Double-dipping is a dirty word among movie fans, who have grown increasingly weary of shelling out more money for a multiple versions of a given film. There can be a benefit to the practice, however, especially for consumers eager to pick up multiple movies quickly and efficiently without a lot of fuss. Warner Bros – one of the most notorious practitioners of double-dipping – has recently dived into its archives for a series of “Best of” DVD Collections. Their Best Picture compilation – consisting of 20 films that snagged the top trophy their respective years – ranks as one of the most reliable, marred by a few embarrassing hiccups. Hit the jump for my full review.

Committing a crime for money makes sense to people.  But when someone pulls off an elaborate, astonishing crime for no monetary gain, it can be baffling.  Bart Layton‘s documentary The Imposter tells one of these such cases.  It’s a shocking, damn near unbelievable true story filled with more twists and shocking secrets than a conventional thriller.  Perhaps even more shocking is that it wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award.  Anyways, more about The Imposter‘s DVD after the jump.

It’s amazing to look back from our current superhero renaissance and remember a time when they weren’t the thundering engines driving pop culture.  They didn’t get any blockbuster movies back then; they were lucky to have a few lunchboxes and the occasional crappy Saturday morning show. That’s where we find Shazam!, a relic from another era so hopelessly outclassed by today’s costumed wonders that it actually comes across as rather charming. That’s not the same as good, of course, but it certainly provides its share of fun. Hit the jump for my full review.

Films about teachers and students are commonly inspirational melodramas about overcoming adversity inside and outside the classroom. The teacher is usually a newcomer to the school and initially dismissed by the students, but over the course of 90 minutes or so they wind up touching each other’s lives and all that mushy stuff. It’s a formula audiences are comfortable with. Writer-director Philippe Falardeau‘s Monsieur Lazhar breaks this mold and delivers a haunting look at grief, compassion, and boundaries through the eyes of both children and adults, while also examining the bureaucratic problems in contemporary teaching. Hit the jump for my review of Monsieur Lazhar on DVD.

Over the past ten years, a plethora of movies have been made about American schoolteachers. Some of our on-screen educators have been good (Hilary Swank inspiring at-risk students in Freedom Writers), some bad (Cameron Diaz sleeping off hangovers during class in Bad Teacher) and some downright ugly (Ryan Gosling smoking crack between his in Half Nelson).  But what we haven’t had much of in the past decade is a large cinematic output from Tony Kaye, the acclaimed filmmaker behind 1998’s American History X. This year, however, Kaye made a bold return to narrative filmmaking with Detachment, the story of a high school teacher who’s mostly good, sometimes bad and only occasionally ugly. Like American History X, Detachment features a strong central performance, and tells a powerful, if somewhat bleak tale of one generation striving to lead another toward grace and dignity.  My review of the DVD after the jump.

Modern spy fiction owes debts to two British authors. Ian Fleming created James Bond, who became the spy movie franchise over the past few decades. Fleming’s formula has also worked in dozens of other films—beautiful girls, clever gadgets, exotic locations. The other fiction spymaster is John LeCarre. LeCarre’s spies are so authentic some of the terms he created for his spies to use came to be used in the real world. LeCarre’s most famous work, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, was recently made into a film for those looking to get lost in the wilderness of mirrors. We review the DVD after the jump.

The first season of Treme faced the unique challenge of making New Orleans approachable for outsiders.  Viewers had to be immersed (and entertained) in a world with hurricane aftermath, generations of racial tension and an exclusive music scene. Somehow David Simon successfully ushered audiences through this unfamiliar landscape, much like he did with The Wire, also for HBO. After a critically adored first season, Simon and company expanded on their Louisianan universe with another compelling eleven episodes. Continue reading for my full review.

Projects in Hollywood need a name attached—script quality and director’s vision and rarely make a project happen until someone that Hollywood trusts to make money joins the project.  The Sunset Limited is scripted by the writer of No Country For Old Men, starring Samuel L. Jackson squaring off against Tommy Lee Jones.  Who wins in this face-off between two actors loved by so many?  Check out our review after the jump.

