****new release list no.240

Halloween is this weekend. Is everyone ready? I’m not. Then again, I really never am. Truth be told, in the past, I always treated every day like Halloween and then I usually stayed home with the lights out on Oct 31st. Now with kids, it’s a whole new ballgame. Each year we philosophize about costuming, litigate about candy consumption, hypothesize about store giveaways, and hyperbolize about the insanity that Cortland Ave becomes on All Hallows Eve. Last year, I kicked it with the kids as Amy sat and handed out Four Star Video temporary tattoos. Instead of being relaxed and “off-duty”, I was stressed and irritable all night! Fun!

I have always felt there was something slightly pervasive in a not wonderful way about the major holidays.

However, we march on! Halloween is this weekend – and we are psyched! We have our scary movies out in the Four Star Favorites section. New kids Halloween films are in, and all in all, it should be a very fun night! Not to mention a chocolate party (ain’t no party like my gramma’s chocolate party!).

Woody Allen has a new movie out on DVD. WHATEVER WORKS is a treatise on bad behavior leading to good things starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. David plays Boris, a brilliant angry man who lives to disrespect others. His philosophy is only slightly tempered by the beautiful southern runaway who slinks into his life and becomes his wife. In MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, two hipsters struggle to define themselves during the course of a 36-hour one night stand. San Francisco is like the third wheel hanging out with the couple in this excellent debut by director Barry Jenkins. In BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA: THE PLAN, the origins of the Cylons are explored as this feature opens the doors to a new Battlestar series. IL DIVO is the famous Italian director Paolo Sorrentino’s treatise on politician Giulio Andreotti’s life. This film won the Jury prize at Cannes Film Festival. In the kids animation department, ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS is out, and in the adult animation department, the French scary film FEARS OF THE DARK is in. Other films of note include MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH and THE ORPHAN and Z released on Criterion.

We also have a bunch of new additions this week headlined by BEVERLY HILLS COP. Scroll down for the full list!

One of our customers (Good luck Elgy!) is writing film reviews over at Culture Vulture! Do you read this site? It is pretty awesome. You can check it out here.

She also just informed me about the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. I have never heard about this great sounding place out in Fremont, but it seems like a great place for any cinephile to visit. Here is some info about it:
The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum is located out in tiny Niles, a community at the end of Highway 84, at 37417 Niles Boulevard in Fremont, CA (phone is 510.494.1411).

In 1915, Charlie Chaplin came to this out-of-the-way East Bay community to make 15 movies, including The Tramp. Niles is where Essanay Studios churned out silent movies back in the 19-teens. Film nights feature local pianists like Frederick Hodges. There’s also the tiny excursion train that goes around Niles Canyon on Sundays to Sunol. Mary Pickford apparently started a copycat studio at nearby Pleasanton back in the day too!

Well, there's our history lesson of the week. If you head on down there, let us know what you think.

Alrighty then, see you down at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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............//NEW RELEASES//............

FEARS OF THE DARK.
Animation/Drama/Horror/Mystery/B&W/Foreign (French).
Directed by Blutch and Charles Burns and Marie Caillou and more.
* Very super creepy short animations dealing with your fears of the dark.

GRETCHEN.
Comedy.
Courtney Davis/John Merriman.
Directed by Steve Collins.
* Heartfelt indie film about a high school girl dealing with, well, high school! If her parents and her fashion sense aren’t bad enough, her obsessed focus on the schools “bad boy” brings on unwanted change. Also featuring 3 short films by the director.

ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Animation/Family.
Bill Hader/Queen Latifah/Denis Leary/John Leguizamo.
Directed by Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier.
* Movie three in the series about pre-historic friends trying to survive troubling times…don’t forget your 3D glasses.

IL DIVO.
Fictobiopic/Drama/History/Foreign (Italian and English).
Toni Servillo.
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino.
* This film won 14 awards worldwide, including the coveted Jury prize at Cannes Film festival last year. It is the story of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti, who has held office of one sort or another in Italy since 1946 and was Prime Minister seven times from 1972 to 1992.

MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY.
Drama/Romance/Indie.
Wyatt Cenac/Tracey Heggins/San Francisco.
Directed by Barry Jenkins.
* It’s a one night stand that lasts one day and two nights and covers nearly every neighborhood in San Francisco. This true indie film is about two young hipsters trying to define themselves in a city where they feel exceedingly alienated. Quiet and unobtrusive, the film is washed out and grey in a purposeful way. And it features a scene of dancing and drinking at Bernal Heights own THE KNOCKOUT. http://www.theknockoutsf.com/

THE ORPHAN.
Drama/Horror/Thriller.
Vera Farmiga/Peter Sarsgaard.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
* This seriously frightening and warped horror flick is about a couple dealing with the loss of a baby who adopt a 9-year old who is hiding some significant secrets. If you like horror films, this one seems pretty great. It scared the hell out of Shila! Happy Halloween!

PERESTROIKA.
Drama.
F. Murray Abraham/Sam Robards/Ally Sheedy.
Directed by Slave Tsukerman.
* A Russian astrophysicist (which is what I used to be, before I bought the video store) who has been living in the US for 17 years, goes back to his native land in 1992 during the time of perestroika (restructuring) following the fall of the iron curtain (wow, that was a long time ago now!) .

STAN HELSING.
Comedy/Parody.
Directed by Bo Zenga.
* Another in the long line of parody films like SCARY MOVIE and DISASTER MOVIE…Chris walked up to me with the box saying “I thought you said you weren’t buying movies like this anymore”. I did say that, but I…Then, on imdb.com, one reviewer cautions “watch this movie high – trust me”. Okay, I trust you.

WHATEVER WORKS.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Romance.
Larry David/Evan Rachel Wood/Patricia Clarkson/Ed Begley, Jr.
Directed by Woody Allen.
* Woody pops out a movie just about every year. They don’t always win Oscars! This one will definitely not win any awards, but it is still moderately entertaining. David plays a self-proclaimed genius (“I was once considered for a Nobel prize”) who is now old and miserable and saddled with a limp gained from surviving a suicide attempt that was foiled by his landing on an awning after leaping from a high window. Now he basically lives to ridicule and humiliate anyone and everyone who comes in his path, most notably the small children he teaches chess. Into his life comes Melody (Wood) a southern belle runaway who latches on to him and becomes his quite unlikely wife. The film meanders along, never quite hitting with its dialogue or grasping with its philosophy until Melody’s parents come into the picture. Clarkson, as her mother, discovers an aptitude for photography and an appetite for multiple sexual partners, and Begley, Jr., as her father, discovers the real reason that passion was missing from his marriage.

Z.
Criterion/Suspense/Foreign (French).
Yves Montand/Irene Papas.
Directed by Costa-Gavras.
* Winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1970 (and Best Editing as well), this political thriller tracks the overthrow of a government in Greece and follows the intricate ins and outs of the right and left wings battling each other through the intrigue of murder and chaos.

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

ART 21: SEASON FOUR.
Documentary.
* From Amazon: Contemporary artists work in globally influenced, culturally diverse and technologically dynamic milieus. In the US artists reflect a varied and changing landscape of identity, values and beliefs. The artists featured in this series demonstrate the breadth of artistic practice across the country and reveal a wealth of multicultural talent. Each episode is organized around a theme to help audiences compare and contrast the artists profiled.

MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH: THE LAWYER’S CUT.
Comedy/Doc.
John Cleese/Eric Idle/Michael Palin/Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam.
Directed by Alan Parker.
* Three discs and 360 full minutes of Monty Python history revisited.

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

BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA: THE PLAN.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Sci-Fi.
Tricia Helfer/Grace Park/Edward James Olmos.
Directed by Edward James Olmos.
* THE PLAN is a pilot for a new Battlestar show about the origins of the Cylons, and their catastrophic plan to wipe out their human creators. Freaking toasters…

THE WAY WE LIVE NOW.
BBC/Drama/Romance.
* From the imdb: At the centre of the story is Augustus Melmotte (David Suchet), a European-born city financier, whose origins are as mysterious as his business dealings. Trollope describes him as 'something in the city', but the "something" part is not always clear. Within weeks of arriving in London, he announces a new company and promises instant fortune to those who join him in this scheme. Melmotte is surrounded by a circle of decadent aristos, scheming widows and nouveau riche businessmen, all trying to get a piece of the financial pie. His disobedient daughter, Marie, is played by Shirley Henderson, while Cheryl Campbell, Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza bring to life the aristocratic but impoverished Carbury family.

