If you have been dying to watch RAMBO, this is your week. Call us immediately, and we will put the latest homicidal episode in John Rambo’s life on hold for you.There is also a large batch of films with big stars (THE AIR I BREATHE, THE WALKER, CLEANER, CASSANDRA’S DREAM, GRACE IS GONE) like John Cusack, Kevin Bacon, Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and Woody Harrelson among others. There is a big batch of horror from Dario Argento (THE CARDPLAYER, PHENOMENA, TENEBRE, TRAUMA, DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK?). Some comedies (ALL HAT, THE LATHER EFFECT), some old films new to DVD (THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD). A couple of hot-button documentaries (DARFUR NOW, WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?). There is also some TV, both new and old (LIPSTICK JUNGLE, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, SAVED BY THE BELL). And our usual batch of new additions (BASQUIAT, CHEECH AND CHONG: STILL SMOKIN, CHEECH AND CHONG: UP IN SMOKE, SPEED).
And there you have the movie report.
Starting June 1st, we are having our first price increase here in many years (at least 5). The increase is ONLY affecting library films which are current $3 for 3 nights. We are raising the price of library movies to the same as New Releases ($3.75 after tax) and we are also extending the time you can rent them. Instead of three day rentals, they will now be five day rentals. Until now, if you had a library film out for two renewal periods (six days), it cost you $6. Now, you can have that same movie for $3.75 for five nights.
We are NOT raising the New Release price, and we are not changing Dollar Wednesdays. Just for perspective, this is a .75 cent raise for a rental that you can have for five days…I hope everyone understands. We are still among the least expensive video stores in town with some of the best policies and one of the finest collections in the entire Bay Area.
Don’t forget, KenFlix is here! Four Star Video is now selling subscription memberships. We are not pushing this service, just offering it as an awesome alternative either to corporate America, or to regular renewal fees. If you are trying to analyze whether this service is for you, ask us to look up your rental history. Grab a pamphlet at the store which has all the 411 you need.
Best regards,
Ken
............//NEW TITLES//............
THE AIR I BREATHE.
Drama.
Kevin Bacon/Forest Whitaker/Sarah Michelle Gellar/Andy Garcia/Brendan Fraser/Julie Delpy/Emile Hirsch/.
Directed by Jieho Lee.
* One of those many-stories-wove-together type films based on an ancient Chinese proverb focusing on four elements of life - happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. Kevin Bacon is a genius, wouldn’t you say? He’s like the human energizer bunny. Nothing can stop him.
ALL HAT.
Comedy/Western.
Rachael Leigh Cook/Keith Carradine/Michelle Morgan.
Directed by Leonard Farlinger.
* Not many Western Comedies out there these days. The score is done by excellent jazzy guitar wizard Bill Frisell.
THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA.
Comedy/Drama.
Naveen Andrews.
Directed by Roger Michell.
* For the first time on DVD comes the 1993 story of Karim Amir (Andrews), the child of an English mother and an Indian father, and his struggles with British society. From the writer of MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE and SAMMY AND ROSIE GET LAID.
THE CARD PLAYER.
Horror/Thriller/Foreign (Italian).
Stefania Rocca/Liam Cunningham.
Directed by Dario Argento.
* One of a set of five new Argento films that we just got in. This one concerns a serial killer not playing nice with some officers of the law who are trying to catch him. Look on the wall under D for Dario Argento for this quintet.
CASSANDRA’S DREAM.
Crime/Drama/Thriller.
Ewan McGregor/Colin Farrell/Tom Wilkinson.
Directed by Woody Allen.
* Here Woody takes on a couple of down on their luck brothers (McGregor, Farrell) in London who are offered a way out of there financial problems if they’ll take care of “a little problem” for their Uncle Howard (The fabulous Wilkinson).
CLEANER.
Action/Suspense.
Samuel L. Jackson/Ed Harris/Eva Mendes.
Directed by Renny Harlin.
* Jackson plays a former cop turned crime scene clean-up dude.
DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK?
Horror/Thriller/Foreign (Italian).
Elio germano.
Directed by Dario Argento.
* Kind of a tribute film to Alfred, this concerns a student obsessed with Hitchcock’s work who is investigating a murder at the building next to his.
GRACE IS GONE.
Drama.
John Cusack.
Directed by James C. Strouse.
* A father takes his daughters on a road trip while trying to find the right moment to tell them their mother has died in Iraq.
THE LATHER EFFECT.
Comedy.
Peter Facinelli/Connie Britton/Eric Stoltz/Ione Skye.
Directed by Sarah Kelly.
