So begins a major push to jack up our DVD collection. This week you will find a bunch of classics (new and old) that we have previously only had on VHS. We are working hard to identify these movies and buy them without delay, so please note the ones you wish we had and let us know.
The most exciting new release this week comes from Judd Apatow, the guy who brought you THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN (see JJ, no big deal, you still have 4 years on that guy). In KNOCKED UP, we see a youngster (early 20’s, baked) capitalize on a moment of wonderful luck and grow from it. What a concept, huh? As a man who got lucky once himself about 15 years ago (and capitalized on it), I found this move beautiful and moving, and hysterically funny. I don’t know what it is about young stoners saying what they really think, but it is truly wonderful. I haven’t seen SUPERBAD yet, another raunchy comedy from the same actors/producers/writers, but I am already psyched about it.
We also have a wide array of other great look films, ranging from some foreign flicks (L’ICEBERG, TEN CANOES, THE GREEN CHAIR, WHO WAS KAFKA? TEKKONKINKREET, DREAMING LHASA) to some American flicks of many varieties with one word titles (NEXT, BUG, CHALK EVENING). There’s also some highly requested docs (51 BIRCH STREET, MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE ON FILM) some baseball shite (ULTIMATE BASEBALL COLLECTION, SPORTS CENTURY’S GREATEST ATHLESE: BARRY BONDS) and some great UK television (MIDSOMER MURDERS SET 9, CRACKER). We also have a couple new kids’ titles and a bunch of new acquisitions to our library.
Hope to see you all in the shop this week, and I also hope to see you at the PRIDE AND JOY party this Sunday at the rec center behind the library, and at the BERNAL HEIGHTS OUTDOOR CINEMA festival Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening.
Okey-dokey then,
Ken
p.s. Special thanks to Shila and Amy who wrote a couple of the reviews this week.
............//RELEASE OF THE WEEK//............
KNOCKED UP.
Uproarious Comedy.
Katherine Heigl/Seth Rogen.
Directed by Judd Apatow.
* The Freaks have done it again! If you're not laughing within the first five minutes of this film then maybe comedy is just not for you. A slacker/stoner meets a beautiful woman at a night club and has a highly unlikely encounter. It becomes clear that they had too much fun when the beautiful woman discovers that she is with child. The rest of the film is full of laughs as this odd couple tries to make a go of it with the help of a pack of stoners. P.S. Beware of the pink eye...
............//NEW TITLES//............
AS YOU LIKE IT.
Drama/Comedy.
Kevin Kline/Janet McTeer/Alfred Molina/Bryce Dallas Howard.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.
* Branagh doing what Branagh does best: Shakespeare, yo. He always seems to put his mark most brilliantly on Bill’s fine plays. In this one, misdirected love, cross-dressing, and elaborate scheming lead to a fine mess.
BUG.
Horror.
Ashley Judd/Michael Shannon/Harry Connick, Jr.
Directed by William Friedkin.
* What happens when you combine Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon and bugs that may or may not exist? Judd stars as trailer trash without the trailer who meets Shannon, a strange drifter who shares his particular brand of psychosis with her. This psychological thriller will have you wondering which characters are the crazy ones when the "bugs" begin to attack. Don’t let the bed bugs bite
CHALK.
Comedy/Drama.
Kaytea Brock/Troy Schremmer.
Directed by Mike Akel.
* A mockumentary-style look at the teaching profession, with all the humor and pain that it entails.
DREAMING LHASA.
Adventure/Drama/Mystery.
Jampa Kalsang/Tenzin Jigme/Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso.
Directed by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam.
* Filled with emotional music and stunning landscapes, this film is a “lost soul” story about the exiled Tibetan community. Specifically it follows Karma, a Tibetan who leaves her struggling life in NY to go to make a film about political prisoners who have escaped Tibet. She hooks up with a local who is spends his time online, doing what young men do online, and together they end up embroiled in a mystery.
EVENING.
Claire Danes/Toni Collette/Vanessa Redgrave/Meryl Streep.
Drama.
Directed by Lajos Koltai.
* An amazing cast stars in this film about a woman dying with her daughters around her as she remembers the key moments in her life and shares them with her family.
GREEN CHAIR.
Drama/Foreign (South Korea).
Jung Suh/Ji-ho Shim.
Directed by Cheol-su Park.
* This movie is pretty wild. It is a sexual exploration story about relationships, and the way that society views love and intimacy and the roles that we are expected to act out. The plot takes us through the love affair between a studly 19 year old and a sexy (but oh-so-old) 32 year old. She is arrested and briefly jailed for bedding this minor and upon release their relationship begins in earnest. The film vacillates between realism, and surrealism, and ends with a very bizarre banquet scene.
KNOCKED UP.
See above: Release of the week.
L’ICEBERG.
Comedy/Foreign (Belgium).
Lucy Tulugarjuk/.
