DVD Verdict reviews: WORD WARS, BRIGADOON, SECRETS AND LIES, and more!

Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of BRIGADOON, CHRIS DE BURGH: LIVE IN
CONCERT: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM, CLASS ACTION, DOLLS, JESUS OF MONTREAL,
THE PUBLIC ENEMY, SECRETS AND LIES, A SNAKE OF JUNE, STRANGERS WHEN WE
MEET, TO BE AND TO HAVE, and WORD WARS:


BRIGADOON (reviewed by Bryan Pope, overall score 75/100):
"One could argue that a Broadway musical's accessibility has a direct
correlation to how many times it has been performed by high school
drama departments. Certainly this would explain why so few high
schools attempt, say, Pacific Overtures or even Rent, and why
Brigadoon has become as much a part of the high school experience for
many teenagers as acne, bad prom pictures and Billboard hits mangled
by marching bands."

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

CHRIS DE BURGH: LIVE IN CONCERT: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM (reviewed by Eric
Profancik, overall score 90/100):
"Put my first two complaints together, and the next time I put in this
disc, I'll turn up the stereo and turn off the television."

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

CLASS ACTION (reviewed by Amanda DeWees, overall score 85/100):
"Class Action can't help but seem a little sedate in comparison to all
the courtroom dramas that have come after it; with a solid story and two
charismatic leads turning in charged performances, though, there's
really no need for car chases, hostage crises, or Al Pacino as Satan."

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

DOLLS (reviewed by Dan Mancini, overall score 88/100):
"Kitano meticulously builds a profoundly emotional film that never takes
the easy road of sentiment. Though its pace is languid, its subtlety and
attention to the details of human interaction make it engrossing."

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

JESUS OF MONTREAL (reviewed by Neil Dorsett, overall score 85/100):
"Jesus of Montreal won scads of awards from various countries and
festivals, including prestigious awards at Cannes, and was nominated for
best foreign language film at the Oscars. Yet it still has the aura of
an overlooked film. "

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

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (reviewed by Rob Lineberger, overall score 75/100):
"Perhaps the clearest symbol of The Public Enemy's intimacy with
malignance is the infamous grapefruit scene. Tom is having breakfast
with a petulant Kitty. She says one errant word while he's rubbing the
hangover headache out of his forehead, and it sets him off. The next
thing we know, James Cagney is smushing half of a grapefruit into Mae
Clarke's pretty mug. This scene grabs our attention today, but in 1931
it was absolutely scandalous."

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

SECRETS AND LIES (reviewed by Diane Wild, overall score 95/100):
"These characters are people we could know -- at least in a 'there but
for the grace of god ...' kind of way -- and director Mike Leigh (Topsy-
Turvy) is brilliant at letting us feel like we're privileged to hang out
with them for a couple of hours."

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

A SNAKE OF JUNE (reviewed by Adam Arseneau, overall score 94/100):
"Akin to David Cronenberg's Crash, the film tackles the sticky issue of
desire placed into uncomfortable and challenging environments, of sexual
repression that runs against the grain of conventional thinking and the
social limitations of a society. It also examines the sticky and
delicate subjects of men wearing giant black tentacle-like robotic
penises that snake around people and strangle them."

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

STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET (reviewed by Amanda DeWees, overall score
81/100):
"Unfortunately, the daring qualities have faded with time, and although
it remains a fairly intelligent look at why two nice people might wind
up in an extramarital fling, it doesn't have a lot to make it stand out
from your basic Lifetime TV movie aside from the stars and the glossy
production values."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/st...whenwemeet.php

TO BE AND TO HAVE (reviewed by Neal Solon, overall score 83/100):
"In choosing to construct his film this way -- to show the audience
everything and to tell them practically nothing -- Nicholas Philibert
failed to convey one very important thing: the point. The beauty in the
film is obvious, as is the beauty in the children and in Lopez'
teaching. One must assume, however, that this simple beauty will not be
enough to compel most people to watch this film more than once."

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

WORD WARS (reviewed by Diane Wild, overall score 83/100):
"Marlon Hill is an edgy black man who believes the English language is a
colonial construct, but who mellows with marijuana and is the only one
of the four who can conceive of talking about someone having a nice rack
and not mean her rack of Scrabble tiles."

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

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

DVD Verdict