Jaime N. Christley Movie Reviews & Previews

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Jaime N. Christley

Agrees with the Tomatometer 67% of the time.

Publications:: Apollo Guide , Daily-Reviews , Epinions.com , Film Written Magazine , House Next Door , Jacksonville Film Journal , Senses of Cinema , Slant Magazine

Total Reviews:: 396

Location:: stand by for a special message from Dylan Baker

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Showing 1 - 50 of 396

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
	——	City That Never Sleeps (1953)	" A hard-ass noir softened not so much by the sight of gams-centric cheesecake as its quasi-mystical poaching and repurposing on The Naked City's turf, City That Never Sleeps arrives on a spiffy Blu-ray courtesy micro-auteur-fixated Olive Films." — Slant Magazine Posted May 9, 2013
3/4	86%	Supporting Characters (2013)	" Glides from a mildly off-putting opening across several scenes that waver between sitcom superficiality and sudden, unexpected gusts of feeling." — Slant Magazine Posted Jan 19, 2013
	——	Abraham Lincoln (1930)	" Kino's Blu-ray gives the movie back no small amount of the dignity that had escaped Griffith during his final years at the Knickerbocker Hotel." — Slant Magazine Posted Dec 15, 2012
	——	Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache (Kriemhild's Revenge) (1924)	" In a period of film history that didn't want for extravagant epics, Die Nibelungen ranks among the greatest and strangest of all silents. Kino presents Lang's 1924 masterpiece in a stunning, 1080p upgrade." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 26, 2012
	——	Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (Siegfried's Death) (1924)	" In a period of film history that didn't want for extravagant epics, Die Nibelungen ranks among the greatest and strangest of all silents. Kino presents Lang's 1924 masterpiece in a stunning, 1080p upgrade." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 26, 2012
3.5/4	93%	Nothing But a Man (1963)	" It can't be overstated just how Nothing But a Man is militantly tone-deaf to the Hollywood muzak of race relations." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 9, 2012
	92%	Blade Runner (1982)	" A brick of a set clearly trying to out-super-duper all previous models. A little overkill? Why resist? Blade Runner: 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition really is the ultimate home-video version of Ridley Scott's finest film." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 8, 2012
	88%	The Sterile Cuckoo (Pookie) (1969)	" As a Blu-ray, this tomato comes pre-peeled, but Alan J. Pakula's directorial debut takes a done-to-death story template and revitalizes it with intelligence, maturity, and tenderness." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 26, 2012
3/4	——	The Last Time I Saw Macao ()	" The essayistic remembrances provide the filmmakers with a brilliant exit strategy when the noir business has nowhere to go but in circles. " — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 11, 2012
3.5/4	69%	Not Fade Away (2012)	" Triumphs when David Chase's empowerment as a kind of autobiographical historian is balanced with the thrill of submersing the viewer in the tidal pool of his memories" — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 11, 2012
3/4	92%	Night Across the Street (2013)	" Across the film's second half, as is sometimes his wont, Ruiz begins to cast aside the genteel, tradition-of-quality trappings misleadingly suggested by the first act and indulges in the lurid fancy of pulp fiction and horror." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 2, 2012
2/4	——	Linhas de Wellington (Lines of Wellington) ()	" It's an odd experience, a Ruiz film (if it deserves to be called that) devoid of dreamy mystery, reduced to a mere handsome historical epic, albeit capably mounted by Portuguese producer extraordinaire Paulo Branco." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 27, 2012
	85%	The Devil Probably (Le diable probablement) (1977)	" Bresson's second-to-last film is not his bleakest, but it's probably his most plot-heavy, a droll tragedy about a young womanizer who contemplates, as many Bresson heroes and heroines have done before him, an exit strategy." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 22, 2012
3.5/4	30%	Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)	" At this point in the franchise, Anderson is content to alight the saga on a perpetual rewind loop, ever-ending, ever-rebooting, all subsidized by his nonpareil compositional sense." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 14, 2012
	46%	Beyond The Black Rainbow (2012)	" Pure style carries Beyond the Black Rainbow considerably farther than many reviewers gave it credit for. " — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 14, 2012
