Hey All, and a Happy Colette Day to you!
I was going to include a poem that I wrote and included in a card that Amy and I made and sent in celebration of this special holiday (that we created 15 years ago), but I got shy! So, I posted it on the website, and if you feel like reading it, you can click here. Or just scroll down if you are already reading this on the web.
On to the movies…COUNTRY STRONG is like the Gwyneth Paltrow version of last year’s CRAZY HEART…She is a messed-up, professional rehabber who is struggling to stay on tour and toe the line…but dang it, she just can’t quit her partying ways, or stem her feelings for tour mate Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund)…luckily, even during the powerful struggles, during the down times, during the bleak moments, she stays strong…country strong.
Who else stays strong? How about our little buddy, Harry Potter? And even perhaps his buddies Hermione and Ron. Sadly, Volde- I mean, He Who Must Not Be Named, still seems pretty damn strong, too. Country strong. Course that suckah has not been able to kill Harry yet, but not for lack of effort. In HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART ONE, he continues to give it the college try, but Harry continues to barely escape with his life. This 7th film is the very closest one yet to stay true to the flow of the book, which is why they had to make the film in two parts. I, for one, think it is the finest movie to date. The tension is thick, the fear and desperation is palpable, V-Diddy is as bad-ass as ever, and everyone who has been watching these movies for years is ready for serious action to go down! However, there is not a ton of action in this movie…Harry and friends spend much of their time wandering through the world, looking for horcruxes, without a solid plan, and with much friction between them. Basically, they are up Muggle-Creek without a wand. And until the next movie comes out, you are too!
HIGHWATER is a lush surfing documentary from the director of STEP INTO LIQUID.
There are also some new films from Claire Denis (WHITE MATERIAL), Francois Ozon (RICKY) and Michael Winterbottom (SUMMER IN GENOA) as well as the conclusive season of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: SEASON FIVE.
A couple neighborhood notes. First up, the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema is now taking entries for its 2011 season. Read all about it right here. The season will begin around Labor Day weekend.
The second thing I wanted to mention is a bit different. Anyone who has lived in Bernal for a while has noticed the bar Skip’s Tavern. Over the years, it has been a bit of a polarizing bar in the neighborhood. There have been some issues over the years, related to noise things that have mobilized a lot of people. Recently, a Bernal resident named Lisa Marie Delgadillo has been involved in trying to purchase Skip’s. She would like to clean it up and make it a nice place to have a drink and maybe listen to some acoustic music. She has lots of great ideas, a very positive outlook and seems to me to be exactly what the any neighborhood would look for in a local business owner. As a result of the problems that people have had with Skip’s over the years, Lisa is having a big uphill struggle to take ownership and begin all the awesome changes that she would like to implement. I, for one, support Lisa in her quest. Here at Four Star, I have some petitions that you could sign helping her show the proper authorities that she has the support of the some of the neighborhood. One of the petitions is one of full support; the other shows support for her taking over the bar without the entertainment permit. I really hope she gets the full Monty, because as a local musician myself, I would love to play sometimes to my friends and neighbors right on Cortland. Lisa also would be happy to talk with any of you about any concerns you might have and share her vision for the bar with you. Just leave her a note on one of these petitions, and she will get right in touch with you.
Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the stores.
Love and Kisses,
Ken
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............//NEW RELEASES//............
COUNTRY STRONG.****BD****
Drama/Music.
Gwyneth Paltrow/Leighton Meester/Tim McGraw/Garrett Hedlund.
Directed by Shana Feste.
* Country music is alive and kicking, at least on the silver screen. Following the success of CRAZY HEART, this film follows country star, Kelly Canter (Paltrow) as she tries for a big comeback while touring with new singer-star, Beau Hutton.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART ONE.****BD****
Adventure/Fantasy/Action.
Daniel Radcliffe/Rupert Grint/Emily Watson/Alan Rickman/Ralph Fiennes/Helena Bonham Carter.
Directed by David Yates.
* The penultimate film in the great series about good and evil in the land of wizards and muggles follows Harry on his final quest as he is searching for the horcruxes that Lord V-Diddy hid all over the world that will prevent him from dying completely, even without a body. Everyone recognizes at this point that it is kill or be killed for H-Pot, and Hermione and Ron are tagging along for the long ride. As they search far and wide the realization strikes them again and again that they don’t even know what they are looking for. Meanwhile, V-Tone and his evil henchmen (and women) are close behind and they certainly know what they are looking for. This film follows the book quite closely, and really matches the tone and anxiety of the tale. I give it four stars (out of four).
RICKY.
Comedy/Drama/Fantasy/Foreign (French).
Directed by Francois Ozon.
* This little fable is about a couple of normal people who hook up and give birth to an apparent angel.
SUMMER IN GENOA.
Drama/Romance (Italian and English, the language – not the Romance).
Colin Firth/Hope Davis/Catherine Keener.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom.
* After their mother dies in a car accident, two daughters move with their father to Italy to rebuild their lives.
SUMMER LOVE.
Romance/Erotic.
Directed by Robert Crombie.
TiMER.
Rom-Com/Sci-Fi.
Emma Caufield.
Directed by Jac Schaeffer.
* The premise here has something to do with a device that is counting down til the moment you meet your soul mate.
WHITE MATERIAL.
Criterion/Drama/War/Foreign (French).
Isabelle Huppert/Christopher Lambert.
Directed by Claire Denis.
* As a civil war rages in a country in Africa, a white French family tries to saves its holdings as their world violently crumbles beneath their feet. It is a very clear indication when a film has its first release as a Criterion film that is one not to miss. This intense, disturbing but beautiful film is no different.
............//DOCUMENTARY/............
HIGHWATER.****BD****
Documentary/Surfing.
Directed by Dana Brown.
* The maker of DUST TO GLORY and STEP INTO LIQUID is back with an amazing surf documentary centered around surfing’s Triple Crown competitions. Featuring incredible surf footage and insider interviews, if you are a lover of a tubular trip into the green room then you must watch this film.
............//TELEVISION/............
DOCTOR WHO: KINDA.
Television/BBC/Sci-Fi.
DOCTOR WHO: SNAKEDANCE.
Television/BBC/Sci-Fi.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: SEASON FIVE.
Television/Sports.
* The final season of one of the more popular television series over the last few years continues the story of a small Texas town obsessed with its High School musical, I mean football team.
............//NEW ON BLU/............
LE CERCLE ROUGE.
Criterion/Crime/Drama/Thriller/Foreign (French).
* This 1970 Melville classic is about a thief, a killer, the mob and a kitty-cat loving cop.
............//FAMILY/KIDS/............
THE GARFIELD SHOW V03: PRIVATE EYE VENTURES.
GO DIEGO GO: DIEGO SAVES THE WORLD.
MAX AND RUBY: RAINY DAY PLAY.
............//NEW ADDITIONS/............
JUDGEMENT AT NURENBURG.
* Somehow, we never had this important film…
............//THE REPLACEMENTS/............
21 GRAMS.
MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS.
****
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