****new release list no.229

Have you ever braved the cold to go to a Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival screening? I have attended about six or eight of their events over the last three years, and they have been very special. There is just something about sitting bundled up under the stars on some of my favorite hills watching film with my friends and neighbors. The festival this year will have some great outdoor screenings (Bernal Playground, Precita Park, Four Star Video’s Backyard Patio aka SUCCULENCE) as well as some warmer indoor screenings (Red Hill Books, SoCha Café, BHNC) and will also feature live music at many of the venues. Have you considered submitting a film of any type to this festival?

This is your last week to do so. Please contact me, or the marvelous women who run the festival (anne@bhoutdoorcine.org) to get your submission in. Like all community events, we need community involvement to thrive. So get involved, and then throw on your coat in early October to come see some great local film.

Another excellent local thing I want to mention is architect Mason Kirby’s KIDS DIGITAL DESIGN CONTEST. In their words:

“Our First Annual Kids’ Digital Design Contest is a digital design competition for ages 0-15. With the help of parents, our goal is to provide a venue for kids to demonstrate, develop and reveal their capacity for creative three dimensional thinking using the digital modeling tool SketchUp (free to download, simple to learn, and amazingly difficult to put down). Our inaugural theme is: “under/over/within” and features an intertidal aquatic site. Your charge is to develop a “structure for living” within the area shown in the base model. We ask that participants challenge the idea of structure and permanence with their design by thoughtfully engaging our aquatic/intertidal site which is at once constantly changing due to factors that are both man made and of a natural consequence.”

This cool competition is free, open to anyone 0-15 and entries are due September 15th, with prizes being handed out September, 22.

More goings-on in the community – The second BERNAL HEIGHTS FILM NIGHTS, presented at the BHNC (515 Cortland Ave) is happening this Thursday, July 30th at 7pm and features a screening of Spike Lee’s definitive piece DO THE RIGHT THING. There will be snacks and a discussion afterward and these awesome screenings (hosted by neighborhood community organizer Sabrina D and sponsored by Neighborhood Centers Together, the BHNC and Four Star Video) are free!

BATTLESTAR GALACTIC: SEASON 4.5 is out this week! Also THE MIGHTY BOOSH: SEASON THREE. In the Criterion world we have REPULSION, one of the all-time great Roman Polanski films (also on Blu-Ray). More new Blu-Ray titles include THIS IS SPINAL TAP and 12 MONKEYS. Also out is a new Joss Whedon series called DOLLHOUSE: SEASON ONE. For all you Buffy and Angel fans, this is a must-see.

Have you checked out SUCCULENCE lately? Please spread the word, Bernal Heights has a succulent store located in the Back Patio at Four Star Video. Encouraged by Darcy Lee (owner of Heartfelt and the patron saint of Bernal Heights), we have been open for one month now and are adding plants and planters regularly. We also do custom plantings, please ask us about them. We are emptying out our backyard barn, and soon we hope to have an indoor portion of the new business where we will be selling antique kitchen supplies, canning equipment, and much much more. As of now, we have hundreds of succulents of all types, and some very lovely planters. Come on back, through the looking glass door. We are here for you.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
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 – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
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Links we are super hip on this week:
The Rock Make Festival. The excellent musical and crafts outdoor festival presented by The Bay Bridged, Tartufi, Whiz Bang Fabrics and Noise Pop that my band The Dont’s are honored to be playing this year.
Hang Art, a local SF Artists info site, right now featuring artists on the front page including Bernal Heights artist Olivia Brown.
Beyond Asiaphilia is local filmmaker Valerie Soe's excellent blog focusing on Asian/American arts, culture and other related topics.

Do you have a link Four Star Customers should check out??? Email it to me.

............//NEW RELEASES//............

AN AMERICAN AFFAIR.
Drama.
Gretchen Mol/James Rebhorn.
Directed by William Olsson.
* A sideways glance into the Kennedy Presidency and its tragic ending through the story of a young repressed 13-year-old boy who lives across the street from a beautiful woman (Mol) who may be more than just a friend to the President. Great early 1960’s music punctuates the tale.

DRAGON HUNTER.
Action/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Adventure.
Brad Johnson/Kelly Stables.
Directed by Steve Shimek.
* In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey…oops, wrong genre, In the time of orcs and dragons, an orphan named Kendrick (parents killed by orcs - don’t pretend you don’t know what that means) teams up with some bad—ass warriors to potentially train to become a dragon hunter.

DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION: Z EDITION.
Animation/Action.
Yun-Fat Chow/Justin Chatwin.
Directed by James Wong.
* A young Yaba massa joins the evolved Professional Dragonball League in an attempt to gather all seven sacred strikes and bowl the world’s first Z-Tone Babbleball Championship game. When Master Yobolobodingdong enters the competition Yaba massa worries that he has met his match and… Nah, just kidding, I just made all that up. Not sure what this one’s about, but your teenager prolly knows.

EL CAMINO.
Drama.
Leo Fitzpatrick/Elisabeth Moss.
Directed by Erik S. Weigel.
* An indie about young aimless adults, some the product of a foster-care system, searching for their place in the world. When one of them dies, the others steal his ashes and head out on a road-trip to Mexico. This video has nothing to do with the movie.

