****new release list no.178

THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 8st: Come see HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at our backyard screening room. Doors open at 8:45, film starts at 9:00pm. Suggested donation $5. Candy/Soda $1. Popcorn is free.

A shortish word about DVD’s. Have you noticed that they basically suck? A DVD is a very fallible medium for art. The data side of the disc is completely unprotected. It should be relatively easy to maintain (just touch the edges with your fingers, only remove the movie from its case to put it into your DVD player, immediately put it back securely in its box after viewing), but for whatever reason, the discs begin to get scratched soon after we purchase them. We implemented the D-Skin experiment, covering all discs with the little disc condoms, but, sadly, that did not work on everyone’s DVD player. So, alas, the DVD’s are touched with fingers, fingers that are unclean, fingers of children, sometimes perhaps chicken fingers (it seriously looks that way occasionally). Not to mention they are left on the floor, stepped on, left out for days, stacked on top of each other, carelessly boxed, not properly secured and then dropped loose through the drop-in slot. From our end, we generally do not call when the disc comes back looking yucky. We can’t check every disc upon return so we may not first see that a disc is damaged until you bring it back letting us know it didn’t work. At that point, it is hard to know who damaged it.

It is sad when they don’t last more than 20 plays. We have some videotapes in our system that have been viewed 200+ times! But very few DVD’s last even a quarter of that time. So we buy new copies of films. Pretty regularly. If you pan down to REPLACEMENT PURCHASES (formerly just a part of NEW ADDITIONS) almost every week you’ll find some new copies of old movies and tv shows. Not that we are complaining. Not at all. We understand our role in this relationship, and we want to reward you for shopping locally by providing you with the best customer service ever. And if that means buying two or three more copies of full seasons of THE WIRE every month, then dammit, we’ll do it.

The only thing we request of you the customer, consumer, and ultimately, viewer, is that you let us know when things don’t work. We can’t replace films until we know someone has a problem, but when we know there’s a problem, we don’t rent the disc again until we’ve re-surfaced it in our DISCO-GO-TECH 100 DVD repair machine. Then, if that doesn’t fix it, we’ll toss the DVD and buy a new copy.

Two last thoughts about DVD’s. For whatever weird reason, not all DVD’s play in all machines. And, if you are watching your DVD’s on a $75 DVD player that you bought 3 years ago, and everything is skipping, it might be time for a new machine.

****stepping down off the soap box****

Tons of great movies this week, including the Oscar winner for BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM in 2007, THE COUNTERFEITERS, which is awesome!

August marks Evan’s month of HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS. His picks brought he entire six season collection of KING OF THE HILL into our store for the first time, as well as the entire seven movie set (they made seven?) of the POLICE ACADEMY films. Combine that with our first DVD copies of ANIMAL HOUSE THE GOONIES, REPO MAN, ERIK THE VIKING, THE MUSIC MAN(!), ANNIE(!!), and AN AMERICAN TAIL and you’ve got a much boosted collection. I love this feature of the store, b/c the library gets enriched through such varied film opinions. Viva la difference!

Alrighty then,

Ken

p.s. 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.

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

ADORED: DIARY OF A PORN STAR.
Drama/Foreign (Italian/English)
Marco Filiberti.
Directed by Marco Filiberti.
* Two estranged brothers get to know each other after their father dies. One of them gets it on for a living.

CARMEN.
Drama/Romance/Foreign (Spanish/Basque/French).
Paz Vega.
Directed by Vicente Aranda.
* Sexy retelling of the famous tale.

THE COUNTERFEITERS.
Drama/Foreign (German).
Karl Markovics
Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky.
* Oscar winner for Foreign Language Film, this movies tracks the Nazi's top secret counterfeit program and the Jews in concentration camps forced to pull it off. Without gratuitous violence, this film hits home very hard.

FINN’S GIRL.
Drama/Romance/LGBT.
Brooke Johnson/Maya Ritter.
Directed by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert.
* When Finn’s lover dies, she takes over the care of her daughter, and her abortion clinic.

JIMMY DORE: CITIZEN JIMMY.
Comedy/Standup.

JOY HOUSE.
Suspense/Crime/Thriller/Foreign (French/English).
Jane Fonda/Alain Delon.
Directed by Rene Clement.
* Freaky French film just finally getting to DVD about a young crook on the run from everything, and caught up in nothing. Jane is said to be terrific in this film.

THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON. ****In store on Thurs****
Drama/Biofictopic.
Jonas Ball.
Directed by Andrew Piddington.
* A retelling of Mark Chapman’s last days as he was finished being programmed by George Bush, Sr. to kill John Lennon. I mean, as he convinced himself to kill John Lennon.

MISS CONCEPTION.
Comedy.
Heather Graham/Mia Kirschner.
Directed by Eric Styles.
* Dang yo, Heather Graham has got to get pregnant NOW. Can’t anyone help her out?

MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD.
Comedy/Crime/Drama/Foreign(Italian).
Elio Germano/Riccardo Scarmarcio
Directed by Danielle Luchetti.
* A coming of age story about two brothers growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in Italy.

NIM’S ISLAND.
Family/Adventure/Comedy.
Jodie Foster/Abigail Breslin/Gerard Butler.
Directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin.
* A magical adventure about an island ruled by a little girl’s imagination. Starring the super cute Breslin (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, NO RESERVATIONS, DEFINITELY, MAYBE).

QUEEN SIZED.
Comedy/Drama.
Nikki Blonsky.
Directed by Peter Levin.
* Starring Blonsky, the star of the remake of HAIRSPRAY, this one got a lot of talk when we played it at the store today. It is about an overweight girl dealing with the popular crowd in High School.

STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MARAUDER.
Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Drama/Fantasy/Horror/Comedy/Thriller/Western.
Casper Van Dien/Jolene Blalock.
Directed by Edward Neumeier.
* Johnny Rico is back! Van Dien reprises his role as the bug killing, universe saving beefcake space warrior.

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

BIOGRAPHY: BARACK OBAMA.
Documentary.
* Cable tv biography of the next President of the United States of America.

BIOGRAPHY: JOHN MCCAIN
Documentary.
* Biography of the loser of the 2008 election.

GROWING UP SAFARI
Documentary/Nature.
* More from the fantastic ANIMAL PLANET people, this featuring the four chapters about elephants, zebras, giraffes and hyenas.

LIFE IN COLD BLOOD.
Documentary/Nature/David Attenborough.
* Five episodes about cold blooded reptiles narrated by the master himself.

LIVING GODDESS.
Documentary/Foreign (Nepali).
* The freaky twisted reality of three young girls in Nepal who are worshipped as gods.

PETE SEEGER: THE POWER OF SONG.****In stores on Thurs****
Music-doc.
Joan Baez/Bob Dylan/Arlo Guthrie/Bruce.
Directed by Jim Brown.
* Very excellent Seeger biography.

............//TELEVISION//............
FOYLE’S WAR: SET 5.****In stores on Thurs****
Television/War.
Michael Kitchen..

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

CHARLIE AND LOLA: VOL 8.
Family/Animation.
* Pure wonderful excellence in the kidland department.

GARFIELD FUN FEST.
Family/Garfield.

GARFIELD GETS REAL.
Family/Garfield.

HANDY MANNY: MANNY’S PET ROUNDUP.
Family.

LITTLE EINSTEINS: FLIGHT OF THE INSTRUMENT FAIRIES.
Family.
* My kids dig it. I like how they always have interesting and different musical composers featured on this show.

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

AN AMERICAN TAIL.
Animation/Adventure.
Directed by Don Bluth.
* First DVD of this 1986 film about young Russian mouse Fievel Mousekewitz and his adventures in America. Serious Cold War film right here.

ANIMAL HOUSE.
Comedy.
John Belushi/Karen Allen/Tim Matheson/
Directed by John Landis.
* First DVD of this 1978 comedy that defined John Belushi’s brilliance.

ANNIE.
Musical.
Aileen Quinn/Albert Finney/Carol Burnett/Tim Curry/Bernadette Peters.
Directed by John Huston!
* First DVD of this awesome 1982 musical that launched many careers.

ERIK THE VIKING.
Comedy/Adventure/Fantasy.
Tim Robbins/Mickey Rooney/John Cleese.
Directed by Terry Jones.
* First DVD of this madcap 1989 shipping adventure.

THE GOONIES.
Adventure/Comedy.
Corey Feldman, need I say more?
Directed by Richard Donner.
* First DVD of this 1985 tale of caves, maps and hidden treasures.

KING OF THE HILL: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Animation/Sociology.
* I am way psyched we have this at the store. It is so weird and wonderful.

MONTY PYTHON’S THE MEANING OF LIFE.
Comedy/History.
Graham Chapman/John Cleese/Eric Idle/Terry Jones/Michael Palin/Terry Giliam
Directed by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.
* First DVD of this classic 1983 film that really shows you the true affects of overeating.

THE MUSIC MAN.
Musical.
Robert Preston/Buddy Hackett/Shirley Jones.
Directed by Morton DaCosta.
* First DVD of the 1962 adaptation of the musical. I played Winthrop Paroo in the 9^th grade production of this at my Junior High school. Aw, yeah.

POLICE ACADEMY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION.
Comedy.
* I can’t believe they made SEVEN of these movies. I remember the first one being pretty funny back in 1984.

REPO MAN.
Comedy/Sci-fi/Action/Cult.
Harry Dean Stanton/Emilio Estevez.
Directed by Alex Cox.
* I can’t believe this is our first DVD of this amazing 1984 film which before BOBBY was Emilio’s biggest contribution to film. There are so many quotable lines in this punk rock film about the wild wild world of repossessing cars, and aliens.

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

BELPHEGOR: PHANTOM OF THE LOUVRE.
Action/Mystery/Fantasy/Horror/Foreign (French).
Sophie Marceau/Michel Serrault/Julie Christie.
Directed by Jean-Paul Salome.
* Evil spirits inhabiting archeological finds housed at the Louvre.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED.
Television/Drama.
Jeremy Irons.
* The 1981 television series based on the Evelyn Waugh novel.

CAPTAIN RON.
* Weird Kurt Russell comedy.

DARKNESS FALS.
* Something about a vengeful spirit and the freaking tooth fairy.

GEORGE CARLIN: AGAIN.
Comedy/Standup.
George Carlin.

GEORGE CARLIN: CARLIN AT CARNEGIE.
Comedy/Standup.
George Carlin.

GEORGE CARLIN: BACK IN TOWN.
Comedy/Standup.
George Carlin.

GEORGE CARLIN: COMPLAINTS AND GREIVANCES.
Comedy/Standup.
George Carlin.

LADYBUGS.
* Weird Rodney Dangerfield comedy.

MILLER’S CROSSING
* Early Coen Brothers flick.

SLASHER
* Car salesman doc.

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
* Great Elizabeth Taylor flick.

............//REPLACEMENT PURCHASES//............

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: THE COMPLETE SERIES.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS.

THE WIRE: ALL FOUR SEASONS.
* Seriously, you would not believe how many copies of each season of this show we have bought.

****