An enjoyable though greatly flawed romantic comedy-drama dance movie, Strictly Ballroom's colossal success on the art house circuit established director Baz Luhrmann's (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!) reputation. To its credit its popularity seems to have directly inspired films as varied as Shall We Dansu? (1992), Japan's own take on the same basic concept; and Best in Show (2000), the hilarious mockumentary about dog owners as obsessive as ballroom dancers. The film is peppered with fine little moments and good performances (and dancing), but the review in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide really nails it, saying, "This crowd-pleaser sacrifices credibility for caricature." Boy, does it ever.

Among ITV DVD's excellent line-up of region-free Blu-ray discs, Strictly Ballroom is probably the weakest transfer of their recent releases, ironic given this is the ...Read the entire review

Though virtually forgotten in America despite the presence of Jodie Foster in the cast, British audiences positively adore Bugsy Malone (1976). It's a bizarrely conceived gangster movies parody with an all-kiddie cast mimicking adults and lip-synching incongruous '70s-style pop songs written (and in some cases sung) by Paul Williams.

The film surprised many by placing 19th on a list of the 100 Greatest Musicals, in a 2003 poll by Britain's Channel 4 network, beating out such competition as Fiddler on the Roof, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Oklahoma!. Another network, ITV, in 2004 aired a documentary called Bugsy Malone: After They Were Famous that reunited the cast, including Foster and co-star Scott Baio. Bugsy Malone was even adapted for the London Stage. Conversely, in America there seems to have been no home video release of the film at all after ...Read the entire review

A handsomely produced thriller with sci-fi elements, The Boys from Brazil (1978) is a curious but highly enjoyable adaptation of Ira Levin's bestseller. It's an old chestnut of a story in fancy dress - Nazis trying to restore totalitarian rule throughout Europe and elsewhere with the help of advanced modern technology - one not far removed from trashy '50s thrillers like She Demons (1958). Yet here it's done with classy direction, clever writing, big-name stars, and globetrotting locations. It's also over-the-top, though it's not clear whether the filmmakers consciously decided to go for broke or if the film's wilder elements, particularly Gregory Peck's snarling, scenery-chewing tour de force as Dr. Josef Mengele, simply come off as unintentionally funny. I suspect it's a little of both but mostly the former. A captivatingly dark and comic scene near the end between Peck and longt...Read the entire review

Extremely bizarre yet oddly endearing, Escape to Athena (1979) is a highly derivative all-star war movie with a strong undercurrent of incongruous broad comedy. It plays like each of its four main stars was told theirs was the leading role. As such, none are on the same page: David Niven plays it like a sequel to The Guns of Navarone, Elliott Gould thinks he's doing M*A*S*H Goes to Rhodes, Telly Savalas is still fighting The Battle of the Bulge, and Roger Moore camps it up like he's guest-starring on The Muppet Show.

ITV's region-free import disc is a knock-out. The film looks great; DP Gil Taylor's (Star Wars, The Omen) cinematography, with its numerous sweeping helicopter shots and roving Steadicam work, combined with the bright, picturesque Greek scenery really lends itself well to the Blu-ray format. The transfer is near-flawless and the DNR is kep...Read the entire review

As I write this, nearly seven hundred Blu-ray titles have been released on these shores since the format first launched two years ago. Even with as sprawling

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and at least somewhat diverse a selection of films is available at our fingertips, I find myself paying attention more and more to the movies that are bowing on Blu-ray overseas. With so many studios across the globe having shrugged o...Read the entire review

Falling squarely into that category Irwin Allen used to describe his production of The Poseidon Adventure, Peter Hyams' Capricorn One (1978) is a "movie-movie," and just about a definitive example at that. Like Poseidon, Capricorn One finds its all-star cast (for the most part) logically working their way through an ingenious, outrageous premise. In Poseidon it was stranded passengers trying to escape a capsized ocean liner; in Capricorn One it's astronauts and a reporter trying to expose a faked NASA mission to Mars while escaping murderous conspirators. It's Hyams' best and most entertaining film, a personal favorite of many despite an inconsistent tone and a few plot holes. Though currently unavailable in the U.S., the British Blu-ray disc from ITV DVD is not region-encoded and sells for about $38.95 retail.

　

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