**** new release list no.122

Today we are introducing a new element to the Star Gazer. It is called "Fourplay" and is designed to get you in the mood for some new releases by telling you about some movies that we have really loved in the past. Our Fourplay reviewer is John Lucas, a local film-maker and talented artist of many varieties…please email us with any feedback about Fourplay! Without further ado: Heeeeer'e Jonny!

****FOURPLAY****

I've been asked by my good friends Ken and Amy to participate in a regular film blurbage for Four Star. As they are truly freedom-loving citizens, they've left it up to me to interpret just what the heck they meant by this assignment. And in the spirit of that freedom -- as celebrated by our upcoming Independence Day -- I offer for your consideration these choice celluloid tidbits, to help celebrate the truly independent spirit of what some might call "America"...

Your Fourplayth of July recommendations:

BOTTLE ROCKET
If you've ever mowed the lawn, you know what a slippery slope you walk towards a life of crime. Owen Wilson stars as the unforgettable Dignan, an irrepressible optimist hellbent on a lifestyle of crime. James Caan plays the master thief and rotten apple of young Dignan's eye. This independent gem co-written by Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson offers perhaps the most poignant moment of amateur pyrotechnics ever seen on film. Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)

ON THE WATERFRONT
Karl Malden's epic nose goes head-to-head with union mobsters as a punch-drunk Marlon Brando wrestles with his conscience. Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb, and Eva Marie Saint round out a flawless cast that struggles with not-rocking-the-boat when they really know ship is going down. A little something for us all to chew on on this Independence Day. Directed by Elia Kazan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Streetcar Named Desire, Splendor in the Grass...)

GIANT
OK, this one may be longer than an opening disclaimer to a senate committee, but it's worth it. One of James Dean's three feature films, this bad boy was released after his fatal last ride. Dean floors it through all the curves with Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson, Sal Mineo, and the feature debut of Dennis Hopper, a legend of independence. Directed by George Stevens (The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Diary of Anne Frank, Shane...)

WITHNAIL & I
Lest we forget what all this independence hubbub is about, this English folktale plots two London dope fiends, played by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, against the end of the 60s. Much gnashing of teeth and paranoiac vacationing will have you raising Old Glory (or the likes) in a smoky toast to why we broke from Mother England. Directed by Bruce Robinson (How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Jennifer Eight, The Rum Diary)

So check 'em out and blow stuff up, you'll be one happy patriot. Next week's Fourplay will cover the unforgettable and no less patriotic works of to be continued...

****
See you at the store!

Best regards,
Ken


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

CHERRY CRUSH.
Suspense/Drama.
Nikki Reed/Julie Gonzalo/Jonathan Tucker.
Directed by Nicholas DiBella.
* He’s a rich-kid photographer struggling to toe his parent’s line; she’s a hottie psycho. What’s gonna happen? First; he takes hot photos of her. Second; he gets lured into her bad trip and becomes an accessory to murder.

DRIVING LESSONS.
Comedy/Drama.
Rupert Grint/Julie Walters/Laura Linney
Directed by Jeremy Brock.
* Sounds kind of like a modern-day Harold and Maude. Ben (Grint) is a shy teenager with an overbearing mom (Linney) in a conservative family who basically does what he is told to do. Until, that is, he gets employed by a freaky retired actress named Evie (Walters) whose life philosophy turns Ben’s world upside down. Ultimately, this film is a coming-of-age tale about taking control of your life.

GAMBLERS.
Foreign/Drama.
Pascal Elbe/Simon Abkarian/Isaac Sharry.
Directed by Frederic Balekdjian.
* Hustling and gang violence in gay Paree!

GEORGE LOPEZ: AMERICA’S MEXICAN.
Stand-up Comedy.
Geoge Lopez.
* George Lopez delivers his particular brand of hysterical stand up in this concert film.

HIGH TENSION.
Foreign/Horror.
Cecile De France/Malwenn Le Besco.
Directed by Alexandra Aja.
* This French film has been lauded by critics as a true horror film. It follows the very bad times of Alexa and Marie as they head on vacation to Alexa’s country home, but are terrorized by a masked killer. All is not as it seems. If horror is your genre, you must see this film.

