Green Zone

Directed by Paul Greengrass, 2010

Director Paul Greengrass airlifts Jason Bourne to war-torn Baghdad in this Iraq-occupation thriller that casts Matt Damon as a crusading soldier uncovering evidence of lies and misdirection in the American war on terrorism. It’s a less successful companion piece to his almost unbearably tense United 93.

… [full review]

Survival of the Dead

Directed by George Romero, 2009

Whatever else you might say about George Romero, it's hard to accuse the guy of just repeating himself. After making his reputation as progenitor of the zombie movie in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead, a bleak, Vietnam-era... … [read more]

The Ghost Writer

Directed by Roman Polanski, 2010

The Ghost Writer opens, appropriately enough given the film’s generally menacing tone, with the death of a ferry passenger.Did the poor bastard simply get soused and totter off a slippery deck? In a Roman Polanski movie? Not bloody likely. … [read more]

Black Dynamite

Directed by Scott Sanders, 2009

The 70s exploitation-film spoof Black Dynamite sounds like a fun idea on paper, and it starts to look like a can't-miss proposition when you see the theatrical trailer, which showcases the technical qualities of this loving pastiche. But something about the execution is flat. … [read more]

It Might Get Loud

Directed by Davis Guggenheim, 2008

The Edge represents something especially modern in rock-and-roll: the idea of the guitarist as pure technician. A great riff for him isn't so much a combination of notes as a combination of noises -- harmonics, distortion, wah-wah modulation, an echoed din chiming out into infinity like church bells in the Grand Canyon. The guitar itself is just an input device; the pealing tones and rhythms are created elsewhere. … [read more]

District 13: Ultimatum

Directed by Patrick Allessandrin, 2009

When D13: Ultimatum is firing on all cylinders, it's a bad-ass action movie. When it functions as a delivery mechanism for a social message, it's corny as all hell, but still pleasant enough. … [read more]

Fish Tank

Directed by Andrea Arnold, 2009

Katie Jarvis gives an easy, naturalistic performance that's pure teenage girl, whether she's bloodying the collective nose of her peer group or (symbol alert) pounding the hell out of a padlock that keeps a friendly gray horse chained up on one of the neighborhood's desolate, nearly empty lots that smells of young men and menace. … [read more]

Moon

Directed by Duncan Jones, 2009

Duncan Jones's debut feature, Moon, is a surprisingly effective—even moving—story of isolation and alienation on the lunar surface. … [read more]

Jennifer's Body

Directed by Karyn Kusama, 2009

BLU-RAY

Megan Fox is already something of a comic-book character. She's got attitude to spare, and she's built like one of those impossibly slender Mary Jane Watson figures from early Todd McFarlane issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. … [read more]

Crazy Heart

Directed by Scott Cooper, 2009

There’s nothing at all new here, but what Crazy Heart has going for it is a bit of authenticity. … [read more]

Paranormal Activity

Directed by Oren Peli, 2007

BLU-RAY

Somehow, writer/director Oren Peli hits exactly the right tone, infusing this transparently phony ooga-booga material with just enough po-faced credibility to encourage willing suspension of disbelief. … [read more]

A Perfect Getaway

Directed by David Twohy, 2009

BLU-RAY

Writer/director David Twohy keeps this material tricky, freaky, and laugh-out-loud funny for long enough that it qualifies as a real achievement. … [read more]

Up in the Air

Directed by Jason Reitman, 2009

George Clooney and Vera Farmiga are in very fine form, but this comedy-drama quickly devolves from slick recession satire into glumly moralizing parable. … [read more]

DVD/BLU-RAY

The Sopranos: The Complete First Season

BLU-RAY

In later seasons, The Sopranos would too often threaten to disappear up Chase's asshole as he ruminated, sometimes vigorously, sometimes ponderously, on the mysteries of American family life. But the first season has none of that leisure, expertly modulating stretches of comedy and drama en route to those crucial moments that leave you gasping. … [read more]

On Blu-ray: Up and Monsters, Inc.

Directed by Pete Docter,

BLU-RAY

The new Blu-ray Disc (BD) version of Up — released on the same day as the BD of director Pete Docter's debut effort, Monsters, Inc. — is a revelation in at least one regard: it demonstrates that 2D is better. … [read more]

Repulsion

Directed by Roman Polanski, 1965

BLU-RAY

Catherine Deneuve is Carole, a London flat-dweller who starts to go out of her mind from fear and paranoia after her roommate sister and her beau go on holiday, leaving her by herself in the apartment. … [read more]

Video

Audio Commentary: Wild Style (Charlie Ahearn, 1983)

A look at "Stoop Rap" as performed by Double Trouble in the seminal hip-hop movie Wild Style. … [read more]

Audio Commentary: They Live (John Carpenter, 1988)

A look at scenes from John Carpenter's satirical alien-invasion movie They Live, released four days before the 1988 presidential elections and relevant to this day. … [read more]

Halloween Horror Montage

Every year, I see those Chuck Workman clip compilations on the Oscars broadcast and I think, "Gee, that looks like a fun job." Also every year, I wish I had started thinking about Halloween early enough to do something special for my Web site. … [read more]