****new release list no.173

THIS WEEK: We are having another DVD SALE! July 4th weekend, from Thursday July 3rd through Sunday July 6th, used DVD’s are BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE! We have over 300 titles on sale, so come on down and get some movies. To respect the entire community, there will be no “reserving” DVD’s for sale, so come early and get what you want. Sales are first come/first serve and all sales are final. Whoop whoop!

It is July, and that means it is a new monthly edition of Highlighted New Additions. This month’s movies are brought to you by Rachel S, and they are a combination of films that we have only had on VHS, classics of the old and new variety, as well as some terrific completely new additions to our library. I notice there is also a pretty wide variety of television and films from the mid-90’s, stuff we are really psyched to have in our DVD film collection. Thanks to Rachel for bringing us these great titles. We hope you enjoy them.

I am on vacation in Southern California as I type. Kinda strange to be down here and have the air be better quality than home! But it’s true right now, as the wildfires continue to burn up north. It is hot in LA today, and it should stay hot as we migrate south to San Diego later in the week. I plan on checking out WALL-E with the family this week, so I will give you the report on that next week.

In the meantime, happy July 4th, come see TEAM AMERICA at our backyard screening room. Call the store, or check in while you are there for a starting time for the movie.

Alrighty then, see you next week!

Love and kisses,
Ken

............//NEW TITLES//............

DRILLBIT TAYLOR.
Comedy.
Nate Hartley/Troy Gentile/Owen Wilson.
Directed by Steven Brill.
* Another from the Apatow comedy production team, this features some nice kids who hire a bodyguard (Wilson) to protect them from a schoolyard bully.

MISHIMA: LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS.
Drama/Biography/Criterion/Foreign (Japanese and English).
Ken Ogata.
Directed by Paul Schrader.
* Yukio Mishima was one of the world’s great 20th century writers. This 1985 film celebrates his life and death while contrasting his personal history with the stories of some of his novels.

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS.
Drama/Romance.
Jude Law/Norah Jones/Natalie Portman.
Directed by Kar Wai Wong.
* From the writer and director of 2046 and THE CHUNG KING EXPRESS comes this offbeat, traveling tale of Elizabeth (Jones) a young woman traveling around the country trying to understand love and cope with the loss of it.

PATRIOTISM.
Drama/Criterion/Foreign (Japanese).
Yukio Mashima.
Directed by Domoto Maskai and Yukio Mishima.
* Another one from Mishima, this is a short rumination on sex, death, suicide and patriotism. Made especially poignant after Mishima’s actual suicide in 1970.

SUNFLOWER.
Drama/Romance/Foreign (Mandarin).
Joan Chen.
Directed by Yang Zhang.
* Tale following three generations of a family in Beijing. Well acted.

TYLER PERRY’S: MEET THE BROWNS.
Comedy/Drama.
Angela Bassett/Tyler Perry.
Directed by Tyler Perry.
* Another adaptation by Tyler Perry of one of his stage plays, this follows a single mother who discovers that her father, who’s she’s never met, has died. She brings her family to Georgia to meet the family she has never known.

VANTAGE POINT.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Drama/Suspense.
Dennis Quaid/Forest Whitaker/Matthew Fox/Sigourney Weaver/William Hurt.
Directed by Pete Travis.
* Hurt plays an American president in this perspective piece about an assassination attempt and the many possible things that might’ve happened, depending on the way you look at them.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

DOWN THE BARRELL.
Sports Documentary.
Kelly Slater/Bob Machado.
Directed by Steve Lawrence.
* A treatise on the essence of surfing as spoken by the surfers themselves. Do you surf? Or have you spent time with surfers? It is an intensely spiritual experience and the people who enjoy it have the opportunity to achieve a nirvana that is not available in most sports. This movie attempts to expand upon this. Dude.

GANGES.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
BBC/Nature Doc.
* Another in the breathtakingly beautiful BBC nature series about our faire planet, this tells the story of the river Ganges, and the people whose lives are affected by it (nearly a tenth of all people on Earth live within the Ganges’ basin).

............//TELEVISION//............

THE CLOSER: 3RD SEASON.
Television/Crime.
Kyra Sedgwick/.
Directed by.
* Sedgwick plays LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson in this popular crime series. And she’s married to Kevin Bacon to boot!

MAD MEN: SEASON 1.
Television/Drama.
Jon Hamm/January Jones/Michael Gladis.
* Just last week, our hipster NY friends were raving about this show! The “mad” in the title refers to Madison Avenue and this story follows a fictional ad agency in the 1960’s and some of the mysterious geniuses who ran the show.

THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO: SEASON 2 VOLUME 1.
Television/Crime.
Karl Malden/Michael Douglas.
Directed by.
* Season two in this hard hitting crime show featuring lots of fights and car chases along the streets of our glorious city. Featuring a super young Michael Douglas.

30 DAYS: 2ND SEASON.
Reality-ish TV.
Morgan Spurlock.
* In this “show” they take someone and make them spend 30 days doing something quite antithetical to their entire belief system. Fun!

............//FAMILY//............

FIREMAN SAM: TO THE RESCUE!
Sam/Other Firemen.

............//HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS//............

THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY, JR: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Western/Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure.
Bruce Campbell/Julius Carry/Christian Clemenson.
* This is the entire 27 episode set of the adventures of a bounty hunter riding through a new version of ye olde west, complete with 21st century gadgetry and perhaps even some 22nd century doodads. It’s a fun and futuristic romp.

DIRTY WORK.
Comedy/Revenge.
Artie Lange/Don Rickles/Chevy Chase/Norm MacDonald.
Directed by Bob Saget.
* A couple of losers open a “revenge-for-hire” business and all hell breaks loose.

FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH.
Comedy/Drama/Iconic.
Sean Penn/Jennifer Jason Leigh/Judge Reinhold/Phoebe Cates.
Directed by Amy Heckerling.
* California teenagers on sex, drugs and rock and roll. This movie contains so many quotable lines and is truly a work of brilliance and a must-see if only because of its role as an early Sean Penn film that helped catapult him into stardom. This is our first DVD copy.

