****new release list no.177

This picture is from the movie THE BAND'S VISIT.

THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 1st: Come see SUPERBAD at our backyard screening room. Produced by Judd Apatow and starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, SUPERBAD is the story of a couple of young men trying to get laid. Capturing the end of today’s innocence (which is rather filthy, itself), this is a pretty funny movie. Doors open at 8:45, film starts at 9:00pm. Suggested donation $5. Candy/Soda $1. Popcorn is free.

I have been using the website FACEBOOK to inform people about our weekly film-screenings. The site allows me to send out an invitation to come see the movie with all the details. If you would like to have this weekly emailed invitations please email me requesting I put you on this list. It is a relatively simple little email, with a link to the Facebook page with the info. You can check it out here.

Lots of new movies this week, with bunches of copies of both THE BANDS VISIT and HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY. The former is a lovely little comedy from Israel about an Egyptian band lost and stranded, and the latter is a comedy about stupid American stoners. Both have merits.

Lots of other noteworthy stuff, including a bunch of Swedish silent films by Victor Sjostrom and some great docs, including IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS, the new Scorsese Rolling Stones film SHINE A LIGHT, and SURFWISE about the strange life of Dorian Paskowitz. There is also a good batch of kids movies, including two from Michael Ocelot (PRINCES AND PRINCESSES and KIRIKOU AND THE WILD BEAST) and some good new additions.

Also Friday will be a new month (August, for those of you keeping score), and with it will come a new month of HIGHLIGHTED ADDITIONS. I will tell you about them next week, but if you come in on the weekend, look especially for REPO MAN, ANIMAL HOUSE and the entire six season collection of KING OF THE HILL.

Alrighty then,
Ken

PS We are selling merchandise for the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema. You can buy T-Shirts and Camisoles for $12. Cute baby onesies for $10. Hoodies for $20. And very awesome blankets, with cool carrying cases for $27. Word up!

............//RELEASE OF THE WEEK//............

THE BAND’S VISIT.
Drama/Comedy/Foreign (Hebrew/English/Arabic).
Sasson Gabai/Ronit Elkabetz/Saleh Bakri.
Directed by Eran Kolirin.
* This is the tale of a band. An Egyptian cop band in Israel to play at an Arab Cultural center lost in a sandy hick town with no hotels and no clear cut compadres. So what will happen? Not much. As will happen on most occasions in most places on the planet earth, they eat and sleep with the help of the kindness of strangers. Not that bridges are formed. Not that resolutions are discovered. Not that conflict is really even discussed. No, just life. Life happens. Awkwardly, and with great dignity. This very Jarmuschian film is about the moments in between the dialogue. If you love a slow movie, this one is for you.

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

THE BAND’ VISIT.
* See Release of the Week.

DOOMSDAY.
Action/Suspense.
Rhona Mitra/Bob Hoskins/Sean Petrwee.
Directed by Neil Marshall.
* A kinda of Mad Maxish tale of a brutal future where Scotland has been quarantined for 27 years after some demented virus mostly wiped everyone out. Now the virus is resurfacing elsewhere and some groups are sent in to try to find a cure. There they find a savage culture full of murderous factions.

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY.
Comedy.
Kal Penn/John Cho.
Directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.
* Follow up to the hilarious 2004 film about noted stoners Harold and Kumar. In this one, they are somehow mistaken for terrorists after smuggling a bong onto a plane. Duh, get stoned before you get on the plane.

INGEBOR HOLM.
Drama/Foreign (Swedish).
Directed by Victor Sjostrom.
* The first of two double features discs highlighting Victor Sjostrom’s career. On this disc (along with A MAN THERE WAS) is this silent black & white film from 1913 about a family who falls apart when the husband/father dies.

KEANOSHOW: COLLECTION OF SHORT FILMS OF DAVE MCKEAN.
Shorts.
Directed by Dave McKean.
* From the writer and director of MIRRORMASK comes this collection of short films.

LUCKY MAN.
Drama.
Frank Vincent/Vincent Pastore.
Directed by Ruvin Orbach.
* Phil Leotardo and Big Pussy from the Sopranos together again in this short film about organized crime.

A MAN THERE WAS.
Drama/Foreign (Swedish).
Directed by Victor Sjostrom.
* From 1917 comes the other half of the double feature with INGEBOR HOLM. This one is also a silent black & white film about a sailor contemplating revenge.

