We have finally joined the 21st Century and the New Release weekly email is being managed by a listserv. Thank you for bearing with me these last few weeks as I’ve stumbled through a few other failed attempts to manage the list. I don’t think ANYONE got the email last week. Here is a direct link to the posting. As always, you can always read our blog online here.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is out this week. As you may know it won 8 Oscars including Best Direction (Danny Boyle), Best Editing and Best Picture. It is the story of Jamal, a “slumdog” who is competing in a game show with the possibility of becoming a millionaire. It is also the story of the slums of Mumbai, and the difficult reality many small children having growing up there with nothing to their name, and no one to take care of them.
Also of note this week is TELL NO ONE, a thriller from France that everyone has been asking about. MARLEY & ME is the heartwarming story of the a family and their lovely dog. SEVEN POUNDS is a Will Smith movie about a man bent on saving seven lives to redeem himself from a dark secret only he knows.
Wednesday is the first day of April, and with it comes a new HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS section. This month, its Chris’s turn and he has picked some great ones. About half of his films are here now; most of them are movies that we have only had in the past on VHS and are finally upgrading (HE GOT GAME, FOXY BROWN, THE BLUES BROTHERS, BATMAN THE MOVIE {1966 version}). New to the store altogether is GHOST RIDE THE WHIP: THE HYPHY MOVEMENT, a Bay Area hip-hop documentary.
There is also a TON of kids movies here this week. Scroll down for the titles.
Keep a lookout for some SF Library events at Four Star Video in April and May. First up is Eddie Madril on Thursday, April 23 @ 4:30. Eddie will tell stories from various tribes and regions, include costumed theater, dancing, audience participation, and sign language. Eddie Madril holds audiences captive with exciting presentations of the dance and culture of the United States Plains Indian tribes from Southern Canada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Eddie has performed throughout the western United States and teaches residency programs in schools in the San Francisco Bay area. This is a free performance and will take place in our backyard patio.
Are you a local filmmaker? Have you ever shown your work at the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival? Please consider submitting this year to this terrific community event. This year the festival will feature music and a 24-hour filmmaking challenge as well as all the usual terrific shorts, and feature length films. Info can be found online here.
Also, don’t forget about Videofest 2009 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. To read more about the festival and submit for entry, please go to their website which is linked here. One of the prizes is a year subscription to Kenflix!
Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.
Love and Kisses,
Ken
Things you get by using KenFlix that you cannot get with Netflix.
1) Take part in your local economy
2) No waiting for the mail for your movies; thus more movies to watch per month
3) Human interaction
4) The feel and touch of movie boxes
KenFlix - the only Independent Monthly Subscription Film Renting Service in SF
If you are going to make a monthly commitment, make it a local one.
No due dates. No late fees.
ESUB -One Movie at a time – Two Exchanges a month (3 movies total) – $9.99 + Tax/Month
1SUB - One Movie at a time – Unlimited exchange – $18.99 + Tax/Month
3SUB - Three Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $24.99 + Tax/Month
4SUB - Four Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $32.99 + Tax/Month
............//NEW RELEASES//............
CREMATOR.
Drama/Horror/Foreign (Czech).
Rudolf Hrusinsky.
Directed by Juraj Herz.
* 1969 black and white film about a man working in a crematorium in Czechoslovakia in the 1930’s and the challenges he faces when a German acquaintance suggests his Jewish wife is holding him back. I bought this on the suggestion of a top-10 list of films issued by Facets, a film company I really like.
GENERALE DELLA ROVERE.
Criterion/Drama/Foreign (Italian/German).
Vittorio De Sica.
Directed by Roberto Rossellini.
*1960 film starring De Sica, the brilliant director of such movies as THE BICYCLE THIEF and TWO WOMEN. In this, he plays a swindler who is busted by the Nazi’s and forced to impersonate Generale Della Rovere, a resistance leader who has just been shot. The Nazi’s want him to go into a jail and help them identify other resistance leaders.
MARLEY & ME.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Comedy.
