Untraceable Is A Solid Thriller

Diane Lane (Unfaithful) does a good job as an FBI cyber crime specialist in Untraceable.

The chilling story of a serial killer who murders his victims live on the Net, this is not for the squeamish. However, the story is plausible and intriguing.

Check out the full story at Untraceable.

New Lawrence of Arabia DVD set

With surprisingly little fanfare or publicity, Sony has reissued two David Lean classics - Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge On The River Kwai - to mark the 100th birthday of the famed director.

While they appear to be a repackaging of previous releases and include the same extra features, they are a bargain at just under $20 for 2 discs (shop around for the best price). I paid $35 for my Lawrence of Arabia Limited Edition set when it came out in 2001.

However, I did get a bargain in England with The Bridge on the River Kwai a couple of years ago - the 2-disc set was just five pounds 99 pence - about 12 bucks! Yes, it's a PAL region set, but you can get region free DVD players very cheaply now with 1080 upconversion (check out the LG brand).

If you don't have these classic flicks, the new sets are a great deal with a fantastic collection of extra features.

One Lean classic that does contain all-new features plus a gorgeous high def transfer is A Passage To India, which was recently given the 2-disc special edition treatment. Check out my full review HERE.

There Will Be Blood Is No Barrel Of Laughs

Even Daniel-Day Lewis's Oscar-winning performance as an obsessive prospector looking for oil can't save There Must Be Blood.

It's 158 agonizingly grim minutes of movie making. Alfred Hitchcock said movies should show life with "the dull bits cut out" - a lesson writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson hasn't learned.

Not only does lead character Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) have a heart as black as the oil he discovers, but the whole movie has a similar air of bleakness. There's simply no contrast.

I hated it!

Want Some Free DVDs? Find A Friend In The UK!

Here's a headline to catch the eye of DVD collectors: "A fantastic collection of 16 Classic War Movies to enjoy absolutely free."

It's no scam or joke - you really can get 16 classic war movies starring the likes of Kirk Douglas, Richard Attenborough, David Niven, John Mills and Richard Harris for nothing.

Here's the catch - you have to buy a copy of the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK - or know someone who lives there who can do it for you. Every day for the next couple of weeks the paper gives a way a free British war movie - titles include A Matter of Life and Death, The Heroes of Telemark, Return to The River Kwai, Reach for The Sky, In Which We Serve, Aces High, Above Us The Waves, Battle of The River Plate and All Quiet on The Western Front. The set is of particular interest because it includes some hard-to-find titles.

Blog regulars will have heard me rave about the free DVD offers UK newspapers run to help them compete in the circulation war. I've already collected about 200 of them, thanks to my mother who lives there!

While the discs are on the PAL region code, not the North American NTSC code, I picked up a cheap Region Free DVD player made by Citizen for $29 to enjoy classics like Dr. Zhivago, Scrooge, and the Oscar-winning The African Queen. I also recently received the World At War and The Great War documentary sets - and the complete Brideshead Revisited series!


Time to look up long-lost relatives in the UK - or find a friend!

Check out Andy's DVD Reviews.