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Dexter - The Complete Second Season (2007)
dir. n/a
I still haven't seen one episode of this show, but I'll be watching the first two seasons within the week. There's too much positive word-of-mouth to let this show go unwatched any longer.
Product Decsription:
Dark and sinister is the new sexy, thanks to Dexter, which in its second season has proven to be the most successful series Showtime has offered up yet. Remember how much you squirmed in your seat during the season one finale? Believe it or not, the premiere of season two felt like it could have been a season finale--because jaws were on the floor when the credits rolled. For being a supposed sociopath, Dex is pretty broken up about the gruesome events that concluded last season. The one and only person who could possibly understand him is six feet under, and it seems our unlikely hero is losing his homicidal grip. He’s even having a little trouble slicing up a few of his latest victims (from a murderous gang member to a chainsaw-wielding fiend from his past). Enter Lila (Jaime Murray, Hustle), a lady with a sweet British accent and a few dark secrets of her own. She seems to accept Dex for who he really is, and he finds himself feeling relaxed for the first time in his life. In contrast, his relationship with his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) has been stretched almost to a breaking point. The problem is, he should be anything but relaxed. Someone picked a poor place to go scuba diving off the Florida coast, and came across an underwater graveyard: Dex’s primo spot for dropping dismembered bodies wrapped in heavy-duty trash bags. Word about the "Bay Harbor Butcher" gets out quick, and the F.B.I. sends the best of the best, Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine, Deadwood) to work alongside the police to sniff out Miami’s latest serial killer. This guy is no schlub, and Dex may have met his match. And, yes, Dexter gets to work with Lundy on a daily basis, which provides some wonderfully awkward moments. It certainly doesn’t help that the intuitively paranoid Sergeant Doakes (Erik King, Oz) is hot on Dex’s trail.
Season two of Dexter is all about decisions. Lila or Rita? Old code or new code? Run or fight? Right or wrong? Well, one thing’s for sure: When it comes to writing, casting, acting, and production, the makers of this show made all the right decisions. Michael C. Hall is simply superb as the title character. You’ll never find yourself more willing to genuinely root for a serial killer. It’s bloody liberating.
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Recount (2008)
dir. Jay Roach
A very solid made-for-HBO movie. It's impressive how, considering we all lived through this event and know the outcome, they can still create a pretty intense feeling of tension with the results of the elections.
Product Decsription:
At the height of the 2000 election season, CBS anchor Dan Rather quipped, "The presidential race is crackling like a hickory fire." Director Jay Roach (Austin Powers) recaptures that blaze in his smart HBO docudrama about the thriller in Palm Beach County. Written by actor Danny Strong, Recount bounces between the Sunshine State, Gore's Tennessee headquarters, and Bush's Texas stomping grounds. Gore adviser Ron Klain (an excellent Kevin Spacey) provides a privileged window into those weeks when the American public first became familiar with obscure terms like "hanging chad." (Since Klain has an ax to grind with the vice president, neither he nor Gore appear completely heroic.) First, the Democratic candidate pulls ahead; then he falls behind. Just as he prepares to concede, Klain's colleague, Michael Whouley (Denis Leary), spots an anomaly in the vote count, and the race continues. Enter eccentric Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (Laura Dern, a certain Emmy nominee), who orders a recount, and former Secretaries of State Warren Christopher (John Hurt) and James Baker III (Tom Wilkinson), who oversee a process that ends up in the Supreme Court (where Ed Begley Jr.'s David Boies represents Gore). Produced by the late Sydney Pollack, who originally intended to direct, Recount skillfully integrates news footage with dark comedy, most provided by the foul-mouthed Whouley and Bush adviser Ben Ginsberg (Bob Balaban), who's still livid about JFK's victory over Nixon. If the Democrats come across as more sympathetic, the Republicans come across as more colorful--and strategically effective.
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Street Kings (2008)
dir. David Ayer
Looks pretty generic...I was gonna say it looks pretty similar to that Christian Bale movie Harsh Times, then I found out that David Ayer directed that, too. Hmm.