2.5/4	99%	Finding Nemo (2003)	" At its best, the added dimension is merely harmless, making the movie blurry enough that you need special glasses to make it sharp again." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 11, 2012
	100%	Pursued (1947)	" Behind the anonymous-sounding title is a quintessential Walsh noir-western, with a lead performance by Robert Mitchum that contains multitudes." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 7, 2012
	54%	Secret Beyond the Door... (1949)	" Insofar as every Lang film you haven't seen is an undiscovered country, Secret Beyond the Door flies high over its seemingly anonymous place in the master's 1940s phase." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 7, 2012
	78%	Lonesome (1928)	" You (probably) don't know Paul Fejos, but Criterion will repair that oversight-and how!-with this superb Blu-ray release of the director's nearly forgotten gem, two additional, standalone features, and a windfall of illuminating supplements." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 30, 2012
	100%	Bye Bye Birdie (1963)	" As expected, Twilight Time's Blu-ray for Bye Bye Birdie sacrifices supplemental features for production quality, but when you're trying to stuff your eyeballs back into your skull holes, you'll know it was a smart compromise." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 14, 2012
	97%	La Grande illusion (Grand Illusion) (2012)	" Lionsgate makes a play for prestige cred with another entry in their StudioCanal Collection, and their superb disc for La Grande Illusion will wipe away any salty tears that it doesn't carry the Criterion logo." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 13, 2012
	80%	The Royal Tenenbaums (2002)	" The Royal Tenenbaums remains Wes Anderson's biggest commercial success; it's also one of his best films, and the Criterion Collection has brought it into their high-definition stable with great aplomb." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 13, 2012
	92%	Bound (1996)	" A typical film-only platter from Olive Films benefits from a sturdy transfer, which flatters some of this hot-lesbian-action thriller's design elements more than others." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 13, 2012
	75%	Rio Grande (1950)	" Olive Films' barebones platter for the often overlooked third part of Ford's cavalry trilogy is an essential buy for fans of the director, despite a slapdash presentation." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 7, 2012
3.5/4	——	Max and the Junkmen (2012)	" Regarding Michel Piccoli's Max, Claude Sautet's film resists judgment, neither condoning nor signposting the despicable nature of his choices." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 7, 2012
2.5/4	56%	The Bourne Legacy (2012)	" One successful set piece in 135 minutes, and it involves very little running, no parkour, and no genetically enhanced superheroes from clandestine government projects." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 7, 2012
	100%	Body and Soul (1947) (1947)	" For a film that's almost been toppled over by its extra-cinematic legacy, a few supplements wouldn't have killed Olive Films' Body and Soul's Blu-ray. But it's a knockout on points, at least, with a strong transfer and a meaty mono track." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 6, 2012
	84%	Total Recall (1990)	" Crass, loud, and proud, Total Recall gets a not-very-special special edition (more like an SE DVD where the feature has been remastered in 1080p), but a worthwhile buy for fans, with terrific grain and an even better commentary track." — Slant Magazine Posted Aug 3, 2012
	60%	The Last of England (2005)	" Rage, bitterness, sorrow, and beauty, all in unison against the dying of the light; Derek Jarman's poison love letter to England is presented in a passable HD transfer from Kino, in all its rag-and-bone glory." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 27, 2012
	89%	Metropolitan (1990)	" As modest and urbane as the film, Criterion's Blu-ray of Whit Stillman's Metropolitan is a worthwhile upgrade from their 2006 DVD release." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 23, 2012
	98%	Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)	" '50S science fiction as a blank metaphorical check, legal tender for any "other-ness" hobbyhorse you can name. Lacking even the slightest supplemental material, Olive Films's handsome platter leaves the viewer no choice but to come up with their own take." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 20, 2012
	96%	High Noon (1952)	" Olive Films's Blu-ray of Fred Zinnemann's Oscar-winning film, the alleged western for people who don't like westerns, is light on contextual supplements, but nearly immaculate on a technical level." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 19, 2012