HARVEY.
Comedy/Drama.
James Stewart.
Directed by Henry Koster.
* It’s kind of a mental health meets faith movie about a lovable guy (Stewart) who has a best friend that happens to be a mostly invisible 6 foot tall rabbit named Harvey. This is our first DVD of this fine flick.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Quirky/Comedy/Drama.
Cynthia Geary/Barry Corbin/John Cullum.
* Northern Exposure was one of the first of the really weird off-beat television shows that defined 1990’s television. My family was totally ga-ga for this show back then, but alas, I was living the artist life, and didn’t have time or desire to watch any TV at all. Now, I wish I had, and maybe I will, as we add the entire six season set to our collection. We had season one, and Rachel requested a couple more for her month, but we thought what the hell, let’s get it all. Here they are. Devour them.

PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE.
Adventure/Comedy.
Paul Reubens/Elizabeth Daily.
Directed by Tim Burton.
* Pee-wee embarks on a journey around the country searching for his stolen bike and armed with his borderline personality and his wonderful ability to exist somewhere between man and child. This is our first DVD copy of this movie.

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.
Comedy/Romance/Classic.
Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn/James Stewart.
Directed by George Cukor.
* Nominated for 6 Oscars, and winning 2 including a Best Actor for Jimmy Stewart, this charming and beautiful film follows the romantic exploits of a rich woman and her ex-husband and a tabloid news reporter all stirring up trouble as the eve of her 2nd marriage approaches. Everyone is terrific in it, and this is our first DVD of the film.

PUMP UP THE VOLUME.
Drama/Comedy.
Christian Slater.
Directed by Allan Moyle.
* One of Slater’s more pivotal roles, he plays Mark Hunter, a kid running a pirate radio station and thus having the freedom to truly speak his mind. First DVD for us.

WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Comedy.
Bill Murray/Richard Dreyfuss/Julie Hagerty.
Directed by Frank Oz.
* A psychiatrist (Dreyfuss) is driven crazy by one of his patients (Murray) as he tracks him down on a family vacation. This is our first DVD of this kooky comedy.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO & JULIET.
Crime/Tragedy/Romance.
Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes/John Leguizamo.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann.
* Modernized and updated version of the classic, retaining the original dialogue but taking place in the present with all its trappings, i.e. guns, sex and rock and roll. First DVD.

............//NEW ADDITIONS//............

HEATHERS: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.
* New edition of this fabulous parable of societal disintegration. This movie is kind of DONNIE DARKO’s older sister.

KAMAKAZI GIRLS.
Comedy/Foreign (Japanese).
Kyoko Fukada/Anna Tsuchiya.
Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima.
* A trippy surreal coming of age story about two girls in Japan not fitting into the “norm” in a gigantic way.

ONLY THE VALIANT.
Western.
Gregory Peck.
Directed by Gordon Douglas.
* 1951 film about a much hated Captain (Peck) and the stand he takes with his mutinous troops against who have every reason to wish him dead.

SAN FRANCISCO.
* Replacement copy of this classic film.

****

2008 OUTDOOR SCREENINGS SUMMER SCHEDULE

June 27th – FIGHT CLUB
July 4th – TEAM AMERICA
July 11th – INDIANA JONES & THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
July 18th (under the full moon) – SILVER BULLET
July 25th – HAROLD & MAUDE
August 1st – SUPERBAD
August 8th – HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH
August 15th – GRANDMA'S BOY
August 22nd – THE BIG LEBOWSKI

All shows screening in our backyard patio and begin at 9:00pm sharp.

Doors open @ 8:45pm

Sodas and Candy $1/Popcorn is free

$5 suggested donation

****new release list no.172

Sorry for the late list…hectic week! You know how it goes…

Lots of good stuff here this week, but let me skip the movies for a sec and hit on a couple of other things.

First, books! To continue to support the community during this period without a library, we are starting to beef up our free book rental collection. The main criterion for books to qualify for this collection is that they must be somehow film related. Today, I added about ten books, most of which have been made into films. Books such as THE KITE RUNNER, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, THE CHOSEN, WATERSHIP DOWN, SEABISCUIT, THE PERFECT STORM, and A ROOM WITH A VIEW.

Feel free to donate your books! The community will thank you!

If you want to hear about the library, and the fables of the reconstruction, you can read their fun blog here.

Next, outdoor screenings: We are in the final stages of putting together a summer program of outdoor screenings. It is probably complete, and should be posted here, but alas, the same reason I am late getting this out to you is going to prevent me from posting the screening list as well. I will probably send it later in the week as a special supplement email from us to you!

Also, we are having another DVD SALE! July 4th weekend, from Thursday July 3rd through Sunday July 6th, used DVD’s are BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE! We have over 300 titles on sale, so come on down and get some movies. To respect the entire community, there will be no “reserving” DVD’s for sale, so come early and get what you want. Sales are first come/first serve and all sales are final. Whoop whoop!

The new movie list this week is long; I HIGHLY recommend PERSEPOLIS, which is a beautifully done animated movie about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970’s which follows her into adulthood. The images are gorgeous and the story, though very straightforward and biographical, is full of detail and all the things that make us humans so wonderful and so despicable are on full display. It left me teary and sad but also elated and buzzed. Watch it, it’s great.

Love and kisses,
Ken

p.s. Have you signed up for Kenflix yet? I have been hearing from some very happy customers…
p.p.s. Don't forget we are open on Saturday nights now until 11:00pm!

............//NEW TITLES//............

ANOTHER WOMAN.
Drama/Transgender/Foreign (French).
Nathalie Mann/.
Directed by Jerome Foulon.
* Nicolas left his family and career behind ten years ago when he became Lea, now she longs to see her children again, even in the face of the pain her decision has caused her and the ones she loves.

BEFORE THE RAIN.
Drama/Criterion/Foreign (Macedonian/English/Albanian).
Katrin Cartlidge/Rade Serbedzija.
Directed by Milcho Manchevski.
* Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film of 1995, this film tells paints a portrait of the futility of war told in three stories backgrounded by war-torn Macedonia during the Bosnian War.

BELLE TOUJOURS.
Drama/Foreign (French).
Michel Piccoli/Bulle Ogier.
Directed by Manoel de Oliveira.
* Inspired by the movie BELLE DE JOUR (currently in our New Additions section) this film imagines a meeting of the two main characters thirty-eight years later and the tense psychological revenge that is sought by Henri (Piccoli) over Severine (Ogier).