FAST AND FURIOUS.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Action/Reckless Driving.
Vin Diesel/Paul Walker/Michelle Rodriguez.
Directed by Justin Lin.
* Vroom vroom. Heroin. Vroom vroom, CIA. Vroom vroom, ex-con. Vroom vroom speeding cars. Vroom vroom revenge.

JUST LOVE ME.
Comedy/Romance/Foreign (Polish).
Maciej Zakoscielny.
Directed by Ryszard Zatorski.
* Light-hearted romantic comedy centered around peeps working in an architect office.

MIKE YOKOHAMA: A FOREST WITH NO NAME.
Drama/Foreign (Japanese).
Masatoshi Nagase.
Directed by Shinji Aoyama.
* What is this? Not sure, but it looks super cool. Here is info from Amazon: In this hip, action packed re-creation of the hard-boiled detective story, private eye Mike Yokohama (dressed in Elvisesque attire) is hired by a rich man to find his missing daughter. The girl, who is engaged to another rich man hand selected by her father, has run away to join a commune. Mike heads for the commune, located in a forest, where something very mysterious seems to be going on....

REPULSION.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Criterion/Thriller/Horror.
Catherine Deneuve.
Directed by Roman Polanski.
* This amazing 1965 film was Polanski’s first English-language film and stars Deneuve at the height of her ravishing beauty. Her character, Carol, is a young Belgian living with her sister in London and working at a salon. She is left alone when her sister vacations with her boyfriend, and while alone she slips into a hypnotic, hallucinogenic fantasy state where she imagines things coming to get her and arms slipping through the walls. Her loose grip on reality is released for good when someone comes to the house and she bludgeons him to death. This gripping portrait of insanity is slow-moving and tense, but shot beautifully and sympathetically. Criterion’s release gives it the full treatment.

WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE.
Comedy/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Foreign (Czech).
Dana Medricka/Jiri Sovak.
Directed by Vaclav Vorlicek.
* In this satirical comedy from 1966, a scientific elixir makes dreams become real and fantasy characters run amuck with their dreamers creating mad-cap chaos.

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

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS: IN HIS OWN WORDS.
Documentary/Foreign (French).
Claude/Others..
Directed by Pierre-Andre Boutang.
* An autobiographical documentary about Levi-Strauss, the cultural anthropologist, brilliant theorist, linguist, mythologist and all around ground-breaking thinker.

THE UNION: THE BUSINESS BEHIND GETTING HIGH.
Documentary/Foreign (Nepali).
Joe Rogan/Tommy Chong.
Directed by Brett Harvey and Adam Scorgie.
* A doc about marijuana and the business culture of it, especially relating to Canada, this show is especially poignant in light of the strong discussion about legalization here in America. Almost every day local and national news sites lately have written about the industry and potential tax ramifications of legalization. Considering the financial state of the country, and the fact that alcohol and tobacco are legal, this discussion is important.

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

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: SEASON 4.5.
Television/Sci-fi.
* Just think, there is only 763 minutes standing between you and the end of this mind-opening series that asks the spiritual question – who believes in god more? You or a toaster?

DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF THE DEAD.
Television/Sci-Fi/BBC.
David Tennant.

JOSS WHEDON’S DOLLHOUSE: SEASON ONE.
Television/Drama.
Eliza Dushku/Amy Acker/Olivia Williams.
Created by Joss Whedon.
* Joss Whedon (FIREFLY, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-A-LONG BLOG) is arguably one of televisions biggest innovators. The dollhouse the title refers to is a life-size dwelling that “Dolls” live in when they are not performing missions. The Dolls are DNA-altered and memory wiped humans who work for some shadowy organization.

THE MIGHTY BOOSH: SEASON THREE.
Television/Comedy/BBC.
Julian Barratt/Noel Fielding/Michael Fielding.
* Have you been checking out this show? We now have all three released seasons. They say it is hysterical.

TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH.
Television/Sci-Fi.
John Barrownman
* Aka: Torchwood: Season Three. More bizarre adventures with Captain Jack Harkness and the crew.

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

12 MONKEYS.

THIS IS SPINAL TAP.

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

MICHAEL JACKSON – A REMARKABLE LIFE.
* Never, everland.

****

****new release list no.228

Some huge summer movies out this week on DVD, two of which are adaptations of graphic novels. First up is WATCHMEN, about a crew of superheroes forced into retirement who come back with a vengeance. Violent, graphic, visually mind-boggling and quite long, WATCHMEN is not for the weak-of-heart, but is a guaranteed thrill ride. Marketed as a kids film is CORALINE, a disturbing animation about a young girl fighting off the clutches of an evil spirit living in a sealed up part of a house where she lives with her inattentive mother and father. If your kids can handle it, watch it with them, if not, it is a totally amazing and well-done film for adults as well. Also out this week is THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD, about Colin Hanks as a young man working as a personal assistant for an aging Mentalist played by John Malkovich.

Tons of other films, lots of good Indie stuff, and a bunch of new television including the much anticipated THE MIGHTY BOOSH from the BBC. Scroll down to read more.