............//KIDS/............

IRON MAN ARMORED ADVENTURES: VOLUME ONE.

TINKER BELL AND THE LOST TREASURE.

............//NEW ADDITIONS/............

BEVERLY HILLS COP: 1, 2 AND 3.
* Who even knew there was a three? But in all seriousness, number one was an awesome movie, and now we got it on DVD.

DANTE’S COVE: THE FIRST TWO SEASONS.
* Gay culture delivered in the sex and camp variety made this show a cult sensation.

THE FISHER KING.
* Robin Williams’ zany lunacy mixed with Jeff Bridges ponytail? Amazing! This Terry Gilliam film was nominated for five Oscars in 1992 and won one, too.

MY NAME IS BILL W.
* James Woods, James Garner and JoBeth Williams star in this fictobiopic about the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.

TIN CUP.
* Uh, yeah, this Kevin Costner/Renee Russo golfing love story was critical to our collection.

............//REPLACEMENT DVD’S/............

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.
* Doesn’t it seem like I buy this movie every other month? I think that’s because I do!

HOLLYWOOD ENDING.

IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN.

STAR WARS TRILOGY: EPISODES 4-6.

STAR WARS TRILOGY: EPISODES 1-3.

****

****new release list no.239

Fiesta on the Hill was a blast. I spent the entire day outside in front of the store, hawking used movies, chatting with my peoples, rocking to the music, eating BBQ, and updating my fantasy football scores on my cellphone! More excellent days are rarely found. I know I was engaged in the receiving end of capitalistic activity, but I actually felt as though I myself was reinvesting emotionally in my community. The chatting, the hellos, the smiles and the mini-discussions about Bernal Bucks, the Neighborhood center, the economy, and this year’s musical selections (much more “rocking” than in recent years), all these interactions felt like transactions at the feel-good ATM, where I was making deposits and withdrawals all day long in what felt like a full-on neighborhood love-fest. Anyone else feel this way?

Well, I love my city, and I love my neighborhood. Days like yesterday remind me why.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN is in this week, starring the burgeoning superstar Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox. It is a Michael Bay film which means one explosion follows the last. If action is your thing, you’ll be digging this one. In CHERI, Michelle Pfeiffer plays an courtesan dealing with inevitable issues surrounding aging. With Kathy Bates and Rupert Friend.

PAGEANT is a documentary about 52 men vying to be crowned Miss Gay America. THE LISTENING PROJECT is a documentary about international thoughts and feelings directed at the United States.

On television, we’ve got the final season of the THE L WORD! Six ground-breaking seasons comes to an end on three discs. Put in your reservation today! There are a couple of other television releases of note. The first is TOP CHEF: SEASON FIVE. For some reason, this is the first season they are releasing. Oh, well – beggars can’t be choosers. The second is an old show, just making it to DVD. IT’S GARRY SHANDLING’S SHOW, and don’t you forget it! This hysterical mid-80’s show holds up just fine as Garry faces crises, and the audience time and time again.

Alrighty then, see you down at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
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If you are going to make a monthly commitment, make it a local one.
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ESUB -One Movie at a time – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
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******************************************************************************

............//NEW RELEASES//............

BLACK RAIN.
Drama/War/B&W/Foreign (Japanese).
Directed by Shohei Imamura.
* This 1989 film, based on the novel by Masuji Ibuse, is about the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing in WWII. The film won 24 awards worldwide, including a massive haul from the Academy of Japanese filmmaking.

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Action/Horror/Thriller.
Gianna Jun/Allison Miller.
Directed by Chris Nahon.
* Live-action from the BLOOD+ series about an old-soul, half-human, half-vampire named Saya who is hunting a deadly vampire named Onigen.

CHERI.
Drama/Romance.
Michelle Pfeiffer/Kathy Bates/Felicity Jones/Rupert Friend.
Directed by Stephen Frears.
* Period piece based on a pair of novels by Colette (CHERI and THE LAST OF CHERI) about a slightly aging courtesan (Pfeiffer – at 51 still very hot!) who hooks up with the 19-year old son (Friend) of a former rival (Bates) and then must deal with private disappointment when he is married off to a much younger woman. As for the lover himself, he is also devastated at the separation and his mind somewhat unravels.

FADOS.
Musical/Foreign (Spanish).
Directed by Carlos Saura.
* Do you know the work of Carlos Saura – he has been making films since the 1950’s and has worked on a wide variety of films. He is best known for his music and dance work (CARMEN, BLOOD WEDDING) and this film is the completion of his latest Flamenco trilogy (with FLAMENCO and the Oscar-nominated TANGO) . My personal favorite is a 70’s era drama called CRIA CUERVOS which we have in the Criterion section.

JUST FOR LAUGHS: V03 LAUNCHING PAD.
Standup Comedy.

MONSOON WEDDING.
Criterion/Romance/Beauty/Foreign (English/Hindi/Punjabi/Urdu).
Naseeruddin Shah/Lillette Dubey.
Directed by Mira Nair.
* Two insanely hectic days in Delhi with the Verma family who is planning a giant wedding in the midst of chaos in every corner of the household. If you haven’t seen this beautiful and lush film you are in for a major treat .

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.***ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Action.
Shia LaBeouf/Megan Fox/John Turturro/Rainn Wilson.
Directed by Michael Bay.
* Won the Teen Choice awards for Best Choice Female Movie Star for Megan Fox and Best Choice Male Movie Star for Shia LaBeouf. It’s not Pokemon, but similarly un-understandable.

WHOLPHIN NO.9.
* Number nine in the awesome series of shorts and docs by many award-winning and unknown filmmakers. This one features three never before seen shorts by Spike Jonze.

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

THE LISTENING PROJECT.
Documentary.
Directed by Dominic Howel and Joel Weber.
* This important film addresses the question “What does the world think of The United States of America?” The filmmakers went around the world asking this question through fourteen countries.

PAGEANT.
Beauty.
Directed by Ron Davis and Steward Halpern-Fingerhut.
* Inside the lives of the 52 men trying desperately to be crowned Miss Gay America. Awesome singing and dancing!

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

IT’S GARRY SHANDLING’S SHOW: COMPLETE SERIES.
Comedy.
Garry Shandling/Rip Torn.
* All four seasons of the ground-breaking comedy from the mid-80’s about, well…Garry Shandling, and his funny life. This was one of the first shows that took down the fourth wall very often. Also, dig the insanely funny opening theme song.

THE L WORD: FINAL SEASON.
Drama.
Jennifer Beals/Mia Kirshner/Pam Grier/Leisha Hailey.
* The sixth and final season of the award-winning show following a group of lesbians living in Los Angeles.

TOP CHEF NEW YORK: SEASON FIVE.
Reality/Food.
* For whatever bizarre reason decisions get made, the powers that be finally have released TOP CHEF on DVD, but are they starting with season one? Nuh-uh. It’s season five to begin with. Believe me, when 1-4 become available, we will have them here. In the meantime, 17 cheftestants are headed to New York to begin the ultimate food competition.

............//KIDS/............

THE MARVELOUS MISADVENTURES OF FLAPJACK.

PEANUTS 1970’S COLLECTION: VOL 1.

YO GABBA GABBA! MEET MY FAMILY.

............//NEW ON BLU/............

EASY RIDER.
* Oh, I got a helmet. I got a helmet – and it’s a doozy!

****

****new release list no.238

Thanks again to Leslie and Anne for putting on the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival. I had such a great time at all the events that I was able to attend. The finale at Precita Park was a blast, and we loved the MAMMA MIA sing along. My kids can’t stop singing Dancing Queen – it’s a non-stop disco party at my house right now.

This Thursday and Saturday (Oct 15th and 17th) the VideoFest film festival is on! Labor and Dreams were the themes to this year’s festival. This year a Four Star Video award was given to the top local filmmaker entered in the festival. Congratulations to Jonathan King for winning this prize. The program runs at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and I urge you to go!

Fiesta on the Hill is this Sunday – should be a super fun community party as usual. Don’t forget about Bernal Bucks, which will be up and running at Fiesta. The Bernal Bucks website has nice explanations about this new community economic system. Contact: Arno Hesse 415-935-1050 for more information. Four Star will also be selling used DVD’s outside the shop that day at $5 a pop. So come on down, get some food, pet some animals, dance with your neighbors and have a grand old time.