Product Decsription:
Street Kings is a pungent bouquet of corruption, violence, multi-ethnic mayhem, macho glee laced with macho angst, and fluorescently obscene dialogue from the mind of James Ellroy. Its hero, though he'd scarcely consent to be called one, is L.A. police detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves), for whom life is a wound that won't heal and dealing out retribution to scumbags is the ongoing treatment. Ludlow's the star player--"the tip of the [expletive] spear"--on a team of detectives headed by Capt. Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Coach Wander relies on his boys to keep breaking lurid cases, usually through deeply darkside underground work, and raising his profile with the media and the department. In pursuit of these goals, nothing is forbidden except failure, and the truth is what you make it look like. This is familiar Ellroy territory, most effectively translated to the screen in L.A. Confidential (which should have won the 1997 Oscar, and would have if Titanic hadn't launched that year). If you know Ellroy's ground game, you can pretty much guess where Street Kings is going, and where it's been. Still, the twists and torques of its urban road-rage course maintain the centrifugal force needed to hold us in our seats (a tactical highlight: refrigerator adapted as rolling barricade), and the movie keeps bopping us with oddball casting coups: comic Jay Mohr and Northern Exposure/Sex and the City veteran John Corbett as two members of Coach Warden's gonzo detective squad; Cedric the Entertainer doing a nicely nuanced turn as a street creature; Hugh Laurie doing a less-hyper version of House, if House worked Internal Affairs.
The problem is that director David Ayer keeps everything intense. Dialogues are shot too close-up, line readings are too strident, the action is too nonstop slam. Recall Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential and the mind's eye summons up a whole spectrum of existence, mood, place, historical period, emotional investment; there's an amplitude to the picture and the sensibility bringing it to us, something besides the whodunit and the endless rap sheet of nasty what-they-done. Everything in Street Kings is one-note, and with Keanu Reeves playing it implosive and Forest Whitaker locked in crazier-than-an-outhouse-rat mode, that's no way to stay the course.
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Twenty-Four Eyes - Criterion Collection (1954)
dir. Keisuke Kinoshita
Keisuke Kinoshita isn't as well known as Japan's bigger directors, but his catalog is just as impressive. Twenty-Four Eyes is probably his masterpiece.
Product Decsription:
Keisuke Kinoshita's Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijushi no hitomi) is an elegant, emotional chronicle of a teacher s unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense of morality. Set in a remote, rural island community and spanning decades of Japanese history, from 1928 through World War II and beyond, Kinoshita's film takes a simultaneously sober and sentimental look at the epic themes of aging, war, and death, all from the lovingly intimate perspective of Hisako Oshi (Hideko Takamine), as she watches her pupils grow and deal with life's harsh realities. Though little known in the United States, Twenty-Four Eyes is one of Japan's most popular and enduring classics.
DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interview with Japanese cinema historian and critic Tadao Sato about the film and its director
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay be renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita
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The Small Back Room (1952)
dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
I'm just surprised there are still some Powell & Pressburger movies out there that Criterion hasn't released yet.
Product Decsription:
After the lavish Technicolor spectacle of The Red Shoes, British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger retreated into the inward, shadowy recesses of this moody, crackling character study. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nigel Balchin, The Small Back Room details the professional and personal travails of troubled, alcoholic research scientist and military bomb-disposal expert Sammy Rice (David Farrar), who, while struggling with a complex relationship with secretary-girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron), is hired by the government to advise on a dangerous new German weapon. Frank and intimate, deftly mixing suspense and romance, The Small Back Room is an atmospheric, post World War II gem.
DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer,
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Charles Barr,
New video interview with cinematographer Chris Challis,
Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography.
PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Nick James.
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Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
dir. Bharat Nalluri
Product Decsription:
Based on a 1938 Winifred Watson novel, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a colorful story about lives stalled in middle age but kick-started again by the follies of youthful lovers all around. Frances McDormand stars as Miss Pettigrew, whose inability to hold a job in London as a governess compromises her well-being shortly before England’s entry in World War II. Finessing her way into a position as social secretary to a young, American golddigger and singer named Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), the starving Miss Pettigrew finds herself at the center of a whirlwind that is her new employer’s life. Hemmed in by lovers and suitors--including a young, theatrical producer (Tom Payne) looking to cast one of his pleasing girlfriends in a plum role; a creepy nightclub owner (Mark Strong) in whose flat Delysia lives; and a pianist (Lee Pace) who genuinely loves her--Delysia needs a map to figure out how to navigate through life. Miss Pettigrew, who suffered a loss during WWI that she does not speak of, nudges the naïve songstress toward wise decisions. But she is at the mercy of Delysia’s formidable friend (Shirley Henderson), who knows the truth about her impoverished state and is engaged to a much older man (Ciarán Hinds). The latter, a fellow of substance who seems to be meandering through life, falls instantly for the soulful Miss Pettigrew. Full of Art Deco trappings and paced with a vintage, screwball comedy energy, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is like watching a contemporary version of a Hollywood classic.
