Movies@Home
The Cranes Are Flying is a groundbreaking movie that escaped the Soviet’s relentless orthodoxy to celebrate individuality during war. The stunning Tatiana Samoilova is Veronika, a girl in love with a soldier. A simple story …
Two grad professors have taught and praised The Decalogue in their poetry/fiction classes this semester. Originally airing in the late ’80s on Polish television, The Decalogue is a collection of ten potent vignettes loosely corresponding …
Ip Man is absolute perfection — crazy choreographed fun at its finest. Donnie Yen awes with lightning-fast hands and tight technique as innovative martial-arts legend Ip Man, mentor to Bruce Lee and innovator of the …
The State: The Complete Series has been out for a while, but it’s still one of my favorites. The mid-’90s MTV sketch comedy series is complete in one DVD set. Some of the sketches may …
I’ve derived much inspiration from both John Waters and the desert region outside of San Diego, so I was thrilled to discover Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea. Narrated by Waters, it offers an …
What makes Idiocracy so funny is how clearly you can see the future of our society in it. It is sad, depressing, and scary how close we are to reaching the level of stupidity depicted …
From the sublime to the ridiculous, the much-missed Madeline Kahn’s comedic genius shines in the unusual double feature of Paper Moon and Yellowbeard. We like having friends over for private movie screenings, and this pair …
My first recommendation is Disney’s Blu-ray release of the original Tron. I single out the Blu-ray release because it’s a stunning transformation from DVD to BR. The very nature of the film, with its groundbreaking …
Many years ago I happened on Stranger Than Paradise at a college film festival. My first-ever Jim Jarmusch movie and still my favorite. Willie (John Lurie), living in low-rent New York, is compelled by his …
Hot Rod: Despite the luke-warm reviews, I found Hot Rod to be incredibly funny and full of quotable lines. I’ve watched it with my kids numerous times. It’s just a fun movie for kids of …
Gadgets really define the Bond films and the ones I really love are ones that would be great to actually have because I could see myself using them. One gadget is from one of the …
Harold and Maude is a good movie to screen for friends once you get to know them better. After all, love it or hate it, you should be able to say something nice about Harold …
My first movie is a holiday classic, Holiday Inn. It was made in 1942 and features Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. For my family and me, it’s a tradition to watch this movie when the …
I picked Alien because it’s a perfect example of what a horror movie should be: tight, dark corridors, the crushing black of space, and a creature you never quite see until the end. This one …
As a filmmaker setting out to do a Giallo (a genre of Italian crime thrillers) short film, I only find it fitting that my picks for Halloween are two standards of this classic Italian film …
New on Blu-ray is Drew Goddard’s supremely fun horror-comedy The Cabin in the Woods. Fans of Goddard and his producer Joss Whedon will enjoy their legendary cleverness as well as some beloved actors from the …