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
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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.
****
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