**** new release list no.131

All the TV, all the time. It was TV, TV at the top of the list.... Television, the drug of the nation!

Lots of television this week, which seems appropriate considering this coming weekend is opening weekend for the football season, which means a decent amount of us will have our butts firmly planted on/in comfortable couches in front of the tube every Sunday for the next 4 months. In between games you could check out the latest seasons of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, DIRTY JOBS, PRISON BREAK, NIP/TUCK and 30 ROCK.

There also good comedy, for when your team sucks (like mine) and you need a laugh: CLOSING ESCROW, DELTA FARCE, I’M REED FISH.

If it’s action you need, you can turn to BOBBY Z, or if it’s drama you are after, try GEORGIA RULE or Ken Loach’s THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY.

There is also a couple great Jarmusch films being released by Criterion this week (STRANGER THAN PARADISE, NIGHT ON EARTH) as well as some kiddie flicks for the junior set.

In store news, we will be posting FOURPLAY every other week starting this week, to give everyone a chance to check into the highlighted movies. Also, stop in and wish Tulin good luck, as she is off to college in two weeks. She was a terrific person to be around in the store this summer, and we’ll miss her and wish her well.

See you at the shop,

Ken

p.s. Look for recommendations on the film boxes from all of us behind the counter. This is the first step in what we hope will eventually be a full staff and customer peer review system. Let us know what you think.

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

BOBBY Z.
Action.
Paul Walker/Laurence Fishburne/Olivia Wilde.
Directed by John Herzfeld.
* A former Marine (Walker) who has somehow messed up bad enough to go to jail, is offered a way out: to impersonate Bobby Z, a recently deceased drug lord in a hostage negotiation. Nothing goes as planned, and soon the impersonator finds himself on the run with Bobby’s six year old son!

CLOSING ESCROW.
Comedy.
April Barnett/Andrew Friedman (not the one behind the counter at Four Star!).
Directed by Armen Kaprelian and Kent G. Llewellyn.
* A comedy about real estate? Do we San Franciscans have a sense of humor about this sensitive subject matter? I’m not sure…but this film is about a 3 way bidding war over some house that’s probably not worth it and the terrible stress it causes the families involved and the true mettle that emerges from the real estate agents – HILARIOUS!

DELTA FARCE.
Comedy/Action.
Michael Edward Rose/Larry the Cable Guy.
Directed by C.B. Harding.
* Three moronic reservists who think they are being hijacked to Iraq by a sadistic sergeant are actually dropped into Mexico. Since they can’t tell the difference between Mexico and Iraq (dang, they speak funny here in the Middle East) they put their skills to use and “liberate” a small town from the bad bad guys.

GEORGIA RULE.
Drama.
Lindsay Lohan/Jane Fonda/Felicity Huffman.
Directed by Garry Marshall.
* You may remember Garry Marshall as the genius behind HAPPY DAYS, LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, MORK AND MINDY and JOANIE LOVES CHACHI (okay, fine, I’m stretching it). Here he is faced with making a fictional piece about an out of control young adult (Lohan) who has broken one too many rule and is being sent away as a result. No, not to rehab, that’s Lohan’s real-life story – in Georgia Rule she is being sent to her steely tough grandma’s farm out in Idaho where family secrets are uncovered.

I’M REED FISH.
Comedy/Drama.
Jay Baruchel/Alexis Bledel.
Directed by Zackary Adler.
* Reed’s life is turned upside down on the eve of his wedding when an old high school crush returns to town.

WIND CHILL.
Horror/Suspense.
Emily Blunt/Ashton Holmes.
Directed by Gregory Jacobs.
* Its cold, really really cold. And scary! Really really scary.

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY.
Drama.
Cillian Murphy/Liam Cunningham/Padraic Delaney.
Directed by Ken Loach.
* Brutal civil war story about Ireland in the 1920’s. And two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

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

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: 3rd SEASON.
Television.
Teri Hatcher/Felicity Huffman/Eva Longoria/Probably some men.
* Season three in the sexy award-winning series about suburban women looking for love.

DIRTY JOBS: COLLECTION 1.
Television.
Mike Rowe.
* This show is pretty interesting as it digs into to some truly yucky jobs that people have to do. A true antidote for your current employment malaise.

NIP/TUCK: COMPLETE 4th SEASON.
Television.
Dylan Walsh/Julian McMahon.
* Season 4 finds the two plastic surgeons engaged in the nipping and tucking of women’s bodies again.

PRISON BREAK: SEASON 2.
Television.
Wentworth Miller/Dominic Purcell.
* In Season 2, the inmates have escaped and are on the run.

30 ROCK: SEASON 1.
Television.
Tina Fey/Alec Baldwin.
* A look, through the eyes of the head writer, at life backstage at a sketch comedy show.

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

BUY THE TICKET TAKE THE RIDE: HUNTER S. THOMPSON ON FILM.
Documentary.
Gary Busey/William F. Buckley/John Cusack/Johnny Depp/Benicio Del Toro/Bill Murray/Sean Penn.
Directed by Tom Thurman.
* A doc about the life and death of Thompson, with special emphasis on his dealings with Hollywood. If you are that special breed of Hunter S. Thompson fan, this is a must-see. If not, this is still are well made interesting portrayal of an American icon.

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

CHILL OUT, SCOOBY-DOO!
Family.
Scooby-Doo/Shaggy.

PRINCESS ENCHANTED TALES: FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS.
Family.

............//RECENT ACQUISITIONS//............

STRANGER THAN PARADISE.
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Criterion Collection Release.

NIGHT ON EARTH.
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Criterion Collection Release.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER.
Replacement DVD.

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