In This Issue:

June 2011

What's New on DVD

Army of Crime (2010)

Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Spine-tingling.
Color. 132 mins. Unrated. Directed By Robert Guediguian. Starring Simon Abkarian, Robinson Stevenin, Virginie Ledoyen and Lola Naymark.
This absorbing, fact-based film reveals the dire fates of this rag-tag group of partisans upfront, which only serves to accentuate the tragic nobility of their effort. It holds us spellbound as it ... Read More >
 

Fish Tank (2009)

Drama. Intense/Spine-tingling.
Color. 122 mins. Unrated. Directed By Andrea Arnold. Starring Michael Fassbender, Katie Jarvis and Kierston Wareing.
This gritty, beautifully acted feature puts a feminist spin on the classic British kitchen-sink drama. Katie Jarvis carries the film from the first frame: her Mia is a mess of rage and uncontrolled ... Read More >
 

Inside Job (2010)

Documentary. Brainy.
Color. 120 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Charles Ferguson. Starring Matt Damon.
Winner of the Best Documentary Academy Award, Ferguson's razor-sharp, cleanly-argued, compulsively watchable documentary is a virtuoso piece of nonfiction filmmaking, and must-viewing for anyone ... Read More >
 

Still Walking (2008)

Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving.
Color. 114 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Hirokazu Kore-eda. Starring Hiroshi Abe, Yoshio Harada, Yui Natsukawa, You and Kirin Kiki.
This intimate, moving tale of one dysfunctional Japanese family is understated yet still achieves a powerful resonance. The film's leisurely pace allows us time to grow close to each family member in ... Read More >
 

Theme of the Month: Picnic

For many of us, summer brings opportunities to picnic in the great outdoors. This month we highlight movies with unforgettable picnic scenes that will entice us to grab our blankets and dine al fresco.

A Room with a View (1986)

Romance. Brainy/Moving/Scenic.
Color. 116 mins. Unrated. Directed By James Ivory. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Julian Sands, Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith.
One of the finest examples of the longstanding Merchant/Ivory alliance, "Room With a View" is a superbly executed romance set in 1907 and adapted from the book by E.M. Forster. Nominated for eight ... Read More >
 

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Action/Adventure. Fast-paced.
Color. 111 mins. Rated R. Directed By Arthur Penn. Starring Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.
With its gritty outlook and unapologetic celebration of anti-authoritarianism, Arthur Penn's brilliant "Bonnie and Clyde" helped usher in the New Cinema of the '70s. Skittish about the film's ... Read More >
 

Citizen Kane (1941)

Drama/Cornerstone Titles. Spine-tingling/Intense.
Black & White. 119 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Orson Welles. Starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten.
Perhaps the greatest debut in movie history, "Citizen Kane" remains one of the most influential American films of all time, thanks to the genius of Welles, who constructed this brilliant, ... Read More >
 

Jules et Jim (1961)

Romance. Brainy/Moving.
Black & White. 105 mins. Unrated. Directed By Francois Truffaut. Starring Oskar Werner and Jeanne Moreau.
A smash hit in 1961, Truffaut's lyrical story of friendship and unrequited love vividly captures the enigmatic nature of l'amour. Moreau is magnificent as the tempestuous object of love, a mercurial ... Read More >
 

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Comedy/Musicals. Farr-cical/Offbeat/Witty.
Color. 106 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson.
A wacky cross between "Ulysses" and "Sullivan's Travels," the Coens' stylized slapstick adventure is packed with loopy dialogue, smart visual gags, and plenty of sly cultural references (legendary ... Read More >
 

Picnic (1955)

Drama/Romance. Intense/Moving.
Color. 115 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Joshua Logan. Starring William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Kim Novak and Rosalind Russell.
Joshua Logan's adaptation of the hit William Inge play captures the feeling of mid-twentieth century small town America as few other pictures have. Location shooting (in Technicolor) helps, with the ... Read More >
 

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

Mystery/Suspense. Scenic/Brainy/Spine-tingling.
Color. 107 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Peter Weir. Starring Dominic Guard and Rachel Roberts.
Spooky, intriguing, and transfixing, "Picnic" is a blend of low-grade supernatural horror and mystical Victorian fable, wrapped around an ineffable puzzle that refuses to yield its secrets. ... Read More >
 

The Lady from Shanghai (1948)

Mystery/Suspense. Spine-tingling/Brainy.
Black & White. 87 mins. Unrated. Directed By Orson Welles. Starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
This murky, intriguing noir puzzler from Welles features excellent performances, stark atmospherics, and a typically Wellesian visual flair culminating in the famous Hall of Mirrors sequence. ... Read More >
 

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Mystery/Suspense. Scenic/Spine-tingling/Witty.
Color. 103 mins. Unrated. Directed By Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
Filmed in VistaVision by Oscar winner Robert Burks, Hitchcock's swanky, breezy suspense film takes a simple idea-one cat burglar on the tail of another-and spins it into cinematic gold. With his ... Read More >
 

Spotlight

This month John completes shooting a pilot for a new movie show. Stay tuned!