****new release list no.283

Guess what, it is the 7th ANNUAL BERNAL HEIGHTS OUTDOOR CINEMAL Festival this week! Three cheers to Leslie and Anne for continuing to provide Bernal Heights with one of the coolest film festivals in the city.

This year’s festival should be terrific as usual. Opening night is this Thursday at Kingmond Young Photography (416 Cortland). Kingmond and Mary have an amazing space, perfect for community events like this one. The program will start at 6:30 with a party and acoustic jazz and swing in the vein of Django Rheinhardt. Then there will be an hour long film program (7:30-8:30) which will include shorts by local surrealist poetic filmmaker Adrian Arias (ELEMENTOS) and my old next-door neighbor Tomas Wischerath (CAPOEIRA CLARION) Country music and blue-grass (both kinds of music!) will follow. This should be a super fun kick-off for the festival, please come and join.

On Friday, a new twist to the festival will be a Film Crawl. The party will begin at 6:30pm at Inclusions Gallery, where there will be music and treats. Then, five different locations (including ours) will be hosting mostly multiple programs at 7:30 and 8:30pm. You are encouraged to wander around your neighborhood and experience film everywhere that evening. The four locations? Four Star Video/Succulence, Inclusions Gallery, the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, Bernal Yoga and the Bernal Library. You can read all about the programs here.

On Saturday evening, the festival moves to one of its most iconic spots, on Folsom street at the top of Bernal Hill. Tucked down against the hill, with the city spread out in all its splendor, if you haven’t watched a movie up here, you really should check it out. Bundle up, bring blankets, and head up the hill! From 6:30-9:30 there will be movies, hot beverages and more. Again, here is the link to read about the movies.

On Sunday night, the festival will have its finale (although there is another event planned in October) at Precita Park again from 6:30-9:30. London Street will play music for the first hour or so, then there will be two programs featuring lots of great films, including works by Tiffany Graham and Jamie Meltzer.

This festival is one of the things that makes our neighborhood so wonderful. It is a no-profit, community event put on by the sheer will power and strength of your neighbors strictly for the enjoyment of the human population of planet earth. Yes, occasionally it is chilly at these events, but that is all the more reason to curl up with some friends or loved ones and watch a movie outside. I hope to see you at one of these events.

Slightly conflicting with this schedule, but actually much later on Saturday night, my band, The Dont’s, is playing a Deli SF Presents show at The Rickshaw Stop. There will be four bands, and we go on third, probably around 11ish. For us, this show will be the beginning of our week long NW tour, where we will be playing in Eugene, Seattle, Bremerton, Moscow (Idaho, on my 41st birthday!), and Klamath Falls. Should be pretty fun for some old men in a van rocking out together!

Alrighty then, see you down at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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

DREAM BOY.
Drama/LGBT.
Stephan Bender/Randy Wayne.
Directed by James Bolton.
* Well-acted film about two gay teenagers growing up in the south in the 1970’s.

HARRY BROWN.
Drama/Suspense/Crime/Thriller.
Michael Caine/Emily Mortimer.
Directed by Daniel Barber.
* Michael Caine turns in another dominant performance as a retired civil worker whose best friend is brutally murdered. When he sees that justice will not be taking care of the situation, he decides to take care of it himself, vigilante-style.

MARMADUKE.
Family.
Owen Wilson/George Lopez.

MACHINE GUN MCCAIN.
Action.
John Cassavetes/Britt Ekland.
Directed by Guiliano Montaldo.
* This 1970 film finds Hank McCain (no confirmation that he is related to John) at odds with the mafia boss who forbids him to rob a casino. McCain will do what he wants (like his brother John) and not even the threat of death can make him change his mind.

OSS 117: LOST IN RIO.
Comedy/Adventure/Spy/Foreign (French).
Jean Dujardin.
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius.
* OSS 117, the best spy in the biz, is back in this entertaining and period-perfect spy comedy in which he is tracking a Nazi through Brazil. This is the second of these films, and they are very well done.

RED RIDING TRILOGY.****BD****
Drama/Suspense.
Directed by Julian Jarrold and Anand Tucker and James Marsh.
* From the IFC film company: Sure to be one of the cinematic events of the year, RED RIDING is a mesmerizing neo-noir epic based on factual events and adapted for the screen by Tony Grisoni (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS) from David Peace's electrifying series of novels. An official selection of the Telluride, New York, Chicago and AFI Festivals, and acclaimed by critics an eminent accomplishment, the trilogy follows several characters in intertwining storylines united by the horror wrought by the "Yorkshire Ripper," a serial killer who terrorized northwest England in the 1970s and '80s.

The three films are directed by three notable filmmakers--Julian Jarrold (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED), Academy-Award(R)-winner James Marsh (MAN ON WIRE) and Anand Tucker (SHOPGIRL). Each boasts a stellar British cast that includes Andrew Garfield (THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS), Sean Bean (LORD OF THE RINGS), Paddy Considine (DEAD MAN'S SHOES), Rebecca Hall (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), and Peter Mullan (TRAINSPOTTING).

WAITING ROOM.
Drama/Romance.
Anne-Marie Duff.
Directed by Roger Goldby.
* Two strangers have a chance meeting that changes there concepts of themselves.

WHY DID I GET MARRIED, TOO.
Comedy.
Tyler Perry/Janet Jackson/Jill Scott.
Directed by Tyler Perry.
* Four couples on vacation spend time analyzing their marriages…don’t analyze too much, though. Especially not if you are happy.

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

FOR MY WIFE.
Drama.
Directed by David Rothmiller.
* Intense doc about a woman, Charlene Strong, who was denied access to her wife in a Seattle hospital as she was dying and who, subsequently, became an activist for equal-rights for same-sex couples. This film shows how sometimes our lives take paths we can’t expect, or escape.

LEGENDS OF THE CANYON: CLASSIC ARTISTS.
Documentary/Musical Performance.
* Lots of epic musical performances from 60’s and 70’s era bands.