BONNEVILLE.
Comedy/Drama.
Jessica Lange/Kathy Bates/Joan Allen. CORRECT ACTOR NAME?
Directed by Christopher N. Rowley.
* Three women embark on a road trip whose purpose is shaded in the new perspective on life that the journey engenders.

CARELESS.
Comedy.
Colin Hanks/Tony Shaulhoub.
Directed by Peter Spears.
* A severed finger plays a significant role in this offbeat comedy.

CHARLIE BARTLETT.
Comedy/Drama.
Anton Yelchin/Robert Downey Jr./Hope Davis.
Directed by Jon Poll.
* Kind of a RUSHMORE rip-off, with rich-kid Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin), newly kicked out of his latest private school and headed to public school where he runs afoul of the principal (Downey, Jr.) woos his daughter (Davis) and sells pharmaceutical medicine to the students while acting as their de facto psychiatrist.

DANIEL TOSH: COMPLETELY SERIOUS.
Stand-up Comedy.
Daniel Tosh/Peter Tosh (that’s just a joke, he’s dead and not Daniel Tosh’s dad).
Directed by Manny Rodriguez.
* Standup comedy from your peeps at Comedy Central.

DEFINITELY MAYBE.
Comedy/Drama/Romance.
Ryan Reynolds/An Nguyen/Sakina Jeffrey.
Directed by Adam Brooks.
* Probably, certainly, I think so, possibly, hopefully, unlikely, doubtfully, uh-uh, ain’t gonna happen, nada, hell no.

THE EYE 3.
Horror/Foreign (Chinese).
Directed by Hark Tsui.
* More freaky eye horror.

FURIES.
Western/Drama/Romance/Criterion.
Barbara Stanwyck/Wendell Corey/Walter Huston.
Directed by Anthony Mann.
* Psychological western from 1950 about a son seeking revenge for the death of his father.

FUTURAMA: THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS.
Animation/Comedy/Sci-fi.
Created by Matt Groening.
Directed by Peter Avanzino.
* If you dig FUTURAMA, then you’ll love this feature length offering about a tear in the universe being inhabited by some large…beast…with, a billion…backs.

THE HAMMER.
Comedy/Romance/Shlock.
Adam Carrola.
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld.
* Dude is turning 40 and he is a washed up boxer trying to figure out what to do with his life – just like me!

HAIR.
Musical/War.
John Savage/Beverly D’Angelo/Treat Williams
Directed by Milos Forman.
* Stupendous, raunchy, street savvy musical from 1979 newly arriving on DVD.

HONEYDRIPPER.
Drama/Music.
Danny Glover/Lisa Gay Hamilton.
Directed by John Sayles.
* Centers around The Honeydripper Lounge, a blues club in rural 1950’s Alabama that is struggling to stay in business.

IN BRUGES.
Comedy/Crime.
Colin Farrell/Brendan Gleeson/Ralph Fiennes.
Directed by Martin McDonagh.
* A couple of hitmen are holed up in Bruges, Belgium waiting for the heat to settle down after a big job.

PERSEPOLIS.
Animation/History/Biography/Drama/War.
Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.
* Gorgeous animation and lush, sparse story-telling describe this wonderful tale of a young girl and her family living through Iran’s cultural revolution up into the 1990’s.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES.
Adventure/Family/Fantasy/Thriller.
Freddie Highmore/Nick Nolte/Mary-Louise Parker/Seth Rogen.
Directed by Mark Waters.
* Adapted from the popular books, this is another tale of some kids who move into a weird old estate and find themselves magically zapped into faerie land.

10000 B.C.. ****ALSO AVAILABLE IN BLU-RAY***
Adventure/Romance/Saber-teeth.
Camilla Belle/Cliff Curtis.
Directed by Roland Emerich.
* A pre-historic romp following a young Mammoth hunter’s battle for his loved one and his life. Do you know about Terror Birds? You will after you watch this film.

VIOLIN.
Drama/Foreign (Spanish).
Directed by Francisco Vargas.
* Black and white film about people fighting a violent government and a family trying to pass ammunitions to the insurgency using a violin case.

THE WITNESSES.
Drama/Foreign (French).
Michel Blanc/Emmanuelle Beart/Johan Libereau.
Directed by Andre Techine.
* It is 1984 Paris, and a group of friends are contending with the outbreak of AIDS with a central character, Manu (Libereau) playing the role of reality.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

AUTISM THE MUSICAL.
Documentary.
Directed by Tricia Regan.
* Inspiration story of five very different children who are taking part in the MIRACLE PROJECT and working together to create and perform in a live musical production.

FROM THE GROUND UP: THE DEFINITIVE SCOOP ON COFFEE.
Documentary.
Directed by Su Friedech.
* Behold, each step of coffee production from the soil to your mouth.

HOMEMADE HILLBILLY JAM.
Documentary/Music.
Directed by Rick Minnich.
* Freaky music and dancing focusing on some peeps from the Ozark Mountains of Southwestern Missouri.

NG: SEA MONSTERS A PREHISTORIC ADVENTURE. ****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Documentary/Nature.
Directed by Steve Zissou, psyche Sean Phillips.
*Fossil discoveries, ocean footage and CGI combine to make this a visually stimulating treat about the giant creatures that lived in the ocean.

WHOLFIN: ISSUE ONE and TWO.
Documentary.
Directed by so many, including Spike Jonze, Miranda July, David O. Russell and Steven Soderbergh.
* I am not really sure what these are, but I stumbled into them, and thought they would make a nice addition to our collection here. Between the two issues, there are 27 short films from a wide array of award winning directors about an even wider array of subjects, including Selma Blair in an eventful visit to her gynecologist’s office. Here is a link where you can read about Issue One.

............//TELEVISION//............

INSPECTOR LYNLEY: SEASON 5.
Television/Crime.
Nathaniel Parker.
* Season five of the crime solving adventures of Inspector Thomas Lynley.

............//FAMILY//............

ELMOS WORLD: SUMMER VACATION.
Elmo.

THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE.
* Do you remember this awesome book by Beverly Cleary? I do, I totally remember reading this as a very young kid and loving it!

............//NEW ADDITIONS//............

CHET BAKER: LIVE IN 64 and 79.
* Oh, how I love the honey-voiced Chet Baker! So sad how things turned out not to be very honey-sweet for Chet. We are waiting, waiting for the great doc about his life, but in the meantime, here is some great concert footage.

