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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

2011 DVD/ Blu-ray In Review
article by David Blackwell

2011 is over and 2012 has fallen upon us.  This article is a selection of titles you should check on DVD or Blu-ray.   The extras id go into account on why some of these excellent titles are included in this article.


The DRAGON TATTOO TRILOGY Extended Edition-

The extended versions of the Swedish adaptations of the Stieg Larsson novels feature additional footage and contain the bonus disc previously only available on the 4 disc set of the theatrical cuts.

 

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE-  

If you like LEON THE PROFESSIONAL, this Korean action film will be for you.   The main character is quiet and has a neighbor girl for a friend.  he mostly keeps to himself until she is kidnapped.  then the film ramps up as the action gets better and better.   One of the best knife fights I have seen is in this movie.

I SAW THE DEVIL-

The movie is thrilling and disturbing in equal bits as you wonder how far one man should go to get revenge against the mad who killed his pregnant wife.

OUTSIDE THE LAW-

OUTSIDE THE LAW follows the struggles of people from Algeria in France during the 1960s through the eyes of three brothers.   It is like a spiritual sequel to the director's earlier film which follows Algerians fighting in World War 2 Europe.

 

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN-

Rutger Hauer in this funny and violent action film in another tribute to Grindhouse as  I yearn for the old action and sci-fi and action films he starred in during the last three decades.   I just wish they put SPLIT SECOND back into print on DVD.

STAKE LAND-

a serious low budget take in a decimated North America after vampires wipe out most of the human population.   This movie follows the adventures of this lone vampire hunter and a young teenager he picks up as they search for a place safe from vampires.

MONSTERS-

a low budget road film that is a fascinating character drama as two people make a long journey through alien infested Mexico to get home to the United States.

MESRINE films-

The two part sage of MESRINE is told in two films: KILLER INSTINCT and PUBLIC ENEMY #1.  Vincent Cassel is wonderful as Jacques Mesrine, the famous French criminal who robbed multiple banks in Canada and France in addition to four prison breaks.   Cassel is a chameleon with each role like Tom Hardy is with his roles.

 

PAGE ONE-

one of my favorite documentaries that show the challenges the New York Times faces against the new medium of internet reporting and blogging.

 

DOCTOR WHO The Movie Special Edition-

about time this 1996 TV movie made it's debut in the USA after the rights was tangled up with Universal  for so many years preventing its release in North America.


THE SAINT and FALCON films- Warner Archive has made all the of the George Sanders Saint films plus some of the Falcon films available via Warner Archive.   I love these old mysteries from 1930s and the 1940s.   I just hope the DVD-R quality is good since some Amazon.com reviewers have noted problems with the discs.  I will check it out soon because I want to own these films on DVD.

 

NORWEGIAN NINJA

TROLLHUNTER

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE

This trio of films from the Scandinavian countries prove that you can get quirky and interesting films from anywhere in the world where it is about ninjas working for the King of Norway to a troll hunter working to keep Norway safe from trolls to reindeer hunters going after a wild Santa Claus.

 

METROPOLIS-  The Giorgio Moroder re-edit is out on DVD to mixed results.   I wish the print was cleaned up and some of the pop music doesn't quite fit the scenes.  Still this is the version that first exposed me to the classic Fritz Lang film.

 

OTHER DISCS OF NOTE:

WE ARE THE NIGHT- a vampire film told as a cautionary fairy tale.

CLASH-  amazing action film from Vietnam

BKO: BANGKOK DANGEROUS-  Watch this film for the amazingly stage action scenes featuring a variety of martial arts styles.

 

WASTE OF DISC:

STREET KINGS 2: MOTOR CITY

TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN

HELLRAISER: REVELATIONS

FADING OF THE CRIES

The first three prove that sometimes sequels don't work unless you can put together a good script.   If you liked the first TETSUO films, skip THE BULLET MAN and way for the superior NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE 2 to be released in the USA.   HELLRAISER: REVELATION is the worst HELLRAISER film yet and the Weinstein Company just needs to hand the film rights back to Clive Barker if they continue to put out drek like this sequel.  The last good HELLRAISER film was HELLSEEKER.

 

You see 2011 had a variety of titles out on Blu-ray and DVD while 2012 promises to have an interesting assortment out on Blu-ray and DVD too.   You can track the reviews of any of these titles by visiting the Blu-ray and DVD review indexes for 2011.

 

this article is (c)1-7-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com