DVD Talk reviews for Wednesday, September 15th, 2021
 

<div style="font-weight:bold;font-size:15px">Highly Recommended</div><blockquote><table><tr><td valign="top"><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74971"><img src="http://images.dvdtalk.com/covers/ts1629395890.jpg" border="0" style="margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px" align="left" /></a><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74971"><strong>Arabesque [Blu Ray] (Blu-ray)</strong></a><br /><span style="font-size:11px">by Stuart Galbraith IV</span><div style="width:100%; height:1px; background: #fff"></div>Arabesque (1966) is a textbook example of a so-so screenplay greatly enhanced by fine direction, superlative camerawork, and memorable performances. Directed by Stanley Donen, it was intended as Universal's follow-up to Donen's earlier Charade (1963), the delightful Hitchockian romantic thriller starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. The original hope was to team Grant with Sophia Loren for this film, but he had recently and permanently retired from acting, so instead the leading role went to Gregory Peck, who starred in Universal-produced films throughout that decade (To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear, etc.) Arabesque's dialogue was obviously written for Grant's familiar screen persona, and one of the film's many pleasures is watching Peck essentially doing Cary Grant. It's not an imitation, but rather filtered through Peck's own acting style and yet it someho...<a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74971">Read the entire review &raquo;</a></td></tr></table></blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><div style="font-weight:bold;font-size:15px">Recommended</div><blockquote><table><tr><td valign="top"><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74970"><img src="http://images.dvdtalk.com/covers/ts1629998243.jpg" border="0" style="margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px" align="left" /></a><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74970"><strong>The Return Of Swamp Thing</strong></a><br /><span style="font-size:11px">by Kurt Dahlke</span><div style="width:100%; height:1px; background: #fff"></div>The Return of Swamp Thing:Jim Wynorski has directed everything, including The Bare Wench Project and four sequels. Feel free to infer from that, if you're not familiar with his work, that his oeuvre is decidedly low-brow. It's also pretty much always a good time, such as with this sequel to Wes Craven's only-slightly-more-serious original Swamp Thing. Starring Louis Jourdan, Heather Locklear, Sarah Douglas, and the almighty Dick Durock (who escapes billing on the cover, presumably because the actor was, in essence ACTUALLY SWAMP THING) The Return of Swamp Thing is brought to you in this fairly-packed 30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition (a couple of years late) to liven up your Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons forevermore.The DC Comics tragic hero Swamp Thing is a scientist who became melded with the plant life of the swamp after an explosion. Part Eco-war...<a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74970">Read the entire review &raquo;</a></td></tr></table></blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><div style="font-weight:bold;font-size:15px">Rent It</div><blockquote><table><tr><td valign="top"><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74975"><img src="http://images.dvdtalk.com/covers/ts1626973247.jpg" border="0" style="margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px" align="left" /></a><a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74975"><strong>The Wraith (Blu-ray)</strong></a><br /><span style="font-size:11px">by Justin Remer</span><div style="width:100%; height:1px; background: #fff"></div>The Movie: The 1986 flick The Wraith is a supernatural action mishmash whose cult following is one of those I-guess-you-had-to-be-there things. The film is weird, but it's not quite weird enough to be visionary. The film is bad, but it's not quite bad enough to be a laugh riot. The filmmakers and actors are constantly making unexpected choices, but these often just lead to viewer befuddlement. It's prime fodder for something like the How Did This Get Made? podcast, so it's fitting they did an exemplary episode on the film in 2017.In a nutshell, the film concerns the arriv...<a href="https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74975">Read the entire review &raquo;</a></td></tr></table></blockquote>