RoosterFlix

so I watched The Hangover this weekend

2009-06-08T01:44:00.000-04:00

it was really funny

I also watched Fred Claus

Brand New 'Terminator Salvation' Footage Leaked

2009-04-01T07:35:00.001-04:00

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for February 10th

2009-02-13T10:03:00.001-05:00

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W. (2008)
dir. Oliver Stone

There's nothing groundbreaking here....anyone who barely pays attention to the news probably knows everything contained in this movie. The main reason to watch is for the great performances (minus Thandie Newton's HORRIBLE exaggerated portrayal of Condi Rice), especially Josh Brolin. I'm actually kind of mad he didn't get a nod for Best Actor, he's really that good in this role. The only problem I had with the movie, other than Newton, was the placement of the "fool me once" quote. Why have that happen in a place where EVERYONE knows it didn't?

Product Decsription:
Oliver Stone’s W. is similar to his other movies about American presidents (JFK, Nixon), which is to say these films are much more about Stone’s imagined versions of reported events than they are alleged reenactments. As such, W. is Stone’s case for what he sees as the absurdity of George W. Bush’s ascendance to the White House and especially the arrogant blunder of the Iraq War. Josh Brolin is very good as the miscreant son of George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell), Vice President to Ronald Reagan and 41st president of the United States. Adrift in a sea of booze and squandered opportunities, the younger Bush is largely driven by a need for his disapproving father’s love and respect, which never truly arrives. Becoming a hatchet man for Bush Sr.’s administration, “W” (as his wife, Laura--played by Elizabeth Banks--call him) meets Karl Rove (Toby Jones) and heads toward the Texas governorship, despite his father’s preference that the more golden son, Jeb, get all the family’s support in his Florida gubernatorial bid.
Told in broken chronology, W. focuses on Bush’s post-9/11 path to waging a “preventive war” in Iraq despite no hard evidence of weapons of mass destruction to justify it. The major players in W’s administration--Rove, Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Condoleeza Rice (Thandie Newton), and especially Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss)--all participate in closed meetings that look and sound like every investigative account by the New York Times or Bob Woodward about the administration’s inner workings leading up to the war. Much of this is quite fascinating if a little weird (Newton’s performance is indeed strange), but the drama is often powerful, particularly around Powell’s resistance to the rising tide for a supposedly slam-dunk war. A number of the film’s key performances, besides Brolin’s, are very strong, especially Cromwell, Jones, Wright, Dreyfuss and Bruce McGill as George Tenet. --Tom Keogh

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Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
dir. Spike Lee

Haven't seen this yet, but will watch it very soon. I'm really interested to see Spike Lee tackle war.

Product Decsription:
Every major American filmmaker has a war movie inside them. After the twin triumphs of When the Levees Broke and Inside Man, his biggest box office hit, Spike Lee puts his distinctive stamp on World War II. Though Miracle at St. Anna begins and ends in 1983, most of the action takes place in 1944. The segregation of the time leads to the Army's African-American 92nd Infantry Division. In Italy, four of these Buffalo Soldiers, Sergeants Stamps (Antwone Fisher's Derek Luke) and Bishop (Barbershop's Michael Ealy), Corporal Hector (Jarhead's Laz Alonso), and sweet, superstitious Private Train (The Express's Omar Benson Miller), get separated from their unit while fighting the Germans. On the way to higher ground, Train rescues a boy from the rubble. With nine-year-old Angelo (newcomer Matteo Sciabordi) in tow, the soldiers secure shelter in a Tuscan town, where they band together with the villagers, including lovely English speaker Renata (Artemisia's Valentina Cervi), nurse the delusional boy back to health (he has an imaginary playmate named Arturo), and prepare for the next attack. Like Inside Man, Miracle marks one of the few times Lee has drafted an outsider to write the script, in this case bestselling author James McBride, who adapts from his novel. The combination of sensibilities results in a film that alternates, sometimes awkwardly, between cynicism and sentimentality. Tonal irregularities aside, Miracle at St. Anna pays overdue tribute to the 15,000 men who fought for freedom in a country that showed them greater respect than their nation of origin. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Season 2 (2008)
dir. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim

I was INCREDIBLY disappointed to discover that there is no commentary on this disc, especially when the 1st season had commentary on every episode. It goes without saying that the show is not for everybody, but it is 100% for me. Love this show.

Product Decsription:
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creators of TOM GOES TO THE MAYOR, are the hosts for this bizarre comedy show that finds its muse by scouring the debris of televised culture. Late-night commercials, instructional videos, and peppy infomercials are but a few of the targets for the 11-minute series' skewed sensibility. Layered with cheesy video effects, the show's whimsical sketches descend into the nether regions of television hell as they follow the heroic deeds of the Snuggler and educate the viewer in toilet use with jaw-dropping musical interludes. Bad taste has never been so wickedly entertaining in this Adult Swim series' second season, featuring appearances by John C. Reilly, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Skerritt, Zach Galifianakis, Rainn Wilson, and many others.

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Simon of the Desert - Criterion Collection (1965)
dir. Luis Bunuel

Product Decsription:
Simon of the Desert is Luis Buñuel's wicked and wild take on the life of devoted ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites, who waited atop a pillar surrounded by a barren landscape for six years, six months, and six days, in order to prove his devotion to God. Yet the devil, in the figure of the beautiful Silvia Pinal, huddles below, trying to tempt him down. A skeptic s vision of human conviction, Buñuel's short and sweet satire is one of the master filmmaker's most renowned works of surrealism.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
A Mexican Buñuel (1995), 50-minute documentary by Emilio Maillé
New interview with actress Silvia Pinal
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood and a reprinted interview with Buñuel
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The Exterminating Angel - Criterion Collection (1962)
dir. Luis Bunuel

Product Decsription:
A group of bourgeois cosmopolitans are invited to a mansion for dinner and inexplicably find themselves unable to leave, in Luis Buñuel's daring masterpiece The Exterminating Angel. Made just one year after his international sensation Viridiana, this is a furthering of Buñuel's wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes, full of eerie and hilarious absurdity.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
The Last Script: Remembering Luis Buñuel, a 2008 documentary featuring Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean Luis Buñuel
New interviews with filmmaker Arturo Ripstein and actress Silvia Pinal
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Marsha Kinder and a reprinted interview with Buñuel
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Frozen River (2008)
dir. Courtney Hunt

Watched this a couple days ago. Really good movie. Melissa Leo absolutely deserves to win Best Actress.

Product Decsription:
When her husband runs off with the payment for their new home, Ray (Melissa Leo, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada) turns to crime to keep herself and her two sons afloat. A chance encounter with Lila (Misty Upham, Edge of America), an equally desperate young Mohawk woman, leads Ray to smuggling illegal immigrants by driving across the frozen Hudson River onto tribal land. But with every trip, things go wrong in small and not-so-small ways, until Ray finds herself pushed into a more desperate corner than ever before. Leo delivers a gritty, restrained, but richly compelling performance; her raw face, beautiful but worn down by life, radiates a weary defiance. Frozen River has scenes as tense as any Hollywood thriller, but so grounded in the fully developed characters of these two women that the taut suspense grips the full spectrum of your emotions. This is an impressive debut by writer/director Courtney Hunt, featuring excellent supporting performances by Charlie McDermott (The Ten) as Ray's unhappy oldest son and Michael O'Keefe (The Great Santini) as a suspicious state trooper. --Bret Fetzer

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Blindness (2008)
dir. Fernando Meirelles

Ugh, immensely disappointing. I wrote something about this movie earlier, I'll just post it....

This movie had absolutely everything going for it. Director Fernando Meirelles has made probably the best movie of this decade (it's my favorite, anyway), City of God, and my favorite movie of 2005, The Constant Gardener. The script for Blindness is adapted from the novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago. And even with an A-list cast, the movie is just not fun to watch. Ebert said it best (as is usually the case) - "Blindness is one of the most unpleasant, not to say unendurable, films I've ever seen. It is an allegory about a group of people who survive under great stress, but frankly I would rather have seen them perish than sit through the final three-quarters of the film. Not only is it despairing and sickening, it's ugly. Denatured, sometimes overexposed, sometimes too shadowy to see, it is an experiment to determine how much you can fool with a print before ending up with mud, intercut with brightly lit milk."

Product Decsription:
Based on José Saramago's allegorical novel, Blindness is a haunting film that works like an unusual fusion of fable and gritty suspense. Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo star as an unnamed, married couple living in an unidentified city where a mass epidemic of blindness hits. Ruffalo's character, a doctor, is affected, but Moore's is not. When the two are transferred to a government-run quarantine facility complete with armed guards, they soon find themselves in a rapidly deteriorating situation. Criminals take over food distribution and extort possessions and sex from the innocent. Sanitation becomes a thing of the past. More subtly, rules that might govern one's judgement and behavior on an everyday basis simply vanish, and personal and collective values rewrite themselves. Moore's character hides the fact that she can see (except from her spouse), and thus becomes the audience's surrogate in the thick of so much misery. She also becomes an avenging angel at exactly the right time, and then a matriarch when the action shifts from the quarantine hell to the city's streets. The latter part of Blindness finds a handful of the inmates (played by Danny Glover and Alice Braga, among others) joining Moore and Ruffalo in a kind of post-apocalypse oasis, a chapter as touching as the previous chapters were nightmarish.
Director Fernando Meirelles deftly captures the film's spirit of mixed parable and horror, grounding the action but at the same time encouraging a viewer not to take it too literally. He honors Saramago's creative depiction of blindness not as a field of black but, in this case, as an ocean of white. He also does some tricky, disorienting things with the camera, shooting at odd angles, putting his frame around strange details in a scene--all of it has a way of giving a viewer a feeling of what it's like to perceive the world in a whole new way. --Tom Keogh

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Chocolate (2008)
dir. Prachya Pinkaew

Much like all other Prachya Pinkaew movies, light on story, heavy on awesome ass-kicking fight sequences. The whole scene where they're fighting on the side of a building is really awesome.

Product Decsription:
A young girl learns to fight from watching TV and the fighters from the boxing school next door. When she finds a list of debtors in her ailing mother s diary, she sets upon a violent quest to collect payment for medical expenses. Her quest is a dangerous one that ultimately leads her to her father, a gang member of the Yakuza.

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Raging Bull (1980)
dir. Martin Scorsese

One of the greatest movies ever. I don't usually mention blu-ray releases of movies that have already great DVD editions, but this movie is too good.

Product Decsription:
Martin Scorsese's brutal black-and-white biography of self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta was chosen as the best film of the 1980s in a major critics' poll at the end of the decade, and it's a knockout piece of filmmaking. Robert De Niro plays LaMotta (famously putting on 50 pounds for the later scenes), a man tormented by demons he doesn't understand and prone to uncontrollably violent temper tantrums and fits of irrational jealousy. He marries a striking young blond (Cathy Moriarty), his sexual ideal, and then terrorizes her with never-ending accusations of infidelity. Jake is as frightening as he is pathetic, unable to control or comprehend the baser instincts that periodically, and without warning, turn him into the rampaging beast of the title. But as Roman Catholic Scorsese sees it, he works off his sins in the boxing ring, where his greatest athletic talent is his ability to withstand punishment. The fight scenes are astounding; they're like barbaric ritual dance numbers. Images smash into one another--a flashbulb, a spray of sweat, a fist, a geyser of blood--until you feel dazed from the pummeling. Nominated for a handful of Academy Awards (including best picture and director), Raging Bull won only two, for De Niro and for editor Thelma Schoonmacher. --Jim Emerson

DVD Features:
#Commentary by Director Martin Scorsese and Editor Thelma Schoonmaker
#Cast and Crew Commentary with Irwin Winkler, Robbie Robertson, Robert Chartoff, Theresa Saldana, John Turturro, Frank Warner, Michael Chapman and Cis Corman
#Storytellers Commentary with Mardik Martin, Paul Schrader, Jason Lustin and Jake Lamotta
#Raging Bull: Before the Fight (The Writing, the Casting and Preproduction) (26m:08s)
#Raging Bull: Inside the Ring (The Choreography of the Fight Scenes) (14m:49s)
#Raging Bull: Outside the Ring (Behind-the-Scenes Stories on the Making of the Film) (27m:19s)
#Raging Bull: After the Fight (The Sound Design, the Music, the Impact of the Film) (16m:01s)
#The Bronx Bull (Making of Documentary) (27m:52s)
#De Niro Vs LaMotta (Shot by Shot Comparison in the Ring) (3m:48s)
#La Motta Defends Title (Newsreel Footage) (0m:57s)
#Original Theatrical Trailer (3m:55s)
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Soul Men (2008)
dir. Malcolm D. Lee

Product Decsription:
Though it's been some twenty years since they have spoken with one another, two estranged soul-singing legends agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader.

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Cross Creek (1983)
dir. Martin Ritt

Product Decsription:
Mary Steenburgen (MELVIN AND HOWARD) stars in this adaptation of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's classic novel about her experiences living in rural Florida during the 1920s and 1930s. Mixing together elements of both CROSS CREEK and THE YEARLING, director Martin Ritt creates a glowing period piece that finds the essence of both books. In the film, Mrs. Rawlings (Steenburgen), a New Yorker, buys an orange grove in the Florida swamps for the purpose of going there to write the gothic romance she can't seem to finish in the city. As soon as she arrives, Mrs. Rawlings becomes immersed in the colorful backwoods community that surrounds her grove, and acquires a young cook named Geechee (Woodard) as well as farm hands to work the groves. Enchanted by life in Cross Creek, Mrs. Rawlings finds herself writing not gothic romances, but tales of small town life in rural Florida. Next thing she knows, her stories catch the attention of a major publisher. A lyrical meditation on both rural life and the nature of creativity, Martin Ritt's film is filled with lush imagery and standout performances. In particular, Rip Torn's performance as Marsh Turner, a drunken but loving father, is outstanding, and it rightfully won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

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My Name Is Bruce (2008)
dir. Bruce Campbell

I love Bruce to death, but something about this movie turns me off. I can't put my finger on it, but I just feel like I'm going to be very dissatisfied with it. Oh well, I'll watch it anyway.

Product Decsription:
Cult film and TV star Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice) lampoons his own B-movie legacy with My Name is Bruce, an agreeably goofy horror-comedy which pits him--well, a version of him, anyway--against a malevolent Asian spirit in order to save a die-hard fan. Campbell also directed Bruce, and brings a loose, kitchen-sink vibe to the proceedings, which has teenager and die-hard Bruce Campbell fan Jeff (Taylor Sharp) kidnap his idol in order to save his small town from an ancient Chinese demon. Unfortunately, the movie Bruce Campbell is a broken-down, booze-swilling reprobate who lacks even an ounce of the insouciant charm of his screen persona in Evil Dead 2 or the Hercules series, and proves woefully inadequate in dispelling the monster. But as films ranging from Cat Ballou and My Favorite Year to Galaxy Quest and Three Amigos! have proven, the unwavering belief of a fan can bring out the hero in even the worst heel, and Bruce rises to the occasion in the picture's final third. Obviously, Bruce is slated towards fans of Campbell's eccentric screen c.v., and aficionados will undoubtedly appreciate the endless slew of nods to his previous films, as well as cameos by many of his co-stars, including Ted Raimi in multiple roles (one of which is a Chinese gentleman that gives Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's a run for his money in the stereotype department). Campbell himself remains the movie's chief selling point; his knack for physical humor (read: self-abuse) and pulpy line readings have lost none of their charm, which does much to override some of the flick's flotilla of stale gags. Campbell's sense of humor is also given free reign on the commentary track, which he shares with producer Mike Richardson; the DVD, which comes with a 24-page comic book adaptation from Dark Horse, also includes an amusing making-of featurette, as well as a spoofy tell-all mockumentary on the "real" Bruce Campbell, and a trailer for the atrocious film-within-a-film, Cavealien 2. -- Paul Gaita

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The Enforcer (1995)
dir. Corey Yuen

Product Decsription:
A secret agent infiltrates the Hong Kong triad scene with the help of his son, whose low-key admiration for his detached but loving dad springs from the story's blend of family "honor" melodrama and conventional "cop" action. Considered to be one of Li's best.

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Against the Dark (2008)
dir. Richard Crudo

Seagal fighting vampires, how can you go wrong? From the reviews I've read, apparently it went VERY wrong, but this still seems like something that needs to be seen.

Product Decsription:
Katana master Tao (Steven Seagal) leads a special ops squad of ex-military vigilantes on a massacre mission, their target: vampires. On the post apocalyptic globe, sucked dry by bloodthirsty vampires, a few remaining survivors are trapped in an infected hospital. Tao is their only hope and he knows the only cure is execution. Now it's time for the last stand against the flesh-eating vampires and there's nothing left to lose but the last of humanity.

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Street Fighter Extreme Edition (1994)
dir. Steven E. de Souza

Just in time for Street Fighter IV.

Product Decsription:
Get ready for action-packed excitement in the all-new Street Fighter Extreme Edition – on both DVD and Blu-ray! Based on one of the most popular video game franchises of alltime, this martial arts adventure stars international superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme as a commando who leads an elite team of street fighters against an evil general. Featuring a digitally remastered picture and loaded with bonus features including deleted scenes, featurettes, director commentary, outtakes, storyboards and much more, Street Fighter Extreme Edition is the ultimate way experience one of the hottest properties of both yesterday and today.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for February 3rd

2009-02-13T10:02:00.000-05:00

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Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
dir. Kevin Smith

Most of Kevin Smith's recent work hasn't blown me away, but I still like him. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this, but I ended up really enjoying it. It seems like Seth Rogen has been in every comedy made since 2004, and for good reason. He's a funny dude. He's completely overexposed, but I still get a kick out of him. Teamed with the hawwwwt Elizabeth Banks, they make a great (and pretty unlikely) screen couple. I'll definitely be watching this again.

Product Decsription:
Fans of writer/director Kevin Smith (auteur of Dogma and Chasing Amy) should run to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno--the adored filmmaker has clearly made this with his hardcore following in mind. Zack (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, Slither) are longtime friends and housemates who, after their power and water get shut off, turn to pornography to pay their bills. After assembling a cheerful and perhaps dimwitted cast and crew, the hapless pair launch into their cynical yet heartwarming scheme with enthusiasm, only to discover--spoiler alert!--that they have feelings for each other. Smith clearly wanted to make a sex comedy with heart, something in the vein of The 40 Year Old Virgin. Unfortunately, Zack and Miri Make a Porno combines the mawkish, formulaic sentimentality of Jersey Girl with the belabored, formulaic sex gags of Clerks II. For a movie that clearly hearkens back to Smith's own experiences making the beloved and archetypally cheap-and-dirty Clerks, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is sadly generic and predictable. But Smith's fanbase will appreciate that the movie has snarky jokes about science fiction, a good dose of bare breasts (and two actual porn stars, Traci Lords and Katie Morgan), and the schlubby guy/hot chick dynamic that drives a thousand sitcoms. --Bret Fetzer

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Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa (2008)
dir. Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

I haven't seen the first Madagascar, so I'll wait until I do that to watch this one. No idea when that's going to be, though.

Product Decsription:
In 2008's MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA, the endearing New York City zoo animals of the original hit movie return for another zany round of CGI adventures abroad. Leaving the island of the title by way of a ramshackle penguin-designed aircraft, the quartet of Alex the Lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), along with unlikely friends such as King Julien the Lemur (Sacha Baron Cohen), crash-land on the African savannah, setting in motion a whole new series of exploits, involving Alex's long-lost parents (Bernie Mac and Sherri Shepherd) and a stranded group of tenacious NYC human tourists.
Reuniting directors Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell, as well as all the principal cast members of the first film, MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA takes full advantage of its sweeping setting, making room for beautifully expansive landscapes amidst the mammal mayhem. While the leads are in fine form, they are ably assisted by series newcomers, including the late Mac, Shepherd, and Alec Baldwin, who plays a scheming rival lion. Though various plotlines get increasingly ridiculous as the movie goes on (see the return of MADAGASCAR's aggressive Grand Central Station granny), the good-natured main characters and their silly support players (particularly lemurs and penguins) keep ESCAPE 2 AFRICA entertaining no matter how far the story strays off the wildlife reserve.

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Oliver and Company (20th Anniversary Edition) (1988)
dir. George Scribner

Kind of a forgotten animated Disney movie, probably because it's not as critically acclaimed as everything else. I still really enjoyed it, although I haven't seen it in a pretty long time.

Product Decsription:
Disney does Dickens in this animated version of Oliver Twist, in which a homeless New York City cat falls in with a bunch of mischievous dogs under the leadership of the appealing scoundrel Fagin. The roots of Disney's success with animation in the '90s begins with this clever, energetic, atmospheric movie, which succeeds in capturing the grim world Dickens conjured. Lyricist Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid) worked on the songs, the best of which is sung by Billy Joel, who provides the voice of (the Artful) Dodger. --Tom Keogh

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Being There (Deluxe Edition) (1979)
dir. Hal Ashby

There are a couple cuts of this movie in circulation: one with an outtake that rolls IMMEDIATELY when the movie ends, and one without the outtake. Hopefully this DVD contains the one without because the outtake COMPLETELY kills the mood that the movie sustained for the previous 2 hours. REGARDLESS of all that, this is a really really good movie, and it contains one of Peter Sellers' best performances.

Product Decsription:
BEING THERE is based on Jerzy Kosinski's short comic novel about a simpleton, Chance (Peter Sellers), raised in isolation whose only education came from watching TV. When he's forced out of the house where he worked as a gardener by the death of the wealthy recluse who raised him from infancy, he's fortuitously struck by a limousine carrying Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine), the wife of a wealthy industrialist. He's mistaken, because of his well-tailored suits, for a man of means and taken to dinner with her husband, Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas). There, as Chauncy Gardner, his blank affect is taken for seriousness and his literal pronouncements about gardening for metaphoric economic predictions. Soon he's meeting the president (Jack Warden) and becoming a star on TV--where he's a natural.
Kosinski was well known to be personally fascinated by the power of television. In BEING THERE, which he adapted for the screen himself, he presents a comic fable about a man whose entire sense of reality came from watching television. Sellers is marvelous as the always-deadpan cipher in whom everyone he meets sees whatever it is they need to see. Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden, and Melvyn Douglas give outstanding performances in this biting satire directed by Hal Ashby.

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The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood

Product Decsription:
Headed by an all-star cast of women, The Secret Life of Bees is the heartwarming and well-told story of a young girl who finds love and acceptance from a trio of independent sisters. The Secret Life of Bees is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd and centers around the plight of 14-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning). Assuming the burden for her mother's premature death, she has a precarious relationship with her abusive father T. Ray (Paul Bettany). Lily's only friend is her caregiver Rosaleen (Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson). Set in South Carolina in 1964, when civil rights wasn't a given, Rosaleen's life is threatened by racists who'd just as soon see her dead than exercise her right to vote. Lily runs away with her to a town she believes may hold the secrets of her mother's life. There the pair meet the Boatwright sisters August (Queen Latifah), June (Alicia Keys) and May (Sophie Okonedo)--who produce the area's famous Black Madonna honey. They eventually provide Lily with the unconditional love she never felt she had and also show Rosaleen that being a black woman in the South doesn't mean she can't have a sense of worth. The Secret Life of Bees doesn't try to pass itself off as a historical documentation of race relations in the 1960s. But the fictional slice of life still resonates because of the feelings of injustice that it stirs up. Though the film is written to show the disparity between blacks and whites, there is always a strong sense of hope, thanks to the lead actresses who bring empathy and dignity to their roles. Hudson exhibits some of the same quiet grace that Regina Taylor brought to her role as the family housekeeper in the superb TV series I'll Fly Away. Latifah has the part of wise matriarch down pat, even when she's playing a sister rather than a mother. And it's clear that Fanning is making a seamless transition from kid to young adult roles. Whether she's giving an impassioned monologue or listening thoughtfully, Fanning brings nuance and intelligence to her role. --Jae-Ha Kim

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Bottle Shock (2008)
dir. Randall Miller

Product Decsription:
"Bottle shock" describes what can happen to wine as it travels from place to place. Set in 1976, Randall Miller's widescreen docudrama concerns the real-life showdown between California's wineries and their French counterparts. Napa Valley's Jim Barrett (Lost Highway's Bill Pullman) has been plugging away for years with minimal success. A former attorney, Barrett runs Chateau Montelena with his wayward son, Bo (Chris Pine, the Star Trek prequel's Captain Kirk), who would rather do anything than assist his stern father. Bo's co-workers include Gustavo (Six Feet Under's Freddy Rodríguez) and Sam (Transformers' Rachael Taylor), who long to produce the perfect chardonnay. Naturally, the young men compete for the favors of the beautiful blonde (the movie's least interesting angle). Across the Atlantic, Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) struggles to keep his Parisian wine shop going (cheapskate American Dennis Farina is his only regular customer). Then Spurrier conceives a contest to attract customers; surely, his beloved French growers will put those upstart Yanks in their place. He flies to Napa to look around, and persuades the Barretts to compete. Miller and his wife, screenwriter Jody Savin, previously worked with Pullman and Rickman on Nobel Son, but decided to release Bottle Shock first. Though comparisons to Sideways will be inevitable, the filmmakers take more of a historical look at California wine country. The "Judgment of Paris" changed the face of the business forever, and they've found a lively way to recount the tale. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Friday the 13th Uncut (1980)
dir. Sean S. Cunningham

Even though the iconic Jason isn't in this, it's still a really solid horror movie, still one of the best of the series.

Product Decsription:
Despite repeated warnings to stay away, a group of fun-loving but none-too-bright teenagers set out to reopen the eerie Camp Crystal Lake, which closed 20 years earlier after a series of bizarre and unexplained deaths. Now someone is lurking in the woods, spying on the happy campers, and plotting a gory, grisly revenge on those who would disturb the camp's slumber. A horror classic that set the standard for slasher flicks of the 1980s.

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Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981)
dir. Steve Miner

...and even though Jason is doing the killing in this one, it's not the awesome Jason. It's just lame burlap sackhead Jason.

Product Decsription:
As bad as Friday the 13th, Part 2 is, it's a work of art in comparison to the rest of the Friday the 13th flicks that came afterward. This installment officially introduced us to Jason Voorhees as the killer (if you remember Drew Barrymore's fatal phone quiz in Scream, you know that the killer in the first Friday the 13th was actually Jason's mother), and made the slicing and dicing even more generic. Survivor Alice is dispatched within the first 10 minutes, and we're left with plucky Ginny (Amy Steel, doing a fairly decent Jamie Lee Curtis impression) to do battle with the monstrous Jason. Ginny's part of a another group of horny teenagers (less intelligent as well as less attractive than their predecessors) who try to resurrect Camp Crystal Lake five years after the initial murders--a pretty mean feat, considering this movie was made only a year after the first one. Being a smarty-pants child-psychology major, Ginny tries to outwit the dim Jason, and at one point dons the bloody and moldy sweater of Jason's late mother (which is more disgusting than any of the killings beforehand) in an attempt to confuse the masked killer. Jason may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but the only one who's going to pull the wool--or in this case, the burlap--over his eyes is Jason himself, who wears a sack with one eyehole throughout the movie to hide his deformed features (he finally found his way to a sporting-goods store and his trademark hockey mask appears in the third installment of the series). Directed by Steve Miner, who also helmed the next Friday the 13th film (in 3-D no less) as well as the more reputable House, Forever Young, and Halloween: H20. --Mark Englehart

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Friday the 13th, Part 3 3-D (1982)
dir. Steve Miner

I could never get over how dumb the 3D parts of this movie were. Old 3D technology will always be gimmicky, but when it's this bad and it's the main thing that sticks out when remembering stuff about the movie, that's not a good sign.

Product Decsription:
The tender, tragic saga of Jason Vorhees, the world's unhappiest camper, continues when yet another batch of hormonally advanced teens decide to ignore past history and spend some time at the woodsy, pine-scented slaughterhouse known as Camp Crystal Lake. It may be a bit of a stretch to describe any of the entries in this interminable series as "good," but this creatively grotesque installment manages to come surprisingly close with a welcome sense of humor and some quick glimmers of real menace (courtesy of director Steve Miner, who would later go on to helm the far more accomplished Halloween: H20). Originally presented in 3-D, which explains the never-ending slew of objects (knives, pitchforks, yo-yos, cats, eyeballs, etc.) that are repeatedly thrust in the viewer's general direction. --Andrew Wright

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His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2008)
dir. Sean S. Cunningham, Daniel Farrands

Seems like a really interesting doc, especially for fans of horror, even if you're not a big fan of the Friday the 13th series.

Product Decsription:
Jason Voorhees has carved his place into American pop culture and is one of the most recognizable cinematic killer in horror history. Now nearly, 30 years later, see how it all happened! With over 100 interviews with cast and crew, behind the scenes footage and dozen of film clips spanning the entire Friday the 13th series leading up to the 2/13/09 remake, there is no better way to get up close and personal with one of the most feared icons of our generation. Shut off the lights, lock up the cabin and get ready to learn all about a boy... His Name Was Jason.

HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH is a two disc set loaded with over 4 hours of bonus material. This film is a behind the scenes look at the franchise that broke horror box office records and made Jason a pop culture icon. With over 80 interviews from the cast and crew of the Friday the 13th film franchise, including the new Friday the 13th film, these firsthand accounts of never-before-told stories and rare behind the scenes photographs offer the ultimate look at the history of FRIDAY THE 13TH!

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Inside Moves (1980)
dir. Richard Donner

Product Decsription:
Something of a departure for SUPERMAN director Richard Donner when it was released in 1980, this poignant and offbeat dramedy follows Roary, a man who?s been crippled by a recent suicide attempt. After resigning to spending most of his time in a bar full of down-trodden souls, Roary discovers that Jerry the Bartender has just been accepted to play basketball for the Golden State Warriors. As it turns out, helping Jerry train might just be the sort of transcendent therapy Roary and his fellow patrons need. INSIDE MOVES stars John Savage, David Morse, and Academy-Award-nominnee Diana Scarwid.

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Paura - Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol. 1 [Limited Edition] (2008)
dir. Mike Baronas

Another seemingly interesting doc that any respectable horror fan should check out. The description says there was only 2,500 made, but they're still in stock everywhere I've checked.

Product Decsription:
Who was Lucio Fulci, director of such horror classics as ZOMBI 2, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BEYOND -- an eccentric? A misogynist? A genius? Much speculation surrounded the life of this revered Italian director since his untimely death in 1996. Divided into three categories -- Accomplices (Crew), Peers (Directors) and Victims (Actors) -- the acquaintances Fulci engaged with throughout his long and diverse moviemaking career recall good, bad and sometimes ugly anecdotes by revealing the answer to one question: "What is your fondest memory of Lucio Fulci?" 7 years in the making, nearly 90 interviews and almost 4 hours of footage a must for any fan of EuroHorror cinema, limited to only 2,500 copies!

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Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
dir. Richard Quine

Product Decsription:
Dr. Helen Brown (Natalie Wood) of the International Institute of Advanced Marital and Pre-Marital Studies is a therapist who advises single women about sex. And Bob Weston (Tony Curtis) is a sleazy magazine editor who plans to reveal the shocking truth about her: that she's a mere twenty-three year old virgin without any hands-on experience for the job. But when the two meet, fireworks explode -- and Weston may just find himself choosing between a hot romance or a hot story. A loosely based story on the adventures of Helen Gurley Brown, editor of Cosmopolitan and author of "Sex and the Single Girl." A bawdy madcap farce featuring an inspired supporting cast including Lauren Bacall, Henry Fonda, Larry Storch, and Mel Ferrer.

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Brainstorm (1983)
dir. Douglas Trumbull

Product Decsription:
Brainstorm is a fascinating but frustrating film, simply because it dabbles in greatness but fails to develop the fullest implications of its provocative ideas. It's a visually dazzling film with outstanding special effects; directed by veteran effects creator Douglas Trumbull, of 2001 fame; but too caught up in marvels of hardware and software at the expense of its characters, who remain interesting but dramatically two-dimensional. The story involves the development of a headset recorder that can replay one person's experiences--even their emotional states--into the mind of another. The device obviously invites corporate or military exploitation, and Cliff Robertson plays a ruthless executive determined to tap into its lucrative potential. But when a scientist (Louise Fletcher) records her own death experience with the device, along with incriminating evidence, the technology's inventor (Christopher Walken) must unlock the mysteries of his colleague's suspicious demise and the very nature of death itself. Punctuated by remarkable sequences from the perspective of those who use the mind-expanding headset, Brainstorm dares to reach for ambitious themes and innovative movie experiences, and that alone makes it eminently worthwhile. But with a conclusion that too literally interprets the afterlife experience with conventional angelic imagery, and a disappointingly thin role for Natalie Wood (who died while the film was still in production), the film strives for profundity and settles instead for an inspirational light show. --Jeff Shannon

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Five (1951)
dir. Arch Oboler

I hate the artwork on these Martini Moives line of DVDs, they look like cheap bargain bin DVDs, which is a shame because there are some real standouts in here. Definitely a couple notables being released this week.

Product Decsription:
Intriguing, offbeat film by famed radio writer-director Arch Oboler about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust. Five stars William Phipps, Susan Douglas and Charles Lampkin, and is probably the first film to deal with a post-apocalyptic theme.

