Blu-ray Review: Who’ll Stop the Rain
Based on the novel “Dog Soldiers” by Robert Stone, every frame of 1978’s Who’ll Stop the Rain is heavy with the disenchantment surrounding the Vietnam War. Soldiers who had gone to war as innocent young men, came back hardened, having seen more violence than anyone ever should. Filled with music by Creedence Clearwater Revival Who’ll […]
Blu-ray Review: The Company You Keep
Robert Redford’s first movie role since 2005 and his ninth directorial effort, The Company You Keep, based on the novel by Neil Gordon, is a fictionalized account of the radical anti-war movement called the Weather Underground. Old news footage at the beginning of the film informs us that members of the group were charged with […]
Blu-ray Review: Gangster Squad
Loosely based on true events, Gangster Squad is the story of a group of rag tag police officers brought together in 1949 Los Angeles, in a desperate attempt to bring down the ruthless gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Seeped in blood and violence, Gangster Squad has some interesting moments, and shares some similarities with Brian […]
Blu-ray Review: Arthur (2011)
A sleeper hit in 1981, Arthur grossed nearly $100 million in the U.S. alone, won two Oscars (for best song and supporting actor, John Gielgud) and nominations for star Dudley Moore and original screenplay. For the 2011 remake, Hobson the butler, now a nanny, switches genders from John Gielgud to Helen Mirren and Russell Brand […]
DVD Review: Rich Man, Poor Man (The Complete Collection)
A&E | 1976-77 | 1637 mins. | NR I think it’s safe to say that network television doesn’t make mini-series like Rich Man, Poor Man anymore. Book 1, aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 10:00pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve weeks, Book II aired from September 1976 through March 1977. Today, probably only […]
Blu-ray Review: The Deep
Sony Pictures | 1977 | 125 mins | Rated PG It seems safe to say that author and screenwriter Peter Benchley will always be best known for Jaws, his 1974 bestselling novel that he subsequently turned into a screenplay with Carl Gottlieb. Of course, Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg and became one of the […]
Blu-ray Review: Tropic Thunder
I’m old enough to remember when the idea of making a satirical movie about the Vietnam War would have been considered to be the height of bad taste. Times have definitely changed. The Vietnam War seems to be in the rearview mirror of many filmmakers, while others aren’t old enough to have any first hand […]