MAN WOMAN AND THE WALL.
Drama/Thriller(ish)/Foreign (Japanese).
Aoi Sola /Keita Ohno/Hiroto Kato.
Directed by Masashi Yamamoto.
* So…in this borderline softcore movie, the real question is which of the sleazy guys who are spying on Satsuki (Sola) will she end up with? The full on psycho boyfriend, who is bugging her room with cameras and mics and calling secretly with perverted calls? Or the charming journalist (Ohno) next door, who is driven to distraction by the paper thin walls that separate their apartments. Although the box says “mature audiences only”, aside from a couple extended sex scenes, this movie is not going to replace anyone’s heavy internet usage.

THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE.
Drama/Foreign (Swedish).
Directed by Victor Sjostrom.
* The first movie on the second Sjostrom double feature disc (along with a doc on the man himself simply called VICTOR SJOSTROM), this is about a thief and his wife who live in the mountains of Sweden. Like the others, it is silent and filmed in black & white in 1918. (Ah, 1918. That date used to have wonderful significance for Yankee fans).

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

HUMAN BODY: PUSHING THE LIMIT.****Oops, only in Blu-Ray****
Documentary.
Directed by Dan Clifton and Mark Radice and Jeremy Turner.

IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS.
Documentary.
Directed by James Longley.
* Considered by many to be the best doc about the Iraq conflict, this film interviews Iraqis who have lived through the war and through the occupation by foreign troops.

ROLLING STONES: SHINE A LIGHT
Roc-Doc.
Mick/Keith/Ron/Charlie.
Directed by Martin Scorsese.
* Filmed in 06 at the fabulous Beacon Theatre in the NYC, Scorsese attempts to see something deep in the leathery skin of the Rolling Stones.

SURFWISE
Documentary/Surfing.
Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz and his nine kids and multiple wives.
Directed by Doug Pray.
* Doc Paskowitz raised his 9 children in a 24 foot trailer without any formal education and with a tyrannical sense of leadership. Their co-religions are Judaism, Surfing and Good Diet. That’s just like me, minus the surfing and good diet.

VICTOR SJOSTROM.
Documentary/Foreign (Swedish).
Directed by Gosta Werner.
* The other feature on the disc with THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE, this is a doc on the man himself, who’s career spanned 25 years. Featuring other Swedish film greats such as Ingmar Bergman.

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

SPACED: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Comedy/BBC.
Nick Frost/Simon Pegg/Jessica Hynes.
* This show is to SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ what FREAKS AND GEEKS is to KNOCKED UP and THE FORTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN. Namely, the breeding ground for a fantastic comedy team that is now comfortably settled into making movies. The show itself is kind of a slacker comedy about two friends pretending to be a couple to rent a room together in stuffy drunk woman’s house.

TWO FAT LADIES.
Television/Cooking/BBC.
Jennifer Patterson/Clarissa Dickson Wright.
Directed by Patricia Llewellyn.
* Yeah, baby. I want to eat with these chicks! Counting calories be damned!

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

CORDUROY: AND MORE STORIES ABOUT CARING.
Family.

KIRIKOU AND THE WILD BEAST.
Family/Animation.
Directed by Michael Ocelot

PHINEAS AND FERB: THE FAST AND THE PHINEAS.
Family/Disney/Action/Adventure.

PRINCES AND PRINCESSES.
Family.
Directed by Michael Ocelot.

THE WIGGLES: YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING.
Family/Music.

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

ARMY OF DARKNESS.
Action/Comedy/Adventure/Horror/Fantasy.
Bruce Campbell.
Directed by Sam Raimi.
* Our first DVD off the third film of the EVIL DEAD series.

THE BIRDCAGE.
Comedy/Musical.
Robin Williams/Gene Hackman/Nathan Lane/Dianne Wiest/Calista Flockhart.
Directed by Mike Nichols.
* Our first DVD of this very funny American version of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

BATMAN BEGINS. ****ALSO BLU-RAY****
* Four new replacement DVD copies and a blu-ray, too.

CARS.
* Another replacement DVD copy.

THE X-FILES: COMPLETE 2nd SEASON.
* Replacement copies.

****

****new release list no.176

THIS FRIDAY, JULY 18th: come see HAROLD AND MAUDE at our backyard screening room. The Cat Stevens soundtrack alone is worth watching this beautiful film about an older woman (much older) who teaches a young man (a boy, really) about love and life and passion. Beautifully, and wonderfully funny, this film is terrific. Doors open at 8:45, film starts at 9:00pm.

