Film.com DVD Blog

DVD Alternatives to This Weekend's Multiplex Offerings

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:47:00 PST

We know how it is: You'd like to go to the movies this weekend, but you won't be able to move off the sofa after all that turkey, plus: football! But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, "Hey, did you see Old Dogs this weekend?" you can reply, "No, I watched a bunch of other dads-suck movies that came before."

INSTEAD OF: Old Dogs, in which John Travolta and Robin Williams get unexpectedly saddled with…

The Top Five Thanksgiving DVDs

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:08:00 PST

For a holiday that's all about celebrating your bounty in life, it's an ironic thing that the depictions of Turkey Day on film are so slim. But here are five Thanksgiving-themed DVDs to treat your family to once you've had your fill of pie and football:

5. Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Let's face it -- next to family, food, and football, the other thing Americans associate Thanksgiving with is hellish travel conditions. This classic comedy from the late John Hughes will at least make you feel…

DVD Review: Four Christmases

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:36:00 PST

When you go home the first few times after you're established in your adult life, it can be unsettling. You're unsure of how to interact with your parents, and your siblings tempt you to fall into old childish habits. But with a new boyfriend or girlfriend, at least you'll have a kindred spirit to raise your eyebrows at across the table when Grandmother begins to say inappropriate things. The person who is your future comes with you, as you return to the people and places that defined who you…

Blu-ray Review: Gomorrah Beats the Glamour Out of the Mob -- Criterion Collection

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:46:00 PST

Italian director Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah, about the Neapolitan crime family that runs southern Italy, paints a violent, squalid picture of organized crime that's far from the courtly old world code of The Godfather or the slick cool of Goodfellas.

Based on an encyclopedic "nonfiction novel" by journalist Roberto Saviano, the film distills the vast scope of the source into five stories: Totò is a young boy who wants to trade delivering groceries for life as a foot soldier; Don Ciro is an aging…

DVD Review: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas Brings the Dysfunction

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:07:00 PST

It's hard to believe that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, about a gang of boozing, blackhearted narcissists running a south side bar, is still on the air. But despite the Nazi uniforms, the retard jokes, and the vomit, Sunny is in its fifth season, a certified hit for FX and ready for the sitcom rite of passage: the Christmas special.

With Mac and Charlie on a quest for the Christmas spirit, Dee and Dennis set out to show Frank what a terrible person he is by showing him Christmases past,…

DVD Review: Train Isn't Worth the Ride

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:59:00 PST

In the wake of Eli Roth's Hostel in 2006, the horror genre has seen its share of "torture porn"-style flicks. But as fast as these films became popular (excluding the Saw series) they became extinct, and for good reason: watching young, attractive people tortured and mutilated for 90 minutes simply isn't all that entertaining. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the makers of Train realize this.

Train, originally conceived as a loosely-based remake of the 1980s slasher film Terror Train, is a…

Blu-Ray: Review: Funny People

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:02:00 PST

I am not what anyone would call a fan of Judd Apatow. As a director he is able to get some really great, funny performances out of his cast -- a cast that he assembles using his great eye for untapped talent. But as a creator, he relies too heavily on his cast to write the jokes for him. His style is one of throwing things at the wall to see what sticks; trying dozens of takes in which his cast makes up lines on the fly and the decision as to what joke to include ends up being found in the…

DVD Review: The Golden Age of Television Is Golden

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:47:00 PST

I think my favorite class the one year I attended New York University's film school was the one that introduced me to early American television. My little teenaged world was blown out by the Western adventure Sky King, by the witty visual genius of Ernie Kovacs, even by an early episode of General Hospital. If you've never had that experience, then please do yourself a favor and pick up The Golden Age of Television, which is two levels of TV history in one.

See, there was a series on early…

DVD Review - Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... Season 1

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:10:00 PST

One of the surprise debuts of last year had to be Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., a talk show featuring Costello pulling off the rare triple threat: host, performer, and bandleader. Equal parts interview and jam session, the Sundance series relies upon Costello putting the artists at ease, getting even the prickliest of artists to open up and speak warmly about their influences.

But, as Martin…

DVD Alternatives to This Weekend's Theatrical Offerings

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:41:00 PST

We know how it is: You'd like to go to the movies this weekend, but there's all that sighing and sulking and brooding over your immortal undead lover to do, and that's just exhausting. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, "Hey, did you see New Moon this weekend?" you can reply, "No, I watched some vampire and werewolf movies that don't suck instead."

INSTEAD OF: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in which --…