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From Kultur comes The Rembrandt Collection, a marvelous two-disc compilation of four separate documentaries on the famous 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn. Each short documentary (the longest one runs only forty-one minutes) takes a markedly different cinematic approach to illustrate the life and work of this giant in the world of painting, giving the viewer a unique opportunity to more fully understand the true genius of Rembrandt's output, as well as the drama of his personal life. Let's look at each documentary.

REMBRANDT: PAINTER OF MAN (REMBRANDT, SCHILDER VAN DE MENS)

Produced in 1957, this beautifully edited nineteen minute documentary on Rembrandt was an international art house hit, and a contender at the Canne...Read the entire review

The all-female manga artist group CLAMP has been quite successful in the anime industry. Several of their series have made the transition to animation from Chobits and Magic Knight Rayearth to Cardcaptor Sakura and Angelic Layer. The surprising thing is that there are still many more titles on their resume. The latest of which is Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

Originally published as an on-going manga in 2003, the anime adaptation of Tsubasa contains a whopping 52 episodes. Many would consider the series as a form of homage to CLAMP's other works. Fortunately you don't have to be familiar with the intricacies of their other franchises in order to appreciate the show. Granted if you know most of the references it helps to tie everything together and it certainly enhances your experience but it's not necessary.

The main sta...Read the entire review

From Kultur comes The Rembrandt Collection, a marvelous two-disc compilation of four separate documentaries on the famous 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn. Each short documentary (the longest one runs only forty-one minutes) takes a markedly different cinematic approach to illustrate the life and work of this giant in the world of painting, giving the viewer a unique opportunity to more fully understand the true genius of Rembrandt's output, as well as the drama of his personal life. Let's look at each documentary.

REMBRANDT: PAINTER OF MAN (REMBRANDT, SCHILDER VAN DE MENS)

Produced in 1957, this beautifully edited nineteen minute documentary on Rembrandt was an international art house hit, and a contender at the Canne...Read the entire review

The Nightowls of Coventry, a well-meaning but fatally abbreviated, sketchily-drawn indie effort from 2004, unfortunately doesn't have a whole lot going for it other than good intentions. Coming in at a crisp seventy-five minutes, The Nightowls of Coventry wants to tell a good story about a clash of cultures, and a period of immense change for a local immigrant neighborhood, and a familiar story of misfits who find themselves acting like family to each other when times are tough. The Nightowls of Coventry wants to tell all of that; but its limited means and truncated vision merely notecard these big themes, and leaves the audience feeling distinctly unsatisfied.

The movie

It's not an easy task to produce aprogram on the Bible that will appeal equally to skeptics andbelievers. The A&E series The Mysteries of the Bible takesa shot at the project, giving us twenty-two episodes exploring theevents described in the Bible and drawing on a variety of points ofview about the material. How successful is it? I'd say that TheMysteries of the Bible is not terribly ambitious, but it doessucceed in doing what it (modestly) sets out to do.

In terms of perspective, TheMysteries of the Bible takes a middle-of-the-road approach.Scholars and religious figures provide their thoughts on the meaningof the material; some take a skeptical approach, while otherscautiously assert the orthodox view. I was pleased to note that allthe interviewees are given enough time to articulat...Read the entire review