Lots of great movies up this week starting with 21, the nearly true tale of a group of MIT students who’s excellent schooling helped them take the casinos of Las Vegas to the cleaners. Also up this week is a batch of interesting looking foreign films such as HELP ME EROS, THE HEARTBEAT DETECTOR, THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION and THE FOLLIES OF MISS EVA. Also notable this week are a pair of Criterion releases (Kurosawa’s HIGH & LOW and Carl Dreyer’s VAMPYR. EARTH: THE BIOGRAPHY is the new BBC nature documentary release, and there are two terrific looking kids movies, both by Michael Sporn – ABEL’S ISLAND and THE MARZIPAN PIG.

Ah, there’s more. Pan down and read on.

Love and kisses,
Ken

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

AMERICAN SLAPSTICK VOL. 2.
Comedy.
* Three discs comprising 440 minutes of amazing and historical comic brilliance.

AUTUMN HEARTS.
Drama.
Gabriel Byrne/Christopher Plummer/Susan Sarandon.
Directed by Paolo Barzman.
* A story of survivors of internment camps during WWII and the complicated questions they ask themselves for the rest of their lives.

BRUTAL MASSACRE.
Comedy.
David Naughton/Brian O’Halloran.
Directed by Steven Mena.
* Harry Penderecki (Naughton) a once famous horror filmmaker now considered washed-up, gets one last chance to make his opus. Unfortunately, things go badly wrong from the get-go.

DIRTY MONEY.
Crime/Action/Foreign (French).
Alain Delon/Richard Crenna/Catherine Deneuve.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville.
* Melville’s last film from 1972 tells the tale of a group of robbers involved in a bank heist.

THE FOLLIES OF MISS EVA.
Comedy/Foreign (Polish).
Dorota Grzelak.
Directed by Kazimierz Tarnas.
* Another of these mad-cap Polish comedies that I love so much, this one is about a fifteen year old girl who is trying to right the wrongs of the world. Based on a book by Kornel Makuszynski.

THE HEARTBEAT DETECTOR.
Drama/Foreign (French).
Mathieu Amalric/Michael Lonsdale.
Directed by Nicolas Klotz.
* A psychologist (Amalric) working for a big petrochemical corporation gets involved in an internal investigation that leads him into knowledge about the company’s inner workings that could prove fatal.

HELP ME EROS.
Drama /Foreign (Mandarin).
Kang-sheng Lee/Jane Liao.
Directed by Kang-sheng Lee.
* A young man in down economic times slips into a depression while hanging out all day smoking pot. Sound familiar? Well, it does to me. Loneliness is the central theme in this erotic and somewhat suicidal tale.

HIGH & LOW.
Thriller/Drama /Criterion/Foreign (Japanese).
Toshiro Mifune/Tatsuya Nakadai.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa.
* 1963 film about a business executive who is involved in a tight and dramatic showdown at his company must choose between using his funds to gain control at work or to pay the ransom on the supposed kidnapping of his child.

ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS.
Comedy/Sci-fi/Animation.
Directed by Seth Green.
* Goofy and funny collection of Adult Swim Star Wars parodies.

TURN THE RIVER.
Drama.
Famke Janssen/Rip Torn/Jaymie Dorman/Matt Ross.
Directed by Chris Eigeman.
* A pool shark (Janssen), who’s son lives with her drunk ex-husband, desperately wants a better life and to raise her son, but barely has the means to take care of herself. Good pool playing scenes.

21. ****ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY****
Drama/Poker.
Jim Sturgess/Kevin Spacey/Kate Bosworth/Aaron Yoo/Laurence Fishburne.
Directed by Robert Luketic.
* Inspired by the events of the somewhat true story of five MIT students who took Vegas down with their card counting and other cheating skills.

TWO TICKETS TO PARADISE.
Comedy/Drama.
John C. McGinley/D.B. Sweeney.
Directed by D.B. Sweeney.
* When mid-life crisis hits, three guys hit the road to the College Football National Championship Bowl and attempt to re-find themselves. Man, I can’t wait for my mid-life crisis. I’m gonna dye my hair green!

