Do the Right Thing (Blu-ray) <small>by Ian Jane</small><hr /> The Movie: Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right Thing takes place in one day in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyevesant. This isn't just a regular day, it's an insanely hot day. If you've spent any time in New York City in the summer, you know it gets hot and muggy and that, sometimes, the weather can make the city's populace miserable. Regardless, the people of Bed-Stuy have lives to live and the predominantly black neighborhood soldiers on. That said, there are some exceptions in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) is an Italian who runs a popular neighborhood pizza joint that's been there forever. He gets along with pretty much everybody, most of the time, and is well liked, most of the time. He's the father to two sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson), who help out in the pizzeria. Elsewhere, some recent Korean transplants have taken over a run...Read the entire review »

Cielo <small>by Kurt Dahlke</small><hr /> Cielo: Back in my head-trippy days I would often wonder, if I were religious, to what religion would I belong? I guess I spent some time taking a tiny bit from Buddhism and a lot from Rastafarianism, (if you know what I mean) but mostly acted under the rules of, well, nothing. But, I would frequently tell people that were I to form my own religion, it would definitely have at its source the sky. (Anachronistic, I know.) But is it anachronistic? Alison McAlpine's rapturous documentary Cielo might change your mind. Not that Cielo is a religious documentary at all, that was just my personal in' to understand this movie, gorgeous, stately, and down-to-earth. The movie involves Chilean folks in and around the Atacama Desert, a really great place to observe the night sky. The 78 minute film connects with astronomers and those who scratch out a living on the desert floor. These suppo...Read the entire review »

The Entity (Blu-ray) <small>by Kurt Dahlke</small><hr /> The Entity: Most definitely the dark side of the coin for 1982 ghost movies, The Entity features numerous similarities with its family-friendly competitor Poltergeist, minus the success, critical acclaim, and common sense. Based on a presumably true story, The Entity features a malignant ghost putting a mom and her kids through hell. Unlike Poltergeist there's no goofy dad to anchor things, nor spookhouse goblins for young horror fans to enjoy. There is, however, plenty of raping. That's the basic set-up; a struggling single mother finds herself repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by a ghost, in her own home, while her horrified kids try to cope. Mom has a goofy friend to turn to, who convinces her to get help from a psychiatrist, escalating into a team of psychiatrists battling skeptical paranormal investigators to find a solution. As afflicted mom Carla Mo...Read the entire review »

Beer League (Blu-ray) <small>by Kurt Dahlke</small><hr /> Beer League: This laziest of lazy loser comedies, made manifest through comedian Artie Lange's Howard Stern-aided celebrity, repped Lange's potential leap to greater fame. The movie flopped, bringing in under 500k at the box office, which is probably good, because movie star Artie probably would have quickly turned into dead Artie. (For more on this, if you're not familiar, read Lange's Autobiographies detailing his battles with addiction, etc.) But is the movie, and this Blu-ray release, any good? Long story short, if you like loser comedies, absolutely you should Rent It, Artie Lange cultists will probably find this nominal upgrade Recommended if they don't already own the earlier Blu-ray release. Beer League is a spectacularly lazy, knockabout comedy firmly set in the New Jersey world of goombahs and Mets jokes. Lange stars as Artie DeVanzo, an unemployed-by-choice ...Read the entire review »