Woody Allen deserves a three hour documentary, and with Robert B. Weide’s Woody Allen: A Documentary, the artist’s life and work is put into great perspective. Done originally for PBS, the two part film covers his early years working as a joke writer and stand-up through to his transition into master class filmmaker. For those looking to get a handle on a career that now spans over 50 years, it’s a clear, concise work that reminds why he used to be hilarious, and why he’s now revered as one of America’s greatest working filmmakers. Our review of the DVD of Woody Allen: A Documentary follows after the jump.

With British documentary maker James Marsh’s often wild mix of genuine footage and re-creations, in lesser hands his movies could easily slip into something approaching an episode of Cops.  But luckily, as he proved with the Oscar-winning Man on a Wire and now again with Project Nim, he has the ability to blend the formats into an engaging narrative that pushes the definition of documentary filmmaking without ever breaking them down completely. In Nim, he tells the epic and often harrowing tale of a chimpanzee who becomes a pawn caught in the middle of the nature vs. nurture debate with visual verve and a genuine flair for storytelling.  You can read Matt’s review of the film from Sundance 2011 here. Hit the jump for a review of Project Nim on DVD.

Rather quietly, Steve Dildarian’s The Life And Times Of Tim has become one of the subtlest, funniest, and crudest (in terms of the animation, but the writing team isn’t afraid of getting saucy) animated series on television. The show has built up a cult audience on HBO that should be much larger and might be were it part of the Adult Swim lineup. Dildarian’s talent lies in the comedy of the cringe, creating situations of excruciating embarrassment that provokes nervous giggles building to crippling bursts of laughter. Chances are it’s the funniest show on television that you’re not watching or if you’re one of the converted, it’s that show you keep trying to get your friends into. Regardless, the newly released second season DVD deserves to be watched by everyone who enjoys laughing and awkward conversation. Hit the jump for my review of the second season of The Life and Times of Tim on DVD.

One Day follows the progression of one couple from their first meeting in 1988 through their much-changed lives twenty years later. The film, which is based on the novel by David Nicholls (who also wrote the script), gets along by peeking in on this couple on the same day each year. Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) meet on July 15 on their graduation from university. The two decide to remain friends rather than pursue romantic interests, and the film takes off from there. Some years are given more attention than others as the film strings through the saga of a couple that never quite gets it all right. Hit the jump for our review of One Day on DVD.

When I received the DVD for Beginners in the mail last week, I was out of my mind excited. After all, Beginners is one of my favorite films of the year. I couldn’t wait to check out the supplemental material and I’m glad to report the disc doesn’t disappoint.

First things first: the film itself. Mike Mills’ semi-autobiographical tale follows Oliver, played wonderfully by Ewan McGregor, at two very different times in his life. The first timeline follows Oliver’s time with his father Hal (an Oscar-worthy Christopher Plummer), who has recently been diagnosed with cancer and come out of the closet. The second timeline follows Oliver as he embarks on a romance with Anna (Inglourious Basterd’s Melanie Laurent), a French actress staying in Los Angeles. Oliver is kept company at all times by his faithful terrier Arthur.  Continue reading for my full review.

It seems like when influential TV shows are discussed, anything past the 1980’s is left off the list. Things peter out around All in the Family and come to a stop right around Seinfeld. That’s nearly two decades worth of shows left out of the conversation. One of these shows recently released a 10th anniversary edition. The Office may only have two short English seasons and a 2-part Christmas special under it’s belt, but its influence has been felt in modern television for a decade. Our review is after the jump.

The first Alfred Hitchcock film I ever saw was Psycho. Teenage me scoffed at the notion that a black and white movie that was made during the Eisenhower era could be as scream-inducing as “real scary movies” like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Leprechaun (that little green guy scared the hell out of me). Of course, I quickly realized that my initial impression of the film was 100% wrong. Not only was Psycho genuinely frightening, it’s also an exquisite piece of filmmaking. Even a layman like me knew I wasn’t just seeing a bunch of scenes that were randomly cut together; it was the first time I realized that there’s a true art to good filmmaking.

Hitchcock had a knack for telling incredibly rich and layered stories that appealed to both the wide masses and the deeper-thinking cinephiles. Now, arguably five of his best films have been remastered and boxed together in one glorious package that includes Psycho, North by Northwest, Rear Window, Vertigo, and The Birds. Hit the jump for our review of Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection on DVD.