Looking for something to do this weekend? This Sunday, July 26, the SF Theatre Festival will take place at Yerba Buena Gardens. Over 130 acts, including children’s programs will be going on from 11:00am – 5:00pm and it is all free!

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
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 – Three 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
******************************************************************************

Links we are super hip on this week:
The Bay Bridged is a terrific local music site featuring interviews, calendars, photos and music.
Hang Art is a local SF Artists info site, featuring a rotating list of artists on the front page including Bernal Heights artist Olivia Brown.
Beyond Asiaphilia is local filmmaker Valerie Soe's excellent blog focusing on Asian/American arts, culture and other related topics.
Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival.
Pal’s Takeaway – Yummy yummy.

Do you have a link Four Star Customers should check out??? Email it to me.

............//NEW RELEASES//............

2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER.
Criterion/Drama/Foreign (French/Italian).
Marina Vlady/Anne Duperey.
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
* In this 1967 heavily stylized film, the city of Paris and the general state of mind of its people are as much characters as Juliette (Vlady) a bored housewife who dabbles in prostitution to have more spending money.

COMMON SENSES.
Drama.
Holly Montgomery-Webb/James Azrael/Cheryl Lynn Golemo.
Directed by Dennis Belogorsky and four others.
* Shot officially or unofficially (not sure which) in the Dogme95 style of film making, this avant-garde indie is about a couple of small time thieves (a hustler and a klepto) living in Chicago and trying to make sense of the lack of sense surrounding them.

CORALINE.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Animation/Fantasy/Family?
Dakota Fanning/Teri Hatcher.
Directed by Henry Selick.
* Adapted from the graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman (The Sandman), this dark fantasy is about a little girl struggling to obtain her parents attention who slips through a secret door into a parallel world where her parents are loving and attentive but have buttons for eyes and dark ulterior motives. It is lush and gorgeous and filled with strange and beautiful music. It is also scary and disturbing and I would only recommend it for the more adventurous and mature film-watching kids. For the adults, I give it two thumbs up.

CUPID’S MISTAKE.
Comedy/Drama.
Everardo Gil/Susan Petry.
Directed by Young Man Kang.
* Sweet and suspenseful independent film just getting to DVD eight years after it was made about dating and emotional risk in Los Angeles.

DIM SUM FUNERAL.
Comedy/Drama.
Steph Song/Kelly Hu/Bai Ling/Talia Shire.
Directed by Anna Chi.
* When an overbearing mother dies, her estranged Chinese-American children reunite for the traditional non-traditional funeral. Featuring Talia Shire (Jason Schwartzman’s mom, Nicolas Cage and Sophia Coppola’s Aunt, Francis Ford-Coppola’s sister, etc).

THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Comedy.
Colin Hanks/John Malkovich/Tom Hanks/Steve Zahn/Emily Blunt/Debra Monk.
Directed by Sean McGinly.
* This light comedy is about a young man (Hanks, the young one) deceiving his domineering father (Hanks, the old one) into thinking he is at Law School while he is gallivanting around the country working as a personal assistant to a has-been magician (excuse me, Mentalist!) whose main claim to fame is that he did the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 61 times (but none in his last ten years).

GREY GARDENS.
Drama/HBO.
Drew Barrymore/Jessica Lange.
Directed by Michael Sucsy.
* This is a feature film about Big and Little Edith Bouvier Beale (Big Edie and Little Edie) two eccentric cousins of Jackie Onassis who became less and less in touch with reality as their money dwindled and they retreated to their house on Long Island, Grey Gardens. In 1976 a fabulously received documentary film was made about the women, in which they told their story in their own words. Now HBO has released this fictionalized version of their tale.

MADE IN USA.
Criterion/Crime/Mystery/Foreign (French).
Anna Karina/Jean-Pierre Leaud.
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
* This bizarre and masterful pop cinema treat follows Paula Nelson (Karina) a private investigator through a madcap investigation trying to find a former lover who may or may not have been murdered. Also featuring Marianne Faithful.

THE NEW TWENTY.
Drama/LGBT.
Bill Sage/Terry Serpico/Nicole Bilderback.
Directed by Chris Mason Johnson.
* In this NY based indie film, a group of friends in their late 20’s (gay, straight, multi-cultural) struggle to maintain their focus as they enter a new period in their lives.

THE RING FINGER.
Suspense/Foreign (French).
Olga Kurylenko.
Directed by Diane Bertrand.
* Art-house mystery about a young woman who loses the tip of her finger in an accident at the factory she works at and embarks on an affair with her boss.

SHE LIKES GIRLS 4.
Shorts/LGBT.
* The fourth installment in this popular series of shorts about women and the women who love them.

SHERMAN’S WAY.
Comedy.
James LeGros/Michael Shulman.
Directed by Craig Saavedra.
* This buddies on the road movie is about a preppy Yale law student and a washed up Olympic bum ( I use that term lovingly) who find themselves in the California wine country, on the road and trying to get from here to there.

THE UNKNOWN WOMAN.
Drama/Mystery/Thriller/Foreign (Italian???)
Kseniya Rappoport.
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.
* From the maker of CINEMA PARADISO, and the winner of many European film awards between 2007 and the present, comes this thriller about a Ukrainian woman trying to unlock the secrets of an affluent Italian family who she is forcing herself on as their maid and nanny to their ill daughter.