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Getting Straight (1970)
dir. Richard Rush

Product Decsription:
Elliott Gould stars as a womanizing Vietnam veteran who returns to the university to obtain a degree in education and finds himself involved in campus unrest. This socially relevant comedy co-stars Candice Bergen, John Rubenstein and Harrison Ford.

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Gumshoe (1971)
dir. Stephen Frears

A really early Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things) movie with a youthful Albert Finney, who is always great, in the lead.

Product Decsription:
Albert Finney stars as a bingo-caller who, bored with his mundane existence, takes out a newspaper ad offering his services as a private detective. In no time at all, Finney finds himself involved in a series of plots and counter plots.

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Our Man in Havana (1960)
dir. Carol Reed

The God Alec Guinness paired up with the great Sir Carol Reed (director of one of the greatest movies ever, The Third Man, among other classics). Another great actor/director combo.

Product Decsription:
A vacuum cleaner salesman (Alec Guinness) is recruited by the British secret service to act as a spy in Havana. When Guinness sends off phony reports, "recruits" mysterious agents and "discovers" mysterious installations, the home office decides to send him some help in the form of an agent named Beatrice.

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Vibes (1988)
dir. Ken Kwapis

This cast is more weird than anything. Early Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper? Odd.

Product Decsription:
This buddy comedy teams up Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper as Manhattan-based psychics who meet at an NYU research center and are later hired by a shady entrepreneur (Peter Falk) to find his missing son in Ecuador. Once in South America, the duo learns that Falk has actually duped them into finding a lost gold treasure which his former minions failed to retrieve. Meanwhile, they're pursued by another gang seeking the treasure, one of whom is a psychic himself. Part action-adventure and part '80s Cheez Whiz, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel's script to Vibes is hokey. But in their respective parts, Goldblum's cynicism and Lauper's free-spirited quirkiness make them a charming pair to watch in spite of the story's shortcomings. --Bryan Reesman

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Black Swarm (2007)
dir. Bradford May, David Winning

Product Decsription:
Welcome to Black Stone, "The Township of Good Neighbors," and now home to something a more ominous: a pack of intelligent--and deadly--genetically-modified wasps. Exterminator Devin Hall (Sebastien Roberts, Lucky Number Slevin) has seen a lot when it comes to peculiar insect behavior, but nothing like the swarm of wasps that descends on a homeless man and kills him. Amassing as a black swarm, they have a single, terrifying purpose: to kill. When the dark cloud descends, you haven't got a chance. The Black Swarm is here.

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The Bloody Ape (1997)
dir. Keith Crocker

Product Decsription:
All in all THE BLOODY APE offers everything that a fan of cinema du bad needs. Violence, blood, nudity, exploitation, satire, nip twisting, ape ravaging, hippie genital removal, a nickel and dime budget and more than anything, a filmmaker who gives a damn. That is all you can ask. Crocker's description of THE BLOODY APE speaks volumes about where he was coming from, it wasn't JUST a guy in a Gorilla Suit. The film tells of the dire consequences suffered due to the inability of people to communicate properly. The film is a plea for mankind to see things the way that they really are, as opposed to how they perceive it to be. Lofty? High-minded? You decide after you see it...I say passionate about his damned work. That is why spent his own money to see it through! That is enough to demand you see it, you owe THE BLOODY APE that, fanboy! --Brains On Film

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Space Buddies (2009)
dir. Robert Vince

Poor dogs.

Product Decsription:
Disney's irresistible talking puppies are back in an all-new movie that takes them where no Buddy has gone before the moon! With the help of some stellar new friends, this out-of-this-world adventure is one small step for dog, one giant leap for dogkind. Moving at warp speed, dodging asteroids and more, the Buddies and their two new friends, Spudnick and Gravity, must summon their courage and ingenuity to launch plans for a moon landing and a rocketing trip back home. Will they have the right stuff?
Overflowing with intergalactic action and heart, Space Buddies is an amazing tale of teamwork, and loyalty that celebrates the journey of life and the friendships made along the way. It s Buddy-loving fun your family will enjoy again and again.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for January 27th

2009-01-30T08:21:00.000-05:00

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RocknRolla (2008)
dir. Guy Ritchie

Lots of people keep saying this is Guy Ritchie's best movie since Snatch, and while they're not wrong, it's still not really that great of a movie. It's definitely worth a watch though, especially if you enjoyed Snatch and Lock Stock. Also, Thandie Newton is hawwwwwwwt

Product Decsription:
“I own this town.” But owning is getting expensive for old-school London gangster Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson). A wealthier foreign mob is moving in with a riverfront property swindle. A small-timer (Gerard Butler) and his crew think they can play both sides and become big time. Now add a hard-as-ice accountant (Thandie Newton), a rocker playing dead to boost sales, wannabe music moguls (Jeremy Piven and Chris Bridges), a missing painting and a mad mosh of money and muscle, and youve got this funny, smash-mouth smackdown of sexthugs&rocknroll from writer/director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch).

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The Rocker (2008)
dir. Peter Cattaneo

Horrible, horrible movie. Not funny at all. Jeff Garlin is the only redeeming feature and he's barely in it. The music written for this movie is ear-poison. The fat kid is not only a terrible actor, but painfully uncharasmatic and unconfortable to watch at all times.

Product Decsription:
Most star vehicles center on one individual, but The Rocker doubles as a showcase for singer Teddy Geiger and The Office's Rainn Wilson. After his band, Vesuvius, kicks him to the curb, Cleveland drummer Robert "Fish" Fishman (Wilson) spends the next 20 years working in a cubicle and mourning for what might’ve been, while Vesuvius (Will Arnett, Bradley Cooper, and Fred Armisen) goes on to fame, fortune, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After Fish loses his job, he moves in with his sister (Jane Lynch) and her husband (Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin). As it turns out, Fish's nephew, Matt (21's Josh Gad), plays keyboards with guitarist Curtis (Geiger) and bassist Amelia (Superbad's Emma Stone). When Fish finds out that ADD needs a stickman to play the senior prom, he offers his services. After a bumpy start, their styles--hair metal and power-pop--start to gel, and they hit the road (SNL's Jason Sudeikis offers hilarious value as their hipster manager). During their first tour, Fish becomes an older brother figure to the fatherless Curtis and a potential love interest for his mother (Christina Applegate). Written by Maya Forbes (The Larry Sanders Show) and Wally Wolodarsky (The Simpsons) and directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty), The Rocker doesn't break the mold for unlikely success stories--think Rock Star or School of Rock--but it's hard not to root for Wilson's sweet slob (and Geiger isn't bad either). --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
dir. Woody Allen

Still not real sure what to make of this. I want to watch it because it's Javier Bardem and Woody Allen, and I don't want to watch it cause it looks terrible. I dunno.

Product Decsription:
It must be true that getting out of town can do a fellow a lot of good, because Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the best movie Woody Allen has made in years. Okay, you're right, 2006's Match Point already claimed that honor and, as Allen's first film made in England, established the virtues of getting away from overfamiliar territory (namely Manhattan). But the Woodman's first film made in Spain matches the ice-cold Match Point for crisp authority, and yields a good deal more sheer pleasure besides. Rebecca Hall (Vicky) and Scarlett Johansson (Cristina) play two young Americans, best friends, spending a summer in Catalonia. Vicky is going for a master's in "Catalan identity" (though her Spanish is shaky); Cristina is going along for, oh, just about anything. That soon includes celebrated abstract artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who's anything but abstract in his forthright proposition that the two join him in his private plane, his travels, and his bed. That he has an insane ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who may or may not have tried to kill him is not really an issue until the wife reappears and ... well, consider the possibilities.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona isn't exactly a comedy, at least not in the manner of Allen's "early, funny ones," but it's informed by a rueful wit that finds its fullest expression in reflective voiceover commentary. Spoken by Christopher Evan Welch, but surely on behalf of the 73-year-old auteur, this element of the film is neither (as some have charged) patronizing nor uncinematic; rather, it's integral to the movie's participation in a venerable European literary tradition, the sentimental education. Instead of Bergman or Fellini, this time Allen is invoking the François Truffaut of Jules and Jim and Eric Rohmer in his many meditations on the game of love. The entire cast is terrific (both Hall and Johansson get to play "the Woody part" at different points), with Bardem and Cruz especially delightful as exemplars of Old Worldliness. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe honors every drop of Catalonian sunlight and glint of Gaudí architecture. --Richard T. Jameson

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Lakeview Terrace (2008)
dir. Neil LaBute

On the surface this looks like another one of those movies where Samuel L. Jackson is just showing up for another paycheck, but Ebert gave it 4 stars so that woke a ton of people up. Also, Neil LaBute is no slouch...at least until he remade The Wicker Man he wasn't.

Product Decsription:
The usually provocative Neil LaBute reigns in his more eccentric tendencies for this straightforward domestic thriller. Then again, LaBute, who divides his time between cinema and theater, didn't write the material. The bad vibes begin when Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) move in next door to widowed cop Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson, as nasty as Aaron Eckhart in LaBute's In the Company of Men). A strict father of two, Turner works in a diverse unit (Jay Hernandez plays his partner), but takes less kindly to interracial relationships. From the start, he makes the Mattsons uncomfortable with inappropriate remarks and unwarranted intrusions, like the security light trained on their bedroom, under the guise of self-appointed neighborhood guardian. Initially, Turner's actions exacerbate the tensions between the seemingly happy pair--Lisa wants to start a family, Chris wants to wait--until they realize they'll have to work together to protect themselves from their troubled neighbor. And since he's a member of the LAPD, Turner's colleagues have his back, despite the break-ins and flat tires bedeviling the Mattsons. When they make it clear they intend to stay, Turner takes his harassment campaign to the next level. The A-list cast does what they can, but the B-movie script from Howard Korder and Passenger 57's David Loughery, offers few surprises--at least to those who've seen Fatal Attraction and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle--and LaBute's by-the-books direction lacks its usual bite. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Pride and Glory (2008)
dir. Gavin O'Connor

Ahh, more cop drama. Regardless of the cast, the previews made this movie look pretty uninteresting and cliched.

Product Decsription:
Like a forgotten, one-and-only season of a 1980s television show about an Irish-American family of cops, Pride and Glory is full of ambition but lacks the storytelling instinct to realize the goal. Edward Norton stars as Ray Tierney, a New York City police detective whose father, Francis Sr. (Jon Voight), boss of all Manhattan detectives, pressures him into investigating the murder of four officers. Ray's efforts uncover a corruption scandal centered around his brother-in-law, Jimmy (Colin Farrell), a beat cop whose commander happens to be, of course, Ray's brother, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich). As Ray pushes forward, Jimmy's self-protective instinct goes savage, and the rest of the Tierney males shift to cover-up mode. Co-writers Joe Carnahan (Narc) and Gavin O'Connor (Miracle), who also directs this film, make a fatal mistake by forcing every element in a long story to further a prefabricated narrative shape, leading to the conclusion they want. But they can't pull it off without awkward transitions and bridges, including the perfunctory inclusion of an intrepid reporter who conveniently breezes in and out of the movie long enough to explain Ray's back story aloud. A monstrous scene involving Farrell holding a steaming iron (prop or not) over a baby's face is inexcusable. --Tom Keogh

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Mary Poppins (45th Anniversary Special Edition) (1964)
dir. Robert Stevenson

Great movie, although I haven't seen it in yeaaaars. Strangely, the 40th anniversary edition DVD was better, see if you can find that one instead.

Product Decsription:
There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting Mary Poppins, and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P.L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider Mary Poppins to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career--and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until Beauty and the Beast in 1991. --Jim Emerson

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Closing the Ring (2007)
dir. Richard Attenborough

Product Decsription:
From Academy Award-winning director Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) comes this sweeping romance starring Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment), Christopher Plummer (A Beautiful Mind), Mischa Barton (TV's The O.C.), and Neve Campbell (The Company). Moving seemlessly through time, this lush epic follows a beautiful 1940's Michigan girl (Barton) secretly married to a WWII pilot who crashes in the hills near Belfast, Ireland. 50 years later his wedding ring resurfaces -- along with the smoldering secrets that have kept the widow (MacLaine), her estranged daughter (Campbell) and devoted friend (Plummer) each from finding true love.

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The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964)
dir. Anthony Asquith

I've never seen this, but the director should be killed if this movie is bad. Look at that fucking cast.

Product Decsription:
Following THE V.I.P.'S, their film about stars stranded at the airport, director Anthony Asquith and writer Terence Rattigan, turned to this stars-on-the-road vehicle; an unconnected three part romantic drama about the glamorous owners of a classic Rolls-Royce. Lord Frinton (Rex Harrison) originally purchases the car in the 1930s as a gift for his beautiful French wife (Jeanne Moreau) only to discover that she is using it to carry on an affair. He promptly sells the car.
In Genoa, an American gangster, Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott), buys the car to tour Italy with his gum chewing moll, Mae (Shirley MacLaine). A handsome photographer (Alain Delon) pursues Mae from town to town, but she resists until Paolo has business to attend to in America, leaving them alone in the Rolls, which once again acts as an aphrodesiac. When Paolo returns, he gets wise and sells the car.

During the Second World War, American millionairess Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman) buys the Rolls, now looking much the worse for wear, in Trieste for a dangerous trip to war torn Yugoslavia. When she meets Davich (Omar Sharif), a dashing young Yougoslav partisan, he compels her to take him with her. While not as weighty as previous Asquith-Rattigan efforts, THE WINSLOW BOY and THE BROWNING VERSION, this continental romp still manages a nice blend of drama and romance.

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Waterloo Bridge (1940)
dir. Mervyn LeRoy

Product Decsription:
Based on the play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert E. Sherwood, WATERLOO BRIDGE stars Vivien Leigh as Myra, a shy ballerina whose life is irrevocably altered in war-torn London. It's love at first sight when Myra meets handsome, aristocratic British officer Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor) in the midst of an air raid. The couple soon plans to wed, but Cronin is called to the front, and shortly thereafter a newspaper reports his death. Forced out of ballet school, alone and destitute, Myra turns to prostitution. When she discovers that the newspaper report was inaccurate, Myra is unable to tell Cronin about her professional life, and tragedy ensues. This 10-handkerchief weeper was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Joseph Ruttenberg's photography is beautiful, as is the inspired soundtrack by Herbert Stothart (THE WIZARD OF OZ), but what makes WATERLOO BRIDGE is Leigh's stunning performance and the very real chemistry between her and Robert Taylor.

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
dir. Herbert Ross

I AM A TELEVISION SET! DID YOU HEAR ME?? A T.V.! PETER O'TOOLE.

Product Decsription:
Robert Donat won an Oscar for his portrayal of the humble British don in the 1939 film Goodbye, Mr. Chips--and Peter O'Toole was nominated for his version of the role in this lackluster musical (he, along with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight of Midnight Cowboy, lost to John Wayne in True Grit). O'Toole is affecting as the shy English schoolteacher at a private boys' school who is brought out of his shell by the love of a good woman, then goes on to become a teaching legend after her tragic death. But the idea of turning this touching tale into a musical (with totally forgettable songs by John Williams and Leslie Bricusse) was almost as wrong-headed as having O'Toole do his own singing--or as casting singer Petula Clark as his wife. --Marshall Fine

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Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)
dir. Marina Zenovich

Product Decsription:
When Polanski’s defense attorney says midway through this film that he "isn’t surprised Polanski left under the circumstances" surrounding this corrupted court case, one really begins to understand why the director has not returned to America in nearly 20 years. Wanted and Desired, Marina Zenovich’s documentary about Polanski’s 1977 arrest for rape of a minor set facts straight about a case that was blown to ridiculous proportions by a sensationalistic press and a judge who was far from judicious. Comprised of interviews with producers and friends Andrew Braunsberg, Daniel Melnick, Mia Farrow, and many others, the film obviously sympathizes with Polanski. But ample interviews with D.A. Roger Gunson and defense attorney, Douglas Dalton, lend factual credence to the film’s assertion that the director was not guilty as charged and further, shows how separate public image and the real person are. Wanted and Desired covers the tragic loss of his wife, Sharon Tate, only to preface the court case and Polanski’s departing the country as a result. Short clips from many of his fine films are interspersed to poignant effect between interview clips, to show how his public image has been wrongly writ based on his films’ dark subject matter. Polanski’s lack of participation in the film, then, seems not like his condemnation of its making, but rather in keeping with his desire to avoid press in general. At best, Wanted and Desired may serve as a further invitation to the brilliant director, who has been living in France for almost 20 years with a wife and two children, to someday return to America. —Trinie Dalton

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The Lucky Ones (2008)
dir. Neil Burger

Product Decsription:
An earnest if not wholly satisfying comedy-drama about an awkward homecoming for three dissimilar Iraq War veterans, The Lucky Ones works best as a vehicle for its interesting lead performances. Tim Robbins transcends his real-life, anti-war reputation by playing Cheever, a Reservist and decent fellow who is injured in Iraq when a porta-potty falls on him. Eager to see his family, he ends up on a road trip with two other soldiers trying to reach their own destinations. There's Colee (Rachel McAdams), a young and earnest woman who enlisted to escape family problems, endured a leg wound and is on her way to meet the family of her boyfriend, who was killed in combat. There's also T.K. (Michael Peña), recruited from a poor family and granted a month's leave after becoming impotent from a wound. The odyssey these characters, initially strangers to each other, share is fairly predictable for anyone who has seen such classic vets-coming-home movies as The Best Years of Our Lives. As Colee, T.K. and Cheever travel together, they encounter what sometimes feels and looks like an alien landscape: people who patronize them, people who despise the war without an inkling of what it's like to endure it, and a host of other exploitative chuckleheads who just don't get it. Inevitably, the trio has only itself to rely upon, to share the knowledge of the war's reality and provide support in ways that are sometimes funny and sometimes poignant. Co-written and directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist), The Lucky Ones has a rambling structure that causes the film to lose focus. But its heart is in the right place, and Robbins, McAdams and Peña play people one can care about as much as enjoy. --Tom Keogh

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Cannery Row (1982)
dir. David S. Ward

The Amazon review kinda tore this movie a new asshole.

Product Decsription:
This 1982 effort at adapting John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday and Cannery Row is barely watchable, salvaged only by the thoughtful performances of Nick Nolte as a marine biologist and Debra Winger as a drifter. David S. Ward (Down Periscope) made his directorial debut and thoroughly botched such essentials as pacing and verisimilitude. (The sets look as artificial as any of Francis Ford Coppolla's more egregious contrivances.) If you can stay with it, however, there are plenty of good acting moments to hang your hat on. --Tom Keogh

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Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)
dir. John Schlesinger

For whatever reason, I didn't think Nicolas Roeg was that old, but he was the DP on this movie, as well as several other movies from 1960-1972, including Doctor Zhivago. Dude was born in 1928. Fuck. He's been directing since 1970, and directing exclusively since 1973, though.

Product Decsription:
John Schlesinger's solid adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel sees three rival suitors vying for the affections of the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie decked out in a variety of bonnets and frilly dresses), who has just inherited a farm. The men in her life are stout, whiskered yeoman Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), an impoverished local farmer; neurotic, repressed squire William Boldwood (Peter Finch); and handsome rascal Sgt. Troy (Terence Stamp), who breaks women's hearts for a hobby.
Thanks to cameraman Nicolas Roeg and production designer Richard MacDonald (who also worked for Joseph Losey), 19th-century Dorset looks as pretty and as picturesque as a John Constable reproduction on top of a cookie tin. Not that Schlesinger or screenwriter Frederic Raphael underplays the duress of rural life. We see the hardship of the farm workers' lives as the seasons turn. The film opens with a spectacular sequence in which Gabriel Oak's dog drives his flock of sheep over a cliff, thereby forcing him into penury. Whether hunger or heartbreak, every character here suffers. Bathsheba (like the model Christie plays in Darling) is a free spirit in a society in which women's rights are severely restricted. --Geoffrey Macnab

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Hulk Vs. (2008)
dir. Frank Paur

Looks kinda badass, I have to say.

Product Decsription:
Marvel Animated Features premieres two all new action-packed films together on one release - Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs.Thor. Hulk vs Wolverine: Alberta, Canada. The Incredible Hulk has been tearing a line across the Canadian countryside, leaving a swath of destruction in his wake. He has to be stopped, and there's only one man up to the job. He's the best there is at what he does, but what he does isn't very nice. He's Wolverine, an elite agent of Canada's top secret Department H, and he's been put on Hulk's trail with a single objective: stop the green goliath...at all costs. Hulk and Wolverine are about to enter the fiercest battle of their lives. Hulk vs. Thor: Asgard, realm of the gods. For ages, Loki the trickster has sought a way to bring defeat to his accursed stepbrother, Thor. But for all the battles Thor has fought, in all the nine realms, only one creature has ever been able to match his strength - a mortal beast of Midgard known as The Incredible Hulk. Now, with Odin, the almighty king of the gods, deep in a regenerative sleep, and the forces protecting Asgard at their weakest, Loki is finally ready to spring his trap. In an epic battle that will pit gods against monsters, that will test a hero's limits more than ever before, only The Mighty Thor can hope to prevail

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The Secret Policeman's Balls (1976-1989)
dir. Roger Graef

Product Decsription:
The Secret Policemans Balls are a legendary series of benefit shows staged to raise funds for Amnesty International. Beginning in 1976, they have featured the cream of Britain s comedians and musicians, and laid the groundwork for high-profile charity events,
including Live Aid. This 3-dvd set collects the five biggest and best Balls, featuring Monty Pythons John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman and Terry Gilliam, Beyond The Fringes Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, Billy Connolly, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Jennifer Saunders(Absolutely Fabulous) and Hugh Laurie (House M.D.). In addition to the comics, the shows feature historic unplugged performances by Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Peter Gabriel, Donovan, Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, Kate Bush and Joan Armatrading. Also featured are rare duets from guitar legends Eric Clapton & Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler & Chet Atkins.

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42nd Street Forever Vol. 4 (2008)
dir. various

Product Decsription:
Get ready for the fourth volume of classic exploitation, horror and just plain cool trailers in Synapse Films best-selling trailer compilation series. This time we ve got alien horrors, schizoid psychos, ridiculous comedies, vengeful action... and maybe even a naked woman or two... all transferred in high-definition! Chill out in front of your television and relive some of the greatest promotional trailers of all time, including:
THE SYNDICATE: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY,
COMBAT COPS,
IT CAME WITHOUT WARNING,
NO BLADE OF GRASS,
YOR: THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE,
SIMON KING OF THE WITCHES,
THE PSYCHIC,
SCHIZOID,
TENDER FLESH,
DIE SISTER, DIE,
SILENT SCREAM,
NEW YEAR S EVIL,
MORTUARY,
HUMONGOUS,
EMBRYO,
THE BOOGEYMAN,
THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK,
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN,
GRAY EAGLE,
SHADOW OF THE HAWK,
RUTUALS,
AMERICATHON,
CAN I DO IT... TIL I NEED GLASSES?,
DIE LAUGHING,
IN GOD WE TRUST,
UNDERCOVERS HERO,
THE JEZEBELS,
FIGHTING MAD,
MOVING VIOLATION,
BONNIE S KIDS,
WALKING TALL PART 2,
THE KLANSMAN,
MONKEY HUSTLE,
THE SOLDIER,
BLACKOUT,
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL,
MARCH OR DIE,
HOG WILD,
THE HARD HEADS,
THE CHICKEN CHRONICLES,
BEST FRIENDS,
OUR WINNING SEASON,
COACH,
GOLDENGIRL
And MORE!

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Sharks in Venice (2008)
dir. Danny Lerner

Want to see this NOW.

Product Decsription:
Traveling to Venice to investigate the mysterious death of his father, David (Stephen Baldwin), a famous archaeologist and diver, unearths a killer secret that lies beneath the Venetian waters. When a ruthless mob boss discovers his findings and kidnaps his girlfriend, David must brave the dangerous, shark-infested waters once again to recover the treasure and rescue his girlfriend. A dark and mysterious chase ensues and secrets are revealed in this sci-fi thriller.

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Getting Lucky (1989)
dir. Michael Paul Girard

When I saw the thumbnail image of the cover, I thought "eh, looks like a generic 80's teen sex comedy type of thing". The I saw the big version and noticed a miniature normally-proportioned man that glows green and apparently wears a Cosby sweater. I don't know WHAT to think. More creeped out than anything.

Product Decsription:
Meet Bill Higgins, the nerdy 'Towel Boy' of Middleville High. All he could wish for is to clean up the environment and score a hot date with cheerleader babe, Krissi Chackler. Standing in his way is muscle-bound, meathead Tony Chanuka. Enter the most unlikely hero- Lepky, a four-inch leprechaun confined to a beer bottle, who can't quite master his micro-super powers. Wacky hijinks ensue as Lepky grants Bill zany wishes which lead to unsuspected transformations and screwy situations on the quest to Getting Lucky!

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Cecil's Top 10 Movies of 2008

2009-01-27T00:15:00.000-05:00

The 81st Academy Award nominations are out, and boy are they fucking horrendous. Well, most of the categories anyway, best picture especially. I thought 2008 was a really great year for movies, but sadly the Academy's nominations don't reflect that sentiment at all. THIRTEEN nominations for Benjamin Button? Are you fucking serious? It was rightfully nominated for best cinematography and will probably win, but that should be it. A lot of people will be complaining about not nominating The Dark Knight for Best Picture. Originally I would've been like "shut up you fucking baby" but after seeing what got nominated, I can kind of agree that it got the shaft. The Wrestler was screwed out of Best Picture, Best Director, Editing, and Best Original Song. How could they overlook The Boss??? The category only has 3 fucking nominations! Write him in there or something!

FUCK

anyway, on with the show....

Since RoosterFlix has only been around a short while, I wasn't able to share my 2007 top 10. Here's a quick recap:

10. Tekkon Kinkreet
09. Once
08. Rescue Dawn
07. Ratatouille
06. Superbad
05. Persepolis
04. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
03. The King of Kong
02. No Country for Old Men
01. There Will Be Blood

I'd probably put Ratatouille at 3 or 4 if I made that list today. I'd also probably move Once a little higher. Everything else looks right.

Biggest Disappointments of 2008:

Blindness
dir. Fernando Meirelles

This movie had absolutely everything going for it. Director Fernando Meirelles has made probably the best movie of this decade (it's my favorite, anyway), City of God, and my favorite movie of 2005, The Constant Gardener. The script for Blindness is adapted from the novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago. And even with an A-list cast, the movie is just not fun to watch. Ebert said it best (as is usually the case) - "Blindness is one of the most unpleasant, not to say unendurable, films I've ever seen. It is an allegory about a group of people who survive under great stress, but frankly I would rather have seen them perish than sit through the final three-quarters of the film. Not only is it despairing and sickening, it's ugly. Denatured, sometimes overexposed, sometimes too shadowy to see, it is an experiment to determine how much you can fool with a print before ending up with mud, intercut with brightly lit milk."

Gran Torino
dir. Clint Eastwood

I have a feeling that critics were afraid to admit that this is a terrible movie simply because it's a Clint Eastwood movie and they are too busy sucking his rotting zombie cock to know any better. Hey, Clint Eastwood is the motherfucking man, I'll be the first person to say that. Who wouldn't want to see Eastwood as a bitter, mean-ass, old racist dickhead? It has the potential to be a poignant, somber, darkly humorous statement on the society we live in, right? Nah. This movie is horrible. I've never seen worse acting from an entire cast in my life, and that's including Eastwood. I'm pretty sure he doesn't unclench his teeth or unfurrow his brow for the entirety of the movie. There's a moment at the end where a not-so-subtle J-Christ reference gets a slap on the forehead. So heavy-handed. Talking about slaps to the forehead, how could these guys think that leaving the song in at the end of the movie was a good idea? It's seriously the most ridiculous shit ever. It sounds like a bad parody of Grover singing a song from a Muppets movie. COMPLETELY out of place.

Looking forward to these movies in 2009:

Up (trailer)
Watchmen (trailer)
Public Enemies
Black Dynamite (trailer)
9 (trailer)
Inglorious Bastards
Crank 2: High Voltage (trailer NSFW)
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (trailer)
Where the Wild Things Are (hopefully)
The Expendables (doubtful)
Tron 2 (seriously doubtful, fuck, this is probably 2010, maybe even 2011)

Best Documentary of 2008 - Man on Wire

There wasn't a movie all year - documentary or otherwise - with such an unbridled sense of enthusiasm and such a contagious sense of excitement as Man on Wire. Even though you basically know how it ends, it works perfectly as a thriller, building tension throughout the entire film, intercutting with previous public acts of tightrope walking and invaluable footage of home movies.

Honorable Mentions for Documentaries -
Encounters at the End of the World
Standard Operating Procedure
Trouble the Water

Honorable Mention (Top 11 through whatever, in alphabetical order)

Che (Part 1)
The Good, The Bad, and The Weird
Hellboy 2
In Bruges
JCVD
Kung-Fu Panda
Milk
Rambo
Slumdog Millionaire
Step-Brothers
Tell No One
Timecrimes
Wendy & Lucy

note: I didn't see Gomorra or Waltz With Bashir until after I got my list done, but I think they both definitely would've made the top 10.

Top 10 Movies of 2008

10. Synecdoche, New York
dir. Charlie Kaufman

This is the type of movie that if I was to revise this list one or two years down the road after watching this movie 10 more times, it'd probably be in the top 3. I'm not so sure I should even be placing it in the top 10 after only one viewing because immediately after finishing it, I said to myself "fuck, I have to watch this again" (and I mean that in the best possible way). There are layers upon layers upon layers (that I probably didn't even know were there) upon layers (that only exist in my mind) upon layers. I'd do the movie a disservice by trying to explain it, it's just something that needs to be seen.

9. Chop Shop
dir. Ramin Bahrani

When this film was released on DVD last year I had never heard of it, but I knew the director from his previous movie, the highly underrated Man Push Cart. I think from this point forward I'm going to try and be aware of everything Ramin Bahrani is working on. The performances he gets out of his non-actors, especially the kids, is pretty incredible, and the low-key cinematography is easily some of the best of the year. The Iron Triangle, right across the street from Shea Stadium in Queens, NY, is not the most photogenic of locations, but the way the film is shot really gives this area a certain charm and charisma to the point where the location itself becomes a character and takes on a life of its own.

8. Iron Man
dir. Jon Favreau

I don't have much to say about this movie, just that it was 2 hours of pure entertainment. Great performances from everyone, especially Robert Downey Jr. Awesome cameo from Tom Morello. The only real problem I had was with the villain. I loved Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, but at the end he's just a bigger version of Iron Man, basically. Kind of boring. I had the same problem with Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk. He ends up fighting a slightly bigger version of himself. Zzzzzzz. I mean, I know Iron Man & The Hulk don't have the kind of iconic arch nemeses that Spider-Man or The X-Men had, but they can do better than a souped-up clone. They set-up The Leader for the next Hulk movie with Tim Blake Nelson's character, but what about the inevitability that is Iron Man 2? Is The Mandarin gonna show up out of nowhere? Is he going to be dressed like a transvestite Chinese Robin Hood and wearing those ten alien rings? He's so lame, but I guess there's really no choice. Spider-Man has like 400 enemies...how about sharing the love, Pete?

7. Pineapple Express
dir. David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green usually likes to work within the confines of his own space. His movies are completely and unmistakably his. He generally directs what he writes, and his films are intensely personal. And even though I love his work, nothing made me happier than hearing he would be directing a comedy, scripted by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg no less. The end result is one of the best comedies of the year. Quotable for days. "You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos, motherfucker!" Stoner-buddy-action-comedies don't come along too often, but when they do and they're this good, you have to appreciate. One of the biggest reasons this movie works so well is because of the great chemistry between Seth Rogen and James Franco. They're both perfect in their roles, but Franco easily steals the show. He's never been better. Originally, their roles were supposed to be switched, with Franco playing Dale the civil servant and Rogen playing Saul the pot dealer. I'm glad they changed their minds.

6. The Dark Knight
dir. Christopher Nolan

Let me get this out of the way: The Dark Knight is a really, really great movie.

Now, let me get THIS out of the way: half a year after its theatrical release, the internet continues to make this movie more and more difficult to enjoy. It has its flaws (Batman voice) like most other films, but it's still one of the best of the year. BUT, people who are saying this is one of the best movies of all-time need to start watching movies that were made before 2003. You know, honestly, I don't mind if people think it's one of the best movies ever. Just don't tell me that I have to like it as much as you. Case in point, people and articles like this. "It’s more than the best movie of the year, it’s one of the best movies ever made. Snub it and there will be consequences." Consequences? Really? There is a legion of people with this mindset, no joke. It's almost like they are extremist disciples of a new Dark Knight religion, hell-bent on making this the #1 rated movie on IMDB, and I really wish they would stop pushing their shit on me. Just let people make up their own fucking minds. ANYWAY, I'm not going to go on and on about The Dark Knight, it made about 8,000 billion dollars so there's a pretty good chance you've already seen it. It might be the most grossly overrated movie of all-time, but that doesn't mean it's not great.

