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The New Girlfriend Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Romain Duris, Anais Demoustier, Raphael Personnaz
  • Director: Francois Ozon
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen
  • Language: French
  • Subtitles: English
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: Cohen Media Group
  • Release Date: January 26, 2016
  • Run Time: 108 minutes


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            The way that The New Girlfriend speeds through the film’s exposition with a cleverly stylistic and dialogue-free opening sequence, I was certain that filmmaker François Ozon (The Swimming Pool, 8 Women) was rushing in a specific direction. Instead, The New Girlfriend wanders aimlessly throughout a number of different tones and ideas, never committing to any one direction enough to fully deliver. Moments of the narrative seem to have the social sensitivity and relevance of a movie like The Danish Girl, though the peculiarities of sexuality are nearly turned into tools of ominous suspense and mystery, all wrapped up in a series of scenes that awkwardly shift tones between comedy and melodrama.

     

    Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Review

         Actors: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, T Bone Burnett
  • Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
  • Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R
  • Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)
  • Release Date: January 19, 2016
  • Run Time: 104 minutes

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            Every frame of Inside Llewyn Davis is a near miracle in visual storytelling, matched by the Coen Brothers’ signature subtext-filled witty narrative. It is implanted with a whimsical style of humor that only Joel and Ethan could accomplish in a film about the bleak cyclical existence of a struggling artist. Harsh realities about the music industry and real-world references are miraculously blended with touches of surrealism and clever parallels to classic literature. Inside Llewyn Davis has a deceptively simplistic storyline, but the actual filmmaking is richly layered with meaning and subtext, providing hours of introspection and analysis beyond the 104-minute running-time.