Tag Archive: DVD reviews

FILM FLASHBACK: Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes” (1938)

This review first appeared on the web more than 10 years ago on DVDinmyPants.com. The site is gone, but I’m pulling this from the archives for your enjoyment. Dig it: When it comes to Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest work, it would be difficult to find a title more worthy of the Criterion Collection treatment than The Lady Vanishes. Hitch’s spy thriller The 39 Steps certainly deserves its place among the collection, and this reviewer believes The Lodger is in dire need of restoration, commentary and otherwise deluxe treatment … but I am an unabashed fan of The Lady Vanishes, the last good film Hitchcock would make as a British director, and hence I am glad it received Criterion’s loving treatment. In The Lady Vanishes, Hitch brings…
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REVIEW: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Technically, I wrote this review 10 years ago for a site called DVDinmyPants.com. That site is long gone, though (you can only find it on the Wayback Machine), and since this is the greatest review in the history of film reviews (and also because of Star Wars mania right now), I’m reposting it here. It’s purposely over the top, but also completely  sincere: The Empire Strikes Back Let’s cut right to the chase: I fall into the camp that declares The Empire Strikes Back the best of the Star Wars films. Which means I also fall into the camp of people who actually have an opinion regarding what the best Star Wars film is. Which means some of you are probably surfing off to another page…
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The craziest DVD reviews I ever wrote pt. 2

As I mentioned in another post, I’ve sometimes taken a turn away from efforts at serious film criticism and instead veered into the rambling, incoherent, and bizarre. The site for which I used to be Editor-in-chief, DVD in my Pants, or DIMP, was (and is) known for off the wall, utterly crazy and very irreverent DVD reviews. So with that in mind, here are a few more selections from my more, errr, unprofessional reviews (adult language ahead!). Among the most incoherent, rambling, unfocused and bizarre reviews I ever wrote is my review of Baseball’s Most Unbreakable Feats, which does not even deserve to be called a review. It is … well, read on: “When you’re talking about unbreakable records, yeah, sure, talking about Ripken’s 37,819.34…
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The craziest DVD reviews I ever wrote pt. 1

So I spent a few years reviewing DVDs (in addition to a stint as Editor-in-Chief at dvdinmypants.com). Finally stepped down to pursue other things — insert a plug for A Year of Hitchcock here — but before I left I turned in some good reviews, some bad reviews, and some insane reviews. This blog post is about the insane reviews. Warning: Copious amounts of adult language follows. Keep in mind, most of the time I wrote serious reviews. I wanted to do a good job and be a Film Critic. (Note the important capital letters.) Hell, I co-wrote an entire 450-page book of serious film commentary and criticism! But as the site’s name will tell you, dvdinmypants.com was not a serious place. It encouraged wild…
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