5. The Fall
dir. Tarsem

I've always been a sucker for amazing visuals. The Fall is chock full of some of the most fantastic, awe-inspiring imagery ever committed to film, so it was no surprise I responded so positively to it. I'm going overboard with hyperbole, but it really struck a chord. One of the biggest reasons this movie was not adored by critics was due to its thin plot. Sure, The Fall's plot, lifted from the 1981 Bulgarian film Yo Ho Ho, isn't mind-blowing, but I felt that combined with what was happening on-screen, everything came together perfectly and resulted in one of the best experiences at the theater I've had in recent years. Even more amazing to me is that the movie is completely self-financed by Tarsem Singh, and what he went through to get this movie made is something that sounds perfect for a Burden of Dreams-ish documentary. I also thought that as amazing as the cinematography was, Tarsem's discovery of non-actor Catinca Untaru for the part of Alexandria was the key to making this movie work, because it wouldn't be the same without her.

4. The Wrestler
dir. Darren Aronofsky

The Oscar is in the bag. All the hype about Mickey Rourke's performance is completely justified. The Wrestler is not just a great movie, but it's also deeply affecting, especially considering the parallels between Mickey and his character. It's a complete 180 in style and direction compared to Darren Aronofsky's past work, which is something I always enjoy seeing from accomplished directors. I think my favorite sequence from any movie this year was when the camera follows Rourke's character, Randy, from the employee's bathroom of the grocery store to the plastic curtain of the deli counter, all while faint music and crowd noise is played in the background. I can't imagine anyone not being moved after seeing this movie.

3. Let The Right One In
dir. Tomas Alfredson

One of the best Swedish imports since Ingmar Bergman. This is not your average horror movie......in fact, I wouldn't label it as a horror movie at all. Sure, there's some gruesome imagery, a bunch of blood, some light murder. OK, you can label is as a vampire movie, but don't expect the Lost Boys type. Being a vampire in this world is some serious, heavy shit. This is a drama that focuses on a relationship between two young kids, one of which just happens to be a vampire. The relationship between the two kids is handled better than most adult relationships in the movies. The cinematography is stark, cold, and calculated, with lots of blues and grays on the palette. The story explores a range of emotions, and the ending is bitter-sweet. It's really a dumb move on Sweden's part that they did not submit this movie as their entry for the Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars, it had a pretty damn good chance of winning.

2. WALL-E
dir. Andrew Stanton

I've typed and immediately deleted about 20 different paragraphs about WALL-E and no matter what I say, I can't say it without rambling on like an idiot about how great Pixar is. I'll just say this: It's amazing to me how consistent this company is at cranking out truly incredible movies, and WALL-E is probably my favorite of them all. A robot dancing along with Hello, Dolly!, pretending that a hubcap is hat, and wanting nothing in life but to hold hands with another robot is like, the cutest fucking thing ever, come on.

1. Speed Racer
dir. Larry & Andy Wachowski

First of all, fuck ANYBODY that puts this movie on a "worst of 2008" list. They should have their eyes scooped out with a melon baller. I fully understand that Speed Racer is not everyone's cup of tea, but did all of these people forget that the two most jaw-droppingly retarded fuck-ups in Hollywood, Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, released TWO movies in 2008? Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie were so terrible that all "worst-of" lists for the rest of time should only consist of those two movies. To lump Speed Racer in with that crowd is a never-forgive action.

Now, why did I like the movie so much? It's a combination of reasons. I watched a ton of Speed Racer growing up, and strangely enough it ended up having a huge influence on me. One thing I love about the movie is how closely the Wachowskis stuck to the source material. I really never thought a live-action version of Speed Racer could be this fully-realized. It's a well-known fact that the Wachowski brothers are big fans of anime, and you can tell through their writing and direction that they know their stuff and that they truly love what they're doing. They probably knew the characters inside and out before they even started working on the movie, which is probably why everyone in Speed Racer fit the parts so well. It is probably the best cast movie since Robert Altman's Popeye. I can't stress enough how important it is for this movie that the cast be absolutely perfect in order for it to work, and they nailed it. Before Speed Racer was released I was saying that getting Matthew Fox as Racer X was the some of the best casting in movie history, and after watching the movie it only solidified the fact. The editing and transitions are completely next level. Sure it's fast and furious, but not in the Michael Bay Transformers sense where you can't tell what the fuck is happening. The CG is amazing. Every color of the rainbow is being shoved into your eyeballs with a bulldozer at all times. I would imagine that if a person with synesthesia watched this movie their brain would explode almost immediately. The thing everyone seems to attack is the story, which I don't really understand. It's cartoony, it's over-the-top, it's action-packed, and it fits the movie like a glove. Rest assured, It's not all happy-go-lucky, there's some devious, double-crossing shit going down here, but it usually manages to keep a light tone. What, not depressing enough for you? Movies can't be fun anymore? Sorry losers, go watch The Crow while listening to Morrisey's "You Are The Quarry", Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz style. Remember, you have to hit play the moment you slit your other wrist. YEAH!! SPEED RACER!!!!

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for January 20th

2009-01-22T07:23:00.002-05:00

City of Ember (2008)
dir. Gil Kenan

I enjoyed this, even though the lead actress in it, that girl from Atonement, is kind of annoying. It's kind of a wild, dystopian, underground, steampunkish fantasy that is good for what it is. Nothing groundbreaking. The god Bill Murray does not get enough screen time.

Product Decsription:
Light bulbs speckle the sky instead of stars in City of Ember, a fantasy in which a secret city has been built to preserve mankind from worldwide disaster. But over time, the purpose of the city is lost--and the city gradually decays. As power failures threaten to bring on the collapse of everything, young messenger Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan, Atonement) discovers damaged instructions for leaving the city. Her friend, pipeworker Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway, Brothers of the Head), helps her find the hidden mechanisms that will let everyone escape...but the city's corrupt Mayor (Bill Murray) is more interested in personal gain and tries to stop Lina. City of Ember begins marvelously; the story unfolds smoothly, the production design is rich and engaging, the young leads are charming (Ronan is particularly good), and Murray is as superb as ever. Unfortunately, the movie starts to stumble; some plot turns are baffling (there seems to be some connective tissue left on the cutting room floor) and what should be an action climax flounders with subpar special effects. But even when the movie loses its sure-footedness, there are delightful moments and visual wonders. The strong supporting cast includes Tim Robbins, Mary Kay Place (Sweet Home Alabama), Mackenzie Crook (The Office), Toby Jones (Infamous), and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies). --Bret Fetzer

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Max Payne (2008)
dir. John Moore

It's no secret that most movies based on video games are pure garbage, and unfortunately it looks like that trend is alive and well with Max Payne. I mean, I never saw it but the trailers looked kinda cool.

Product Decsription:
Based on the video game from Rockstar, MAX PAYNE stars Mark Wahlberg as a New York City cop out to avenge his slain wife and child, and heaven help anyone who gets in his blood-strewn way. The trail leads him into a network of shady characters mixed up with an experimental drug that causes super strength and fearlessness, as well as wild hallucinations of winged angels and demons. As Max gets closer and closer to the truth, he finds himself the target of a massive police manhunt, and in the crosshairs of the powerful kingpin behind the racket; soon enough, the angels and demons become downright deadly. Olga Kurylenko (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) is a beautiful Russian party girl who winds up dead after a late-night visit to Max's pad; her assassin sister (Mila Kunis) first goes after Max, then tries to help him get some answers. Rap star Ludacris (here credited as Chris Bridges) is a tough internal affairs cop investigating Payne's behavior.

Shot in an impressively grungy palette of high-contrast grays and blacks, with snow and sheets of rain soaking the grim atmosphere, New York City is brilliantly morphed into something like Gotham City by way of Detroit, with a touch of X-FILES-style supernatural dread looming over everything. Director John Moore knows how to stage his action scenes: offices blow up, big chunks of rubble crush police cars, bodies and shattered glass suspend in mid-air for some of the slowest slow-mo moments in action film history. Fans of the video game and/or action movies in general should get a kick out of all the mega-loud insanity, stylish design, and Wahlberg, who never changes his mean expression, but still commands the screen.

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The Express (2008)
dir. Gary Fleder

Product Decsription:
Based on the real-life story of college football hero Ernie Davis, The Express will remind some moviegoers of the heart-tugging Brian's Song. Ernie Davis was a star athlete at Syracuse University and the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. Unlike other winners of that era, he wasn't allowed to attend his banquet dinner because the venue didn't serve blacks. He died of leukemia at the age of 23 in 1963. That element of his story is well known to football fans. What the filmmakers concentrate on in The Express isn't just Davis' athletic prowess, but the relationship he had with his coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid). Rob Brown (Stop-Loss, Coach Carter) lends both gravity and charm to the role of Davis. He plays Davis as a strong willed and moral young man who refuses to let racism and discrimination dominate his life. He joins a Jewish fraternity, gets along with his predominantly white teammates and shows respect for his family and coach. The film is wise not to present Schwartzwalder as wholly color blind. Though not overtly racist, he makes a few references that would not be acceptable in modern-day society. Overall though, the coach doesn't care what color his players are, as long as they share the common goal of winning. Quaid is well cast in the role, adding just the right amount of gruff mannerisms without becoming a caricature. Brown has the difficult task of adding suspense to a character where most of the audience already knows his fate. Still, he manages to keep moviegoers on their toes--hoping for a miracle that we know will never come. --Jae-Ha Kim

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MGM: When the Lion Roars (2008)
dir. Frank Martin

Product Decsription:
On April 24, 1924 the movies changed forever: the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio opened and soon assembled “more stars than there are in the heavens.” Patrick Stewart hosts this enthralling Emmy winner as Best Informational Series, a 3-part story of MGMs reign as Hollywoods class act and legendary entertainment empire. Bursting with memorable film clips, rare interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and insider info, this is a mother lode for film fans, profiling perfectionist moguls, glamorous and charismatic actors, innovative filmmakers and landmark movies. Experience the dramatic and romantic fire, singing and dancing magic, and sweeping epic adventure of Hollywoods greatest studio in this must-have 2-Disc DVD set.

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Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008)
dir. Marty Callner

Not Chris Rock's best stand-up special, but still solid, and Rock is still one of the funniest guys on the planet. The thing that drove me nuts with this performance is all the jarring cuts in-between the three locations where he filmed this special. I guess I kind of got used to it, but it's completely pointless.

Product Decsription:
Four years after 2004's NEVER SCARED, Chris Rock returns with another hilarious standup performance in KILL THE MESSENGER. Intercutting between performances held in South Africa, London, and New York City, the program finds Rock riffing on the upcoming 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama, and (as always) the troubles between men and women. It's fascinating to watch how Rock improvises with each crowd, and their differing reactions. Thankfully, the effect never becomes tiresome or overdone, and as always it's Rock's passionate delivery, razor-sharp timing, and fearless take on life that take center stage.

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El Norte - Criterion COllection (2007)
dir. Gregory Nava

Product Decsription:
Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It s a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava's groundbreaking El Norte (The North), the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism. A work of social realism imbued with dreamlike imagery, El Norte is a lovingly rendered, heartbreaking story of hope and survival, which critic Roger Ebert called a Grapes of Wrath for our time.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Gregory Nava
New audio commentary featuring Nava
In the Service of the Shadows: The Making of El Norte: a new video program featuring interviews with Nava, producer and cowriter Anna Thomas, actors Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and David Villalpando, and set designer David Wasco
Wall of Silence, a new short documentary by Nava and Barbara Martinez Jitner, concerning the building of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border
The Journal of Diego Rodriguez Silva, the 1972 award-winning student film by Nava
Gallery of Chipas location-scouting photographs
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by novelist Héctor Tobar and Roger Ebert's 1983 review of the film
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Magnificent Obsession - Criterion Collection (1954)
dir. Douglas Sirk

Product Decsription:
Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town s only resuscitator at the very moment that beloved local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk's most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor s widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked to one another amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations. For this release, Criterion also presents John M. Stahl's 1935 film version of the Lloyd C. Douglas novel, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty
Magnificent Obsession (1935, 102 minutes): a new digital transfer of John M. Stahl s complete earlier version of the film
Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk reflects upon his career
Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Geoffrey O Brien
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The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
dir. Roger Spottiswoode

Product Decsription:
The Children of Huang Shi is a powerful, inspiring film about a real-life, outsider hero who emerged from Japan's catastrophic invasion of China in 1937. A British journalist, George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) sneaks into Nanjing at the height of Japan's destruction of that cosmopolitan city. Rescued from certain death by a suave rebel named Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat), Hogg goes deep into China's countryside in search of another front to the war. Instead of furthering his career, however, Hogg is talked into taking control of a destitute orphanage occupied by starving, lice-ridden, half-savage boys. A roving nurse, Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), keeps Hogg focused on his task, provides him with medical supplies, and ultimately becomes his lover. But the former reporter has to figure many things out on his own, including how to inspire the boys to help fend for themselves.
With the Japanese closing in on the orphanage and the Chinese looking at the boys as likely soldiers, Hogg, Pearson, and Hansheng lead the kids on an extraordinarily strenuous, 700-mile hike to Marco Polo's so-called Silk Road, leading to the Gobi Desert. The second half of The Children of Huang Shi is taken up by this sometimes deadly labor, and director Roger Spottiswoode balances the dreariness of it with knockout images of mountains and eerie, desert vistas. The multi-national cast is the best thing about the film, which avoids canonizing the saintly Hogg by not ignoring his sins of pride (he refers to the kids as "my boys" to the wrong Chinese authority, and pays the price) and jealousy. Chow's jaunty persona adds an essential swagger to this Schindler's List-like story, but it's Mitchell's gritty, soul-weary performance that really grabs one's attention. --Tom Keogh

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George Wallace (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1997)
dir. John Frankenheimer

Product Decsription:
Based on the book by Marshall Frady, this epic bio by John Frankenheimer stars Gary Sinise as one of the century's best candidates for true Aristotelian tragic status. The Aristotelian tragic protagonist is not an entirely bad man, but he has a fatal flaw. Wallace's flaw was not (originally) racism. It was lust for power and status, a lust so all-consuming that it turned Wallace into a fellow traveler with racists, and made of him one of the most destructive and most hated American politicians of his time. Sinise, who seems doomed to be underrated for his acting talents, captures memorably both the corruption and the belated search for redemption. Frankenheimer shows off all his skill with a story line, working through a series of flashbacks from the 1972 assassination attempt and weaving together real and constructed black-and-white footage. The pace does stumble; in the end, the movie is half an hour too long. But you get sucked in by the period feel, the accents as thick as grits, and the many excellent supporting performances. Especially notable are Mare Winningham as Wallace's long-suffering first wife, Clarence Williams as his servant Archie (a somewhat questionable fictionalization by Frankenheimer), and Joe Don Baker as his mentor and predecessor in the governor's mansion, Big Jim Folsom. Frankenheimer, Sinise, and Winningham all won Emmys for their work, and the film won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV. --Richard Farr

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Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
dir. Darren Lynn Bousman

Product Decsription:
Begun in 2002 as a Los Angeles stage production by writers Darren Smith and Terrence Zdunich, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA was designed as a gory, comedic Grand Guignol to appeal more to club goers than fans of musical theater. One fan, aspiring director Darren Lynn Bousman, who has since worked on the SAW franchise, vowed to one day direct a film version of the show. Six years (and five SAW films) later, he has made good on his promise with a bizarre, gory, and unique piece of work that is as sure to entertain as it is to polarize its audience. In the year 2056, following an epidemic of human organ failure, the GeneCo Corporation--owned by the mafia-like Largo family--grows and installs new organs on a massive scale. The business, though, necessitates the employment of repo men to reclaim the organs from clients who miss their payments. Repo man and single father Nathan Wallace (Anthony Head, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) keeps his job a secret from his terminally ill daughter, Shilo (Alexa Vega), doing it only to pay for her costly medication. Nathan also has a secret history with GeneCo patriarch Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino)---and their connection is about to become public knowledge on the night of a concert from popular singer--and GeneCo client--Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman).
Compellingly strange, REPO! resembles a comic book-influenced goth dinner theater production set within a dystopian video game. Musically, the score concentrates more on libretto-like sung dialogue than memorable tunes (save Vega's pop-punk "Sixteen" and Brightman's chilling "Chromaggia"), but the cast appears to be having a blast. Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre lends some underground cred as the most twisted member of the Largo clan, but Brightman gives the comically bloody proceedings true legitimacy. A surprising casting choice, she's an almost regal presence, and her goosebump-inducing soprano soars stratospherically above this fun cult film in-the-making.

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Saw V (2008)
dir. David Hackl

Product Decsription:
How do you keep a horror franchise going when your villain has been unquestionably and irrevocably killed off? That's a conundrum any number of genre series have tackled--to varying degrees of success--and the problem facing the sadistic Saw films in its latest entry, Saw V. The filmmakers' answer--faithful henchmen--is at first blush a savvy idea, as it allows the mayhem of original bad guy Jigsaw to continue unabated, despite the fact that he was dissected on a morgue slab in the previous film. Saw V extends the premise by having disgraced detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor from the previous two films) don the pig mask to unleash horrific tortures on another group of seemingly unconnected strangers. Scott Patterson (Aliens in America) also returns as Hoffman's Javert, a dogged fellow agent who escapes death in the fourth film and an ugly fate in this entry to continue his pursuit. All the elements that have made the Saw series popular with horror fans--the elaborate killing machines, the trompe l'oeil plotting, and the sociopathic judgments handed down by Jigsaw--are intact in Saw V, which is a positive for its most faithful followers, but a negative for just about everyone else. Saw V covers no new ground, expands no part of the mythology of the series and seems perfectly content to present a lifeless retread of Saw III and IV. It also suffers from the absence of Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, who despite his top billing, is glimpsed only in brief flashbacks. Bell, who could be unsettling even in the stillest moments, gave the series a gravity that kept its least plausible moments in check, and Mandylor, though game, simply cannot provide the same. What's left is dreary and relentlessly downbeat, and to make matters worse, ends on an open note that clearly indicates that a sixth film is in the works, no matter how obvious that the diabolical ingenuity of the original Saw has been worn to the bone by its sequels. Only diehard Saw fans need to sign up for this round of Jigsaw's games. -- Paul Gaita

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Spain... On The Road Again (2008)
dir. Charles Pinsky

I don't really understand why this exists, but I am fascinated by it. It almost seems like a much happier version "No Reservations" mixed with something on the Food Network, I guess? If this was on TV, I'd totally watch it.

Product Decsription:
From the seaside cliffs of Mallorca to the bustling tapas bars and majestic museums of Barcelona, this is the ultimate road trip across Spain. Academy Award®-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, celebrity chef Mario Batali, celebrated author Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything), and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols embark on a ten-week tour of a country at the forefront of the culinary and cultural worlds. Each episode finds the four in a new locale, from learning how Cava is made in Catalunya to meeting the famed pigs of Salamanca, as they steadily reveal the undiscovered delights of a country brimming with gastronomic and aesthetic treasures.

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King Frat (1979)
dir. Ken Wiederhorn

My dream of being the first person to film something in fart-o-vision was crushed 30 years ago and I didn't even know it.

Product Decsription:
In terms of debauchery, ANIMAL HOUSE has nothing on this 1979 romp in which the boys of Pi Kappa Delta at Yellowstream University participate in drinking games and an intense farting contest.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for January 13th

2009-01-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

Appaloosa (2008)
dir. Ed Harris

I really loved Ed Harris's only other directorial effort, Pollock. As a veteran of the theater, he's great at directing actors, especially hisself. I can't wait to see how he handles a western.

Product Decsription:
Actor Ed Harris takes only his second stab at directing, following the Oscar-winning feature POLLOCK (2000) with this spirited western. Harris draws on a strong cast, many of whom have acted with him in previous films, to tell the story of two gunfighters attempting to bring peace to the small town of Appaloosa in the late 1800s. Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) ride into the windswept New Mexico town and are hired to bring vigilante entrepreneur Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) to justice. Bragg has imposed a reign of terror over Appaloosa, but his murderous actions are tempered when Cole and Hitch take control. Matters get complicated when widower Allison French (Renee Zellweger) flounces into town and variously woos Cole, Hitch, and Bragg, allowing Harris to throw in a few neat twists as his two principal characters attempt to bring the miscreant entrepreneur to justice.

APPALOOSA is a slow-moving and beautifully shot feature that perfectly translates the dusky New Mexico landscape to celluloid. The film stands shoulder to shoulder with 21st-century westerns such as THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD and THE PROPOSITON, and much like those films Harris's feature draws heavily on deeply affecting performances from his leads. Irons is particularly affecting as the baleful Bragg, who brings a real air of menace to the screen any time he appears on camera. The nuanced turns by Harris and Mortensen play like a master class in subtlety, with the two seasoned actors perfectly delivering two stoic characters who are masking a lifetime of pain and suffering. Harris's feature is a welcome addition to the fold of introspective westerns, effortlessly standing alongside similar efforts such as Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN or James Mangold's 3:10 TO YUMA.

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Mirrors (2008)
dir. Alexandre Aja

Product Decsription:
French director Alexandre Aja adds to his growing canon of horror features with this remake of the Korean feature GEOUL SOKEURO (2003). Kiefer Sutherland stars as Ben Carson, a disgraced former New York City cop who attempts to put his checkered past behind him by taking a job as a security guard. Carson is required to take the night shift in a department store in the city. The store closed down after a fire put an end to its business, and Carson soon discovers that malevolent spirits are lurking behind its walls. The spirits connect with the human world through the mirrors in the store, and when they discover Carson's presence they go after his ex-wife, Amy (Paula Patton), and his kids (played by Erica Gluck and Cameron Boyce). Carson attempts to figure out the meaning of a cryptic message carved into one of the mirrors, hoping it will save his family and cut off contact with the malignant lurking presence.
Aja successfully replicates much of the tension and edge-of-your-seat moments that he managed so skillfully in HAUTE TENSION (2003). The film begins with an unnerving set piece in which Carson's predecessor takes a shard of mirror and slashes his own throat, and it's an indication of the gore-filled fun that awaits intrepid viewers. Aja creates a palpable sense of unease by shooting dim-lit set pieces in the department store. Sutherland makes for a convincing lead in a character that closely resembles his turn as Jack Bauer in 24. There are plenty of genuine scares in the film, and the director ultimately spins MIRRORS as a cross between a psychological thriller in the vein of the POLTERGEIST movies and a no-holds-barred splatter flick.

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Little Britain USA (2008)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
Matt Lucas and David Walliams bring their hit BBC show to the States in LITTLE BRITAIN USA. The ensemble of bizarre, dough-faced characters--mostly played by Lucas and Walliams in heavy makeup--continue to wreak havoc on those around them. Leaping across the pond to irritate the Yanks are some of the show's most memorable characters, including braying teenager Vicky Pollard and closeted heterosexual Daffydd Thomas, while scandalous new creations make their debut; among them are Mark and Tom, muscle-engorged weight-lifters with comparatively microscopic genitalia. This collection presents all six episodes of the series, including appearances by Paul Rudd, Rosie O'Donnell, Hayden Panettiere, and Sting.

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My Bloody Valentine (1981)
dir. George Mihalka

Product Decsription:
Twenty years ago in the sleepy mining town of Valentine Bluffs, a fatal mining disaster occurred on Valentine's Day while key members of the crew were decorating for a party. The sole survivor of the accident killed the absentee crew members and warned the town never to have another Valentine's Day celebration. When a group of teenagers decides that the the town has gone without a party long enough and begin planning one, a murderous maniac in mining gear begins dispatching townsfolk in bloody and creative ways. Combining the small town atmosphere of HALLOWEEN (1978) with the body count gore of FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980), MY BLOODY VALENTINE is an example of the glut of low-budget copycat films that those two influential films inspired in the early 1980s.

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The Taking of Power by Louis XIV - Criterion Collection (1966)
dir. Roberto Rossellini

Product Decsription:
Filmmaking legend Roberto Rossellini brings his passion for realism and unerring eye for the everyday to this portrait of the early years of the reign of France s Sun King, and in the process reinvents the costume drama. The death of chief minister Cardinal Mazarin, the construction of the palace at Versailles, the extravagant meals of the royal court: all are recounted with the same meticulous quotidian detail that Rossellini brought to his contemporary portraits of postwar Italy. The Taking of Power by Louis XIV dares to place a larger-than-life figure at the level of mere mortal.

DVD Features:
New, restored digital transfer
Taking Power, a multimedia essay by Tag Gallagher, author of The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini
The Last Utopia, a documentary about Rossellini s late career
Video interview with artistic advisor Jean Dominique de la Rochefoucauld and script supervisor Michelle Podroznik
Video interview with Renzo Rossellini
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by critic Colin McCabe
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Rossellini's History Films: Renaissance and Enlightenment - Eclipse Series 14
dir. Roberto Rossellini

Product Decsription:
In the final phase of his career, Italian master Roberto Rossellini embarked on a dramatic, daunting project: a series of politically minded televisions films about knowledge and history, made in an effort to teach, where the contemporary media was failing. Looking at the western world s major figures and moments, yet focusing on the small details of daily life, Rossellini was determined not to recount history but to bring it back to life, as it might have been, unadorned yet full of the drama of the everyday. In this selection of Rossellini's history films, Eclipse presents Blaise Pascal, the three-part The Age of the Medici, and Cartesius works that don t just enliven the past but illuminate the ideas that brought us to where we are.

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Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
dir. Yoshihiro Nishimura

If you like your movies completely fucking insane with tons of gore, this one still might be too "out there" for you.

Product Decsription:
In the near future, the Tokyo Police Corporation is locked in a bloody war with the "engineers." These genetically modified super-criminals can bio-fuse their open wounds with weapons, turning self-mutilation into a combat form. Ruka, the daughter of the police chief's murdered right-hand man, is now the top engineer hunter. With cold-blooded efficiency she cuts through the psychotic engineers and tracks down their home base, a truly bizarre fetish club. Nothing keeps her from her sworn duty, even when she finds out the truth behind her father's death.

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Blindsight (2006)
dir. Lucy Walker

Product Decsription:
This documentary from director Lucy Walker (DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND) follows a group of blind teenagers as they ascend Lhakpa Ri, the 23,000 foot peak on Mount Everest's north face. Led by renowned mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer, the young Tibetans set out on an incredible if dangerous journey.

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Humboldt County (2008)
dir. Danny Jacobs and Darren Grodsky

Product Decsription:
Peter Hadley, an uptight and disillusioned medical student is failed by one of his professors, who happens to be his father. Seeking some escape, Peter ends up in bed with a nightclub singer named Bogart, who invites him on a road trip to Humboldt County. It is here that he meets and is embraced by Bogart s eccentric marijuana farming family. When Bogart leaves Peter stranded, he begins a new journey of his own.

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Swing Vote (2008)
dir. Joshua Michael Stern

Product Decsription:
The ghost of Frank Capra is summoned up in Swing Vote, a populist comedy about the U.S. presidential election--because of an electoral deadlock--coming down to one man, one vote. Alarmingly (for the future of the world), that one man is Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), a beer-swilling, newly-unemployed divorced dad in Texico, New Mexico. Bud's got a week to re-cast his flawed ballot, so the entire election process--including the two candidates, played by Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper--descends on Texico for an orgy of campaign flapdoodle. Costner tries hard (probably too hard) to be the irresponsible good ol' boy, the kind of role he used to be able to handle with ease; by contrast, the composed Madeline Carroll, as his Little Miss Sunshiny daughter, comes off as a model of naturalism. Except for some pointed commercials, in which the candidates sell out their values to appeal to Bud's whimsical opinions on issues such as abortion and gay marriage, the movie's political bite is remarkably toothless. Both Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane are in the groove as cutthroat campaign managers, and the movie is jolted out of its beery idle with a late one-scene performance by Mare Winningham. There's an interesting film trying to climb out of Swing Vote, but it needs Frank Capra to kick it into shape. --Robert Horton

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Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (2008)
dir. Danny Leiner

Talk about coming out of left field. This must be absolutely horrible.

Product Decsription:
From the director of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Dude Where's My Car comes this raunchy comedy starring Seann William Scott and Randy Quaid. Gary Houseman (Scott) is an overenthusiastic high school janitor who steps-up to lead the school's loser tennis team to the state finals when the acting coach drops dead. The brash and often insulting new coach is intent on inspiring these underdogs not only to win, but also to stand-up for themselves. Although his coaching tactics may be unorthodox, including motivating his star player with a pre-game stripper, his heart is in the right place. Besides, sometimes it takes big balls to play hard-ball.

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Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America (2008)
dir. Michael Kantor

Product Decsription:
Billy Crystal hosts this hilarious, comprehensive look back at the grand traditions of American comedy, from vaudeville-era slapstick to contemporary political satire. Each of the six one-hour episodes--including "When I'm Bad, I'm Better - The Groundbreakers" and "Slip on a Banana Peel - The Knockabouts"--focuses on a particular comic style; the nostalgia-inducing series offers interviews with legendary comedians such as Larry David, Bill Maher, Carl Reiner, Jerry Seinfeld, and Lily Tomlin, as well as classic footage from the funniest movies and television shows of the past century.

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Patti Smith: Dream Of Life (2008)
dir. Steven Sebring

Product Decsription:
A conventional documentary wouldn't suit a timeless iconoclast like Patti Smith. Photographer-turned-filmmaker Steven Sebring's Dream of Life honors her originality through his own unique vision. Narrated by Smith in her unmistakable New Jersey drawl and shot primarily in grainy black and white, he revisits his subject's storied past through her reflective present. In the mid-1990s, when Sebring began filming, she was recovering from the loss of her husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist for the MC5, while moving with their children, Jesse and Jackson, from Detroit to New York City. Over the next 11 years, the devoted director accompanies her as she travels to London, Rome, and other cities where she performs, speaks out against the Iraq War, and visits sites that hold special meaning, particularly the graves of poets. Along the way, she looks in on her proud parents and remembers departed friends, like Robert Mapplethorpe, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, while Sebring intercuts clips and stills from her years as a punk pioneer (Michael Stipe, Sam Shepard, and Flea also put in appearances). As Smith notes in passing, "Life isn't some vertical or horizontal line... it's not neat," and Sebring’s jazz improvisation of a film follows a similar pattern, putting a feminist spin on vérité-style musician profiles from Don't Look Back (a Smith favorite) to Let’s Get Lost. If the pace is relaxed to a fault, the images are often intriguing, the performances are always inspiring, and Smith makes for an especially gracious guide into her own illustrious life. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Our Daily Bread (2007)
dir. Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Product Decsription:
Welcome to the world of industrial food production and high-tech farming. To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting in the places where food is produced: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space for individualism. People, animals, crops and machines play a supporting role in the logistics of this system which provides our society s standard of living. OUR DAILY BREAD is a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn't always easy to digest and in which we all take part. A pure, meticulous and high-end film experience that enables the audience to form their own ideas.

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Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)
dir. Michael O'Donoghue

Product Decsription:
From the twisted genius behind Saturday Night Live s early years, Mr. Mike s Mondo Video is the wildly demented comedy from the mind of National Lampoons and Saturday Night Lives notoriously funny writer/performer Michael O Donoghue. And like most of O Donoghue s humor, it was years ahead of its time. Originally conceived in 1979 as a television special slotted for one of Saturday Night Lives hiatuses, with much of the Saturday Night Live cast on board, it was summarily rejected by NBC as too outrageous for broadcast. Unseen for years, it is finally available on dvd. Features members of the classic Saturday Night Live cast: Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman. Also stars Michael O Donoghue, Carrie Fisher, Teri Garr, Margot Kidder, Edie Baskin, Judith Belushi-Pisano, Mitch Glazer, Joan Hackett, Deborah Harry, Julius La Rosa, Wendie Malick, Klaus Nomi, Paul Shaffer and Sid Vicious.

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Warbirds (2008)
dir. Kevin Gendreau

There is absolutely no fucking way any movie can live up to a cover that awesome.

Product Decsription:
In the final days of World War II, Colonel Jack Toller enlists a crew of WASP led by Maxine West to ferry a top secret weapon to an American airbase in the Pacific. But before they can reach their goal a violent storms strands their damaged B-29 on to a remote tropical island.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for January 6th

2009-01-13T00:40:00.002-05:00

Pineapple Express (2008)
dir. David Gordon Green

Really really love this movie, can't wait to watch it again. One of my favorite movies of 2008. I'll talk more about it when I get my top 10 list done.

Product Decsription:
The latest bro-mance from team Apatow (the guys who brought us Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Pineapple Express is the story of Dale Denton (Seth Rogan) and Saul Silver (James Franco), a pothead and his dealer who accidently get caught up in a drug war between two gangs with some corrupt cops, high-school girls and small-time henchmen thrown in for good measure. At its core, Pineapple Express is a stoner comedy--a tale of two semi-slow giggling and loveable idiots in way over their heads--this formula has made for some entertaining comedy over the years, Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke and Dave Chappell's Half Baked being two of the best examples. What sets Pineapple Express apart from these silly classics however, is the consistency of the humor, the perfect chemistry between Rogan and Franco and the giddily ridiculous action sequences (and the fact that even mild intoxication is not required to enjoy the humor). The movie retains the sweetness that is present in most of Apatow's films, making the characters’ poor choices and ultra-violent actions somehow justifiable, or at least relatable. The site gags, pop-culture references and perfectly timed non-sequiturs only enhance the hilarity. Director David Gordon Green, known mostly for the understated and reflective films George Washington and All the Real Girls, seemed like an odd choice for such a raucous and over-the-top comedy, but it turns out Green's stamp is all over this film (as is his long-time cinematographer, Tim Orr) who together manage to turn Pineapple Express into much more than the sum of its parts. --Kira Canny

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Righteous Kill (2008)
dir. Jon Avnet

I don't know what it is about this movie, but I have absolutely no interest in seeing it. Considering the DeNiro/Pacino team-up, that's a damn shame.

