Howza! Another lovely week in paradise. Bernal Heights just rules! What a great weekend we had. Too bad the community pool behind the library doesn’t exist. Maybe we should pool our resources???
Some feedback I heard from customers in January was that whenever they came in to the store the movie they were looking for was out! Drat that! Anyway, you spoke and I heard. I have been buying significantly more copies of everything lately. I probably bought sixteen copies of only one or two titles in 2007. In 2008 so far, I have between 20 and 30 copies each of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, INTO THE WILD, MICHAEL CLAYTON, AMERICAN GANGSTER and I AM LEGEND. And around 16 copies of titles like DARJEELING LIMITED, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, BEE MOVIE, ATONEMENT, and as of this week WRISTCUTTERS. There is also a pretty big batch of movies with 8-12 copies. Just to let you know that your feedback is well taken!
The new releases did not show up on Friday like they usually do, so we had no chance to preview anything, and all I have to write about is what I’m reading about. So bear with me. The big ones of this week are WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY, which is a jaunt through the suiciders afterlife, and THE KITE RUNNER, a story about an Afghani expatriate (who lives in Bernal Heights in the book –not sure about the film) who goes back to Kabul on a dangerous mission to help an old friend. To see what else we have, just scroll on down.
Some local events of note:
This Saturday, Mar 29th local filmmaker Danny Plotnick is having a DVD Release party at Red Hill Books (at 7pm) celebrating the release of WARTS & ALL: THE FILMS OF DANNY PLOTNICK. Chuck Prophet will be performing music as well. We also have this movie as of this week, so if you can’t make it to the screening, please check it out here.
Also, on April 13th, between 9am and 2pm, Fairmount Elementary School (65 Chenery Street at Randall) is hosting a free E-Waste drop off to raise money for the school. You can drop off: computers, printers, monitors, etc. Here is a link to the information: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/com/615704463.html
Love and kisses,
Ken
............//NEW TITLES//............
THE KITE RUNNER.
Drama.
Wali Razaqi/Said Taghmaoui.
Directed by Marc Forster.
* Developed from the phenomenal book by Khaled Hosseini, which partially takes place right here in Bernal Heights! The story is about an Afghani family who moves under serious duress to the Bay Area. Some years later, the now-grown up son goes back to Kabul to try to help his friend and repair the pain of the betrayal that occurred around the time his family left. The book was so beautiful and full of such incredible imagery, I was lost in thoughts about it for months afterwards.
THE MIST.
Drama/Horror.
Marcia Gay Harden/Thomas Jane.
Directed by Frank Darabont.
* Stephen King’s horror tale about a storm that releases a lot of really nasty critters on a small town. I read this back in the 80’s. I remember something about a quite large spider being bothersome. No, not the spider from the end of IT, another spider! There do seem to be a lot of creepy critters in Mr. King’s books, don’t there?
PU-239.
Drama.
Paddy Considine/Radha Mitchell/Oscar Isaac.
Directed by Scott Burns.
* Tweaked out sounding tale of a nuclear (nucular?) poisoned man trying to sell some stolen plutonium to help his family after he dies.
THE SASQUATCH GANG.
Comedy.
Justin Long/Joey Kern/Jeremy Sumpter.
Directed by Tim Skousen.
* Silly tale of some fantasy geeks who find big tracks in the woods and wonder if it could be the Sasquatch!
THE SECOND TRACK.
Drama/Foreign (German).
Albert Hetterle.
Directed by Joachim Kunert.
* Dark post WWII Nazi noir classic about secrets unearthed years later in East Germany.
TRIPPING THE RIFT: THE MOVIE.
Comedy/Sci-fi/Animation??..
* South Park on Viagra in Space?
WARTS & ALL: THE FILMS OF DANNY PLOTNICK.
Indie/Local/Underground/Awesome.
Directed by Danny Plotnick.
* Danny is a local filmmaker who hopefully is still at the beginning of a fabulous career as an underground and independent filmmaker. He has screened his wonderful, strange and beautiful films all of the country and will be having a DVD release screening across the street at Red Hill Book this very Saturday night, March 29th at 7pm. I highly encourage you all to check it out. Also of note, his talented wife Alison Faith Levy is the keyboard player/singer in The Sippy Cups, local kid-rock superstars and also is in some of Danny’s films. Incidentally, my favorite of Danny’s collection is I, SOCKY, which is the tale of a Sock Monkey gone wild. Dude knows how to partay.
WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY.
Comedy/Drama.
Shea Whigham/Shannyn Sossamon/Tom Waits.
Directed by Goran Dukic.
* I was going to make this the release of the week, but the films didn’t come in time for me to preview this film. I have been hearing great things about it for months. It is the tale of a young man’s travels not just through the afterlife, but through that specific afterlife reserved for suicides. My sources say though it is about a sensitive and terrible subject, it is somehow a hopeful and even funny flick. I’m psyched to check it out.
............//TELEVISION....
MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 10.
Television/Crime.
* More bad stuff happens in the fictional county of Midsomer.
SHAMELESS: COMPLETE SEASON ONE.
Brit TV.
* Funny show about a group of siblings struggling to make it without their parents. The action is seen through the eyes of the 15 year old brother.
SUBURBAN SHOOTOUT: THE HOUSEWIVES ARE LOCKED AND LOADED.
Brit TV.
* Cuz they’re women with guns. G-g-g-g-g-guns. That was a line my mom wrote back when I was a kid. She wrote some punk lyrics, huh? Somehow seems appropriate.
............//DOCUMENTARY//............
JIMMY CARTER: MAN FROM PLAINS. ****WILL BE HERE ON THURSDAY****
Documentary.
Directed by Jonathan Demme.
* From IMDB: A chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
ROBYN HITCHCOCK: SEX FOOD DEATH & INSECTS.
Rock-Doc.
Directed by John Edginton.
* Inside the freaky mind of Robyn Hitchcock, former front man of THE SOFT BOYS, and solo artist supreme.
WHO IS HENRY JAGLOM.
Documentary.
Directed by Alex Rubin and Jeremy Workman.
* A look at Henry Jaglom, an independent director of feature films for 35+ years.
............//FAMILY//............
DARKWING DUCK: VOLUME 1.
Family.
* Very kooky looking kids series.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Family.
* “The Snow White Story Continues”!
............//NEW ADDITIONS//............
THE BONE COLLECTOR.
* Replacement DVD of this Denzel suspense tale.
DANGEROUS LAISONS.
* First DVD of this Glenn Close film. Have you been in the store while we’ve been looking for the VHS copy this week? It’s been pretty funny, in a sad kind of way.
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.
* Replacement DVD of this disaster film starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal.
ENCHANTED. BLU-RAY COPIES
* New release from last week now available on Blu-ray.
LOST HIGHWAY: SPECIAL EDITION.
* The David Lynch classic.
HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.
* In anticipation of our soon to be announced April 20th screening of this stoner classic.
ROMEO AND JULIET.
* Replacement DVD’s of the Franco Zeffirelli version starring, among others, Olivia Hussey.
WAVE TWISTERS.
* Replacement DVD from one time once highlighting the UNBELIEVABLE DJ stylings of DJ QBERT. This is a must watch for music lovers.
WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S.
* First DVD of this 80’s comedy starring Andrew McCarthy.
WHAT’S UP, DOC?
* First DVD of this Streisand classic also starring Ryan O’Neil and Madeline Kahn and directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
****
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