The Beguiled (Special Edition) (Blu-ray) by Tyler Foster Although the Civil War rages in the fields and forests nearby, inside the Miss Martha Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies, little has changed. Ms. Farnsworth (Geraldine Page) keeps a strict eye on her six young students, with the help of graduate and fellow teacher Edwina (Elizabeth Hartman), and Hallie (Mae Mercer), a slave. They are content to keep their heads down and weather the storm, but the storm finds its way to them in the form of Corporal John McBurney (Clint Eastwood), a wounded Union soldier who is discovered by Amy (Pamelyn Ferdin) while she is out picking mushrooms. After some hemming and hawing, Ms. Farnsworth agrees to let McBurney stay until his wounds are healed, at which point they will turn him over to Confederate soldiers, but the curiosity of the girls -- and McBurney's own aggressive manipulation of them -- is a powder keg of ingredients waiting to blow up.Clint Eastwo...Read the entire review »

Grace of My Heart (Blu-ray) by Tyler Foster Much like its protagonist, writer/director Allison Anders' Grace of My Heart exists on the periphery of the mainstream. Released the same year as Tom Hanks' similarly-themed directorial debut That Thing You Do!, Grace is a more sprawling, more intimate story, blending bits of Carole King and real institutions like the Brill Building (a legendary hit factory in the 1960s) into the fictional story of Edna Buxton, a would-be steel heiress who dreams of becoming a singer/songwriter. The film isn't always successful, but it's always interesting, with Anders finding uniquely interesting elements and arcs to focus on in Edna's tumultuous journey through a rapidly-changing music industry.Edna is played by Illeana Douglas, and she and Anders are the two pillars of the film. There is an unforced earnestness to the way she plays Edna, without ever crossing over into naive...Read the entire review »

D.C. Cab (Blu-ray) by Ryan Keefer The Show: Everyone has a blind spot or two, and mine I guess to a small degree is D.C.Cab. I grew up outside of D.C. and was aware enough of the push by the Nation's Capital to bring more business to town, and when a film including the flavor of the month came along, it was too hard to pass up I guess, and it was worth a revisit for me. Joel Schumacher (Trespass) co-wrote the script with Topper Carew, and directed it by his lonesome. Albert (Adam Baldwin, Full Metal Jacket) is from Georgia, but he comes up to D.C. to meet Harold (Max Gail, 42), a Vietnam War friend of his late father. He decides to stay with Harold and his wife, and decides he wants to be a cabbie at the cab company Harold owns. It...Read the entire review »