Monday, June 13, 2011

****new release list no.322

Hey peeps! Its mid-June 2011, for those of you living on an island with a calendar or the internet. How are you reading this? Nevermind.

We had a monster week of releases last week, and this week is pretty big again. HALL PASS, starring Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Richard Jenkins and Christina Applegate imagines the hijinks that would ensue if a couple married women gave their husbands “hall passes” to get into whatever sexual situations that they want to for one week without any fear of trouble. Of course, the women get hall passes, too. Which somehow gives the dudes a bit more problems than they bargained for. What I want to know is why these guys are complaining, considering the women they are married to. They are super smart, hot women! I guess the ass is always eener. Typo!

In RED RIDING HOOD, Amanda Seyfried plays the young lassie who lives in a medieval village that is beset with a problematic werewolf who lately is chowing people at an alarming rate. Valerie (as Red is named here) is struggling with the usual love story…she wants to marry one guy, and her folks want her to marry another. Things get further complicated when the werewolf hunter the town hires points out that probably the werewolf is one of them. Spooky!

Aaron Eckhart, in the new film BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, plays a marine near the end of his career who makes his last stand fighting off aliens in Los Angeles. Michelle Rodriguez kicks some alien butt as well.

Chris Messina and Rashida Jones play a couple preparing for marriage who are struggling with cold feet in MONOGAMY. Messina’s character is a photographer who, bored with his regular wedding gigs, begins a new business stalking his clients and taking voyeuristic shots of them.

Are you worried about the bees? There has been a relatively shocking and not very explainable disappearance of them over the last decade. The documentary VANISHING OF THE BEES takes on this confusing topic and attempts to come to some conclusions.

There are a huge amount of new kids DVD’s, including a bunch of LITTLE RASCALS among other things. Also, there are some good older films newly put out on Blu-ray, including the animation classic HEAVY METAL. Scroll down to read about all the films.

It is that “Best of” time of year again. Help Four Star get the city-wide recognition it deserves! You can vote for us for Best Video Store on page four of the poll. Hey, while you’re there, write in Succulence as Best Funky Plant Store, too (I think you’ll have to make up that category). Last year, Succulence was voted best Succor or Succulence by the staff of the Guardian.

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

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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

A MATADOR’S MISTRESS.
Drama/Romance.
Adrien Brody/Penelope Cruz.
Directed by Menno Meyjes.
* This is a love story based on a real life matador and the woman he loves.

ADRIFT.
Drama.
Camilla Belle/Vincent Cassel.
Directed by Heitor Dhalia.
* Set in the 80’s, this is a coming-of-age story of a teenage girl who discovers her father’s infidelity while on vacation with him, and then discovers many other secrets.

BATTLE LOS ANGELES.****BD****
Action/War.
Aaron Eckhart/Michael Pena/Bridget Moynahan/Michelle Rodriguez.
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman.
* Los Angeles is mercifully destroyed by aliens…Hold on. Wait, that’s not it…Los Angeles is the last place NOT yet destroyed by aliens, and where a tough aging Marine captain (Eckhart) has his last stand, trying to protect earth from the invading force. And, of course no action film would be complete with Michelle Rodriguez blowing stuff up.

BIG MOMMA: LIKE FATHER LIKE SON.
Comedy/Action.
Martin Lawrence/Brandon T. Jackson.
Directed by John Whitesell.
* Big Momma goes undercover with his step-son at an all-girls school.

CHATROOM.
Drama.
Aaron Johnson/Imogene Poots.
Directed by Hideo Nakata.
* Parents pay close attention! Kids wearing black are probably worshipping satan! Wait…what? Wrong decade? That was the 80’s? Okay…Parents pay close attention! Kids spending a lot of time online are probably pretending to be people they are no while videoblogging their worst behavior behind your back! Or maybe that’s just what these snide kids are doing…in the Chatroom!

HALL PASS.****BD****
Comedy/Romance.
Owen Wilson/Jason Sudeikis/Christina Applegate/Jenna Fischer/Richard Jenkins/Amanda Bynes.
Directed by Peter Farrelly Bobby Farrelly.
* How’s your marriage? Wish you had a “hall pass” for some bad behavior that will be forgiven? That’s what Rick (Wilson) and Fred (Sudeikis) think. When their wives acquiesce and they are granted their freedom, they are completely incompetent and barely able to do anything but giggle at their options. Meanwhile, their wives are free that week, too, and not wasting time…

INSIGNIFICANCE.
Criterion/Comedy.
Gary Busey/Theresa Russell.
Directed by Nicolas Roeg.
* This strange fable-like film from 1985 imagine four 1950’s era icons (Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joseph MacCarthy) meeting in a hotel room. The director of this also made WALKABOUT and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH.

