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Recommended Viewing (Technically Adept)

Also, check out my most recent reviews, the best DVDs I’ve reviewed, and all the DVDs I’ve reviewed.


The Wizard of Oz Reviewed 11/27/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 9
This is a wonderful transfer of the 1939 classic musical. If you missed the 1998 re-release to the theaters, you’ve almost certainly never seen this movie this good. And the disk itself is chock full of wonderful extras. MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” DVD is a great buy. More...
A Star is Born Reviewed 10/9/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 9
Probably Judy Garland’s best movie, released in 1954 with James Mason, directed by George Cukor (of “Philadelphia Story”) and produced by none other than her husband. Production values are high, acting is top-notch, and the singing is Judy Garland. The DVD has a few nice extras also. More...
Detroit Rock City Reviewed 3/31/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 9
Four Cleveland high school kids ditch school in 1978 to see KISS at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Along the way they pick up Natasha Lyonne. What a trip! More...
Almost Famous Reviewed 1/15/2002 Purchase Overall Rating: 9
This is the best DVD I’ve seen yet. It has not one, not two, but three discs: the third disc is a CD with music by Stillwater, including the Led Zeppelin-like “Fever Dogs”. Thought the snippets of that song was cool, it was too bad they didn’t write the whole thing? Fret no more, they did write the whole thing, and at least five other songs, all on the CD. More...
The Ruling Class Reviewed 10/24/2002 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
When Jack’s aunt asks him how he knows he’s God, Jack replies, “Simple. When I pray I find I’m talking to myself.” More...
Casablanca Reviewed 5/29/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Ah, Play it, Sam! If this isn’t the most-quoted movie outside of Macbeth, you’re in the wrong country. This is a beautiful DVD. The movie is presented in the original full-screen format. Languages are French and English, both spoken and subtitled. It also includes a nice documentary hosted by Lauren Bacall. More...
Pleasantville Reviewed 6/19/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Brother and sister fight over a remote control given them by Don Knotts and end up in a fifties black and white television show. Moral: never accept gifts from Barney Fife. More...
Groundhog Day Reviewed 8/8/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Bill Murray gets stuck reliving the same day over and over again: Groundhog’s Day in a hick town in Pennsylvania. Every morning at six o’clock he wakes up to the sound of Sonny & Cher, and every day the same things happen over and over again until he takes control. More...
The Matrix Reviewed 10/15/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Wow! People are already talking about this movie as the new Star Wars, and they may not be wrong; the future will decide. It has all the right elements: action, story, mythical heroes, perhaps an overemphasis on the messiah bit, but otherwise a kick-ass movie. More...
Halloween Reviewed 10/12/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
The first really good screamer flick I saw. Jamie Lee Curtis kicks butt! I’ve got this one on order. Note that the unlimited edition is less expensive, and doesn’t include the television presentation and its extra footage. It does contain most of the other extras, if not all of them. More...
The Philadelphia Story Reviewed 10/8/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn. Suave at its best. James Stewart runs away with it. The movie was originally a play, and Katherine Hepburn got the movie rights and got George Cukor to direct. What’s to tell about the story? Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn play an upper-crust ex-couple, and James Stewart and Ruth Hussey play the working class reporters covering their story.

The DVD is presented in the original full-frame format, in English, with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. More...

