DVD Verdict reviews: ANGEL: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON and more!

Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of ANGEL: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON,
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: COLLECTOR'S EDITION, EXORCIST:
THE BEGINNING, GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE, HENRY ROLLINS: SHOCK AND
AWE, THE PETRIFIED FOREST, PREDATOR 2: SPECIAL EDITION, SAW, THE
TWILIGHT SAMURAI, TWO FILMS BY JACQUES BECKER: CRITERION COLLECTION,
WARREN MILLER'S JOURNEY, and WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH:


ANGEL: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON (reviewed by a panel, overall
score 95/100):
"If brutal sword fights, homicidal puppets, werewolf girlfriends, undead
wrestling matches, giant monsters, vampires drinking otter blood, robots
made by The Devil, and general apocalyptic wackiness may be things that
may interest you, Angel: The Complete Fifth Season represents the best
value in entertainment you could find."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/angelseason5.php

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (reviewed by
Bill Gibron, overall score 99/100):
"Using the lovers as a tabula rasa of relationships, their pleasantries
and pitfalls, Eternal Sunshine tries to teach us something salient and
special about the whys and the hows of interpersonal interaction. And it
does it by suggesting and showing, not beating us over the head with
monologues about longing or speeches under the stars."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/esotspce.php

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (reviewed by Patrick Naugle, overall
score 81/100):
"Putting Renny Harlin in charge of a sequel to a classic like The
Exorcist is the equivalent of having House of the Dead director Uwe Boll
helm the follow-up to Schindler's List."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/exorcistbeginning.php

GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall
score 90/100):
"Where the film does excel thematically is in its confusion of real and
virtual experiences. Much of the film is told through Batou and Togusa's
eyes, and both characters are tapped enough into the datastream that we
can never be entirely sure what we are seeing."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/ghostinshell2.php

HENRY ROLLINS: SHOCK AND AWE (reviewed by Elizabeth Skipper, overall
score 89/100):
"Rollins is a big man and a loud man and most definitely an opinionated
man. When he tells you do something, you really, really want to do it.
Despite his larger-than-life (or at least larger-than-you) presence,
though, he reveals weakness and humility in his stories that make you
believe he is no different from the rest of us."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/rollinsshockawe.php

THE PETRIFIED FOREST (reviewed by Jesse Ataide, overall score 85/100):
"Though it's somewhat a stretch to label The Petrified Forest a gangster
film, it features one of the most memorable gangsters in all of cinema:
Duke Mantee, as played by a young Humphrey Bogart."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/petrifiedforest.php

PREDATOR 2: SPECIAL EDITION (reviewed by Dennis Prince, overall
score 88/100):
"While the creature is certainly cool, and the first picture was, by and
large, a fun ride, there really wasn't enough solid material in it to
support a fast retread of this sort. The result is a creature that is
still pretty fun to behold, but isn't enough in and of itself to carry
an entire picture on its mere screen presence alone. Even if we're
offered a spaceship full of Predators, what use is that if they have
nothing meaningful to do?"

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/predator2se.php

SAW (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall score 90/100):
"Survival appears possible, but not very likely. Jigsaw knows every
angle. His motives are clear. All he wants to know is: How far will you
go to win back your life? What will you do? What are the limits of your
desire? Dr. Gordon and Adam are about to find out."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/saw.php

THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI (reviewed by Erick Harper, overall score 93/100):
"Writer/director Yoshi Yamada incorporated these major themes into his
film as a commentary on contemporary Japanese society. Seibei's
situation is not far removed from the lives of many lower-ranking
workers in Japanese corporations; social pressures demand their loyalty,
and economic forces demand that they stay at jobs for which they have no
love. They stay at jobs they hate in order to keep their bodies alive
while killing their souls."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/twilightsamurai.php

TWO FILMS BY JACQUES BECKER: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Barrie
Maxwell, overall score 90/100):
"Casque D'Or and Touchez Pas au Grisbi are two beautifully composed and
finely executed French gangster films that illustrate director Jacques
Becker's unique blend of evocation of time and attention to detail, tied
together with just enough plot to drive events to inevitable
conclusions."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/jacquesbecker.php

WARREN MILLER'S JOURNEY (reviewed by Adam Arseneau, overall score
89/100):
"Journey is the kind of film that makes you wish you had a bigger
television set -- say, thirty or forty feet wide."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/wa...ersjourney.php

WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (reviewed by Adam Arseneau, overall
score 91/100):
"You will laugh, cry, and then laugh some more. It's that good."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/wa...eavenearth.php

Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com

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