Jesper Christensen

CHICAGO – Lars Von Trier’s incredible “Melancholia” gets better both in memory and on repeat viewing, especially with a pristine, jaw-dropping transfer like the one granted it by Magnolia on their recently-released Blu-ray. It may have been left out of all Academy Award categories but this was easily one of the best movies of last year. And the few before that as well. Most people missed it in theaters. Catch up on Blu-ray.

CHICAGO – Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” is a mesmerizing, haunting portrayal of the world-shattering force of depression from a filmmaker who has first-hand knowledge of the debilitating disease. With career-best work by Kirsten Dunst and some of the most confident filmmaking from its controversial director, this is one of the best films of 2011, a stunningly original examination of that which is completely out of our control.

CHICAGO – Re-imagining, almost re-engaging the evil of the Holocaust has been thoroughly examined in film for years. “The Debt” looks at another angle, that of revenge and how much that revenge can wreak havoc on the truth.

CHICAGO – Jan Troell’s “Everlasting Moments” is a beautiful film; a perfect fit for Criterion’s Blu-ray line in that it’s the kind of work that both could easily slip under the radar of movie history and not be granted the HD treatment that it deserves. There’s been some controversy over Criterion’s arrangement with IFC Films that has allowed some recent questionable inductions into the most esteemed collection in film preservation but I’m here to defend the inclusion of “Everlasting Moments.”

CHICAGO – The end of April and beginning of May has produced an onslaught of 2009 Oscar winners and nominees on Blu-ray including “Avatar,” “Crazy Heart,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Nine,” and Oscar winner for Best Costume Design, “The Young Victoria”.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Jan Troell’s epic “Everlasting Moments,” a Golden Globe-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of 2008 and Sweden’s entry in the same category for the Oscars (notoriously making “Let the Right One In” ineligible because of the stupid “one country, one movie” rule), is a haunting, beautiful movie about small, emotional movements set against a backdrop of national change.