VAMPYR.
Fantasy/Horror/Criterion/Foreign (German).
Julian West/Maurice Schutz/Rena Mandel.
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
* Originally shot as a silent film in 1931, eventually it was dubbed with voiceovers. It is a dark, washed out tale of sinister developments in the village of Courtempierre.

THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION.
Drama/Foreign (Portuguese/Yiddish/German).
Michael Joelsas.
Directed by Cao Hamburger.
* A story of political unrest and government oppression in Brazil in 1970 is told through the eyes of a child wrapped up in the excitement of football’s World Cup while his parents are on a mysterious “vacation”.

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

EARTH: THE BIOGRAPHY.
Documentary/Nature/BBC.
* Another superb BBC doc featuring tremendous imagery.

WITHOUT THE KING
Documentary
His Majesty King Mswati III/Her Royal Highness Princess Sikhanyiso.
Directed by Michael Skolnick.
* Have you been to Swaziland? Could you find it on a map? Did you know it was the last absolute monarchy on earth? Dude, the king has 13 wives. A fleet of limos. Private planes, fat palace…over 9 billion in assets. The Swazis? Hungry, angry, ill (46% HIV rate – worlds highest), and a super low life-expectancy (31!). Think they got problems in Swaziland?

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

TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON ULTIMATE COLLECTION.
Action/Animation.

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

ABEL’S ISLAND.
Family.
Directed by Michael Sporn.

THE MARZIPAN PIG.
Family.
Directed by Michael Sporn.

****

****new release list no. 175

THIS FRIDAY, JULY 18th: come see SILVER BULLET at our backyard screening room. Doors open at 8:30pm, show starts at 9pm sharp. $5 suggested donation.

I am proud and excited to announce that on Friday, August 29th, we will be showing Adrian Belic's documentary BEYOND THE CALL as part of the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival. Screening time will be announced soon. More details to follow. Tomorrow is the very last day to submmit films to this festival. Please find all the information to do that here.

We’ve got some good new films this week, and a batch of great new additions! Some great 1990’s films like BOB ROBERTS, THE BAD LIEUTENANT, FLAMENCO and NIL BY MOUTH. All of these were requested by customers. If there is something you wish we had, let me know. I buy most of these requests, and I am appreciative of you helping us bulk up our library.

In the new movie department, we have some comedies (PENELOPE, MEET BILL, COLLEGE ROAD TRIP, EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES), action (THE BANK JOB), dance (STEP UP 2), horror (SHUTTER), romance (LOVE MY LIFE) and assorted other stuff.

Guess what? We have signed up about 70 members on KenFlix, Four Star Video’s local and lovable subscription rate membership! I have only heard great feedback about this program. In a nutshell, KenFlix lets you have a certain amount of films out on your account at any one time, without renewal fees and with unlimited exchanges at the store. If you rent even 5 movies a month, then this program is for you. If you would like to hear more, please email us, or check out the pamphlets at the store.

Love and kisses,
Ken

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

THE BANK JOB.
Action/Crime/Thriller.
Jason Statham/Saffron Burrows
Directed by Roger Donaldson.
* Statham doing what Statham does best. Cops and robbers, preferably a bank involved. In this case, he stars in the real-life story of a bank robbery in 1971 that went unsolved, with no arrests and was completely media-quashed because secrets of the Royal family were involved.

BEAU BRUMMELL: THIS CHARMING MAN.
Drama/Fictobiopic/BBC.
Hugh Bonneville/James Purefoy.
Directed by Philappa Lowthorpe.
* The historical story of the world’s first dandy, Beau Brummell, gallivanter, socialite, bad-boy, good-boy, style councilor, all around well-dressed and slick dude.

COLLEGE ROAD TRIP.
Comedy/Family/G.
Martin Lawrence.
Directed by Roger Kumble.
* A young woman travels the country looking for the perfect college to attend and is accompanied by her cop dad (Lawrence) in this family entertainment vehicle.

EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES.
Comedy/Martial Arts/Foreign (Cantonese).
Leslie Cheung/Tony Leung Chiu Wai.
Directed by Jeffrey Lau.
* Hilarious parody film produced by Wong Kar-Wai.

LOVE MY LIFE.
Drama/Romance/ LGBT/Foreign (Japanese).
Rei Yoshii/Asami Imajuku.
Directed by Koji Kawano.
* Adapted from a manga of the same name, it is the story of two young women in love who are learning about dealing with the consequences of their decisions.

