title: Mean Streets function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Warner Bros Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson release year: 1973 film rating: Five Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein When I told a friend I'd been asked to review 'Mean Streets' on DVD, she was incredulous. "What can you say about 'Mean Streets' at this late date? It's a fantastic movie, it's seminal, watch it, the end?' "   She has a point. Although all three had worked before, 'Mean Streets' launched the careers of director Martin Scorsese and actors Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Along with 'The Godfather,' it is one of the most influential, written-about gangster films ever. Actually, since "The Godfather" is opulent and operatic and 'Mean Streets' is set in working- (and stealing-) class Little Italy, New York and is laced with the rock music of its day, the latter is the more accessible of the two. Since most budding filmmakers have relatively limited ...

title: Ganja & Hess function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: AllDay Entertainment MPAA rating: Unrated starring: Duane Jones, Marlene Clark, Bill Gunn, Sam Wayman, Leonard Jackson, Candece Tarpley, Richard Harrow, John Hoffmeister release year: 1972 film rating: Four stars reviewed by: Bill Warren Bill Gunn was an actor who wanted to make the transition to director, so when he was approached to do a "black vampire movie," he jumped at the chance. 'Ganja & Hess,' the resulting film, was a great deal more serious, intelligent and imaginative than the producers were expecting, but it was also clearly not a black horror movie along the lines of, say, 'Blacula.'

title: The Boxer function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Universal Home Video MPAA rating: PG-13 starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, Brian Cox, Ken Stott release year: 1997 film rating: Three stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein Despite its title, ‘The Boxer’ is ultimately less about pugilism than about the combative footwork of politics in North Ireland. The title character, 32-year-old Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis), is newly released after having spent 14 years in jail for his part in RA violence. Danny has long since turned his back on the cause, but his refusal to name names to the police means that he is grudgingly tolerated by his former compatriots. Danny almost immediately gets in new trouble, however. He supports his old trainer Ike (Ken Stott) in a plan to establish a non-sectarian gymnasium in the heart of Catholic Belfast and he wants to woo back his old sweetheart Maggie (Emily Watson). Maggie is not only the daughter of a high-ranking IRA official (Brian Cox), but she’s also ...

title: Pulp Fiction function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Miramax Home Entertainment MPAA rating: R starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer release year: 1994 reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein The pleasures of 'Pulp Fiction' are many and varied, ranging from writer/director Quentin Tarantino's love of bad boy characters and dialogue to the opportunity to hear Tim Roth use his own accent for once in an American movie. By now, sections of the movie have been parodied in everything, even 'Antz.' Indeed, a whole (pretty lame) feature-length send-up, 'Plump Fiction,' even found its way into theatres.

title: Dead Presidents function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Hollywood Pictures Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, N'Bushe Wright release year: 1997 film rating: Three stars sound/picture: Three stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein 'Dead Presidents' is nothing if not ambitious. A combination heist drama, war movie and domestic tragedy, it packs an impressive range and variety of events into a running time just under two hours. The film is fast-paced and has visual pizzazz, but in trying to pack so many events and genres into a single storyline, directors Allen & Albert Hughes and screenwriter Michael Henry Brown (who all collaborated on the story together) wind up sacrificing emotional involvement.