GOSFORD PARK.
* Replacement DVD.

HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK.
* Replacement DVD.

STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN DIRECTOR’S CUT.
* First DVD of the second (and many people think best) Star Trek movie.

****

****new release list no.171

**** Extra! Extra! We are now open on Saturday night until 11pm! ****

**** 11am-11pm on Saturdays, every Saturday! ****

Does everyone out there know what a Blu-ray disc is? Have you seen one? Blu-ray is the hi-def format that has won the format war. And suddenly, they are putting nearly all new movies (and tons of old ones) out on this format.

I have only seen them while loitering at big yucky stores like Best Buy and Circuit City. I have not yet watched an entire movie on one of those discs. Even my hi-def television experience thus far has been quite limited. Last fall, I sat and watched football at my father-in-law’s house, flipping back and forth watching the same game on one channel as I have always watched it (lo-fi, I guess) and then in the hi-def digital format. I was stunned at how different it was. Seriously, it took my eyes about ten minutes to adjust to the new format, and even then it was disconcerting how much I could see.

Anyway, I bring it up, because my experience thus far has been limited, and I am wondering who is watching these discs? Are you? Tell me, if you are. I have been slowly cranking up our Blu-ray library, including adding six titles this week (THE FIFTH ELEMENT, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, CASINO ROYALE, KUNG FU HUSTLE, and PAPRIKA), bringing our collection total to somewhere around 30 titles. If you are a Blu-ray renter, let me know what you wish we had, and I will look into accommodating you.

Soon, I will be getting a Blu-ray player at the store, and then we can all see what all this hubbub is about. I would have done it already, but like many of you have discovered, the cost of the television is quite high, and is really the most prohibitive part of the equation. I am guessing that we are going to see a price decrease in these coming up soon, definitely in time for next holiday season.

There’s a bunch of titles this week that may interest you, including the silly new Michel Gondry film, BE KIND REWIND, focusing on some very ingenious video store clerks, who do whatever it takes to keep their favorite customers happy. That story sounds pretty familiar. Other silly comedies this week include MY MOM’S NEW BOYFRIEND, JUST ADD WATER, WELCOME HOME, ROSCOE JENKINS, LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS, and FOOLS GOLD. We also have some great sound foreign films like CARAMEL (Lebanon), UNDER THE SAME MOON (Mexico) and MY VOICE (Portugal and Guinea Bissau). There is also some good docs (SUPER HIGH ME {which we screened here on April 20th}, JOY DIVISION and TO DIE FOR: IMAGES OF PETER KENNARD & CAT PICTON PHILLIPPS), some anticipated television (CALIFORNICATION, BLOOD + V02, DR.WHO: BENEATH THE SURFACE, INVADERS: SEASON ONE) and the usual batch of new additions.

Love and kisses,
Ken

............//NEW TITLES//............

BE KIND REWIND.
Comedy.
Jack Black/Mos Def/Danny Glover/Mia Farrow.
Directed by Michel Gondry.
* Two video store clerks set out to remake all of the stores films after they are accidentally all demagnetized.

CARAMEL.
Comedy/Romance/Foreign (Arabic and French).
Nadine Labaki/Yasmine Elmasri.
Directed by Nadine Labaki.
* This is sort of a Lebanese BEAUTY SHOP, about the love lives of five women living in Beirut.

CLASSE TOUS RISQUE.
Suspense/Criterion/Foreign (French).
Lino Ventura/Sandra Milo/Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Directed by Claude Sautet.
* Tight 1960 crime story.

FOOLS GOLD.
Comedy/Adventure.
Matthew McConaughey/Kate Hudson/Donald Sutherland.
Directed by Andy Tennant.
* A treasure hunter, who’s failures have brought him to the edge of despair and cost him his marriage has found perhaps the one last clue that will bring him that much closer…to that aforementioned precipice and potentially more failure.

JUST ADD WATER.
Comedy/Romance.
Dylan Walsh/Tracy Middendorf/Danny DeVito/Jonah Hill.
Directed by Hart Bochner.
* And plot, and character development, and motivation, and common sense.

LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS.
Comedy/Romance.
Brittany Murphy.
Directed by Alek Keshishian.
* Kind of a silly romantic comedy about an American interning at UK Vogue and the comical dalliances that keep her occupied.

MY MOM’S NEW BOYFRIEND.
Comedy.
Antonio Banderas/Meg Ryan/Colin Hanks/Selma Blair.
Directed by George Gallo.
* An FBI agent is given the wonderful task of spying on his mommy and her new boyfriend, who is suspected of sleeping with his mom – I mean being an art thief.

MY VOICE.
Comedy/Musical/Drama/Foreign (Kabuverdianu).
Fatou N’Diaye.
Directed by Flora Gomes.
* A young woman, whose family is convinced that any of them who sings, will die, comes up with a method of informing her mother of her singing success.

RAILS & TIES.
Drama.
Kevin Bacon/Marcia Gay Harden.
Directed by Alison Eastwood.
* A train engineer becomes bonded with a young child who survives a wreck with the train and an automobile.

UNDER THE SAME MOON.
Drama/Foreign (Spanish).
Kate del Castillo/Eugenio Derbez.
Directed by Patricia Riggen.
* A young Mexican boy crosses the US-Mexico border to try to re-unite with his mother who is working in the US to support her family back home.

WELCOME HOME, ROSCOE JENKINS.
Comedy/Romance.
Martin Lawrence/James Earl Jones.
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee.
* Roscoe Jenkins (Lawrence), successful talk show host in sunny Los Angeles, goes home to reconnect with his family down south.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

JOY DIVISION.
Music Documentary.
Directed by Grant Gee.
* The companion piece to CONTROL, this is the story of the late 1970’s English rock band Joy Division.

SUPER HIGH ME.
Documentary.
Directed by Michael Blieden.
* Doug Benson, stand-up comic and true scientist, uses himself as a test dummy to determine the effects of marijuana on the human body. Using SUPER SIZE ME as his example, he smokes as much as he can over 30 days to determine how just high as can get he, while he’s…uh, he’s…shit…where’s my lighter?