MEET BILL.
Comedy/Drama.
Aaron Eckhart/Jessica Alba.
Directed by Bernie Goldmann and Melisa Wallack.
* Bill is a loser whose wife knows it and it seems like everyone else in his life knows it. However, someone lets him have the huge responsibility of acting as a mentor to a teenage girl and somehow he re-finds himself within that task without the help of the CPS.

PENELOPE.
Comedy/Drama.
Christina Ricci/James McAvoy/Catherine O’Hara/Reese Witherspoon/Peter Dinklage.
Directed by Mark Palansky.
* Penelope’s family has a curse that she must break by finding true love. Unfortunately she has a pig’s snout and that seems to bother her suitors. Dudes: she’s just got a big nose! Deal with it.

SHUTTER.
Horror.
Joshua Jackson/Rachel Taylor.
Directed by Masayuki Ochiai.
* Freaky tale about a newly married couple moving to Japan who start having supernatural experiences involving images showing up on camera relating to an old relationship between the groom and a now-dead Japanese woman.

STEP UP: 2.
Dance/Drama.
Briana Evigan/Adam G. Sevani/Will Kemp.
Directed by Jon Chu.
* Number two in the franchise about young kids defining themselves through step-dancing.

TIMES AND WINDS.
Drama/Foreign (Turkish).
Taner Birsel.
Directed by Reha Erdem.
* Following the lives of people who inhabit a small village in Turkey during the five times in between prayer, this beautiful film focuses on some preteens struggling to make sense of their lives.

TRAFIC.
Comedy/Criterion/Foreign(French/Dutch/English).
Jacques Tati.
Directed by Jacques Tati.
* Comedy of errors, involving a designer of recreational vehicles driving his creation into all sorts of calamitous situations.

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

DOWN THE TRACKS: THE MUSIC THAT INFLUENCED BOB DYLAN.
Roc-Doc.
* From the producers of the film: “This fascinating program tells the story of the music and artists that have influenced Bob Dylan throughout his career. Although his reputation as a songwriter stands supreme, Dylan has often covered tracks from vintage blues, folk and country performers or incorporated elements from them into his own material. “Down The Tracks” explores the lives and work of many of these artists and how Dylan interacted with them through archive performance and interview footage alongside new interviews and documentary material.”

TWISTED: BALLOONAMENTARY
Balloonamentary.
Directed by Naomi Greenfield and Sara Taksler.
* A doc about the brilliant engineering feats of balloon twisters.

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

RENO 911: 5th SEASON.
Television/Comedy.
* Season five of the absolutely real and true story of life as a cop in Reno.

THE SECRET WORLD OF ALEX MACK: THE COMPLETE 1st SEASON .
Television/Comedy/Sci-Fi.
Larisa Oleynik.
* Kooky 90’s era tv about a junior high school kid who get s drenched in chemicals that give her super powers.

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

L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE.
* Replacement DVD.

THE BAD LIEUTENANT.
Cult/Drama/Crime.
Harvey Keitel.
Directed by Abel Ferrara.
* Wonderfully demented junkie cop psycho story. First DVD copy.

BOB ROBERTS.
* This is our first DVD of this comic masterpiece written, directed and starring Tim Robbins.

DEADWOOD: SEASON 2.
* Replacement DVD’s.

FINDING NEMO.
* 2 more replacement DVD’s.

FLAMENCO.
Dance/Drama/Foreign (Spanish)
Directed by Carlos Saura.
* Did you watch any of the trilogy of flamenco films we had out last year by Saura? They are beautiful and amazing and this is evidently the finest flamenco film that Saura made.

THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH.
Comedy/Drama.
Henry Winkler/Sylvester Stallone.
Directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen Verona.
* Great ensemble flick about some kids in Brooklyn who form a gang. This is our first copy of any sort of this 1974 film.

NIL BY MOUTH.
* First DVD copy of this Gary Oldman directed film.

SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS.
Comedy.
Ian Carmichael.
Directed by Robert Hamer.
* The secrets of taking advantage of people are revealed at the Lifeman College. This is our first copy of this 1960 film.

SHOWTIME.
Comedy/Action.
Robert De Niro/Eddie Murphy/Mos Def.
Directed by Tom Dey.
* First copy of this spoof of cop buddie movies.

THE WIRE: SEASONS 1, 2 and 3.
* Multiple copies of each.