In the blockbuster New Release department, THE PROPOSAL starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds as faux fiancées is here, as is LAND OF THE LOST, the Will Ferrell take on the classic story of people of the current era finding themselves back in the days when dinosaurs ruled the land. Also of note is DRAG ME TO HELL, Sam Raimi’s horror tale of a cursed mortgage banker (insert joke here) trying to avoid an eternal trip to hell. There’s more! Scroll on down, scroll on down the page.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
KenFlix - the only Independent Monthly Subscription Film Renting Service in SF
If you are going to make a monthly commitment, make it a local one.
No due dates. No late fees.

ESUB -One Movie at a time – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
1SUB - One Movie at a time – Unlimited exchange – $18.99 + Tax/Month
3SUB - Three Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $24.99 + Tax/Month
4SUB - Four Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $32.99 + Tax/Month
******************************************************************************

............//NEW RELEASES//............

ADORATION.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Drama.
Devon Bostick/Scott Speedman.
Directed by Atom Egoyan.
* A boy uses the internet, and the wide-spread audience it offers, to re-write his life-story in a way that helps him understand what really happened.

DRAG ME TO HELL.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Horror/Suspense.
Alison Lohman/Justin Long.
Directed by Sam Raimi.
* Christine Brown (Lohman) is going to hell. Seriously. In three days! See, she tried to be the tough at the bank she works at, in order to get a promotion. But she has offended the wrong mortgage holder, and now she has been cursed with an eternal vacation to a very hot place. Can she avoid her fate? Is there a way she can maybe pass it on to someone else? Maybe…

ECLIPSE SERIES 18: DUSAN MAKAVEJEV FREE RADICAL.
Directed by Duan Makavejev.
* The three movies in this collection are MAN IS NOT A BIRD, LOVE AFFAIR OR THE CASE OF THE MISSING SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR, and INNOCENCE UNPROTECTED. This is the description from Amazon: There’s never been another filmmaker quite like Dusan Makavejev. Even in the 1960s, when all of cinema’s steadfast rules seemed to be breaking down and artists such as Godard, Cassavetes, and Marker were dissolving the boundaries between fiction and documentary, Yugoslavia’s Makavejev stood alone. His films about political and sexual liberation were revolutionary, raucous, and ribald. Across these, his wild, college-like first three films, Makavejev investigates—with a tonic mix of earnestness and whimsy—love, death, and work; the legacy of war and the absurdity of daily life in a Communist state; criminology and hypnosis; strudels and strongmen. .

HOW TO BE A SERIAL KILLER.
Comedy/Horror.
Matthew Gubler/Dameon Clarke.
Directed by Luke Ricci.
* Sort of an American version of MAN BITES DOG about a serial killer who trains a young man in the art, while being followed around by a camera crew.

JACK BROWN: GENIUS.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
Martin Czokas/Timothy Balme.
Directed by Tony Hiles.
Written and Produced by Peter Jackson.
* There’s crazy monks, eternities in hell, amplifiers in tape machines that can make you fly, Chinese investors, greedy ex-bosses and lover, and more in this quirky indie from New Zealand.

THE KILLING ROOM.
Horror/Suspense.
Nick Cannon/Chloe Sevigny/Clea DuVall/Timothy Hutton.
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman.
* You know those rough economic times where being a paid participant in a psychological study seems like a good idea? This movie suggests that might be a bad idea. The four who sign up here are truly sorry they did, as the study becomes less psychological and more diabolical. What are the scientists looking for?

LAND OF THE LOST.***ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy.
Will Ferrell/Anna Friel/Danny McBride.
Directed by Brad Silberling.
* Look, I bought a big batch of this film, but I can’t be expected to hype it in any way.

LOVE OF SIAM.
LGBT/Romance/Foreign (Thai)
Directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul.
* When a girl goes missing in Bangkok, the lives of her younger brother and his best friend are thrown into turmoil. Years later the boys meet again, under different circumstances, and find themselves draw to each other.

ORAL FIXATION.
Suspense.
Emily Parker.
Directed by Jake Cashill.
* I mean, I really like my dentist. He’s awesome! I mean, a great practitioner, and a great guy. But I’m not obsessed with him! Rachel Marks (Parker) has different needs. And she’ll stop at nothing to get her dentist’s special attention.

THE PROPOSAL.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Romance.
Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds/Craig T. Nelson/Mary Steenburgen.
Directed by Anne Fletcher.
* Bollock plays the bossy executive in charge of a publishing company who basically pushes her assistant (Reynolds) into a “green-card wedding” in order to not get deported to Canada (snort). However, the immigration officer forces them to spend some time with his family to test their story, and among other things, real love blossoms. With Nelson and Steenburgen as Reynolds parents.

SUNCHASER.
Drama.
Woody Harrelson/Jon Seda/Anne Bancroft.
Directed by Michael Cimino.
* This 1996 Cimino (THE DEER HUNTER, DESPERATE HOURS, HEAVEN’S GATE) film is about a dying patient (Seda) who kidnaps his oncologist and tries to find meaning in his desperate plan.

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

ELEPHANTS.
Nature.
Directed by Animal Planet.

EVERY LITTLE STEP.
Music.
Directed by Adam Deo and James Stern.
* This documentary goes behind the scenes of real life dancers, actors, writers, choreographers, producers and directors for the Broadway musical A CHORUS LINE.

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

JACKASS: THE LOST TAPES.
Reality/Really.

NIP/TUCK: SEASON FIVE PART TWO.
Reality/Really.
Dylan Walsh/Julian McMahon.
* This is a really tripped out show about plastic surgeons.

............//KIDS/............

BACKYARDIGANS: BIG BACKYARD ADVENTURES.

BACKYARDIGANS: ROBOT REPAIRMAN.

BOB THE BUILDER: CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER.

CURIOUS GEORGE: A VERY MONKEY CHRISTMAS.

GONNA CATCH SANTA CLAUS.
* Featuring William Shatner!

KONG: RETURN TO THE JUNGLE.

LITTLE SPIRIT: CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK.
Danny DeVito/Freddy Rodriguez/Lucy Liu.

THOMAS AND FRIENDS: SODOR HOLIDAY COLLECTION.

WOW WOW WUBBZY: WUBB-IDOL.
* Featuring Beyonce!

............//NEW ON BLU/............

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.
* Jim Carrey doing his thing.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS.
* Creepy but almost a comedy.

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER UNCUT.
* There are some really wonderful family scenes in this movie.

TALKING HEADS: STOP MAKING SENSE.
* Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

............//NEW ADDITIONS/............

DEATH NOTE.
Adventure/Crime/Drama/Mystery/Foreign (Japanese and English).
Directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
* Award winning live-action version of the popular Manga series. Bought by customer request (thanks Rebekah!).

DEATH NOTE II: THE LAST NAME.
Adventure/Crime/Drama/Mystery/Foreign (Japanese and English).
Directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
* Part two of the award winning live-action version of the popular Manga series. Part three coming soon!

Sarkar blurbs by local filmmaker and Asian film guru Valerie Soe.

SARKAR
* Bollywood's take on The Godfather, this sprawling saga stars real-life
father and son Amitabh and Abishek Bachchan, two of India's most popular
stars, as leaders of a powerful Mumbai family.

SARKAR RAJ
* The sequel to Sarkar Raj adds the glamorous and beautiful Aishwarya Rai
into the mix, as the story of the powerful and ruthless Nagre family
continues.

****

****new release list no.237

We are smack dab in the middle of the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival. Have you made it to an event yet? We had a great time on Friday here at Four Star! Here is a rundown of this week’s festivities.

Monday, Oct. 5th, the BHOC ventures into the Excelsior with a co-presentation at the Excelsior Branch of the public library at 4400 Mission Street. Screenings will go from 6:00-8:00pm and will feature local filmmakers Max Strebel, Nathan and Kathy Kensinger, Michelle Meeker and more.

Here is a breakdown of this week’s events. Check the BHOC website for updates and more information.

Tues, Oct 6th – Red Poppy – is hosting a Filmmaker/Musician Forum featuring Beth Custer, Marshall Crutcher, Greta Snider and Johunna Grayson– I will be moderating this event. Do you make movies? Do you make music? Do you want to meet your counterpart to get music for your movies or movies for your music? Come to this event!