WATER WARS.
Documentary.
Narrated by Martin Sheen.
Directed by Jim Burroughs.
* From the imdb: This timely documentary uncovers critical water issues facing humanity. It takes the viewer from the floods and droughts in Bangladesh, to dam building in India, water management in the Netherlands and the latest wake-up call in America: the Katrina disaster and the drought in the Southwest. Future wars will be fought over access to fresh water, unless we come together to face this global crisis. Without water there is no life.

WHO KILLED NANCY?
Documentary/Music/Mystery.
Directed by Alan G. Parker.
* Do you know much about Sid and Nancy? He was the drug addict bass player of The Sex Pistols and she was his American tramp girlfriend. In 1978, at the height of the Pistols fame, Nancy was found stabbed to death. Although public opinion seemed clear that Sid was to blame, his overdose on heroin less than six months later kept the mystery unsolved. Sid’s mom never believed that he could have done it, and at her request, Parker began re-interviewing everyone involved in the case. Sid’s mom died herself of suicide in 1996. Finally now, Parker has finished his personal investigation into this murder and presents his results.

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

HOUSE: SEASON SIX.
Television/Dramady.
Hugh Laurie.
* Puzzling, borderline (and sometimes not so borderline) super natural cases are no problem for Dr. House, a superfreak himself who specializes in the truly bizarre.

MARPLE: SERIES FIVE.
Television/BBC/Suspense/Mystery.
* Agatha Christie’s character continues to gain new life, and track down those who would take lives in this next season of mysteries.

SONS OF ANARCHY: SEASON TWO.
TV/Drama.
Charlie Hunnam/Ron Perlman.
* Season two in this popular new series from FX about a young dad who also happens to be in a motorcycle gang.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.
Blood-suckers/Drama/Fantasy/Etc.
Paul Wesley/Ian Somerhalder/Nina Dobrev.
* To be sung: Torn between two vampires, branded: a fool. What will they say? Monday at school.

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

ANGELINA BALLERINA: LOVE TO DANCE.

GO DIEGO GO: DIEGO’S ULTIMATE RESCUE TEAM.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: BERRYWOOD HERE WE COME.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: THE GLIMMERBERRY BALL MOVIE.

............//NEW ON BLUE/............

THE EVIL DEAD.
* Classic Sam Raimi movie, that guy is so versatile…did you know he wrote THE HUDSUCKER PROXY? Yup, it’s true.

****

****new release list no.282

From misery to bliss, from darkness to light, from cold and dreary to hot and delicious…Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

Is the weather manic-depressive or what? I came to work so incorrectly dressed today, heavy jeans, two shirts. I went outside a few minutes ago and nearly melted into the concrete. It is HOT out. I am trying to turn on a dime, but wasn’t it just a few hours ago that I was lamenting the brutality of the weather? I can hear my voice telling someone on Saturday that we would not be having any “warm” September or October this year, that instead we would just ride this overcast wetness directly into the rainy season.

How wrong I can be. Spectacularly, it turns out.

Splendid.

The most truly exciting films here this week are a collection of silent films from Josef von Sternberg from 1927 and 1928 released by Criterion, and a small batch of Iranian and Iraqi films that look tense and full of life. There is also some arty documentaries, as well as a bunch of indie films, and a collection of bigger Hollywood tales as well. The biggest is probably CITY ISLAND, starring Andy Garcia, about a dysfunctional New York family living together in nearly complete oblivion. Which reminds me of some film recommendations I have this week.

I came in on Wednesday, and stood at the Independent section for a while. I finally picked one shelf, and pulled three movies from it, and watched them Wed, Thurs and Friday nights. All three were amazing! First we have 1994’s LIVING IN OBLIVION. Starring a super young Catherine Keener and Steve Buscemi, this is the tale of independent film-making. It is super clever, creative, funny, sad and twisted! I am so thankful I never saw this before I made my feature film, because I would have realized that we (the cast and crew) weren’t unique at all, we were just complete and actual stereotypes, living out our stereotypical roles that were pre-written and pre-established. Wow, they really nailed the characters dead on when they made this film. The next two I watched were both from 2007 and both pretty popular that year. The first is LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. This was mismarketed as a comedy, which challenged some people the first time around. It is not a comedy, though it is pretty funny here and there. It is the story of a delusional young man (Ryan Gosling) who introduces his family and small town neighbors to his new girlfriend, a blow up doll he has purchased on the internet. Beautiful and sensitive, the film follows him and his new love as he navigates the trials and tribulations of a relationship very publicly with a piece of anatomically correct plastic. Don’t kid yourself, she does talk back! Gosling has real star presence, and I don’t know if he had his own health issues, but he didn’t make any other films for the last three years, but now he has some stuff coming out. I am looking forward to seeing his work. The last film was MAN PUSH CART, the brilliant debut from Ramin Bahrami (CHOP SHOP, GOODBYE SOLO), a young director who is making very unique American movies about people from other parts of the world struggling to find their place here. Although MAN PUSH CART takes place in New York City, it really feels like a desert film, with the sound and emotional landscape feeling empty and cold. The main character is a former Pakistani rock star who is now working a coffee cart in the big city and missing his wife who died just a short while ago. Alternately hopeful and painful, the film feels very true, and honest, and does very little to try to force the viewer into feelings. If you haven’t seen these movies, I highly recommend them, they were all terrific! Scroll down for info about this week’s releases.

Alrighty then, see you down at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

Ps Hey by the way, the Bernal Business Alliance has just put out our annual member directory. You can pick them up in many businesses around the neighborhood. They are filled with great info, ranging from businesses contact info and hours to home-based businesses like electricians, and contractor’s info. When we need to spend money let’s put it in our neighbor’s pockets, alright? We’re all in this together, yo.

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

ABANDONED.
Suspense.
Brittany Murphy.
Directed by Michael Feifer.
* Sadly, this will be Brittany Murphy’s last film, as she died suddenly last year at the young age of 32. In this film, she plays Mary, whose boyfriend is having a routine surgery. However, when she comes to pick him up, he is gone, there is no trace of him, and the hospital staff suggests she is crazy…

AJAMI.
Drama/Crime/Foreign (Arabic/Hebrew).
Directed by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani.
* Ajami is a section of Tel Aviv in Israel where many ethnicities attempt to live together. Jews, Christians and Muslims struggle to maintain their dignity and their normalcy as they go about their lives. This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film this year.