****

****new release list.174

THIS FRIDAY, JULY 11th: come see INDIANA JONES & THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK at our backyard screening room. Doors open at 8:30pm, show starts at 9pm sharp. $5 suggested donation. We are at 402 Cortland Ave. 415.641.5380.

Speaking of screenings, has anyone else noticed the signs are up for the 2008 BERNAL HEIGHTS OUTDOOR CINEMA? This is a grass-roots festival featuring Bernal Heights filmmakers showing their stuff in wonderful mostly outdoor locations, such as Precita Park, and Holly Park. It is run by Leslie Lombre and Anne Batmale who year in and year out give their all to make this a great experience. This year will be no different. You can submit your film or read about the festival here.

Another local film festival to keep in mind is VideoFest EXISTENCE-CO-EXISTENCE. They have just announced that Peter Bratt, the Writer/Director/Producer of the critically acclaimed independent film “Follow Me Home”, will be the Juror for this year’s festival. Bratt received the Best Director award at the 1996 American Indian Film Festival and the Best Feature Film Audience Award at the 1996 San Francisco International Film Festival. Bratt is also the Writer/Director/Producer of MISSION STREET RHAPSODY, an upcoming full length feature film. Read about VideoFest here.

Lots of movies this week. We’ll see you at the store.

Love and kisses,
Ken

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

BAT WITHOUT WINGS.
Action/Foreign (Cantonese).
Directed by Yuen Chor.
* Freaky 1980 Shaw Brothers film featuring a villain who flies through the skies killing, abducting and doing all the kooky things killers like to do.

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT.
Animation/Action.
Directed by Many.
* Six interlocking chapters telling the story of the rise of Batman from bat child, through his angry bat teenage years, into his early batty 20’s (officially known as the dirty hippy period), and finally into his established success and wealthy period as Batman, champion of the night, and defender of the peace, borderline schizophrenic, etc. etc... If only that was true. As it is, you can disregard most of this review. Except the part about the six chapters telling Batman’s story. About being a bat man. And growing up. Batlike.

BLOOD AND WINE: A BRAZILIAN STORY.
Drama/Foreign (Portuguese).
Mario Cesar Camargo/Marcos Cesana.
Directed by Joao Batista de Andrade.
* A violent arrest witnessed by a family just opening a grocery story in Goiania, Brazil changes the family dramatically.

BLOOD BROTHERS.
Drama/Crime/Action/Foreign (Cantonese).
Andy Lau/Jacky Cheung/Edison Chen.
Directed by Ching-Po Wong.
* A gangster considers getting out of the game upon the birth of his child, but unfortunately it is easier getting in then getting out.

CITY OF MEN.
Crime/Drama/Foreign (Portuguese).
Douglas Silva/Darlan Cunha.
Directed by Paulo Morelli.
* Actually got this last week, but forgot to write about it. In this, a couple of great friends in the latter portion of their teenage years seek out the truth of what happened to their missing fathers.

FLAKES.
Comedy/Indie.
Aaron Stanford/Zooey Deschanel.
Directed by Michael Lehmann.
* Goofy comedy about nuts and fruit.

MON ONCLE ANTOINE.
Drama/Criterion/Foreign (French).
Jacques Gagnon/Lyne Champagne.
Directed by Claude Jutra.
* 1971 film just being re-released by Criterion, it follows a boy’s coming of age in Quebec during Christmas time. Billed as Canada’s greatest film, which I had thought was THE ADVENTURES OF BOB AND DOUG MCKENZIE: STRANGE BREW, but hey, I’ve been wrong before, and I’ll be wrong again.

THE PLEASURE FACTORY. IN STORE THURSDAY
Drama/Foreign (Mandarin/Tagalog).
Isabella Chen/Ananda Everingham.
Directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham.
* Three stories focusing on the pleasure seekers in Singapore’s red light district. Chicka-wow chicka wow-wow. No seriously, this isn’t soft-core porn. I am almost sure.

THE PLEDGE.
Western.
Luke Perry/C.Thomas Howell.
Directed by Armand Mastroianni.
* A sheriff goes after a killer after his wife and young child are murdered.

THE RUINS.
Horror.
Jonathan Tucker/Laura Ramsey.
Directed by Carter Smith.
* A clearly dopey group of leisure set vacationers have a bad bad time when they accompany another tourist on an archeological dig that uncovers some bad bad evil.