JUST THE TWO OF US.
Drama.
Elizabeth Plumb/Alisa Courtney.
Directed by Jacque Peerson/Barbara Peters..
* A Vintage Collection piece, the tagline of this film is “The Tragedy of Today’s Lonely Housewife”. It is a sexy look into a young woman’s hidden desires…

ONIBI: FIRE WITHIN.
Foreign/Drama.
Yoshio Harada..
Directed by Rokuro Mochizuki.
* The middle in a trilogy of unrelated Japanese gangster-culture films.

PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS.
Comedy.
Elizabeth Reaser/Gretchen Mol/Justin Kirk
Directed by Maria Maggenti.
* Entertainment Weekly called it: “Woody Allen meets The L Word”. It is a NY story about a writer entangled in a few different relationships.

SABAH: LOVE STORY.
Comedy/Drama/Romance.
Arsinee Khanjian
Directed by Ruba Nadda.
* Sabah is a 40-year old woman living with her family in Toronto. When she meets Stephen at a city swimming pool, romantic feelings develop between them. The catch? She is a Muslim woman, and he is not a Muslim man. This simple difference becomes a culture clash that the family must confront.

THAT TENDER TOUCH.
Drama?.
Sue Bernard/Bee Tompkins.
* Another Vintage Collection lesbian from the same series as JUST THE TWO OF US.

OUR VERY OWN.
Suspense/Drama.
Jason Risser//Allison Janney/Cheryl Hines/Beth Grant/Hilarie Burton.
Directed by Cameron Watson.
* Indie-flick about five teenagers in 1970’s Tennessee looking for a life beyond their little world.

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

FUGAZI: INSTRUMENT.
Rock-Doc.
Fugazi.

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

CLATTERFORD.
Television/Comedy/Drama.
Suzy Aichtison/.Dawn French.
Directed by Mandy Fletcher.
* Super funny UK food series.

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

BLUE’S ROOM: LITTLE BLUE RIDING HOOD.
Kids/Animation.
Blue.

DORA THE EXPLORER: SUMMER EXPLORER.
Kids/Animation.
Dora/Friends.

GO DIEGO GO: READY, SET, GO!
Kids/Animation.
Diego.

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

CADDYSHACK.
Comedy.
Bill Murray/Ted Night/Chevy Chase/Rodney Dangerfield.
The golf classic.
* Replacement copy.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.
Drama.
Elijah Wood.
Directed by Live Schreiber.
* Replacement copy.

OLD SCHOOL.
Comedy.
Will Ferrell.
Hijinks of the old school variety.
* Replacement copy.

SLOW BURN.
Drama/Suspense
Minnie Driver/James Spader..
Directed by Christian Ford.
* We have this on VHS, just got it on DVD.

THIEVES LIKE US.
Drama/Suspense.
Keith Carradine/Shelley Duvall.
Directed by Robert Altman.
* 1974 film about fugitive gangsters in 1930’s Mississippi.

TICKETS.
Comedy/Drama..
Directed by Ken Loach and others.
* Replacement copy.


****

**** 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.



****

**** 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.

****

****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.


****

****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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****new release list no. 117

Hey Movie Lovers,

We have a very few releases this week -- not sure why, but our distributor had very little coming out this week. In fact the only major release is the new Hannibal film which they were not even able to sell us. Huh - you say. Yes, it’s true, for whatever reason some of the film studios are now cutting strange deals that dictate where there movies can be sold. Even more strange, I can go and buy the movie from (Insert any corporate name here) and then rent it to you, I just cannot buy it directly from the source. Why?

Because the sky is blue.

However, the sky is blue, and that’s pretty, so I won’t complain.

We do have two new TV series this week, both strong example of a certain time. First off, it’s THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW. Considered by many to be ahead of its time when it aired in the early 1990’s, this was one of the first HBO series. It is about a talk show host played like a dry martini by Gary Shandling, and the goings-on backstage with the writers and producers of the show. The Larry Sanders Show aired for 6 seasons. We’ve gotten one copy of Season 1 and if it is popular, we’ll get more copies as well as the rest of the seasons. Let us know if you like it!

Then there’s MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN. “In the first year, Mary suffered the travails of mass murder, adultery, venereal disease, homosexuality, religious cults, and UFO sightings, before she finally succumbed to a nervous breakdown on a syndicated talk show”. – IMDB. So there you go. If that’s not comedy, what is.

In the feature length film department, we have a film about the early days of a mean-spirited psychiatrist jerk that might eat you (HANNIBAL RISING), a foreign film based in Israel and Jordan with the young actress Natalie Portman (FREE ZONE) and an independent movie about the quest for human and spiritual evolution (THE BODHISATTVA).