	98%	Mean Streets (1973)	" Sometimes a classic film gets a grand reception on home video, and sometimes it has to sneak out by the fire escape; Warner's meager platter for Mean Streets is a bit more like the latter, but it gets a pass for a decent HD transfer." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 19, 2012
	71%	Margaret (2011)	" A bit of a home-video miracle: a film that barely saw the light of day, on a Blu-ray that almost didn't happen, with an extended cut that fans thought they'd never see." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 17, 2012
	——	The Saphead (1920)	" The Great Stone Face's feature debut, now politely considered non-canon but worthwhile, is given a tidy high-definition release from Kino Lorber." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 15, 2012
.5/4	37%	Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)	" Caters almost exclusively to the remedial, Duplo Blocks demographic, leaving parents and guardians bored to distraction." — Slant Magazine Posted Jul 12, 2012
	94%	Deliverance (1972)	" Deliverance is the kind of classic where the subtext is the text: unspeakable horror derived from the same energies exerted to keep it suppressed." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 26, 2012
	100%	The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)	" This non-classic has plenty of boilerplate pulp-Guignol appeal, and it's tempting to say that HD Cinema Classics gave it the disappointing Blu-ray release it deserves, but that isn't quite true." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 18, 2012
3.5/4	98%	Annie Hall (1977)	" Woody Allen's classic comedy has one opening scene after another, never seeming to run short of prologues and prefaces." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 17, 2012
	86%	As Good As It Gets (1997)	" Given that this was one of 1997's in-the-shadow-of-Titanic mainstays, it's a little disturbing that James L. Brooks's double-Oscar-winning comedy should get what amounts to a home-video brush-off." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 14, 2012
	17%	Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)	" One of the best and most distinctive Marvel adaptations gets the deluxe treatment from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment-outstanding picture and sound, and robust supplements that will be engrossing for fans and skeptics alike." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 14, 2012
	60%	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)	" An oddball blockbuster that gets better when it gets to be "too much"; as for Warner's handsomely mounted Blu-ray, less is more." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 13, 2012
	86%	Hondo (1953)	" Put your feet up, open a beer, and enjoy Al Bundy's all-time favorite movie, presented in two dimensions by Paramount's well-appointed Blu-ray." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 11, 2012
	53%	Blood Work (2002)	" Eastwood's defiantly modest 2002 thriller was about a million miles away from Oscar material, but Warner's high-definition transfer is praiseworthy in and of itself." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 8, 2012
3/4	79%	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)	" Powered by the impossible, high-flying stunts of its animal and human characters, Madagascar 3 spirals, sashays, pirouettes across the European continent." — Slant Magazine Posted Jun 5, 2012
	76%	We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012)	" Now that the worldwide success of The Avengers has put the kibosh on Lynne Ramsay's egregious attempt to demonize the noble sport of archery, we can safely talk about Kevin in the warm light of Oscilloscope's visually okay/aurally spectacular Blu-ray." — Slant Magazine Posted May 29, 2012
	——	The Lawless (1950)	" The protean Losey's second feature is a modest little fighter that takes a risky subject--race and class conflict in a quiet, SoCal town--and almost goes somewhere with it. Olive Films did a first-rate job with their standard-definition transfer." — Slant Magazine Posted May 29, 2012
	——	Run for Cover (Colorado) ()	" As Olive's handsome, if no-bones, Blu-ray indicates, the film fairly oozes with the tempestuous emotions that point back to the auteur." — Slant Magazine Posted May 25, 2012
	——	A Bullet for the General (El chuncho, quien sabe?) (1966)	" If all you know of the spaghetti western is Sergio Leone, Damiano Damiani's A Bullet for the General, presented in a largely satisfactory Blu-ray from Blue Underground, is an excellent reason to look beyond the holy "Dollars" trinity." — Slant Magazine Posted May 24, 2012

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