TO DIE FOR-IMAGES OF PETER KENNARD & CAT PICTON PHILLIPPS.
Documentary.
* I found this description somewhere on the net: “Known throughout the world for his satirical montages, London-based photographer Peter Kennard teams up with artist Cat Picton Phillipps for this unique collection. An impressive assortment of compelling, eye-popping images, compiled from their 2007 show, cast a critical eye on contemporary politics, art and society. At times alarming but always engaging, Kennard and Phillipps's work turns your screen into a canvas of unmistakable power.”

............//TELEVISION//............

BLOOD +: V02.
Television/Animation.
* The further adventures of Saya, the demon-fighting little girl of Okinawa.

CALIFORNICATION.
Television/Showtime.
David Duchovny.
* Duchovny plays a lusty writer in this calipornification view of life in the SC.

DOCTOR WHO: BENEATH THE SURFACE.
Television/Sci-Fi
* 400+ minutes of early 1970’s and mid 1980’s Doctor Who action spanning both the Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison eras.

INVADERS: SEASON ONE.
Television/Sci-Fi.
Roy Thinnes.
* Something like 900 minutes of this show about a guy trying to convince the world that some not nice aliens are here to take over the world (don’t you feel like that sometimes?).

............// FAMILY//............

SWORD IN THE STONE: 45th ANNIVERSARY EDITION.
Family/Disney.
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman.
* Oscar nominated Disney film from the 1960’s about Merlin and King Arthur.

............// NEW ADDITIONS//............

BLACK CHRISTMAS (SPECIAL EDITION).
Horror/Mystery/Thriller.
Olivia Hussey/Margot Kidder.
Directed by Bob Clark.
* The original Sorority house thriller from 1974 about a bad, bad Christmas break.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.
* Two replacement DVD copies.

JUNGLE BOOKS 2.
* Disney’s vault opens up, allowing us to get some replacement DVD’s of this kids favorite.

LOST HORIZONS.
Adventure/Drama.
Ronald Colman/Jane Wyatt.
Directed by Frank Capra
* When a British diplomat (Colman) and a small group of survivors crash their plan into the Himalayas, they are rescued by people who appear to be from the eternal paradise local of Shangri-La.

QUILLS.
* Replacement DVD.

SPY KIDS 3.
* Replacement DVD.

THE UPSIDE OF ANGER.
* Replacement DVD.

............//NEW BLU-RAY ADDITIONS//............

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA.
* First Blu-Ray copy.

CASINO ROYALE.
* First Blu-Ray copy.

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER.
* First Blu-Ray copy.

THE FIFTHE ELEMENT.
* First Blu-Ray copy.

KUNG FU HUSTLE.
* First Blu-Ray copy,

PAPRIKA.
* First Blu-Ray copy.

****

****new release list no.170

We are having an outdoor screening this coming Friday, June 13th. Yes, it's Friday, the 13th, but we are not showing a horror film (missed opportunity?). Instead, we are showing THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU. This wonderful Wes Anderson movie, starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum (among many others) is about fictional oceanographer Steve Zissou, and his quest for revenge against a mythical shark that killed his partner. The music is wonderful, and the under water scenes are full of magic and wonder. We will show the film at 9pm sharp, with the doors open at 8:45pm. Suggested donation: $5.

Lots of new movies at Four Star this week, including a flashy amount of documentaries, some good tv, and a couple of big star movies including THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. Listen, according to this movie, both the Boleyn girls were pretty hot, and frankly, I’m cool with either, but hey I’m not the King of England, right? The movie itself was pretty cool. It was emotional without being manipulative and historical without being too dry. There were a lot of scenes with people walking very purposefully down long corridors…and I’m not sure what to say about that. All in all, I enjoyed it very much.

One of our customers is involved with a very cool sounding film festival called VIDEOFEST which will be presented at the MCCLA Theatre (150 capacity) on October 17th and 18th, 2008. Deadline for submissions is 9.11.08 and there will be at least $1,800 in prizes. Download the entry form here.

And read more info about VIDEOFEST 2008 Existence-Co-Existence here.

I have seen some people are really digging on KenFlix, which makes us all very happy here. We really think this is the way to rent at Four Star Video, and we are proud to offer this awesome program. Netflix can’t hold a candle to us. Read this guy’s blog to see how you, too, can take full advantage of KenFlix.

Alright then, hope to see you down at the store.

Love and kisses,
Ken

............//NEW TITLES//............

BUCKET LIST.
Comedy/Drama.
Jack Nicholson/Morgan Freeman/Sean Hayes.
Directed by Rob Reiner.
* A couple of cancer patients decide they would rather try to live life to its fullest than languish in the hospital waiting for the dude with the scythe. And word up to that.

FUNNY GAMES (07).
Suspense/Thriller.
Michael Pitt/Naomi Watts/Tim Roth.
Directed by Michael Haneke.
* A shot by shot remake of a movie of the same name and same director from Austria about 10 years ago. It’s a hysterical view of a couple ‘a psychos who take a family hostage in their cabin! Woohoo! Ha ha ha ha…

THE GRAND.
Comedy.
Woody Harrelson/Cheryl Hines/David Cross.
Directed by Zak Penn.
* It’s a comedy about some actors playing characters competing in a real poker tournament.

JUMPER.****ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY****
Action/Adventure/Science Fiction.
Hayden Christensen/Samuel L. Jackson/Diane Lane.
Directed by Doug Liman.
* Oho! It eez a genetic anomaly! He can jump, really really high! Okay okay, not just jump, but zzeee teleportation! Aha, oho! Ah, but wait, zere eeees zese bad guys, they no like zeee jumpers. And now, we just join the war programming that has already been in progress for thousands of years! Boing! Boing!

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL.
Drama/Biopic.
Scarlett Johansson/Eric Bana/Natalie Portman.
Directed by Tom DiCillo.
* Okay, all jokes aside, this is a visually stunning film about King Henry VIII and the Boleyn family whose demented ambition saw a father pimp out both his daughters to the King of England. The cinematography is lush and rich, and the dialogue is minimal enough not to spoil it. Portman’s Anne Boleyn is viciously selfish and driven and pays for it dearly, and Johansson’s Mary is loyal and just and pretty much pays for that as well. Bana, as the King, is torn by desire and tradition, and mostly just wants to get with these cute Boleyn ladies. And who can blame him? It’s good to be king.