Dead By Dawn Reviewed 9/16/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
Ash is unable to escape after his first night, and ends up spending another night in the cabin in the woods... along with a strange archaeologist’s daughter. Sam Raimi makes another funny gorefest. More...
Blade Reviewed 4/4/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 8
The best modern vampire movie I’ve seen, this is not a horror movie at all: it’s an adventure, related as much to comic books as to movies. And it’s almost an early “screen test” for “The Matrix”, related to “The Matrix” through “Dark City” and Hong Kong action films. This is an action film. You know right from the first scene that this movie is here to show asses being kicked. More...
The Road Warrior Reviewed 5/24/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
With the “original gore restored”, you just can’t miss! I’m not sure what gore was added back in, however, as it was pretty gory to begin with and I haven’t seen it for quite a while. More...
Beetlejuice Reviewed 5/24/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
Adam and Barbara Maitland die and haunt their house, only to discover that they aren’t very good at haunting and need to call in an expert: the “ghost with the most”, Beetlejuice. More...
Ghostbusters Reviewed 7/10/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
This is a very funny movie, and a very nice DVD. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Bill Murray, and later Ernie Hudson kick ghost ass as New York City has supernatural troubles of “biblical proportions”. More...
The Bicycle Thief Reviewed 7/28/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
One of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, “The Bicycle Thief” is listed as “influential” by many of the best directors today--at least according to the trailer provided on the DVD. Well worth seeing at least once. More...
A Nightmare on Elm Street Reviewed 10/31/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
One of the best horror movies of my generation, up there with “Halloween” in influence, if not in execution, and seemingly heavily influenced by it. More...
Excalibur Reviewed 11/8/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
Hard to go wrong for the price, and this is the best retelling of the Arthurian saga that I’ve seen on screen. It also includes some early parts by Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, and Gabriel Byrne. More...
City of Lost Children Reviewed 10/22/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
This French movie is filmed like a portrait in four dimensions. The disk includes both the anamorphic widescreen and the pan and scan version, as well as a commentary by the director and Ron Perlman. A beautiful movie, well worth seeing. More...
How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Horton Hears a Who Reviewed 10/13/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
Aaw! How sweet! Also includes “Horton Hears a Who”, the heavily politicized elephant tale. It isn’t quite as good as “Grinch”, but it’s still quite entertaining. This double feature is a pretty good deal if you like those cartoons. More...
Cinema Paradiso Reviewed 3/11/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
One of the best Italian films of the last two decades, follows a boy’s life in a poor area of Southern Italy, as he grows up working for surrogate father-figure “Alfredo”, the proprietor of the local movie theater. More...
Wag the Dog Reviewed 6/11/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
The president is accused of molesting a child. The president’s guilt or innocence doesn’t matter. What matters is the election in eleven days. More...
The Evil Dead Reviewed 7/24/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
A true “cult classic” that involves beginning actors, a student director, and even a student producer. Director Sam Raimi later went on to do a few more Evil Deads as well as a number of other movies such as “A Simple Plan”. More...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Reviewed 10/8/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 7
The first four episodes from “Granada”, starring Jeremy Brett and David Burke. These were brilliant, the only good adaptations of the Holmes stories I’ve ever seen. Includes “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The Dancing Men” on one side, and “The Naval Treaty” and “The Solitary Cyclist” on the other side. More...
Birth of a Nation Reviewed 5/24/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
One of the first feature-length films ever, notable for its historical value. Highly racist, even for its time. More...
Being There Reviewed 4/13/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
Peter Sellers’ last and in my opinion best work, based on the story by Jerzy Kosinski (and with a screenplay written by him). This is a quietly funny, provocative, and touching film about “down to earth” philosophies. More...
Dark City Reviewed 9/21/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
Kind of a cross between “The Matrix” and “The Truman Show” (but coming out before each of them, in early 1998). There is also a Giger-esque feel to the entire thing, especially apparent in the “Set Design” drawings included on the DVD. One of the executive producers--Andrew Mason--was also a producer on “The Matrix”. How much that influences things, I don’t know. After all, it also has a Detroit Rock City connection. Both producers Brian Written and Michael DeLuca were producers on the KISS fest. Still, Mason also did special effects for both films, which is likely to have more influence. More...
South Park Volume 3 Reviewed 12/12/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
South Park Volume 1 Reviewed 12/12/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