THE BACK-UP PLAN.
Comedy/Romance.
Jennifer Lopez/Alex O’Loughlin.
Directed by Alan Poul.
* This goofy comedy is actually not an unfamiliar story here in the Bay. A woman, after not finding her perfect partner with years of dating under her belt (not a pun), decides to become a single parent by choice and gets impregnated using artificially insemination. Of course, that decision coincides with her suddenly meeting the man of her dreams.

CITY ISLAND. ****BD****
Comedy.
Andy Garcia/Julianna Margulies/Emily Mortimer/Alan Arkin.
Directed by Raymond De Felitta.
* I heard this film was extra funny, so I bought a few more copies of it than I usually would have. It is the story of a family living on City Island in the Bronx. A family who never tells each other anything, and so they really don’t know each other at all. Secret fetishes, secret jobs, secret classes…no one knows what they others are doing at all. .

THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK.
Criterion/Drama.
George Bancroft/Betty Compson.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg.
* This 1928 silent, black&white film is about a shipworker who gets into trouble during a shore leave when he falls in love with a dance-hall girl. Shot by Harold Rosson (THE WIZARD OF OZ) and designed by Hans Dreier (SUNSET BOULEVARD), this film helped cement many people’s Hollywood careers.

$5 A DAY.
Comedy.
Christopher Walken/Sharen Stone/Alessandro Nivola/Amanda Peet/Peter Coyote.
Directed by Nigel Cole.
* This indie road movie is about a conman and his conservative son who is trying to be legit and barely wants anything to do with his dad.

GALAXY OF TERROR.
Sci-Fi/Cult.
Directed by Bruce D. Clark.

THE LAST COMMAND.
Criterion/Drama.
Emil Jannings.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg.
* This 1928 silent, black&white film won the Best Actor award for Emil Jannings’ performance as an exiled Russian general who goes from Hollywood extra to Hollywood star and eventually back down again.

LETTERS IN THE WIND.
Drama/Foreign (Farsi).
Directed by Ali-Reza Amini.
* One of two Iranian New Wave films we have this week, this is described as “a sort of Iranian “Full Metal Jacket”. Taghi is a soldier from a small village who is given the job to visit other recruits families in Tehran and bring them recorded messages from their children (the soldiers).

ONE NIGHT.
Drama.
Directed by Michael Knowles.
* An indie about a group of people in New York who’s Friday night out will inevitable change their lives.

STEP INTO THE DARKNESS.
Drama/Foreign (Turkish/Turmen/Kurdish/Arabic).
Directed by Atil Inac.
* A nighttime raid in Northern Iraq destroys an entire village and the sole survivor , a young Turkmen girl, must travel to Kirkuk in search of surviving family. This film was shot under extremely dangerous conditions on location in Turkey and Iraq.

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD.
Horror.
Devon Bostick.
Directed by George A. Romero.

UNDERWORLD.
Criterion/Drama.
Clive Brook/George Bancroft/Evelyn Brent.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg.
* This 1927 silent, black&white film is considered to be the film that launched the American gangster genre. The screenwriter, Ben Hecht, won an Oscar for his writing the very first year that Oscar awards were handed out.

UPTOWN.
Drama/Indie.
Chris Riquinha.
Directed by Brian Ackley.
* A tale of two lost people finding each other in New York.

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

AN AMERICAN JOURNEY: IN ROBERT FRANKS FOOTSTEPS.
Directed by Philippe Seclier.
* From the IMDB: From Texas to Montana, from Nebraska to Louisiana, from New York to San Francisco, An American Journey is a 15,000 mile odyssey through contemporary America seeking to understand the impact of Robert Frank's photographic book 'The Americans.'

EYES OF ME.
Doc/Medical/Spiritual/Physical.
Directed by Keith Maitland.
* This movie follows four blind teenagers through a year of high school life.

OUR TIMES...
Documentary//Foreign (Farsi).
Directed by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.
* Part of the Iranian New Wave movement, this film is about a group of college girls fighting for rights in Iran.

PINK FLOYD: BETWEEN SYD AND THE DARK SIDE.
Documentary/Music.
Directed by.
* Rare footage, studio performances, interviews, insights and more following the amazing psychedelic rock band during the years of 1968 – 1973. And you can turn down the volume and put on the soundtrack of THE WIZARD OF OZ, and somehow it all works together beautifully, as if the films were made to fit each other.

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

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: COMPLETE EDITION.
Television/Comedy/Music.
* I got this to have another couple copies of the show, but there is also a 30-minute documentary we put out on the New Release wall for $1. Yeehaw!

THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN JOURNEY.
Television/BBC/Nature.
* I don’t think they are talking about driving cross country with your friends before your car dies in California, but...

LOST: THE COMPLETE AND FINAL SEASON.****BD****
TV/Suspense/Suspension of Disbelief.
* Featuring the exciting and dramatic conclusion of the riveting drama about a group of plane crash survivors on a remote island struggling to make sense of their surreal surroundings.

THE SIMPSONS: THE THIRTEEN SEASON.
Animation/Comedy.
Bart/Homer.
* Doh!

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

NICK JR. FAVORITES: HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: TURTLES FOREVER!

TOM & JERRY MEET SHERLOCK HOLMES.

............//NEW ON BLUE/............

TIME BANDITS.
* Terry Gilliam’s 1981 cult classic is a must see!

WITHNAIL & I.
* This 1987 film starring Richard E. Grant (HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING) is funny and weird as it follows two out of work actors in 1969 London take a wild weekend in the country as they attempt to unwind.

****

****new release list no.281

Ever feel like you are in a movie? Scene: A bed, piled with blankets, unkempt, and messy; the only thing that confirms a sleeping body within is one leg somewhat sticking out of the covers, with a sock barely clinging to the foot. An alarm rings, and rings.

A close-up from the side reveals a face with the eyes open but only softly focused. After a moment, a previously hidden arm reaches over and turns off the alarm. Another pause is followed by a long sigh and a roll over onto the back.