WATCHMEN.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Comic Book/Action/Drama/Thriller/Sci-Fi.
Billy Crudup/Jackie Earle Haley/Malin Akerman/Carla Gugino/Patrick Wilson.
Directed by Zack Snyder.
* Adapted from Alan Moore’s very in-depth graphic novel about a group of isolated and masked avengers who’ve been forcibly retired and are now living solitary lives and working as sort of real-life Hell’s.Angels. When one of them is killed, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) investigates, which triggers a reawakening of the Watchmen. The story is quite long, as Snyder tries to touch on everything from the novel. The critics say that your enjoyment of this film is directly related to your knowledge of the book. The less your knowledge, the greater your enjoyment.

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

CHILDREN OF GOD.
Documentary/Foreign (Nepali).
Directed by Yi Seung-jun.
* From the IMDB: A documentary which follows a group of siblings who eke out their existence from the offerings and other goods found in the sacred Bagmati River.

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

DUE SOUTH (COLLECTOR’S EDITION 11 DISC SET).
Television/Comedy.
* From Amazon: Due South is a lightning-paced action / comedy in which a quintessential, polite, by-the-book Canadian Mountie from the frozen North is teamed up with a wise-cracking Armani-clad Chicago cop with a flexible sense of morality. Brought together in the Windy City by a mysterious murder which has personal ramifications for both men, these unlikely buddies must find a common ground amidst overwhelming differences..

THE MIGHTY BOOSH: SEASON ONE.
Television/Comedy/BBC.
Julian Barratt/Noel Fielding/Michael Fielding.
* This cult comedy smash hit from across the ocean has been anticipated here for years! It is a somewhat science fiction tale following the adventures of Vince Noir (a genius/novelist/poet/wrestler/boxer/jazz musician), a zookeeper working in a very run down zoo where occasionally he must sit in the cages and be one of the animals. The show is full of hallucinogenic insane scenarios, bizarre characters and frenetic energy.

THE MIGHTY BOOSH: SEASON TWO.
Television/Comedy/BBC.
Julian Barratt/Noel Fielding/Michael Fielding.
* Season two of the above mentioned series.

MONK: SEASON SEVEN.
Television/Comedy/Drama.
Tony Shalhoub.
* Another season of the SF Based obsessive-compulsive detective series.

PRISON BREAK: THE FINAL BREAK.
Television/Action/Crime.
Wentworth Miller/Sarah Wayne Callies/Dominic Purcell.
* Prepare yourself for the truth! Or at least so says the tagline. Is this the series finale? I am not sure.

PUSHING DAISIES: SEASON TWO.
Television/Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-Fi.
Lee Pace.
* Season two of the Emmy-Award winning series about Ned, a pie maker with the ability to bring the dead back to life, at least for a minute – if they stay alive longer, someone else must die.

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

THE BAD SEED.
* Our first DVD copy of the 1956 classic that was nominated for 4 Oscars about a young girl whose mother suspects may be a heartless killer.

............//REPLACEMENT DVD’S/............

ALADDIN (DISNEY SPECIAL PLATINUM EDITION).

APOCALYPSE NOW.

GHOSTBUSTERS.

GHOSTBUSTERS 2.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.
* A couple more copies, sorry for any of you who are trying to watch these before the new one! We have a lot of copies of them all, and now two new ones of number 4.

SLACKER (CRITERION).
* I remember having a conversation with my friend about the nature of existence, and then following him to the record store where we engaged in a debate about vinyl versus compact disc after smoking some pot we climbed an avocado tree and stared at the clouds while I convinced him to quit college, then we saw SLACKER and afterwards found ourselves discussing whether or not JFK was killed by the CIA or the mafia, then I considered going to work decided against it, ate an apple, wandered to my friends house, stared at the ceiling…

SEX AND THE CITY: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.

THEY ALL LAUGHED.
* And then, they cried.

****

****new release list no.227

This is the second of what I am loosely hoping will be a monthly look into films (and television) good for entire families to watch together.

Parents looking for good things to watch with their kiddos need only turn back the clock for some epic programming from their youths. Shows like ELECTRIC COMPANY and THE MUPPET SHOW feature brilliant actors and musicians, hysterical physical comedy and totally watchable shtick. They stand the test of time, and in fact make a lot of kids programming today look pretty shoddy by comparison.

Continuing though the Miyazaki catalogue, I highly recommend KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE. Kiki, a young witch, must leave her happy and quite suburban seeming home to live for a year on her own in what must currently be a witchless city as a rite of passage, sort of a year-long Bat Mitzvah or some such something. She is young, maybe twelve or thirteen, and though brave and strong, also scared and lonely. She is full of bravado, and approaches her life and her role very professionally, while still being a cute kid. She is lucky to have her sarcastic and comedic cat with her, who helps her feel less alone. Somewhat randomly, Kiki forms a delivery service and thus finds her place in the town. She has adventures, meets a nice young boy who has a crush on her, meets a hippy artist living in the woods, loses her powers, regains her powers and has a lot of other adventures. KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, like many of Miyazaki’s films, is filled with heart, excitement and so much life. It is a great movie, and if you or your kids haven’t watched it, you should right away.