South Park Volume 2 Reviewed 12/12/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
South Park Volume 4 Reviewed 12/31/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
South Park Volume 5 Reviewed 12/31/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
South Park Volume 6 Reviewed 12/31/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
I was first introduced to South Park through the movie (which also kicks ass). The television shows are amazing. Variety, of all things, calls it “gloriously subversive art”. Yeah, whatever. It’s great shit that you must eat. I recommend buying the collected three-DVD sets. Make sure you check the pricing, however: at Amazon, the sets are more expensive than buying the individual disks! The first set, at least, contains nothing but the individual disks: there is no bonus to buying the set. (In fact, now that the second 3-pack is out, the pricing is all fucked up for South Park, so pay attention.) More...
Hook Reviewed 5/28/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
Peter Pan grew up and became a corporate raider with two kids. If this were a true extension of Peter Pan, he probably has two mistresses on the side and he might be a serial killer. But instead he’s just a poor imitation of a business geek. More...
Kentucky Fried Movie Reviewed 7/2/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
A funny movie of comedic historical significance. “Kentucky Fried Movie” is outrageous in some parts, dated in many, and utterably unmissable. You’re gonna have to see this at some point in your life, but make sure your mother’s not watching. More...
Underdog Reviewed 10/1/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
“There’s no need to no fear, Underdog is here!” Yipes! Let’s see how many characters I can remember. Underdog, Simon Barsinister, Overcat, Sweet Polly Purebred? What was his secret identity? What was the shoeshine boy’s name? More...
Total Movie Reviewed 10/29/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
The first issue of “Total Movie” magazine comes with a very impressive DVD. The contents of the magazine are a bit variable, but $8 for “Troops” with a director’s commentary is worth it. Note that Total Movie has been cancelled by their parent company. More info at Home Theater Forum. More...
The Seven Samurai Reviewed 4/22/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 6
Probably the most influential samurai film, starring Toshirô Mifune and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It inspired more than just samurai: “The Magnificent Seven” was “Seven Samurai” remade into one of the most influential westerns. More...
Scooby Doo’s Original Mysteries Reviewed 3/11/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
The first five episodes of the Scooby Doo cartoon on DVD. Oh, heaven! And not one of them gripes about “And I would have done it, too, if it weren’t for those [expletive] kids!” More...
Land of the Lost Reviewed 7/29/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
“Marshall, Will, and Holly, on a routine expedition, met the greatest earthquake ever known. High on the rapids, it tossed their tiny raft, and tossed them down a thousand feet below, to the land of the lost.” Wow, I haven’t seen that thing for twenty years and I still remember it. I can’t believe they’re releasing this on DVD. Does this mean I have to break out my twenty-year-old pot stash too? More...
The Shawshank Redemption Reviewed 1/21/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
In what might be considered a “forerunner” to “The Green Mile”, Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a convict in Shawshank prison in this very beautiful, if sugary, story. Highlander fans will also recognize Clancy Brown as the main prison guard. More...
Altered States Reviewed 3/31/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
I did not see this movie when it came out in 1980, but I had definitely heard of it. As I recall, it had quite a reputation. I think that in some ways, “Altered States” was the last gasp of the sixties/seventies drug movies. It is a fascinating movie of extremely questionable science investigating the religion of self. More...
Salem’s Lot Reviewed 4/2/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
When this movie came out in 1979 I missed seeing it, although I had enjoyed the book immensely. I was, honestly, just plain too scared to see it “live” on screen. The book was scary enough. Perhaps it would have been frightening then, I don’t remember myself well enough (I do remember sleeping with a cross after reading the book). It is not very frightening now. More...
U.S. Marshals Reviewed 4/14/2001 Purchase Overall Rating: 5
The unknown sequel to the 1993 movie “The Fugitive” stars Tommy Lee Jones as Marshal Sam Gerard. Can it really be a sequel if it doesn’t include the original lead? At least it sucks, which is the true sign of a sequel. More...
Orlando Reviewed 12/23/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 4
“Orlando” is a pretentious movie about a pretentious book that never goes anywhere but has some cool scenes in it. Probably a good movie to watch when you’re too distracted to pay attention. More...
Army of Darkness Reviewed 7/28/2000 Purchase Overall Rating: 4
This was originally the ‘companion disk’ to the 2-disk limited edition of “Army of Darkness”. Army of Darkness was a hilarious send-up of ‘B’ movies, and was also funny in its own right. This disk, however, was not originally meant to be sold alone, and doesn’t stand up without the theatrical release. More...
The Player Reviewed 5/24/1999 Purchase Overall Rating: 3
Whether or not you like this movie seems to depend solely on whether or not you take part in the movie industry. Insiders like it. Everyone else can give it a miss. More...