OTIS.
Horror/Comedy.
Bostin Christopher.
Directed by Tony Krantz.
* Not sure yet about this film. Rachel Whiteside, down here at the shop, said it was pretty good, strange, more than she expected. I read it had some similarities in dialogue and hipness to JUNO, but it is clearly a darker movie about a psycho serial killer and the teen he kidnaps.

SUMMER ‘04.
Drama/Foreign (German).
Martina Gedeck/Robert Seeliger.
Directed by Stefan Krohmer.
* Seriously, I think the mom in this movie, who is around 40, hooks up with some 30-year old dude, who loves her 15-year old son’s 12-year old girlfriend. That does not sound too healthy to me.

UNTRACEABLE.
Crime/Thriller.
Diane Lane/Colin Hanks/Billy Burke.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit.
* Oops, we missed this movie from a few weeks ago about some FBI agents tracking down a nasty killer who posts yucky videos and such to the internet.

YOUNG YAKUZA.
Crime/Foreign (Japanese).
Naoki Watanabe.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Limosin .
* It’s kind of a documentary style view of a young man drifting aimlessly into a life of crime.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD.
Documentary/Music/Foreign (Iraq).
Acrassicauda.
Directed by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi.
* There is one heavy metal band in Iraq;, it’s name: Acrassicauda. This is their story, the tale of young men, in crisis, living war-torn threat-filled lives, rocking their brains out and expressing the insanity of their lives through heavy metal.

KING.
Documentary.
* Martin Luther King, Jr., as revealed in footage, and opinion.

THE MAN YOU HAD IN MIND.
Documentary.
Directed by James Tuchschmidt.
* Love and commitment in the context of gay couples in America, specifically, five male couples in Oregon. Why is this such a hot topic? Who doesn’t understand that everyone falls in love, and everyone deserves the same rights to marriage as anyone else? Why would law make heterosexual marriage legal but not homosexual? Why do people want to control love??? Who knows? Well, maybe this is a watershed moment we are having as a result of the CA Supreme Court ruling. I hope so, because I think society has more important things to fight against, like skateboarding!

MILLIONS: A LOTTERY STORY.
Documentary.
Directed by Paul La Blanc.
* The story of six big money lottery winners, and how their lives changed as a result. Do you think you have to be in it to win it? I am actually doing a lifelong study about that, trying to prove that you have the same chances of winning it, whether you play or not, and that maybe, you don’t have to be in it to win it. So far, I have not won.

WHEN THE MOORS RULED IN EUROPE.
Documentary.
* Fascinating doc about the Muslims 700 year rule in Spain and the many advances they made to culture and civilization during that time.

............//TELEVISION//............

THE ANIMATION SHOW: VOL. 3.
Television.
* Seventeen tweaked out short animation films in a series put together by Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt.

BOONDOCKS: 2nd SEASON.
Television.
Created by Aaron McGruder.
* In Season 2 of this radical, pull-no-punches social commentary series, even the television channel that airs it gets skewered mercilessly. All hail freedom.

CITY OF VICE.
Television/Crime/Drama/History.
Ian McDiarmid/Iain Glen.
* This is a series about London in the late 18th century and follows the bad guys and the good guys (you decide which is which), as they develop their opposing systems.

INTO ALASKA W/JEFF CORWIN.
Television/Nature/Huckleberry (that’s my son, he loves this stuff).
Jeff Corwin.
* I’m not sure if they have snakes in Alaska, but Jeff loves handling snakes, any snakes. In truth, this is a pretty fun nature show that’s good for kids and parents.

JOHN ADAMS.
Television/HBO.
Paul Giamatti/Laura Linney.
Directed by Tom Hooper.
* Seven part series about the first chunk of history in the United States of America, focusing on John and the massive effect he had on this country.

............//HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS//............

PINK FLOYD: LIVE AT POMPEII.
Rock footage.
* This is an awesome concert featuring terrific footage of the band playing, while ostensibly developing music for “Dark Side of the Moon”. Most of the show takes place at the epic ruins of Pompeii, and some also takes place in some recording studios. These guys just ruled so hard.

............//NEW BLU-RAY ADDITIONS//............

THE SHINING.
* First Blu-Ray copy of this frightening Jack Nicholson movie based on the frightening Stephen King novel.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
* First Blu-Ray copy of this insanely tripped out and wonderfully visual science fiction epic.

****

****new release list no.169

Somehow we have 45 titles we are writing about this week! It is the beginning of June, which means a new month of Highlighted New Additions, which this month is brought to you by me (Ken) and consists of all music dvd’s. Some docs (DAVID BOWIE AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS ROCK REVIEW, NIRVANA UNTOLD STORIES, TOM PETTY: RUNNING DOWN A DREAM) some concerts (VAN MORRISON: LIVE AT MONTREUX 1974 AND 1980, TOM PETTY, WEEN: LIVE IN CHICAGO, LED ZEPPELIN: THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME) and bunches of videos (THE SUGARCUBES: THE DVD, PUNK GENERATION, BEST OF RADIOHEAD). As a musician myself, I am very proud of our music collection, but I am also always interested in giving it a boost. Please let me know about other things you would like to see in this section.

The list of other new films we’ve brought to the table is so long that you will need to just scroll down and check it out in its entirety. I will mention the wonderful Joy Division film CONTROL as well as a bunch of comedy that we have this week, such as SEMI-PRO, MEET THE SPARTANS and THE ONION MOVIE. There is also a bunch of gay/lesbian romance films (BACK SOON, FUN IN GIRLS SHORTS, A LOVE TO KEEP, S IS FOR SEXY), some great television (WEEDS SEASON 3, THE BROTHERHOOD SEASON 2, RESCUE ME: 4th SEASON) and some terrific documentaries (INTO GREAT SILENCE, BIG RIG, BEYOND HATRED).

Besides that, welcome to June! Enjoy the beauty! Smell the flowers!

Love and kisses,

Ken

p.s. KenFlix exists! Try saying that ten times fast. Ask us at the store…

............//NEW TITLES//............

BACK SOON.
Drama/Romance/Gay.
Windham Beacham/Matthew Montgomery.
Directed by Rob Williams.
* Two very different guys, one an actor, and one a reformed drug dealer, both who consider themselves “straight” are drawn together.

THE BEST OF RADIOHEAD. WILL BE IN STORE ON WED OR THUR.
Music.
Radiohead.
Directed by many.
* Twenty-one videos are on this collection directed by many of the biggest names in video production including Michel Gondry and Jonathan Glazer. Nine of these videos are being debuted on this collection.

