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The Mist

Darabont elevates the The Mist above what generally passes for spooky claustrophobia these days, employing some extremely effective CGI and stop-motion effects, as well as the designs of comic-book artist Bernie Wrightson. King cultists also will enjoy sniffing out background minutiae associated with the author and his Dark Tower series. The folks at Dimension, acutely aware of the riches to be found in a genre film's DVD incarnation, have sent out a two-disc Collector's Edition, with deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, commentary and a full-length version of The Mist in black-and-white, the color palette preferred by Darabont.
The Water Horse
A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend. Nessie lives.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
The up-and-down-and-up-again story of musician Dewey Cox, whose songs would change a nation.
Sleuth
By further depopulating the cast of Anthony Schaffer's already spare whodunit, Sleuth, director Kenneth Branagh and adaptor Harold Pinter have stripped the dusty theatrical piece to its bare essentials.
Atonement
This is no déjà vu of Pride & Prejudice. There is a romantic subtext, but the foreground is serous and misery laden most of the way. You can tell from the images that Joe Wright has improved as a director… but he still isn’t a director who can wrangle magic from simple images.
Beowulf
Beowulf is not complicated. Beowulf is not challenging. But Beowulf is solid, stirring, exciting, unexpectedly thoughtful, and beautiful. More >
In the Valley of Elah
Tommy Lee Jones is Oscar-nominated for his role in this movie about a career officer who works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.
Redacted
While some reactionary observers who haven't seen Redacted have labeled Brian DePalma's latest film with such calumnies as "arthouse snuff-porn," there is at least the courage of his anger, which brings this rapid-fire, if indifferently written and acted, montage to a consistent boil. More >
Rendition
A thriller about a man who mysteriously disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington DC and the government conspiracy put in place to cover it up.
   
   
   
Juno
"I don't want to give my baby to a couple who describes themselves as "wholesome." I was looking for, maybe, a thirty-something graphic designer with a cool Asian girlfriend who kicks ass on the bass guitar, but I don't know, I don't wanna get too particular."
Lars and the Real Girl
I had that warm, glowing feeling as I sat through the third act of this film… it is so gentle and loving and human. And isn’t that what drove the oddball LMS to an Oscar nod and Indy Spirit win last season?
The Savages
A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father. Oscar Nominations for Laura Linney and Best Screenplay.
Lawrence of Arabia
Newly restored - it's pristine. Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service.

 

 


There Will Be Blood
The first act of There Will Be Blood offers the possibility that we are experiencing the next Citizen Kane, Days of Heaven, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Giant, and Chinatown all rolled into one singular vision unlike any we have ever seen from PTA. The cinematography is lushly coarse, as Robert Elswit soars to new heights that can only be weighted down by having to compete with himself for an Oscar versus his work in Michael Clayton. Jack Fisk’s production design is similarly worthy. We are in the middle of nowhere, which has never been so beautiful and so raw. We don’t know who Day-Lewis is playing yet, just that he is a solitary figure mining a solitary hole in the ground… relentlessly… without words… testing, pushing, trying. More>>

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Sweeney Todd:
Demon Barber of
Fleet Street
Devoted fans of Stephen Sondheim's dark and portentous Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd, had reason to question Tim Burton's casting of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter in the lead roles, previously played by Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. While few could doubt the ability of the director's mainstay players to act the parts of the vengeful barber and his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, there was no previous indication either could handle the intricacies of Sondheim's operatic score. Turns out, they could. More>

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I Am Legend
If I Am Legend had stuck to the core elements of Matheson's story, and reduced the hand-to-hand contact with the vampires, it might have achieved something more admirable than record a $77 million box-office haul over its opening weekend. Smith is extremely convincing as the Everyman hero who channels the loneliness of Burgess Meredith in Time Enough at Last, the humanity of Bob Marley, the dogged conviction of Professor Abraham van Helsing and survivor skills of Arnold Schwarzenegger. More>

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Enchanted
I wouldn't be betraying any confidences by revealing, everyone lived happily ever after, because that's how all Disney fairy tales end, and the real fun here comes in the journey to that point. Older viewers will enjoy picking out the many musical and visual references to Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp and other Disney touchstones. The extras include deleted scenes, bloopers, a pop-up game and making-of featurette. More>

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The Bee Movie
Kids might not sit still long enough to discover the moral of the story, but older viewers will find it worth the wait. It helps that the bright yellow palette is so visually stunning - and computer animation so sharp - owners of advanced home-theater systems will be tempted to don sunglasses to watch Bee Story. Apropos of the apian source material, a certain feeling of rapid, unfettered flight also is palpable. More>

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No Country For Old Men
 The arid physical and moral landscape of the west Texas and New Mexico - as integral a character as any human in the film - is so splendidly rendered by cinematographer Roger Deakins, one can easily imagine Billy the Kid surveying the same territory 100 years prior to Chigurh's arrival. The bonus features offer little more than what can be found in an EPK or on a HBO preview. The better stuff will arrive in short order, I expect. More>

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