dvd/vod/streaming

See it: • Eastern Promises [buy it]. From my review: Movies about gangsters: You expect a lot of noise. Shouting and screaming. Barrages of gunfire. Not here. Here we have somber reflection, the lurking gray peril of an urban underbelly, shifting shifty glances and unspoken threats. Eastern Promises is almost silent — even its title … more…

See it: • Stardust [buy it]. From my review: I wish I could be more enthusiastic about Stardust. I like it just fine: it’s sweet and amusing and nicely diverting. And it’s colorful enough and clever enough and jam-packed enough with all sorts of pretty to wonder at that if this is your kinda thing, … more…

It’s a week till Christmas Eve. You still need something cool for someone special… or maybe you’re just looking to reward yourself with some holiday cheer. Well, never fear: your Auntie Flick Chick is here to help. Sure, you may pay a little more for express shipping, or you may have to actually haul ass … more…

See it: • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [buy it]. From my review: Oh, there is magic here, but there’s nothing sweet or luminous about it. This is magic as power, as an expression of recognizable human impulses both noble and terrible… Yates… is an artist who makes television dramas about the … more…

It’s that time of the year: critics like me are starting to put together our final best-of lists for the year. And the sad truth of the matter is that the content of those lists will consist mostly of movies released in the last month or two. (And some of those movies are ones we … more…

If you’re not all that familiar with the story of The Golden Compass, you may not know that the character Nicole Kidman plays, Mrs. Coulter, is the villain of the piece. Female bad guys — alas that “bad girls” does not have the same connotation of treachery and vileness — are few and far between, … more…

See it: • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End [buy it]. From my review: So the supposed bad guys — the pirates — have become the good guys, fighting for their right to exist, for their sovereignty from corporate piracy that cloaks itself in respectability; and the supposed good guys — the fine corporations … more…

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End comes to DVD next week, completing the definitive pirate trilogy of our day. What’s left to fulfill your jones for pirates? There are lots of flicks to choose from: Captain Blood (1935): This swashbuckling classic is not only a grand time at the movies, it’s also clearly a … more…

See it: • Waitress [buy it]. From my review: Life is messy: really messy. This is, if nothing else, the tale Waitress has to tell. Good people do things that aren’t noble or decent, like Jenna and the affair she finds herself startled to be falling into with, of all men, the only gynecologist in … more…

See it: • Hairspray [buy it]. From my review: These shows — on stage — are tourists traps, no matter how enjoyable and singalong-snappy they may be. They’re designed to be theme-park amusements for theatergoers who want a taste of the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd but wouldn’t want to know … more…