Posted by DVD Verdict on 06/15/06 08:23

Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of CLASSIC CARTOON FAVORITES: HOLIDAY
CELEBRATION WITH MICKEY AND PALS (VOLUME 8), THE DEVIL'S MINER, FEMALE
PRISONER #701 SCORPION: BEAST STABLE, THE GIRL FROM S.I.N. / HENRY'S
NIGHT IN, THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, HOLLYWOOD BURLESQUE /
PEEK-A-BOO!, HOUSE OF STRANGERS, MOLDY'S MADHOUSE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO,
and THE SYRIAN BRIDE:


CLASSIC CARTOON FAVORITES: HOLIDAY CELEBRATION WITH MICKEY AND PALS
(VOLUME 8) (reviewed by Steve Evans, overall score 80/100):
"Seven rare Disney cartoons with a holiday theme make this one of the
better discs in the studio's multi-volume classics series."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/classiccartoonfavoritesvol8.php

THE DEVIL'S MINER (reviewed by Brendan Babish, overall score 85/100):
"If you're a parent of a layabout teenager, this is a film to watch with
the family. After viewing The Devil's Miner I can almost guarantee
junior will stop complaining about the injustices of cleaning his room
or finishing his homework."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/devilsminer.php

FEMALE PRISONER #701 SCORPION: BEAST STABLE (reviewed by Geoffrey
Miller, overall score 83/100):
"That it is disjointed, bordering on plotless, isn't a fatal flaw when
filmmaking as engrossing and original as this is on display. Like the
best of Tarantino or Miike, it's oozing with a sort of edgy cool that's
addictive."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/femaleprisoner701.php

THE GIRL FROM S.I.N. / HENRY'S NIGHT IN (reviewed by Bill Gibron,
overall score 88/100):
"Something Weird Video has done it again, offering a trio of twisted
titles so clever and peculiar that there is no way for the modern
moviemaking machine to match them. These oddball offerings are from an
era where sex was scandalous, and needed something to dim the glare of
gratuity."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/sinhenrys.php

THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS (reviewed by Joe Armenio,
overall score 78/100):
"Of course the fact that J.T. LeRoy does not exist does not make the
film based on his stories any less legitimate; this creative work exists
independent of any such authorial shenanigans. Still, it's hard for the
terminally unhip among us not to feel a bit of schadenfreuede at the
gullibility of these sullen, world-weary Hollywood cool kids, and I
don't think it's unfair to say that Albert's ruse succeeded for the same
reasons that the movie fails. "

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/heartisdeceitful.php

HOLLYWOOD BURLESQUE / PEEK-A-BOO! (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall
score 86/100):
"One of the things you learn when watching these recorded stage acts is
that there is a definite link between the level of enjoyment and the
proficiency and professionalism of the performers. Put another way, the
crappier the cavalcade of comeliness, the more fun there is to be had."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/hollywoodpeek.php

HOUSE OF STRANGERS (reviewed by Patrick Bromley, overall score 78/100):
"It's the stuff with Edward G. Robinson (doing a sometimes goofy Italian
accent) that makes House of Strangers work. He's a great, tragic
character -- a man out of place and time, a proud, powerful man so stuck
in his ways that even when confronted with the truth about who he is and
what he's done, he's unable to reconcile himself to it. (Robinson was
awarded Best Actor at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival for his work here.)"

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/housestrangers.php

MOLDY'S MADHOUSE (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall score 85/100):
"If you're looking for something to remind you of the days when every
local TV station had a member of their staff dressed up like a dopey
Dracula, reading bad horror puns before an equally atrocious monster
movie, Moldy's Madhouse just may be the ticket."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/moldysmadhouse.php

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall score 97/100):
"I promised myself, back in the days of untranslated VHS bootlegs of
Totoro, that if I ever had a daughter, I would sit her down in front of
Totoro at the youngest age that she was capable of understanding it. I
was understandably loath to do this with Fox's pan-and-scan edition of
the film. But now, with Disney's superior two-disc DVD, my daughter, now
three-and-a-half, can enjoy My Neighbor Totoro in full flower."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/totorodisneyrel.php

THE SYRIAN BRIDE (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall score 80/100):
"Everything here is rooted in ritual, from the number of sheep
slaughtered for the pre-wedding feast to the pre-arranged particulars of
the engagement. Watching these heretofore unknown concepts play out
before us (as well as a few we know all too well) makes for a wildly
engaging experience."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/syrianbride.php

Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com

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