ENCHANTED is excellent, as it slips from animation to live action and occasionally dips back It is the story of Giselle, acted by the truly excellent Amy Adams. Giselle is in love with life and all the little critters in it, and is an animated princess looking for a prince. Just when she finds one, his evil step-mother unceremoniously dumps Giselle out of cartoon-land and into the nastiest place she can think of, New York City. There, a number of adventures are had, as Giselle meets friendly people in NY and is pursued by the Prince and other creatures from cartoon-land. It is full of music, and humor, and the discerning viewer will be impressed with Adams’ portrayal of a cartoon character as a real person.

Do you have great ideas for movies a whole family can enjoy? Please email them to me so that I can share them with the Four Star community.

We have tons of stuff this week. Again, no blockbusters, but many many interesting documentary’s (FOR ALL MANKIND, WELCOME TO MACINTOSH, UNWINKING GAZE, LIPSTICK & DYNAMITE: THE FIRST LADIES OF WRESTING, WILD PACIFIC, DEPECHE MODE) lots of television (MAD MEN: SEASON 2, ARAB LABOR, WIRE IN THE BLOOD: SIXTH SEASON, and more), a brazillion new additions (SWINGERS, THE HISTORY OF O, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, CAPE FEAR, THE WIZ, MICHAEL JACKSON – VIDEO GREATEST HITS), some older newly released films (BYE-BYE MONKEY, DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN, MENAGE), horror (THE HAUNTING OF CONNECTICUT, REC), indie (DAKOTA SKYE), an Oscar nominated foreign film (12), some films for the kids and a bunch of replacement DVD’s.

To read more about the films, including snarky comments by moi, scroll down.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
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 – Three 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
******************************************************************************

Links we are super hip on this week:
The finest Michael Jackson tribute ever. It is an eternal moonwalk, using video footage sent in from fans all over the world.
Beyond Asiaphilia. Local filmmaker Valerie Soe's excellent blog focusing on Asian/American arts, culture and other related topics.
Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival.
Pal’s Takeaway – Yummy yummy.

Do you have a link Four Star Customers should check out??? Email it to me.

............//NEW RELEASES//............

BYE-BYE MONKEY.
Comedy/Drama/Sci-Fi.
Gerard Depardieu/Marcello Mastoianni.
Directed by Marco Ferreri.
* This 1978 film just being re-released on DVD is a total bizarre-fest. It features the corpse of King Kong, a strange wax museum and other strangeness. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes Film Festival and is lauded for its wild imagery. It is one of two older films by Ferreri being released this week.

DAKOTA SKYE.
Drama.
Eileen April Boylan/Ian Nelson.
Directed by John Humber.
* Dakota is cursed with the super power of being able to tell when anyone is lying to her. In this little coming-of-age indie film, her increasingly disillusioned world is turned upside down by the arrival in town of a stranger (Nelson) who always seems to tell the truth.

DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN.
Comedy/Drama/Western/Foreign (French).
Catherine Deneuve/Marcelo Mastroianni.
Directed by Marco Ferreri.
* Ferreri’s surreal take on General Custer’s last stand was released in 1974 to moderate acclaim. Mastroianni stars as Custer and Deneuve is the object of his affection (and nearly everyone else at the time).

THE EDGE OF LOVE.
Drama/Romance/Fictobiopic.
Matthew Rhys/Keira Knightley/Sienna Miller/Cillian Murphy.
Directed by John Maybury.
* This film tells a loosely accurate story about the poet Dylan Thomas as seen through the eyes of two women he loves. Knightley plays an old girlfriend of Thomas’ who still holds a flame for him, while Miller plays his current wife.

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT.
Horror.
Virginia Madsen/Kyle Gallner.
Directed by Peter Cornwell.
* It says based on true events…not sure if it has anything to do with the guitar player in my band. He’s a Red Sox fan, so I figure SOMETHING happened to him. Not sure if it was ghost related, certainly horrific in some way. Anyway.

I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN.
Comedy/Romance.
Michelle Pfeiffer/Paul Rudd/Fred Willard/Jon Lovitz/Tracey Ullman.
Directed by Amy Heckerling.
* From the director of FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, CLUELESS and JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY comes this romantic comedy about a mother and a daughter both falling in love; the mother with a much younger man, and the daughter for the very first time.

MENAGE.
Comedy/Crime/Drama/Foreign (French).
Gerard Depardieu/Michel Blanc/Miou-Miou.
Directed by Bertrand Blier.
* This older film (1987) just hitting DVD for the first time is about Bob (Depardieu) a petty thief who seduces a couple and turns them into (ahem) a well-oiled thieving machine.

REC.
Horror/Suspense/Foreign (Spanish).
Manuela Velasco/Ferran Terraza/Pablo Rosso.
Directed by Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero.
* This is the film that QUARANTINE was based on about a newswoman and her cameraman who begin by filming a strange house where screams are being heard and ends with the extreme involvement in the action of the journallists.

12.
Crime/Drama/Thriller/Foreign (Russian/Chechen).
Sergei Makovetsky/Sergey Garmash.
Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov.
* Nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2008 (won by THE COUNTERFEITERS), this film is a loose remake of 12 ANGRY MEN about a Chechen teenager in a school in Russia who has allegedly killed his step-father and about the twelve jurors who must decide his fate. This film was received very well around the world and won other film awards besides its Oscar nomination.