Hope you enjoy them.

One final note: Rhodes is still growing his mustache.

Best regards,
Ken

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

HANNIBAL RISING.
Suspense/Drama/Horror.
Gaspard Ulliel/Gong Li/Rhys Ifans/Dominic West/Helena Lia Tachovska/Kevin McKidd.
Directed by Peter Weber.
In the most chilling chapter in the life of Hannibal Lecter, find the answer to the most elusive question of all – why? Reaching back to explore the origins of Lecter’s rage, terror and savagery, the story begins in Eastern Europe at the end of World War II when a young Hannibal watches the violent death of his parents – a horrific moment that changes him forever. Showing a cunning aptitude for science, he hones his skills to exact justice on those that hurt his family, igniting an insatiable lust within a serial killer who was not born, but made. – Ingram Entertainment

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

FREEZONE.
Drama/Foreign.
Natalie Portman, Hana Laszlo.
Directed by Amos Gitai.
* When Rebecca (Portman) breaks off her engagement with her Israeli fiancé, she stumbles into a cab (in Jerusalem) driven by Hanna who is heading to Jordan’s Free Zone to recover a debt owed to her family by a mysterious American. Reluctantly, Hanna lets Rebecca accompany her. In English, Hebrew and Arabic with subtitles.

HANNIBAL RISING.
See Above: Release of the Week

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

LARRY SANDERS: 1st SEASON.
Series.
Gary Shandling.
Created by Gary Shandling and Dennis Klein.
* A very funny look at the backstage chaos of a talk show. This ground breaking series from HBO was nominated for and won numerous television awards in the mid 90’s.

MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN.
Series.
Louise Lasser/Greg Mullavy.
Directed by Jim Drake and Bob Lally.
* Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was set in a fictional town in Ohio and followed the totally crazy and demented life of Mary Hartman.

............//INDIE/EXPERIMENTAL//............

THE BODHISATTVA.
Independent/Drama.
Greg Grady/Celeste Dubois/Allison Garcia/Jeffrey Jones.
Directed by Robert Rico.
* I am not sure how this tweaky and surreal film arrived at Four Star Video, but I’m glad it did. It follows the surreal and metaphysical confrontation between a young preacher in a small town in California and a shamanistic vision-quester in search of a spiritual evolution.
Read more about it here.





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**** new release list no. 116

Howdy Doody,

This week has seen a couple very exciting changes internally at Four Star Video, as well as a very big announcement. The first is that we have promoted long time staff members Shila Evanchak and Rhodes Yepsen to Co-Managers. They are both terrific and we are very lucky to have them. Big thanks go to them for making the store such a great place to be!

The second is that our long-awaited DVD repair machine has arrived! We are very excited about this as we will be using this machine to continue to provide you with the best possible viewing experience available. Soon we will also be offering the possibility of cleaning your personal CD’s, DVD’s and game discs at our store. We are currently working on that program and will let you know when it is ready.

Our announcement is that we were selected as BEST VIDEO STORE IN SAN FRANCISCO by the SF WEEKLY. Holy smokes! We are so honored by this selection. We promise to continue the great tradition that has been established here. Thank you very much for patronizing Four Star Video.

Now, on to the movies.

This week we have a great selection of foreign films (THE CONSUL, THE ITALIAN, VASKA EASOFF, VENUS) as well as some domestic films that take place in other countries (LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, THE GOOD GERMAN, APOCALYPTO); we have a farce (EPIC MOVIE) a doc about the world (WHERE IS THE WORLD GOING, MR. STIGLISTZ), and we are rounded out by four new kids titles (two HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON’s and two (IT’S A BIG BIG WORLD’s)

Hope you enjoy them.

One final note: Rhodes is growing a mustache as a part of a mustache-a-thon to raise money for 826 Valencia to support writing programs for kids ages 6 to 18. You can read about it and sponsor him here.

