Insomnia: Criterion Collection
August 12, 2014
In retrospect, films like Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997) and Insomnia (1997) anticipated the recent fascination with Scandinavian thrillers. While the former dealt with a protagonist uncovering the nefarious machinations of a powerful corporation under...
Breaking the Waves: Criterion Collection
May 12, 2014
With Breaking the Waves (1996), Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier finally broke through into North America after several early efforts that were exercises in style more than anything else. This film saw him taking a page from the cinema of John Cassavetes...
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: 2-Disc Limited Edition
December 18, 2007
Even though Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) was a massive box office success, there was the general consensus that it was a let down in comparison to The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). There was just too much plot, most of it hopelessly...
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: Limited Edition
November 8, 2007
Even though Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) was a massive box office success, there was the general consensus that it was a letdown in comparison to The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). There was just too much plot, most of it hopelessly...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
December 5, 2006
While no one predicted the phenomenonal success of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the success of the sequel was pretty much a slam dunk provided that the filmmakers didn’t mess around with the formula too much. They didn’t. In fact, they...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: Collector’s Edition
October 8, 2006
While no one predicted the phenomenal success of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film (2003), the success of the sequel was pretty much a slam dunk provided that the filmmakers didn’t mess around with the formula too much. They didn’t. In fact,...
Ronin: Collector’s Edition
May 12, 2006
Most big budget spy movies are often cartoonish action films with an emphasis on spectacle (explosions, gunfights and car chases) and very little intelligence or interesting characters. Aside from the smart, visceral Jason Bourne films, the only mainstream...
Exorcist: The Beginning
September 22, 2005
The road to Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) seeing the light of day has been a rocky one to say the least. Director Paul Schrader was originally hired to helm the project but when the head of the studio didn’t like the filmmaker had done he was fired...
The Hire
October 25, 2003
In 2001, BMW and filmmaker, David Fincher (Fight Club), created a series of ambitious short films promoting their cars. Fincher selected five internationally acclaimed directors to make the films and allowed gave them complete artistic control. The only...