JACKASS 3.5 THE MOVIE.
Drama/Crime.
Johnny Knoxville/Chris Pontius.
Directed by.
* These guys are total jackasses.

KILL THE IRISHMAN.
Drama/Crime.
Val Kilmer/Christopher Walken/Linda Cardelini/Vincent D’Onofrio.
Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh.
* From the imdb: The true story of Danny Greene, a tough Irish thug working for mobsters in Cleveland during the 1970's.

KORKORO.
Drama/Foreign (French/German/Romany).
Directed by Tony Gatlif.
* From the director of 1993’s acclaimed Gypsy documentary LATCHO DROM, comes this story of a Gypsy family traveling in France during World War II. They are arrested for being nomads and imprisoned, and deal with the indignities of being vilified for their lifestyle. However, when given an opportunity to get out of jail and live on gifted property, their ingrained need for movement prevents them from settling down.

LATINO.
War/Drama.
Directed by Haskell Wexler.
*A drama from 1985, this film is set in Nicaragua and deals with the rebel Contras fighting the Sandinista government.

LEGEND OF THE FIST: THE RETURN OF CHEN ZHEN.****BD****
Action/Foreign (Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese/English).
Donnie Yen.
Directed by Wai-keung Lau.
* Seven years after supposedly being killed a young man returns to wreak his vengeance.

THE MAKIOKA SISTERS.
Criterion/Drama/Foreign (Japanese).
Directed by Kon Ichikawa.
* This lush and sensual story tells about four sisters who gather each year in Kyoto to see the gorgeous cherry blossoms. In 1984, this film was heavily nominated for Japanese Film Academy Awards.

MARVEL KNIGHTS: SPIDER-WOMAN.
Adventure/Animation.

MONOGAMY.
Drama/Suspense.
Chris Messina/Rashida Jones/Meital Dohan
Directed by Dana Shapiro.
* A photographer, struggling with his upcoming nuptials and bored with his life, begins a creepy side business taking voyeuristic stalking photos of his new clients…this creates disharmony and stretches his truth telling capabilities.

RED RIDING HOOD.****BD****
Suspense/Fantasy.
Amanda Seyfried/Gary Oldman/Lukas Haas.
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
* Valerie (Seyfried) is NOT little, thus the title. She is, however, a very attractive woman in a red hoodie, which garners her much attention in the medieval village she lives in. But who is the wolf? That is the question the village must ask itself when they bring in a famous werewolf hunter to help them fend off the nasty human eater lingering in the woods when the moon is full. Like everyone else, he wants to eat Valerie cuz she does looks tasty in that red riding hood.

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

VANISHING OF THE BEES.
Documentary/Nature.
Narrated by Ellen Page.
Directed by George Langworthy and Maryan Heinen.
* This film examines the relationship between humans and honey bees and the bizarre situation called Colony Collapse Disorder which has led to the disappearance of millions of bees.

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

DOCTOR WHO: FRONTIOS.
Sci-fi TV.

DOCTOR WHO: TIME AND THE RANI.
Sci-fi TV.

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

BOB THE BUILDER: BIG DINO DIG THE MOVIE.

HAVE A LAUGH VOL 3.

HAVE A LAUGH VOL 4.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 1.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 2.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 3.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 4.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 5.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 6.

THE LITTLE RASCALS: VOL. 7.

SPONGEBOB: HEROS OF BIKINI BOTTOM.
* Uh…

YO GABBA GABBA: CIRCUS!

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

HEAVY METAL.
* I remember watching the preview for this movie while sitting in the theatre with my dad getting ready to watch STRIPES and being somewhat dumbfounded and super crazy intrigued.

JOHNNY MNEMONIC.
* This movie takes place in 2021…just ten years from now…Accurate portrayal of the future?

TRANSFORMERS.

............//THE REPLACEMENTS/............

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
* Remains one of my top ten movies.

************

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