**** new release list no. 113

Nanu Nanu,

Ah, spring! What a glorious bunch of days we have had this week. It almost makes you hopeful that summer will be warm...sigh.

This week we have bunch of new releases with some huge films (DREAMGIRLS, LITTLE CHILDREN) combined with some sleepers (ALPHA DOG, DIGGERS). We have several art docs (WHO THE #$&% IS JACKSON POLLOCK, MATTHEW BARNEY: NO RESTRAINT) as well as a couple family releases (HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER, THOMAS' TRUSTY FRIENDS). We also have a tie-em-up and misbehave horror film (THE HITCHER) as well as a collection of all 2006 Academy Award nominated films.

I am proud to report that some customer requests are finally getting filled (could that be the ground beneath my feet?) and more are on the way. In other store news, we are researching and preparing to buy a serious DVD repair machine which will help us to provide you with the best possible viewing experience available every time.

It occurs to me that I haven't mentioned staff in the blog since becoming an owner. We are sure that you have noticed new people behind our counter and we are also very lucky to have some holdover from the previous ownership. Helming the staff, we have Shila and Rhodes who have helped us so very much. They love the store and love the customers and have helped to guide us through the transition. We thank them tremendously. Justine and Andrew have been at the store for about month and are picking things up very well. We'd also like to extend a welcome to neighborhood local, Teri, who has just began working at Four Star this last week.

Please take note that our second year of the Cinema Scout program will start in mid-June. More about that next week.

One last note: Please come say bye-bye to Jeremy and Jamie on Saturday, May 5th!!! The party will start around 3pm and last until the eve... Hope to see you there.

Best regards,

Ken
Four Star Video





............**//RELEASE OF THE WEEK//**............


LITTLE CHILDREN.
Drama/Romance.
Kate Winslet/Patrick Wilson/Jennifer Connelly.
Directed by Todd Field.
* Ah, marital infidelity, sexual purgatory, playground fantasy, poopy diapers! Parenthood is sexy! Well, maybe it is when Kate Winslet lures you away from your partner, but wait! - your partner is Jennifer Connelly. Damn, what to do, what to do... Throw in a renegade ex-cop and a newly released from prison sex offender and you have the full parameters of this engaging and intriguing Todd Field film (IN THE BEDROOM) The movie is dark and tense and is another in a line of tales of suburban life highlighting the main question: is the grass greener on the neighbors lawn?
see also: American Beauty, Closer

............//NEW TITLES//............


THE 2006 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED SHORT FILMS.
Directed by many.
* Over 200 minutes of short films that were nominated in 2006.

ALPHA DOG.
Crime/Drama
Bruce Willis/Justin Timberlake/Alan Thicke
Directed by Nick Cassavetes.
Alpha Dog is a film inspired by true events about some youthful drug dealers and a kidnap gone terribly wrong. Justin Timberlake got major kudos for his role in this film.

LITTLE CHILDREN.
See Above: New Release of the Week.

DIGGERS.
Comedy.
Paul Rudd/Lauren Ambrose/Shannon Barry/Andrew Cherry.
Directed by Katherine Dieckmann.
* A funny, heartfelt 70s era period piece set in the still-unspoiled Hamptons area of Long Island, DIGGERS is the story of two generations of hard-living clam diggers trying to maintain their way of life in the midst of the enormous changes swirling around them.

DREAMGIRLS.
Action/Crime/Thriller.
Beyonce Knowles/Anika Noni Rose/Jennifer Hudson/Jamie Foxx/Eddie Murphy/Danny Glover.
Directed by Bill Condon.
* Based on the 1981 Broadway musical, this tale tracks the lives of three young women and their quest for pop stardom. Jealousy, greed, romance; all play a role in this fictional tale of loosely based on the band The Supremes.
see also: Chicago, Moulin Rouge!

THE HITCHER.
Action/Crime/Thriller.
Sean Bean/Sophia Bush/Zachary Knighton/Neal McDonough/Lauren Cohn
Directed by Michael Bay.
* Another chapter in the terrible tale of a couple on a road trip gone terribly terribly wrong. Yes, they pick up a hitcher, and what a snotty little nasty hitcher he is. Unfortunately, psychotic and homicidal as well.


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

WHO THE #$&% IS JACKSON POLLOCK?.
Documentary.
Teri Horton.
Directed by Harry Moses.
Teri Horton bought a $5 dollar painting at a garage sale which she thinks is a genuine Jackson Pollock painting. This doc tracks her quest to have the painting certified and the subsequent battle with the art world that has ensued.

MATTHEW BARNEY: NO RESTRAINT.
Documentary.
Matthew Barney.
Directed by Alison Chernick.
Love him or hate him, performance artist Matthew Barney certainly provokes emotion. This doc is basically a making-of his latest film DRAWING RESTRAIN, which follows him and his collaborator Bjork in a "a fantastical love story of two characters that transform from land mammals into whales." (IMDB). OK, then!

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

HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER.
Animation/Comedy/Family.
Sarah Michelle Gellar/Sigourney Weaver/Freddie Prinze Jr./George Carlin.
Directed by Paul J. Bolger.
* Many Disney characters band together to save the world from Cinderella's evil power hungry stepmother.


THOMAS & FRIENDS: THOMAS' TRUSTY FRIENDS.
Kids.
Thomas/Other Trains/Perhaps Animals.
The real questions are: Which friends? And - How trusty? You'll have to tune in to find out.


****