"Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side is the documentary that many of us have prayed for, the one that could break through even to people who relish the torture set pieces on 24 and will hear no evil about the War on Terror," writes David Edelstein in New York. "It's the equal of No End in Sight [which Gibney produced] in its tight focus on the nuts and bolts of incompetence, and it surpasses any recent melodrama in the empathy it evokes for both its victims and - surprisingly - victimizers." Now on GreenCine, Hannah Eaves talks with Gibney about his previous work (The Trials of Henry Kissinger; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and about the ways the US might regain the moral high ground. (Gibney's Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson sees its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival.) Read article >>

She's Gotta Have It  Rent 

Spike Lee's first feature was one of the top films on our running list of MIA DVDs, but now, at last, it's missing no more. Wrote Peter Keough in the Chicago Reader: "Made for less than $30,000, Lee's first feature posed him as a mid-80s rival to Woody Allen, nearly equaling him in the psychological authenticity of his characters and perhaps bettering him in grace and virtuosity and sheer creative glee."

Syndromes and a Century Rent  

After getting off to a rough start in its native Thailand [read more here], Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century was nominated for a Golden Lion at Venice and got a worldwide release. As some critics have noted, the simplicity of the plot" is deceptive. "There's nothing here that resembles narrative urgency, but this is a quiet masterpiece, delicate and full of wonder," wrote Jonathan Rosenbaum." Adds Slant's Nick Schrager: "Weerasethakul's mise-en-scène is, predictably, both empathetic and formally breathtaking."

Also out today: The Naked Prey (Criterion); Barrio Cuba; The District!; Johnny Suede; DragonLance; Killer Diller (musical-drama had a good review from Variety and some decent buzz online); Mr. Woodcock; Oswald's Ghost; Suburban Girl; The Ten (The State does The Commandments, silly style); He Was a Quiet Man; Bleach Volume 8: Entry ; Hell Girl Volume 3: Cherry ; Mushi-shi Volume 5. More below.

New and Coming Releases lists | Your Queue | Discuss! | GreenCine's review blog: Guru | GC Member Reviews and Lists

The District! Rent 

"With their Region 1 DVD release of The District!, new DVD company on the block Atopia have hit their first home run," writes David Austin at Cinema Strikes Back. "The District, a raunchy animated satire of Romeo and Juliet mixed with a healthy helping of geopolitics, is witty, entertaining and presented in a unique style." "Call it a smash-up between faux 3-D digital fluidity and cutout cartooning and rotoscoped realism and Ralph Steadman-esque satiric caricature — the upshot is hypnotizing, even when the film's wigger material tends toward the idiotic," writes Michael Atkinson at IFC News. Read more here >> and here >>

More like this Best of Zagreb Film | Kontroll

Postwar Kurosawa Box (Eclipse)  Rent  

New on DVD from Criterion's director-themed boutique side project Eclipse comes this set of rarely seen classics from Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, all made in the shadows and ashes of WWII. Eclipse writes: "In these five early films, which range from political epic to Capraesque whimsy to courtroom potboiler, Kurosawa revealed the artistic range and social acuity that would mark his career and make him the most popular Japanese director in the world."

More like this Early Bergman | Late Ozu

Dragon Wars Rent Read

Dragon Wars is just as silly as you'd expect, but maybe twice as much fun. The special effects are super, particularly those amazing titular dragons. The action scenes are extremely well-done, too (especially the destruction of downtown Los Angeles), and since these comprise at least half the running time (which is quite short: barely 80 minutes plus credits), even if you hate the movie, you'll have wasted much less time here than with this-was-supposed-to-be-good-so-why-it-is-such-crap films currently decorating our theatre screens with color and light. Read full review >>

More like this Q: The Winged Serpent | The Host

If you haven't yet been a contributor to GreenCine's community - posting in our forums, writing reviews, creating lists - now would be a good time to start. Starting in January, we'll be giving out a cool prize to a designated GreenCine Member of the Month! The winner will be someone who contributed a lot to our site in reviews, postings and so on. It's a staff pick, but the more you post and the higher ratings your reviews get, the better your chances of winning. And if you don't this month, there's always next month. This month: Win a $30 Amazon gift certificate!

Plus! We've created a new Horror forum and have brought in prolific film writer/reviewer/ horror expert Scott Weinberg to moderate the discussions there. He's great fun, so jump in now! New threads include one on your favorite horror directors, direct to video horror and Cloverfield.