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Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles - The Complete First Season (2008)
dir. n/a
This show is garbage, but as a geek, I feel obligated to mention anything Terminator-related.
Product Decsription:
This spin-off from the science-fiction franchise follows John and Sarah Connor after the events of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. An onslaught of robotic killers from the future are bent on destroying teenager John Connor (Thomas Dekker), humanity's future savior. Standing between them are his determined mother, Sarah (Lena Headey), and Cameron (Summer Glau), a beautiful girl from John's school who turns out to be a Terminator assigned to protect him. They can't run forever, however, and their only chance of survival rests on preventing the creation of Skynet--stopping judgment day and creating a new future for the human race. This collection presents the first action-packed season of this intelligent, well-written series.
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Don Quixote (2007)
dir. Orson Welles, Jesús Franco
Probably the most (in)famous of all the unfinished Quixote projects. Jesus Franco was an assistant director on this project and decided to throw together the rest of the film himself, with mixed results.
Product Decsription:
Cervantes' epic novel DON QUIXOTE is notoriously un-filmable--several major directors have tried, only to be left with half of a finished project after a series of disasters. The most mysterious of these incomplete attempts belongs to Orson Welles; the legendary director began shooting his adaptation in 1955, but a final product was never released. This presentation of ORSON WELLES' DON QUIXOTE is a simulation of the auteur's vision, crafted after his death by assistant director Jess Franco using Welles's extensive notes and copious raw footage.
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The Fletch Collection (1985)
dir. Michael Ritchie
Two movies don't really make up a "collection" in my book, and only the first Fletch is worth watching anyway.
Product Decsription:
Gregory McDonald's lightweight mystery novel about an undercover newspaper reporter cracking a police drug ring is transformed by screenwriter Andrew Bergman (Blazing Saddles, and writer/director of The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas) into a fairly sarcastic and occasionally very funny Chevy Chase vehicle. Enjoyment of the film pivots on whether you find Chase's flippant, smart-ass brand of verbal humor funny, or merely egocentric. If you don't like Chase, there's really no one else worth watching (Geena Davis is sadly underused). Chase seems born to play I.M. "Fletch" Fletcher, a disillusioned investigative reporter whose cynicism and detached view on life mirrors the actor's understated approach to comedy. Fletcher offers Chase the opportunity to adopt numerous personas, as his job requires numerous (bad) physical disguises, and much of film's humor centers on the ridiculous idea that any of these phony accents or bad hairpieces could fool anyone. These not-so-clever disguises are put to use when Fletch becomes involved in the film's smart but continually self-mocking two-part mystery. As well as trying to gather drug-smuggling evidence against the LAPD for a long-overdue newspaper story, a rich and apparently terminally ill stranger also offers Fletch a large payoff to kill him. While the film does a fairly good job juggling both of these plots, not to mention tossing in a love interest as well, it's subservient, for better or worse, to Chase's memorable one-liners and disguises. Followed by two forgettable sequels that lack both the original's wit and Chase's attention span.
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An American Crime (2007)
dir. Tommy O'Haver
As I said last week, Ellen Page is my motion picture kryptonite, so while other people might want to check this out, I'll pass.
Product Decsription:
Based on a true story that shocked the nation in 1965 the film recounts one of the most shocking crimes ever committed against a single victim. Sylvia and Jennie Fae Likens the two daughters of traveling carnival workers are left for an extended stay at the Indianapolis (3850 E. New York St. is hardly suburban nor was it in 1965 by any stretch of the imagination.) home of single mother Gertrude Baniszewski and her seven children. Times are tough and Gertrude's financial needs cause her to make this arrangement before realizing how the burden will push her unstable nature to a breaking point. What transpires in the next three months is both riveting and horrific leaving one child dead and the rest scarred for life.
