The holiday season is here and that means there is no shortage of options as far as seasonal fare goes. For a film critic, it can be a bit difficult to recommend something at this time of year that few have seen. Like everyone else, it’s easy to suggest familiar favorites, so I’ll run down obvious titles before drawing attention to a few that deserve more attention.

 

Naturally, if you haven’t seen them, it’s certainly worth checking out classics like It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A Christmas Carol (1951) aka Scrooge (this is the British production with Alistair Sim) along with White Christmas (1954). Those looking for some holiday trivia may be...

Welcome to another look at some of the highlights arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. Due to the upcoming holiday, this edition isn’t quite as busy as others, but it does contain two major Oscar contenders and a few alternate releases. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, need to spend time indoors or require some recovery time from festivities, be sure to give one of these titles a try!



BIG NEW RELEASES!



THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN: Set in Ireland on a remote island, two villagers and longtime friends reach an impasse when one of them decides to suddenly end their friendship. Shocked and saddened, one of the men tries to figure out what he did wrong...

Rating: «««

out of ««««

Running Time: 193 minutes

This feature from 20th Century Studios opens at cinemas on Friday, Dec. 16.

The science-fiction epic Avatar arrived at theaters back in 2009 and was an instant smash, earning awards for its groundbreaking visual effects and shattering just about every box office record in the process (it still currently remains the highest grossing film worldwide, earning just under $3 billion in total revenue). While one would have expected an immediate follow-up, writer/director James Cameron instead spent 13 years toiling on a sequel, or as it has now been made clear, a series of new titles.

There’s nothing subtle about Avatar: The Way...

Well, the holidays are arriving and movie studios are rushing to put everything they can out before the end of the year. This is one of the busiest weeks yet with numerous Blu-ray and DVD highlights arriving on store shelves. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week or need to stay indoors, be sure to give one of these titles a try!



BIG NEW RELEASES!



CALL JANE: A married, Chicago-based woman in 1968 finds herself expecting, but quickly learns that it will threaten her life if she continues forward with the pregnancy. After making the difficult decision to abort, the protagonist finds that no hospitals are willing to perform the procedure and that she must...