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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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O (2001)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Hoop Scheming

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy O on DVD

Tim Blake Nelson's updating of Othello to a high school basketball drama has its interesting points, not least of all the performances by Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, Josh Hartnett and Martin Sheen. But the real reason to get excited over this two-disc set is its inclusion of the completely restored 1922 silent film Othello starring Emil Jannings. The DVD box doesn't say boo about this milestone, but here it is, in sparkling glory with an excellent, brand-new score. At first I balked at the idea of silent Shakespeare, but the intertitles provide a healthy dose of the Bard's magical language, and Jannings more than carries off the lead role. The creepy Werner Krauss ("The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari") also excels as a pear-shaped Iago.

Starring: Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, Elden Henson, Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix, John Heard, Anthony Johnson, Martin Sheen
Written by: Brad Kaaya, based on a play by William Shakespeare
Directed by: Tim Blake Nelson
MPAA Rating: R for violence, a scene of strong sexuality, language and drug use
Running Time: 95 minutes
Date: March 21, 2002