Product Decsription:
Righteous Kill pairs two cinematic icons whose previous screen collaboration, Michael Mann's 1995 Heat, was absolutely electrifying despite minimal time together in a long movie. Now in their mid-60s, De Niro and Pacino are playing veteran cops who, despite being grizzled, should look much younger than these actors. The incongruent casting makes the dark story improbable from the get-go, and things get worse as dialogue by screenwriter Russell Gurwitz quickly sounds like a parody of vintage cop movie cliches. It's a strain to find anything that works. The two leads play longtime detectives and partners whose weariness with rapists, murderers, pedophiles and other villains appears linked to the acts of a serial killer taking out bad guys who got away with heinous crimes. A videotape confession by De Niro's tightly-coiled Turk--who has been seeking the killer with Pacino's Rooster--would seem to establish his ties to the events. But the movie isn't over until it's over, assuming one is still with the movie after plodding along with its facsimile of noir conviction. Director Jon Avnet never gets a handle on Righteous Kill's gritty heart, superficially pushing suspense along with heavy-handed editing, and adding unpersuasive sauce in the form of Turk's somewhat S&M sexual relationship with a female cop (Carla Gugino). Giving the proceedings sort of a boost are Donnie Wahlberg and John Leguizamo as a younger pair of sleuths working the same case. This could easily have been a better movie with those two in the leads. --Tom Keogh

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Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
dir. Danny Pang, Oxide Pang Chun

Looks like a pretty generic, predictable action/thriller. Nick Cage catches a lot of hate these days, but I still like him.

Product Decsription:
An adrenaline-charged action thriller, Lionsgate's Bangkok Dangerous stars Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure) as "Joe," an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, finds himself mentoring the young man instead whilst simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house. Directors The Pang Brothers (The Eye) paint an explosive picture of the Bangkok underworld, illuminated with neon and saturated in violence. From a screenplay by Jason Richman, Bangkok Dangerous is based on the Pang Brothers’ wildly popular Hong Kong action film of the same name. Starring alongside Cage are Shahkrit Yamnarm (Belly of the Beast), Charlie Young (Seven Swords), Panward Hemmanee and Dom Hetrakul (Sniper 3). The film is produced by Jason Shuman, William Sherak, Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly. Andrew Pfeffer, Derek Dauchy, Denis O’Sullivan and Ben Waisbren serve as the executive producers.

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Babylon A.D. (2008)
dir. Mathieu Kassovitz

This got hammered by critics, but supposedly the director's cut is much better. Mathieu Kassovitz hasn't made a movie since Gothika in 2003, which was a pile of shit, but he also directed La Haine, so he's got a pass in my book.

Product Decsription:
In sci-fi thriller BABYLON A.D., Vin Diesel's Toorop is an antihero who quotes the best of cinema's bad boys from films such as THE GODFATHER and SCARFACE. But all the tattooed muscleman really wants to do is leave poverty- and violence-ridden Russia and return to his family's home in upstate New York. However, he has been banned from his native America, so when a Russian mobster (a prosthetic-enhanced Grard Depardieu) offers him a job and a forged passport that will take him back home, he agrees, even though the mission seems close to suicide. He takes a strangely gifted orphan named Aurora (Melanie Thierry) from a Mongolian convent to Harlem, his only help being a nun--though it is a nun played by action star Michelle Yeoh. Thugs attack them on every leg of their journey, following them as they take car, train, sub, and snowmobile to ensure Aurora's safety.
BABYLON A.D works best when it's revealing facets of its futuristic world, from the refugee-camp look of Russia to the high-tech gloss of a 22-million-people-strong New York City. Production designers Sonja Klaus and Paul Cross, as well as director Mathieu Kassovitz (GOTHIKA), deserve praise for creating settings that evoke memories of dystopian films from BLADE RUNNER to CHILDREN OF MEN. Kassovitz, who is most familiar to audiences as the object of affection in AMELIE, also adapted the script from the Maurice G. Dantec novel BABYLON BABIES with Eric Besnard. The book weighed in at over 500 pages, so there are times when it feels like something is missing in BABYLON A.D. with its brief 90-minute run time. In small roles, Depardieu and French favorite Charlotte Rampling (who plays a mysterious religious leader) provide substance and gravitas.

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The Wackness (2008)
dir. Jonathan Levine

Product Decsription:
Jonathan Levine's nostalgic reverie recreates a more innocent New York. In 1994, the Twin Towers watch over Manhattan, and Rudolph Giuliani reigns as mayor--not a bestselling author or presidential candidate. Recent high school grad Luke Shapiro (sleepy-eyed Josh Peck, Drake and Josh) plies the kind of trade Giuliani seeks to discourage: dope dealing. Otherwise, though, Luke's not such a bad kid. He sees a therapist, the pot-smoking Dr. Squires (Sir Ben Kingsley), and nurses a crush on the doctor's flirtatious stepdaughter, Stephanie (Juno's Olivia Thirlby). Hip-hop fills the air, and Luke spends his days grooving to Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., and A Tribe Called Quest, while selling cannabis out of an ice-cream cart (Wu-Tang rapper Method Man plays his Rasta supplier). As the summer heats up, Luke and Stephanie grow closer, while Squires and his wife, Kristin (Famke Janssen), drift apart. Meanwhile, Luke's family faces eviction if his father's fortunes don't improve, and he finds himself torn between the hot girl, the bummed-out shrink, and a job that could land him in the clink for a good long time--or save the Shapiros from moving to New Jersey. Though Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) doesn't judge his law-breaking protagonist, he does suggest that love can make a smart guy lose his head just as easily as lust--and even a trained psychiatrist can't always tell the difference. With Mary-Kate Olsen (Weeds) and Jane Adams (Happiness) as the spaciest of Luke's spacey customers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Duckman: Seasons Three and Four (1996-1997)
dir. n/a

I'm glad to see they didn't take forever to release the rest of this criminally underrated animated series. You can get all four seasons for under $60!

Product Decsription:
He's a foulmouthed mallard with a license to be a dick--Duckman (voiced by Jason Alexander) is a private detective with a chip on his shoulder, a family on his back, and a nonexistent work ethic. This cult animated series follows the sex-crazed duck as he rails against the Universe and gets in a succession of off-color adventures in the detective biz. Pushing the envelope years before SOUTH PARK and FAMILY GUY hit the airwaves, the adult cartoon's third and fourth seasons are assembled in this collection.

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Ping Pong Playa (2007)
dir. Jessica Yu

The trailer for this movie made me cringe, but supposedly it's not too bad.

Product Decsription:
Jessica Yu's Ping Pong Playa is that rare film unlikely to appeal to a director's usual fan base. Best known as a documentary filmmaker, her first feature targets a completely different audience. In it, co-writer/production accountant Jimmy Tsai plays Christopher "C-dub" Wang, a Los Angeles-based, basketball-obsessed, Chinese-American slacker. Chris shares his enthusiasm for urban culture with African-American best friend J.P. Money (Khary Payton). J.P., in turn, has been taking Chinese-language lessons, so the cultural exchange doesn't just run one way. Unfortunately for Chris, his family lives for ping-pong, a pursuit in which he has little interest. When his mother (Elizabeth Sung, The Joy Luck Club) and brother, Michael (Roger Fan, Better Luck Tomorrow), are injured in a minor traffic accident, however, they recruit him to help run their supply store and to teach table tennis at the local community center. Since Chris has just lost a gig hawking cell phones at the mall, he's in no position to decline. Along with some Asian-American youngsters, both Chinese and East Asian, who hunger for a cool role model, Chris changes from the world's laziest human being into something that almost resembles a respectable member of society. With its antic humor and underage hijinks, Yu's self-proclaimed popcorn comedy offers more mainstream appeal than her inventive documentaries In the Realms of the Unreal and Protagonist (she won the Oscar for non-fiction short Breathing Lessons). If the loud-mouthed Chris can be fairly off-putting at first, her affectionate representation of his multicultural world rings true. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Hard Gun (1994)
dir. Panna Rittikrai

I guess the original title of this movie is Plook mun kuen ma kah 4, or Spirited Killer in the US. The reason I'm guessing is because there is absolutely no mention of the title "HARD GUN" anywhere on IMDB, so by process of elimination, I guess this is the one. Don't expect another ONG BAK or TOM YUM GOONG (The Protector) since this was made years before those.

Product Decsription:
Martial Arts superstar Tony Jaa (Spirited Killer, The Protector, Ong Bak) costars with his mentor and trainer Panna Rittikrai in this non-stop action assault on your senses. In an a-typical role for Jaa, Tony plays the villian, along with Rittikrai, being hunted down by police after pulling a robbery.

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Blind Mountain (2007)
dir. Li Yang

Product Decsription:
Li Yang, the award-winning Blind Shaft director and (master of cinematic tension - Screen International), raises the stakes in Blind Mountain, a (resolutely tough minded, beautifully crafted film - LA Times) of uncompromising intensity. In rural early 90 s China, Bai (Lu Huang), a pretty and enterprising college student, travels to a remote, mist shrouded mountain village in the company of a pair of affable strangers. But what Bai thought was an expedition to gather herbs for resale turns into a (true crime shocker - NY Times) when her fellow travelers sell her into slavery. This can t be happening!, Bai screams on awakening from a drugged stupor to find herself (married) to a middle-aged pig farmer, and her freedom, identity, and dignity stolen. Yang s (hard-to-shake drama - NY Times) depicts Bai s horrific ordeal with both gravity and the kind of (stunningly realistic - New Yorker) detail that emphasizes the authenticity of the all too common predicament that she fights to escape. Contrasting the exotic beauty of its locale and a (very fine lead turn by Lu Huang - Time Out London) with the cruelty of a system that tolerates human trafficking and a community that thrives on it, Blind Mountain premiered to (a thunderclap of applause and cheers from the audience - Time) at the Cannes Film Festival.

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The Grocer's Son (2007)
dir. Eric Guirado

Product Decsription:
It is summer, and thirty-year-old Antoine is forced to leave the city to return to his family in Provençe. His father is sick, so he must assume the lifestyle he thought he had shed driving the family grocery cart from hamlet to hamlet, delivering supplies to the few remaining inhabitants. Accompanied by Claire, a friend from Paris whom he has a secret crush on, Antoine gradually warms up to his experience in the country and his encounters with the villagers, who initially seem stubborn and gruff, but ultimately prove to be funny and endearing. In the end, this surprise French box-office hit is about the coming-of-age of a man re-discovering life and love in the countryside.

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The Alphabet Killer (2007)
dir. Rob Schmidt

Product Decsription:
A ten year old girl is found brutally murdered outside the small blue-collar city of Rochester, New York, and obsessed police detective Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and DOLLHOUSE) suffers a mental breakdown while trying to solve the crime. But when the child-killings resume two years later, Megan’s return to the investigation also brings back her own horrific hallucinations. Even if she can prove a ‘double initial’ connection to the slayings, will she hang onto her sanity long enough to catch a psychopath? Cary Elwes (SAW), Michael Ironside (STARSHIP TROOPERS), Bill Moseley (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS), Carl Lumbly (ALIAS) and Academy Award® winner Timothy Hutton co-star in this chilling thriller directed by Rob Schmidt.

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Opium and Kung Fu Master (1984)
dir. Tang Chia

Ton of Shaw Bros. releases today, although this and Life Gamble are probably the last releases that BCI Eclipse will see, since Navarre recently announced that "BCI Eclipse Company, its wholly-owned subsidiary, will shut down its licensing operations in connection with the implementation of a restructuring plan." Always sucks to see another small label bite the dust. Read about it here.

Product Decsription:
Tang Chia is considered one of the greatest kung-fu choreographers ever. He directed three movies on his own and his last, is not only his greatest, but one of the greatest ever. Ti Lung, in one of his finest performances, stars Tieh Chiao-san, head of the Ten Kwangtung Tigers, who falls victim to opium, the drug which crippled China. The tragedies and drama that ensue are as stunning as the kung-fu, created by a superlative team of six martial artists. It leads to a truly unforgettable climax, as a trembling Tieh, still weak from going cold turkey, must face the gangsters who have ruined his town while he was addicted. A legitimate masterpiece and one of the finest, most effecting martial arts movies Shaw Brothers ever produced. Also starring Chen Kuan-Tai (Heroes Two) and Phillip Ko Fei (Enter the Dragon).

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Life Gamble (1979)
dir. Chang Cheh

Product Decsription:
For the film LIFE GAMBLE, Legendary director Chang Cheh teamed his latest star, Alexander Fu Sheng (THE BRAVE ARCHER), with some new talent - a Taiwanese Opera artist (Kuo Chue) and a powerful Chinese muscleman (Lo Meng). These two new talents would become the foundation for his internationally popular Venom series including the classic film THE FIVE VENOMS. Teaming the trio with the top supporting actors (Ku Feng and Wang Lung-wei) and the prettiest starlets (Lin Chen-chi, Shirley Yu, and Hui Ying-hung), LIFE GAMBLE is an entertaining and exciting tale of a kung-fu blacksmith taking on four famous robbers while a villainous gambling boss plots to destroy them. The film would be another classic film in the distinguished career of the greatest martial arts directors ever!

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Sword Masters: The Battle Wizard (1977)
dir. Pao Hsueh

Product Decsription:
Based on Chin Yung s novel The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, a brother, Tuan Yu, who loves books and a sister, Mu Wan-Ching, who loves swords must face the yellow-robed warrior, the Red Python, a sinuous snake-charmer and a silk-masked beauty (who must kill or wed the first man to see her face) before they can bring peace to their battle-addled family. Danny Lee (John Woo s The Killer) stars as Tuan Yu, while the striking Tanny Tien Ni, plays Mu Wan-Ching, in this familial fight fest. Choreographed by Tang Chia and Huang Pei-Chi and directed by Pao Hsueh-li, trusted co-director for several of Chang Cheh s most memorable productions including The Water Margin, The Battle Wizard is kung-fu action and pure entertainment!

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The Lizard (1972)
dir. Yuen Chor

Product Decsription:
THE LIZARD takes the classic Robin Hood story and gives it a kung fu twist: the hero not only robs the rich to give to the poor, he's also a formidable martial arts expert. Produced by the Shaw Brothers in 1972, this flying-fist fairy tale is packed with corrupt cops, chase scenes, and plenty of carefully choreographed combat. This release features a rare English-dubbed version in addition to the subtitled Chinese version.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for December 30th

2008-12-31T07:17:00.001-05:00

UGH. Another horribly slow week. Hopefully the start of 2009 will pick things up a bit.

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Towelhead (2007)
dir. Alan Ball

Alan Ball's most recent show on HBO, True Blood, lost my interest within the first two episodes...however, I really love some of his past work like American Beauty and Six Feet Under. I haven't seen this yet, but I'll probably watch it soon.

Product Decsription:
Haunting and moving, Alan Ball's directorial debut, Towelhead, settles around the viewer for hours, days, afterward, as its delicate layers unfold. Ball, the screenwriter of American Beauty and the creator of HBO's splendid Six Feet Under, revisits some familiar territory here, yet bestows grace upon even his most flawed characters. The film follows the life of 13-year-old Jasira (Summer Bishil), quiet and compliant, who's shuttled between an uncaring American-born mom and a strict, bigoted Lebanese-American dad (Peter Macdissi). When she goes to Houston to live with her father, Jasira starts babysitting for a bratty neighbor kid, whose dad (Aaron Eckhart) takes an unnatural interest in the girl. A new classmate, Tommy, also desires the eighth grader, and one begins to feel Jasira's whole world is a predatory nightmare. Yet the film, while uncomfortable at times to watch, manages to provoke without appalling. Young Jasira is exploring her own sexual awakening, secretly (with echoes of American Beauty), and so desires adult attention that she tiptoes into a flirtation with Eckhart's character, Mr. Vuoso--who is undeniably creepy, yet Eckhart's performance gives Vuoso a begrudging sympathy, no small feat. It's the film's achievement that characters the viewer should be repulsed by--the harsh, overbearing dad; the pervy Mr. Vuoso--have more than a shred of humanity. And luckily for young Jasira, another neighbor, played by Toni Collette, takes her under her wing--and there's almost a palpable sigh of relief when she does. And the script is shot through with humor, which doesn't exactly leaven the intense subject matter, but provides some lightness. When Jasira gets her first period, uptight dad takes her shopping for sanitary pads (no! tampons! ever!), and in the harsh light of the drugstore asks the mortified girl, "Would you describe your situation as Light, Medium, or Heavy?" Bishil is a lovely new discovery, like Thora Birch or Wes Bentley of Beauty, and stays true to herself while the adults around her--with the exception of Collette's Melina--let her down, or worse. The cinematography, draped in shadows, underscores Jasira's unstated plea: See me. Notice me. Care about me. --A.T. Hurley

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An American Carol (2008)
dir. David Zucker

This looks like hot fucking garbage, but Zucker has written & directed some of my all-time favorite comedies. No, not Scary Movie 3 & 4.

Product Decsription:
From David Zucker, the director of The Naked Gun and Airplane! comes a bare-knuckle comedy where no one is safe from the onslaught of lunacy. When obnoxious Hollywood director Michael Malone organizes a Ban the 4th of July campaign, his efforts are upended by a gang of spirits from America s past. Zucker roasts a herd of sacred cows in this latest parody featuring an all-star cast.

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Hellbound: Hellraiser II - 20th Anniversary Edition (1988)
dir. Tony Randel

Product Decsription:
In 1988, it emerged as the shocking follow-up to the film that redefined the face of horror. Two decades later, it remains the most brutally original sequel in horror film history. Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence and Kenneth Cranham co-star in this hit sequel from executive producer Clive Barker that experiences the flesh like no other. The time to play has come again: Surrender yourself to the infernal labyrinth of hellbound: Hellraiser II – The 20th Anniversary Edition.

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The Brave Archer (1978)
dir. Chang Cheh

Product Decsription:
Starring Alexander Fu Sheng stars as hero Guo Jing and Tanny Tian as Huang Rong adventures before their planned marriage. With old feuds and new allies, this is one of the most beloved stories written by Jin Yong and considered one of the most important in Chinese modern literature. Alexander Fu, who was a rising star and beloved actor of Cheng at the time, was tragically killed in a car crash aged 29, and this film captured his amazing star quality before his untimely death.

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Surfer, Dude (2008)
dir. S.R. Bindler

Matthew McConaughey IS Matthew McConaughey IN a Matthew McConaughey production OF Matthew McConaughey: The Movie

Product Decsription:
It’s hard to say just what the target audience for Surfer, Dude is. Maybe surfers--except that since the storyline involves one of the longest big wave droughts in Malibu history, there’s actually precious little surfing to be seen. Probably stoners--not only does the cast include noted herbivores Willie Nelson and Woody Harrelson, but many of the rest of the actors are rarely, if ever, seen without a joint dangling from their mouths. Definitely Matthew McConaughey fans, especially the female kind--as pro surfer icon Steve Addington, McConaughey spends approximately 99% of the movie shirtless. Slight but entertaining, director/co-writer S.R. Bindler’s film finds Addington returning to SoCal following a six-month surfing tour of the world. He soon finds out that things have changed. He still has his manager (Harrelson), but smarmy new sponsor Eddie Zarno (Jeffrey Nordling) wants Steve to appear in a reality TV show and be the model for “Free Surfer,” Zarno’s new “first person immersion video game.” But Steve’s not into it, brah. All he wants to do is surf, get high, and chase women, but when the former dries up for months on end, he decides to forego the other two until the waves return. Meanwhile, the dastardly Zarno re-edits some interview footage to make Addington look bad, whereupon Zarno’s cute East Coast assistant (Alexie Gilmore) quits and takes up with Steve, who plots (sort of) his revenge against the bad guy. It’s all pretty flimsy, occasionally amusing, filled with soft-core female nudity and, you know, like, stoked. --Sam Graham

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Internet Dating (2008)
dir. Master P

I'd probably go crazy too if I was at a point in my career where I was starring in movies directed by Master P.

Product Decsription:
Lonely and looking for some action, Mikey (Williams) creates an internet dating profile, describing himself as a 7 foot tall Lakers player. The ladies love him online, but they get a rude awakening when a 5 foot tall, broke, burger flipping, bicycle riding Mikey shows up at their front doors. And are the girls anything like they say they are?
All he wanted was to meet the right girl. What he got was an online roller coaster.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for December 23rd

2008-12-23T07:18:00.001-05:00

It's an incredibly slow week thanks to Christmas, so I'm just gonna make this short and (not really) sweet.

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Ghost Town (2008)
dir. David Koepp

Product Decsription:
Ricky Gervais is brilliant in Ghost Town, playing an unnervingly rude dentist, Bertram, who dies for a few minutes during surgery and acquires the unwanted ability to see ghosts. Chased throughout Manhattan by a gaggle of restless spirits begging him to take care of their unfinished business on Earth, Bertram turns them all away except Frank (Greg Kinnear). The latter, a rogue who cheated on his archaeologist widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), wants Bertram to intervene in a romance between Gwen and a starchy activist (Bill Campbell). Misanthropic Bertram has to polish his relationship patter, but ends up sounding a lot like Gervais' infamous character in the original The Office, unable to complete a sentence without making others uncomfortable. In time, of course, Bertram falls for the wonderful Gwen, setting up a bunch of overlapping conflicts. Cowritten and directed by David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Ghost Town walks a fine line between comic freshness and a story idea with elements that have become overly familiar in movies and on television. Kinnear and Leoni have never been better on screen, but Ghost Town is well worth seeing because no one like Gervais has previously played the hapless hero in a high-concept film such as this one. With Gervais doing his familiar, hilariously discomfiting thing, it really doesn't matter what kind of movie Ghost Town is. Happily, it's a pretty good film in every respect. --Tom Keogh

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Eagle Eye (2008)
dir. D.J. Caruso

Product Decsription:
The "cell phone thriller" is becoming a genre unto itself, and Eagle Eye should be considered a key example of the form. Frankly preposterous but compulsively watchable, this movie puts Shia LaBeouf in a mess of trouble instigated by a mysterious telephone voice. If he doesn't follow orders, dire things will happen--although when he does follow orders, the consequences are pretty dire, anyway. Also being blackmailed is a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) receiving similar phone calls. Why are they being jerked around by the purring female voice, and why is the road leading to Washington, D.C.? Actually, you won't have time to contemplate these questions, because director D.J. Caruso (who guided LaBeouf in Disturbia) keeps the action going at the customary breakneck pace. This is a wise move, because the real questions you'd likely be asking have to do with the plausibility of events on a minute-by-minute basis (most notably: how could Mysterious Phone Voice possibly know that the two pigeons would survive the hoops she makes them fly through, each one more death-defying than the last?). The actors tumble through this mayhem like scattering bowling pins, including Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson as government agents. Nobody has time to make much of an impression, and LaBeouf has much less room for puppydog charm than he did in Disturbia. Even that would be all right within the movie's berserk parameters, but the really irritating thing is the way the tacked-on final scenes reverse what would have been a heroic climax. No guts, no glory. --Robert Horton

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The Duchess (2008)
dir. Saul Dibb

Product Decsription:
Swaddled in whalebone and wigs, Keira Knightley steps into the restricted world of the Duchess of Devonshire, a royal lady popular with her subjects but stuck in an unhappy marriage. If this situation recalls Princess Diana (a descendent of the Duchess's family), so much the better for the purposes of director Saul Dibb and company; this film is eager to draw parallels with the unfortunate Lady Di, even if she is never directly mentioned. Knightley's unsuspecting girl is married off to the Duke (Ralph Fiennes), a distracted jerk who craves male sons, and obviously has never thought of women as anything other than a means to achieve an heir. When the Duchess launches her procreative career with a couple of daughters, well, the Duke begins to get nervous--and partners outside the marriage become increasingly appealing. The Duchess serves up lavish portions of Brit-movie staples: costumes (which, in Knightley's case, are nothing short of spectacular), landscapes,! and gorgeous music (by Rachel Portman). If it falls short in some vague way, perhaps it's because the film is a mostly one-note affair, meaning exactly what it seems to mean at every moment. Charlotte Rampling appears too briefly as Knightley's mother, and Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell (from Brideshead Revisited), rising stars both, contribute attractive lures for the principals. They prove the old movie adage: there's a lot to be said for eye candy. --Robert Horton

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Savage Grace (2007)
dir. Tom Kalin

Product Decsription:
Set across a stunning backdrop ranging from New York to Paris to Cadaqués, Savage Grace is the incredible true story of a scandal that even today remains shocking. The beautiful Barbara Daly (Academy Award-nominee Julianne Moore; The Hours, Boogie Nights) marries above her social class to the dashing heir of the Bakelite plastics fortune, Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane of the HBO miniseries "John Adams"). The birth of the couple's only child, Tony (Eddie Redmayne of The Good Shepard), intensifies the already volatile marriage. As Tony matures, he becomes an unwilling pawn in the psychosexual games of his parents, and the seeds for a tragedy of spectacular decadence are sown which challenge even the most shocking taboos. Tom kalin's (Swoon) return to cinema has dazzled and stunned audiences from the Cannes to the Sundance Film Festivals.

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Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 5-8 (1964)
dir. Kenji Misumi

Product Decsription:
The opening scene places Zatoichi on a boat with a group of Samurai, who decide to hunt down Ichi after he slashes one of them. Within a few moments there is a heated band of Samurai demanding revenge, but a mysterious one-armed swordsman Yoshiro (Kenzaburo Joh) steps in and maims many of the swordsmen. Ichi's problems really begin when he is recruited to massage the lord at the House of Kuroda. The lord has a 'condition' (he seems insane), and they decide that Zatoichi must be killed so this secret cannot spread. Boss Kanbei is hired to kill Zatoichi, and he discovers that Ichi is on his way to Joshoji Temple to pay his respects to Hirate Miki exactly one year after killing him.

Yoshiro is also in trouble as he is a wanted gangster, and Sukegoro (whom Ichi stayed with for 10 days in the original) expels Yoshiro from his residence. He then follows him with an armed guard in order to capture him. The finale involves Ichi fighting with Kanbei's men at the same bridge where he fought Hirate one year earlier. Zatoichi slaughters all of Kanbei's men and before he can finish off Boss Kanbei, Yoshiro steps in to fight his brother. Both have a deadly grudge to bear against each other. Yoshiro stoles Ichi's love, Chiyo, away from him and Ichi crippled Yoshiro. Both are badly injured in the duel but manage to escape Sukegoro's men by jumping in the river. Yoshiro's wounds are lethal but Ichi survives and exacts his revenge on Boss Sukegoro.

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Baghead (2008)
dir. Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Product Decsription:
While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question "what's the scariest thing you can think of?" Someone immediately said "a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window." Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, Baghead was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a "guy with a bag on his head" and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too.

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Beethoven's Big Break (2008)
dir. Mike Elliott

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Product Decsription:
hahahahahaha

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for December 15th

2008-12-23T06:22:00.002-05:00

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Burn After Reading (2008)
dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

Not one of the Coens' best, but still a really solid comedy. Although, considering their work, it'd have to be something special to be one of their best comedies. I love the fact that the movie is driven by all these paranoid conspiracy theorists panicking over absolutely nothing. Only the Coens would tackle something like this, and only they could make it any good. While plots are important, I can't say that not having one made me dislike the movie more...ultimately comedies are supposed to make you laugh, and I guess that was my biggest issue. It was funny, just not funny enough, I guess? As with most of their movies, this one will probably grow on me over time.

Product Decsription:
After the dark brilliance of No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading may seem like a trifle, but few filmmakers elevate the trivial to art quite like Joel and Ethan Coen. Inspired by Stansfield Turner's Burn Before Reading, the comically convoluted plot clicks into gear when the CIA gives analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) the boot. Little does Cox know his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton, riffing on her Michael Clayton character), is seeing married federal marshal Harry (George Clooney, Swinton's Clayton co-star, playing off his Syriana role). To get back at the Agency, Cox works on his memoirs. Through a twist of fate, fitness club workers Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt in a pompadour that recalls Johnny Suede) find the disc and try to wrangle a "Samaratin tax" out of the surly alcoholic. An avid Internet dater, Linda plans to use the money for plastic surgery, oblivious that her manager, Ted (The Visitor's Richard Jenkins), likes her just the way she is. Though it sounds like a Beltway remake of The Big Lebowski, the Coen entry it most closely resembles, this time the brothers concentrate their energies on the myriad insecurities endemic to the mid-life crisis--with the exception of Chad, who's too dense to share such concerns, leading to the funniest performance of Pitt's career. If Lebowski represented the Coen's unique approach to film noir, Burn sees them putting their irresistibly absurdist stamp on paranoid thrillers from Enemy of the State to The Bourne Identity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Generation Kill (2008)
dir. David Simon

I think expectations for this were way too high. I ended up being bored mostly the entire time, until the final 2 episodes I think. It's quite possible that I'm just burnt out regarding war-related movies, TV, and media in general. There were some really great people involved, and the acting, directing, cinematography, writing, all of it was top notch, but I was just bored with it. It doesn't make any sense, but it is what it is.

Product Decsription:
Based on the national best-selling book by Evan Wright, Generation Kill is an authentic and vividly detailed 7 part HBO mini-series event that presents a uniquely epic and intimate portrait of the first 40 days of the Iraq war from the perspective of the Marines of the First Recon Battalion – a new breed of American soldiers.
The mini-series tells the story of these young Marines physical and emotional journey into the heart of Baghdad in those initial weeks, and how the war reveals to be much more complicated, problematic and tragic than anyone had contemplated. Many of the complications and problems that arise are due to the unwieldy military bureaucracy which the Marines confront in the midst of the war, the challenges of over-zealous and incompetent commanding officers, ever-changing rules of engagement, a non-existent strategy, severe deficiencies in necessary armor and supplies, and an enemy they don’t understand.

Generation Kill is a humorous and frightening first hand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the brutality, camaraderie and bureaucracy of a new American war. It is a profoundly insightful and realistic look at the risk, costs and ultimately, the failures of the war.

Written and produced by Emmy-award winner David Simon (the Wire), and also produced by the award-winning George Faber (Elizabeth I).

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Death Race (Unrated Edition) (2008)
dir. Paul W.S. Anderson

I actually liked the trailer, but Paul W.S. Anderson was born to destroy....although I have to say, a part of me still wants to check this out. I know that it's absolutely nothing like the original Roger Corman classic, but it seems like mindless fun.

Product Decsription:
Mayhem rules in Death Race, a head-over-heels remake of the Roger Corman cult classic Death Race 2000, in which cars become lethal weapons. The strength of this new version is its total single-mindedness about vehicular homicide; it has the virtue of no cluttering subplots or simpering sentimentality. And banish all memory of the original's wild satirical comedy: Death Race is as grim as a dinner tray to the face (a reference that will be explained in a key sequence). In a slightly futuristic maximum-security prison, cons take part in brutal races around the island prison, their violent deaths watched live by millions of viewers. Jason Statham, possibly cast because of his driving dexterity in the Transporter movies, plays a man wrongly imprisoned for murder. Joan Allen provides her brittle cool as the warden, who recruits Statham to assume the masked persona of a legendary driver called Frankenstein. Tyrese Gibson is Frankie's main rival, Natalie Martinez provides the fetching eye candy, but the acting honors go to Ian McShane, as the philosophical prison mechanic. One misses the cross-country race from the original film, as the setting here is claustrophobic and the cars are largely colorless and indistinguishable from each other. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) continues to display the sensibility of a video-game addict, which will either be a recommendation or a turn-off, depending on your own tastes. At least it doesn't have the hypocritical moral blathering of something like the somewhat similar Condemned--who knew you could be so grateful for simple, straight-forward head-bashing? --Robert Horton

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Traitor (2008)
dir. Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Product Decsription:
Academy Award® nominee Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) star in Traitor, a taut international thriller set against a puzzle of covert counter-espionage operations. When straight-arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Pearce) investigates a dangerous international conspiracy responsible for a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn(Cheadle). But a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his suspect is a disaffected former military operative—or something far more complicated.
Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue. Traitor is written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenwriter of The Day After Tomorrow).

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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)
dir. Joss Whedon

Product Decsription:
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) stars as Billy, A.K.A. Dr. Horrible, a budding super-villain whose plans for world domination continually go awry. His two goals: getting accepted into the Evil League of Evil, and working up the guts to speak to his laundromat crush Penny, played by Felicia Day (The Guild). The only thing standing in his way is Captain Hammer, Billy's superhero arch-nemesis played by Nathan Fillion (Firefly). With one big score, Billy could get into the E.L.E. and earn the respect of Penny, but only if he can keep her away from the dashing Captain Hammer...

