t imagine living in a world where it does not exist. Living up to the hype, I get why many consider this the greatest series in the history of television.
Even so, I still like Rizzoli & Isles. The showrunners have a grand feel for the two main characters Det. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles, their respective journeys during season five as personal and as intimate as it has ever been at any point during the hit TNT procedural’s run.
Again, much like the Empire of the Ants / Jaws of Satan Blu-ray released the same day, neither Food of the Gods or Frogs are very good films. Same time, they make for a much better – and far more enjoyable – double feature, both having just enough charm for genre fans to want to give them a look. Scream! Factory’s presentation is surprisingly strong, while the included extras are excellent.