Buenas tardes amigos. Hola, my good friends.
The strange batch of releases this week include three (3) films about a young woman who falls for her teacher. Wow! I guess that is what the focus groups said we wanted to watch. At least two of them involve the woman also having an age-appropriate relationship, so a nice love triangle is added to the mix. Also, two of them or decidedly not Hollywood-ish, with one being from France (LA BELLE PERSONNE) and another being a freaky-deaky Indie film (DAYDREAM NATION, starring Kat Dennings). Lest we dismiss the Hollywood offering, THE OTHER WOMAN stars Natalie Portman, so something tells me it is worth seeing as well. Gosh, an Academy Award will really bring out the smaller releases from yesteryear, won’t it? This Portman film is from 2009.
There is also some suspense and horror at Four Star Video this week. I know, I know, I don’t order a ton of horror films. I hear it from the staff all the time. This week, however, we got you covered, with something old, something new…you know the drill. The older film is from the master, Dario Argento, called DEEP RED about a musician who witnesses a murder and the journalist who helps him investigate. In the newer department, we have two films, both sequels to THE GRUDGE from Mari Asato. Also, RITE, starring Anthony Hopkins is out this week. It is the tale of a young seminary student who travels to Italy to take part in an exorcism class. Sounds like a party! I hope these films are nice and terrifying!
The fabulous action hero, Jason Statham, teams up with upcoming star Ben Foster in a remake of a 1972 Charles Bronson film about a hitman and a young apprentice who he trains who is harboring a secret.
We also have a classic by Vittoria De Sica (the director of the amazing film BICYCLE THIEVES). In SHOESHINE, two young boys get involved in a life of crime in order to finance the purchase of a horse that they desire. Sadly, things get more complicated than they bargained for.
Don’t they always?
Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the stores.
Love and Kisses,
Ken
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............//NEW RELEASES//............
LA BELLE PERSONNE (THE BEAUTIFUL PERSON).
Drama/Foreign (French).
Louis Garrell/Lea Seydoux.
Directed by Christophe Honore.
* One of three films this week about a young woman who hooks up with her teacher. This one, much like DAYDREAM NATION (right below), follows a sad girl who has just lost her mother and has moved to a new town where she hooks up with both a nice high school boy, and her Italian teacher.
DAYDREAM NATION.****BD****
Drama/Romance.
Kat Dennings/Reece Thompson/Josh Lucas.
Directed by Michael Goldbach.
* Trippy-made tale about a high school girl, new in town, who gets involved with a teacher and a stoner classmate.
DEEP RED.
Horror/Foreign (Italian).
Directed by Dario Argento.
* This is a lesser known Argento thrill-fest from 1975 about a reporter and a musician teaming up to find a killer intent on not getting caught.
JU-ON: WHITE GHOST BLACK GHOST.
Horror/Foreign (Japanese).
Directed by Mari Asato.
* Ah, I see, this is actually two movies, both sequels to the Japanese horror film, THE GRUDGE. They are both released together on one disc.
THE MECHANIC.****BD****
Action/Suspense/Crime.
Jason Statham/Ben Foster/Donald Sutherland.
Directed by Simon West.
*Statham plays Arthur, a highly regarded hit man with a penchant for getting the job done. Steve (Foster) is a younger guy who becomes his apprentice. Unfortunately for Arthur, Steve has a few secrets that he is preparing to share.
THE OTHER WOMAN.****BD****
Comedy/Drama/Romance.
Natalie Portman/Lisa Kudrow/Lauren Ambrose.
Directed by Don Roos.
* This 2009 film is just making it to DVD. Interesting how Portman is everywhere in the movies recently. She’s terrific, so I am not complaining. In this, she plays a young woman who is the “other woman” in an older married man’s life. When he divorces to marry his pregnant girlfriend, his young son is super unhappy and angry. In a way, the feeling is mutual, as Portman’s character doesn’t really want to share her new husband. The movie has comedic elements, but eventually gets quite serious.
RITE.****BD****
Horror/Suspense.
Anthony Hopkins/Ciaran Hinds/Alice Braga.
Directed by Mikael Hofstrom.
* An exorcism film starring one of the best creepy actors of our time, Anthony Hopkins. The basic tale is of a young American student who travels to Italy (ah, Italia!) to take a course in exorcisms.
THE ROOMMATE.
Suspense.
Leighton Meester/Minka Kelly.
Directed by Christian Christiansen.
* This is a little updated version of SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, but perhaps a bit tamer.
SHOESHINE.
Drama/Classic/Foreign (Italian).
Directed by Vittorio De Sica.
* In this feature film made just two years before his triumph THE BICYCLE THIEVES (one of my top 10 films of all time), this film follows a couple of shoeshine kids whose hopes of owning a horse of their own are dashed when they get involved in a shady deal involving stealing money from an older woman. Once they get to jail their fates are sealed and soon their friendships have eroded and they are both spinning – in opposite directions.
............//DOCUMENTARY/............
ARAYA
Documentary/Industry/Foreign (Spanish).
Directed by Margo Benacerraf.
* This was a darling at the Cannes Film Festival in…1959, yup you read that right. It examines the life of a “salineros”, miners working an old salt mine in Venezuela.
WARTORN: 1861-2010
Documentary/War/HBO.
* This emotional documentary examines soldier’s lives over the last 150 years and questions why the suicide rate among veterans has grown higher over time.
............//NEW ON BLU/............
BEVERLY HILLS COP.
Drama.
* I’m just burnin’, doin’ the neutron dance - oohoo.
JAGGED EDGE.
Drama.
* Remember this one with Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges?
............//KIDS/............
FRANKLIN AND THE GLOOMY DAY.
NICK JR.: FOOD WITH FRIENDS.
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