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

DEPECHE MODE: MINISTRY OF SOUND.
Music.
Depeche Mode.
* Rare footage, interviews, photos etc of the excellent electronic band that has been making music since the 1980’s (a long, long time ago).

FOR ALL MANKIND****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Criterion/Documentary.
Many many astronauts.
Directed by Al Reinert.
* Commemorating the 40th anniversary of my birth – oops, I mean the moon landing in 1969, this doc features mind-boggling footage, interviews and mission control recordings with many of the astronauts involved with the Apollo Missions and a sound-track by Brian Eno. It is lush and dreamy and will help even the most jaded mind relax into the wondrous exploration of outer space.

LIPSTICK & DYNAMITE: THE FIRST LADIES OF WRESTLING
Documentary/Sports.
The Moolah/The Great Mae Young.
Directed by Ruth Leitman.
* Very fascinating and highly rated doc about professional female wresting in the 1940’s and 50’s and the super tough women who put it all on the line in their matches.

THIN.
Documentary.
Directed by Lauren Greenfield.
* This doc focuses on the very scary and dangerous reality of eating disorders and the specific illnesses of bulimia and anorexia that many people suffer from.

UNWINKING GAZE.
Documentary.
Dalai Lama.
Directed by Joshua Dugdale.
* This documentary is a behind the scenes look into the life of Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. When you watch this, you may learn what a High Lama is, which I thought was just what you called a Llama after someone blew pot smoke in its face.

WELCOME TO MACINTOSH.
Documentary.
Mac /I-Pod/Cube/I-Chunk.
Directed by Robert Baca and Josh Rizzo.
* A look at the history of the Apple company and the innovative people who have helped turn technology on its head throughout the entire tech era.

WILD PACIFIC.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Documentary/Nature/BBC.
The Pacific Ocean and its Inhabitants.
* Another brilliant look into our planet from the people who brought us the PLANET EARTH series. This examines the gigantic Pacific Ocean and all the amazing creatures in it.

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

ARAB LABOR: 1st SEASON.
Television/Comedy/Foreign (Hebrew).
Directed by Ron Ninio.
* Totally irreverent Israeli comedy about Amjad, a journalist in Israel. Amjad is an Israeli citizen, working for a Jerusalem based newspaper, and dealing with all the humiliations that Palestinians deal with living in Israel. On the one hand he “passes” at work and with his Jewish friends, and on the other hand he is filled with angst, anger and frustration at his situation. This show is a huge hit in Israel and the SF Chronicle called Amjad “The Palestinian Seinfeld”.

LEVERAGE: SEASON ONE.
Television/Drama.
Timothy Hutton/Christian Kane.
* This new show is about a group of techies who attempt to use their skills to steal from the wealthy and corrupt.

MAD MEN: SEASON TWO.
Television/Drama.
Jon Hamm/January Jones/John Slattery/Christina Hendricks
* Don Draper is a Madison man, working at one of the more prestigious ad agency in NY in the 1960’s. Smoky, grey, and mysterious, this show was a surprise hit in its first season. As Don would say, "What do you want me to say?"

PEYTON PLACE: PART 2.
Television/Drama.
Mia Farrow/Ryan O’Neal.
* Thirty-three more episodes! .

THE STATE: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Comedy.
Thomas Lennon/David Wain/Robert Ben Garant.
* Early 90’s sketch comedy featuring many young comedians that have had success since then. Some say the funniest show on tv back in 1993.

WIRE IN THE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE 6th SEASON.
Television/Crime/Drama/Thriller/Mystery.
Robson Green.
* Dark yet witty series about Dr. Tony Hill, a psychological profiler working on gnarly murder cases.

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

BABY BOOST NURSERY RHYMES.

BABY BOOST SING-A-LONG.

WITCHES IN STITCHES.

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

CAPE FEAR.
* Our first DVD copy of the Scorsese remake of the thriller starring Nick Nolte, Roberto De Niro, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis and featuring cameos by Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, the stars of the 1961 original.

MICHAEL JACKSON – VIDEO GREATEST HITS .
* You knew we weren’t gonna miss this opportunity. This is the first of a batch of MJ films that will be here soon.

THE STORY OF O.
* We’ve got the VHS; we’ve got the Blu-Ray; now we have it on DVD, too. This is a tweaky sex drama about O, a beautiful woman who is forcibly trained in the arts of bondage and sexual perversity.

SWINGERS.
* Our first DVD of the Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn comedy about two wannabe’s in LA living a nightmare version of the dream. Written by Favreau.

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.
* Best. Billy Crystal. Movie. Ever.

THE WIZ (30th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE).
* Directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor and more, this take on the Wizard of Oz is a must-see for anyone struggling to understand Michael’s cultural significance in the wake of his death. I still remember going to see this film with my dad and my sisters and dancing and singing our way out of the theatre.

............//REPLACEMENT DVD’S/............

BACK TO THE FUTURE.

FUTURAMA: VOLUME 2.

HELEN OF TROY.

MARS ATTACKS!
* Tim Burton goes to town in outer space.

