****new release list no.312

Добро пожаловать, мои русские друзья и благодарю вас за чтение!

It’s spring, according to my calendar. It’s getting harder for me to quantify my feelings about our seasons, because our weather is so mixed up and confusing. The water came down hard recently, and it has been pretty cold today; but all things considered, January and February were quite warm and lovely and all around it was a somewhat mild seeming winter. The truth is, I am not sure when I am supposed to complain anymore. I need guidance here, so I will not commit a social faux pas. Am I supposed to complain during the Summer, when it is cold and windy and yet mild and wonderful and occasionally fantastic? Or during the Fall, when it is wet and foul, yet mild and wonderful and sometimes superlative? During Winter? When our all-important rainy season kicks off, and in between storms frequently it is also mild and also frequently wonderful? In the immortal words of Charley Partanna (in PRIZZI’S HONOR) – Which one-a dese?

I don’t know, but I know complaining season isn’t the spring.

Not Spring, when the little buds push their way through the ends of the leafless branches of my persimmon tree. Not spring, when dew drops reflect the glint of sunlight that awakens the seeds resting comfortably beneath the soil. Oh, no, not spring. Not when the summer waves to me from behind the clouds with its nostalgic seduction. Not with Passover, Easter, Ostara and eventually clothing-optional Beltane celebrating the newness, the freshness, the visceral ripeness of so many things around us. Not when the very air is intoxicating enough to cause deep sighs the sort of which was described so eloquently by Kenneth Grahame in his fine adventure novel The Wind in The Willows
“Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.”

Oh divine discontent, oh hallowed longing! Oh glorious life! Existence! Divinity! Do you like poetry? Somewhat? Not at all? Fuck it, do me a favor, because we are close and I write to you with my heart. Write a poem, right now, about spring and send it to me. I will publish it in my heart and never share it with anyone. Here is a poem I read when I was young, but for some reason moved me deeply. It was written by e.e. cummings.


in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

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

Love and Kisses,
Ken

P.S. I came across this crazy online music project recently called. You Are Listening to, which combines very beautiful and trippy music with live police feeds. It is currently set to play feeds from five cities, one of which is San Francisco. Here is You Are Listening to San Francisco.


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

ADVENTURES OF A TEENAGE DRAGONSLAYER.
Family/Fantasy/Adventure.
Directed by Andrew Lauer.
* This live action 80’s era throwback movie tells the story of Arthur, a kid who happens upon the secret to killing the evil dragon who is threatening civilization.

ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES 2 AND 3.
Animation/Family.

L’ASSOCIE.
Comedy/Foreign (French).
Directed by Rene Gainville.
* This 1979 French comedy is about a business owner who creates a fake partner to make the business sound cooler…Unfortunately, as the business becomes more successful, it is the fake partner who gets all the credit.

HOW DO YOU KNOW.****BD****
Comedy/Romance.
Reese Witherspoon/Owen Wilson/Paul Rudd/Jack Nicholson.
Directed by James L. Brooks.
* A softball star (Witherspoon) on the US team is in crisis as she is no longer good enough to play and her life feels like it is in shambles. Should she hook up with the baseball player who is shallow but cute and seems somewhat safe (Wilson), or the broken business man (Rudd) she met first who is in the middle of a tough time himself as he is being accused of corporate crime that he has not committed. With Jack as the business guy’s dad.


LOOKING FOR PALLADIN.
Comedy.
Ben Gazzara/David Moscow/Talia Shire.
Directed by Andrzeg Krakowski.
* In this low-budget film, an arrogant Hollywood agent is dispatched to Central America to try to find this older Academy Award winning actor who also once happened to be married to the agent’s mother.

PUNCHING THE CLOWN.
Comedy.
Henry Philips/Ellen Ratner.
Directed by Gregori Viens.
* This indie comedy won the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and tells the story of a modern troubadour, singing and entertaining his way across America. Rachel watched this film this weekend and said it was what FUNNY PEOPLE, the Apatow comedy starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, should have been; funnier, more down to earth, and nearly an hour shorter.

SASHA.
Drama/LGBT/Comedy/Foreign (German/Serbo-Croation/Bosnian).
Directed by Dennis Todorovich.
* This coming-of-age story is about a Yugoslavic family living in Germany whose teenage son is gay and in fear of his family discovering his sexuality. He loves his piano teacher, and confides in his best friend, who his parents think is his girlfriend, until, that is, his younger brother starts getting jiggy with her himself. Ah, it’s complicated, it’s heavy, it’s emotional, it’s funny…It’s teenage life.

SKYLINE.****BD****
Horror/Sci-Fi.
Eric Balfour.
Directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause.
* Brain sucking aliens arrive on Earth for supper. Smartly, they begin in Los Angeles.

THE TOURIST.****BD****
Action/Suspense.
Angelina Jolie/Johnny Depp/Paul Bettany/Rufus Sewell/Timothy Dalton.
Directed by Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck.
* Jolie plays Elise, on the run after her lover stole serious coin from a very nasty mob boss and disappeared. She meets Frank (Depp) on a train and uses him as a decoy to hide from the bad guys. Frank is just a sad sack American tourist trying to nurse his broken heart with a lovely trip to Italia.

THE TWIST.
Comedy/Foreign (French).
Bruce Dern/Stephane Audran.
Directed by Claude Chabrol.
* This 1976 film is not considered one of his better movies. It is the story of a couple who are both accusing the other of infidelity. While writing this, I was reminded of one of my favorite Dern movies, 1987’s WORLD GONE WILD. Co-starring Adam Ant as a psychotic cult leader, this film is one of the schlockiest, freakist, post-Apocalyptic films ever made, and Dern is hysterical in it as the hippied out leader of a small enclave of people who are struggling to defend their tiny water source in 2087 America. As Fozzy would say – Funny!

YOGI BEAR (2010).
Animation/Adventure/Comedy.
Dan Aykroyd/Justin Timberlake.
Directed by Eric Brevig.
* Goofy new version of the classic cartoon, saved especially by the brilliant pairing of Aykroyd and Timberlake.

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

DIRTY JOBS: NUMERO 2.
Television/Realityish.

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

STAND BY ME.
* The film that rocketed River Phoenix to fame…One of the top couple Steven King stories to be made into a film. Also featuring a very creepy and young Kiefer Sutherland. Directed by Rob Reiner.

............//FAMILY/KIDS/............

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD.
* i.e. Four Star Video.

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

IP MAN.
* In anticipation of IP MAN 2, I got this film…Here is a description direction from imdb: A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

............//MOREMOREMORE/............

SLINGS AND ARROWS: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
* I love this show so much that I bought an entire new copy of the series in anticipation of telling so many of you about it.

****