Emily Watson

Home Entertainment Round-Up: 5/20/14

We play catch up with the DVDs we've accumulated over the past month with Phil looking at Criterion releases for Riot in Cell Block 11 and Breaking the Waves, the recently remastered Sorcerer, a re-cut version of the documentary Cocaine Cowboys, the fourth and final season of Eastbound and Down, and the latest Paranormal Activity film. Dave looks at straight-to-video efforts Mr. Jones and Bad Country, along with new discs for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and Seven Warriors. And Andrew looks back on A Birder's Guide to Everything and Big Bad Wolves.

Belle Review

Although at times it feels like Amma Asante’s Belle is unwisely trying to be a Jane Austen period romance that never quite takes off, the film’s true to life trappings and some exceptional performances and wit save the film from ever becoming something it shouldn’t be.

War Horse Review

Sometimes it’s obvious when a big name director is actively trying to win ALL THE OSCARS. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is one of those painfully obvious movies, but that's not to say that the film is at all bad or unwatchable. This tale of a young man and the horse that touched the lives of everyone who came in contact with it is a splendid World War I yarn made with the skill and craft one would expect from a Spielberg production, but one can’t seem to shake the feeling that it’s all a bit overbearing.