* Some former high school peeps get together and party some years later and don’t like what they see quite as much in the morning. Whoop whoop, right?
PHENOMENA.
Horror/Thriller.
Jennifer Connelly.
Directed by Dario Argento.
* Her special ability? To communicate with insects. Her mission? To solve a string of murders at the elite Swiss boarding school she has been sent to. This was Jennifer Connelly second movie, a year before LABYRINTH.
RAMBO.****BLU-RAY, TOO****
War/Adventure/Action/Massacre.
Sylvester Stallone/Julie Benz/Paul Schulze.
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
* Missionaries taken captive by the Burmese government rely on Rambo to shoot MASSIVE amounts of people to save them.
TENEBRE.
Horror/Thriller.
Anthony Franciosa.
Directed by Dario Argento.
* In this one, a serial killer is stalking an American writer in Rome and killing everyone involved with his latest book.
THIEF OF BAGDAD.
Adventure/Family/Fantasy/Criterion.
John Justin/Conrad Veidt.
Directed by Ludwig Berger and Tim Whelan and Michael Powell.
* Criterion release of the 1940 multiple Oscar winning film about the adventures of Prince Ahmad who should be the king of Bagdad but has been cast out and blinded.
TRAUMA.
Horror/Thriller.
Asia Argento.
Directed by Dario Argento.
* I think this is Argento’s only film made in English and it is starring his daughter Asia who has done a ton of weird indie flicks. In this she is paired with a young man trying to help her avoid or expose a serial killer who has killer her parents.
THE WALKER.
Drama.
Woody Harrelson/Kristin Scott Thomas/Lauren Bacall/Willem Dafoe/Lily Tomlin/Ned Beatty.
Directed by Paul Schrader.
* Harrelson plays an escort catering to the society ladies of Washington D.C. Then murder ensues, and everything gets sketchy.
............//DOCUMENTARY//............
DARFUR, NOW!
Documentary.
Don Cheadle/Hejewa Adam.
Directed by Ted Braun.
* A doc that is a call for help for the tremendous genocidal crisis going on in Darfur, this film examines six peoples stories and begs for awareness and action from its viewers.
WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?
Documentary/Comedy.
Directed by Rob VanAlkemade.
* This doc attempts to answer the question I’m asking myself every day. Beware the Shopacolypse!
............//TELEVISION//............
LIPSTICK JUNGLE: SEASON ONE.
Television/Comedy.
Brook Shields/Kim Raver/Lindsay Price.
* A show exploring the lives of three uber-successful women in New York City.
............//NEW ADDITIONS//............
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.
Television/Comedy.
* Absolutely Fabulous was a British comedy from the 1990’s that we have had at the store on VHS. This new release is a complete DVD set of the entire series with extras and it is truly absolutely fabulous. Check out the incredible packaging…one word: fabu!
BASQUIAT.
Drama/Biopic.
Jeffrey Wright/David Bowie/Benicio Del Toro.
Directed by Julian Schnabel.
* Schabel (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY)’s first work as a director tackled the true story of painter Jean-Michel Basquiat and his rise to fame from a street artist to an internationally celebrated painter. The cast is amazing featuring Gary Oldman, Parker Posey, Christopher Walken, Claire Forlani, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper, Tatum O’Neal, Courtney Love (she’s got bit parts in all the tweaked out famous drug addict movies, see: SID AND NANCY). This is our first copy on DVD.
CHEECH AND CHONG: STILL SMOKIN.
Comedy/Marijuana.
Cheech Marin/Tommy Chong.
Directed by Tommy Chong.
* Our heroes smoke massive reefer in Amsterdam and a slight story emerges. Did you know that Tommy Chong went to JAIL for selling bongs and pipes over the internet? That is just wrong…
CHEECH AND CHONG: UP IN SMOKE.
Comedy/Marijuana.
Cheech Marin/Thomas Chong.
Directed by Lou Adler.
* A more cohesive, but not necessarily coherent tale then STILL SMOKIN, in this movie the guys play a pair of potheads who get deported to Mexico. They agree to drive a van back to the states, without knowing the whole van is made out of marijuana! This film has some of the great lines of my youth and if I could remember any of them, I’d share them with you.
SAVED BY THE BELL: SEASONS ONE AND TWO.
Television/Comedy.
* This silly show was on from 1989 to 1993 and followed six kids through their hilarious and depressing high school existences. Shila assures me that this show has a massive following.
SPEED.
* First DVD copy of this Keanu film.
THE WIRE: COMPLETE THIRD SEASON.
Two new copies of this season of this outrageously popular show.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment