Other DVDs, 5/27.

The Film of the Month Club is rolling along quite nicely now, with several entries on the first selection, Kenzo Okuzaki Kazuo Hara's The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.

"[Dario] Argento, reached by phone in Rome, took a few minutes to talk about the five films collected in The Dario Argento Box Set." Geoff Boucher in the Los Angeles Times: "He said that he never worries that modern audiences and their love of special effects will make his older works feel dated. 'The things that scare us never change. It's in your heart, not in your eyes. The special effects can help, but the things that touch us in the heart are what really frightens us.'"

Gary Giddins reviews the Columbia collection, Icons of Adventure: "These films were frequently censored and reviled for their violence and sexuality, inciting revulsion in England, where they were made. Here they were the stuff of Saturday matinees - not family films, like The Thief of Bagdad, but fare for adolescent boys who could scarcely believe (I bear witness) the sadism, the colors, and the bosomy extras."

Michael Atkinson at the IFC on Tony Palmer's 1976 pop music chronicle, All You Need Is Love: "This is Ken Burns before Ken Burns (if not quite as polished as Baseball or Jazz), comprised of interviews and archival footage both common and rare (including footage of a singing Woody Guthrie, and a woeful Roxy Music performance that nonetheless affords a glimpse of a synthesizer-playing Brian Eno), and unfurling the whole story, from Scott Joplin to Earl Hines to Bessie Smith to Benny Goodman to Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Jethro Tull. Palmer's 14-hour-plus odyssey is filthy with progressional details."

"Aging and betrayal will throw a wrench into any criminal career," writes Guy Savage at Noir of the Week. "While aging is inevitable, loyalty amongst thieves and establishing a network of reliable friends are crucial elements for survival. Touchez pas au grisbi (AKA Hands Off the Loot) a 1954 flawless French film noir from director Jacques Becker confronts the issues of aging and loyalty head-on through the life of world-weary, middle-aged gangster Max (Jean Gabin) - a seasoned criminal and Existentialist protagonist who faces a crisis."

"Perhaps because of this neutral perspective, the effect of this documentary is all the more shocking and maddening." Kevin Kelly on No End in Sight.

"The biggest reason why now is a good time to revisit the Indiana Jones is not necessarily that the new set is anything so impressive," writes Chris Barsanti at PopMatters. "[T]he real reason is ultimately that the half-decade since the series first appeared on DVD have been particularly abominable for adventure cinema."

"The thing that struck me most deeply about Blade Runner upon seeing it for the first time on the big screen is its profound sense of loneliness." Andrew Bemis.

For Tom Hall, writing at Hammer to Nail, Teeth "is a case study for the triumph of balance, a darkly comic story that strikes a primal chord in the most private of places."

Online viewing tip. Matt Zoller Seitz offers more terrific running commentary, this time on The Outlaw Josey Wales, which he finds "richer" and "more expansive" than Unforgiven. See also Kevin Lee's accompanying file.

DVD roundups: Sean Axmaker (MSN) and DVD Talk.

And the Guru.

Posted by dwhudson at May 27, 2008 12:57 PM