Wed, Oct 7th – Kingmond Young Studio – Music by The Richter Scales, Candace Guirao and Terry Adams and short films (including one by Joseph Smooke, executive director of the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, one by Four Star’s own Andrew Friedman{!} and a 3-D film by the above mentioned Greta Snider and Johunna Grayson).

Thur, Oct 8th – SoCha Café – Short films with music provided by Vishnu’s Secret.

Friday, Oct 9th – Films and Old Time Music and Dancing at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center with music by The Knuckle Knockers, with dancing called by Susan Pena.

Saturday, Oct – Closing night at Precita park with music by my band, The Dont’s, short films and at 8pm a MAMMA MIA sing along! Fun fun fun!

Don’t forget, next Thursday and Saturday (Oct 15th and 17th) the VideoFest film festival is on! This is another festival not to be missed. We are proud to let you know that this year a Four Star Video award was given to the top local filmmaker entered in the festival. The program runs at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and I urge you to go!

You know how I’ve been going on and on about economy/community/personal responsibility and all that for the last year or two? Well check out this amazing new idea: Bernal Bucks! That’s right, a sort of a localized currency within our neighborhood. They are rolling out the idea in the form of a sort of game at Fiesta on the Hill. Here is a short press release from the Bernal Buck people:

Coming to a wallet near you: Bernal Bucks, an exciting way to keep Bernal thriving.

Starting October 18 – the day of Fiesta on the Hill – people and business can start paying with Bernal Bucks. They are regular Dollars with a “Bernal” tag, a nifty way to promote and reward shopping local.

While this locally enriched currency promotes spending your money in Bernal, businesses are encouraged to throw in a little bonus when being paid with Bernal Bucks. Something like an upgrade a bigger cup of coffee, or a free dessert for a $60 restaurant check. The participating businesses will be highlighted on posters and the web. They also will be known to give the desired Bernal Bucks as change. The owner/employees can spend them and enjoy the perks at other Bernal shops.

Initially, Bernal Bucks are Dollar bills with a removable “Bernal” sticker tags. They tags have unique numbers. When registered on the bernalbucks.org website, people can check where their money has been and where it goes to. It’s about attaining the longest unbroken chain of circulation among Bernal residents and businesses. A bit of a fun game.

Bernal Bucks support neighborhood causes. In their fund gathering for non-profits like the Neighborhood Center or the Friends of the Public Library, people can give donations for the Bernal Bucks tags, - and then enjoy the bonus perks when using them. Win-win-win.

The bernalbucks.org website has nice explanations about Bernal Bucks. That’s where you can get involved. Contact: Arno Hesse 415-935-1050 for more information.

(Back to Ken here)
Wow! I am really excited about this. Four Star Video will definitely be involved in some way. Bookmark their site, and check them out at Fiesta on the Hill on October 18th to find out how to get yer Bernal Bucks!

What? You’re here to read about movies…then read you shall, young Jedi. This week, there are a lot of Documentaries. Starting with the much anticipated ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL and including THE NATIONAL PARKS (Ken Burns), IN A DREAM and more. You should be well covered in your quest for knowledge! There is some good comedy also including the quirky indie ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT with Bruce Willis and YEAR ONE with Jack Black and Michael Cera. It seems like this time of year there are always a lot of horror films and kids holiday films, so we have a 2009 version of CHILDREN OF THE CORN, and a new DVD release of THE GATE, as well as the Anne Paquin vehicle TRICK ‘R TREAT.

Scroll on down to read about the rest.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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............//NEW RELEASES//............

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT.
Comedy.
Mischa Barton/Reece Thompson/Bruce Willis.
Directed by Brett Simon.
* Thompson plays Bobby Funke, a sophomore at a Catholic high school where some SAT’s have been stolen and as a staff member of the school paper, he investigates the matter. Hooking up with a sexy senior (Barton) is one of the payoffs for his investigation, but soon Bobby starts wondering if the wool is being pulled over his eyes. What is really going on at school? And who is in the inside circle? With Willis as the ex-soldier Principal of the school.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2009).
Horrorish.
Daniel Newman/Preston Bailey.
Directed by Donald Borchers.
* Another rendition of the great Steven King short story. Remake’s shmemakes…you know? If you really want to scare people, you should make a story called Children of the Brussels Sprouts, or Children of the Zucchini. Or how about Children of the Creamed Corn? Aaaaaaaagh! Now that’s scary.

CHINATOWN: THE CENTENNIAL COLLECTION.
Drama.
Jack/Faye.
Directed by Roman Polanski.
* If you haven’t seen this film, please do…it is really amazing, features direction, writing, acting, cinematography at the very top of the game. And, it has one of the most perfect movie endings of all time.

CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002.
Comedy/Romance/Action/Foreign (Cantonese).
Tony Leung Chiu Wai/Wei Zhao.
Directed by Jeffrey Lau.
* This looks like a pretty funny cross-dressing, gender bending comedy-of-errors, historical period piece action film about a couple pairs of siblings battling fate during in Ming Dynasty China.

THE GATE: SPECIAL EDITION.
Horror.
Christa Denton/Stephen Dorff.
Directed by Tibor Takacs.
* Heavy metal music help some children realize that the giant hole in their backyard is actually a gateway to HELL (cue the music, people). This 1987 film feature Dorff in one of his first roles. Can you name any others?
 
MY LIFE IN RUINS.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Romance.
Nia Vardalos/Richard Dreyfuss.
Directed by Donald Petrie.
* This is the woman from MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING and MY BIG FAT GREEK LIFE and the big fat film must have had a big fat budget cuz it has big fat Richard Dreyfuss and it is a big fat comedy about two people discovering big fat love while cruising through the big fat beauty of Greece. No disrespect intended.

TRICK ‘R TREAT.
Horror.
Anna Paquin.
Directed by Michael Dougherty.
* Bloody fun starring the star of TRUE BLOOD (Paquin). Seriously, if you are into the bloodfest, you’ll probably dig this film, cuz its got a 7.9 out of 10 on imdb.com.

YEAR ONE.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy.
Jack Black/Michael Cera/Olivia Wilde/David Cross/Paul Rudd.
Directed by Harold Ramis.
* Hijinks abound when poor hunter-gatherers Zed and Oh (Black and Cera) are booted out of the tribe and go off on a biblically spiced adventure.

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

ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL.
Music/Comedy.
Directed by Sacha Gervasi.
* This doc tracks the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil through their simple beginnings as teenagers pledging to each other a lifetime of rock through their current status as rock and roll never-beens.

IN A DREAM.
Art.
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar.
* This is the story of Julie and Isaiah Zagar, a couple from Philadelphia, and the filmmakers’ parents. It is the story of an artist, Isaiah, who has covered 50,000 square feet of Philly in wild and amazing murals made of tile, paint, mirror and concrete. It is also the story of a family in denial, dealing with (and not shying away from) abuse, addiction and mental illness. This film won a lot of festival awards and is a must-see.

LOST TAPES.
Nature/Animal Planet.

MARLENE.
Arts/Lit.
Directed by Maximilian Schell.
* 1984 Oscar nominated film about Marlene Dietrich just hitting Four Star on DVD for the first time.

THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Nature/Politics/Etc.
Directed by Ken Burns.
*.

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD.
OZploitation.
Directed by Mark Hartley.
* From the imdb - NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is the wild, untold story of "OZPLOITATION" movies - a time when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full bore action! Jam packed full of outrageous anecdotes, lessons in maverick filmmaking and a genuine, infectious love of Australian movies, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is a fast moving journey through Aussie genre cinema of the 70s and early 80s - an unjustly forgotten cinematic era unashamedly packed full of boobs, pubes, tubes... and even a little kung fu. NOTE FROM KEN: clearly not to be missed.

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

MAN VS. FOOD: SEASON ONE.
Reality/Really.
Adam Richman.
* This is a really weird show…where dude attempts to eat lots of crazy stuff, big big big food.

............//KIDS/............

A MISER BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS.

CHOP SOCKY CHOOKS: V01.

DINOSAURS ALIVE!
Narrated by Michael Douglas.

ELMO’S ANIMAL ADVENTURES.

FROSTY FRIENDS.

I WANT A DOG FOR CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN.
* The music alone is enough to rent these awesome Peanuts tales.

