DVD/Blu-ray review: Daily Loaf, Creative Loafing Tampa

DVD review: Give Me the Banjo is a warm look at an American original

Kyle Dunn — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:00:00 -0400

My grandmother lives and owns a thriving little business in Brevard, NC — the very bastion of banjo music where Steve Martin, the assuring narrator of Give Me the Banjo, established his own bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. My grandmother and the banjo have a lot in common, too.…

DVD Review: Don’t Go in the Woods

Kevin Tall — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 04:00:00 -0400

“No phones, no weed, no booze, no girls.”

Someone sure knows how to have a good time. If you want to have a good time, avoid Don’t Go in the Woods.

Say hello to Nick, despotic band douche, who dragged his friends and emo-hipster bandmates out to BFE to record new songs for a demo in the quest for a record deal.…

Blu-ray review: Safe House with Denzel Washington

Daniel Feingold — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 15:00:00 -0400

There is absolutely nothing original about Safe House. The characters, story and cinematography all take a familiar path that we know from countless espionage thrillers.…

Blu-ray review: John Carter journeys home

Kyle Dunn — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:31:00 -0400

There are no simple stories in Hollywood.

Movie narratives are larger than life and then some.…

The Office employees are still awkward on Blu-Ray

Daniel Feingold — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:00:00 -0400

I said throughout the seventh season of The Office that the show could actually benefit from the inevitable departure of Dunder Mifflin Scranton Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell). At the same time, I wasn't too sure about the cast and crew's ability to produce a seventh season worthy of our time.…

Mars Needs Moms lands on Blu-ray

Daniel Feingold — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:00:00 -0400

Disney's Mars Needs Moms, out on Blu-Ray and DVD on Aug. 9, follows the journey of Milo (Seth Green, Chris on Family Guy), a boy who's at the age when listening to your parents is not high on the list of priorities. One day Milo wishes he didn’t have a mother, and soon enough he doesn’t. Noises and bright lights lead Milo outside in the middle of the night to find that his mother (a motherly Joan Cusack) is being abducted by aliens.…

Early Adam Sandler flicks Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore now out on Blu-Ray

Daniel Feingold — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:20:40 -0400

They're as funny as they were back in the '90s, and now you can view them on Blu-Ray. Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore are two Adam Sandler classics, and mark the beginning of the comedian's rise to cinematic fame and fortune.…

DVD Review: James Cameron's Sanctum

Katelyn Williamson — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:56:50 -0400

When I sat down to watch the James Cameron-produced Sanctum, a film based on real events, I wasn’t expecting much. Unfortunately, my expectations were met.…

DVD Review: Psych: The Complete Fifth Season

Katelyn Williamson — Tue, 31 May 2011 07:00:00 -0400

As far as DVD releases go, Psych: The Complete Fifth Season (out May 31st, $59.98 MSRP) may not be the most highly anticipated. Cruising somewhat under the radar, "the quick witted, quirky and intelligent" USA network original series has attracted a loyal, niche audience that will surely enjoy the extras that the DVD set offers.…

DVD Review: Peter Miller's Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story

Tony Allen — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:59:34 -0400

Baseball in the United States has long served as a primary instrument in promoting cultural diversity. When open racism was extremely prevalent, especially during the 1920s and 1930s, baseball was one of the few outlets that caused people to have a more open mind.…

DVD/Blu-Ray Review: Paul Weitz's Little Fockers

danielfeingold — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:03:25 -0400

It’s more absurd, crude and irrational than the ones before it, but Little Fockers — the third installment in the Meet the Parents franchise — can’t hold a candle to the beloved original, or even the mediocre sequel.

The plot of Little Fockers, more than anything else, is an excuse to get a bunch of talented actors into one film.…

Movie Review: Mans Herngren's The Swimsuit Issue

Tony Allen — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:10:50 -0400

A movie about synchronized swimming would usually seem like a lame idea, but with The Swimsuit Issue, director Mans Herngren has made an entertaining film that balances laugh-out-loud comedy with a well-written, believable story. Watching a group of middle-aged men throw on Speedos in the hopes of gaining a sense of purpose is comical in itself, but when the men try to force themselves to overcome their insecurities and battle through adversity in a women’s sport, the film only gets funnier.…

DVD Review: Sam Seder's Who's The Caboose? starring Sarah Silverman, Sam Seder, H. Jon Benjamin, Andy Dick and David Cross

danielfeingold — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:14:30 -0400

Who’s the Caboose? is finally being released on DVD in the U.S. a mere 16 years after its creation. Written and starring Sam Seder, as well as Sarah Silverman before she was a star, this 1995 mockumentary is as low budget as they come.…

DVD/Blu-ray Review: Colin and Greg Strause's Skyline, starring Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Donald Faison and David Zayas (with trailer video)

danielfeingold — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:41:54 -0400