Directed by Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon.
* When a middle-aged woman barely escapes death after being locked in a walk in cooler, she develops some icy fetishes that see her leave her family in Brussels behind for cooler horizons.
NEXT.
Action/Sci-fi.
Nicolas Cage/Julianne Moore/Jessical Biel.
Directed by Lee Tamahori.
* In this speedy thriller, Cris Johnson (Cage) can see the future. Mostly, he’d just like to hook up with some cute chick he sees in his life someday (a man’s gotta dream), but the FBI would rather use him to catch some nasty nuclear terrorists. Eventually, mayhem breaks loose.
TEKKONKINKREET.
Animation/Action/Foreign (Japan).
Directed by Michael Arias.
* Superbly drawn, beautiful Japanimation (no, not Afghanistanimation – What was that from?). If you like the way the Miyazaki films look, you will love these incredibly detail oriented, visceral images. The synopsis, in the words of an IMDB contributor: “BLACK and WHITE, two street urchins, battle an array of old-word Yakuza and alien assassins vying to rule the decaying metropolis of Treasure Town - where the moon smiles and young boys can fly.” Cool…
TEN CANOES.
Adventure/Comedy/History/Foreign (Australia).
Directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr.
* Highly recommended Aboriginal tale of courage, love and dignity. This movie is chalk full of some of the lushest scenery on earth
............//DOCUMENTARY//............
51 BIRCH STREET.
Documentary.
Directed by Doug Block.
* As documentary filmmaker Block is making a film about his family, his elderly mother dies, opening the door to much more information about his parents marriage and their lives then he ever expected, and maybe even wanted to know.
MARTHA GRAHAM: DANCE ON FILM.
Criterion/Documentary.
SIMON SCHAMAS: POWER OF ART.
Documentary.
Directed by Carl Hindmarch.
* This is actually a series in which Simon Schamas breaks down art like no one else. Requested by a customer, this looks like a wonderful work.
SPORTS CENTURY’S GREATEST ATHLETES: BARRY BONDS.
Documentary.
Barry Bonds.
* If you wanna cry about steroids, then go ahead and cry. But not to me. I’m not even a Giants fan, but I recognize Barry as one of the greatest to ever play the game. He could hit, he could run, he could field, and there really wasn’t any facet of his game that wasn’t at the top of the heap. Yeah, maybe he did some things to stay on top, but if you are gonna let someone cut into an arm and have ligament replacement surgery, which will make their arm stronger then it was before (believe me, high school students are having this as an elective surgery now), then you should not stop uber competitive athletes from taking whatever they want to keep their competitive edge. Besides, to all those who say that steroids is the end-all be-all of the sports story I just have two words to say: Marvin Benard. Case closed.
ULTIMATE BASEBALL: COLLECTOR’S COLLECTION.
Documentary..
* I just love baseball. Anyone with me?
WHO WAS KAFKA?
Documentary.
Directed by Richard Dindo.
* The director tries to track down the true nature of the enigmatic writer Franz Kafka.
............//TELEVISION//............
CRACKER: A NEW TERROR.
Television/Crime.
Robbie Coltrane.
Directed by.
* The last episodes of the popular UK crime/drama series about Dr. Eddie Fitzgerald.
MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 9.
Television/Crime.
John Nettles.
* Season 9 of the still running UK crime/drama series about FCI Tom Barnaby (Nettles) investigating murders around the community of Midsomer. Don’t move there, there’s lots of crime!
............//FAMILY//............
DORA THE EXPLORER: DORA SAVES THE MERMAIDS.
Dora.
TWEETY’S HIGH FLYING ADVENTURE.
Tweety.
............//RECENT ACQUISITIONS//.............
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI.
First DVD copy of the cult classic starring Peter Weller.
AFTER HOURS.
First DVD copy of the Scorsese classic starring Griffin Dunne, among others.
.
DEATH RACE 2000.
First DVD copy of this INCREDIBLE Stallone film about a race across the country where points are scored for hit and runs.
.
DIE HARD THREE.
Gearing up for LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.
DON’T LOOK NOW.
First DVD copy of the Julie Christie film.
.
HENRY FOOL.
First DVD copy of the prequel of Fay Grimm. A little late maybe, but better late than never.
.
KALIFORNIA.
First DVD copy of the early Brad Pitt film where he plays a psycho killer. Key line “This ain’t no Lucky Lager!”
LAST CIGARETTE.
First DVD copy of the documentary about cigarettes.
MONK: SEASON 5.
Replacement copy.
MURDER BY DEATH.
You have GOT to see this amazing film with a star studded cast– this is our first DVD copy.
A WOMAN WITHOUT LOVE.
Directed by Luis Bunuel.
* We have had this Bunuel film from 1951 since 1991 on VHS which has rented a whopping 9 times! Now it can be ignored on DVD.
****
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