POINT BREAK (PURE ADRENALINE EDITION).

STARDUST MEMORIES.
* My favorite Woody Allen film.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS.
* Not wooden, not brick.

****

****new release list no.226

There is a new film night happening in Bernal Heights, thanks to the hard work and excitement of Sabrina Davidson, the Community Development Organizer at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center. Entitled BERNAL HEIGHTS FILM NIGHTS, the series will begin this Friday night, July 10th at 7pm at the neighborhood center 515 Cortland Ave. The screenings will be free, and the first night, two movies by Xuan Vu will be shown. DREAMCORP is a short fantasy film about someone auditioning for an acting job at the fictional DreamCorp, a company that makes night-time dreams, daydreams, etc. BEHIND STAGE CURTAINS is a “musical narrative documentary” about a group of first through third graders in Massachusets preparing for a big musical stage production. Come support this fun and free night of film in Bernal Heights!

PUSH is a new Sci-fi film out this week. It follows the complicated story of some very powerful young members of a secret organization as they try to avoid the evil government. Also in the somewhat Sci-Fi region is THE UNBORN about a young woman fighting off a ghost. In KNOWING, Nicolas Cage struggles to unwrap “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” (Winston Churchhill). Can he figure out the secret in time to save himself and the world?

A few more of our Highlighted New Additions have arrived! Another Bollywood film (JODHA AKBAR) as well as a trio of Hong Kong films (ELECTION, BEAST STALKER, BREAKING NEWS). Scroll down to read about them as written by Valerie Soe, a local film educator whose blog BEYOND ASIAPHILIA we have been linking this last month. Thanks for all your help, Valerie!

By the way, I watched MY DINNER WITH ANDRE the other night. What an amazing film. If you haven’t checked it out, you should. Besides being a fascinating voyeuristic glimpse into some people’s lives, it is hysterically funny and also rather poignant. What is ostensibly a story of two men in different periods of their lives, and in different states of comfort with themselves, having dinner and awkwardly discussing reality, is also a debate on the nature of society, and our reactions to the roles of media and economics in our lives.

Thanks everyone who has checked out SUCCULENCE. For anyone reading this for the first time, we now have a desert plant store in the back of Four Star Video filled with all manners of succulent plants and planters of all shapes and sizes. Please take a walk back there and check it out. Succulents make wonderful plant friends. They take very little and give so much!

A quick note of interest about Four Star Video: like so many small businesses, we have been affected by the economic downturn. Starting last September, things got somewhat dire for a while. However, things have been much better each month since around April, when we revamped our KenFlix pricing. This last month, I noticed something very interesting. Compared to the same month last year, we were down about 5% financially, but we actually rented more movies! Another aspect of this is that we charged nearly 23% less late fees, accounting for about half of our reduction in income. My guess is that this is all related to KenFlix. I think most people who sign up for this program get more adventurous than ever with their movie watching. They dig deeper into sections than they have in the past. We think this is just awesome! Obviously, we do not want to have a reduction in income (who does?), but we love happy customers, and we find our KenFlix customers to be amongst the happiest. Do you have a lot of late fees? Perhaps you should find out more…

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
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 – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
1SUB - One Movie at a time – Unlimited exchange – $18.99 + Tax/Month
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Links we are super hip on this week:
Beyond Asiaphilia - Local filmmaker Valerie Soe's excellent blog focusing on Asian/American arts, culture and other related topics.
Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival.
Pal’s Takeaway – Yummy yummy.

Do you have a link Four Star Customers should check out??? Email it to me.

............//NEW RELEASES//............

COCO CHANEL.
Drama/Romance/Fictobiopic.
Barbora Bobulova/Brigitte Boucher/Shirley MacLaine/Malcolm McDowell.
Directed by Christian Duguay.
* Fashion designer Coco Chanel is the subject of this tale. McLaine plays her in the latter portion of her life.

FIVE FINGERS.
Suspense.
Ryan Phillippe/Laurence Fishbourne/Said Taghmaoui.
Directed by Laurence Malkin.
* An enterprising Dutch foundation worker (Phillippe) is kidnapped by terrorists while in Morocco. He is then tortured into giving information to the terrorists. This classic suspense store kept the message boards kids very active. What actually happened? Would they really do that?

KNOWING.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Suspense/Mystery.
Nicolas Cage/Rose Byrne.
Directed by Alex Proyas.
* A professor (Cage) discovers that a little girl’s scribbled notes from 1958 have predicted every major disaster in the fifty years since. While transcribing the notes, he sees that there are more disasters predicted. Can he avoid them? Can he possibly avert

LE JUPON ROUGE.
Drama//Romance/LGBT/Foreign (French).
Alida Valli/Marie-Christine Barrault/Giullemette Grobon.
Directed by Genevieve Lefebvre.
* Lesbian love triangle about a holocaust survivor and two younger women she loves. Starring the wonderful Marie-Christine Barrault who was awesome in my favorite Woody Allen film STARDUST MEMORIES.

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE.
Western.
Kirk Douglas/Gena Rowlands/Walter Matthau/Michael Kane.
Directed by David Miller.
* 1962 film being released as part of the Universal backlot, this western is about a Jack Burns (Douglas) who gets arrested to help his friend (who is currently incarcerated) break out. When his friend expresses the desire to remain in jail, Burns is on his own in the break-out and heavily pursued by the Sheriff (Matthau).