NI HAO KAI-LAN: KAI-LANS CARNIVAL.

............//NEW ON BLU/............

WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
* Only one of the very best films of all time.

............//NEW ADDITIONS/............

DIRTY DANCING: 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION
* In honor of Patrick Swayze.

GHOST: COLLECTOR’S EDITION
* Also in honor of Patrick Swayze.

............//REPLACEMENT DISCS/............

MY FAIR LADY
* Not really a replacement, more of another copy…for whatever reason. It is a great movie.

****

****new release list no.236

And life continues zooming along. It’s the end of September, for crying out loud! Of 2009. Wow.

Well, Bernal Heights appears to be weathering the economic storm. We may not be thriving how we’d all like, but the businesses on Cortland for the most part appear stable. We have some new neighbors to say hello to. BERNAL FIT, the new dog-friendly gym on the hill has opened its doors, and I hear nothing but good things from its customers. STATE FARM has somehow arrived in Bernal Heights, and I hear that it is an individually-owned franchise. We wish you well. Construction appears to be moving right along at the old dry-cleaner spot next to BERNAL BUBBLES, we look forward to their opening with excitement. Soon soon soon, I hope, SANDBOX BAKERY at 833 Cortland will open their doors. I must admit, my excitement is almost overwhelming when what Mutsumi Takehara (a former executive pastry chef at Slanted Door) might prepare for us. Yum yum!

Right around the corner we have the Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival. This event exists simply from the massively hard work and love from its founders, Leslie Lombre and Anne Batmale and an array of helpful volunteers. This is a strictly non-profit event that is basically a shining diamond in our little neighborhood, giving us access to local movies, local music and ten days of partying together all over the hood.

It starts this very Thursday, Oct 1st at Your Neighborhood Dive – El Rio(thanks, Dawn)! This year there will be music combined with film at many of the events, and they will be at some new places, such as SoCha Café, and the Bernal Playground. On Thursday, Justine Lucas-McPlague is opening the show at 7pm, with screenings between 8 and 9pm featuring local filmmakers like Caroline Blair and Audrey Daniel. Then, London Street will be playing at 9pm, and rising superstars The Ferocious Few will take the stage at 10:30pm.

On Friday, Four Star Video is happy to present the second night of the BHOC with music by Will Hammond, Jr. at 7pm in what was formerly known as our backyard screening patio and is now SUCCULENCE, Bernal Height's new Life and Garden store. Screenings will happen between 8 and 9pm and feature work by Katherine Bruens and Valerie Soe and Russell Jeung.

On Saturday (October 3rd for those of you following at home), the BHOC moves to the Bernal Playground behind the library. The event begins at 6:00pm with music by The Venusians Screenings will begin around 7:30pm and go until 9pm.

On Sunday, the event will be at Red Hill Books (Thanks, Kate). It will be a day event, from 4-5:30pm and will feature filmmakers Gustavo Vazquez and John Hewitt, discussing their book Documentary Filmmaking: A Contemporary Field Guide. This will be a multi-media event, with film clips and Q&A.

Monday, Oct. 5th, the BHOC ventures into the Excelsior with a co-presentation at the Excelsior Branch of the public library at 4400 Mission Street. Screenings will go from 6:00-8:00pm and will feature local filmmakers Max Strebel, Nathan and Kathy Kensinger, Michelle Meeker and more.

Here is a short breakdown of next week’s events. Check the BHOC website for updates and more information.

Tues – Red Poppy – Filmmaker/Musician Forum featuring Beth Custer, Marshall Crutcher and Greta Snider – I will be moderating this event.

Wed – Kingmond Young Studio – lots of music and short films (including one by Four Star’s own Andrew Friedman!).

Thur – SoCha Café – films and music by Vishnu’s Secret.

Friday – Films and Old Time Music and Dancing at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center.

Saturday – Closing night at Precita park with music by my band, The Dont’s, short films and at 8pm a MAMMA MIA sing along! Fun fun fun!

Also, coming up is the VideoFest film festival in the Mission. This is another festival not to be missed. It is close to our hearts, and we are proud to let you know that this year a Four Star Video award was given to the top local filmmaker entered in the festival. The program runs Oct 15th and 17th at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and I urge you to go! More info to follow.

Fiesta on the Hill will be here soon, then Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, life, death and everything in between. Your life is flying by! Catch a moment by your fingernails and exploit it for everything its worth. That’s my plan. Maybe we can share a moment together?

In the meantime, movies. Man, there are finally a great batch of them in the last few months. Many I haven’t seen yet, but I am dying to. Movies like WHITE NIGHT WEDDING, TULPAN, SUGISBALL, RUMBA, TRUMBO, O’HORTON, LYMELIFE, NERDCORE RISING and more! Not to mention all those awesome documentaries that Rachel W got for her month of Highlighted New Additions. This week, my personal list increases, with movies like SITA SINGS THE BLUES, THE BROTHERS BLOOM, and EXTREME ANIMATION.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
KenFlix - the only Independent Monthly Subscription Film Renting Service in SF
If you are going to make a monthly commitment, make it a local one.
No due dates. No late fees.

ESUB -One Movie at a time – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
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3SUB - Three Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $24.99 + Tax/Month
4SUB - Four Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $32.99 + Tax/Month
******************************************************************************

............//NEW RELEASES//............

AWAY WE GO.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Drama.
John Krasinski/Maya Rudolph/Maggie Gyllenhaal/Jeff Daniels.
Directed by Sam Mendes.
* Burt and Verona (Krasinski and Rudolph) are young expectant parents, traveling around the country trying to decide where would be the perfect place to live. They visit old friends and family, looking not just for the right home, but for the right role-models that will help them be excited about the future, about parenting, loving and building a future together. They visit Tucson, Phoenix…Madison, Montreal…they even visit Miami. Along the way, they find themselves. Co--written by locals, Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida.

THE BROTHERS BLOOM.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Crime.
Adrien Brody/Rachel Weisz/Mark Ruffalo.
Directed by Rian Johnson.
* …and then they wilt. Stephen (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody) have been on the prowl since they were kids, relying and their conning ways to make a living. Stephen tells the stories, and Bloom acts out the elaborate fantasies that he makes up as they scam their way through life. But now, Bloom is blooming, and he is ready to find out who he is, not who Stephen wants him to be. Of course, before he makes the break to normalcy, Stephen convinces him to pull one final job involving a wealthy heiress from New Jersey. Can Bloom stay in character long enough to finish the job before he falls in love with the mark? Or are the players being played?

FILTH AND WISDOM.
Comedy/Drama.
Eugene Hutz/Vicky McClure.
Directed by Madonna.
* The filth, we can guarantee. The wisdom? Harder to promise. Even harder to quantify. Will it be the kind of wisdom one gains with deep experience and contemplation? Or more like the kind you get when you accidently slam your finger in the car door? Guessing the latter…w/music by Gogol Bordello (who rule, by the way).

THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Drama/Mystery/Horror/Fantasy.
Sasha Grey/Chris Santos.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
* Real life adult-film star Sasha Grey makes her non-porn debut in this tale of a high-end Manhattan call girl precariously perched in the high-life and seemingly completely under control. She is seriously high-end, as in the 2K an hour style. Which begs the question, what do you get for 2K an hour? Evidently much more than sex. With Chelsea, you get a caring friend, a sympathetic ear, a good-humored companion, and an excellent actor. Chelsea is more than a hooker, she is your girlfriend; that is, as long as you keep kicking down the big bucks. This film asks many questions about the price of dignity, the depth of soul, and where sex fits into our concept of sanity.

EXTREME ANIMATION: FILMS BY PHIL MULLOY.
Animation/Shorts.
Directed by Phil Mulloy.
* Mulloy creates grotesque, distorted and wildly hideous portraits of humankind in his strange and almost pornographic short animations.
 
JUST FOR LAUGHS/OVER THE EDGE.
Comedy/Standup.
* Flight of the Conchords is featured on this collection.

KATT WILLIAMS: LIVE.
Comedy-Standup-Sitdown-Falldown.
* Four Star favorite Katt Williams does his thing. Dude lives a crazy personal life.

MANAGEMENT.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy /Romance.
Jennifer Aniston/Steve Zahn/Woody Harrelson/Fred Ward.
Directed by Stephen Belber.
* I think this is your basic stalker comedy, about a guy (Zahn) who spends one night with a traveling salesperson (Aniston) and then chases her all of the country to recapture their moment.