Owen Wilson/Jennifer Aniston/Alan Arkin.
Directed by David Frankel.
* You’ll love this movie, and I won’t have to say anything about it at all!
THE OTHER END OF THE LINE.
Romance.
Jesse Metcalfe/Shriya.
Directed by James Dodson.
* She works in customer service in India; he’s a San Francisco dude. Can it work out? She decides to travel to the US to give it a shot.
SEVEN POUNDS.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Drama.
Will Smith/Rosario Dawson/Michael Ealy/Woody Harrelson.
Directed by Gabriele Muccino.
* Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent with a secret who is on a mission for redemption. He makes his way around the country donating his organs to people he deems worthy. He is expecting to change people’s lives, but is surprised to find out how he is changed by theirs.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Romance/Crime/Drama/Foreign (English/Hindi).
Dev Patel/Anil Kapoor/Freida Pinto/.
Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan.
* The story of Jamal Malik is played out as he is interrogated by police for suspicion of cheating on the set of the Indian version of the television game show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. How could he know the answers he has gotten right thus far? Each answer is supplied by the harsh reality that he and his brother has lived on the streets of Mumbai and in the slums where he grew up. Filled with sparkling music, sharp photography and an intimate look at the bleak lives of children growing up with nothing and no one to take care of them, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won 8 Academy Awards including Best Direction, Best Film, and Best Editing.
SPECIAL.
Drama/Fantasy/Action/Comedy/Indie.
Michael Rapaport.
Directed by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore.
* Strange little film about a meter-maid (I know, very sympathetic character, right?) played by Rapaport who takes part in a drug study for an experimental new anti-depressant and becomes convinced he is a superhero with amazing superpowers.
TEHILIM.
Drama/Foreign (Hebrew).
Michael Moshonov.
Directed by Raphael Nadjari.
* There is a bit of a cinema revolution happening in Israel right now, and this films continues in the tradition. It is the story of a family dealing with the unexplained disappearance of the father. The adults in the family find their solace in silence and internally, but the children are forced to grow up as they grapple with their new life.
TELL NO ONE.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Thriller/Suspense/Foreign (French).
Francois Cluzet/Marie-Josee Croze/Kristin Scott-Thomas.
Directed by Guillaume Canet.
* Highly anticipated thriller about a man who receives email from his wife who had thought was killed eight years previous. As he tries to track down the truth, things get murkier, and he is eventually framed for a murder and on the run from the real killers. Nothing is as it seems in this edgy film that won Best Cesars for Acting, Direction, Editing and Music.
............//TELEVISION/............
IN PLAIN SIGHT: SEASON ONE.
Television/Drama/Crime.
Mary McCormack/Lesley Warren/Fred Weller.
Created by David Maples.
* This show follows a Marshal in Albuquerque, NM whose job it is to administer the Witness Protection Program.
THE IT CROWD: COMPLETE 1st SEASON.
Television/Comedy.
* The IT crowd, as in Information Technology, are a group of computer nerds keeping the office systems operable.
RAMSAY’S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES: COMPLETE SERIES ONE.
Television/UK/Food.
Gordon Ramsay.
* Following the somewhat usual format of celebrity chef shows, Chef Ramsay yells, and cajoles restaurants into picking up the pace and getting profitable. And he is more effective than most.
SAVING GRACE: SEASON ONE.
Television/Drama.
Holly Hunter/Leon Rippy.
Created by Nancy Miller.
* Holly Hunter does her usual terrific job playing Grace, a bitter and hard-living Oklahoma City cop whose life is changed by the appearance of an angel named Earl (Leon Rippy) who offers her a chance at redemption. Don’t let the storyline fool you, Hunter was nominated by multiple awards including a Golden Globe for her performance in this excellent show.
............// KIDS//............
ALL ABOARD FOR THE MUSICAL MAGICAL VOYAGE.
BABY EINSTEIN: WORLD MUSIC.
GO DIEGO GO: RAINFOREST FIESTA.
