DVDs, 4/3.

"Christopher Petit's 1979 debut Radio On... freeze-dries England on the dusk of the punk era without seeming to try very hard (and does it at a time when British cinema was all but completely moribund)," writes Michael Atkinson at IFC News. "[Cinematographer Martin] Schäfer's saturnine compositions may stand as the most gorgeous monochromatic cinematography ever shot in England, and the visions of industrial waste, semi-rural nowheresville, urban disconnectedness and late-capitalist angst state Petit's position better than any narrative could." Also, Chabrol's The Bridesmaid is "a psychodrama of typically brisk efficiency and relaxed gallows humor."

"As Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) stares contentedly at his Killer Bob-maligned reflection, it's clear that the world is about to change, drastically and horrifically. The subsequent murder of Laura's brunette doppelganger cousin Maddy ([Sheryl] Lee again) is quintessential [David] Lynch, perhaps his finest work." Keith Uhlich on Twin Peaks: The Second Season. Also at Slant, Ed Gonzalez on Bobby and more.

"If there are few revered Japanese directors as eclectic as Kon Ichikawa, then there are probably even fewer double-features as antithetical and strangely kindred as Ichikawa's pair of anti-war films The Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto) and Fires on the Plain (Nobi)," writes José Teodoro at Stop Smiling.

"Like an abstractionist who refuses to discuss his inspiration, or an avant-garde artist who renders his icons through a vague and untouchable design, Wim Wenders can be both fascinating and frustrating," finds Bill Gibron at PopMatters.

DVD Talk's got over a dozen new reviews this week.

An April roundup at the Lumière Reader.

Hercules has a roundup and a look ahead to the releases of summer at AICN.

Updated: "DVDs, 4/1."

Posted by dwhudson at April 3, 2007 5:36 AM