BOARDING GATE.
Suspense.
Asia Argento/Michael Madsen
Directed by Olivier Assayas.
* Backstabbing, double-crossing and intrigue conducted by Argento stripped down to her underwear. Just wrong!

CONTROL.
Rock/Drama/Foreign (British).
Sam Riley/Samantha Morton.
Directed by Anton Corbijn.
* Ian Curtis, the enigmatic singer of the amazing and dark 1970’s band Joy Division, killed himself at the young age of 23 right before their first American tour. This profile takes him through his early trials and tries to explain the problems he had that drove him to this desperate act.

THE EYE.
Horror/Suspense.
Jessica Alba.
Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud.
* A remake of a very success Hong Kong film about a blind woman whose eye transplant lets her see more than she bargained for.

FLAWLESS.
Drama/Crime.
Demi Moore/Michael Caine.
Directed by Michael Radford
* Set in the 1960’s in London, it’s a diamond heist film.

FUN IN GIRLS SHORTS.
Drama/Comedy/Lesbian.
Directed by many.
* A collection of shorts about chicks loving chicks (is that cool to say, Mom?).

THE FUTURE OF EMILY
Drama/Foreign (German).
Brigitte Fossey/Camille Raymond/Hildegard Knef.
Directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms.
* Intense 1985 German movie just getting to DVD about three generations of women.

THE LAWRENCE JORDAN ALBUM. WILL BE IN STORE ON WED OR THUR.
Shorts/Animation/Experimental.
Directed by Lawrence Jordan.
* This is a four disc collection of live-action shorts and cut-out animations spanning five decades of filmmaking. This is a truly exciting work from a very influential artist.

LE GAI SAVOIR.
Drama/Foreign (French).
Juliet Berto/Jean-Pierre Leaud.
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
* 1969 philosophical tale about a couple young adults talking it through. Why is it that we spend so much time talking it through in our 20’s and then just deal with it for the rest of our lives? I don’t want to be in my 20’s again, but I wouldn’t mind capturing some of the wonder and curiosity from that period and doling it out slowly for the next 100 years of my life.

A LOVE TO KEEP.
Romance/Lesbian.
Carmen Elias/Susi Sanchez/Julieta Serrano.
Directed by Juan Carlos Claver.
* The box says “gripping and poignant”, I can’t find much else about it. Looks like a sweet story, though.

MEET THE SPARTANS.
Horror/Thriller.
Sean Maguire/The brilliance of Carmen Electra.
Directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
* One of them make-fun-of-all-the-hit-movies type films. Made by the guys who saw “300”. Humorously enough, there is another one coming out just like it called 305, which is, after all, 5 more then 300.

THE ONION MOVIE.
Comedy/Schtick/Dissonance.
Directed by Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire.
* Did you see KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE? This is kind of like that, in the sense that it is sketch comedy that drifts from thing to thing in a non-sequitur type of way. The Onion, for those of you who may not know, is a brilliant satire newspaper that you can pick for free all over the city. This movie takes their sense of humor to the big screen. Though some of it was flat and silly, I also laughed quite a bit.

NORIKO’S DINNER TABLE.
Drama/Horror/Foreign (Japanese).
Kazue Fikiishi/Tsugumi.
Directed by Sion Sono.
* Pretty sad but poignant social commentary about a girl who joins a suicide cult in Japan.

S IS FOR SEXY.
Comedy/Drama/Gay/Foreign (Dutch, English, French, German).
Many.
Directed by many.
* Sexy award-winning short films.

SEMI-PRO. ****BLU-RAY, TOO****
Comedy/Sports.
Will Ferrell/Woody Harrelson/Andre Benjamin/DeRay Davis.
Directed by Kent Alterman.
* The latest in Farrell’s attempt to play every type of sports star ever. In this, he is Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of an ABA basketball team facing the end of its existence if it can’t place in the top four by the end of the season. The problem? They stink.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

BEYOND HATRED.
Documentary/Foreign (French).
Jean-Paul Chenu/Marie-Cecile Chenu.
Directed by Olivier Meyrou.
* The story of the parents of Francios Chenu, a young gay man who was brutally beaten and killed by three French skinheads in 2002 and their incredible ability to forgive.

BIG RIG.
Documentary.
Dale Sprouse/Loretta Anderson.
Directed by Doug Pray.
* Powerful doc about the USA as seen through the eyes of a long-haul truck driver.

INTO GREAT SILENCE.
Documentary/Foreign (English, French, Latin).
Directed by Philip Groning.
* From the imdb website: “Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world's most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Groning wrote to seek permission from the Carthusian order to make a documentary about them. Sixteen years later they were ready for him, and sans crew or artificial lighting, Groning lived in the monks' quarters for six months filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions”.

............//TELEVISION//............

BROTHERHOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON. WILL BE IN STORE ON WED OR THUR
Television/Crime.
Jason Isaacs/Jason Clarke.
* Season two in the series about two brothers on the opposite sides of the law set in an Irish neighborhood in Providence.

MANNIX: THE FIRST SEASON. WILL BE IN STORE ON WED OR THUR
Television/Drama.
Mike Connors.
* Violent detective series from the 1960’s about private eye Joe Mannix. Full of car chases, fist fights, kidnappings, the works.

RESCUE ME: 4th SEASON.
Television/Drama.
Denis Leary/Tatum O’Neal.
* Season four in the show following a group of firefighters dealing with their lives. I love firefighters. Think about it: they rush in to our burning houses to get us out. How counter-intuitive is that? Make them the highest paid public servants, just above teachers.

WEEDS: SEASON THREE.
Television/Dramedy.
Mary Louise-Parker/Elizabeth Perkins.
* Nancy Botwin (Louise-Parker) is back, still struggling, still selling weed.

............//KIDS//............

GO DIEGO GO: GREAT GORILLA!
Kids.
Diego.

KENNY THE SHARK: VOL 3 CATCH A WAVE!
Kids/TV.
Kenny.

MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST: BEACH PARTY!
Kids/TV.
Maggie/The Ferocious Beast.

............//HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS//............