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The House Bunny (2008)
dir. Fred Wolf

Product Decsription:
"I'm an expert in parties and boys. I'm a Bunny! Men write to me from prison--sometimes in their own blood!" So declares ex-Playboy Bunny Shelley, tossed out of the Mansion by a rival for her advanced age (27--"59 in bunny years," she's told). As played by the utterly fearless and appealing Anna Faris, Shelley becomes an unlikely post-feminist heroine, who finds a great use for her not-too-considerable expertise: being sexy. With nowhere else to live, Shelley finds herself as the house mother for a dying sorority, the Zetas, who are the audience for the rallying cry above. And the slightly misfit sisters, though wary, end up giving Shelley a sisterhood she could never have built back at the Grotto. To help build up the sorority, Shelley gives the young women her own peculiar tutorials in charm school--helping them raise their campus profile and recruit new pledges in the process. "When I'm done, every girl on campus will want to pledge Zeta!" Ignore her at your peril, girls. If the formula is a bit predictable, the pace is lively and the cast, headed by the wide-eyed Faris, is aces. American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee is a natural on camera, as is Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. The supporting cast includes the capable Colin Hanks and Beverly D'Angelo, and a bit too much screen time for the real-life Hugh Hefner, who maybe should have stayed on the set of The Girls Next Door. Still, Faris channels the cheerful, girly determination of Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods--no surprise since The House Bunny was cowritten by Kirsten Smith, who wrote Legally Blonde. Fans of silly romances, hop to it.--A.T. Hurley

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Louis C.K.: Chewed Up (2008)
dir. n/a

Louie's easily one of my favorite comics. When I went and saw him in Pittsburgh last year, this routine from Chewed Up was the one he was doing. I'm glad he recorded a special of it, because I was hardly able to enjoy it when I saw it. I got severly lost and showed up after he had started, and I was basically pissed off the entire show and couldnt enjoy myself. Worst shit. BUT, I was able to see him live again a couple months ago, with completely new material, and it was incredible.

Product Decsription:
Writer-director-performer Louis C.K. brings his no-holds-barred standup comedy style to this cable special, proffering uncomfortable observations about his life as a guy, a husband, and a father. Things start very well with a treatise on the proper use of the word "faggot," which should never, according to C.K., be used as a derogatory term for gay men, but serves as a catch-all insult for everyone and everything else. Also covered is the myth that drinking milk will replenish a man's vital bodily fluids during marathon sex, a subject that somehow segues into C.K.'s ambiguous admission about the fate of any housecat foolish enough to watch him being intimate. Less interesting is a diatribe about the comedian's collision with a deer on the road, and an overlong bit about the frustrations of fatherhood, including fantasies of extreme tough love with small children. The best material arrives at the end, when wisdom seeps into C.K.'s epiphany about arriving at an age when a man stops yearning for sex with girls and pines instead for women a little roughed-up by motherhood, disappointments, and other factors of adulthood. Of course, being C.K., he backpeddles a little about not wanting sex with hot young things, but his heart is in the right place. --Tom Keogh

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Mad Detective (2007)
dir. Johnnie To, Wai Ka Fai

For those not in the loop, the Masters of Cinema label is basically Europe's answer to the Criterion Collection. I never usually list them here because they are imports and region 2, but Amazon has decided to list this one, probably because it's region free. Even better that it's in Blu-Ray. Really great movie, one of the best I've seen from Jonnie To.

Product Decsription:
Import only Blu-Ray/Region All pressing. 2007's largest grossing film at the Hong Kong box office - the smash-hit Mad Detective - is one of the freshest and most satisfying films from that country in a decade. The traditional Hong Kong police film is turned on its head: the imaginative twist being Detective Bun (a role created for Lau Ching Wan) who has the ability to 'see' people's inner personalities or 'hidden ghosts'. Breaking new ground and establishing breathtaking cinematic rules, Johnnie To's latest giddily entertaining collaboration with Wai Ka Fai radically raises the level of storytelling in modern film. The Masters of Cinema Series presents the winner of Best Screenplay at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards 2008.

DVD Features:
Q and A with Johnnie To.
Exclusive cast interviews.
Interview with Johnnie To.
Original UK theatrical trailer.
16-page booklet.
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Mamma Mia! (2008)
dir. Phyllida Lloyd

I feel obligated.

Product Decsription:
The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing "Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep), sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because after reading her mother's diary, she suspects that one of them is her father. When all three arrive at the Greek island where Donna runs a hotel, Donna flips out and finds that passions she thought she'd laid aside are coming back to life. But let's face it, the plot is not the point--it's a ridiculous contrivance that provides an excuse for the characters to sing the massive hits of ABBA. Regrettably, first-time film director Phyllida Lloyd (who directed the original stage production) has drawn over-the-top performances from everyone involved, even Streep; every production number hammers its exuberance into your eyeballs. Which is too bad, because Mamma Mia! is a rarity: A middle-aged love story. The kids start things off, but the story is really about Streep and the three guys (former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, former Mr. Darcy Colin Firth, and Swedish star Stellan Skarsgard), as well as Donna's best friends (Christine Baranski, best known from the TV show Cybill, and Julie Walters, Calendar Girls). It's a romantic comedy aimed at the people who were around when all these songs were new, and that's an age group Hollywood largely ignores. For that alone, Mamma Mia! deserves to find an audience. --Bret Fetzer

DVD Features:
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Sangre de Mi Sangre (2007)
dir. Christopher Zalla

Product Decsription:
Fleeing his criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to NYC, where he meets Pedro, who is going to America to search for his father. When Pedro wakes up in New York, Juan has stolen his ID and gone to claim Pedro's father as his own. Now Juan and Pedro, identities confused, are both in Brooklyn looking for a father who neither has ever met.

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Hamlet 2 (2008)
dir. Andrew Fleming

Product Decsription:
Just when it seems as if things can't get any worse for high-school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), he quips, "My life is a parody of a tragedy." Yet that very ability to laugh in the face of defeat will allow this failed actor to triumph over adversity. A lovably ridiculous dreamer like Waiting for Guffman’s Corky St. Clair, Marschz lives in Tucson with his sarcastic wife (Catherine Keener) and their silent boarder (David Arquette). Though he tries to inspire, like Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus, only two students (Spring Awakening’s Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole) share his passion for theatrics. When the principal decides to eliminate his department, Marschz makes a bold move: he writes an original play, lets the class contribute their own unique talents, and puts the whole thing on as a fundraiser (they'll need to bring in $6,000). Sure, everyone dies at the end of Shakespeare's classic, but in Marschz’s musical sequel, Hamlet 2, a time machine allows the Danish prince to turn back the clock to set things right. Just as his production starts to take shape and retired actress Elisabeth Shue (played by Shue) offers her support, his marriage hits the rocks, he starts drinking again, and the community protests against numbers like "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." (Amy Poehler portrays his ACLU attorney.) Though Andrew Fleming’s comedy follows the usual inspirational instructor trajectory, ribald humor helps the medicine go down and Coogan gives his most unhinged performance since Tristram Shandy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
dir. Rob Cohen

Product Decsription:
The third film in the The Mummy series freshens the franchise up by setting the action in China. There, the discovery of an ancient emperor's elaborate tomb proves a feather in the cap of Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford), a young archaeologist and son of Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, taking over the role from Rachel Weisz). Unfortunately, a curse that turned the emperor (Jet Li) and his army into terra cotta warriors buried for centuries is lifted, and the old guy prepares for world domination by seeking immortality at Shangri La. The O'Connells barely stay a step ahead of him (climbing through the Himalaya mountains with apparent ease), but the action inevitably leads to a showdown between two armies of mummies in a Chinese desert. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has a lot to offer: a supporting cast that includes the elegant Michelle Yeoh, Russell Wong, and Liam Cunningham, the unexpected appearance of several Yeti, and a climactic battle sequence that is nightmarishly weird but compelling. On the downside, the charm so desperately sought in romantic relationships, as well as comic turns by John Hannah (as Evelyn's rascal brother), is not only absent but often annoying. Rarely have witty asides in the thick of battle been more unwelcome in a movie. Rob Cohen's direction is largely crisp if sometimes curious (a fight between Fraser and Jet Li keeps varying in speed for some reason), but his vision of Shangri La, in the Hollywood tradition, is certainly attractive. --Tom Keogh

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Zapped! (1982): THIS IS PERFECT

2008-12-11T00:45:00.002-05:00

Robert J. Rosenthal's Zapped! is a breath of 26-year-old fresh air. Most of the time with movies like this, you can predict what's coming at almost every turn, but with this one....well....you still kind of can, but it really doesn't stick to convention at all. It's a damn near perfect 80's teen sex comedy.

Scott Baio stars as the nerdy lab rat Barney, who spends most of his time mixing chemicals and experimenting with mice. Does he get beat up by jocks and have trouble with girls? FUCK NO! He's on the baseball team! He never plays, but he's never picked on, either, which is unheard of in these kinds of movies. They even introduce a kind of rebel punk kid with a crazy hairdo early in the movie that would be perfect for giving these kids swirlies and that, but he doesn't do a damn thing to anybody and is only in two scenes. It's kind of weird that he's even in the movie in the first place, but I guess every school's got one. So there's one convention broken, no bullying. Hey, I'm all for stereotypical bullies with their dumb lackeys giving the teachers wedgies and whatever the fuck else, but there's none of that here.

OK, what else....is the principal a mean-spirited, evil, joy-killing dickhead? FUCK NO, this dude just wants to get his dick wet! No joke! It even happens! Even at the prom, when shit gets REAL nuts, him and another teacher sneak in the back to get busy. Speaking of the prom....fuck, I'll save that for later.

Why is the movie called Zapped! you might be asking yourself? OK you probably aren't asking yourself that, but fuck it....It all starts with Barney's baseball coach (played by the legendary Scatman Crothers) rummaging around the lab looking for whiskey or something when he accidentally drops a chemical into a jar with other chemicals creating the wonder drug that gives humans telekinetic abilities with absolutely no repercussions. During an experiment in the lab, Barney knocks over those same chemicals causing a small explosion and knocking Barney out. Of course, he wakes up unharmed, except now he can move shit with his brain. His new powers not only help, to an extent, his best friend get laid, and also turns his mom into a fucking nutcase. (See the video I posted in an earlier entry for many more examples of Barney's powers)

Long story short, he tries raping his girlfriend with his mind, and when that doesn't work, he rapes, with his mind, every single person at the prom. Which is EXACTLY what a high school kid with telekinesis would do. This movie just gets everything right. earlier in the movie, he is poppin' the shirts off girls left and right, and also pulling dudes' pants down and hanging them on a tree. Also, if this were any other movie, he'd get bonked on the head and lose all his powers, which actually kind of happens for a second, but he doesn't really lose them at all, and at the end of the movie he flies away......with his mind. That's the best thing, knowing that this kid is gonna have this awesome power forever and will rape people from a distance for the rest of his life. So, ultimately, what I'm really trying to get at here is that mind-rape is incredible, and I wish I could mind-rape. Please PM me on Yahoo chat. Bye! Thanks for stopping by!

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for December 9th

2008-12-11T00:30:00.001-05:00

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The Dark Knight (2008)
dir. Christopher Nolan

O-VER-RA-TED *clap-clap-clapclapclap*
O-VER-RA-TED *clap-clap-clapclapclap*

Now I'm not saying it's not a great movie, I just think that the extent to which fanboys suck this movie's cock is way beyond ridiculous. It's actually kind of annoying and uncomfortable and makes me want to like the movie less. I will say this though, considering the amount of hype behind the movie (might be safe to say it was the most hyped movie ever before it was released, up there with Independence Day) I was really amazed that it actually lived up to it. It's a top 10 movie of the year without question. Seeing the movie in an IMAX theater, especially all the sequences filmed with IMAX cameras, was an amazing experience. Heath Ledger will win an Oscar, and Christian Bale will need throat lozenges. God damn, the Batman voice was annoying as fuck.

Product Decsription:
The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.
In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

DVD Features:
documentary "Gotham Uncovered"
"Batman Tech," an exhaustive television documentary
"Gotham Tonight," fake newscasts about our hero
Galleries and Trailers
BD Live content
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Man on Wire (2008)
dir. James Marsh

Another one of the best movies of the year. Even if you know the outcome, you can't help but sit on the edge of your seat as the team keeps beating close call after close call, wondering what's going to happen next. It's like a highly complex bank robbery, and everyone involved in the project acknowledges it. The enthusiasm of everyone involved, Phillipe Petit especially, is contageous, and you can't help but be drawn into their world.

Product Decsription:
Native New Yorkers know to expect the unexpected, but who among them could've predicted that a man would stroll between the towers of the World Trade Center? French high-wire walker Philippe Petit did just that on August 7th, 1974. Petit’s success may come as a foregone conclusion, but British filmmaker James Marsh’s pulse-pounding documentary still plays more like a thriller than a non-fiction entry--in fact, it puts most thrillers to shame. Marsh (Wisconsin Death Trip, The King) starts by looking at Petit's previous stunts. First, he took on Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, then Sydney's Harbour Bridge before honing in on the not-yet-completed WTC. The planning took years, and the prescient Petit filmed his meetings with accomplices in France and America. Marsh smoothly integrates this material with stylized re-enactments and new interviews in which participants emerge from the shadows as if to reveal deep, dark secrets which, in a way, they do, since Petit's plan was illegal, "but not wicked or mean." The director documents every step they took to circumvent security, protocol, and physics as if re-creating a classic Jules Dassin or Jean-Pierre Melville caper. Though still photographs capture the feat rather than video, the resulting images will surely blow as many minds now as they did in the 1970s when splashed all over the media. Not only did Petit walk, he danced and even lay down on the cable strung between the skyscrapers. Based on his 2002 memoir, Man on Wire defines the adjective "awe-inspiring." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Europa - Criterion Collection (1991)
dir. Lars von Trier

I'm not incredibly familiar with von Trier's work...I've only seen a couple of his films, not including Europa, but what I've seen I've liked. I think Dancer in the Dark gets a little too much praise, but I still think it's great. Breaking the Waves, however, can't be fucked with. I'm looking forward to checking this one out.

Product Decsription:
You will now listen to my voice . . . On the count of ten you will be in Europa . . ." So begins Max von Sydow s opening narration to Lars von Trier s hypnotic Europa (known in the U.S. as Zentropa), a fever dream in which American pacifist Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr) stumbles into a job as a sleeping-car conductor for the Zentropa railways in a Kafkaesque 1945 postwar Frankfurt. With its gorgeous black-and-white and color imagery and meticulously recreated (if then nightmarishly deconstructed) costumes and sets, Europa is one of the great Danish filmmaker s weirdest and most wonderful works, a runaway train ride to an oddly futuristic past.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen (in Danish)
The Making of Europa (1991), a documentary following the film from storyboarding to production
Trier s Element (1991), a documentary featuring an interview with von Trier, and footage from the set and Europa s Cannes premiere and press conference
Anecdotes from Europa (2005), a short documentary featuring interviews with film historian Peter Schepelern, actor Jean-Marc Barr, producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen, assistant director Tómas Gislason, co-writer Niels Vørsel, and prop master Peter Grant
2005 interviews with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen, composer Joachim Holbek, costume designer Manon Rasmussen, film-school teacher Mogens Rukov, editor/director Tómas Gislason, producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen, art director Peter Grant, actor Michael Simpson, production manager Per Arman, actor Ole Ernst
A conversation with Lars von Trier from 2005, in which the director speaks about the Europa trilogy
Europa The Faecal Location (2005), a short film by Gislason
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Howard Hampton
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The Wire: The Complete Series (2002-2008)
dir. David Simon & Ed Burns

One of the greatest shows ever, that's all there is to it. If you haven't seen it, clear your schedule and make time. Now.

Product Decsription:
Set in Baltimore, this show centers around the city's inner-city drug scene. It starts as mid-level drug dealer, D'Angelo Barksdale beats a murder rap. After a conversation with a judge, Det. James McNulty has been assigned to lead a joint homicide and narcotics team, in order to bring down drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. Avon Barksdale, accompanied by his right-hand man Stringer Bell, enforcer Wee-Bey and many lieutenants (including his own nephew, D'Angelo Barksdale), has to deal with law enforcement, informants in his own camp, and competition with a local rival, Omar, who's been robbing Barksdale's dealers and reselling the drugs. The supervisor of the investigation, Lt. Cedric Daniels, has to deal with his own problems, such as a corrupt bureaucracy, some of his detectives beating suspects, hard-headed but determined Det. McNulty, and a blackmailing deputy. The show depicts the lives of every part of the drug "food chain", from junkies to dealers, and from cops to politicians.

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Deadwood: The Complete Series (2004-2006)
dir. David Milch

Not as great as The Wire, but great nonetheless. Probably a top 20 show all-time. Considering the individual seasons used to run about $80-$90, getting all 3 seasons for around $100 is a helluva deal.

Product Decsription:
The town of Deadwood, South Dakota in the weeks following the Custer massacre is a lawless sinkhole of crime and corruption. Into this uncivilized outpost ride a disillusioned and bitter ex-lawman, Wild Bill Hickok, and Seth Bullock, a man hoping to find a new start for himself. Both men find themselves quickly on opposite sides of the legal and moral fence from Al Swearengen, saloon owner, hotel operator, and incipient boss of Deadwood. The lives of these three intertwine with many others, the high-minded and the low-lifes who populate Deadwood in 1876.

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Lost - The Complete Fourth Season (2008)
dir. J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber, Damon Lindelof

It's still not making a goddamn bit of sense, but I'm still intrigued, and I'll still watch it. I just hope SOMEthing gets explained next season.

Product Decsription:
After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, it s survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island hold many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as The Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past.

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Justice - A Cross The Universe CD/DVD (2008)
dir. n/a

Ed Banger is one of the best labels on the planet at the moment...I'll listen to pretty much anything they release. Justice's debut album was probably the most financially successful album Ed Banger has ever released, and for good reason, it was an instant classic. I'm really looking forward to seeing this tour documentary...you can find the trailer on youtube.

Product Decsription:
This live CD + DVD release includes recordings of Justice's signature headbanging live sets along with show footage and various hijinks captured as the band toured the U.S. in March 2008.

DVD Features:
Disc: 1
1. Intro
2. Genesis
3. Phantom Part 1
4. Phantom Part 1.5
5. D.A.N.C.E.
6. D.A.N.C.E. Part 2
7. DVNO
8. Waters Of Nazareth
9. One Minute To Midnight
10. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy
11. Let There Be Lite
12. Stress
13. We Are Your Friends (Reprises)
14. Waters Of Nazareth
15. Phantom Part 2
16. Encore
17. NY Excuse (Soulwax/Justice Remix)
18. Justice X Metallica

Disc: 2
1. 1 hour documentary (DVD)

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Murnau, Borzage and Fox - Box Set
dir. F.W. Murnau, Frank Borzage

I'd buy this set immediately if it weren't almost 200 fucking dollars.

Product Decsription:
This collection contains 2 F.W. Murnau films and 10 films directed by Frank Borzage from the late silent through the early talkie era. Many of these have long been unavailable.

Silent Films:

Murnau's entries include:
Sunrise (1927) - The story of a farmer ready to forsake his wife and home for a city woman on vacation in their village. She suggests that the husband drown his wife and make it look like an accident. Beautiful visuals make you sorry the silent era ever ended. Already available on DVD in the Fox Best Picture Collection. This film won the only Oscar ever awarded for best artistic film.

City Girl (1930) - This film exists in a sound and silent version. I hope this version is the silent one I saw. Charles Farrell plays the son in a farming family sent to sell the family wheat crop. He doesn't get the money the family hoped for plus he returns with a city girl as wife. This film doesn't show life on the farm as the ideal, but shows the harsh economic reality of farming. As usual, Murnau will thrill you with his excellent visuals.

Borzage films:
Lazybones (1925) - A man knicknamed "Lazybones" raises a homeless girl. After she is grown, he begins to love her as a woman. This story may sound familiar, but Borzage throws some curves in along the way so don't expect the conventional ending or conventional journey to that ending.

Seventh Heaven (1928) - One of several popular pairings of Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor. Janet Gaynor plays a girl beaten almost to death by her sister who is rescued by Farrell, who plays a sewer worker who has become an atheist. The romance is interrupted by war. Farrell becomes a soldier, Gaynor becomes a munitions worker. Remade in the sound era, this silent version is much better. One of three films that won Janet Gaynor a Best Actress Oscar.

Street Angel (1928) - Janet Gaynor plays an Italian girl accused of being a street walker who hides from the police by joinig a traveling circus. There she falls in love with a vagabond artist played by Charles Farrell. Full of splendid visuals.

Lucky Star (1929) - Janet Gaynor is again teamed with Charles Farrell in this late silent era film about a man who is left in wheelchair as a result of injuries suffered in World War I. This film gives Farrell more of a chance to show his acting abilities than his previous teamings with Janet Gaynor, although she gives a good performance too.

Talking films:

They Had to See Paris (1929) - Borzage directs Will Rogers' first talking picture. Will Rogers plays a homespun man who comes into money via an oil well. His wife decides they must go abroad to get some culture into their life. This film is a little stiff as are most early talkies, but it is still full of Will Rogers' unique brand of humor.

Liliom (1930) - Early talkie adaptation of the play with Charles Farrell in the title role. The sound on the prints I've been exposed to in the past has been terrible. Let's hope that part of the reason for the cost of this set is cleaning up the sound.

Song O' My Heart (1930) - Mainly made to exhibit the singing talent of John McCormack. Also, this is the film debut of Maureen O'Sullivan. The sound on this film the last time I saw it was terrible. It will be great to hear McCormack as others heard him eighty years ago.

Bad Girl (1931) - Won two Oscars - one for Borzage's direction and another for adapted writing. This film is really about a struggling young couple's ups and downs. I really have no idea why it is named "Bad Girl" unless it was because tantalizing titles sold tickets in the era of the precode film. Like the stars of many early talkies, the stars of this film did not have distinguished careers.

After Tomorrow (1932) - Charles Farrell stars in a genuine precode with lots of racy language. At heart, though, it is a melodrama like so much of Borzage's work. Not well known probably due to its lack of exposure on TV or home video.

Young America (1932) - Spencer Tracy in a very early role. Tracy plays a druggist whose wife wants to adopt a kid who is constantly getting in trouble. His last brush with the law involves stealing medicine from Tracy's drugstore.

This set also includes a documentary on Murnau, whose career was cut short by his death in a traffic accident in 1931, and Borzage, whose career as a director was quite active into the 1940's. Other announcements have claimed that what fragments exist of Borzage's 1929 film, "The River", shall also be in this set as an extra feature. That report is as of now unsubstantiated.

Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish.

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Horton Hears a Who (2008)
dir. Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino

Product Decsription:
Dr. Seuss's classic 1954 book Horton Hears a Who has entertained generations of children and served as the inspiration for a 26-minute, 1970 television special Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who and the 2000 Broadway musical Seussical: The Musical. This 2008, full-length animated movie features the voice talents of Jim Carrey as Horton, Steve Carrell as the Mayor of Whoville, Carol Burnett as the Kangaroo, and Jesse McCartney as JoJo and promises to delight a whole new generation of children and their parents and grandparents. The technological wonders of computer animation have allowed 20th Century Fox Animation to bring to life the wacky, colorful Whoville with its minute inhabitants and the lush Jungle of Nool with its host of distinctive animals and the result is a rich, fantastical world of wonder worthy of Dr. Seuss' own imagination. All the major plot elements of Dr. Seuss' book are present, with Horton hearing the faint cry for help from a tiny dust speck atop a small clover and doing his best to protect the inhabitants of that small civilization of Whoville despite the disbelief, disdain, and persecution of his fellow animals. The feel of Dr. Seuss' original rhyming prose is partially preserved in the sparse narration by Charles Osgood that's interspersed throughout the film's dialogue and the overarching themes of staying true to one's convictions and the celebration of the power of perseverance, imagination, and kindness come through loud and clear. Horton Hears a Who is a fun rendering of a classic Dr. Seuss story that's sure to entertain viewers of all ages. --Tami Horiuchi

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Flow (aka Flow: For Love of Water) (2007)
dir. Irena Salina

Product Decsription:
Review An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests. --New York Times Product Description Water is the sleeping giant issue of the 21st century and we all need to wake up about it. FLOW opens our eyes about the greatest threat of our time - the global water crisis. It is a compelling and passionate film. Its engaging narrative will grip the viewer. - Robert Redford SYNOPSIS Irena Salina s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER? Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

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Peter and the Wolf (2006)
dir. Suzie Templeton

Won an Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2007. I couldn't find it on Youtube, but I wanted to check and see if the old Disney cartoon of Peter and the Wolf was on there, and sure enough...

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILI3s7Wonvg
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCgJXD3J9Wc

then I just fell down the rabbit hole of incredible old cartoons...

Willie the Operatic Whale:
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71kdU6iGjTM
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhAxLvV0-NI

Lambert the Sheepish Lion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtKAQJUc3g

Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet (might be one of the weirdest cartoons ever, imagine someone pitching this, "OK, so these two hats fall in love.." NOPE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3lAztMhIWI

Casey at the Bat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F0qC1-sa0

Paul Bunyan

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoG94ieN828
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyDAr-hjw80

The Ugly Duckling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p9riiSDkkA

In The Bag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scMbNZ_f16I

Susie the Little Blue Coupe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITeUvJyxUko

The Little House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y881yjtFluQ

The voice of Sterling Holloway had a pretty tremendous impact on my childhood now that I think about it.

Product Decsription:
State-of-the-art digital technology and a new orchestral recording bring to life this fantastical retelling of Sergei Prokofiev s classic fable of a magical world in which little boys can find the strength and courage to overcome their fears and the ever-present dangers that surround them.

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2008-12-10T01:48:00.001-05:00

Ummm...

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for December 2nd

2008-12-03T08:06:00.001-05:00

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Casablanca (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (1942)
dir. Michael Curtiz

If I didn't already have 2 copies of this motherfucker, I'd probably buy this. Although it's not really bringing anything mind-blowing to the table this time around other than the fact it's in Blu-ray, I'd probably get rid of the ones I already have for it. Here's looking at my DVD collection, kid LOLOLOL fuck, kill me

Product Decsription:
A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh

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Step Brothers (2008)
dir. Adam McKay

Even as a John C. Reilly superfan, I must say that I had my doubts with this one. I was pleasantly surprised, though, and basically laughed my ass off the entire time I was in the theater. The story isn't A+ material, but it doesn't have to be. Ferrell and Reilly's chemistry is so potent that they probably could've improved for 2 hours and came away with something worth watching. Definitely one of the best comedies of the year.

Product Decsription:
Crude, juvenile, and proud of it, Step Brothers stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two 40-year-old men, both living at home and leading the lives of 13-year-old boys, who are thrown together when their single parents (Mary Steenburgen, Parenthood, and Richard Jenkins, Six Feet Under) get married. Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly) start out hating each other as only teenage boys can--but things get even worse for their long-suffering parents when they become best friends. Step Brothers gets most of its mileage from very lowbrow humor, but hidden among the farts and masturbation jokes is the suggestion that while these guys may be emotionally arrested, so are Brennan's hotshot business executive brother (Adam Scott, Tell Me You Love Me) and his high-fiving frat-boy pals, just in a way that's condoned because it makes money. Also crucial is that Ferrell and Reilly capture adolescence in all its gruesome glory--the awkward insecurity but also the egomaniacal, arrogant self-centeredness. Mind you, this isn't the American version of The 400 Blows or anything--one of the movie's setpieces features Brennan tea-bagging Dale's drum set (and if you don't know what tea-bagging is... well, you will after seeing this movie). All in all, Step Brothers combines the adolescent humor of producer Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up) and the comic chemistry of Ferrell and Reilly (who previously costarred in Talladega Nights)--fans of either will find plenty to enjoy. --Bret Fetzer

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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
dir. Andrew Adamson

Product Decsription:
More exciting than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian continues the movie franchise based on C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy books. The movie picks up where the first left off... sort of. It's been a year since the Pevensie children--Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley)--returned to England from Narnia, and they've just about resigned themselves to living their ordinary lives. But just like that, they're once again transported to a fantastical land, but one with a long-abandoned castle. It turns out that they are in Narnia again--and they themselves lived in that castle, but hundreds of years ago in Narnia time. They've been summoned back to help Prince Caspian (Stardust's Ben Barnes, resembling a young, cultured Keanu Reeves), the rightful heir to the throne who's become the target of his power-hungry uncle, King Mraz (Sergio Castellitto). And he's not the only one threatened: Mraz's people, the Telmarines, have pushed all the Narnians--the talking animals, the centaurs and other beasts, the walking trees--to the brink of extinction. Despite some alpha-male bickering, Peter and Caspian agree to fight Mraz alongside the remaining Narnians, including the dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard). (Also appearing is Warwick Davis, who was in Willow and the 1989 BBC Prince Caspian.) But of course they most of all miss the noble lion, Aslan, who would have never let this happen to Narnia if he hadn't disappeared. Prince Caspian is epic, evoking memories of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. (Some of the battle elements may seem too familiar, but they were in Lewis's book.) And it's appropriate for kids (Reepicheep could have come out of a Shrek movie), though the tone is dark and there is a lot of death, albeit bloodless. After two successful films, Disney and Walden Media's franchise has proved successful enough that many of the characters are scheduled to return in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. --David Horiuchi

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Wanted (2008)
dir. Timur Bekmambetov

Looks horrible, but I'm still morbidly curious....I might watch this soon.

Product Decsription:
As the impresario behind gravity-defying Russian blockbuster Night Watch, it's inevitable that Hollywood would come calling for Timur Bekmambetov. With a studio budget and an international cast, including two Oscar winners, Timur cooks up a Hong Kong-styled actioner bursting with fast cars and big guns. Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson (Atonement's James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross (The Pianist’s Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity's brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he's ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn't telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge. For those who've been following McAvoy's career to date, Wanted will surely come as a surprise. In adapting Mark Millar's comic series, Timur offers buckets of blood and a smidgen of depth, but fans of The Matrix and Mr. and Mrs. Smith will want to give this one a look. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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White Dog - Criterion Collection (1982)
dir. Samuel Fuller

Anything from Samuel Fuller would be an instant purchase, but considering the extreme social commentary on display in White Dog, I'm even more interested. Plus, it's Criterion, so, yeah.

Product Decsription:
Samuel Fuller's throat-grabbing exposé on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties; today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German Shepherd, only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained to attack black people, and Paul Winfield plays the animal trainer who tries to cure him. A snarling, uncompromising vision, White Dog is a tragic portrait of the evil done by that most corruptible of animals: the human being.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the uncut version, approved by producer Jon Davison
New video interviews with producer Davison, co-writer Curtis Hanson, and Sam Fuller s widow, Christa Lang-Fuller
An interview with dog trainer Karl Lewis-Miller
Rare photos from the film s production
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by critics J. Hoberman and Armond White, plus a rare 1982 interview in which Fuller interviews the canine star of the film
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Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews (1977)
dir. Jorn Winther

Product Decsription:
A historic meeting so gripping and poignant it has been adapted into an award-winning stage play and major motion picture.

This program, culled from the over 28 hours of interview footage between Sir David Frost and U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, was originally broadcast in May of 1977. Never before, nor since, has a U.S. President been so candid on camera. Even more intriguing is the fact that Nixon agreed to appear on camera with no pre-interview preparation or screening of questions. The most famous of this series of interviews is in the final segment that focused solely on Watergate.

This program also contains new footage with Sir David Frost shot in 2007 discussing the historical impact of the interview along with his reactions of their famous encounter. Frost also discusses his views on Peter Morgan's interpretation and screenplay adaptation of this historical event.

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The Day the Earth Stood Still (Special Edition) (1951)
dir. Robert Wise

Going to go ahead and take a "risk" and say this is miles better than the Keanu Reeves-make will be.

Product Decsription:
A hallmark of the science fiction genre as well as a wry commentary on the political climate of the 1950s, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi movie less concerned with special effects than with a social parable. A spacecraft lands in Washington, D.C., carrying a humanoid messenger from another world (Michael Rennie) imparting a warning to the people of Earth to cease their violent behavior. But panic ensues as the messenger lands and is shot by a nervous soldier. His large robot companion destroys the Capitol as the messenger escapes the confines of the hospital. He moves in with a family as a boarder and blends into society to observe the full range of the human experience. Director Robert Wise (West Side Story) not only provides one of the most recognizable icons of the science fiction world in his depiction of the massive robot loyal to his master, but he avoids the obvious camp elements of the story to create a quiet and observant story highlighting both the good and the bad in human nature. --Robert Lane

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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
dir.

I'm preeeeeetty sure you can't cast shadows like that with just one light source. I'm calling bullshit on this movie.