From above, we see the face, being held by its hands, squeezing the forehead and sinuses, as if to clear them, as if to hold in the throbbing pressure, as if to prevent the brain from exploding outward with a messy splat. Another deep sigh and the body begins to remove itself from the bed.

Maybe some 80’s music begins to play on the soundtrack???? And…CUT!

Yeah, you’ve all been there. The camera follows you around, and you struggle to remind yourself that you are more than a character, dammit, this is actually your life! But, still, you flick the hair from your eyes, and do the things you do as stylishly as you do them, even if your style is frumpy, dumpy, or chumpy, as opposed to funky, punky or chunky. And…..CUT!

For me, the camera lately has shown a man whose daughter has just (bravely) started kindergarten. Whose son has just (somehow!) started 4th grade (ah, I guess it’s time to buy him “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”! Loved that book!). A man who is struggling to get his yoga on, yearning for a little peace of mind, and repeating his mantra of “Wisdom – Strength” while working that Pranayama breath in and out, in and out. Wisdom. Strength. Peace. Joy. And repeat. And….CUT!

I watched THE MAID last night, the second film by the Chilean born young director Sebastian Silva. What a brilliant film! In case you’ve missed it (it came out on DVD a few weeks back), it is the story of a 41-year-old (snap! That’s my age!) maid of an upper-middle class family in Chile. She has worked for them since she was a young woman, and has basically foregone a life and family of her own to raise and take care of this household of two adults and their four children. Now, she is in turmoil as she struggles with her bitterness, and her neuroses, and her anger, and confusion at the state of her life. The acting is superb, and the characters are relatable, particularly the oldest child who cannot figure out why her mom won’t just fire this snotty, and uppity maid who appears to hate her, and the next oldest child, who is at the tender adolescent stage of understanding, yet not understanding everything and nothing at all. Remember that age? It reminded me of RACHEL GETTING MARRIED in a way, possibly because it was filmed very intimately, and unashamed at its intimacy. In one particularly wonderful moment, the maid and the matriarch are seen at odds, communicating about some trouble, and in the background, one can just barely see the father arrive quietly, sneak into his study, and depart quickly with his golf clubs in hand. Ah, the sneakiness of domestic life. I super recommend this film.
I didn’t see anything that comes out this week, but THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION starring Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg was the one I thought the most interesting. Directed by James Ivory (Ismael Merchant passed several years ago), it is the tale of a doctoral student who wants to write a biography of a favorite author whose family is against his story being told.

Also out this week, are a trio of 4th seasons of popular television shows, DEXTER, the tale of a serial killer for the good guys, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a show about high school football in Texas, and UGLY BETTY, who bids us adieu in this final season about a young woman ostracized at the fashion magazine she works at for not being super skinny and beautiful, even though she is very beautiful!

Claire Danes is in two movies out this week. In the first, she stars in the HBO-original film TEMPLE GRANDIN, about an autistic woman who has become an expert scientist in the field of humanely dealing with the meat that we eat (some of us, anyway). She is also in the Zac Efron film, ME AND ORSON WELLES, about a young boy acting in a play directed by Welles in 1937.

Scroll down, there’s more.

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

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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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//............

CEMETERY JUNCTION.
Comedy.
Ralph Fiennes/Ricky Gervais.
Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
* This 1970’s era comedy is about three best blokes starting out their lives and trying to figure out which paths to take – if only they’d listen to my dad, who told me it didn’t really matter which path you take! Truer words were never ever spoken.

THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.****BD****
Drama.
Anthony Hopkins/Laura Linney/Charlotte Gainsbourg/Hiroyuki Sanada.
Directed by James Ivory.
* Although Ismael Merchant is no longer with us, Ivory continues to make his smoldering, intense, character driven films. In this one, a doctoral student in Kansas gets a grant to write a biography of a writer from Latin America. But first, he must get permission from the writer’s family to get the inside story he wants to chronicle. That will be no easy task, as the family has refused to have the story written under any circumstances, as there are secrets about the author that they are reluctant to have revealed.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE WEIRD.
Action/Comedy/Western/Horror/Foreign (Korean/Mandarin/Japanese).
Kang-ho Song/Byung-hun Lee/Woo-sung Jung/Woohoo, sung Ken.
Directed by Ji-woon Kim.
* This period piece tells the tell of The Good, The Bad and The Weird, three Korean outlaws in the 1940’s, evading Japanese lawmakers, and Chinese criminals, while trying to find a secret treasure.

FURRY VENGEANCE.
Family/Comedy.
Brendan Fraser/Brook Shields.
Directed by Roger Kumble.
* Poor, poor real estate developers…they are always being held up by some bleeding heart protesters…sometimes it is hippies, crying about expensive housing, sometimes it is native Americans, angered that their ancient burial grounds are being disrespected, and sometimes, in the case of Dan Sanders (Fraser; brilliant, succinct, in an Academy-Award worthy performance) it is little furry critters who don’t want there homes bulldozed for a housing project in Oregon.

L’ENFANCE NUE.
Criterion/Drama/Foreign (French).
Michel Terrazon/Marie-Louise Thierry.
Directed by Maurice Pialat.
* A ten-year old boy is placed in welfare by his mother, and acts out intensely in this riveting 1968 debut feature film by Pialat. The boy is rough, but life has dealt him rough blows, and he acts accordingly. As the pressure mounts, his desire to be loved is strangled by his desire to be cared for, and paid attention to.

LAST SONG.
Drama/Family/Musical.
Miley Cyrus/Greg Kinnear/Kelly Preston.
Directed by Julie Robinson.
* Sing us the song, you’re the piano man, sing us the song tonight, cuz we’re all in the mood for a melody, and you’ve got us feeling alright! And that’s my last song. Thank you…thank you.

ME AND ORSON WELLES.
Drama.
Zac Efron/Claire Danes/Christian McKay.
Directed somehow by Richard Linklater.
* Zac plays a young man cast in the Mercury Theatre’s 1937 production of Julius Caesar, directed by Orson Welles, and, like so many others, falls completely under his spell. Will Efron get out from under the Disney stamp of approval? Maybe, but probably not from his work on this film.