NIGHT TRAIN.
Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriller.
Leelee Sobieski/Danny Glover/Steve Zahn.
Directed by Brian King.
* Sounds kind of like a variation of the amazing SHALLOW GRAVE. When a passenger on a train is found dead with serious valuables on him, a few passengers and a conductor decide to dump the body and keep the loot. Then they decide they should chop him up a bit, to make him harder to identify. Now, I’m just a video store owner, but I think when you are hanging with people and the decision is made to chop someone up (dead or not) you are probably heading down a path that will lead to problems. Challenging problems. Just saying.

PUSH.
Action/Sci-Fi.
Chris Evans/Camille Belle/Dakota Fanning.
Directed by Paul McGuigan.
* Madcap sci-fi flick about Watchers, Wipers, Bleeders, Stitches and Pushers; people with special telekinetic powers that are a part of a special secret government army.

UNBORN.
Horror/Thriller.
Odest Yustman/Gary Oldman/Meagan Good/Jane Alexander.
Directed by David S. Goyer.
* According to Wikipedia “In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person”. This film is about a girl dealing with one of these…

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

RESOLVED
Documentary.
Samuel Alioto/Louis Blackwell.
Directed by Greg Whiteley.
* Rich examination of the high school debate team concept and a thorough look at the racial issues involved.

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

DR. WHO: ATTACH OF THE CYBERMEN.
BBC/Sci-Fi.
Colin Baker.
* The subtitle of this release is “The Colin Baker Years: 1984-1986.

DR. WHO: RESCUE/ROMANS.
* More older Dr. Who.

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000: XV.
Television/Sci-Fi/Comedy.
* Have you seen this? In this show, a movie plays and sitting in the front at the bottom of your screen, as if in a movie theatre, a small group gives running commentary of the movie. It is funny, weird, at times insightful, and quite entertaining. This set includes the films THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY, THE GIRL IN LOVERS LANE, ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE and RACKET GIRLS.

RENO 911: COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON.
Television/Comedy.
* It’s COPS on crack.

THE THIRD WATCH: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON.
Television/Drama.
Coby Bell/Jason Wiles.
* Season two of the show about a group of paramedics, firefighters and police that work the 3-11pm shift.

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

ALL REVIEW BLURBS WRITTEN BY GUEST REVIEWER, VALERIE S – THANKS VALERIE! ****EXCEPT DEV D

BEAST STALKER.
Action/Thriller/Foreign (Cantonese).
Nicolas Tse/Nick Cheung.
Directed by Dante Lam.
* Former teen heartthrob Nicolas Tse is a tough cop haunted by the death of a child hostage he accidentally kills in a chaotic shootout/car crash involving malevolent gangsters, innocent bystanders and much shattered glass. Nick Cheung plays a kidnapper-for-hire in charge of snatching the dead girl’s twin sister whose lawyer mother is involved in prosecuting the crime. Their meshing stories play out in a dizzying spiral of guilt, honor, fate and obligation. This gritty thriller demonstrates that Hong Kong can still turn out unmatched hard-ass crime dramas.

BREAKING NEWS.
Action/Crime/Thriller/Foreign (Cantonese/Mandarin/English).
Nick Cheung/Kelly Chen/Richie Ren.
Directed by Johnnie To.
* Johnnie To’s sleek, rapid-fire cops and robbers movie movie starts out with a bravura eight-minute single-take crane shot of a heist gone horribly awry, then shifts seamlessly between a crime thriller, a buddy movie and a satire of the manipulation of mass media by cops and criminals alike..

ELECTION (HONG KONG).
Action/Crime/Thriller/Foreign (Cantonese/Mandarin/English).
Tony Leung/K-Fai/Simon Yam/Nick Cheung.
Directed by Johnnie To.
* Dark, dark film about gangstas in Hong Kong. Expect no glamour or heroism here--brotherhood and honor don't mean much to the /hing dai/ in this film. Nick Cheung plays a crazy triad who, among other things, eats a porcelain spoon on the order of his /dai lo/. Simon Yam stars as a seemingly reasonable triad boss, with Tony Leung (Big Tony) Ka-Fai as his OTT counterpart. Directed by Hong Kong crime film maestro Johnnie To (/Exiled; The Mission; Breaking News/)..

JODHA AKBAR.
Drama/Romance/Bollywood (Hindi and English and Punjabi).
Hrithik Roshan/Aishwarya Rai.
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.
* Dreamy hunk Hrithik Roshan and “the most beautiful woman in the world,” Aishwarya Rai, play Akbar the Great, a Muslim, and his Hindu wife, Jodhaa, in this lavish historical spectacle. 2009 Filmfare Awards Best Film of the Year.

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

PEANUTS: 1960’S COLLECTION.
* Awesome two disc set including all the classics such as A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN’S ALL-STARS (you should hear my son laugh at this one), YOU’RE IN LOVE CHARLIE BROWN, HE’S YOUR DOG CHARLIE BROWN, IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN and more. Very wonderful.

THE PRODIGY.

****