SLEEPWALKING.
Drama.
Charlize Theron/AnnaSophia Robb/Woody Harrelson/Dennis Hopper/Nick Stahl.
Directed by Bill Maher.
* A child (Robb) struggles to deal with her mother (Theron) abandoning her.

STOP-LOSS.
Drama/War.
Ryan Phillippe/Abbie Cornish/Channing Tatum.
Directed by Kimberly Peirce.
* The total nightmare occurs for Sgt King (Phillippe) when he is ordered back to Iraq arbitrarily after completing his tour of duty.

SUPERHERO MOVIE.
Comedy/Farce.
Drake Bell/Sara Paxton/Leslie Nielsen.
Directed by Craig Mazin.
* From the SCARY GUYS peeps comes this farcical look at the superhero movie genre. May be funny, but you won’t find The Kind Green Menace in this flick.

THIS KISS.
Romance/LGBT.
Mel Lockman/Tamsin Gatewood.
Directed by Kylie Eddy.
* A couple of childhood friends who haven’t seen each other in a decade struggle to deal with the lost years and the events that caused their estrangement.

305.
Comedy/Farce.
Tim Larson/Brandon Tyra.
Directed by Daniel Holechek and David Holechek.
* Like 300, but five more.

THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS.
Drama.
Ellen Page/Libby Adams/Shawn Ahmed.
Directed by Bruce McDonald.
* This film won a bunch of film festival awards and most likely was made before Page hit it big with JUNO, the film that probably will catapult her into stardom. In this, she again plays a potty-mouthed teenager, but one dealing with a bit more traumatic events that just a little teen preggers.

2 MINUTES LATER.
Action/Drama/LGBT.
Michael Molina/Jessica Graham.
Directed by Robert Gaston.
* Detective tale pairing a lesbian detective (Graham) with a man (Molina) whose twin brother is missing.

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

CHOP SHOP.
Documentary.
Alejandro Polanco.
Directed by Ramin Bahrani.
* The life of a teen Latino orphan working in an auto-body shop in a junkyard in Queens is examined in this documentary.

THE GITS. IN STORE THURSDAY
Roc-Doc.
Joan Jett/Valerie M. Agnew.
Directed by Kerri O’Kane.
* Do you know about this band? They were a post-punk rock band from Seattle in the late 80’s early 90’s. They were a very influential band that was getting bigger and bigger when, tragically, in 1993, their lead singer Mia Zapata was found raped and murdered. This doc interviews many people who were influenced by this band, and examines the impact Zapata had on the people around her. I was lucky enough to see them play when my band in Santa Cruz opened for them at some dinky club in 1992; they ruled!

JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN IN STORE THURSDAY
Music Doc.
Bono/Brigitte Bardot/Steve Buscemi.
Directed by Julien Temple.
* Made by the man who made the video of Come On Eileen for Dexy's Midnight Runners (yeah, baby) this doc is the definitive word on Joe Strummer, the front man for 70’s and 80’s punk/reggae/rock innovators The Clash. The film focuses on the world wide influence that Strummer has had.

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

DAE JANG GEUM: SEASON 3.
Television/Foreign (Korean).
Yeong-ae Lee/Jin-hee Ji/Ri-na Hong.
* The final season of the greatest Asian soap opera ever to air. I LOVED this show, even though yes, it is a soap opera. But it features just enough food porn, schmaltz, and strong characters to have kept me junked out on it for a solid 54 hours! It’s a guilty pleasure, but pleasure is good.

THE DOG WHISPERER: COMPLETE 3RD SEASON.
Television.
Cesar Millan.
* Shhhhh, I’m trying to hear him. Whhoooof. Whoooooof.

MONK: SEASON 6.
Television/Comedy.
Tony Shalhoub.
* Season six of the San Francisco based detective comedy series.

WIRE IN THE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE 5th SEASON .
Television/Crime.
Robson Green.
* Season five in this gnarly murder investigative series.

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

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

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

BATMAN BEGINS.
* Adding another DVD to the Batman collection in anticipation of the DARK KNIGHT.

PUSHING HANDS.
Comedy/Drama/Foreign (Mandarin/English)..
Directed by Ang Lee.
* 1996 Ang Lee film about a Tai-Chi master who comes to New York to live with his son and his family. In classic Ang Lee style, east meets west and cultural conflict is explored intimately.

TOPSY TURVY.
* Replacement DVD.

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