SKELLIG THE OWL MAN.
Fantasy/Family/Drama.
Tim Roth/Kelly MacDonald/Bill Milner.
Directed by Annabel Jankel.
* This fantasy story is directed by the person who brought us MAX HEADROOM. In this family fable, a boy discovers a bird like angel in the garage of a new house his family has moved into.

SPRING FEVER.
Drama/LGBT/Foreign (Mandarin/Cantonese).
Hao Qin/Wei Wu.
Directed by Lou Ye.
* This film was originally released internationally as “A Night Deeply Drunk on the Spring Breeze”. What a beautiful title! The story is about a woman who hires a detective to help her discover if her husband is cheating on her. The detective discovers that he is, with another man, and the detective becomes involved with that man, in a three-some with his girlfriend. Ye’s last film, SUMMER PALACE, gave him a lot of trouble with the Chinese government, for his depictions of the tragedy at Tiananmen Square. He is a director who is driven to tell stories free of censorship in a culture where censorship is the law. This makes his films attractive in their pursuit of truth and beauty.

TEMPLE GRANDIN.
Drama.
Claire Danes/Catherine O’Hara/Julia Ormond.
Directed by Mick Jackson.
* Temple Grandin is a scientist, a writer, somewhat of a philosopher, and one of the main experts in the humane livestock handling industry. Oh, and she is also autistic, and a very real person. This HBO film is based on a book she wrote about her life and has been nominated for 15 Emmy’s in 2010.

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

DEXTER: COMPLETE 4th SEASON.
Mayhem/Demolition/Gratuity.
Michael C. Hall.
* I’m sure you love this show enough to just ignore me when I say YUCK!

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: COMPLETE SEASON 4.
Drama/High School Football.
* 59, 33, right left. Clover. Four-sided tennis Ball. Hut 1, hut 2…hike! Touchdown! With lots of drama thrown in, to keep it interesting.

UGLY BETTY: THE COMPLETE 4th AND FINAL SEASON.
Comedy/Drama/TV.
America Ferrera.
* Ferrera burst on the scene in 2002’s REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, a beautiful and brilliant indie film about women, and bodies and love. At the end of that film her character goes off into the world, and you can almost imagine her ending up as Betty Suarez, the beautiful and smart employee at a fashion magazine filled with the thin and glamorous It girls of that industry. This is the final season of that show.

............//KIDS/............

MADELINE’S HALLOWEEN AND OTHER SPOOKY TALES.

MY FRIENDS TIGGER & POOH: BEDTIME W/POOH.

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN: FINAL CRISIS TRILOGY.
* Ah, if only it were the FINAL crisis…

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

KEY LARGO.
Noir/Crime/Thriller.
* Super intense John Huston film starring everyone you want it to be starring; Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson and Lionel Barrymore. This is a classic you should see.

****

****new release list no.280

In DATE NIGHT, a boring married couple from New Jersey help expose a crooked bar owner and an evil District Attorney to the authorities, bringing down an entire cartel of gun-toting maniacs. That’s the power of marriage. So keep working, people. You, too, may perform great acts of goodness for society. And don’t forget to go out together every now and then. And dress up, look hot, take it seriously. Starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig and more…

LA MISSION is an independent movie starring Benjamin Bratt and directed by his brother Peter about a man living in the Mission district of San Francisco and struggling to maintain his dignity in the face of great change within the neighborhood. This is a film that was made right here in our great city, just a mile or so away.

Looking for something to do tonight? Come to Viracocha, a new furniture store in la Mission that turns into an underground (literally) club at night. My band, The Dont’s, will be rocking there at 8:30pm sharp. Could there be a better time for a Wednesday night show?

Alrighty then, see you down 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
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............//NEW RELEASES//............

BOY.
Drama/LGBT/Foreign (Filipino/Tagalog).
Aeious Asin.
Directed by Auraeus Solito.
* This film was actually banned from the Singapore International Film Festival! Censorship just makes things taste sweeter…This film is about a poet who longs to hire a male stripper on New Year’s Eve and must sell his collection of comic books and action figures in order to do so. Also of note: the lead actor’s name has all the vowels in direct order in it. A. E. I. O . U. And sometimes, I ask, why?

CHOCOLATE SUNDAES PRESENTS: LIVE ON SUNSET STRIP.
Standup Comedy.
Katt Williams.
* Standup comedy featuring Four Star Favorite, Katt Williams.

CHILDREN OF INVENTION.
Drama/Foreign (English/Cantonese/Mandarin).
Michael Chen/Cindy Cheung.
Directed by Tse Chun.
* This film won 13 awards world-wide, including a Special Jury award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. It is about two young kids living with their mother in Boston illegally, who must fend for themselves after their mom disappears.

DATE NIGHT .****BD****
Comedy.
Tina Fey/Steve Carell/Mark Wahlberg/James Franco/Kristen Wiig/Mila Kunis/Mark Ruffalo.
Directed by Shawn Levy.
* This film plays like a love poem to domesticity. I wonder very much how much lure it has for people without kids, or young people in general. Carell and Fey are arguable the funniest comic actors out there right now, and they are terrific in their roles as harried parents struggling to stay romantic and sexy with one another in the face of the humiliatingly unsexy job of parenting young kids and working full time jobs (can anyone relate???!!!). They are holding on to “date night”, even though frequently when it rolls around, they’d rather bail and just stay home and go to bed. As it is, they generally go to the same boring suburban eatery and make fun of the people around them. Until that is, Claire (Fey) decides to put on a hot dress which prompts Phil (Carell) to decide they should head to the city and have a proper date night once and for all. Unable to reconcile the idea that they will not be able to get a table at the hip restaurant they end up at with the fantasy of their special night away from the kids and away from the trappings of their domestic reality (can anyone say NO EXIT?), they steal someone’s reservation and settle in to a swank meal together. Unfortunately, the couple who loses their reservation has stolen an important something or other from a big time someone or other and he sends his goons/cops to re-obtain it from them. Soon, Claire and Phil are running from the cops, from the gangsters, and from themselves, as they struggle to regain their equilibrium so that they can get home safely to New Jersey. Which really asks the question – can anyone get home safely to New Jersey? The comedy in this movie is physical and unrushed. Stuff happens and Fey and Carell react to it and to each other. When the laughs come, they come hard and fast, but you have to be willing to relate to the sad stress of real marital issues to get to that point. I suggested to Amy that this movie could be a relationship test; she thought that was a bad idea.