“Technically adept” movies are movies made with a basic understanding of what makes the DVD format special. Currently I have two criteria for calling a disk “technically adept”. The first is that the makers must understand that, unlike VHS, this is a long-term format: the disk will last forever. This means releasing the movie in enhanced form. The second is that they have to understand that digital format gives viewing control to the viewer. The disk must support “last memo” to be called “technically adept”.

Read more reviews...

Technically Adept DVDs

About These Reviews

The rating scale runs from 1 to 10, with 10 being a great movie (or DVD, or feature, or transfer), one being horrible.

There are two sections for the review. A “capsule” review, and then a more in-depth review. The in-depth review may contain spoilers. You are hereby warned.

About the Links

Recommendation: If the recommendation says “rent”, the link is to NetFlix.Com; if the recommendation says “purchase”, the link is to Amazon.Com. I use NetFlix because they are the only on-line DVD rental place I’ve used, and they are very good. If you know of another on-line DVD rental site, let me know and I’ll check around on Usenet to see how good they are.

I use Amazon because they pretty much guarantee that the links I make will always work. Amazon also pays me every time you buy something by hitting one of my links; this does not affect my recommendation: I do not recommend that you purchase anything that I haven’t already purchased or plan to purchase imminently. I would have to sell about 20 items to break even in this manner, which doesn’t happen. It makes no sense for me to recommend a purchase when I don’t really mean it.

Talk About it: This links to Usenet discussion messages, people talking about the movie on Usenet. Usenet is the major discussion area on the net. Not only are the best and most wide-ranging discussions there, but the best tools exist for reading Usenet. I find that I can easily handle Usenet discussions that are ten, twenty, or even a hundred times more active than e-mail or web-based discussions. This is because the management tools, such as MT Newswatcher on the Macintosh, make it very easy for me to filter the interesting from the uninteresting.

I also provide three other sources for on-line reviews, just because I like reading other people’s reviews, and I think you will too: Usenet reviews, DVDFile reviews, and IMDB Reviews.

  1. Usenet Reviews: There is a special Usenet discussion group just for movie reviews, and this searches that group for reviews pertaining to this movie.
  2. DVDFile Reviews: DVDFile.com maintains a listing of reviews around the net.
  3. IMDB Reviews: A direct link to the external reviews page for this movie in the Internet Movie Database.

Movie Details: The Internet Movie Database is a wonderful resource for movie information. It includes information about the DVDs, about the cast, about the movie itself, and includes reviews from people on the net, and trivia about the movie: goofs, quotes; and it allows you to update the information if you know something about the movie that isn’t listed.

Cast Listing: A direct link to the cast listing for this movie on the Internet Movie Database.

Other Information About the Movie

Last Memo Enabled: DVD has the ability to let you watch a movie partway, take it out, and then start from where you left off. On my Pioneer, this is called “Last Memo”. A large number of DVD discs have disabled this feature, which is a shame, and really detracts from the usefulness of DVD. This is, after all, something that VHS does naturally: if you take a VHS tape out, and then put it back in tomorrow, it will start from where it left off. I find that when I get home from the office and start making dinner, I’m much more likely to pop in a DVD that has Last Memo enabled. To make it easier, I’ve listed all the movies that are both enhanced widescreen and last memo enabled.

Features: DVDs often have features besides the movie itself. The trailer is often included; and commentary about the movie, interviews with the cast, etc. I’ve rated these features 1 to 10, with 1 being practically worthless, 10 being a superior feature.

Format: DVDs can play back in a number of formats. The best is “widescreen anamorphic” which will play back on both widescreen and normal televisions. The second best is “letterbox”, which plays back the full theatrical release of the movie. Finally, there is “pan and scan”, which chops off the sides of the movie so that it ‘fits’ on a normal television. With Pan & Scan you are almost always missing important parts of the movie. If you do not have a widescreen TV when watching letter box and widescreen, you’ll see black bars at the top and bottom of your screen. This is simply because movies are wider than televisions, and in order to show you the full movie, the movie has to be shrunk top to bottom to show the full movie left to right. If the black bars bother you, make sure that DVDs you purchase have both letterbox/widescreen and pan & scan. To make it easier, I’ve listed all the movies that are both enhanced widescreen and last memo enabled.

“Widescreen Anamorphic” has the ability to play a pan & scan version as well for those who prefer (perhaps on smaller televisions) to have the picture fill the screen. However, most discs do not enable this feature. If I notice that this feature of Widescreen Anamorphic is enabled, I’ll mention it. It sounds like a great idea that could save a lot of space on DVDs that can then be used to include other features. (It would be even better if widescreen included the full area, and the pan & scan was then able to pan up and down--and we could set our own matting.)

Some older movies were never made in a wide, panoramic version. To differentiate between these movies and chopped movies, I’ll call them “Academy Format”. A movie listed as Academy Format is the full theatrical release; a movie listed as pan and scan is a chopped movie.

Unskippable Openers: Some movies can have annoying openers that they do not let you skip. Sometimes there can be up to three or more of these that you are forced to watch with every movie. On a DVD, this is silly. I can see having a skippable studio opener, but putting an FBI warning, or worse, an FBI warning, a couple of advertisements, a studio opener, and a manufacturer opener is showing a profound lack of understanding about the nature of digital entertainment.

The Obligatory Anti-DIVX Editorial

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Jerry

FireBlade Coffeehouse DVD Movie Reviews
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