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Holiday Gift Guide |
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Written by
Sara Michelle Fetters, Mitchell
Hattaway, Dennis Crane
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Days of Heaven &
The Thin Red Line
(save and buy from Amazon)
Two Terrence Malick classics
courtesy of our friends at the Criterion Collection, the
first a monumental period drama starring Richard Gere made
in 1978, and the second his two-decades later follow-up and
a candidate to be considered as the greatest WWII picture
ever made.
Video and audio transfers (both personally supervised by
Mallick himself) are extraordinary, while the array of
special features close to revelatory. The bottom line is
that viewers owe it to themselves to get to know a director
as genius as Mallick in as intimate a fashion as humanly
possible, Criterion helping them do just that, and then
some.
-Sara Michelle
[
The Thin Red Line Blu-ray Review ]
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The Bridge on
the River Kwai (Collector's Edition)
(save and buy from Amazon)
The year’s most reasonably
priced collector’s edition Blu-ray, Columbia Pictures’
hi-def presentation of David Lean’s Oscar-winning classic
WWII epic is monumental. Both the visual and audio transfers
blew me off of my couch, my mouth salivating almost as soon
as the film began. A vital part of any film lover’s library,
this version of one of Lean’s masterpieces (he’s also the
auteur behind Lawrence of Arabia) is an achievement from the
folks over at Sony worth whistling a jaunty tune about.
-Sara Michelle
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Winter's Bone
(save and buy from Amazon)
Guaranteed to go down as one
of 2010’s best, the instantly classic dramatic thriller
features a star-making performance by Jennifer Lawrence.
This Midwestern gothic mystery is a journey into a heart of
darkness so pure and unrelenting, the final destination as
unknown and as perilous as any a viewer could possibly
imagine. For those who like their
dramas dark, dirty and full of uncertainty, here’s an
old-school picture that resonates down to the marrow
and is sure to fit their particular bill nicely.
-Sara Michelle
[
Winter's Bone Movie Review ] |
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The Ghost Writer
(save and buy from Amazon)
This suspense-filled drama
from director Roman Polanski tells the story of an author (Ewan
McGregor) taking on the biography of an elected official
(Pierce Brosnan) leading him down a dangerous path to a deep
and dark conspiracy.
The Ghost Writer makes
my shortlist for one of the best films of 2010, and
therefore I feel compelled to recommend it, either as a gift
to someone who appreciates great filmmaking or something to
get for yourself.
-Dennis
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Boogie Nights
(save and buy from Amazon)
The best Scorsese movie Scorsese never made. P.T. Anderson
borrows from a multitude of filmmakers, but the final result
is wholly his own, and it remains for me his best work.
The
extras are great, and the presentation is fantastic.
-Mitchell
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