Product Decsription:
The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a satisfying if unspectacular installment in the X-Files series, taking place an unspecified time after the show's nine-year television run. Former agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now a doctor, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is being hunted by his former agency and living in seclusion. He and Scully are summoned back by a case involving a missing agent and a former priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be able to see clues to the agent's whereabouts psychically, though his initial search turns up only a severed limb. Don't expect the usual cast of characters; the FBI has completely turned over (except for the George W. Bush portrait), and the only reason Scully and Mulder are back is because agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) remembers his success on similar cases involving the unexplainable. Don't expect the same rogues' gallery either; unlike the previous X-Files feature film, which was inextricably linked to the series' convoluted mythology arc (and served as a bridge between the fifth and sixth seasons), I Want to Believe is a stand-alone piece that makes use of the series' roots in horror/sci-fi and moody Vancouver, B.C., locales. Also unlike the previous film, which was almost self-consciously shot for the big screen, this film is on a smaller scale, like a double-length episode of the series. But it's still a good reminder of the creepy vibe that hooked fans for years. And the relationship between Mulder and Scully? It seems to have resumed pretty much where it left off, at least when you take into account the long period of separation. But stick around for the end-credit sequence to take in all the possibilities for the future. --David Horiuchi

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The Rape of Europa (Collector's Edition) (2007)
dir. Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, Nicole Newnham

Product Decsription:
The issues raised by The Rape of Europa, a documentary about the Nazi pillaging of art and the Allied effort to return it, can't be conveniently consigned to the dustbin of history. This story is still playing out, contentiously and emotionally, as art is recovered and heirs sue for restitution. (The case of Klimt s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, familiar to many New Yorkers, opens and closes the movie.) The Rape of Europa covers endlessly interesting material: the central role art played for the Nazis; the arriviste connoisseurship of Hitler and Goering; the Germans different treatment of cities like Krakow (spared for its Germanic art) and Warsaw (almost obliterated for its Slavic art and sensibility). It also raises endlessly interesting questions: Should soldiers lives be risked to save historic sites and artwork? Can a culture survive if its art is wiped out? The film, based on a book by Lynn H. Nicholas, crams in a lot, which means it can seem rushed and cursory. And some parts beg for fuller treatment. The Monuments Men, G.I. s (mainly) whose mission was to recover and return art, could easily be the subject of their own documentary. They're heroes. And their work was vital to, in the words of one Florentine woman, the victory of beauty over horror. Rachel Saltz, New York Times

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A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (2008)
dir. n/a

I can't watch this show or The Daily Show because the studio audience is so fucking obnoxious and annoying that it ruins practically everything. They burst into hearty laughter and thunderous applause at the slightest, weakest political quips and their ass-kissery knows no bounds. Both Colbert and Stewart are very smart and funny dudes to say the least, but their shows are insufferable. Highly recommended!

Product Decsription:
What better way to celebrate Christmas than with the fake media's biggest Scrooge, Stephen Colbert? Dirty liberals like Elvis Costello, Feist, and Willie Nelson--along with real American Toby Keith--are on the guest list for this special that includes all the ego-fueled mayhem of THE COLBERT REPORT, as well as a smattering of irony-laced Yuletide songs, such as "There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In" and "Little Dealer Boy."

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Shadow Company (2006)
dir. Jason Bourque, Nick Bicanic

Product Decsription:
This year thousands of private soldiers will be deployed in conflicts worldwide. These individuals, known as private security contractors, are changing the face of modern warfare. But to those at home, their world and influence remains a mystery. Who are these security contractors? What do they do? Why do they do it? Shadow Company, by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque, is the groundbreaking feature-length documentary that reveals the origins and destinations of these modern-day mercenaries. The rules of war have changed.

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Pleasure For Sale (2008)
dir. Harry Gantz, Joe Gantz

So basically it's just a Sundance version of HBO's Cathouse.

Product Decsription:
The raunchy, original 6-part series from Sundance Channel and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Joe and Harry Gantz (Taxicab Confessions) takes an intimate and revealing look inside a legal brothel in Pahrump, Nevada.

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My Father My Lord (2007)
dir. David Volach

Product Decsription:
WINNER: BEST FILM OF 2007 (TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL)
A heartbreakingly tender (New York Times) new entry into Israel s ongoing filmmaking renaissance, My Father My Lord is an anguished, mordant sigh of a fable (New York Sun) set in the ultra-orthodox Israeli community in which writer-director Volach was raised. This astonishing debut feature (Variety) is a beautifully made film (Newsday) portraying childhood at its most transcendent and fundamentalism at its most intimately corrosive. We do everything in the Torah without asking why, Rabbi Eidelman (Assi Dayan), a pious, respected elder in a cloistered Hasidic enclave tells his wonderstruck only son Menahem (Ilan Grif). But at an age where life prompts questions increasingly outside the confines of doctrine, Menahem unwittingly runs afoul of his father s inflexibility. Mindful of her marriage vows but accepting of her son s boyish curiosity, Rabbi Eidelman s wife Esther (Sharon Hacohen Bar) is caught in the middle. A holiday at the seashore meant to reconnect the family brings the ideological rift between pre-teen boy and middle-aged man to a biblically and dramatically tragic climax. Lifting equally from the secular religiosity of Krzysztof Kieslowski s The Decalogue and the aesthetics of Jewish ritual itself (Village Voice), and profoundly compassionate toward its characters (NY Times), My Father My Lord shines with a radiance and grave grace. (Entertainment Weekly)

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Seeding of a Ghost (1983)
dir. Chuan Yang

Whoa. The description is hot fire. I might have to see this.

Product Decsription:
In this supernatural splatterfest, a Hong Kong taxi driver suffers after being cursed by a sorcerer he accidentally hit with his cab. After the driver's wife is raped and killed by teenage hooligans, he pleads with the sorcerer to lift the hex and restore his wife to the land of the living. Otherworldly zombie chaos ensues.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for November 25th

2008-12-03T06:48:00.001-05:00

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Hancock (Two-Disc Unrated Edition) (2008)
dir. Peter Berg

I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing this movie in the theaters until reviews starting rolling in. I'm still slightly interested in it, but I'll probably wait til it hits cable or something.

Product Decsription:
Hancock turns the standard superhero movie inside-out: The title character (Will Smith) can fly, has superstrength, and is invulnerable, but he's also a sloppy, alcoholic jerk who causes millions of dollars in property damage whenever he bothers to fight crime. When he saves the life of a public-relations agent named Ray (Jason Bateman, Arrested Development), Ray decides to improve Hancock's image--starting by having Hancock surrender himself to the authorities and go to prison for his lawless behavior. The idea is that once he's in prison, the crime rate will go up, and people will start to realize Hancock might be of value after all. This is only the first act of Hancock--from there, the movie takes several clever turns that shouldn't be revealed. Hancock isn't a great movie (among other things, director Peter Berg overuses close-ups with a hand-held camera to a degree that may cause motion sickness), but it is an extremely entertaining one. The script, which holds together far better than most superhero movies, has a propulsive plot, good dialogue, some compassion for its characters, and even an actual idea or two. The spectacular action at least gestures towards obeying the laws of physics, which actually makes the special effects more vivid. The three leads (Smith, Bateman, and Charlize Theron as Ray's wife, Mary) deftly balance the movie's mixture of comedy, action, and drama. All in all, a smart subversive twist on a genre that all too often takes itself all too seriously.

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Bottle Rocket - Criterion Collection (1996)
dir. Wes Anderson

It's been a while since I've seen this, but I remember liking it quite a bit. Certainly Anderson's cinematography just keeps getting better and better with every movie he makes, but the quality of the plot have been inconsistent. Rushmore is still my favorite movie of his, followed by the Royal Tenenbaums, then it's a toss-up. I'm looking forward to seeing this again, and by the way, the Blu-Ray edition of this comes out in a couple weeks at the exact same price. It's Criterion's first shot at HD, and considering their quality standards on regular old DVDs, I can't wait to see how they look.

Product Decsription:
Wes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision in this witty and warm portrait of three young middle-class misfits. Fresh out of a mental hospital, gentle Anthony (Luke Wilson) finds himself once again embroiled in the machinations of his best friend, elaborate schemer Dignan (Owen Wilson). With the aid of getaway driver Bob (Robert Musgrave), they develop a needlessly complex, mildly successful plan to rob a small bookstore then go on the lam. Also featuring Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the South American housekeeper Anthony falls in love with, and James Caan as local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers. Shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, it s the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/star Owen Wilson
The Making of Bottle Rocket : an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
Eleven deleted scenes
Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman
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Chungking Express - Criterion Collection (1994)
dir. Wong Kar-Wai

This will also be on Criterion Blu-ray in a couple weeks. I think the majority opinion is that this is still Wong Kar-Wai's best film, and I'd probably agree, although In The Mood For Love is a strong contender.

Product Decsription:
The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin into tokens of romantic longing.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director
Wong Kar-wai
Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
U.S. theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
More!
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Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Criterion Collection (1965)
dir. Martin Ritt

Haven't seen this, but seems like a movie I could really get in to. I'll wait to check some reviews before I buy it blind.

Product Decsription:
John Le Carré's acclaimed bestselling novel, about a Cold War spy on one final, dangerous mission, is every bit as precise and ruthless onscreen in this adaptation directed by Martin Ritt. Richard Burton delivers one of his career-defining performances as Alec Leamas, whose hesitant but deeply felt relationship with a beautiful librarian (Claire Bloom) puts what he hopes will be his last assignment, in East Germany, in jeopardy. An intelligent, hard-edged, and even tragic thriller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is etched with realism and suffused with genuine political and personal anxiety.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New interviews with author John Le Carré and cinematographer Oswald Morris
The Secret Center: John Le Carré (2000), a BBC documentary on the author s extraordinary life and work
Acting in the '60s: Richard Burton, a 1967 interview with the BBC s Kenneth Tynan examining the actor's performances
and accomplishments
Gallery of set designs
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic
Michael Sragow and a reprinted interview with Ritt
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George Carlin: It's Bad For Ya (2008)
dir. George Carlin

You could kind of tell from Carlin's body language in his last couple of HBO specials that he probably wasn't going to be around much longer. Regardless of his condition, he's on stage giving everything he's got, and he still had one of the sharpest minds in comedy. RIP to a true legend.

Product Decsription:
It s Bad For Ya, Carlin s Emmy nominated 14th and final HBO special from March of 2008 features Carlin s noted irreverent and unapologetic observations on topics ranging from death, religion, bureaucracy, patriotism, overprotected children and big business to the pungent examinations of modern language and the decrepit state of the American culture.
For this unprecedented 14th HBO special, Carlin once again comes up with an hour of brand new material that not only makes you laugh, but makes you think.
George Carlin will always remain part of the popular lexicon for his "Seven Dirty Words" routine, and as a comedian who was never afraid to challenge his audience.

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Fred Claus (2007)
dir. David Dobkin

I like the idea of Paul Giamatti as Santa, and it's hard to go wrong with Vince Vaughn, but still, it looks like a paint-by-numbers holiday comedy to me. Would check it out on HBO.

Product Decsription:
Vince Vaughn is enormously enjoyable as the titular Fred Claus, disgruntled older brother of the better-known St. Nicholas himself, i.e., the North Pole’s very own Santa (Paul Giamatti). A garrulous hustler running from the emotional fallout of the ultimate sibling rivalry, poor Fred keeps trying to find happiness through one failed scheme after another, pushing away the people who care about him most. When brother Santa puts the squeeze on him to help out in the toy factory atop the world, Fred turns the place into one big, raucous party. Unfortunately, he’s unaware that Santa and Mrs. Claus (Miranda Richardson) are under tight scrutiny from an oversight committee (represented by a calculating Kevin Spacey) and could be shut down. The film, directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), gleams and twinkles the way a holiday movie should, and has plenty of fun material for youngsters, including a wacky chase scene in which Fred goes on the run from a half-dozen, angry Salvation Army Santas. But Fred Claus is also supposed to appeal to hip adults with a taste for ironic farce, and on that score the movie feels like a succession of Saturday Night Live skits more than an organic whole. Still, Vaughn holds everything together with a smart, insightful performance that looks deep into his character’s torment--with more than a few laughs. --Tom Keogh

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Meet Dave (2008)
dir. Brian Robbins

I wish someone close to Eddie Murphy would tell him that he sucks right now. Everybody knows it, why the fuck isn't he getting the message? You think the slap in the face that was Pluto Nash would've kicked him back into gear, but everybody's got a price I guess. Who wouldn't pay to see him in an R-rated comedy again? That shit would make like 200 mil.

Product Decsription:
Meet Dave is a family space farce with enough Eddie Murphy slapstick to make the whole family chuckle. With elements of InnerSpace, Starman, Men in Black, and even a bit of Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, the film may not break new ground, but Murphy's giddy performance lifts the material to an engaging level. Murphy plays a space ship in human form, carrying wee aliens on an excursion to earth. As "Dave Ming Chang," he interacts with his surroundings and fellow humans by following the orders given by the ship's commanders inside his "head." It's an endearing fish-out-of-water yarn that riffs of pop culture as well as potty humor for its laughs. ("Lieutenant Bottoms, what is your status?" "Captain, we had a small gas leak. It was silent, but not deadly.")
In the course of his mission, Dave is hit by a car, becomes a substitute teacher in a New York City public school, and starts to develop feelings for earth kids--and ladies. All the while his homage to the Bee Gees, from the white suit to his high-pitch-perfect rendition of "Stayin' Alive," provides an oddly perfect backdrop and symbol for Dave's being ever so slightly behind the times. Murphy is engaging as always, firing off deadpan one-liners and happily being the straight man to the film's jokes. A potential love interest, Gina (Elizabeth Banks), mentions that her late husband was a captain in the Navy. Dave says, "I am a captain." Gina: "Oh really? A captain of what?" Inside Dave's head, the crewmembers frantically search their earth database to give him the answer: "I am a captain of crunch." --A.T. Hurley

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Still Life (2006)
dir. Jia Zhang Ke

I guess this could almost be a companion piece to Up The Yangtze considering the plot revolves around the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze. I've read nothing but good things about this movie, and Up The Yangtze was a great documentary, so it seems like a nice little double-feature. There's also another film on the DVD (also directed by Jia Zhang Ke) by the name of Dong. Heh.

Product Decsription:
In Still Life, great changes have come to the town of Fengjie due to the construction of the Three Gorges hydro project on the Yangtze River. Countless families that had lived there for many generations have had to relocate to other cities. Fengjie's old town, which has a 2000-year history, has been torn down and submerged forever. There are still things that need to be salvaged and yet there are also things that must be left behind. In Still Life, such life-changing choices face both Sanming, a miner traveling to Fengjie in search of his ex-wife of sixteen years, and Shen Hong, a nurse who has come to Fengjie to look for her husband who she hasn't seen in two years. Both Sanming and Shen will find who they're looking for, but in the process they too will have to decide what is worth salvaging in their lives and what they need to let go of.
Still Life is an empathetic portrait of those left behind by a modernizing society and, as in director Jia Zhang-ke's earlier films (Platform, Unknown Pleasures, The World), it is a unique hybrid of documentary and fiction.

DVD Features:
- Additional feature film, Dong (68 minutes)
- Interview with director Jia Zhang-ke
- Theatrical Trailer
- Scene Selections
- Dolby Digital 5.1
- Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
- Optional English subtitles
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The Atomic Cafe (Collector's Edition) (1982)
dir. Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty

Product Decsription:
On its 20-year anniversary, and not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFÉ is back to provide us with a much needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in theaters in 1982. A chilling, provocative, and often hilarious reminder of cold-war era paranoia in the United States, THE ATOMIC CAFE reveals a defining period of 20th century history, artfully presented through a collage of newsreel footage, government archives, military training films, and fifties music. Profoundly shocking and perversely topical, THE ATOMIC CAFÉ craftily captures a panicked nation, offering a fascinating and witty account of life during the atomic age and resulting cold war, when fall-out shelters, duck-and-cover drills, and government propaganda were all a part of our social consciousness. Regarded by critics as a nuclear REEFER MADNESS and likened to Stanley Kubric's DR. STRANGELOVE, this profoundly shocking and highly amusing film is a stunner, a gripping account of an unforgettable era and an indisputable must-see for all Americans.

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Slap Shot 3: The Junior League (2008)
dir. Richard Martin

Product Decsription:
Fans of George Roy Hill's 1977 sports farce, SLAP SHOT, can rejoice: the outrageous Hanson Brothers are back for a third installment in the much-loved (and much-quoted) hockey franchise. SLAP SHOT 3: THE JUNIOR LEAGUE sees the rough-and-tumble siblings hit the ice to help a new team of underdogs fight its way to glory. This chapter features guest appearances from Leslie Nielsen and hockey legends Mark Messier and Doug Gilmour, and offers all of the over-the-top ice action that made the first film famous.

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Girls in Chains (1973)
dir. Don Jones

Just because.

Product Decsription:
In a remote country house, a malevolent form of sleaze and terror is being bred. A crazy mother encourages her two sons raving lunatic Frank and his not-all-there brother Johnny to kidnap young women and chain them up in the basement. The girls are treated like animals and then subjected to games that grow increasingly sinister and depraved. When the brothers tire of their playthings, the girls must be replaced. This lost exploitation classic is every bit as morally corrupt as you've heard.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for November 18th

2008-11-21T11:42:00.002-05:00

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Wall-E (Three-Disc Special Edition) (2008)
dir. Andrew Stanton

Amazing, amazing, amazing movie. Considering Pixar's track record I expected nothing less, but I think this is their best movie yet. It's still a tough decision considering how great both The Incredibles and Ratatouille are, but WALL-E tops them. I had one incredibly tiny problem with the ending, but it's just nitpicking. It's such a great ending, it still gets me choked up just thinking about it. Also, I haven't seen most of the special features yet, but I DID see the short BURN-E, which follows the little welding robot that gets shut out of the spaceship while fixing a light. It's pretty incredible. I would watch the adventures of every single robot on that ship if they were available.

Product Decsription:
Pixar genius reigns in this funny romantic comedy, which stars a robot who says absolutely nothing for a full 25 minutes yet somehow completely transfixes and endears himself to the audience within the first few minutes of the film. As the last robot left on earth, Wall-E (voiced by Ben Burtt) is one small robot--with a big, big heart--who holds the future of earth and mankind squarely in the palm of his metal hand. He's outlasted all the "Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class" robots that were assigned some 700 years ago to clean up the environmental mess that man made of earth while man vacationed aboard the luxury spaceship Axiom. Wall-E has dutifully gone about his job compacting trash, the extreme solitude broken only by his pet cockroach, but he's developed some oddly human habits and ideas. When the Axiom sends its regularly scheduled robotic EVE probe (Elissa Knight) to earth, Wall-E is instantly smitten and proceeds to try to impress EVE with his collection of human memorabilia. EVE's directive compels her to bring Wall-E's newly collected plant sprout to the captain of the Axiom and Wall-E follows in hot pursuit. Suddenly, the human world is turned upside down and the Captain (Jeff Garlin) joins forces with Wall-E and a cast of other misfit robots to lead the now lethargic people back home to earth. Wall-E is a great family film with the most impressive aspect being the depth of emotion conveyed by a simple robot--a machine typically considered devoid of emotion, but made so absolutely touching by the magic of Pixar animation. Also well-worth admiring are the sweeping views from space, the creative yet disturbing vision of what strange luxuries a future space vacation might offer, and the innovative use of trash in a future cityscape. Underneath the slapstick comedy and touching love story is a poignant message about the folly of human greed and its potential effects on earth and the entire human race. Wall-E is preceded in theaters by the comical short Presto in which a magician's rabbit, unfed one too many times takes his revenge against the egotistical magician. (Ages 3 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

DVD Features:
* A digital copy of the film you can transfer to an iPod, iPhone or similar device.
* An audio commentary with director Andrew Stanton.
* The Pixar short "Presto" that opened for WALL-E in theaters
* A second Pixar short, "BURN-E." This is a short about the welder robot who was seen banging his fists against the door of the Axiom spaceship. It was produced at the same time as the movie for inclusion here.
* BnL Shorts. Some amusing peeks into the workings of the Buy n Large Corporation.
* Deleted scenes (with introductions), including "Garbage Airlock" (WALL-E rescues EVE from being ejected from the ship, then revives her) and "Dumped" (when WALL-E gives the plant to EVE, she realizes she must take it to the bridge so it can be analyzed).
* "Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds From The Sound Up." Complete with historic footage, this featurette compares Ben Burtt's work on WALL-E to the sound design in early Disney films.
* "WALL-E's Tour of the Universe." The press release says "Join WALL-E on his own private tour of the Universe through the World-Wide Telescope, narrated by Auto-Pilot."
* An interactive game, "WALL-E's Treasures and Trinkets."
* The "Lots of Bots" storybook, the video re-creation of a cute actual storybook.
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Tropic Thunder (Unrated Director's Cut) (2008)
dir. Ben Stiller

One of the best comedies of the year, although it felt a little long. Great performances all over the place, especially Robert Downey Jr.

Product Decsription:
It's not really a knock to say that nothing in Tropic Thunder is funnier than its first five minutes, so sly that--especially for people watching in theaters--you don't realize right away they are the opening minutes of the movie. This outrageous comedy begins with a series of fake previews, each introducing one of the main characters in the film-proper (not that there's anything proper about this film) and each bearing the familiar logo of a different motion picture studio: Universal, DreamWorks SKG, et al. Such playing fast and loose with corporate talismans verges on sacrilege, but it's an index of how much le tout Tinseltown endorses the movie as a demented valentine to itself. The premise is that the cast of a would-be "Son of Rambo" movie shooting in some Southeast Asian jungle get into a real shooting war with drug-smuggling montagnards. Don't ask--though the movie does have an answer--why such highly paid, usually ultra-pampered personnel as superhero Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), Mozart of fart comedy Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), hip-hop artist Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and five-time Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus from Aus-try-leeah (Robert Downey Jr.) should be running through the jungle unattended and very vulnerable. It matters only that the real-life cast has a high time kidding their own profession and flexing their comedic muscles. Bonus points go to Stiller for co-writing the script (with Justin Theroux) and directing, and to Downey, brilliant as a white actor surgically turned black actor for his role and utterly committed to staying in character no matter what ("I don't drop character till I done the DVD commentary").
Be warned: The movie, too, is committed--to being an equal-opportunity offender. Its political incorrectness extends not only to Lazarus's black-like-me posturing but also Speedman's recent, Sean Penn–style Oscar bid playing a cognitively challenged farmboy--or, in Lazarus's deathless phrase, "going the full retard." Others in the cast include Steve Coogan as a director out of his depth, Nick Nolte as the Viet-vet novelist whose book inspired the film-within-the-film, Matthew McConaughey as Speedman's sun-blissed agent back home, and Tom Cruise--bald, fat-suited, and profane--as an epically repulsive studio head. Two hours running time is a mite excessive, but otherwise, what's not to like? --Richard T. Jameson

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Encounters at the End of the World (2008)
dir. Werner Herzog

Really great documentary. I think I'm still partial to Grizzly Man and Little Dieter Needs to Fly (one of my favorite docs ever), but it's almost unfair to compare them all considering how vastly different they are. If you like colorful characters and remote locations, pick this up ASAP.

Product Decsription:
Just about anywhere Werner Herzog goes becomes an interesting place, in part because the director shapes it with his distinctively sardonic eye. In Encounters at the End of the World, the 'Zog heads off to Antarctica, finding there a population of unusual people, hallucinatory underwater life, and penguins. He doesn't appear on camera, but the unmistakably Teutonic Herzog voice is very much with us all the time, a baleful tour guide for this blank destination. In the human outposts of Antarctica, Herzog finds the kind of people you might expect would gravitate to the edge of existence--the curious, the oddball, the wanderers who've run out of other places to explore. He finds some deadpan hilarity, especially in filming a communication drill involving people practicing blizzard conditions (they wear buckets over their heads while roped together). The underwater photography (a realm previously explored in Herzog's The Wild Blue Yonder) is by Henry Kaiser, and it meshes perfectly with the director's interest in alien eye-scapes. And when Herzog finally does find penguins, his imagination goes to the idea that some penguins go insane, scurrying off into their own suicidal directions. This isn't as arresting a film as Grizzly Man, but it is an entertaining travelogue spiked with quirky observations. --Robert Horton

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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
dir. Alex Gibney

I haven't had a chance to see this yet, but I can't imagine it's not entertaining. You'd have to be an idiot to end up make a boring documentary about Hunter S. Thompson.

Product Decsription:
After Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side, Hunter S. Thompson seems like an odd subject for Alex Gibney to take on. Unlike the Enron executives or Baghram guards, the gonzo journalist didn't bilk old ladies out of their savings or torture Iraqi citizens. Nonetheless, the director's follow-up to the Oscar-winning Taxi shares an interest in the uses and abuses of power. Gibney recounts the major biographical details, from birth to suicide, but his film really comes alive when he gets to the late-1960s. Though Thompson remains best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Gonzo concentrates on his coverage of the 1968 and '72 presidential elections. The author was particularly excited about George McGovern, and chose advocacy over non-partisan reporting. McGovern, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Steadman, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, and others testify to Thompson's enthusiasm for the South Dakota senator--and hatred for Nixon. Gibney argues that the fire started to die after Hunter witnessed the brutal treatment of protesters at Chicago’s Democratic Convention. Disillusionment led to an erosion of his talent and an escalation of his self-destructive tendencies. As Johnny Depp, who played him in Fear and Loathing, reads passages from his work, the doctor's friends and family provide a glimpse of the insecure man behind the brash image. Gibney's evenhanded depiction may disappoint true believers hoping for a glorified puff piece, but Thompson's ability to speak truth to power with wit and passion comes through loud and clear. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Up the Yangtze (2008)
dir. Yung Chang

I just started watching this, but the subtitles aren't working so I'll have to get back to it. The first 10 minutes are pretty good, if that helps.

Product Decsription:
In China, it is simply known as "The River." But the Yangtze--and all of the life that surrounds it--is undergoing a truly astonishing transformation wrought by the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam. Canadian documentary filmmaker Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather's youth to trace the surreal life of a "farewell cruise" that traverses the gargantuan waterway.

With Altmanesque narrative agility, a humanist gaze and wry wit, Chang's Upstairs Downstairs approach beautifully captures the microcosmic society of the luxury liner. Below deck: A bewildered young girl trains as a dishwasher--sent to work by her peasant family, who is on the verge of relocation from the encroaching floodwaters. Above deck: A phalanx of wealthy international tourists set sail to catch a last glance of a country in dramatic flux. The teenaged employees who serve and entertain them--now tagged with new Westernized names like "Cindy" and "Jerry" by upper management--warily grasp at the prospect of a more prosperous future.

Singularly moving and cinematically breathtaking, Up the Yangtze gives a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing not only an increasingly globalized China, but the world at large.

DVD Features:
- New anamorphic master, created from Hi-Def elements and enhanced for widescreen TVs
- Twelve deleted scenes
- Time-lapse flooding footage of the Yangtze River
- 2006 Research Demo Reel
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Optional Traditional Mandarin subtitles
- Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks
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Fanfan La Tulipe (1952)
dir. Christian-Jacque

This cover freaks me out a little bit.

Product Decsription:
Legendary French star Gerard Philipe swashbuckled his way into film history as the peasant soldier Fanfan in Christian-Jaque's devil-may-care romantic action-comedy. In eighteenth-century France, Fanfan joins King Louis XV's army to avoid a forced marriage to a local lass. And thus begins an adventure that sees Fanfan getting himself out of close scrapes and into tight squeezes with Gina Lollobrigida's impostor fortune teller, Adeline, on his way to fighting in the Seven Years' War. Filled to the brim with dazzling stunts and randy innuendo, Fanfan la Tulipe, which won the best director prize at Cannes and was a smash hit upon its initial release, remains one of France's all-time most beloved films.

DVD Features:
New, restored digital transfer
New video program about actor Gerard Philipe
A clip from the colorized version of the film
Theatrical trailer
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Kenneth Turan and an excerpt from Georges Sadoul's monograph on Philipe
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Mister Lonely (2008)
dir. Harmony Korine

Harmony Korine is horrible, but I have to admit I am mildly interested in this.

Product Decsription:
After the success of indies GUMMO and JULIEN DONKEY-BOY in the late 1990s, writer-director Harmony Korine's follow-up is this dramedy. Diego Luna (Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN) stars as a Michael Jackson impersonator who follows a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton) to a Scottish commune filled with celebrity lookalikes. Cinema legends Werner Herzog and Anita Pallenberg costar.

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Priceless (2006)
dir. Pierre Salvadori

Product Decsription:
Priceless provides a sweet and sour look at the world of the super-rich. Jean (The Valet's Gad Elmaleh) works at a luxury hotel on the French Riviera. His opposite number, Irène (Amélie's Audrey Tautou), lives off wealthy men, like elderly benefactor Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff). While staying at Jean's Biarritz hotel, Irène meets the bartender, mistakes him for a guest, and plies her considerable charms. Flattered, Jean neglects to tell her the truth, and they spend a drunken evening together. The next day, she's gone. The only trace of her presence: a discarded paper umbrella. A year passes, and Irène returns with Jacques, who dumps her when he find out about the cheating, so she bilks Jean out of everything he owns before disappearing again. Wealthy widow Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam) offers to takes care of Jean's debts--for a price. And just like that, he's sunk to Irène's level. The next time she sees him, she quips, "Now we're equals." So, instead of teaching her the value of legitimate work, Irène teaches Jean how to play Madeleine like a violin. Following in the footsteps of Pierre Salvadori's Après Vous, which centered around a suicidal sommelier, Priceless is unexpectedly melancholy for a comedy. Like the couple in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jean and Irène are essentially two lost souls. Irène may be an icier creature than Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly, but Salvadori finds a satisfying way to tie a pretty bow on this somewhat prickly package and, naturally, the scenery is ravishing. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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David Lynch: The Lime Green Set (2008)
dir. David Lynch

I have no idea why it's called "The Lime Green Set" and didn't really bother to find out, but it looks like a hell of a set. It's pretty expensive, though. Check the description for details.

Product Decsription:
Writer, director and artist David Lynch has personally selected these works, including many pieces new to DVD, and a Mystery disc of content taken from Lynch's own personal archives and available only in this box set. BOX SET INCLUDES: ERASERHEAD - REMASTERED VERSION, ERASERHEAD SOUNDTRACK, THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH, THE ELEPHANT MAN, THE ELEPHANT MAN EXTRAS - DVD DEBUT, WILD AT HEART, INDUSTRIAL SYMPHONY No. 1 - DVD DEBUT, BLUE VELVET - NEW LYNCH APPROVED 5.1 SOUND MIX, DUMBLAND, MYSTERY DISC - DVD DEBUT, INCLUDES 32 DELETED OR EXTENDED SCENES FROM WILD AT HEART, 40 PAGE COLLECTORS PICTURE BOOK.

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The Zombie Diaries (2006)
dir. Kevin Gates, Michael Bartlett

ZZZzzzzzzz borrrrrrrrrrringggggggg. Watched this yesterday and was just mad at how slow it was (at 80 minutes, that should not happen) and how terrible the acting was. It's a home video style accidental fake documentary if that makes any sense (not a mockumentary, huge difference) about a virus spreading around London and everyone turning into Zombies....it's basically an extremely low budget Cloverfield with zombies.

Product Decsription:
"Better than Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later" (beyondhollywood.com), The Zombie Diaries has been hailed as "the most realistic zombie film ever made" (twitchfilm.net). Set in England during a world-wide viral infection, this documentary-style frightfest records the rise of the undead from the videocams of several survivor groups. As each struggles against the flesh-eating hordes, an even more horrifying fate lurks among them. "Dark, uncompromising and frighteningly real" (eatmybrains.com), The Zombie Diaries is smart horror at its bloody best.

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Executive Koala (2005)
dir. Minoru Kawasaki

The cover & title might look extremely weird, but they're incredibly accurate. This movie is about a 6-foot-tall koala bear that works in a pickle factory and works with other giant animals. If you've seen Kawasaki's extremely bizarre Calamari Wrestler, then you might have an idea of what you're in for.

Product Decsription:
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE U.S., MINORU KAWASAKI S FOLLOW-UP TO CALAMARI WRESTLER, A CULT CLASSIC PSY-KOALA HORROR / COMEDY! Tamura is an average Japanese salaryman working in the offices of a pickle distribution company. He is well liked in the office, hard-working, polite, wears a suit and tie, and also happens to be a six-foot tall koala bear. But when his girlfriend Yoko turns up dead one day and Tamura is the chief suspect, he is forced to enlist the help of his boss (a white rabbit) and a friendly convenience store attendant (a frog) in order to prove his innocence. A psychological thriller wrapped up in the packaging of a nonsense comedy with giant animals EXECUTIVE KOALA is like nothing America has ever produced...which is why it was made in Japan!

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The Rug Cop (2006)
dir. Minoru Kawasaki

Thank you, Synapse. Thank you.

Product Decsription:
A spot-on, hilarious spoof of 1970s Japanese TV cop shows, THE RUG COP follows chrome-domed officer Genda as he transfers to a new precinct just as a group of radical terrorists hijack a shipment of uranium and deliver a ransom demand of five billion yen. Genda and his crack team of detectives must solve the case using their peculiar abilities: champion eater Detective Fatty, abnormally endowed Detective Big Dick, speedy weightlifter Detective Shorty, and ladies man Mr. Handsome. But most dangerous of all is the Rug Cop, whose projectile toupee proves lethal to wrongdoers! Kawasaki s unique comic genius and his love of vintage cop shows combine to produce a silly masterpiece that will have viewers truly believing in Rug Power!

