dvd australlia

Youth in Oregon

Rent It The Movie:I really didn't intentionally make Frank Langella a common thread in two of my last three standard definition DVD reviews. But the case handler in The Americans finds himself the unwanted center of attention in Youth in Oregon, a comedy-drama that is copious amounts of one genre and perhaps not enough of the other.Written by Andrew Eisen and directed by Joel David Moore (Spiral), Langella plays Raymond, an 80-year old patriarch who lives with his daughter Kate (Christina Applegate, Bad Moms) and her family, along with his wife Estelle (Mary Kay Place, Sweet Home Alabama). He makes…
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Night Has Settled

Recommended The subject of "troubled youth" in Night Has Settled interested me, as most of my teenage years were rather boring and I now think of both the good and bad points of not having been more adventurous then. A review quoted on the DVD's back cover compares it to the films of Larry Clark (best known for 1995's controversial Kids), which is a somewhat fair comparison though this film from Steve Clark (no relation) doesn't seem intended to shock audiences as much.Our main character is 13 year old Oliver (Spencer List), who first appears innocent and childlike. He lives…
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Vitaphone Varieties Volume Three

Highly Recommended The Shorts:After a long wait, Warner Brothers, through their direct-to-consumerprogram The Warner Archives, have released the third volume of VitaphoneVarieties. It's been over four years since the second volumewas released, and it's great that they are continuing thecollection. This single disc (the previous installments weremulti-disc collections) contains 16 rare shorts with appearances byperformers who are great, not so great, and just weird. It's a funand entertaining collection that's sure to amuse.Most of these one-reel shorts feature performers that were recruitedfrom the vaudeville circuits. (One performer didn't even bother tochange the patter in his act, and discusses how everyone…
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The Bureau: Season 1

Rent It Following the introduction of James Bond to movies in the 1960s, the spy genre has slowly polarized itself into two camps: the over-the-top thrill ride with the gadgets and the dashing hero, and the gritty, realistic approach with an eye for detail (Bond never got too close to the latter, but the current run of Daniel Craig movies are certainly attempting to have their cake and eat it too). To this pile, we can now add "The Bureau", a decent French spy series that never exactly catches fire but delivers some well-orchestrated thrills.The series is comprised of three…
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Mifune: The Last Samurai

Rent It As perhaps the most globally recognized Japanese film star of all time, the legendary Toshiro Mifune (1920-1997) was featured in nearly 200 films during a career that spanned almost 50 years. Largely remembered for his collaborations with director Akira Kurosawa between 1948 and 1965---which include such classics as Rashomon, <A href="http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/44857/seven-samurai/" target="blank...Read the entire review Source: DVD Talk
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Circle

Rent It In 10 Words or LessSci-fi, ethics, psychology, disappointment...this one's got it allReviewer's Bias*Loves: Smart sci-fi, psychological filmLikes: Bottle episodes, indie filmsDislikes: Obvious button-pushingHates: Disappointing endingsThe MovieAll due respect to the people involved in making Circle, but I hate this movie. That's not a judgement on the technical effort, which is solid. It has nothing to do with the performances, which are uniformly good. And it's not a problem with the story. The reason I came away from this film with a negative opinion about Circle is solely the ending, which has to be one of the most disappointing…
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Review: True Blood Season 7: TV Show

Review: True Blood Season 7: TV Show

When did True Blood lose its way for you? I'm interested. What ought to have been the bouncing off point? Is it safe to say that it was the witches in Season 4? Could have been the witches, correct? Despite the fact that numerous fans out there beyond any doubt adored Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) shacking up with amnesiac Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård), True Blood Season 7 has left a lot to be desired. What about Season 5's Vampire Authority? Should the arrangement have finished when King Russell bit the pixie dust? True Blood Season 6 brought us Governor Burrell and the sickness, alongside "Vampire…
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