Directed by sibling duo Colin and Greg Strause, Skyline isn't all bad, but it's just a few steps away from being a low-grade, made-for-TV science fiction flick. The only differences between this movie and something you would see go straight to DVD or on cable in the wee hours of the night are some solid special effects and a cast of actors we’ve maybe, sort of seen before.…

DVD Review: Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert, starring Nick Jonas, Lea Salonga, Alfie Boe, Katie Hall, Matt Lucas and Samantha Barks (with videos)

Shannon Bennett — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:51:37 -0500

The opening bars of Les Miserables have made my heart go pitty-pat since the age of 14. There's just something about this play — the Goliath of musical theater — that gets those of us who go full-nerd for stage musicals right at the throat.…

DVD review: A Man Within, featuring William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Steve Buscemi and more (with trailer video)

Tony Allen — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:46:25 -0500

During a time when sexual and artistic expression were highly frowned upon, William S. Burroughs — a controversial figure to say the least — challenged society to question itself and its motives. As one of the leading writers of the Beat Generation, Burroughs had a significant influence on art, music and the literary world.…

Blu-ray review: Taylor Hackford's Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington and Regina King (with trailer video)

Tony Allen — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:40:31 -0500

In a film about the life and career of a musical icon that is blind, there is perhaps no aspect more important than sound quality. That’s why the new Blu-ray version of Taylor Hackford’s film, Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, is a must-see.…

DVD review: Sting, Live in Berlin

Jeff O'kelley — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:00:33 -0500

As I mentioned in a previous concert review, just the thought of Police tunes squashed into a symphonic mold nearly made me nauseous. All I could hear in my head were Lawrence Welk-versions of “Roxanne” and “King of Pain,” and it seemed ludicrous that these versions of classic Police songs could ever find a favored place in my music collection.…

Blu-Ray review: Back To The Future Trilogy 25th Anniversary Edition, starring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd and a DeLorean

Joe Bardi — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:00:09 -0400

I’m not going to lie: The first thing I did after opening the excellent new Back to the Future Trilogy 25th anniversary Blu-ray package (Universal, $79.99 MSRP, but it’s been advertised below $50) was skip all the content about the movies, and jump straight into a bonus feature covering Back to the Future: The Ride. Opened at Universal Orlando in the early 1990s, BTTF: The Ride has loomed large in my memory both for the humorous quality of the content (involving Biff Tannen running amok in Doc Brown’s time travel institute) and for generating epic wait lines.…

DVD reviews: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones and The Rolling Stones 1969-1974: The Mick Taylor Years (with video)

Steve Seachrist — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:55:56 -0400

Earlier this year, I was lamenting the lack of hot, archival video releases from these now-geriatric British rockers. Then, just the other day, I noticed that Best Buy was selling the new-to-DVD concert film, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones, for eight bucks.…

Blu-ray review: Disney's Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition (with video)

Rabid Nick Refer — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:56:41 -0400

The history of the animated feature is a tale almost as alluring as the films that have been artfully brought to life on the silver screen. Even though Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is considered a legend among legends, it almost put The Walt Disney Company out of business. Toy Story was considered a fool’s endeavor from the get go, as the Hollywood elite never dreamed audiences would sit through an animated film constructed by computer.…

DVD Review: Monk The Complete Series, starring Tony Shalhoub

Kevin Hopp — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:40:32 -0400

When Creative Loafing asked me to review all 5,480 minutes of acclaimed USA Network's TV show Monk, I jumped at the opportunity. That was last week.…

Blu-ray Review: Lost: The Complete Sixth Season, starring Matthew Fox, Terry O'Quinn, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia and Michael Emerson (with video)

Joe Bardi — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:32:39 -0400

It’s been three months since Lost’s May 23 finale, which should have been plenty of time for me to sort out my feelings on that last episode and the series in general. Instead, I find myself still twisted by the epic tale of plane crash survivors, warring deities and a mystical island where very little is as it seems.…

DVD Review: Tom DiCillo's When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors, starring Jim Morrison, narrated by Johnny Depp (with trailer video)

Amber Mcdonald — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:00:54 -0400

“Fact is the music is strange. It is music for the different, the uninvited; it carries the listener into the shadowy world of dreaming.” —When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors

With a rising sun illuminating the sky red and charcoal clouds floating to the sound of an ethereal hum, When You’re Strange, the latest cinematic glimpse into the world of The Doors, opens like a hazy morning dream.…

DVD Review: The full series (from pilot to finale) of NBC's Mercy, starring Taylor Schilling and Michelle Trachtenberg (with trailer video)

Shannon Bennett — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:00:17 -0400

Remember all that uninformed smack I talked about Rizzoli and Isles that turned out to be completely off base? Well, go ahead and take that and ctrl+v it onto NBC's Mercy, a nurse drama that came and went without bringing a single new thing to the (operating) table.…