Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Like John Ford, Sam Peckinpah was a rambunctious, self-destructive, cinematic poet who idolized the American West. His work is generally discussed in terms of graphic violence, sadism, and perversion, and these aberrant forms of human behavior do appear throughout his work.

So much fuss has been made about Brokeback Mountain (Lionsgate; Movie ••••^½, Picture/Sound ••••, Extras •••), especially after it was nominated for eight Oscars (winning three), that it's not worth rehashing the details here.

From the late 1960s through the early '70s, Americans saw the crumbling of the old morality, which gave way to the new twin blights of urban decay and bad hair. If this golden age of anti-heroes and the stars who played them is your bag - if you take your detectives tough, your streets mean, and your realism gritty - then you'll want to add some of these movies to your collection.

When he first landed in the U.S. in 1961, British agent John Drake went mostly unnoticed. But when this Danger Man reappeared 4 years later - with a new name, a new theme song, and a visa extended from 30 minutes to an hour - he made quite a stir.