More Articles By Ed Hulse
- The Unknown Trilogy
ALLUMINATION Street: Jan. 29 Prebook: Dec. 28 > Low-budget, Twilight Zone knockoff offers few chills. Linked by Twilight Zone-type narration by a psychiatrist (Robert Costanzo), three short films explore the impact that fear has on our lives. The first has co-director Sal Mazzotta as a chronically unlucky gambler; the second revolves around a young boy’s fear of funeral parlors; and t... More - Good Luck Chuck
LIONSGATE Street: Jan. 15 Prebook: now > Lowbrow comedy aims straight for the groin and rarely misses. This comedy’s clever premise begins with dentist Charlie Logan (Dane Cook), who can’t sustain a relationship because his lady friends invariably find their soul mate after bedding him once. More - The Box
CODE BLACK/VIVENDI VISUAL Street: Jan. 8 Prebook: Dec. 11 > Convoluted thriller starring Gabrielle Union. When a seemingly bungled home invasion results in multiple murders, homicide detective Cris Romano (Gabrielle Union) and her partner, Dwayne Burkhalter (Giancarlo Esposito), focus on the sole survivor, Finn Williams (Yul Vazquez). More - The District
ATOPIA Street: Jan. 15 Prebook: Dec. 21 > Clever Hungarian animation that is stylish and energetic. This irreverent, politically charged animated feature from Eastern Europe focuses on Budapest teenagers who employ time travel in a scheme to make them oil millionaires. It’s a cleverly written romp that offers Stateside viewers a rare look at a youth culture that reflects some American... More - Forget About It
ALLUMINATION Street: Jan. 8 Prebook: Dec. 4 > Amiable Mob comedy with a recognizable cast will skew to an older demographic. This silly but inoffensive comedy stars Burt Reynolds, Robert Loggia, Charles Durning and Raquel Welch as retired Arizona seniors who get themselves into trouble with a mobster (Michael Paloma), who has been relocated to their community by the Witness Protection Program. More - Two-Lane Blacktop
CRITERION/IMAGE Street: Dec. 11 Prebook: now > Classic road movie boasts new transfer and extensive supplements. Monte Hellman's 1971 road movie, long a cult favorite, stars singer/songwriter James Taylor and Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson as partners in a cross-country race against G.T.O. driver Warren Oates. More - Hack!
ALLUMINATION Street: Dec. 11 Prebook: now > Cheeky, self-referential homage to slasher films has plenty for gorehounds and parody lovers. Unapologetically self-aware, this jokey slasher movie references more horror flicks in one reel than all the Scary Movie installments put together. A handful of students on a biology field trip to a remote island are invited by married filmmakers (Sean Ka... More - Werewolf: The Devil’s Hound
LIONSGATE Street: Dec. 4 Prebook: now > Gorefest’s reach exceeds its grasp but will satisfy undemanding genre fans. In this low-budget shocker, a young pyrotechnics specialist (Michael Dionne) preys on his friends and co-workers after a werewolf’s bite infects his bloodstream and turns him into a lycanthrope. More - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End—Two-Disc Special Edition
DISNEY Street: Dec. 4 Prebook: now > Perfectly timed for Christmas, this extras-loaded Pirates holds plenty of treasure for consumers. The third Pirates film downplays Johnny Depp (Captain Jack) and Orlando Bloom (Will) to build up Keira Knightley (Elizabeth) and the returning Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa), but the real stars are the special-effects techies, whose work the entire film seems to h... More - The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series
TIME LIFE Street: Nov. 27 Prebook: now > A brilliantly compiled and presented, though somewhat pricey, Christmas gift for vintage-TV collectors. An outgrowth of the James Bond phenomenon (and one reportedly suggested in part by Bond creator Ian Fleming), this spy series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum was red hot for a few years in the ’60s. More - Midnight Clear
LIONSGATE Street: Dec. 4 Prebook: now > Heartwarming holiday drama is skewed toward Christian/traditionalist audiences. When Christmas Eve finds divorced loser Lefty (Stephen Baldwin), his mother (K Callan) and a handful of strangers at their wits end, a series of seemingly random meetings that night changes their lives forever. More - The Lady Vanishes
CRITERION/IMAGE Street: Nov. 20 Prebook: now > Classic thriller receives new high-def transfer and is supplemented by a previously unreleased bonus film. Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, centering on a sweet old lady (Dame May Whitty) who disappears from a crowded train rolling across Europe, has aged quite gracefully and remains a near flawless example of its genre. More - Pigs
THINKFILM Street: Nov. 27 Prebook: Nov. 1 > Hackneyed sex comedy has great packaging but fails to deliver on its promise. Goaded by his dorm buddies, ladies man Miles (Jefferson Brown) intends to sleep with the whole alphabet—girls whose names begin with letters A to Z—in the interest of winning a bet. More - Innocent Voices
POLYCHROME/WARNER Street: April 8 Prebook: March 4 > Heartrending drama about the ’80s conflict in El Salvador is crafted with skill and sensitivity. Innocent Voices focuses on Chava (Carlos Padilla), an 11-year-old boy who helps his single mother, Kella (Leonor Varela), raise his siblings in war-torn El Salvador and faces forced conscription into the government army when he turns 12. More - Father of Lies
VIVENDI VISUAL Street: Oct. 30 Prebook: now > Uneven direction mars an otherwise creditable indie effort aimed at faith-based, African-American consumers. In this drama, Bishop Calvin Jacobs (Clifton Powell), a recovering alcoholic, takes desperate measures to save his financially strapped church—even accepting a loan from a Turkish businessman who wants assistance in a money-launderi... More - 3000 Miles
REVOLVER/IMAGE Street: Nov. 13 Prebook: now > A wild ride that crams a lot of high-spirited fun into less than two hours. The first American release from British company Revolver Entertainment, 3000 Miles documents the eighth Gumball Rally, a 120-vehicle extravaganza that began in London, headed through Belgium, Vienna, Belgrade and ultimately finished in Los Angeles at the Playboy Mansion. More - Barry Cooper’s Never Get Busted Again: Vol. 1—Traffic Stops
DISINFORMATION Street: Oct. 30 Prebook: now > A stoner’s primer to evading discovery and arrest. Whoa, dude, how cool is that?! Ex-cop and self-confessed stoner Barry Cooper, having decided that America’s drug laws are too strict, claims in this vanity production that he has been motivated by “compassion” to prepare this video how-to manual for avoiding arrest. More - Fighting Words
INDICAN Street: Oct. 30 Prebook: now > Yarn about slam poetry could pass muster with young, hip viewers. Enter the tense, exciting, dramatic world of … slam poetry. Yes, you heard right, slam poetry. It has got a powerful hold on young wordsmith Jake (Jeff Stearns), who’s encouraged by a poetry-loving bar owner, Gabriel (Fred Williamson), to compete in a “cutthroat” ... More - Show Business: The Road to Broadway
LIBERATION/GENIUS Street: Oct. 16 Prebook: now > A unique inside look behind the scenes of a quartet of Broadway shows. Those who’ve always wondered what goes on behind the curtains at Broadway’s biggest hits will enjoy this engrossing documentary, which specifically focuses on four daring shows launched during the controversial 2003-04 season: Wicked; Avenue Q; Taboo and Caroli... More - Valentino Collection
FLICKER ALLEY Available now > Lovingly produced tribute to the silent-era star. The silent screen’s original “Latin lover,” Rudolph Valentino, is seen to good advantage in this two-disc compilation of rarities, including four previously unavailable films: A Society Sensation (1918), Stolen Moments (1920), The Young Rajah and Moran of the Lady Letty (both 1922). More
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