Acorn's new five-disc retelling of "I, Claudius" opens with an ominous warning about the condition of the 1976 miniseries. "Occasional flaws ... that were beyond our ability to correct." "I, Claudius" fans could be excused a shudder of paranoia upon reading the disclaimer, especially given the treatment the BBC presentation received on home … [Read more...]
‘The Fades’: Adolescent vs. apocalypse
They're hot, sexy and dead -- and they want to eat your flesh. The apocalypse looms, but fortunately the world has a savior -- a 17-year-old bed-wetter who cowers before his twin sister. The title of the BBC teen horror series "The Fades" refers to ghosts who can't quite cross over the other side. Despairing of the limbo, they start to chomp on … [Read more...]
‘Spellbound’ on Blu-ray: a nightmare revived
A man takes scissors to a surrealistic curtain, cutting an eyeball in half. Another man runs across a terrible angular landscape, stalked by a gigantic bird. A faceless tyrant lets slip a warped wheel as the camera slithers into the void of its center hole. Just another day at the office for Salvador Dali, mad genius and painter of the unreal. … [Read more...]
‘Lilyhammer’: Northern exposure for a hood in hiding
"Lilyhammer" snuck onto the Netflix streaming video service like a crook in the night. No rah-rah, no in-your-face promos, not even a listing as "new on TV." Subscribers who haven't read about the Steven Van Zandt fish-out-of-water series probably still don't know it's there. Those who sought out the show often did so by doing an onscreen text … [Read more...]
‘X: The Unheard Music,’ ‘Sid and Nancy’
"Being under the radar is a good thing," says Exene Cervenka, the singer-poet of the L.A. rock band X. "Celebrity-hood is not a good thing. … Being able to live your life as an artist and matter is a good thing. … I'm happy with the way things turned out. She pauses. "Other people in the band, maybe not so much …" X holds the title of … [Read more...]