Best regards,
Ken

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

VENUS.
Comedy/Drama/Romance.
Peter O'Toole/Leslie Phillips/Jodie Whittaker/Vanessa Redgrave/ Richard Griffiths.
Directed by Roger Michell.
* Two elderly actors (in script and reality) share sharp rapport, comparing notes on their medications and failing bodies as they drift through the dog days of their 70’s. When Ian’s (Leslie Phillips) grandniece comes to London to care for him, his life is turned upside down by her surly, self-centered and willful personality. While Ian is completely undone by Jessie (Whittaker – who delivers a mature performance just one year out of acting school), Maurice (the terrific O’Toole) is fascinated and intrigued, and eventually in love with her. Vanessa Redgrave is the latest British actress to act her age without apology. Why is it that American actresses are shunned after 50 but British women seem to come into their own? I, for one, am enjoying tremendously the thriving careers of Helen Mirren, Judy Dench and Vanessa Redgrave. With the amazing Richard Griffiths.

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

APOCALYPTO.
Action/Drama.
Rudy Youngblood/ Dalia Hernández.
Directed by Mel Gibson.
* It is quite hard to wrap my brain around Mel Gibson. His American accent is so good. That’s impressive. Did he play Crocodile Dundee? I digress. Apocalypto is a visually stunning piece about the desperate, violent end days of the Mayan kingdom. It follows a young man who initially seeks to avoid his horrific, sacrificial fate, who instead decides to attempt to change the system from within (hmmm). As Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat says “Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but that sadomasochistic anti-Semite knows how to shoot a movie”. Word.

THE CONSUL.
Comedy/Action.
Piotr Fronczewski, Maria Pakulnis.
Directed by Miroslaw Bork.
* A late 80’s Polish film just making it’s way to DVD, this is a tale of a con-man just released from jail and ready to get back into his old game of trickery and deception.

EPIC MOVIE.
Comedy.
Kal Penn/Adam Campbell/Jennifer Coolidge/Jayma Mays/Faune A. Chambers/Crispin Glover/Carmen Electra.
Directed by Jason Friedberg/Aaron Seltzer.
* If you’re bothered by the 17 out of 100 this film got from Metacritic then you just don’t understand. Carmen Electra and Crispin Glover in the same film. Need I say more about this spoof of current cinema?

FAY GRIM.
Action/Thriller.
Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum.
Directed by Hal Hartley.
* A ten-years later sequel of sorts to the indie-fave Henry Fool, Fay Grim follows the title-named character in what becomes an international madcap adventure somehow relating to national security. Hal has taken a leap. Parker looks great as always.

THE GOOD GERMAN.
Drama/Mystery.
George Clooney/Cate Blanchett/Tobey Maguire/Beau Bridges
Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Based on the novel by Joseph Kanon, The Good German takes place in the ruins of post-World War II Berlin, where U.S. Army was correspondent Jake Geismar (Clooney) becomes embroiled with Lena Brandt (Blanchett), a former lover whose missing husband is the object of a manhunt by both the American and Russian armies. – WB

THE ITALIAN.
Drama/Foreign.
Kolya Spiridonov.
Directed by Andrei Kravchuk.
* A 5 year old Russian boy is living in a run-down orphanage in Russia and is being adopted by a well-off family from Italy; however he longs to find his real mother at any cost.

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.
War/Drama.
Ken Watanabe/Kazunari Ninomiya/Shido Nakamura.
Directed by Clint Eastwood.
* Made at the same time as Flags Of Our Fathers, this film focuses on the Japanese soldiers defending the island of Iwo Jima against the attacking Americans.
See also: Flags Of Our Fathers

VASKA EASOFF.
Comedy/Foreign.
Maksim Sergeyev.
Directed by Péter Gothár.
* Two robbers (the town robber and the village robber) form a robber alliance and engage in phantasmagorical escapades that quite possibly include one of them storing the other’s no longer attached head in a large pot of strawberry jam only to re-attach it soon after. Yes!
See also: Black Cat, White Cat

VENUS.
See Above: Release of the Week

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

WHERE IS THE WORLD GOING, MR. STIGLITZ.
Documentary.
Joseph Stiglitz.
Directed by Jacques Sarasin.
* By golly, Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist for the World Bank, will sit and tell you for six hours worth on two DVD’s. Mr. Stiglitz will lecture on a wide range of topics.


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

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON: LET YOUR IMAGINATION SOAR.
Kids.
Harold/The Purple Crayon.

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON: NEW WORLD’S TO EXPLORE.
Kids.
Harold/The Purple Crayon.

IT’S A BIG BIG WORLD: THE EARTH NEEDS YOU.
Kids.

IT’S A BIG BIG WORLD: SAFE AND SOUND.
Kids.




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