Tuesday, November 2, 2010

****new release list no.292

Wahoo! The Giants Win!

I’m not even a Giants fan, but I got totally caught up in the excitement, blaring my horn with everyone else on Monday night! What a buzz, being in a city that wins a major sports championship! It’s pretty awesome to see so many people so psyched and feeling so good. Pretty great year to get that full city high. Especially in light of the failing of Proposition 19 tonight. Dagnabbit! How bummed I am about that! Doesn’t everyone realize that it really doesn’t matter how confusing it was (duuude, it’s confuuuusing…) or how badly it was written. Basically 19 was just a tool to force the conversation to take place on a federal level. I don’t feel righteously disrespected, but I do feel disappointed that the discussion continues about legalization, while alcohol continues to be sold in, like 50 places right in our neighborhood. Ah well, good thing we live in San Francisco (home of the Champion San Francisco Giants), where marijuana is basically decriminalized, and you can get a permit to carry some and grow your own. Not bad work, if you can get it.

Big news down here at the video store. We have done some serious shifting around inside. Have you been in this week? Digging for the documentary section? Searching for Suspense? Wisting for Westerns? Can’t find Criterion (it didn’t move)? Wondering what is happening? Well, yes, it is a big confusing. Lots is happening, because we are making room to share a bit of the space inside 402 Cortland with our sister store, Succulence. We realized last month that if we replaced the old slotted shelving with regular flat shelving that we had enough space to move everything from the foreign film/director’s wall section into the middle sections of the store and that we could make a new New Release room on the side there, freeing up the old New Release room (as of this Friday) for Succulence to cozy on into.

Bring deep. Do not panic.

Actually, I doubt you are panicking. I am sure, like me, you see the brilliance in this pragmatic move, and once you see the awesome things that we sell at Succulence, you will be even more psyched! We think that the two businesses can co-exist just splendidly inside the store, and we are looking forward to seeing it in action! We are sure it will be a little confusing at first, figuring out where to return the movies inside (currently slightly blocked, but a solution is beginning to formulate), where to find the movies you are looking for (please ask us for any help!) and what about Naomi (I don’t know what this means, but my dad used to say it when I was growing up during moments of group confusion like this)? In case things get extra confusing, I have posted a map at the top of this entry. Print the map on black paper with white ink and then attempt to read it in the store with your shades on – at that point, everything should be clear. Seriously, though – we will help make this transition as smooth as possible, and we are genuinely excited about how it will all work. We hope you are, too!

Still with me? On to some movies:

This week, TOY STORY 3 is the marquee title. Woody and the gang are dispatched to a day care center, only to have Woody lead the folks back to their rightful place: in storage in Andy’s attic. LOVE & DISTRUST is full of huge names (Robert Downey, Jr, James Franco, Robert Pattinson) and is the story of five separate relationship struggling to find balance within love and passion (and distrust). There are a bunch of other titles that I hope you find interesting as well.

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

Love and Kisses,
Ken


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

CENTURION.
Action/Adventure.
Michael Fassbender/Dominic West/Olga Kurylenko/Ulrich Thomsen.
Directed by Neil Marshall.
* Historical battle film about some Roman soldiers fighting for their lives.

EXTERMINATORS.
Comedy/Drama.
Heather Graham/Jennifer Coolidge/Amber Heard/Joey Lauren Adams.
Directed by John Inwood.
* About an all-woman exterminator company who is literally taking care of business.

THE GOONIES: 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION.
Comedy/Adventure.
Sean Astin/Josh Brolin/Corey Feldman.
Directed by Richard Donner.
* Well, holy cow! There is a young Josh Brolin as one of the kid’s big brother! Trip on out the door! Yup, this film came out in 1985, and yup, 1985 was 25 years ago. Put that in your time machine and…do something to it. In the meantime, somehow the 80’s stuff has become such beloved capsules, holding our teen angst at their core.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE.
Horror.
Directed by Tom Six.
* Um…suffice to say, it’s really gross. My friend saw it and wished he could unsee it. Then again, I am sure that is a turn on for many. The bad guy in the first of these movies (yes, a sequel awaits), um, assembles a human centipede with victims and surgery.