MONSTERS VS ALIENS.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Animation/Action/Comedy/Family.
Reese Witherspoon/Seth Rogen/Hugh Laurie/Rainn Wilson/Kiefer Sutherland/Stephen Colbert/Paul Rudd.
Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon.
* So, kids, watch out for quantonium, which will cause you to turn into a strange and grotesque monster! Then again, you may want to seek out some quantonium (maybe at 16th and Mission?) because President Hathaway (played by Stephen Colbert, portending the future?) will put you to work fighting aliens and saving San Francisco and even the planet from the bad guys.

SHRINK.
Comedy/Drama.
Kevin Spacey/Saffon Burrows/Robin Williams/Griffin Dunne.
Directed by Jonas Pate.
* Ah, it’s tough to be a celebrity shrink. Ask Henry Carter! After he deals with his own personal tragedy, acting as though he cares for strangers becomes more and more unbearable. Soon, he settles into a marijuana haze as his concern for his public profile melts into the background.

SITA SINGS THE BLUES.
Animation/Musical/Romance.
Annette Hanshaw.
Directed by Nina Paley.
* Nina Paley is an awesome animator and comic strip drawer. I bought this film simply because I know about her and she is amazing. This is the animated story of the Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. That’s all I know about it, yet I urge you to check it out because it is sure to be terrific.

STEAM.
Drama/Romance.
Ally Sheedy/Kate Siegel/Ruby Dee.
Directed by Kyle Schickner.
* Three woman who’s lives intersect at the local steam room (meet you there at 10) tell stories of longing and love (wait a sec…where is the local steam room?).

THAT HAMILTON WOMAN.
Criterion/Drama.
Vivien Leigh/Laurence Olivier.
Directed by Alexander Corda.
* From the Criterion synopsis: One of cinema’s most dashing duos, real-life spouses Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier live their greatest on-screen romance in this visually dazzling tragic love story from legendary producer-director Alexander Korda. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars of the late eighteenth century, That Hamilton Woman is a gripping account of the scandalous adulterous affair between the British Royal Navy officer Lord Horatio Nelson and the renowned beauty Emma, Lady Hamilton, the wife of a British ambassador. With its grandly designed sea battles and formidable star performances, That Hamilton Woman (Winston Churchill’s favorite movie, which he claimed to have seen over eighty times) brings history to vivid, glamorous life.

TREELESS MOUNTAIN.
Drama/Foreign (Korean).
Chae Gil Byung/Jung Gil Ja/Shin Hyun Je.
Directed by So Yong Kim.
* Two very young girls (6 and 3!) are abandoned by their mother as she goes in search of reconciliation with their father. The girls are left with a cranky aunt as they wait and hope for their mother’s return.

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

THE BETRAYAL - NERAKHOON.
Documentary.
Directed by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath.
* This Oscar-nominated documentary is the story of a family from Laos who has immigrated to the US after years of dealing with US Air strikes and war in Vietnam.

MICHAEL JACKSON: NEVER SURRENDER.
Documentary/Music.
Directed by.
* You seriously need to see my kids dance to MJ’s tunes....

NOT YOUR TYPICAL BIGFOOT MOVIE.
Documentary.
Directed by Jay Delaney.
* This is the story of two researchers from Ohio who have worked for years to prove that Bigfoot exists.

YELLOWSTONE: BATTLE FOR LIFE.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Documentary/Nature/BBC.
Directed by Jay Delaney.
* This gorgeously shot doc from the BBC Earth series shows the fragility of life in Yellowstone Park and the struggles that animals who live there face year after year.

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

FRINGE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.
Television/Drama/Horror/Mystery/Sci-Fi.
Anna Torv/Joshua Jackson/Lance Reddick.
* We must thank a customer for suggesting we get this freaky show! It is the story of an FBI agent who is forced to team up with a previously institutionalized scientist to investigate some over-the-top extra mysterious crimes potentially involving a shady, global multi-national corporation.

LIFE ON MARS: THE COMPLETE SERIES.
Television/Crime/Drama/Mystery.
John Simm.
* This two season show followed a cop in 2006 who has a car accident and awakes to find himself in the same place, only thirty-three years earlier! Who (over 40) wouldn’t want that problem?

MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 13.
Television/Drama.
* Here is where I make my usual lame joke about how many people get killed in this little county. Get out!

............//KIDS/............

BABY EINSTEIN: WORLD ANIMAL ADVENTURE.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.

MR> TICKLE.

............//NEW BLU-RAY ADDITIONS/............

THE DARK CRYSTAL.
* I just love this freaky movie.

THE GRADUATE.
* Mrs. Robinson…rarrrrr!

LABYRINTH.
* Sci-fi Bowie. What more can I say to ya?

THE WIZARD OF OZ.
* This three disc set is a must see for all true believers. Click your heels three times together, then bring the tag up to the counter.

............//REPLACEMENT DISCS/............

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: THE THIRD SEASON

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK!: COMPLETE COLLECTION
* Conjunction, junction…what is your function?

SONS OF ANARCHY: SEASON ONE
* Seriously, I have bought extra copies of this twice now. Is this show amazing or what?

****

****new release list no.235

Buongiorno mi amici! Hola, my good friends. I have just spent two glorious weeks in Italia, and I feel refreshed, transformed and excited for the fall!

We missed two blogs, and as this train only moves forward, we shall delve into this week’s releases, and not dwell to sorrowfully on the past. However, I shall list with little info the movies we released that went blogless:

Sept 8th (a wonderful day I spent in Siena in the Tuscan hills outside of Roma – yeow!)

Crank 2 – Action – Jason Statham. ****Also on Blu-Ray****
Dance Flick – Comedy.
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire – Can’t have enough copies of these, I guess.
Homicide – D. – David Mamet – Criterion release.
The Human Condition – D. – Masaki Kobayashi – Criterion release.
Kabei Our Mother – Japanese – D. – Yoji Yamada.
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency – HBO (I thought this was gonna be super popular…no?)
Magnolia – Re-release. D. – P.T. Anderson.
The Office: Complete Season 5 – Television.
Parks & Recreation – Season One – Television - Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones.
Valentino – The Last Emperor – Documentary.
The Visioneers – Comedy – Zach Galifianakis.

Kids stuff:
Little Einstein’s – Firetruck Rockets Blastoff!
Enchanted Tale’s – Follow Your Dreams.
Power Rangers RPM – Race for Corinth.
Wow Wow Wubbzy Goes Boo!

September 15th (an insane day of traveling home for hours and hours – oof!)

Animal Armageddon – Nature Documentary.
Camille – Comedy – James Franco/Sienna Miller.
Crash – Complete First Season – Drama/Television.
Easy Virtue – Comedy/Drama– Jessical Biel/Kristen Scott Thomas. ****Also in Blu-Ray****
Four Dragons – Action/Martial Arts.
Gervaise – Essential Art House (Criterion) – D. Rene Clement.
Grace – Horror – D. – Paul Solet.
Grey’s Anatomy – Season Five – Television – Katherine Heigl.
In the Company of Whales – Nature Documentary.
The IT Crowd – Season Three – Comedy/Television.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Season Four – Comedy/Television.
Le Jour Se Leve – Essential Art House (Criterion) – D. Marcel Carne.
Mayerling – Essential Art House (Criterion) – D. – Anatole Litvak.
Next Day Air – Comedy – Mos Def/Mike Epps.
Rescue Me – Season Five – Television.
Rumba – France – D. – Dominique Abel (L’Iceberg) - ****Four Star Favorite****
Trumbo – Documentary – D. – Peter Askin.
White Night Wedding – Iceland – D. –Baltasar Kormakur (101 Reykjavik) – won a lot of awards at the Icelandic Academy’s.
X-Men Origins – Wolverine – Comic Book – Hugh Jackman. ****Also on Blu-Ray****

Kids stuff:

Bionicle – The Legend Reborn.
Go Diego Go – Diego’s Arctic Rescue.
Go Diego Go – Mega Missions!
Star Wars The Clone Wars – Clone Commandos

This week we have a lot of releases, including a few foreign films that have won many awards on the festival circuit (TULPAN, O’HORTEN, SUGISBALL). We also have the usual Hollywood fare (OBSERVE AND REPORT, GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST), animation (THE BATTLE FOR TERRA, THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, WALLACE AND GROMIT THE COMPLETE COLLECTION) and some interesting looking indie’s (LYMELIFE, ADAM RESURRECTED). Throw in a bunch of new television and a batch of documentaries, and you got mid-September at Four Star Video.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

******************************************************************************
KenFlix - the only Independent Monthly Subscription Film Renting Service in SF
If you are going to make a monthly commitment, make it a local one.
No due dates. No late fees.