DVD Features:
Anamorphic (1.85:1) Widescreen Transfer -
Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo -
Newly-Translated, Removable English Subtitles -
Making Of Featurette -
Japanese Press Conference Footage -
Introductions from Cast and Director -
Theatrical Trailer
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The World Sinks Except Japan (2006)
dir. Minoru Kawasaki

Let's hope Minoru Kawasaki keeps making movies forever.

Product Decsription:
POLITICALLY INCORRECT SATIRE SINKS TO A NEW DEPTH IN THE OUTRAGEOUS SPOOF THAT TELLS THE SHOCKING STORY OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WORLD SINKS...EXCEPT JAPAN! It is 2011, and due to global warming and the shifting of tectonic plates, most of the Earth s land mass has sunk beneath the surface of the ocean. Only Japan remains, and refugees from all nations try to incorporate themselves into Japanese society: famous American actors do TV costume samurai dramas, white women serve as French maids for middle-class families, the former leaders of China and South Korea act as lapdogs for the Prime Minster, and foreigners who don t sufficiently blend in are arrested! Yet geologists have begun to detect signs of another looming global catastrophe, one that threatens to destroy the last piece of earth remaining.

DVD Features:
Anamorphic (1.85:1) Widescreen Transfer -
Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo -
Newly-Translated, Removable English Subtitles -
Audio Commentary with Director Minoru Kawasaki and Actor Takenori Murano -
Making Of Featurette -
Introductions from Cast and Director -
Theatrical Trailer
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Cannibal! The Musical: 13th Anniversary Edition (1996)
dir. Trey Parker

I laughed at the idea of a 13th anniversary edition. Leave it to Trey & Matt. It looks like the only new stuff here are the interviews, which I'd really like to see. This movie isn't particularly good...there are some great tunes (one which they adapted into the jingle for their production company) and some funny jokes, but it's kind of a pain in the ass to watch. The drunk commentary is one of the best commentaries of all time and is probably worth the purchase.

Product Decsription:
Before there was South Park, there was Trey Parker's macabre musical comedy masterpiece Cannibal the Musical! Based on the legend of Colorado Cannibal Alferd Packer, Cannibal the Musical tells Packer's version of what really happened when he and a group of gold diggers embarked on their fateful trip into the Rocky Mountains. Gruesomely gory, savagely satirical and painfully funny, Cannibal the Musical, which also stars South Park s co-creator Matt Stone, stands as a predecessor to what would come next for Parker and Stone, and features several in-jokes that would become part of the South Park legacy! Cannibal the Musical has become a worldwide cult sensation to rival The Rocky Horror Picture Show, inspiring stage revivals and sing-along screenings all over the world!

DVD Features:
over an hour of new, in depth interviews with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Jason McHugh
two full-length commentary tracks including the infamous 'Inebriated' commentary track
never-before-seen deleted scenes
production stills
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The Who At Kilburn (1977)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
The Who have long been hailed as a great live rock act, and the proof is right here in THE WHO AT KILBURN. Recorded in 1977, the show is one of the last performances to include drummer Keith Moon, and captures the band at the very top of their barn-burning, guitar-smashing game. The remarkable set, shot in 35mm as a part of Jeff Stein's film THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, features more than 130 minutes of hits such as "Can't Explain," "Baba O'Reilly," and "Won't Get Fooled Again." In addition to the Kilburn concert, this release contains a legendary 1969 gig at the London Coliseum where the Who--for the first time ever--played TOMMY in its entirety.

DVD Features:
Additional Audio Material
Extended Scenes - Archival Performances
Featurette - THE WHO AT THE COLISEUM 1969 "A Quick One" & "Tommy"
Trailer
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The Warrior (1981)
dir. Sisworo Gautama Putra

OK Mondo Macabro, lets see if we can keep up this pace.

Product Decsription:
Indonesia is a country in turmoil. The people are poor and oppressed by the Dutch Government. However one hope remains in the form of rebel leader Djaka Semboeng. His rebels and his famous fighting ability inspires the people to hang on. Van Shramm, the Dutch representative in Java offers a reward for the death of Semboeng and employs a mighty warrior, the invincible Kobar, to go after him. One short fight later Kobar is dead and Van Shramm turns to a magician for him. The magician resurrects the deadly of enemy of Semboeng, Kieten, to take revenge. Kieten faces Semboeng and defeats him - Semboeng is imprisoned and blinded by the cruel Van Shramm. However Van Shramm's daughter has fallen for Semboeng and frees him. Semboeng again faces Kieten and is overcome by his magic - finally being turned into a pig before escaping the prison! A kindly magician returns Semboeng to his human form and teaches him new skills that he will need as he prepares to face Kieten for the final time.

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Manhattan, Kansas (2005)
dir. Tara Wray

Product Decsription:
Tara Wray travels to rural Kansas to reconnect with her mother, Evie, for the first time since Evie s psychotic breakdown five years earlier. She finds a parent still chasing her demons, both real and imagined, struggling to make a career for herself as an abstract artist and searching for the Geodetic Center of the United States, the finding of which, Evie says, will bring about world peace. Tara helps in her mother s search and sets into motion a surprising chain of events that may rescue Evie from catastrophic fate and help Tara reconcile with her mother on different terms.

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Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan (2008)
dir. Gerald K. Barclay

Laughed at "Raekwon the Chef reveals the Wu-Tang recipe". I'm very interested in seeing what exactly that consists of.

Product Decsription:
The Wu-Tang Clan arose in 1993 to change hip-hop forever, with complex rhymes, dissonant soundscapes, and a personal mythology inspired by martial-arts flicks. The nine-person rap crew from Staten Island was an A-Team of verbal warfare--with GZA, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, and others contributing a unique flavor to the mix. And while some rappers become embarrassing by their second album, Wu-Tang continued to produce shockingly original music for a period unrivaled by other artists. Narrated by Gerald "Gee-Bee" Barclay, this documentary examines the history of the Wu, their rise and fall, and what the future may hold for one of the greatest teams in hip-hop.

DVD Features:
Featurettes - 1. "Raekwon the Chef" reveals the Wu-Tang recipe
2. RZA "cuts" through the Hip Hop World
3. Behind The Wu with Director Gee-Bee
4. Icelene's Loss: Her Relationship with ODB
Music Videos - Wu-Tang is Born: Protect Ya Neck
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The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror (2007)
dir. Jaymes Thompson

a modern ASSterpiece!! wokka wokka wokka *shoots self in head*

Product Decsription:
Helen (Mari Marks) and Luella (Georgia Jean) are just another typical God-fearing mother and daughter who happen to bake Mincemeat muffins and run a charming if not a bit faded Bed and Breakfast Inn. Or are they? On the eve of the biggest gay party weekend of the year, and having not made advance reservations, five couples find themselves having to make accommodations far from the city. There's Dom and Alex, the performers (Vinny Markus & Michael Soldier) and Deborah and Gabby, the sophisticated, entrepreneurial lipsticks (Shannon Lee & Denise Heller). There's also Mike and Eric, the upscale guppie power couple (Derek Long & Robert Borzych) and their annoying fag-hag friend, Lizette (Lisa Block-Wieser). Also checking in are Starr and Brenda, the struggling folk singer and tough-talking tomboy (Hilary Schwartz & Allie Rivenbark) and lastly Rodney and Todd, the sugar daddy and personal trainer (Jim Polivka & James Tolins). What should have been the biggest gay party weekend of the year quickly turns into every gay and lesbian's worst nightmare! In the middle of the desert, off the main highway, lies The Sahara Salvation Inn. A small slice of paradise here in the desert. As the guests check in, they slowly come to realize (and some too late!) that The Sahara Salvation is not all it appears to be... Hidden agendas become realized and dark secrets revealed. What evil lurks up in the darkness of the attic? Be careful not to disturb Manfred - perhaps THE most horrifying creature ever created for film! Who will escape and who will survive...

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for November 11th

2008-11-13T21:30:00.003-05:00

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
dir. Guillermo del Toro

A truly great movie with some of the best CG imagery in a movie to date, and the cinematography/art direction is amazing, thanks in no small part to Guillermo del Toro. Also, Ron Perlman is so awesome.

Product Decsription:
The feverish Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a very busy sequel that might have looked unhinged in the hands of a less visionary director than Guillermo del Toro. Ron Perlman returns as Hellboy, aka "Red," the Dark Horse Comics demon-hero with roots in the mythical world but personal ties in the human realm. Still working, as he was in Hellboy, for a secret department of the federal government that deals (as in "Men In Black") with forces of the fantastic, Red and his colleagues take on a royal elf (Luke Goss) determined to smash a longtime truce between mankind and the forces of magic. Meanwhile, Red's relationship with girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), who can burst into flames at will, is going through a rocky stage observed by Red's fishy friend Abe (Doug Jones), himself struck by love in this film. Del Toro brilliantly integrates the ordinary and extraordinary, diving into an extended scene set in a troll market barely hidden behind the façade of typical city streets. He also unleashes a forest monster that devastates an urban neighborhood, but then--interestingly--brings a luminous beauty to the same area as the creature (an "elemental") succumbs to a terrible death. Del Toro's art direction proves masterful, too, in a climactic battle set in a clockworks-like stronghold tucked away in rugged Irish landscape. But it's really the juxtaposition of visual marvels with not-so-unusual relationship issues that gives Hellboy II a certain jaunty appeal hard to find in other superhero movies. --Tom Keogh

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The Sopranos - The Complete Series (1999-2007)
dir. n/a

I'd imagine Sopranos fans that like the show enough to buy the DVDs have already bought all the individual seasons, but if not, you can pick up this behemoth for a pricy $250.

Product Decsription:
For six seasons, fans have devotedly watched Tony Soprano deal with the difficulties of balancing his home life with the criminal organization he leads. Audiences everywhere tuned in to see the mob, the food, the family, and who was next to be whacked. Celebrate the show that Vanity Fair called, "the greatest show in TV history", in the ultimate Sopranos collector's edition.

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Shogun Assassin: 5 Film Collector's Set (1972-1974)
dir. Kenji Misumi

One of the best series of movies that exists. There's actually 6 Lone Wolf & Cub movies, but the American version, Shogun Assassin, splices about 10-15 minutes of the first LW&C with most of the second one. I know purists will always take original audio & subs over dubbing, but there is some top notch dubbing going on here. A weird thing to say, but it's true.

Product Decsription:
He is the most feared assassin in all of Japan, known only as the Lone Wolf. Pushing his young son along the back-roads of feudal Japan in a heavily armed baby-cart, he strikes fear into the hearts of evil-doers everywhere - as long as someone can come up with his fee. Nothing, not even the legions of a mad shogun, hordes of Yagyu ninjas, or the undead, can stop him! This collector's set contains the complete series on 5 DVDs. From the explosive first film that became a cult-classic, to the snow-capped finale, there is never a dull moment for this father and son team.

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The General (The Ultimate 2-Disc Edition) (1926)
dir. Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

One of the greatest movies ever.

Product Decsription:
Buster Keaton's career reached its creative apex with this rousing comic adventure. Not merely one of the finest silent films, this remains one of the great film comedies of all time. The Great Stone Face stars as Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray, a man with only two loves: the sweet Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) and his trustworthy engine, the eponymous General. When Fort Sumner is fired upon he's one of the first to enlist, but when the war office rejects him (he's too valuable as a trained engineer) his sweetie rejects him as a coward. Johnny has the opportunity to prove his bravery when Yankee spies steal his engine and inadvertently kidnap Annabelle, and Johnny pursues with all the resources at his disposal: handcar, bicycle, and finally railroad engine. Keaton's love/hate relationship with technology and machinery shines as he becomes one with his beloved locomotive and wrestles with a finicky cannon that threatens to blow his engine off the tracks; with tremendous dexterity, he nails the humor with inimitably deadpan takes. Spunky Marion Mack makes a perfect partner for Keaton, not merely a foil but a gifted comedienne in her own right. Other Keaton films contain more laughs and inspired comic stunts, but none combines romance, adventure, and comedy into a solid story as seamlessly as this silent masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker

DVD Features:
- Three musical scores to choose from:
(1) Music composed and conducted by Carl Davis, performed by The Thames Silents Orchestra (in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo)
(2) Music arranged and directed by Robert Israel
(3) Theatre organ score by Lee Erwin
- A video tour of the authentic General, presented in association with The Southern Museum
- A tour of the filming locations, presented by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes
- Behind-the-scenes home movie footage
- Filmed introduction by Gloria Swanson
- Filmed introduction by Orson Welles
- The Buster Express, a brisk montage of train gags from throughout Keaton s career
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JFK (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (1991)
dir. Oliver Stone

A bit long, but I still really enjoyed it. One of Oliver Stone's best.

Product Decsription:
Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That fateful day in Dallas set in motion a sequence of events that would only intensify the mystery behind Kennedy's death, causing New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to begin an investigation that would gradually become a personal obsession. Bravura filmmaking combined with controversial treatment of historical facts and audacious speculation, this breathtaking revision of history presents a mesmerizing parade of shady figures and conspiracy theories, unfolding like a classic mystery based on history's greatest unsolved crime. A technical triumph boasting Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, Stone's film is guaranteed to grab the viewer's attention with its daring take on the JFK controversy. The stellar supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. --Jeff Shannon

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Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)
dir. Takashi Miike

I still can't make up my mind whether or not I like this movie. It's so fucking weird. The novelty of an all-Japanese cast that doesn't speak English speaking English wears off pretty quick. I've said it before, but Django really isn't referenced that much. The main plot is more of a Yojimbo remake. Quentin Tarantino's appearances are just bizarre. He's completely out of place, but fun to watch.

Product Decsription:
The prolific Takashi Miike co-wrote and directed this strikingly postmodern remake of Sergio Corbucci's 1966 Spaghetti Western, Django. The story is much the same, but the highly stylized fusion of Japanese gangsterism and operatic musings on the Western form makes for a wild and unexpected cult movie. Still, there is not much here beyond the film's relentlessly creative surface, making Sukiyaki a bit wearying. Feuding for centuries, the Genji and Heiki clans both arrive in a 19th century Nevada town, determined to find hidden treasure rumored to be there. In the midst of their fighting comes a solitary gunslinger (Hideaki Ito) courted by each clan to work for them. When he refuses, the cross-currents of betrayal and murder escalate, and hidden truths behind at least one tragedy, and the real identity of an unlikely shooter, come to the surface. The film's energy, dynamic camerawork and almost tongue-in-cheek performances are fun and admirable, and Miike has a fascinating sense of composition. The story gets a little soft just past the halfway point and Miike attempts to fill the void with exhausting new ways of filming bloody mayhem for its own sake. Quentin Tarantino has a small role as a mystery man with a link to these events. --Tom Keogh

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Quo Vadis (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1951)
dir. Mervyn LeRoy, Anthony Mann

Product Decsription:
"Welcome to Nero's House of Women" greets a concubine to a slave girl, Lygia (Deborah Kerr). Later this self-same greeter reveals that she, too, like Lygia, is really a fellow Christian neophyte. And it's that mixture of tawdry Hollywood sex and a strong Christian message that makes this film an enjoyable "gentiles and gladiators" flick. Marcus Vinicius returns home after conquering the Britons to find that Rome is infected with a crazy new sect called Christians and that his beloved emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov, roly-poly and wicked) has become increasingly wacky. Marcus tries his centurion wiles on Lygia, and she's smitten, but she's also a Christian convert and begs Marcus not to force her to choose between him and her god. The Christians have a tough go of it, with martyrdom in the Coliseum as punishment for belonging to the new religion in town. Though three hours long, director Mervyn LeRoy's film always has something going on. It could help you enjoyably kill any rainy Sunday afternoon. --Keith Simanton

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Love and Honor (2007)
dir. Yoji Yamada

The Japanese Academy really loves Yoji Yamada. I loved Twilight Samurai, so I'll have to check this out soon.

Product Decsription:
Shinnojo (Takuya Kimura) is a low-level samurai bored with his assignment as a food-taster for his emperor. Like any young husband, Shinnojo shares his work frustrations at home with his wife, Kayo (Rei Dan), and dreams of resigning his post to start a dojo that will teach fighting skills to kids in a positive environment. Shinnojo and Kayo clearly care for each other, teasing and sharing laughs just out of earshot of their longtime helper, Tokuhei (Takashi Sasano). Everything changes, however, when Shinnojo eats some bad shellfish intended for the emperor--so bad that it leaves him permanently blind. Feeling useless and facing an uncertain future, Shinnojo experiences grief and anger. Meanwhile, Kayo appeals to his family for help and is only advised to seek assistance from another samurai (Mitsugoro Bando), a man with dubious intentions toward Kayo. The fallout deeply affects Shinnojo and Kayo's marriage, and gives the former a new reason to carry on: defending his and Kayo's honor. This domestic drama by Yôji Yamada, based on a story by Shûhei Fujisawa, has the slow, somber tone both of ritual and a tragedy unfolding behind closed doors. A much more handsome than cinematically exciting movie, Love and Honor is like a silent era melodrama with visually appealing actors, a story blatantly tugging at the audience's heartstrings. A climactic fight scene gets one's adrenaline going, though nothing tops the promise of forgiveness and reconciliation for real excitement here. --Tom Keogh

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Postmen in the Mountains (1999)
dir. Jianqi Huo

Product Decsription:
An old postman has spent his whole life delivering mail to the mountain of Hunan and is about to retire. His only son is due to take over his duties. As father and son journey through the mountains, the son begins to appreciate the toil and burden his father has to bear as postman for the villagers, and the old postman is also deeply moved as his son relates his mother's anxiety as she waits for him to return home from every trip.

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Blood And Bones (2004)
dir. Yoichi Sai

The title + Beat Takeshi = can't not watch

Product Decsription:
Internationally acclaimed actor and director Takeshi Kitano gives his most captivating performance yet as Kim Shunpei, a Korean immigrant in Japan whose life is a disturbing tableau of cruelty, abuse and shocking violence. Kim is a despicable man who physically and emotionally assaults everyone around him the workers at his fish cake factory, his mistress, his estranged wife, and his entire family. Ruthlessly pursuing success at any cost, he wastes away his earnings while keeping the people closest to him in desperate need. Spanning several decades and adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel by Korean-Japanese author Yang Seok-Il, Blood and Bones is a fiercely beautiful film that exposes the raw brutality of unchecked ambition and greed. Winner of four Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay, Blood and Bones was Japan s official entry as the Best Foreign Language Film for the 2006 Academy Awards.

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Pure (2005)
dir. Gillies MacKinnon

Product Decsription:
Set in the East-End of London, PURE is a story about the bond between a family and the pull of drugs. Following the death of his father, ten-year old Paul (Harry Eden) becomes the caretaker of his family mother Mel (Molly Parker) and youngest brother Lee (Vinni Hunter). His only friend is a flighty waitress Louise (Keira Knightley) who helps Paul in his desperate attempt to protect his family from the mother s drug addiction and her boyfriend, the local dealer (David Wenham).

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Holiday Affair (1949)
dir. Don Hartman

The God Robert Mitchum lookin all young n shit

Product Decsription:
One of the lesser holiday movies, this 1949 comedy stars Janet Leigh as a war widow who can't afford to buy her son a toy train for Christmas. A veteran (Robert Mitchum) who happens to be standing by in a department store overhears her plight and offers to purchase the toy, thus setting into motion a series of funny complications. Wendell Corey plays Leigh's suspicious, condescending boyfriend, whose jealousy compounds Mitchum's problems, and Harry Morgan is very good as a night-court judge trying to make sense of everything that happens. The movie didn't do so well at the box office at the time of its release, but it has gained an affectionate fan base over the years. Don't expect Miracle on 34th Street, but as a spirited lark for Yuletide, this is a lot of fun. --Tom Keogh

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Western (1997)
dir. Manuel Poirier

Product Decsription:
Catalonian Paco is a traveling rep for a shoe manufacturer. When he stops to pick up Russian emigree hitchhiker Nino, Paco soon finds himself on the side of the road with everything stolen out from under him. Local gift shop owner Marinette gives the Spaniard a lift. Their mutual attraction manifests itself quickly, and Paco, who was fired over the stolen-car episode, hangs around. When he happens to spot Nino in the same town, he beats up the scrawny Russian, who lands in the hospital. Oddly enough, this marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Paco and Nino soon take the trip down the road together.

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Thunderbolt Fist (1972)
dir. Il-ho Jang

Product Decsription:
The plot has to do with the takeover of a Chinese town by a group of Japanese who wear traditional costumes, ride horses and carry swords, even though this is set in the early 20th century, long after Japan's modernization. Our hero, Tie Wa, is sent off as a boy to train in the mountains with a resistance group. He has left his family's "Thunderbolt Fist" manual in the care of a female friend, Feng Niou, and, after growing to adulthood returns to the town to scope out the strength of the Japanese fighters and their Chinese lackeys, including one Gu Gang, whom Tie Wa fought as a child. He gets the manual back after some difficulty with Feng Niou's jealous husband, but gets beaten up and maimed by Gu Gang for his trouble and eventually is let go, allowing him to return to the mountain to train his one good arm in the Thunderbolt Fist style so he can lead the others back and retake their town from the Japanese.

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HD Moods Fireplace (2008)
dir. Greg James

For those of us not lucky enough to get the fireplace channel for the holidays. Greg James has the easiest and most relaxing job in the world I bet.

Product Decsription:
Nothing warms the soul and soothes the spirit like a bright crackling fire on a cool winter night. HD Moods Fireplace is so realistic you ll swear it s actually heating your room as the sights and sounds of the burning natural wood bring your HD TV to life!

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2008-11-12T03:06:00.000-05:00

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for Oct. 28th & Nov. 4th

2008-11-07T09:05:00.002-05:00

DVD Picks for October 28th, 2008

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Baraka (1993)
dir. Ron Fricke

If I made a list of top 10 movies you HAVE to get in Blu-Ray, this would be on it. Should be required viewing.

Product Decsription:
The word Baraka means "blessing" in several languages; watching this film, the viewer is blessed with a dazzling barrage of images that transcend language. Filmed in 24 countries and set to an ever-changing global soundtrack, the movie draws some surprising connections between various peoples and the spaces they inhabit, whether that space is a lonely mountaintop or a crowded cigarette factory. Some of these attempts at connection are more successful than others: for instance, an early sequence segues between the daily devotions of Tibetan monks, Orthodox Jews, and whirling dervishes, finding more similarity among these rituals than one might expect. And there are other amazing moments, as when sped-up footage of a busy Hong Kong intersection reveals a beautiful symmetry to urban life that could only be appreciated from the perspective of film. The lack of context is occasionally frustrating--not knowing where a section was filmed, or the meaning of the ritual taking place--and some of the transitions are puzzling. However, the DVD includes a short behind-the-scenes featurette in which cinematographer Ron Fricke (Koyaanisqatsi) explains that the effect was intentional: "It's not where you are that's important, it's what's there." And what's here, in Baraka, is a whole world summed up in 104 minutes. --Larisa Lomacky Moore

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The Flintstones: The Complete Series (1960)
dir. Charles A. Nichols

Product Decsription:
Launched as an animated version of THE HONEYMOONERS, Hanna-Barbera's cartoon classic THE FLINTSTONES is family entertainment at its finest. From the town of Bedrock, modern Stone-Age couple Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their goofy best-friend neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble comically trudge through prehistoric daily lives populated by animals-cum-household-appliances with refreshingly sophisticated zaniness and humor. Meanwhile, the Flintstones' affectionate pet dinosaur, Dino, and daughter, Pebbles--not to mention the Rubbles' club-wielding infant Bamm Bamm--cause plenty of havoc in a prehistoric world that's seen through a 1960s lens. This collection includes all 166 episodes of the animated sitcom's six seasons. Yabba dabba doo!

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Hell Ride (2008)
dir. Larry Bishop

Product Decsription:
From Producer Quentin Tarantino (Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof) and Writer/Director Larry Bishop (Mad Dog Time) comes this lean, mean mayhem machine - fully loaded with bikers, babes, and booze. Michael Madsen (Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2), Eric Balfour (TV's "24") and legendary "Easy Rider" Dennis Hopper are part of a wild motorcycle gang bent on avenging the death of one of their own. With Vinnie Jones (The Condemned) as the crazed arrow-wielding rival gang leader, Hell Ride is a savagely enjoyable good-time where the women are hot, the bikes are even hotter, and the action never stops!

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The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection (1929-1938)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
The hunt for those seemingly countless LITTLE RASCALS releases is over. For the first time ever, all 80 of Hal Roach's original 1929-1938 classic shorts featuring Buckwheat, Spanky, Alphalpha, and the rest of Our Gang--from the era before Roach sold the rights to MGM--are available here in one package. Included among this complete collection of uncut, remastered, and restored episodes are numerous contributions of various types from noted film historians, an additional 10 silent shorts from Hal Roach's personal library, several documentaries including a look at racism as it pertains to the show, a special "where are they now" update featuring some of the surviving cast members, and much more.

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Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition [Limited Edition] (1988)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 celebrates its 20th anniversary with a specially packaged DVD set housed in a limited-edition tin box featuring 4 custom lobby cards and a figurine of Crow T. Robot! Features four of the show's most-requested episodes--First Spaceship on Venus (1960), Laserblast (1978), Werewolf (1996), and Future War (1997).
The Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 became a pop culture landmark in the '90s by poking fun at horrible movies of every genre and time period, and letting us listen in. They made the unwatchable essential viewing.

DVD Features:
* "The Oral History of MST3K" feature in three parts.
* 2008 Comic-Con MST3K Reunion Panel, featuring Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Bill Corbett, J. Elvis Weinstein, Paul Chaplin and Bridget Jones-Nelson. Moderated by Patton Oswald.
* Original film trailers.
* "Variations On A Theme Song", featuring all six versions of the theme song.
* Limited-edition version comes in a tin box with 4 lobby cards and a figurine of Crow T. Robot, all exclusive to this set.
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Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection (1940-1955)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
Get ready to laugh out loud with the most popular comedy duo of all time in Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection! Now, for the first time ever, all 28 films produced during the height of their popularity at Universal Pictures are available in one collection. Featuring their most popular movies such as Buck Privates, Who Done It? and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, this collection is filled with some of the most hilarious routines of all-time including “Who’s on First?” Loaded with hours of bonus features and an exclusive collectible book, this is the ultimate tribute to two of the funniest, and most enduring, comedians of all time!

Titles Include -
One Night in the Tropics (1940)
Buck Privates (1941)
In the Navy (1941)
Hold That Ghost (1941)
Keep 'Em Flying (1941)
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942)
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
Who Done It? (1942)
It Ain't Hay (1943)
Hit the Ice (1943)
In Society (1944)
Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
Little Giant (1946)
The Time of Their Lives (1946)
Buck Privates Come Home (1947)
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Mexican Hayride (1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
Lost in Alaska (1952)
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

DVD Features:
The World of Abbott and Costello: This compilation includes classic routines from 18 of Bud and Lou's most popular films.
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld: The popular comic hosts a tribute to Bud and Lou in this insightful retrospective.
Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters: A behind-the-scenes look at the duo's popular series of films as they meet up with Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man.
6 Feature Commentaries by Noted Film Historians
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Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens (2007)
dir. Barbara Leibovitz

One of the best, if not the best, commercial photographers ever. Certainly one of the most influential. Looking forward to checking this out.

Product Decsription:
Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens traces the arc of Annie's photographic life, her aspirations to artistry and the trajectory of her career. The film depicts the various phases that shaped her life including childhood, the tumultuous sixties, her transition from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair magazine and later her most significant personal relationships including motherhood. The documentary's highlights center on interviews with her most famous subjects, mentors and colleagues, along with personal insight from Leibovitz herself, to reveal the evolution of inarguably one of today's most influential visual artists.

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Death Defying Acts (2007)
dir. Gillian Armstrong

You're a little late to the party, guys. I'd imagine this got shelved because some studio head realized that three movies about magicians released at the same time will probably kill ticket sales, especially if one is clearly better than the others. To be fair, this one is about an actual magician, so it's definitely unique in at least one aspect.

Product Decsription:
Celebrated director Gillian Armstrong (MY BRILLIANT CAREER, LITTLE WOMEN) helms this film about Harry Houdini's romance with a con woman. In his attempts to contact his dead mother, the magician (Guy Pearce) meets a beautiful psychic named Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who isn't all she appears. Joined by her daughter (ATONEMENT's Saoirse Ronan), Mary tries to con Harry out of his $10,000 reward, an effort which is complicated by the love that grows between them. Set in 1926, this lush period drama also stars Timothy Spall (ENCHANTED).

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Body of War - The True Story of an Anti-War Hero (2007)
dir. Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro

Product Decsription:
At the center of Body of War is Tomas Young, a smart, determined guy who enlisted in the military the day after he saw President Bush stride through the ruins of the World Trade Center. He expected to be sent to Afghanistan to get the people who attacked his country; instead, he was shipped to Iraq, where he took a bullet through the collarbone a week after arriving and was paralyzed for life from the chest down. Young's subsequent struggle to be heard, by speaking out and questioning why U.S. soldiers went to Iraq, is chronicled in this film. Directors Phil Donahue (yes, talkshow host Phil Donahue) and Ellen Spiro cast a wider net, which is where the film begins to feel a little scattered, even if their cause is a fervent one. The Senate vote on authorizing the Bush plan for Iraq is a running theme, with the names of the voters emblazoned on the screen (this would be an even more effective drumbeat if it weren't drowning in overbearing music). Meanwhile, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, an old political hand with a checkered past, emerges as the voice of Constitutional sanity. His soaring speeches leading up to the crucial vote are excerpted at length, so it's no surprise that he and Tomas Young should eventually meet. But whatever the film's ambitions, its finest moments are in following Young and bluntly assessing (with considerable physical detail) his status. Original songs by Eddie Vedder are judiciously placed and passionately delivered. --Robert Horton

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Elite Squad (2007)
dir. José Padilha

Upon first glance, it just looks like a generic urban war movie. Then you notice that it was written by Bráulio Mantovani who also wrote City of God, then you find out that it won the Golden Bear, the highest award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Consider my interest piqued.

Product Decsription:
Though José Padilha's action-packed crime drama won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, a steady stream of controversy and acclaim has followed in its wake. Some critics have even accused the director of promoting fascism, while Padilha (Bus 174) contends that Elite Squad argues against police brutality. Like Vic Mackey, who heads up The Shield's LA strike force, narrator Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) heads up Rio de Janeiro's Police Special Operations Battalion (BOPE). It’s 1997, the Pope arrives for a visit in six months, and BOPE will stop at nothing to reduce crime in the favelas. The way they see it, drug traffickers have them outmanned and outgunned, so there's no point in playing by the rules. With their black uniforms and berets, the Skulls certainly cut an imposing figure. New police recruits Neto (Caio Junqueira) and aspiring lawyer Matias (André Ramiro) turn to Nascimento when their efforts to operate by the book only lead to frustration (Matias was inspired by author/law student/BOPE member André Batista). The burned-out captain sees his salvation in the two childhood friends; as soon as he selects a replacement, he plans to leave the force and spend time with his pregnant wife. Nascimento may find his man, but the ending is far from happy. Brutal and bleakly funny, Elite Squad depicts 1990s Rio as Danté's Ninth Circle of Hell. Nonetheless, Brazilians made the film an even bigger sensation than City of God, to which it serves as an essential companion piece. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Black Magic (2008)
dir. Dan Klores

If you watch ESPN on a regular basis, then you're probably sick of hearing about this movie. It looks like a decent doc, though, especially if you're into basketball.

Product Decsription:
Black Magic is dramatic film about the injustice which defined the Civil Rights Movement in America, as told through the lives of basketball players and coaches who attended Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Narrated by Academy Award Nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson and jazz great Wynton Marsalis, with introductions from New Orleans Hornets star point guard Chris Paul and basketball icon Dr. J Julius Erving. Helmed by award-winning director Dan Klores and co-produced by basketball legend and Winston-Salem State University graduate Earl The Pearl Monroe, the film will be aired on March 16th and 17th 2008 on ESPN commercial free.