KATT WILLIAMS: NINE LIVES.
Standup Comedy.
* You know by now that we at Four Star think Katt Williams is funny.

LOVE & DISTRUST.
Drama/Romance.
Robert Pattinson/Sam Worthington/Robert Downey, Jr/Amy Adams/Michael Imperioli/James Franco.
Directed by Eric Kmetz.
* Five stories of love and longing and passion.

MENAGE A TROIS.
Drama/Indie
* This 1997 trippy film won some awards on the circuit years ago, and is just getting to DVD. It is about the hard to describe (without ruining the story) relationship between a woman and two brothers.

ROSENCRANZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD.
Comedy.
Jake Hoffman/Devon Aoki.
Directed by Jordan Galland.
* Another strange and twisted comedy springs from the fount of these two throw away characters from Shakespeare’s HAMLET.

TOY STORY 3.****BD****
Animation/Family.
Tom Hanks/Tim Allen/Joan Cusack/Don Rickles/Michael Keaton.
Directed by Lee Unkrich.
* Ah, the toys, still in a constant state of un and over organized…In this case, Andy is finally going to college and it seems like his toys have been put away for good. In fact they are seemingly donated to a day care center right as Andy is splitting, but Woody refuses to believe they are just being tossed away like yesterday’s toys. He convinces the others to try to find their way home, whatever strange construct that may be to a toy, or other living beings.

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

VAN GOGH: BRUSH WITH GENIUS.
Documentary/Art.
Directed by Francois Bertrand.
* I think this film is about the time Van Gogh met me for a second. It is a “made for IMAX” film, so the images are gorgeous and crisp and detailed.

THE WAY WE GET BY.
Documentary.
Joan Gaudet/William Knight/Gerald Mundy.
Directed by Aron Gaudet .
* These three senior citizens spend a lot of time greeting troops with love and support at a small airport in Maine. What? Near Kennebunkport? I don’t know.

WINNEBAGO MAN.
Documentary/Viral Internet Humor.
Jack Rebney.
Directed by Ben Steinbauer .
* Gosh, I missed the internet phenomenon that was Winnebago Man (not linguistically safe for loud office viewing, if f-bombs are a problem at your work). In this hysterical documentary, the director tracks this guy down and tries to find out what he is really all about. Ever wonder what they’d find out if a documentary director tracked YOU down to find out what you’re all about? Scary!

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

FAMILY GUY: PARTIAL TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.
Television/Comedy/Animation.
* Oh Nelly, Lois agrees to help a infertile couple have a child by carrying the baby for them; Peter is unhappy about it.

LAND GIRLS.
Drama/BBC.
Summer Stralen/Christine Bottomley/Jo Woodcock/Becci Gemmell/Susan Cookson.
Directed by Steve Hughes
* This BBC series is about a group of women consigned to work on the land during WWII.

THE PACIFIC.
War/Mini-Series.
Directed by Carl Franklin and David Nutter and Timothy Patten and Jeremy Podeswa.
* The creators of BAND OF BROTHERS are back with this 10-part miniseries about the battle between the U.S. forces and the Japanese in the Pacific Islands during WWII.

V: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.
Television/Sci-fi.
* Do you remember this mini-series from the 80’s? It was super hyped! This is a remake about aliens who come to earth supposedly on a peace mission but truly to find some yummy human shaped food.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS: COMPLETE SEASON TWO.
Television/Animation.
Created by Luke Skywalker.

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

CARS: MATER’S TALL TALES.

KABOOM KIDS: LET’S LEARN.

KABOOM: LET’S SOLVE.

............// NEW ON BLU //............

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.
* This awesome 1957 war film won 7 Oscars!

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

IN THE SHADOW OF THE STARS.
* San Francisco based Academy award winning documentary from 1991 about the San Francisco Opera.

****

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