DEATH AT A FUNERAL.
Comedy.
Martin Lawrence/Tracy Morgan/Chris Rock/Peter Dinklage/Danny Glover.
Directed by Neil LaBute.
* For some reason, Hollywood remade this hysterical British film from just a couple years ago about a family’s deep dysfunctionality (is that a word? Not according to spellcheck) that is exposed at the patriarch’s funeral. Peter Dinklage (THE STATION AGENT) is the bridge between both films.

THE GOOD HEART.
Drama.
Brian Cox/Paul Dano/Islid Besco.
Directed by Dagur Kari.
* A cantankerous old alcoholic bar owner takes in a suicidal depressed young man. I wish I could say: hijinks ensue. But that would be lying.

THE JONESES.
Comedy/Drama.
Demi Moore/David Duchovny/Amber Heard.
Directed by Derrick Borte.
* Can you keep up with a super beautiful family that moves into your neighborhood and has seemingly everything? Are looks deceiving? And where can you buy that awesome blouse that the mom is where?

LUCKY DAYS.
Drama.
Angelica Torn/Rip Torn/Will Patton.
Directed by Angelica Torn and Tony Torn.
* This was the last film made at Coney Island Amusement park before it closed and it is about a woman facing her past as she tries to create a future worth living.

MANUELA & MANUEL.
Comedy/LGBT/Drama.
Humberto Busto.
Directed by Raul Marchand Sanchez.
* In this trangender film, Manuel is Manuela is Manuel, and I am not positive who was who first…or last.

LA MISSION.
Drama.
Benjamin Bratt/Erika Alexander.
Directed by Peter Bratt.
* From the imdb: Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown.

MULTIPLE SARCASMS.
Drama.
Timothy Hutton/Mira Sorvino/Stockard Channing/Dana Delaney/Mario Van Peebles.
Directed by Brooks Branch.
* Hutton plays Gabriel, a successful architect living in NYC who slowly begins to realize that he is unhappy. In his quest for understanding and enlightenment, he writes a play about his life. Although his odyssey tears his real life apart, in the end he discovers himself lighter and happier.

MY NAME IS KHAN.
Drama/Romance.
Shahrukh Khan/Kajol.
Directed by Karan Johar.
* Two very popular Bollywood actors star in this epic saga about an Indian man who moves to San Francisco and finds love, but then finds his life shattered by the events of 911 and must overcome great odds in order to re-attain his love and put his life back together. This movie was filmed here in San Francisco.

THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR: HAPPY KING JULIEN DAY!
Animation/Family.

TRIAGE.
Drama/War.
Colin Farrell/Paz Vega.
Produced by Danis Tanovic.
* The pains of war are chronicled in this film about a photojournalist (Farrell) who has arrived home from Kurdistan without his colleague, and the journalists wife who is trying to find out what happened.

UNDER THE MOUNTAIN.
Adventure/Fantasy.
Produced by Jonathan King.
* From the director of the humorous horror film BLACK SHEEP comes this adaptation of a popular teen novel about two twin teenagers who battle dark forces underneath a volcano in Australia.

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

CRUMB.
Criterion/Documentary/Culture.
Directed by Terry Zwigoff.
* Criterion gives the full treatment to Zwigoff’s 1994 in-depth look into the life of Robert Crumb, the comic book writer and artist extraordinaire. The film delves deep, deep into Robert’s life and exposes some very intense familial relationships.

LOUIE BLUIE.
Criterion/Documentary/Music.
Directed by Terry Zwigoff.
* From the imdb: About the obscure country-blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America.

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBURG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS.
Documentary/Politics.
Directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith.
* This film was nominated for the Academy award for documentaries and is about a renegade Pentagon insider who brought all sorts of government lies to the public eye in the 1970’s.

PRINCE – IN THE 80’s.
Documentary/Music.
Prince./Wendy/Lisa.
* As I recall, Prince was really really fine in the 80’s.

TAPPED.
Documentary.
Directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey.
* This film will train you to be a revolutionary in the war against bottled water!

THORN IN THE HEART.
Documentary//Foreign (French).
Directed by Michel Gondry.
* The marvelous and surreal Gondry takes on his own family in this documentary about his aunt, Suzette Gondry and her relationship with her son.

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


LOONEY TUNES SUPERSTARS: DAFFY DUCK.
Television/Animation.
Daffy/Maybe his bro Donny?

LOONEY TUNES SUPERSTARS: BUG BUNNY.
Television/Animation.
Bugs/Vin.

WE HAVE TO STOP NOW.
Comedy/LGBT.
Jill Bennett.
* After the runaway success of two lesbian therapists novel “How to Succeed in Marriage Without Really Trying”, a documentary film crew enters their lives and the claustrophobia that creates threatens to ruin their relationship.

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

CASPER’S SCARE SCHOOL: 12 MONSTROUS EPISODES.

FRANKLIN: BACK TO SCHOOL WITH FRANKLIN.

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING: PIPPI GOES TO SCHOOL.

TIMOTHY GOES TO SCHOOL: THE GREAT RACE.

............//NEW ACQUISITIONS/............

THE FINAL SEASON.
* I was told this was the best baseball movie ever, which I always thought was LONG GONE from 1987.

****

****new release list no.279

KICK-ASS is the latest comic book film to come to Four Star Video. Starring Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the film combines smart teen dialogue with bloody fierce comic book action and follows a powerless teenager who decides to become a superhero without any special powers or ability.