GOOSEBUMPS: RETURN OF THE MUMMY.
GOOSEBUMPS: THE SCARECROW WALKS AT MIDNIGHT.
HANDY MANNY: MANNY’S GREEN TEAM.
HANNAH MONTANA: KEEPING IT REAL.
* Or unreal, as the case may be.
IS YOUR MAMA A LLAMA? AND MORE CLASSIC CHILDREN STORIES.
* I can’t vouch for the DVD, but this was a great book that my kids read again and again.
POKEMON: GIRATINA AND THE SKY WARRIOR.
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK! EARTH.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: BERRY BIG JOURNEY.
THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY.
* I don’t know why she swallowed the fly; perhaps she’ll die.
............// HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS//............
ALL REVIEWS IN THIS SECTION WRITTEN BY CHRIS.
BATMAN THE MOVIE, 1966 (SPECIAL EDITION).
Action/Adventure/Comedy/Crime/Superhero.
Adam West/Burt Ward.
Directed by Leslie H. Martinson.
* If I had my own Criterion Collection this would be in it. The only film that I know of that even comes close to the comic book feel is Sin City and that's a whole different ball game. It's got everything comedy, action, and an all star cast of Adam West, Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin. If you haven't seen it you should, just don't forget your bat shark repellant.
THE BLUES BROTHERS.
Comedy/Music/Action.
Dan Akroyd/John Belushi/James Brown/Cab Calloway/Aretha Franklin.
Directed by John Landis.
* It's a damn shame that until now we didn't have this film on DVD. But fear not, it has arrived. On a mission from God.
FOXY BROWN.
Action/Crime.
Pam Grier/Antonio Fargas/
Directed by Jack Hill.
* Classic blaxplotation film. Pam Grier plays Foxy Brown who swears vengeance against a crime ring that killed her undercover narcotics investigator boyfriend. It also features a funky original music score from Willie Hutch (who also is performing at the night club!). This film has influenced many from hip-hop, Quentin Tarantino, to the opening of Superbad. Did I also mention Pam Grier is hot and kicks some major ass?
GHOST RIDE THE WHIP: THE HYPHY MOVEMENT.
Documentary/Music.
Sway/Akon.
Directed by DJ Vlad.
* Bay area hip hop takes the spotlight in this documentary on the "hyphy" movement. The documentary is pretty basic MTV films low budget straight to DVD release composed mostly of home footage from areas such as Vallejo, Richmond, and my old neighborhood in Oakland and interviews with notable bay area rappers (Too $hort, Keak Da Sneak, E-40, Mistah F.A.B. and M.C. Hammer). However, it is notable for giving a good overview of the career of Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks [a very prolific and fairly unknown rapper] whose story takes up about half the movie. I also highly recommend watching the Roomper Room Crew special feature in which J-Diggs tells the story of a planned bank robbery. It's pretty interesting and at about 30 mins. almost it's own short film.
HE GOT GAME.
Drama/Sports.
Denzel Washington/Ray Allen/Milla Jovovich/Rosario Dawson.
Directed by Spike Lee.
* Maybe not Spike Lee's best but one of my favorites. Denzel Washington has a stellar performance as Jake Shittlesworth a convict trying to connect with his son Jesus a basketball star about to go off to college. This however is just the tip of the iceberg. Though the film suffers at points you can't help but see the love Spike Lee has for the basketball and inner city life. It was a film he was born to make. Casting basketball star Ray Allen in the role may have been a mistake but then again he was playing less of a part and more just himself.
............// NEW ADDITIONS//............
NOTHING TO LOSE.
Comedy.
Tim Robbins/Martin Laurence/Kelly Preston.
* Holdups, chases and hijinks – first DVD of this zany comedy.
SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS.
Comedy.
Billy-Bob Thornton/Jon Heder.
Directed by Todd Phillips.
* Remake of the funny original.
............// REPLACEMENT DISCS//............
GREY GARDENS.
Criterion/Documentary.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment