**** new release list no. 121

Yo's,

A bunch of eclectic stuff this week. First off I must give props to Justin Timberlake (BLACK SNAKE MOAN). I was never a big fan of his dancing, but the guy can act! I guess every generation sees one member of a boy band make the switch to matinee idol. This week we feature a film with the last such successful transition: Mark Wahlberg (SHOOTER), otherwise known as Marky-Mark.

Speaking of boy bands, my band, The Dont's, was on tour this weekend in LA and Santa Barbara and we had funny movie experiences both nights. It is some sort of amazingly singular cultural experience sitting in a motel late at night watching movies...and it seems like more frequently than not you end up seeing something you may have heard of, but never saw (and maybe never wanted to see). In LA, we got back to our hotel around 2am after driving all day and playing a show and we desperately needed sleep. Not happening. Instead, we got hooked on some Hugh Grant/Gene Hackman vehicle from 1996 called EXTREME MEASURES. Gene is his most creepy as a doctor doing research on mostly poor people (in fact, who live underground in NYC and won't be missed). His hope is to cure paralysis by regenerating nerves, but his methodology is a bit barbaric. Hugh to the rescue! That movie lasted forever, but lying there in our beds (not unlike the paralyzed patients in the movie) we were riveted.

Night two saw us in Santa Barbara, again quite late and this time, with the disturbing reality of having to get up at 5:45am the next day to drive back to our great city in time for one of us to go to a baseball game (ok, fine it was me). We should have gone to sleep, we needed to sleep. Yet...THE FIFTH ELEMENT sucked us in. Ah, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich along with a really strange role for Chris Tucker. Space battles, aliens, ancient knowledge, dumb luck and a hot model in tights and some weird futuristic duct tape outfit (see photo above) - was this a hit or what? I don't know if it was, but it kept us up til the bitter end. Well, not so bitter at the very end there.

Anyhow, enjoy the films this week. Drop us a line and say hey.

Oh, and go over to this website and vote for all your favorite things about San Francisco for the SF Bay Guardian's Best of Bay issue.

Best regards,
Ken


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

BLACK SNAKE MOAN.
Drama.
Christina Ricci/Samuel L. Jackson/Justin Timberlake.
Directed by Craig Brewer.
* There’s some Cain/Abel in here, a bit of the Adam and Eve story, some serious Southern Blue, kinda mixed in with a bit of Three’s Company? No? Well, anyway, it’s not a “funny” movie, but I did laugh a few times. In a nutshell, what happens when a black farmer going through a painful divorce chains a white nympho abuse victim to his radiator? That is the question this film will answer for you.

CAFÉ SETAREH.
Foreign/Drama..
Afsaneh Bayegan/Pejman Bazeghi/Hamed Behdad.
Directed by Saman Moghaddam.
* This film examines the lives of three women living in Tehran and the challenges they face.

DEAD SILENCE.
Suspense/Horror.
Ryan Kwanten/Amber Valleta/Donnie Wahlberg.
Directed by James Wan.
* It’s quiet…too quiet. Actually, maybe it’s very loud. I’m not sure. What I do know is that a main character in this film is the ghost of a murdered ventriloquist. There’s a joke in here somewhere, but I can’t quite catch it.

PEACEFUL WARRIOR.
Drama.
Nick Nolte/Amy Smart/Scott Mechlowicz
Directed by Victor Salva.
* I am happy to report that Nick Nolte plays a character named Socrates! That alone is almost enough to make me psyched to see this film. Nick’s character meets Dan (Mechlowicz), a talented and vain athlete and helps him change his path. A serious feel-good movie.

PRIDE.
Drama.
Terrence Howard/Tom Arnold/Bernie Mac.
Directed by Sunu Gonera.
* A story about Philadelphia’s first African-American swim team and the challenges it faces from the ground up.

SHOOTER.
Action/Suspense.
Mark Wahlberg/Danny Glover/Rhona Mitra.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
* Marky-Mark’s character is named Bob Lee Swagger! Swagger is a former marine sniper who tries to get out, but is pressed back into action. Amidst double crossers and assassination attempts, Swagger retains his swagger as he tries to clear his name.

STONE MERCHANT.
Suspense/Drama.
Harvey Keitel/F. Murray Abraham, Jane March.
Directed by Renzo Martinelli.
* Keitel plays a stone merchant who is really a terrorist looking to bring the Western World to its knees with a horrific attack. The action involves a married couple who are set to become palms in the stone merchants’ deadly game.

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

MONK – SEASON 5.
Television/Comedy/Drama.
Tony Shalhoub.
Created by Andy Breckman.
* Season 5 of the quirky cult fave about the obsessive/compulsive private investigator Adrian Monk of San Francisco.

RENO 911: SEASON 4.
Television/Comedy
Created by Ben Garant/Kerri Kenney/Thomas Lennon.
* Season 4 of the very zany Comedy Central comedy about a bunch of pathetic cops from Reno.


............//FAMILY//............

ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT.
Kids/Animation.
Directed by Daniel Ivanick.



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**** new release list no.120

On towards another week. Lots of new stuff for everyone! This will be a short little post just sticking to the facts as it is late on Monday and I want to get this out before I pass out.

I saw THE STATION AGENT this week. What a brilliant movie! I highly recommend it. It was pointed out to me by one of you (Thanks Tish!). This is probably my favorite aspect of the film store. Talking movies.

This week I'd like to suggest you linger at the Criterion Collection which resides all the way to your left as you walk the door. Anything on these shelves is brilliant. Highlights of mine: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Beastie Boys Video Anthology, Grand Illusion, Fanny and Alexander, and Sweetie. My sister also highly recommends Schizopolis!

See ya at the shop,
Ken

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

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA.
Adventure/Family/Drama.
Josh Hutcherson/AnnaSophia Robb/Bailee Madison.
Directed by Gabor Csupo.
* Childhood is the land of dreams and escape and Terabithia is the place two young kids escape to, in this adaptation of the popular kids’ book. This is a story of bonds forged over imaginary landscapes as well as the simple story of a boy and girl finding a common ground.

GRAY MATTERS.
Comedy.
Heather Graham/Tom Cavanaugh/Bridget Moynahan
Directed by Sue Kramer.
* A comedy about a super tight brother and sister who try to find romantic partners for each other.

LIFE & HARD TIMES OF GUY TERRIFICO.
Mockumentary.
Kris Kristofferson/Merle Haggard.
Directed by Michael Mabbott.
* A faux doc about Guy Terrifico, legendary Country star!

LONGFORD.
Drama.
Jim Broadbent/Samantha Morton
Directed by Tom Hooper.
* Long Longford is a fictional British campaigner whose views and opinions spark furious controversy.

MAX & MONA.
Foreign/Drama.
Mpho Lovinga.
Directed by Teddy Mattera.
* Max Bua leaves his country home to go become a doctor in the big South African city of Johannesburg, only to discover that life will make up its own mind what you become..

MISS POTTER.
Biography/Drama.
Renée Zellweger/Ewan McGregor/Emily Watson.
Directed by Chris Noonan.
* Have you ever read a Beatrix Potter book? They are so freaky! Little animals in many very very not childish situations, dealing with quite dire situations at times. Zellweger plays Beatrix like one of her bunny characters, bounding exuberantly for a moment then lost in a dream.

MONSTURD.
Comedy/Horror.
Paul Weiner/Dan West.
Directed by Rick Popko and Dan West.
* Locally made horror spoof aiming to be for toilets what Psycho was for showers. Brilliant tagline: Don’t get caught with your pants down! Let’s just say that the bad guy undergoes a chemical transformation that makes him half-human half-feces.

RENO 911:MIAMI!.
Comedy.
Thomas Lennon/Robert Ben Garant/Kerri Kenney-Silver.
Directed by Robert Ben Garant.
* Reno cops, terrorist attacks, Miami Beach. Based on the popular Comedy Central television show, many folks find this “hysterical”!

STOLEN LIFE.
Foreign/Drama.
Xun Zhou.
Directed by Shaohong Li.

WAITING FOR HAPPINESS.
Foreign.
Kristen Stewart/Penelope Ann Miller, Dylan McDermott.
Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako.
* The story of two people who cross paths in the small coastal North African town of Nouhadhibou.

WR - MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM.
Comedy?
Milena Dravic/Jagoda Kaloper.
Directed by Dusan Makavejev.
* Part Wilhelm Reich therapy documentary, part Eastern European sexual liberation (with serious consequences) tale, this is a zany madcap journey into the Yugoslavian director Makavejev’s bizaaro world. Well worth the journey!

............//MUSIC//............

DAVID BOWIE: A REALITY TOUR.
Music.
David Bowie.
Directed by Marcus Viner.
* Excellent tour show from the master.

............//FAMILY//............

THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH.
Kids.
Winnie/Christopher Robin/Piglet/Tigger.
* Winnie gets mad props from his peeps .

............//NEW ACQUISITIONS//............

YESTERDAY TODAY AND TOMORROW.
Comedy
Sophia Loren/Marcello Mastroianni.
Directed by Vittorio De Sica.
* From the man who brought us THE BICYCLE THIEF comes this comedy about three different women (all played by Loren) and the social sexual politics they are governed by.

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****new release list no. 119

Comedy is so subjective! And yet people request recommendations for comedies more than any other genre. There is a rumor going around that I suggested NOTES ON A SCANDAL as a comedy. Although I do not think that is exactly true (it is NOT a funny movie, though it is true that I laughed a few inappropriate times and may have mentioned that to someone), it does illustrate the point. What is funny to me may not be the same thing that is funny to Amy, or Shila or anyone else behind the counter, or in front of it. Still, keep asking us for recommendations, because we are generally psyched to share our thoughts about the movies we watch. Personally, I have been on a quest to see as many comedies as possible in order to develop a better sense of what is funny! I am starting with THE SHINING...

This week, I recommend you check out our music section, it is so under-viewed and is chock-full of brilliance. Where is the music section, you ask? Not the musicals section (which is also amazing), but the music section. It is the low horizontal shelf parallel to and catty corner from the documentary section, next to the art and nature (and experimental, short, literature, etc) docs. Some of my personal favorites: JOHN AND YOKO'S YEAR OF PEACE following John Lennon and Yoko Ono on their attempt to gain recognition for the improbable concept of peace; FINISTERRE, a doc about London and it's music; BLANK GENERATION, the amazing music of the late 70's NY scene; TOM DOWD AND THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC, following the mixing genius of the man who mixed Layla, among other great rock tunes. I love this section; check it out!

We have a huge stash of stuff this Tuesday. A bunch of TV (STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, CITY OF MEN {replacement copies, finally }, DEADWOOD SEASON 3), bunches of documentaries with subjects ranging from music to mental health (THE BRIDGE, GLASTONBURY, AN UNREASONABLE MAN, AMERICAN ALOHA), as well as a slew of new cinematic releases (THE BREACH, RAINING STONES, GHOST RIDER, BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE, DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL, PRIMEVAL)...We've also replenished the library with some previously lost stock, as well as added a personal favorite of ours that I noticed we didn't stock: BURN!, a 60's era Brando film that is just awesome (but NOT funny!). That photo is him from this movie released in 1969 (same year I was released).

Dig it!
Ken

p.s. I play in a rock band - we play in the city all the time. We are called The Dont's. Ask me about them. You can hear our music here: www.myspace.com/thedonts


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

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE.
Horror/Suspense.
Agnes Bruckner/Hugh Dancy/Olivier Martinez.
Directed by Katja von Garnier.
* Yum-yum! Chocolate! But, I digress...The love between a young werewolf (Bruckner) and a human (Martinez) is the subject matter of this monster tale.

THE BREACH.
Suspense/Drama.
Ryan Phillippe/Chris Cooper/Laura Linney.
Directed by Billy Ray.
* Drama inside FBI headquarters! Is Hanssen (Cooper) a trusted agent -- or a traitor to his country? Agent O’Neill (Phillippe) is asked to find out.

CUBAN BLOOD.
Drama/Action.
Harvey Keitel/Iben Hjejle/Gael Garcia Bernal.
Directed by Juan Gerard.
* CUBAN BLOOD is set against the background of Cuban revolution in a little town that has been thus far insulated against the violence. However that will all change as Che (Keitel), a town leader, and Ricky (Bernal) a young revolutionary, are forced to confront a new existence of pain and suffering.

DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL.
"Comedy"/Romance.
Gabrielle Union/Idris Elba/Lou Gossett, Jr.
Directed by Tyler Perry.
* A working class dad joins forces with an ivy-league educated attorney to get his kids back from his drug-dealing ex-wife. A romance blossoms, but is threatened by cultural differences.

GHOST RIDER.
Action/Horror.
Nicolas Cage/Wes Bentley/Eva Mendes.
Directed by Mark Steven Johnson.
* You gotta love a movie where the devil is played by Peter Fonda. In this sold-your-soul to the devil flick, Johnny Blaze (Cage) is the seller, and as a result he is Satan’s bounty hunter at night and a world famous daredevil (?) by day. But wait, here comes Eva Mendes, and it’s time to throw the whole agreement out the window. But first: the big showdown with Blackheart (Bentley) the devils son. But this isn’t any Sanford and Son operation, no siree! Blackheart wants to take over Daddy’s op and the only one who can stop him is GHOST RIDER!

PRIMEVAL.
Suspense/Horror.
Dominic Purcell/Orlando Jones.
Directed by Michael Katleman.
* The cunning, blood-hungry, crazed, demonic, savage, flesh-eating killer is a 25-foot crocodile! Look out!

RAINING STONES.
"Comedy".
Bruce Jones/Julie Brown.
Directed by Ken Loach.
* A daughter’s first Communion and her need for a white dress, causes an out-of-work plumber (presumably, with plumber’s butt) to resort to extremes. Serious extremes, evidently involving his immortal soul and salvation. This 1993 film is just making its way to DVD.

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

DEADWOOD: SEASON 3.
Television.
Ian McShane/Molly Parker/Timothy Olyphant/Kim Dickens.
Created by David Milch.
* The third season of the massively popular HBO series set in the late 1800’s in the small South Dakota town of Deadwood.

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES: SEASON 1.
Television.
Leonard Nimoy/William Shatner/DeForest Kelley.
Created by Gene Roddenbury.
* By popular demand. Your mission? To boldly go where no man has gone before. Ask me to tell you my funny George Takei (Sulu) stories…

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

AMERICAN ALOHA: HULA BEYOND HAWAI’I.
Documentary.
Directed by Lisette Marie Flanary/Evann Siebens.
* Hula has come with many Hawaiians to the mainland.

AN UNREASONABLE MAN.
Documentary.
Ralph Nader/Pat Buchanan/Howard Zinn.
Directed by Henriette Mantel/Steve Skrovan.
* An in-depth look at the varied career of Ralph Nader and the legacy he has left behind.

THE BRIDGE.
Documentary..
Directed by Eric Steel.
* We obtained this doc about people who have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge with the hopes that it would be helpful. It is a graphic look at the lives and deaths of people who jumped from the bridge in 2004. Steel’s cameras were on the bridge from dusk to dawn every day that year, and as they felt someone was going to jump they called 911 immediately. 6 people were saved in that way. The other 24 jumped. This film is about those people; their lives, their stories and their pain.

GLASTONBURY.
Documentary/Music.
Bjork/Bowie/Cave/Brown/Bragg/Strummer.
Directed by Julien Temple.
* This is the 30th anniversary addition of Britain’s most famous music festival.

............//FAMILY//............

BEAR IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE: POTTY TIME WITH BEAR.
Children.
Bear/Treelo/Ojo/Potty.
Created by Mitchell Kriegman.
* Do you have a potty training toddler? This might be the movie for you.

............//MUSIC//............

SYSTEM OF A DOWN: PSYCHO MESSIAHS.
Music.
* A complete unauthorized biography of the seriously hard rocking metal band System Of A Down.

............//NEW ACQUISITIONS//............

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER.
Comedy.
Cathy Moriarty/Michelle Williams/Julie Delpy.
Directed by Jamie Babbit.
* Too bad, baby, you still are going to rehab for acting potentially like a lesbian.

BURN!.
Drama.
Marlon Brando.
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo.
* Quintessential 1969 Brando film about the British sugar trade in the Caribbean. First Sir William Walker (Brando) is sent to the island of Queimada to instigate a slave revolution to improve the trade; then he is sent to squelch it for the same purposes. Brando is amazing with long swashbuckling blond hair. A must see.

CITY OF MEN.
Television.
* This heavy hitting Brazilian television series was new in our store 6 months ago, but alas, we lost it. Now we have it again!

ONION FIELD.
Drama.
John Savage/James Woods/Ted Danson.
Directed by Harold Becker.
* A cop is wracked with guilt over the murder of his partner by two crooks.

PLANET EARTH: COMPLETE SERIES.
Documentary/Splendor.
This is just a second copy of this AMAZING 5 disc set. I noticed that the demand was great, so I picked up another one.

SLOW BURN.
Action.
Minnie Driver/James Spader/Josh Brolin.
Directed by Christian Ford.
* A wealth of diamonds forges an unusual partnership between a woman and two escaped cons all trying to recover the booty.


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****new release list no. 118

My kids and I played baseball up on a Field of Dreams this Sunday morning. Holly Park is where the dreamlike field existed. What an awesome park! It was bright and early and the ground was still wet with dew (hopefully) and we played baseball on the diamond. As we played I thought about the myriad of great baseball movies out there, and decided that as we get into summer, it is time to highlight the boys of summer with a Four Star favorites section dedicated to baseball.

I was thinking I would take a short poll about your favorite baseball movies and make sure we have every one of them in stock and then prominently display them by the front counter. I think my personal favorite is a little small budget film that I saw on HBO many years ago called LONG GONE that had the infamous line in it, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.” I hear that.





If you have a second to email me your favorite baseball movie I will make sure we stock it.



A quick hello and goodbye regarding the Four Star Staff: Justine is moving on after just a couple quick months. She is joining the circus!! We wish her well and be nice to the elephants, Justine! You may know Tulin Kinaci who is joining us for the summer. She is the sister of Sara who worked here for a good while. Tulin is going to college down south in the fall but will be at Four Star helping out until them. We are psyched to have her around.

Best regards,
Ken

ps There is a MAMMOTH amount of stuff on order, some I thought would be in this week, if I spoke to you about a request, rest assured, it is coming soon!

pps Huck wanted me to let you know he hit a lot of great hits on Sunday, including 3 that made it almost out of the infield and one that wacked me pretty hard in the belly.


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

THE MESSENGERS.
Horror.
Kristen Stewart/Penelope Ann Miller/Dylan McDermott.
Directed by Danny Pang/Oxide Pang.
* A family leaves the big city for the quiet life of a North Dakota farm. Surprisingly, it all goes sour. Violent ghosts create a disturbance for the family and the teen daughter must find a way to save them all.

NORBIT.
Comedy.
Eddie Murphy/Eddie Murphy/Eddie Murphy/Cuba Gooding, Jr/ Thandie Newton.
Directed by Brian Robbins.
* I thought Eddie really hit his stride in Dreamgirls. In fact, I would LOVE to see a whole movie based on that character. Sadly, this isn’t it. However if you are looking for a couple hours of laughter with one of the best physical comedians out there, Norbit may be your film. Eddie plays a variety of characters (a Chinese restaurant/orphanage owner, a mean junk food junky) as well as the title character Norbit, himself as we follow a sad sack’s tale about a nice guy making wine from sour grapes.


............//TELEVISIONS//............

RESCUE ME: THE THIRD SEASON.
Series.
Denis Leary.
Directed by Many.
* The stress and fears of life as seen through the eyes of a NY Fireman played by the caustically funny Denis Leary.

SEINFELD: THE EIGHTH SEASON.
Series.
Jerry Seinfeld/Jason Alexander/Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Michael Richards.
Directed by Many.
* The eighth season of the super duper popular series about nothing. Don’t hold it against me that I have actually only seen two episodes of this entire series ever. I laughed; I swear…I just didn’t watch much TV back then.


............//NEW ACQUISITIONS//............

MEATBALLS: SPECIAL EDITION.
Comedy.
Bill Murray/Chris Makepeace
Directed by Ivan Reitman.
* Spaz! Spaz! SPaz! SPAz! SPAZ! Early Bill Murray at his zaniest as a camp counselor for a bunch of social rejects.




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