Roman Polanski’s latest, THE GHOST WRITER, follows a unremarkable writer (Ewan McGregor) who gets the gig of his life in writing the memoirs of a retired Prime Minister from the UK (Pierce Brosnan). What he digs up may seem bland, but the information gets gritty, and soon his very life is threatened.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID is a live-action adaptation of the popular illustrated book about a 6th grader dealing with life in middle school.

A PROPHET is an Academy-award nominated film from France about an Arab man who becomes the head of the crime world after he ends up in prison.

There is a bunch of other interesting titles this week, ranging from the ECLIPSE SERIES 23: THE FIRST FILMS OF AKIRA KURASAWA, to the first ever DVD release of MAX HEADROOM: THE COMPLETE SERIES, to a collection of dark shorts called THE PATTERNS TRILOGY: AND OTHER SHORTS, to a KIM NOVAK COLLECTION to a great 1973 German film called THE PART TIME WORK OF A DOMESTIC SLAVE, to a pair of Roger Corman films (PIRANHA and HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP) and much more. Scroll on down to read about it.

Here are some local events this week within walking distance of each other. Tomorrow, Tues, August 3rd, the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center and Bernal Bucks invites you to another Bernal Economic Forum. This one is entitled BORROW IN YOUR BOROUGH and is a free event at 6pm at the neighborhood center at 515 Cortland Ave. Then, at 7pm, you can walk across the street to the library and watch a quarterly screening from the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival. They will be showing 389 MILES: LIVING THE BORDER, a film which tries to impartially discuss the current immigration debate surrounding the Arizona-Mexico border.

Alrighty then, see you down 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
******************************************************************************

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

AFTER. LIFE.
Drama/Mystery/Thriller.
Christina Ricci/Justin Long/Liam Neeson.
Directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo.
* You ever get that feeling, “am I really dead?” No? Well in this film, Anna (Ricci) does…She is in a funeral home, and the director seems to be helping her accept her death, but she wonders, “am I dead?” And she thinks that she is not, which creates a dilemma I tell you!

A PROPHET.
Crime/Drama/Foreign (French/Arabic/Corsican).
Tahar Rahim.
Directed by Jacques Audiard.
* Nominated for the Best Foreign Language film at the most recent Academy Awards, this film follows a young man of Arab descent who is sent to prison in France and becomes the head of the underworld in jail. Besides its Oscar nomination, it won 25 other film awards world-wide.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID.
Comedy/Family.
Zachary Gordon/Robert Capron/Chloe Moretz/Steve Zahn.
Directed by Thor Freudenthal.
* This is an adaptation of the very popular illustrated novel of the same name by Jeff Kinney. Greg Heffley (Gordon) is a sixth-grader with a healthy ego who is surrounded by nincompoops, idiots and numbskulls while attempting to navigate the nastiness that is middle-school.

ECLIPSE SERIES 23: THE FIRST FILMS OF AKIRA KURASAWA .
Drama/Foreign (Japanese).
Directed by Akira Kurasawa.
* Included are SANSHIRO SUGATA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, SANSHIRO SUGATA PART 2, THE MEN WHO TREAD ON THE TIGER’S TAIL. From Amazon:

Sanshiro Sugata (Sugata Sanshiro): Kurosawa’s effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. Starring Susumu Fujita as the title character, Sanshiro Sugata is a dazzling martial-arts action tale, but it’s also a moving story of moral education and enlightenment that’s quintessential Kurosawa.

The Most Beautiful (Ichiban utsukushiku): This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during World War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Yet thanks to the director’s groundbreaking semidocumentary approach to the material, The Most Beautiful is a revealing look at Japanese women of the era that anticipates the aesthetics of Japanese cinema’s postwar social realism.

Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (Zoku Sugata Sanshiro): Kurosawa’s first film was such a success that the studio pressured the director into making a sequel. The result is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original and featuring a two-part narrative in which Sanshiro first fights a pair of Americans and then finds himself the target of a revenge mission undertaken by the brothers of the original film’s villain.

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi): The fourth film from Kurosawa is based on a sacred twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune, with the help of a group of samurai, crossed enemy territory disguised as a monk. The story was dramatized for centuries in Noh and kabuki theater, and here it becomes one of the director’s most riveting early films.

FINDING BLISS.
Comedy/Indie.
Leelee Sobieski/Jamie Kennedy/Denise Richards.
Directed by Julie Davis.
* Hey yo, the film industry is tough! That’s what Jody (Sobieski) finds out when she takes a job in the porn industry after an award-winning stint at film school. Her plan is initially to make a film after hours using their state of the art facility, but after she is busted, she is forced to collaborate on a true adult film.

THE GHOST WRITER.
Suspense/Mystery.
Ewan McGregor/Pierce Brosnan/Olivia Williams/Kim Cattrall.
Directed by Roman Polanski.
* Polanski’s latest film concerns a ghost writer (McGregor) who has scored the deal of his life, writing the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister. Unfortunately, as he is putting the story together, details emerge that should have remained secret, and now these details are putting his life in jeopardy.

HAPPINESS RUNS.
Drama/Indie.
Mark Young/Hannah Hall.
Directed by Adam Sherman.
* This film, loosely based on the filmmaker’s experiences growing up, is about the dark side of a utopian commune where the kids are super punk rock and nihilistic from being exposed to sex and drugs at a young age by the brainwashing cult leader.

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP.
Horror/Schlock.
Ann Turkel/Vic Morrow.
Produced by Roger Corman.
* Ah, life in a northern town…tough times indeed. Like when a new Salmon cannery comes to town and threatens your fishing job…And strange half-fish half-man creatures attack couples and rip the men to shreds and rape the women. And then there is all the rain, and the lack of sun.

