THE OXFORD MURDERS takes place in Oxford, England in 1993 where
a young man (Elijah Wood) comes to get Professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) as his mentor as he writes his thesis for his doctorate.
He stays in a house of an old woman tended by her daughter Beth (Julie Cox) and falls for the sexy Lorna (Leonor Watling).
He and Seldom soon get involved in a game with a series of murders that are supposedly logical and follow mathematical
symbols. THE OXFORD MURDERS is full of twists and turns as it mixes math, philosophy, murder,and even a game of CLUE.
It is based on the novel Los Crimenes De Oxford written by Guillermo Martinez. Alex De La Iglesia directs a
wonderful cast while balancing the elements they felt were the most central to the movie (with weaving in a few subplots from
the book including the mad math genius Kalman who took a nail gun to his own brain). THE OXFORD MURDERS keeps you guessing
while marveling at the scenery chewing that John Hurt does in each scene while Elijah Wood is a passive hero.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
the DVD has previews
for other Magnolia Home Entertainment releases and several featurttes that look into the making of the film along with interviews
and some promo fluff material which are a combination of English, Spanish (with English subs), and film clips in Spanish and
English.
MAKING THE OXFORD MURDERS
CRIMINAL
MATH OF OXFORD- a look at the math used in the film and novel
THE OXFORD MURDERS: INTERVIEWS
THE OXFORD
MURDERS AT ABBEY ROAD- recording the music
THE
OXFORD MURDERS: WAITING FOR ALEX- one of the better featurettes as the author of the book and the screenplay writer discuss
the book and what was changed for the movie (and deciding what to retain).
THE OXFORD MURDERS: SET DESIGN
THE OXFORD MURDERS: KALMAN'S MAKE-UP
HDNET:
A LOOK AT THE OXFORD MURDERS
BEHIND THE SCENES
OF THE OXFORD MURDERS- six mini-featurttes that may have been on the net first due to the fact each one is about two
minutes or less in length
FINAL ANALYSIS: THE OXFORD MURDERS is a thinking complex thriller
with plenty of bonus material.
this DVD review is (c)10-18-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted
without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