ESUB -One Movie at a time – Three movies total – $9.99 + Tax/Month
1SUB - One Movie at a time – Unlimited exchange – $18.99 + Tax/Month
3SUB - Three Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $24.99 + Tax/Month
4SUB - Four Movies at a time – Unlimited exchange – $32.99 + Tax/Month
******************************************************************************

............//NEW RELEASES//............

ADAM RESURRECTED.
Drama/War.
Jeff Goldblum/Willem Dafoe.
Directed by Paul Shrader.
* Adam Stein (Goldblum) was a circus entertainer before WWII. In the concentration camp he was interned at, he became the entertainer for the commander of the camp, and loses his sanity as well. Years later, he is living at an insane asylum in Israel where he makes a bond with a young child who has been treated terribly.

BATTLE FOR TERRA.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Animation/Drama.
Directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas.
* As a renegade group of straggling aliens face death, they set their sights on a beautiful and peaceful planet to take over where they can live and breed and continue their species. However, the peaceful planet of Terra has no desire to be destroyed and will battle to retain their autonomy over the vicious aliens. The catch? The aliens are the remains of the human race.

BOOK OF BLOOD.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Drama/Mystery/Horror/Fantasy.
Jonas Armstrong/Sophie Ward.
Directed by John Harrison.
* Based on a Clive Barker tale, this story is about a house that is a sort of stopping point on the highway delivering souls to and from the afterlife.

GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy/Fantasy/Romance.
Matthew McConaughey/Jennifer Garner/Michael Douglas/Emma Stone.
Directed by Mark Waters.
* A player is haunted by ghosts of his exes while at his brother’s wedding.

THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO.
Action/Animation/Comedy/Horror.
Paul Giamatti/Rosario Dawson.
Directed by Rob Zombie.
* Freaky, weirdo, psycho animation by the living Zombie himself.
 
LYMELIFE.
Comedy/Drama.
Alec Baldwin/Kieran Culkin/Emma Roberts/Rory Culkin/Timothy Hutton.
Directed by Derick Martini.
* Is it the lyme’s disease that is taking its toll on the Bartlett family? Or is it the failing marriage of Brenda (Jill Hennessy) and Mickey (Baldwin)? Told through the eyes of 15-year-old Scott (Rory Culkin) and set in the late 70’s, this bittersweet tale should be relatable to many.

O’HORTEN.
Comedy/Drama/Foreign (Norweigan).
Baard Owe.
Directed by Bent Hamer.
* The winner of numerous European film awards, this film is about the moment of retirement for a 67-year-old train engineer, Odd Horten (Owe).

OBSERVE AND REPORT.****ALSO ON BLU-RAY****
Comedy.
Seth Rogen/Ray Liotta/Anna Faris.
Directed by Jody Hill.
* Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) is a mallcop! No, he’s not Paul Blart, he’s his more psycho, and perhaps less funny cousin. Playing it straight for much of the film, in that funny peculiar manner that is guaranteed to draw many people in, and repulse perhaps even more, Rogen is begging Hollywood for a more serious role. We can only hope Hollywood listens.

SCOOBY-DOO! THE MYSTERY BEGINS.
Comedy.
Nick Palatas/Robbie Amell.
Directed by Brian Levant.
* The story of the origins of the relationship between Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy.

SUGISBALL.
Drama/Foreign (Estonian).
Rain Tolk.
Directed by Veiko Ounpuu.
* From the IMDB: It's Autumn. We see a huge sprawling conurbation of tower blocks built in the Soviet era - the neighborhood called Lasnamäe. Unkempt youngsters are tossing a football around muddy squares in between buildings while yelling obscenities. Men with striped sailors shirts and blank faces are smoking on the balconies built close to accommodate their ever extending families. Women are fussing in their kitchens or hanging their washed linen out to dry. Infants in the yard hang from the iron monstrosities, once built as merry go rounds for a standardized childhood, now heaps of scrap metal waiting to bleed a nose or tear a sleeve. In between the few slim bushes lay the drunkards, twitching to the sounds of a distant siren. People wearing colorless overcoats and solemn gray faces are moving in herds to bus stations to discount supermarkets and then back again. In the evening, when the sky darkens, the windows are lit by the blue glow of television screens. Mati, a young writer, lives alone in a two bedroom apartment after his wife left him for his friend. Mati drinks, as every sane man would do in his situation, and spies jealously on his wife. Barber August Kask is an elderly bachelor with a monotone life. He cuts hair, sweeps the floors after, eats porridge and returns the bottles to the shop. He is getting attached to a little girl at the playground, but when approaching the girl is instantly accused of pedophilia intentions. The little girls mother, Laura, watches a lot of TV and turns down the men who show interest in her. Her daughters father, a devoted drunkard, makes harassing phone calls to Laura and stalks her at the gates of her workplace, a shoe factory. Architect Maurer is content with his life in Lasnamäe, he perceives the lifestyle as an inevitability that accompanies progress. He is a modernist and keen on the subject of the well being of humanity. His wife on the other hand has become alienated from him and finds solace in her secret relationship with Theo the bouncer. Theo's relations to other people are slowly deteriorating. Being an autodidact with no social status and possessing at the same time an uncompromising and strong personality, make it very hard for him to adjust. Women like him but are unable or unwilling to understand him. The Autumn Ball is a film about different forms of solitude. Sometimes unbearable but mostly endurable the feelings of loneliness are strongest in such intimate proximity to other people. The film is also an attempt to poetically extrapolate or generalize on the conditions of our existence; to find from the sum of all different angles something larger than the sum itself.

TULPAN.
Comedy/Drama/Foreign (Kazakh/Russian).
Directed by Sergie Dvortsevoy.
* Beautifully filmed Kazakh tale of a young man who years for a wife on the desolate steppe’s of Kazakhstan. This one also won a ton of European film awards.

VIRUS.
Comedy/Drama/Suspense/Foreign (Polish).
Directed by Jan Kidawa-Blonski.
* A story of a computer virus eating its way through Warsaw.

WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION.
Comedy/Animation.

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

NERCORE RISING.
Documentary/Music/Comedy.
Directed by Negin Farsad and Kim Gatewood.
* This doc focuses on “nerdy” hip-hop rappers ostensibly rapping about what? Harry Potter? Star Wars? Pokemon? I think stuff like that. I hear this film is hilarious.

PRIVATE CENTURY.
Documentary/Foreign (Czech).
Directed by Jan Sikl.
* From IMDB: Jan Sikl expertly edits together actual home-movie footage from the 1920s to the 1960s in order to chronicle the history of Czechoslovakia in the 20th century. In eight episodes of 52 minutes, the major events of Czech history, including the Depression, the occupation by the Nazis, World War II, and the rise of communism are depicted through the experiences of real-life Czech citizens. The series reveals that history is the story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances - not the dry, dull set of names and dates taught in schools.

RUNNING WITH ARNOLD.
Documentary.
Directed by Dan Cox.
* This doc focuses on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign in California.

SHOOTER SERIES: VOLUME ONE BRETT RATTNER.
Documentary/Music.

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

BROTHERHOOD: THIRD SEASON.
Television/Drama.
* The continuing saga of two brothers on different sides of the law in New England.

30 ROCK: SEASON THREE.
Television/Comedy.
Alec Baldwin/Tina Fey.
* Season three in the hysterical series about a fictional late night comedy show and the crazy hijinks that go on backstage.

UGLY BETTY: THIRD SEASON.
Television/Comedy.
America Ferrera
* Actually, Betty’s pretty damn hot.

............//KIDS/............

DORA THE EXPLORER: DORA SAVES THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.

MR> TICKLE.

............//NEW BLU-RAY ADDITIONS/............

PIERROT LE FOU
* Le Fou on blu!