KICK-ASS.****BD****
Comics/Action/Crime/Thriller/Fantasy.
Aaron Johnson/Chloe Moretz/Elizabeth McGovern/Nicolas Cage/Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn.
* When Dave Lizewski (Johnson) decides to become a super hero, he does so without any special training, without skills, without super powers, without fanfare, and without much hope of success, just a deep-seated anger at the bullies of the world who pick on him and his few friends, stealing their proverbial milk money, and anything else they want to take. When his bluff is called, and he is nearly killed by the gang he has infiltrated, he is saved by Hit-Girl (Moretz, who you may remember as the younger sister in (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, who is always giving her older brother advice on how to deal with his lady friends). Hit-Girl, is the murderous, expert fighter, trained by her father Big-Daddy (Cage) in the ways of martial-arts. Together, and with another mis-fit superhero or two, they form a vigilante squad of super-heroes, fighting to keep the city safe. I read someone called this KILL BILL meets SUPERBAD and I can see where that comparison works. It is hip and funny, with great music, fast action and solid acting, while also being a bloody, hit-squad of uber-violent action. Are you into that? You’ll love this.

THE KIM NOVAK COLLECTION.
Drama/Noir.
* Kim Novak, now 77 and an accomplished oil painter, made films from the 1950’s through the early 1990’s. This collection features the films PICNIC, JEANNE EAGLES, BELL BOOK AND CANDLE (made the same year Novak starred in VERTIGO), MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, and PAL JOEY.

OPEN HOUSE.
Horror.
Anna Paquin.
Directed by Andrew Paquin.
* Andrew is Anna’s older brother, and that’s how come she is in this dog of a film.

THE PART-TIME WORK OF A DOMESTIC SLAVE.
Drama/Comedy/Foreign (German).
Alexandra Kluge/Ursula Birichs.
Directed by Alexander Kluge.
* Classic 1973 film about a young woman pulled in many directions, she is a wife, a lover, a parent, an abortionist (!), a factory worker, an agitator, a protestor, and finally a woman, struggling to find her way in a thankless society. This film seems stunningly relevant today.

THE PATTERNS TRILOGY: AND OTHER SHORT FILMS.
Short films/Indie.
Directed by Jamie Travis.
* From Amazon: Jamie Travis's darkly ironic and stunningly designed comedies have established him as a filmmaker with a distinctive cinematic vision. An international festival favorite since his award-winning 2003 short Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner, the young Canadian auteur often compared to David Lynch, Todd Solondz, Peter Greenaway and Wes Anderson is a talent to keep an eye on.

PIRANHA.
Horror/Comedy/Schlock.
Produced by Roger Corman
* Oopsy, “Operation Razorteeth” was supposed to be for deploying in Vietnam to help the troops win the war…drat! Instead the little varmints are released into a river that runs through a vacation resort, and now the only sushi around here are the summer guests!

TOWARDS ZERO.
Comedy/Mystery/Foreign (French).
Francois Morel/Melvil Poupaud.
Directed by Pascal Thomas.
* This Agathy Christie meets MURDER BY DEATH French mystery follows a family at a gathering who are somewhat stunned by the death of the host, Aunt Camilla. From then in, it’s all whodunnit!

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

HENSON’S PLACE: THE MAN BEHIND THE MUPPETS.
Documentary/Art.
Jim Henson/Jane Henson/Frank Oz.
Directed by Tim Conrad.
* This is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the best things ever to happen in children’s entertainment. I cried when Jim Henson died…Yet I still get enjoyment from that super sick cover version of Kermit singing Nine Inch Nails “Hurt”. I couldn’t link it here, cuz too many of you would immediately hate me.

A YIDDISH WORLD REMEMBERED.
Documentary/Culture.
Directed by Andrew Goldberg.
* From Amazon: In A Yiddish World Remembered, the story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe is brought to life again by some of the remaining eyewitnesses. Narrated by Academy Award nominated actor Elliott Gould and accompanied by never-before-seen archival films, vintage photographs, and, of course, traditional Klezmer and cantorial music, the documentary takes a realistic and enlightening look at this unique and all-but-vanished way of life. For those in rural communities, there was often no running water or electricity. For many, anti-Semitism was a part of daily life. But for everyone, crowded conditions and poverty seemed to prevail. Despite these trials, through the eyes of the individuals interviewed, we learn that Jewish communities were close-knit and often even joyous places to live. This television special explores everything from the fascinating language of Yiddish to the Rabbis and Rebbes that often ran the communities to the powerful Jewish movements of Khasidism, Bundism and Zionism. Aired nationally on PBS. This DVD contains over 20 minutes of bonus footage and interviews not seen in the broadcast.

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

HEROES: SEASON 4.
Television/Action/Superheroes.
Ali Larter/Hayden Panettiere.
* I think this show is about this:
I,
I can remember
Standing
By the wall
And the guns
Shot above our heads
And we kissed
As though nothing could fall
And the shame
Was on the other side
Oh we can beat them
For ever and ever
Then we can be Heroes
Just for one day

We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
Just for one day.

Right?

MAX HEADROOM.
Television/Sci-Fi/Comedy/Ahead of its time.
Matt Frewer/Amanda Pays/Jeffrey Tambor.
* Do you remember this show? Its tag line was “20 Minutes Into The Future”, but really it was more like 10 years into the future. As it was, it didn’t last long. The basic premise was a world in the future where turning off your tv is illegal, where televisions are subsidized for the poor, and in this world, a highly rated journalist who gives birth (so to speak) to an “avatar” of himself, a computer generated version, with slight zaps and blips who can do his job a bit better and without physical risk. Together, the real and the virtual, team up to become a news reporting team, and carry their show to network success! And hey, they won 3 Primetime Emmy’s, so they were mirroring reality in more ways than one.

MERCY: COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Drama.
Michelle Trachtenberg/Taylor Schilling/Jaime Lee Kirchner.
* Mercy me, I never saw this show, but now I got the chance. Will it be better than St. Elsewhere? How, I ask? How?

MONARCHY: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Documentary/History.
Narrated by David Starkey.
* This is a deep history of the head of the English people from AD 400 to today. There are 776 minutes in this collection!

SNL BEST OF WILL FERRELL: VOLUME 3.
Comedy.
* As Fozzy would say: more great comedy shtick! Wocka wocka wocka!

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

SESAME STREET ABBY & FRIENDS: P IS FOR PRINCESS.

VEGIE TALES: SWEET PEA BEAUTY.

WOW WOW WUBBZY: WUBBZY GOES TO SCHOOL.
* And so does Trudy, in 2 weeks! Wow! Wow!

****