NEW RELEASES - October 18

Batman Begins (2005).

One of the first releases in this summer's blockbuster sweepstakes remains, now that all is said and done, one of the best. "It's amazing what an excellent cast, a solid screenplay and a regard for the source material can do for a comic book movie," wrote Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "[W]hat makes this Batman so enjoyable is how [Christopher] Nolan balances the story's dark elements with its light, and arranges the familiar genre elements in new, unforeseen ways."

Land of the Dead (2005).

The summer also saw the return of George A. Romero, the zombies he all but reinvented in tow. "Given that US screens are frequently filled with Romero-lite horror fare, it is a treat to see the real McCoy back behind the camera with a reasonable budget and cast," writes Jonathan Marlow. "These upstarts have nothing on the man that essentially (re-)started it all."

"Overall, a must-see for zombie fans," says Cinenaut. "Post-apocalyptic world fans should find something to like as well. Not for the squeamish, natch."

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005).

The fox trot, the rumba, the tango - swing! As performed by fifth graders. Thanks to the American Ballroom Theater's Dancing Classroom programs, a smash hit among the kids in over 60 schools in New York City. Spurring them on is a chance to compete in the Rainbow Team Match and the result, writes Film Threat, is "an uplifting and inspiring tale."

Many have compared the doc to Spellbound, but read what Ed Gonzalez has to say about that in Slant: "Bound to earn endless comparisons to Blitz's crowd-pleasing doc, Mad Hot Ballroom actually feels as if it were intended by director Marilyn Agrelo as a point-by-point rebuttal." Click his name to follow the convincing case.

Ma mère (2004).

"Isabelle Huppert fans get to see yet another manifestation of the psychotic character she's been developing over a number of films including Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher," noted Andrew James Horton when he caught Ma mère at the Thessaloniki Film Festival last year.

Landscape in the Mist (1988).

"It is a sad indication of the insularity of American cinema that Theo Angelopoulos, a Greek director with international stature, is virtually unknown in the United States," wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times. In 1990. Not much has changed - yet. We're hoping that, even though the releases are few and far between, this DVD might help rectify this situation.

As for this film, "Landscape in the Mist is a poignant, lyrical, and allegorical fable on the human struggle for identity and connection," writes Acquarello at Strictly Film School.

Tell Them Who You Are (2004).

"Mark Wexler has decided to steer a lens toward his famous father, and it's no small measure of their stormy relationship - and the film's prickly, fascinating texture - that Haskell in turn aims his camera right back. The men duel it out in scene after scene with shoulder-propped video cams," reports Michael Atkinson in the Village Voice. The result is "an ingenuous portrait of a thoroughly Four-Square Artist, Assembled With Love And Rockets Inside A Family's Spite-Tainted Gates."

Among the interviewees: George Lucas, Jane Fonda, Paul Newman, Milos Forman and Conrad Hall and on and on.

Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film (1894 - 1941).

"When the smoke clears, this amazing seven-disc set, which comprises 18 hours and 47 minutes of material, will undoubtedly stand as one of the major monuments of the DVD medium," wrote Dave Kehr in the New York Times back in September as he was previewing the season's major releases. True, if for no other reason than the fact that many of the films here really had gone unseen for decades until curator Bruce Poznar collected them in a program that's been traveling across the country - and can now be seen in any home.

This first volume is The Mechanized Eye: Experiments in Technique and Form, featuring work by, for example, early cinematographer James White, shooting in Paris in 1900, and photographer Walker Evans.

Lifeboat (1944).

Based, as CPurvis notes, on a story by John Steinbeck (he started the screenplay as well; Jo Swerling wrapped it up and Ben Hecht screwed several scenes even tighter), Lifeboat, like Rope, say, can be seen as one of Alfred Hitchcock's formalistic experiments conducted on his mainstream audience: the entire film takes place on the boat.

It works. The cast is terrific, the dialogue sharp, the tension Hitchcockian.

Tenjho Tenge. Round 03 (2005).

"Tenjho Tenge turns out to be one of the stronger entries in the 'hot schoolgirls who fight a lot' genre," writes Carlo Santos for the Anime News Network. "With eye-popping action and just enough plot to make things intriguing, this is a series that defines the meaning of guilty pleasure."

Browse the New Releases Archive for more recent arrivals.