****

****new release list no.234

It’s a new month of Highlighted New Additions, and this month Rachel W went yard to bring you a whole stack of amazing documentaries. Please scan down to read about them all.

This week, I highly recommend SUGAR from the direction/writing team that made HALF NELSON. Sugar is a Dominican baseball player, trying to make it in the big leagues with the pressures of an entire community resting on his shoulders. This movie features excellent acting, great editing and sound design, and is a terrific character study. Three thumbs up (my two, and one of yours?)!

SIN NOMBRE won major awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It is the story of a young girl from Honduras trying to get to America to reunite with her father.

STATE OF PLAY is the big blockbuster release this week. Featuring performances by Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and more big names, it is a Washington conspiracy tale about some journalists trying to get to the bottom of a couple mysterious deaths.

On the little screen, HEROES: SEASON THREE, and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: COMPLETE SEASON FIVE are both out on DVD this week. Chick a bow bow.

Also check out Disney’s EARTH, another beautiful nature documentary. There are also three New Additions to the Hong Kong collection (A BETTER TOMORROW, A BETTER TOMORROW 2, and GREEN SNAKE), as well as the entire current collection of the Harry Potter movies (1-5) out on Blu-ray. Oh yeah!

Hey, the blog may be either light or non-existent for the next couple weeks, as I step away from the desk and enjoy the first half of September from afar. If you don’t get the email, please give us a call down here (415.641.5380) to get the low-down of each week’s new releases…or just come on by and browse the wall yourself. I just saw RUDO Y CURSI last night (came out last week) and it was fun. It is always a pleasure to see Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal acting together.

Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the store.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

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............//NEW RELEASES//............

SIN NOMBRE.
Adventure/Crime/Drama/Thriller/Foreign (Spanish).
Paulina Gaitan.
Directed by Cary Fukunaga.
* When a girl from Honduras (Gaitan) reunites with her father, she gains an opportunity to go to the US. But her odds of making it there are slim, as she has to survive very dangerous travels to get there. This film won festival awards, including the BEST DIRECTION and BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

STATE OF PLAY.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Crime/Drama/Thriller.
Russell Crowe/Ben Affleck/Rachel McAdams/Hellen Mirren/Robin Wright Penn/Jason Bateman/Jeff Daniels.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald.
* Is it a conspiracy, or just an inside job? This is the question that jaded journalist Cal McAffrey (Crowe) asks himself after a congressman’s aide and a petty thief both die in seemingly unrelated circumstances in Washington. With the help of a young blogger (McAdams) they delve deeper and deeper into the investigation realizing that they closer they get to the truth, the closer they also get to being discovered by the killers they are trying to uncover.

SUGAR.
Drama/Sports/Foreign (Spanish and English).
Algenis Perez Soto/Andre Holland.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
* Even if you are not a baseball fan, this film about a young pitcher from the Dominican Republic trying to make it in the Major Leagues is fascinating and captivating. If you happen to be a baseball fan as well, this is a MUST SEE. From the moment we meet Sugar, a teenager living at a baseball academy in his home country, we palpably feel the pressure this kid has to succeed from every member of his family and home village. It is all about making it to “the states” for these kids. The potential to make enough money to pull dozens of family and friends out of poverty is startling. Once Sugar makes it to Spring Training, the real struggle begins, as he is assigned to a minor league team in the mid-west where he has almost nothing in common with any he meets outside the sports world, and where the competition is fierce for the right to move up within the minor league system. The film is shot beautifully, with the depth of field mimicking the isolation and disorientation of the main character. Also notable is the sound editing, which relies heavily on the ambient location sounds of the ball games and player chatter as well as using music to place the characters in and out of their comfort zones. This film was made by the same team that made HALF NELSON in 2006.

TAKE OUT.
Drama/Foreign (English/Mandarin/Spanish.
Charles Jang/Amy Danielson.
Directed by Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou.

THIRD.
Drama/Foreign (Polish).
Jacek Braciak/Piotr Buczek.
Directed by Jan Hryniak.
* A couple trying to save their marriage and reconnect with each other on a boat trip meet a man made cynical by his wealth who decides to “help” them.

TOE TACTIC.
Animation/Drama.
Lilly Rabe/Kevin Corrigan/David Cross.
Directed by Emily Hubley.

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

EARTH.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Documentary.
Narrated by James Earl Jones.
* More spectacular cinematography tracking the absolute gorgeousness of our fair planet.

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

BRAVE NEW VOICES.
Television/HBO.
Queen Latifah.
* This HBO series highlights young poets.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON.
Television/Drama.
Teri Hatcher/Felicity Huffman/Marcia Cross/Eva Longoria Parker/Nicollette Sheridan.
* Desperate! Cougars! On! The! Prowl!

HEROES: SEASON THREE.
Television/Drama
Jack Coleman/Hayden Panettiere.
* Season three in the award-winning series about a bunch of international people who discovered they had super powers. But, I guess none of them had the power to balance the budget, or negotiate peace, or feed the children, or create a battery for an electronic device that doesn’t run out right when you need it most. Sigh.

RAMSAY’S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES: COMPLETE SERIES TWO.
Television/Drama.
Gordon Ramsay.
* More ranting and raving from Gordon as he tries to whip restaurants into shape.

............//HIGHLIGHTED NEW ADDITIONS/............

Reviews written by Rachel W.

A MAN NAMED PEARL.
* What happens when a black man with no horticulture or artistic education moves to a small town in South Carolina and creates a 3-acre masterpiece of avant-guard plant sculptures? Watch this doc and find out!

BAADASSSS CINEMA.
* Ever think of the historical and cultural impacts of “Foxy Brown”? I do……… all the time.

KING CORN.
* King Corn has arrived! Did you know that we have corn in our hair?! I certainly did not. This documentary got a lot of well-deserved attention when it came out, as it chronicles the growth, production, evolution, and distribution of corn. One of the more creative documentaries I have seen, with hand-drawn graphs, farmer-figurine diagrams, and awesome pictures.

NINE GOOD TEETH.
* Director Alex Halpern decides to interview his Italian-American 104 year-old grandmother in a series of interviews in which she shares her wisdom, humor and some previously unknown family secrets….need I say more?

PICK UP THE MIC.
* Unfortunately, the hip-hop music scene is notoriously known for its less-than sympathetic/understanding view of the gay community. This provocative documentary shows the hidden world of LGBT rappers and includes footage from performances in San Francisco!

PICTURES FROM A REVOLUTION.
* Co-directed by one of my personal heroines, Susan Meisales, this documentary retraces her history in photographing the Revolution in Nicaragua in the 70’s and 80’s and catches up with those that she photographed.

PRISON TOWN, USA.
* This documentary traces the economic and social impacts of the aftermath of bringing a prison into a small town in California. Contains great interviews with all those affected, such as out of work farmers, local high school kids, prison guards, and the prisoners themselves.

SECOND SKIN.
* If you are currently alive, you have probably heard of the Internet “avatars”- personalities that real people create in online role-playing games. But who are these people? Are they you? Are they me? This documentary provides an inside look into the lives of those who have decided carry out most of their life through their virtual avatar.

SING FASTER: THE STAGEHANDS’ RING CIRCLE.
* This won the Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy in 1999. This documentary is a hilarious look at the San Francisco’s production of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, told from the perspective of the stagehands.

TRUE MEANING OF LIFE: SHELBY LEE ADAM’S APPALACHIA.
* Shelby Lee Adams is a controversial photographer who was the first in his field to do an in-depth photo-essay on modern Appalachia. This documentary follows him and his interactions with the Appalachian families he grew to love and tells the families’ stories as well.

WE ARE WIZARDS.
* This is a documentary mainly about the musical side of the Harry Potter fan-culture but also touches on the legal issues that arise when Warner Brothers gets as angry as a horn-tailed dragon because people are making a creative living off of Harry Potter. Who the Hogwarts knew? Funny, fascinating, and yes, magical.

............//KIDS/............

BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE.

ELMO’S WORLD: ALL ABOUT FACES.

SCRUFF’S HALLOWEEN.

............//NEW ADDITIONS/............

* More Hong Kong!

A BETTER TOMORROW.

A BETTER TOMORROW 2.

GREEN SNAKE.

............//NEW BLU-RAY ADDITIONS/............

HARRY POTTER: FIRST FIVE FILMS.
* Yeah, baby. Dumbledore in Hi-Def.

****