DAVID BOWIE AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS: ROCK REVIEW.
Documentary.
Angela Bowie/Woody Woodmansey/Trevor Bolder.
* This super low-budget doc features wonderful crazy David Bowie footage including an amazing short clip of him and Marianne Faithful dressed as a nun singing the Sonny and Cher hit “I’ve Got You, Babe” as well as weird interviews with ex-wife Angela and several of the Spiders From Mars.

LED ZEPPELIN: THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME.
Live Concert/Documentary/Rock!
John/John/Jimmy/Robert.
Directed by Peter Clifton and Joe Massot.
* Our first DVD copy of this incredible rock monument revolving around a Zep show in Madison Garden (New York City) in 1973. They just rocked so fucking hard at this stage of their careers. You don’t have to be a tripping hippy to appreciate it, but it probably helps (witness the opening fantasy sequence of the movie).

NIRVANA: NEVERMIND.
Documentary.
Krist Novoselic/Dave Grohl/Butch Vig/Garry Gersh.
* Part of the Classic Albums series, this doc explores the making of Nevermind, one of the most genre-defining albums of all time, and the album I personally think described and destroyed alternative rock in one swell foop. This doc is so full of amazing footage and stories; it made me sad once again at the loss of Kurt Cobain and his incredible ability to put it all on the table. I especially loved the interviews with Butch Vig, who produced this album, and his breakdowns of the recording experience of the individual songs. Even if you don’t like loud dissonant music, this documentary explores the creative brilliance behind this amazing band.

NIRVANA: UNTOLD STORIES.
Documentary.
No one interesting.
* This is a mostly sucky doc that barely scrapes the bottom of the Nirvana story. It’s more of an exploration of some of their peers than anything else. I would probably sell it to anyone who is interested. No actual Nirvana band members were interviewed and no Nirvana music appears in the thing. It may not even stick around on the Highlight New Addition section for the whole month. It might not even be there when you stop by later today.

PUNK GENERATION.
Music Videos.
The Stranglers/XTC/Iggy Pop/Rich Kids/PIL/Bow Wow Wow.
* This brilliant collection of low-budget videos starts off a little rocky, with a video-ish Trainspotting commercial of Iggy’s brilliant “Lust for Life”, but it is also filled with amazing gems, such as XTC’s “Making Plans For Nigel” and The Stranglers “Something Better Change”. I was also blown away by both Bow Wow Wow tunes on here, which really opened my eyes to the incredible raw percussive power of this band best known for its early MTV pop anthem “I Want Candy”.

SUGARCUBES: THE DVD.
Music Videos.
Bjork/The Other Cubes.
* Bjork became famous as one of the vocalists of this 80’s era Icelandic band. Their biggest hit (presented here in both Icelandic and English) was “Birthday” which combines a rolling bass line, a staggered drum beat and some synthesized sounds with a chorus melody that goes straight to the heart. Turn it up loud and sing along with it, it is cheap therapy and guaranteed to put you in good spirits. Other videos of note on here are “Eat the Menu”, “Regina” and “Vitamin”.

TOM PETTY: RUNNING DOWN A DREAM.
Documentary/Live Concert.
Tom and Friends.
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
* This is a three DVD offering. The first two (rented as one) are the 4 hour doc made by Bogdanovich about the band and how they chased their dream of stardom and caught the damn thing. The movie features interviews with Stevie Nicks, Rick Rubin, Dave Grohl, Jackson Browne, George Harrison and more. The doc is pretty dry, with a lot of sit down talking heads, but it is filled with a lot of interesting stories and if you are a fan, you will be psyched to check it out. The third disc is a 30th Anniversary concert that is pretty awesome filled with all the hits over the last four decades. I have some early memories of listening to the top 5 at 10 (pm) on Q107 in Reston, VA in the late 70’s and first hearing “Refugee” and loving that southern rock sound! I’m not a huge Tom Petty fan, but I think longevity is underrated and he has managed to hold onto his place in the rock and roll lexicon for over thirty years, which is a pretty respectable feat.

VAN MORRISON: LIVE AT MONTREUX 1980 AND 1974.
Live Concert.
Van Morrison.
* These are just two terrific shows. Filled with Van Morrison’s brand of bluesy rock and roll, spiritualized and raw, the two shows taken together show the evolution of performance and song-writing from one of the true rock journeymen, and taken separately they are just great concert movies. Dig especially how crazy young he is in that 1974 show.

WEEN: LIVE IN CHICAGO.
Live Concert/Some Video.
Gene/Dean/Mean Ween.
* Ween is a band that has somehow escaped detection by most of the masses. That is probably a good thing. Their lyrics are a combination of brilliant off-beat poetry, demented social commentary and abrasive name-calling, while their music sometimes is as gentle as a lullaby and sometimes so painful dissonant that you must turn it off before your head explodes. Their first album, back in 1989, is called GODWEENSATAN: THE ONENESS, and really that says it all. I highly recommend this concert video featuring the band from 2003 that features the wonderful songs Ocean Man, Voodoo Lady, Big Jilm, You Fucked Up, and one of my favorites of all time Don’t Laugh (I Love You). Don’t forget to watch the animated video for Transdermal Celebration – wow!

............//NEW ADDITIONS//............

AGENT CODY BANKS 2.
Kids.
* Replacement DVD’s.

CITY OF GOD.
* More replacement DVDs of this powerful Brazilian film.

CONSTANTINE.
* Replacement DVD of this Keanu flick.

FRIENDS: FIRST SEASON.
Television/Comedy.
Jennifer Aniston/Courtney Cox/Lisa Kudrow/Matthew Perry.
* We are trying this out to see if you guys want us to get many seasons of this very popular show from the 1990’s.

SHE’S ALL THAT.
* I’m not sure she is, but this is a replacement DVD of this film. God forbid, it might even be the first time on DVD for us…

STUDENT BODIES. WILL BE IN STORE ON WED OR THUR
Comedy/Horror.
Kristen Riter.
Directed by Mickey Rose.
* This is one of those, Why did Ken buy this? movie. I dunno. It’s a parody movie, in the vein of SCARY MOVIE, but from 1981. It looked fun, and I hope it is…

TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU.
* Early Heath Ledger film, our first DVD copy.

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME.
* Replacement DVD.

VIDEODROME.
* Replacement DVD of the Criterion release of this crazy David Cronenberg film starring James Woods and Deborah Harry.

THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE.
* First DVD copies of this 2001 film.

****