Josef Krebs

DVD REVIEW: King Kong

By Josef Krebs
Posted June 10, 2006

Universal Movie •••• Picture/Sound •••• Extras •••• The first thing I noticed after picking up this two-disc set was that the

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DVDs: Match Point

Woody Allen's Match Point

By Josef Krebs
Posted June 10, 2006

In Match Point (DreamWorks; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound •••½, Extras: None), Woody Allen creates a Shakespearean tale of ambition, passion, and madness that can only end in tears, and he does so in a uniquely cinematic way. By usual DVD standards, the quality of the picture and sound might seem lacking.

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S&V Talks with Filmmaker Neil Jordan

By Josef Krebs
Posted June 6, 2006

From The Company of Wolves to The Crying Game, Mona Lisa to Michael Collins, and Interview with the Vampire to The Butcher Boy, Neil Jordan has consistently made films that take us deep into the woods of his unusual characters' imaginations.

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DVD REVIEW: The Matrix

By Josef Krebs
Posted December 15, 1999

Warner Movie •••• Opening up a century of fears - the fear of being fodder for the state and fuel for the corporation, the fear of being controlled through all-env

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DVDs: Disney Animation (then and now)

The Incredibles and Bambi

By Josef Krebs
Posted April 15, 2005

THE INCREDIBLES Disney/Pixar Movie ••••½ DVDs •••••½

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X-Men: The Last Stand

A Conversation with Xavier (Patrick Stewart)

By Josef Krebs
Posted July 7, 2006

Recently I sat down with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in the guise of actor Patrick Stewart. He was out of uniform that morning because we were in a roundtable discussion about X-Men: The Last Stand.

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Fight Night: Most Def

First HD DVDs: Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Baby, Full Metal Jacket, Jarhead, Assault on Precinct 13, Goodfellas

By Josef Krebs
Posted July 6, 2006

First bout in the HD DVD tournament: Man vs. Baby. (This is a fair fight, so all ratings are relative to other HD discs, not to standard-definition DVDs.)

The story of Cinderella Man (Universal; Movie ••½, Picture/Sound •••) delivers a one-two punch: The Depression was, well, depressing, and in a fight it's probably better to win.

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House of Blu-ray

First BDs: House of Flying Daggers, Lord of War, The Fifth Element, Terminator 2: Judgment Day

By Josef Krebs
Posted September 2, 2006

First skirmish in the Blu-ray Conflict: martial arts vs. illegal arms. (As with the HD DVD roundup in our previous issue, this is a fair fight, so all ratings are relative to other high-definition discs, not to standard-definition DVDs. All discs were screened using an unmodified Samsung BD-P1000 player.)

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Scanning High-Def

Stealth, Van Helsing, The Fugitive, Species, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang all on hi-def discs

By Josef Krebs
Posted October 6, 2006

Stealth (Sony; Movie •••, Blu-ray Picture/Sound •••½, Extras: None). The opening aerial assault is also an audio assault: I was so overwhelmed by the dramatic orchestral score, rocket whooshings, and booming explosions all around me that I wasn't even aware of the high-def visuals.

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DVD REVIEW: Lost

Season 2

By Josef Krebs
Posted October 6, 2006

It combines elements of The Prisoner, The Twilight Zone, and Forbidden Planet with the philosophy of It's a Wonderful Life - that we're all intrinsically intertwined, affecting each other in ways we'll never know. And it continues to chart new TV territory in an extremely addictive way, taking the mystery in unpredictable directions.

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