Arts & Culture :: DVD

'Extra Ordinary' a kooky horror comedy

'Extra Ordinary' a kooky horror comedy

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Apr 28, 2020

While the new comedy 'Extra Ordinary' is completely irreverent (some of the jokes flirt with tastelessness), the references (including a few to The 'Exorcist' and 'The Conjuring') are thoroughly reverent.

You can help support the Bay Area Reporter fundraising campaign

You can help support the Bay Area Reporter fundraising campaign

  • by Michael Yamashita
  • Apr 15, 2020

San Francisco is one of 11 US cities that is fortunate to have a legacy LGBT publication by us, for us, and about us. Help preserve the BAR as an historic and important community institution for the future.

Epidemic cinematic: classic AIDS stories still ring true

Epidemic cinematic: classic AIDS stories still ring true

  • by David Lamble
  • Apr 7, 2020

This isn't our first pandemic. Herein we review the cream of the pandemic film crop, many of which can be found on various cable channels or streaming services.

Urban ensemble amours: 'Almost Love'

Urban ensemble amours: 'Almost Love'

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Apr 7, 2020

When gay actor turned writer/director Mike Doyle's feature-length debut played the festival circuit it went by the terrible title 'Sell By.' Opening this spring, the movie is now called 'Almost Love' is so much better than either of its names.

Disc love in the time of contagion: Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin'

Disc love in the time of contagion: Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin'

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Mar 25, 2020

I watched the new DVD of Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin,' the most emotionally brutal of the Tchaikovsky operas, in a Bolshoi production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, my personal favorite of the current gang of opera enfants terribles, from my bed.

Dystopiana: The Lavender Tube's pandemic picks

Dystopiana: The Lavender Tube's pandemic picks

  • by Victoria A. Brownworth
  • Mar 25, 2020

Welcome to the new dystopia. While we are self-isolating for the foreseeable future, let's make our time in quarantine as manageable as possible and create a TV routine that is helpful, not harmful.

Fox and Fiends: 'Bombshell' recounts the fake news network's foibles

Fox and Fiends: 'Bombshell' recounts the fake news network's foibles

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 25, 2020

'Bombshell," (just released on DVD) details the fall of Roger Ailes, the head of conservative cable Fox News, due to a sexual harassment lawsuit instigated by several star journalists working at the network.

Operatic Bette Davis in new 4K format

Operatic Bette Davis in new 4K format

  • by Tavo Amador
  • Mar 17, 2020

Critic Cecelia Ager wrote about "Deception," a 1946 Bette Davis film, "It's like grand opera, only the people are thinner. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Front lines at San Francisco General: '5B'

Front lines at San Francisco General: '5B'

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 10, 2020

"5B" is the story of the fabled ward at San Francisco General (now Zuckerberg) Hospital that opened in 1983 to treat patients with AIDS.

Celebrating a marriage equality victory

Celebrating a marriage equality victory

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Feb 25, 2020

The shadow of the Mormon church looms large in "Church & State," a new documentary by Holly Tuckett and Kendall Wilcox.

First they came for 'Mr. Klein'

First they came for 'Mr. Klein'

  • by Tavo Amador
  • Feb 25, 2020

Viewers meet the elegant Robert Klein (Alain Delon), an impeccably attired art-and-antiques dealer living in a beautifully decorated home in a tony area of Paris.

And the winner is...

And the winner is...

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Feb 18, 2020

The 1966 film "The Oscar," released on DVD and BluRay to coincide with the just-passed Oscar season, was panned upon its initial release.

Chinese customs

Chinese customs

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Feb 11, 2020

The Academy made a colossal mistake not nominating "The Farewell," just released on Blu-ray, as one of its Best Picture nominees.

10th annual readers' poll starts

10th annual readers' poll starts

  • by Cynthia Laird
  • Jan 29, 2020

This year marks the 10th annual Bay Area Reporter readers' poll, the Besties, and voting begins Thursday, January 30.