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The Final Countdown (1980)
dir. Don Taylor

Product Decsription:
With a tantalizing "what-if?" scenario and a respectable cast of Hollywood veterans, The Final Countdown plays like a grand-scale episode of The Twilight Zone. It's really no more than that, and time-travel movies have grown far more sophisticated since this popular 1980 release, but there's still some life remaining in the movie's basic premise: What if a modern-era Navy aircraft carrier--in this case the real-life nuclear-powered U.S.S. Nimitz--was caught in an anomalous storm and thrust 40 years backwards in time to the eve of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor? Will the ship's commander (Kirk Douglas) interfere with history? Will the visiting systems analyst (Martin Sheen) convince him not to? Will a rescued senator from 1941 (Charles Durning) play an unexpected role in the future of American politics? Veteran TV director Don Taylor doesn't do much with the ideas posed by this potentially intriguing plot; he seems more interested in satisfying aviation buffs with loving footage of F-14 "Jolly Roger" fighter jets, made possible by the Navy's generous cooperation. That makes The Final Countdown a better Navy film than a full-fledged time-travel fantasy, but there's a nice little twist at the end, and the plot holes are easy to ignore. James Cameron would've done it better, but this popcorn thriller makes an enjoyable double-bill with The Philadelphia Experiment. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Victor J. Kemper
"Lloyd Kaufman Goes Hollywood" - Interview with Associate Producer Lloyd Kaufman
"Starring the Jolly Rogers" - Interviews with The Jolly Rogers F-14 Fighter Squadron
Theatrical Trailers
TV Spots
Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems
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Patrick (Special Edition) (1978)
dir. Richard Franklin

Product Decsription:
After violently murdering his mother and her lover, Patrick (Robert Thompson) lays comatose in a private hospital. When a pretty young nurse (Susan Penhaligon) begins working at the hospital, Patrick tries communicating with her, while others in her life are being hurt and killed in mysterious ways.
PATRICK is a classic supernatural thriller from Australia. Directed with amazing style by Richard Franklin (F/X 2, PSYCHO II), this unsettling film of telekinetic terror ...would give CARRIE a run for her money. (Ivan Hutchinson, TV GUIDE). This DVD contains a totally new, re-mastered transfer of the original uncut Australian version in anamorphic widescreen and digital sound. - Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1)

DVD Features:
- Dolby Digital Mono (English, French & Spanish Language Options)
- Audio Commentary with Director Richard Franklin
- Original Theatrical Trailers & TV Spots
- Chapter Selections
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Strange Behavior (Special Edition) (1981)
dir. Michael Laughlin

Product Decsription:
In the peaceful town of Galesburg, Illinois, a brutal serial killer targets the local teenagers. As the bodies pile up, Sheriff John Brady (Michael Murphy) suspects the killer is connected with the high school s Psychology department. There is something sinister about the school research program on behavioral control and Brady is determined to uncover the truth. But he better find the answers fast before his own son (Dan Shor) gets drawn into the strange experiments himself! Co-Written by Oscar Winner Bill Condon (STRANGE INVADERS, GODS AND MONSTERS), STRANGE BEHAVIOR is a frighteningly gory homage to 50 s pulp horror films. Also starring Louise Fletcher (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO S NEST, BRAINSTORM), this cult classic is interesting, suspenseful and quite witty. (TV Guide) Contains a haunting, beautiful score from Tangerine Dream.- Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1)

DVD Features:
- Dolby Digital Mono (English & Spanish Language Options)
- Audio Commentary with Writer Bill Condon & Actors Dan Shor and Dey Young
- U.S. & Australian Theatrical Trailers
- Deleted Scenes
- Photo Gallery
- Isolated Music Score
- Filmographies
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Thirst (Special Edition) (1979)
dir. Rod Hardy

Product Decsription:
She was innocent, pure and unsuspecting. Now, Kate Davis has been kidnapped by a bloodthirsty cult and taken to a remote village. It is there that she discovers her unholy fate! According to the prophecies of the Hyma Brotherhood, she must fulfill her destiny by marrying their leader and helping them quench their eternal thirst for blood. Chantal Contouri, David Hemmings (BLOW-UP, DEEP RED) and Henry Silva (DICK TRACY, ABOVE THE LAW) take you on a terrifying journey inside the world of a demonic cult where satanic rituals, grotesque tortures and deadly surprises await!- Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1)

DVD Features:
- Dolby Digital Mono (English & Spanish Language Options)
- Audio Commentary with Director Rod Hardy & Producer Antony I. Ginnane
- Cast & Filmmaker Biographies
- Original Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots
- Photo Gallery
- Isolated Music Score
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The Watcher in the Attic (1976)
dir. Noboru Tanaka, Tanaka Noboru

Dang, it's been a while since Mondo Macabro last released something. Good to see they're still going.

Product Decsription:
The film is set in 1923 in a cheap Tokyo boarding house. The landlord, Goda, roams through the attic, observing the weird lives of his tenants through holes in the ceiling. One day he sees a prostitute murder one of her clients and decides that at last he has found his soul mate... Based on stories by the Japanese master of horror, Edogawa Rampo, the film features some of the most bizarre sex scenes ever, including the story of a man who hides inside a special chair, so that a naked woman can sit on him.

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Zombie Strippers (Unrated Special Edition) (2008)
dir. Jay Lee

If the title didn't sell you, then I don't know what will.

Product Decsription:
Get yourself a snappy title and a couple of marquee names (however disreputable) and you might just snag your no-budget movie a national release--as Zombie Strippers colorfully proves. The names in question belong to porn star Jenna Jameson and Freddie Krueger himself, Robert Englund, both of whom look quite comfortable in this sleazy milieu. As the title suggests (well, "suggests" might be a mild word), there has been an outbreak of the undead in a strip club, with strippers actually improving their onstage antics after they've become zombies. (Given the number of implants on display, it's a wonder the zombies didn't keel over from silicone poisoning.) Englund is the proprietor of the place, Jameson is a star dancer, and a couple of actresses in the "nice girl" roles don't have to take their tops off, although almost everybody else does. Writer-director Jay Lee fills the movie with political gags and a bunch of philosophy references (Jameson reads Nietzsche, the locale is Sartre, Nebraska), all of which play like a lame attempt to distinguish his movie as something other than a puerile horror-comedy. Only thing is, when you try to disguise the fact that you've made a puerile horror-comedy, it kind of takes the oomph out of both the horror and the comedy. The political jibes are about as feeble as those in Southland Tales, but at least Zombie Strippers is shorter. Shot on video, it looks atrocious, but perhaps that doesn't matter very much. --Robert Horton

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Pieces (1983)
dir. Juan Piquer Simon

Product Decsription:
GRINDHOUSE RELEASING is proud to present the first official US DVD release of the sickest and most violent of all the early '80s slasher movies. A psychopathic killer stalks a Boston campus, brutally slaughtering nubile young college co-eds, collecting body parts from each victim to create the likeness of his mother who he savagely murdered with an axe when he was ten years old! PIECES is a wild, unrated gorefest, with enough splatter and sleaze to shock the most jaded horror fan.

Eli Roth, director of CABIN FEVER and HOSTEL
"One of my top horror films of all time! Not only is this the ultimate chainsaw movie, it's the ultimate slasher film. It has everything you could possibly want, by the bucketful. Full on chainsaw violence, absurd amounts of nudity, and the greatest ending in horror history.
A masterpiece of early 80's sleaze. "

DVD Features:
-2 Disc Deluxe Edition
-Original uncensored theatrical version
-Spectacular new hi-definition digital anamorphic widescreen transfer
-Optional Spanish soundtrack with original score by Librado Pastor
-Special 5.1 audio option - the Vine Theater Hollywood Experience!
-Never before seen in-depth interviews with director Juan Piquer and genre superstar Paul L. Smith
-Gallery of stills and poster art
-Exhaustive filmographies
-Liner notes by legendary horror journalist Chas. Balun
-Plus other surprises!
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Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2007)
dir. Lloyd Kaufman

I have an enormous amount of love and respect for Lloyd Kaufman, but mostly everything Troma releases is garbage. I'm not going to claim to have seen their entire catalog (which would be torturous and damn near impossible) but I've seen enough to know when to stop.

Product Decsription:
Only 15,000 individually numbered DVDs will be pressed! From Director Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Studios and the Creator of The Toxic Avenger comes Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead! When the American Chicken Bunker, a military themed fast food restaurant, builds its latest chain restaurant on the site of an ancient Native American burial ground, the displaced spirits take revenge on unsuspecting diners and transform them into chicken zombies! Now, it's up to a dimwitted counterboy, his collegiate lesbian ex-girlfriend and a burqa-wearing fry cook to put an end to the foul feathered menace once and for all.

The 3-Disc Eggs-clusive Limited Edition DVD includes a feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary 'Poultry in Motion: Truth is Stranger than Chicken'!

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DVD Picks for November 4th, 2008

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Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks 2 (2008)
dir. Jeremy Konner, Wayne Isham

I love the D, so this is far and away my most anticipated release of the week. For some reason, the blu-ray version is coming out next week, so I'll be waiting for that one.

Product Decsription:
If you're not a Tenacious D fan already, The Complete Master Works might make you an instant convert (or scare you away; it all depends). One thing's for sure: If you thought "the D" were nothing more than a novelty act, this two-disc feast will set you straight, proving that classically trained guitarist Kyle Gass and fast-rising comedy star Jack Black (School of Rock) are a bona fide acoustic power duo, scorching the pop-cultural landscape with their satirically scathing lyrics while qualifying as legitimate musicians with awesome chops and just enough insanity to make them dangerous on stage. Disc 1 ("For Fans") is all meat and potatoes, consisting of a brilliant concert (taped at London's Brixton Academy, November 3, 2002) in which Black casts himself as an abrasive provocateur, daring to offend "KG" and the audience alike with barbed taunts and spiteful attitude (all faked, of course, but convincing enough to sucker the gullible). The musicianship is first-rate, and Black's vocals remarkably spry, a deft combination of rapid-fire scatting and heavy-metal worship. The HBO episodes chronicle TD's early years as their popularity was still mostly an L.A.-based phenomenon, and without exception they're wet-your-pants hilarious.
Disc 2 is aptly dubbed "For Psycho Fans," offering a potpourri of TD ephemera for true devotees, including three HBO short films that are gross enough (and funny enough) to make any Farrelly Brothers comedy look positively tame by comparison (in other words, this definitely isn't kid's stuff). The TV appearances are somewhat redundant with the concert material, and the "On the Road" video diaries are perfunctory but fun. The best is saved for last: two music videos paired with "making-of" featurettes, including Spike Jonze's fantasy-oriented video for "Wonderboy," and a devilishly adult-oriented video for "FHG" (salacious "D" fans know what that means) from the animators of Ren & Stimpy. If you're offended, don't blame "Kage" and "Jables"--their Tenacious DVD has "Parental Advisory" clearly stamped on its cover, and prudes are well-advised to stay away. --Jeff Shannon

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Kung Fu Panda (2008)
dir. John Stevenson

I think this still might be in my top 10 of the year so far if I'm being honest. It's in the 5-10 range so it might slip out before the year's over, but it's still a great movie.

Product Decsription:
What's a panda to do when his dreams of kung-fu awesomeness awake to the cold reality of noodle-making? Clumsy, overweight Po (Jack Black) dreams of becoming a kung fu master like China's revered "furious five," but instead seems destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in the restaurant business. When great leader Oogway has a vision that the imprisoned kung fu warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will soon escape, he declares it time to choose China's dragon warrior--one kung fu master deemed worthy of possessing the dragon's scroll and its secret to limitless power. Po and all the townspeople rush to the Jade Palace atop the highest mountain to witness the contest between Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogan), Crane (David Cross) and Viper (Lucy Liu), but Po is locked outside the palace. After a miracle of sorts, Po lands inside the palace gates, where he is chosen as the dragon warrior and placed under the tutelage of the decidedly non-plussed master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). An unconventional student to say the least, hilarity reigns as Shifu tries desperately to make Po into some semblance of a kung fu warrior. Can Po possibly fulfill his destiny as dragon warrior, or was Oogway's final decision a critical mistake? A film rich with hilarious moments, superior animation, and an important message about believing in oneself and the power that comes from within, Kung Fu Panda is great entertainment that will have the whole family laughing and begging for more. (Ages 3 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

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Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Collection (1983-1987)
dir.

Incredible show, basically anything Jim Henson is associated with will get my seal of approval. A lot of people are upset that HIT Entertainment is releasing this huge set but NOT releasing the 4th and final season seperately, basically screwing everyone that bought the previous 3 seasons earlier. They don't even have any plans to release it in the future, which is really pissing everyone off.

Product Decsription:
The magical underground realm of Fraggle Rock is situated behind a wall in inventor Doc's laboratory, in this charming series from the master of puppets, Jim Henson. Doc's dog Sprocket knows something is back there, and is constantly trying to get to the fraggles, while far below in the brightly lit caverns, the furry fraggles frolic and play, and learn valuable lessons along the way. All 96 episodes of the series are included in this hugely comprehensive set, as Wembley, Gobo, Red, Mobley, and Boober have exciting adventures and present their catchy, infectious repertoire of songs. Adults will revel in the memories while children will delight in the newfound fun, as Boober has to muster his courage after he loses his lucky hat in "You Can't do that Without a Hat," and Red's best-laid plans go awry in "Let the Water Run." Other episodes include "The Thirty Minute Work Week," where Wembley has to choose his occupation; "Catch the Tail by the Tiger," where Gobo ventures into outer space to find Traveling Matt; and "The Finger of Light," which sees Mokey learning how to be in charge.

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Batman - The Complete Animated Series (1992-1995)
dir. n/a

Some of the best Batman stuff available in my opinion, live or animated. I was surprised to see there were only 3 seasons, it felt like this show was on for like 15 years.

Product Decsription:
The legendary caped crusader is back in the Emmy Award-winning BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES. During the day, mild-mannered millionaire Bruce Wayne seems like an average--albeit wealthy--Gotham City resident; but at night, when the criminal comes out, so does his alter-ego. With the help of his trusty sidekick Robin, Batman combats the evil forces that are constantly threatening to overpower Gotham City, including classic villains such as Penguin, Joker, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. Airing from 1992-1995, this animated BATMAN is acclaimed for remaining true to the original comic book's dark tone while introducing new and exciting storylines and characters. This mammoth collection presents all four seasons of the complete series.

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Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
dir. Dwayne Carey-Hill

The most important thing that Futurama has that the Simpsons doesn't? Consistency. Granted, it wasn't on NEARLY as long, but there was never a dip in quality. It was always amazing, and these feature length movies are further proof of Futurama's greatness.

Product Decsription:
At once a merciless skewering of all things fanboy and an extremely satisfying addition to the Futurama franchise, Bender's Game is among the best of the animated series' feature length adventures. The game in question is Dungeons and Dragons, and Bender wants in--only robots aren't programmed with the necessary imagination. Naturally, Bender's plans to develop one go completely awry and land him in an android asylum. The role-playing plotline later re-emerges--in typically convoluted Futurama fashion--via a subplot involving Professor Farnsworth's conversion of dark matter into spaceship fuel, which created a key to a very D&D-influenced universe where our hapless heroes eventually find themselves. The alternate world storyline allows for much lampooning of fantasy tropes, with Lord of the Rings receiving the lion's share of the tweaks. Seeing as how the writers have already devoted much of the movie's running time to parodying Star Wars and Star Trek (and their Lego offshoots), one might think that Bender's Game might suffer from pop-culture overload, but surprisingly, it all feels fresh and frequently funny, and the writers are wise to ground the story in their eccentric characters rather than pinballing them through an endless string of gags. The result is probably the strongest of the direct-to-DVD Futurama releases to date, and one that newcomers to the show's cracked universe can appreciate as much as longtime fans. As with previous Futurama DVD releases, the extras come fast and furious on Bender's Game: commentary by members of the cast and production team (including Matt Groening) is both informative and funny, while interviews with the writers and producers discuss, among other topics, the influence of Dungeons and Dragons on the series and the 3D models used in the feature. Aspiring animators might appreciate "How To Draw Futurama in 83 Easy Steps and the storyboard animatic for the first part of the story, while the "Genetics Lab" feature allows for some amusing Dr. Moreau-style cross-breeding of the characters. Recording session bloopers and a deleted scene offer their own laughs, but the most enjoyable extra must be the preview for the next Futurama feature, Into the Wild Green Yonder, which suggests a shocking development for one of the show's regulars. -- Paul Gaita

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A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (1983)
dir. Bob Clark

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEE

Still the greatest Christmas movie ever.

Product Decsription:
The Christmas spirit isn't served up with more observant hilarity than in this beloved adaptation of Jean Shepherd's holiday story. In 1940s Indiana, nine-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) dreams of his ideal Christmas gift: a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. But when gruff dad (Darren McGavin) and doting mom (Melinda Dillion) regularly respond with "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie mounts a full-scale Santa-begging campaign. He encounters a slew of calamities from snowsuit paralysis to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole gambit. We triple-dog-dare you to unwrap a more welcome Yuletide classic!

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Budd Boetticher Box Set
MOVIES INCLUDE:
The Tall T (1957)
Decision at Sundown (1957)
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Comanche Station (1960)

Product Decsription:
Few hauteur directors are more revered and beloved than Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr., who lived a life more amazing than any movie. And few films have been more eagerly-awaited on DVD than the spare, adult westerns he made at Columbia in the late 1950s, all starring Randolph Scott, most written by future director Burt Kennedy, and co-starring such outstanding actors as James Coburn (in his film debut), Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, and Craig Stevens. Now, at last, you hold them in your hand: The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station. Rounding out the set is Bruce Ricker's acclaimed feature-length documentary, A Man Can do That, executive produced Budd's friend Clint Eastwood. Sony Pictures and The Film Foundation are honored to present one of the absolutely essential collections of this or any year.

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Get Smart (2008)
dir. Peter Segal

Steve Carell is makes a great Maxwell Smart, and thankfully he's not just blatantly ripping-off Don Adams. The rest of the movie was not incredible, but it wasn't bad either.

Product Decsription:
Steve Carell is in control as Maxwell Smart, the novice agent often out of his depth but never out of options in this action comedy pitting him against the nuclear scheme of the evil spy group KAOS. Anne Hathaway partners with Max as ever capable Agent 99. And Director Peter Segal (The Longest Yard) guides his stars (including Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin) through the dangerous realm of molar radios, multifunction pocketknives, exploding dental floss and more. "Get Smart works as an action film and its funny." (Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper)

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Transsiberian (2008)
dir. Brad Anderson

Interesting cast and premise, and I really like The Machinist, one of Brad Anderson's earlier movies. Plus, he directed a couple episodes of The Wire, which instantly makes him awesome.

Product Decsription:
In Transsiberian, a train twisting across the white Siberian landscape becomes a trap for a well-meaning American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), who find themselves pursued by a Russian policemen (Ben Kingsley) while on a trip to Moscow. On the train, they befriend a younger couple--but the charming pair hold secrets that draw Roy and Jessie into a frozen nightmare. Transsiberian's snowy setting is both beautiful and eerie, providing an evocative atmosphere that helps carry the viewer through the sometimes bumpy plot. At its core, Transsiberian is about the anxiety of being in a new world--be it a new country or a new phase of your life--and not knowing the rules, the fear of taking the wrong step and falling. The thriller plot is little more than a delivery system for that sensation. But really, all director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Next Stop Wonderland) needed was Mortimer's limpid face; every tremor that crosses her pale skin reverberates through the camera. Her essential vulnerability first came across in Lovely and Amazing; Anderson makes good use of this rare quality. --Bret Fetzer

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Milarepa (2007)
dir. Neten Chokling

Product Decsription:
In his directorial debut, Buddhist lama Neten Chokling vividly presents the captivating story of Milarepa, the man who would become Tibet s greatest yogi and saint. In the dramatic setting of 11th century Tibet- a time of roaming sorcerers and yogis, according to Buddhist legend- a young Milarepa falls into a world of betrayal and hardships. The greed of others upturns his privileged life, dropping him into a void of despair, humiliation, pain and anger. He sets out to learn black magic- and exact revenge on his enemies- encountering magicians, demons, an enigmatic teacher and unexpected mystical power along the way. But it is in confronting the consequence of his quest for vengeance that he learns the most. Filmed on the breathtaking scenic Indo-Tibetan border, with Tibetan monks serving as most of the cast and crew, Milarepa glows with a unique visual and spiritual charge.

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The Pistol: Special Edition (1990)
dir. Frank C. Schroeder

Product Decsription:
The Pistol is the uplifting story of a scrawny eight grade boy whose stunning basketball skills earn him a spot on the high school team. Unfortunately for young Pete Maravich (Adam Guier), his style of "showtime" basketball is way ahead of its time, making him the target of ridicule and socially separates him from his teammates. Against all odds, Pete perseveres with he constant encouragement of his mentor and father, Press Maravich (Days of Our Lives) and the love of his mother Helen (Academy Award Nominee Millie Perkins). The legend of college basketball's greatest scorer begins in the heart of a thirteen year old dreamer who soon becomes known to the work as THE PISTOL.

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Waterworld (1995)
dir. Kevin Reynolds

Haven't seen this movie in forever, but from what I remember, it is unfairly hated on. Maybe I need to watch it again.

Product Decsription:
Let's be honest: this 1995 epic isn't nearly as bad as its negative publicity led us to expect. At the time it was the most expensive Hollywood production in history (it had a Titanic-sized $200 million budget), and the film arrived in theaters with so much controversy and negative gossip that it was an easy target for ridicule. The movie itself, a flawed but enjoyable post-apocalypse thriller, deserves better. Waterworld stars Kevin Costner as the Mariner, a lone maverick with gills and webbed feet who navigates the endless seas of Earth after the complete melting of the polar ice caps. The Mariner has been caged like a criminal when he's freed by Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and enlisted to help her and a young girl (Tina Majorino) escape from the Smokers, a group of renegade terrorists led by Dennis Hopper in yet another memorably villainous role. It is too bad the predictable script isn't more intelligent, but as a companion piece to The Road Warrior, this seafaring stunt-fest is adequately impressive. --Jeff Shannon

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Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)
dir. Robert Hiltzik

Product Decsription:
It's summer camp as usual at Camp Manabe where the kids torment each other for fun while the underpaid camp staff provides as little supervision as possible. Greedy camp owner Frank and junior partner Ronnie do their best to keep everyone in line, but something sinister is about to put a slash in the roster. When campers and staff mysteriously begin disappearing and turning into gruesome corpses, paranoid Ronnie can't shake the memory of a series of grisly murders that took place at Camp Arawak, where he worked two decades earlier.

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Zapped! (1982): part one of a two-part post

2008-10-28T00:46:00.005-04:00

Zapped! is a masterpiece.

Please enjoy this montage of Scott Baio's telekenetic abilities.
In Part 2 of this post, I will share my thoughts on the movie Zapped! with you.

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for October 21st

2008-10-22T03:15:00.004-04:00

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The Incredible Hulk (Three-Disc Special Edition) (2008)
dir. Louis Leterrier

I GUESS this was better than Ang Lee's version (which I happen to like quite a bit), but both movies lack a decent villain. They kind of set up The Leader for the sequel, but I'm not sure how well he would translate to the big screen. Ed Norton was good as usual, everyone else was OK. It's always cool to see Hulk smash, but ultimately I didn't really give a shit.

Product Decsription:
A more accessible and less heavy-handed movie than Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a purely popcorn love affair with Marvel's raging, green superhero, as well as the old television series starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the beast within him. Edward Norton takes up where Eric Bana left off in Lee's version, playing Bruce (that's the character's original name) Banner, a haunted scientist always on the move. Trying to eliminate the effects of a military experiment that turns him into the Hulk whenever his emotions get the better of him, Banner is hiding out in Brazil at the film's beginning. Working in a bottling plant and communicating via email with an unidentified professor who thinks he can help, Banner goes postal when General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and a small army turn up to grab him. Intent on developing whatever causes Banner's metamorphoses into a weapon, Ross brings along a quietly d! eranged soldier named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who wants Ross to turn him into a supersoldier who can take on the Hulk. The adventure spreads to the U.S., where Banner hooks up with his old lover (and Ross' daughter), Betty (Liv Tyler), and where the Hulk takes on several armed assaults, including one in a pretty unusual location: a college campus. The film's action is impressive, though the computer-generated creature is disappointingly cartoonish, and a second monster turning up late in the movie looks even cheesier. Norton is largely wasted in the film--he's essentially a bridge between sequences where he disappears and the Hulk rampages around. As good an actor as he is, Norton doesn't have the charisma here to carry those scenes in which one waits impatiently for the real show to begin.

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The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series (1978-1982)
dir. n/a

After watching the two Hulk movies, I'm not sure that anyone who has never seen the TV series could ever sit and watch more than 10-15 minutes of it. It's nostalgic, but that's about it.

Product Decsription:
The Incredible Hulk DVD is a collection of 14 DVDs in a 3 box set. all in 100% in chronological order from the pilot to the finale. This special Incredible Hulk DVD collection also includes custom artwork and episode guides so you can find your favorite episode at anytime!

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Knight Rider: The Complete Series (1982-1986)
dir. n/a

The packaging kicks ass, but much like the Hulk series, this show hasn't aged too well.

Product Decsription:
Shift into high gear as all four seasons and 84 action-packed episodes of Knight Rider come together for the first time in one amazing collection! David Hasselhoff is back as charismatic crimefighter Michael Knight, the driver of the world’s most dynamic, high-tech talking car, K.I.T.T. As this brave duo take on criminals, crooks and those eager to exploit K.I.T.T.’s impressive technology for their own evil purposes, you’ll be blown away by their explosive adventures that set the standard for all TV action series to come. With 24 discs tricked out with an impressive array of bonus features, it’s one complete DVD trip you can’t afford to miss!

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Missing - Criterion Collection (1982)
dir. Costa-Gavras

I haven't seen anything by Costa-Gavras, although I've been meaning to watch this movie as well as "Z" forever. I guess this one'll be first. It won the Palme D'Or at Cannes and Best Screenplay at the Oscars.

Product Decsription:
Missing is political filmmaker extraordinaire Costa-Gavras's compelling, controversial dramatization of the search for American journalist Charles Horman, who mysteriously disappeared during the 1973 coup in Chile. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek give magnetic, emotionally commanding performances as Horman's father and wife, who are led by U.S. embassy and consulate officials through a series of bureaucratic dead-ends before eventually uncovering the terrifying facts about Charles's fate and disillusioning truths about their government. Written and directed with clarity and conscience, the Academy Award winning Missing is a testament to Costa-Gavras's daring.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Video interviews with Costa-Gavras, Joyce Horman (wife of Charles Horman), producers Edward and Mildred Lewis and Sean Daniel, and Thomas Hauser, author of Missing, the film's source
Interviews from the 1982 Cannes Film Festival with Costa-Gavras, Jack Lemmon, Ed Horman (father of Charles), and Joyce Horman
New video essay with Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File, examining declassified documents concerning the 1973 military coup in Chile and the case of Charles Horman
Video highlights from the 2002 Charles Horman Truth Project event honoring the twentieth anniversary of Missing, with actors Sissy Spacek, John Shea, and Melanie Mayron
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood, an interview with Costa-Gavras, the U.S. State Department's official response to Missing, and an open letter from Horman family friend Terry Simon
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Eclipse Series 13: Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women (Osaka Elegy / Sisters of the Gion / Women of the Night / Street of Shame)
dir. Kenji Mizoguchi

One of the best directors of all time, and not just out of Japan. Out of everyone. Everything of Mizoguchi's I've seen has been at least nearly a masterpiece (Ugetsu being his crowning achievement), so I can't wait to check this set out.

Product Decsription:
Over the course of a three-decade, more than eighty film career, master cineaste Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff) would return again and again to one abiding theme: the plight of women in male-dominated Japanese society. In these four lacerating works of socially conscious melodrama two prewar (Osaka Elegy, Sisters of the Gion), two postwar (Women of the Night, Street of Shame) Mizoguchi introduces an array of compelling female protagonists, crushed or resilient, who are economically and spiritually deprived by their nation's customs and traditions. With Mizoguchi's visual daring and eloquence, these films are as cinematically thrilling as they are politically rousing.

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The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Complete Series (1964-1968)
dir. n/a

Product Decsription:
It was the height of the Cold War, a time when most Americans had only the vaguest understanding of international espionage. Then, in 1964, the televised spy genre exploded on the screen in the U.S. and around the world when the groundbreaking series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. pulled the covers off of the spy game in what became must-watch television for the next four years on NBC. Here is The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series, beautifully packaged in a 60's style high tech attach‚ case, complete with all episodes along with hours of viewing extras.

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The Strangers (2008)
dir. Bryan Bertino

Product Decsription:
A lean, briskly paced and exceptionally creepy thriller, The Strangers earns its scares the old-fashioned way: through atmosphere, sound design, and a simple yet undeniably upsetting central premise that allows for maximum tension throughout its running time. Attractive young lovers Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman are already having a bad day--she's turned down his marriage proposal--before a knock on the door in the middle of the night announces a full-fledged siege on their remote vacation home by a trio of masked assailants. The film's first third delivers the most consistent shivers as the visitors make their presence and intentions known to Tyler; the second half grows more frantic and bloody before a gruesome finale that may leave viewers either rattled to their core or bothered by its empty nihilism. Speedman is fine as the downtrodden male lead (who's seen tucking into a carton of ice cream after being rejected), but it's Tyler who impresses the most by shouldering the lion's share of the terror. First-time writer/director Bryan Bertino impresses by forsaking the current passion for over-the-top violence (save for the finale) in favor of more traditional means of generating fear, and if his project borrows heavily from other films, most notably the French chiller Them (which shares its "inspired by a true story" origin) and Michael Haneke's Funny Games, at least he's taking from the best. The sound design is among the many technical standouts, and the unsettling score by tomandandy (The Hills Have Eyes) pleasantly evokes Ennio Morricone's fuzztone-heavy work for Dario Argento in the early '70s. On a completely unrelated note, LP fanatics should appreciate how both the film's heroes and villains share an affinity for folk and country music on vinyl.

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Casino Royale (40th Anniversary Edition) (1967)
dir. Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Richard Talmadge

Product Decsription:
John Huston was only one of five directors on this expensive, all-star 1967 spoof of Ian Fleming's 007 lore. David Niven is the aging Sir James Bond, called out of retirement to take on the organized threat of SMERSH and pass on the secret-agent mantle to his idiot son (Woody Allen). An amazing cast (Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, Deborah Kerr, etc.) is wonderful to look at, but the film is not as funny as it should be, and the romping starts to look mannered after awhile. The musical score by Burt Bacharach, however, is a keeper. --Tom Keogh

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Flight of the Red Balloon (2007)
dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Product Decsription:
Inspired by Albert Lamorisse's classic 1956 Academy Award®-Winning short*, Flight of the Red Balloon is the latest masterwork from director Hou Hsiao Hsien (Three Times, Millennium Mambo). Expanding on the key elements of Lamorisse's short - a young boy, a red balloon and Paris - Hou weaves the tale of a boy, Simon (Simon Iteanu) dealing with the increased fragility of his loving yet preoccupied mother, Suzanne (Academy Award® - Winner Juliette Binoche** of The English Patient, Caché). When a Taiwanese film student, Song (Fang Song), is hired to help care for Simon, a unique extended family is formed - utterly dependent on each other yet lost in separate dreams mirrored by a delicate, shiny red balloon.

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Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6 (2008)
dir. n/a

The last of the Looney Tunes sets. I REALLY need to get all these.

Product Decsription:
Here comes the highly-anticipated sixth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, the studio's largest Looney Tunes compilation of animated shorts to date. Fans won't want to miss this golden opportunity to own over 60 classic, fully re-mastered and restored cartoons, presented in their original un-edited format. Most of the shorts in the collection have never been available on DVD before.

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Mondays in the Sun (2002)
dir. Fernando Leon de Aranoa

Product Decsription:
Oscar(r) winner JAVIER BARDEM dominates this insightful and heartbreaking drama that captured five of Spain's prestigious Goya Award s including Best Film and Best Actor. Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, the powerful story follows five unemployed shipyard workers on the coast of Spain. Led by the cocky Santa (BARDEM), a lonely former ladies' man, the men may be down on their luck but still manage to encourage each other to search for work, love and the strength to hope for better days.

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Gunnin' for That #1 Spot (Special 2 Disc Set) (2008)
dir. Adam Yauch

Product Decsription:
GUNNIN FOR THAT #1 SPOT (Two Disc Set) Easily the best movie of its kind since Steve James' Hoop Dreams. -Scott Weinberg, Cinematical On the corner of 155th and Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem lies Rucker Park. By appearances, the concrete pavement, anchored on one side by its run down slab bleachers, is no different than any other basketball court in the city, but this is the place where nicknames are indelibly branded, and legends are born. On September 1, 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation stepped out on this court, that once saw the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dr. J to compete in the first annual Elite 24 all-star game. GUNNIN FOR THAT #1 SPOT follows eight of these players as they prepare to showcase their skills at the most legendary playground in the world. Features a Platinum Level Soundtrack Presented in 5.1 SRD with tracks by Jay-Z, Ludacris, Kool and the Gang, Nas, M.I.A, The Meters, The Beastie Boys, The Staple Singers, Public Enemy and more.

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Sold Out: A Threevening With Kevin Smith (2008)
dir. Zak Knutson, Joey Figueroa

I never saw the second one, but the first one is very entertaining.

Product Decsription:
Kevin Smith -- America's coolest geek philosopher and director of Clerks I & II and Zack and Miri Make a Porno -- is back: celebrating his 37th birthday in a hilarious take-no-prisoners performance in front of a packed hometown crowd. Join the fun as Smith reveals the hysterical true stories behind the making of Clerks II and Live Free or Die Hard, the inside scoop on Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes... plus Weird Doggy Love and The Jury Duty from Hemorrhoid Hell. Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith has 3x the raunch, 3x the hilarity, and 3x the charm!

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Trailer Park of Terror (2008)
dir. Steven Goldmann

Thumbs Up for rednecksploitation.

Product Decsription:
Six troubled high school students and their chaperone are returning from a retreat when their bus crashes, stranding them in the middle of trailer park hell - literally. Without warning, hillbilly zombies looking for fun begin slaughtering the teens in gruesome fashion. With a rockin' Southern-fried soundtrack, top-notch special effects and a devilish sense of humor, Trailer Park of Terror (based on the Imperium comic book series) is nasty fun for the hardcore horror fan.

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