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The Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
dir. Vadim Perelman
Product Decsription:
Based on the novel by Laura Kasischke this powerful drama starring Uma Thurman unfolds in out-of-sequence flashbacks. Recklessly hedonistic teenager Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) and her best friend a Christian virgin (Eva Amuri) come face to face with a machine-gun-wielding classmate one morning at school in a situation reminiscent of Columbine. Thurman plays the grown-up version of Diana who has a perfect life in the same small town 15 years after the tragedy. On the anniversary of the shooting unpleasant flashbacks haunt her as she takes her daughter to school lectures on Gauguin to a bored art history class and possibly spots her older professor husband out with a younger woman. As the events cohere and time collapses one realizes nothing is certain and life renews and ends on a moment-by-moment basis. Under the helm of Vadim Perelman (HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG) a spiritual presence is imbued in lovingly photographed close-ups of flowers dirty dishes cats ants spiders bees on flowers leaves and Wood diving in and out of a swimming pool in slow motion. The dialogue is peppered with believably offhand philosophical inquiry and if the film does nothing else it makes one reevaluate one's perspective on the sanctity of every life decision--and to feel a degree of awe and reverence for the acting skills and beauty of both Thurman and Wood who meld believably into the same complex character.
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Please Vote for Me (2007)
dir. Wiejun Chen
Product Decsription:
Two males and a female vie for office, indulging in low blows and spin, character assassination and gestures of goodwill, all the while guaging their standing with voters. The setting is not the Democratic presidential campaign, but a third-grade class at an elementary school in the city of Wuhan in central China. "Please Vote For Me", which is on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences documentary feature shortlist, packs its fleet hour with keen observations. Chroniciling a public school's first open elections - at stake is the position of class monitor - filmmaker Weijun Chen has crafted a witty, engaging macro-lens view of human nature, China's one-child policy and the democratic electorial process as the ultimate exercise in marketing.
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Prom Night (Unrated) (2008)
dir. Nelson McCormick
Product Decsription:
An attractive cast of young performers lead by Brittany Snow (Hairspray) is the main selling point for Prom Night, a remake of the 1980 Canadian slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Snow makes for a capable lead as the sole survivor of her family's massacre at the hands of an obsessed teacher (Jonathan Schaech), who returns three years later to finish his campaign on the eve of her senior prom. While no one's idea of a classic horror film, the Paul Lynch-directed Prom Night offered viewers a modest whodunit angle in between the killings; here, the villain's identity is known from the get-go, and what's left is a string of mechanical stalkings (which feature a surprisingly modest amount of blood) and reams of turgid teenspeak, which is handled as best as possible by Snow and her cast mates. The end result is a dull, suspense-free chiller that manages to make its mediocre source material seem inspired by comparison. Older moviegoers may note the presence of actors Idris Elba and James Ransone, both used so well on The Wire, and so thoroughly wasted here.
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The Wizard of Gore (2007)
dir. Jeremy Kasten
A role Crispin Glover was born to play. Throwing in some of the Suicide Girls seems like a gimmick, but it'll probably work.
Product Decsription:
Magic, madness and mayhem join in this diabolical remake of the 1970 horror cult classic. Crispin Glover (Willard) stars as a master illusionist whose female audience participants (The Suicide Girls) are hideously murdered onstage, only to miraculously reappear untouched. But when a smart reporter (Kip Pardue, Remember the Titans) finds they re later turning up dead with the same wounds as those inflicted during the performance, his investigation leads to unimaginable terror. Featuring Bijou Phillips (Hostel: Part II) and Brad Dourif (Rob Zombie s Halloween), Wizard of Gore takes you on a terrifying journey deep into the heart of evil.
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Wimbledon - The 2008 Finals: Nadal vs. Federer (2008)
dir. n/a
Not just the greatest tennis match ever, but one of the most incredible sporting events I've ever seen.
Product Decsription:
On July 6 2008, one dream ended, and a new one began on the Centre Court in Wimbledon. In the latest, magnificent chapter of their storied rivalry, Rafael Nadal dethroned five-time champion Roger Federer by winning the longest-ever Wimbledon men's final.
The consistently heart stopping 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 classic began at 2.35 pm and, thanks to a couple of breaks for rain it ended at 9.15 pm with the 22-year-old from Mallorca dropping to the ground with his arms outstretched in celebration. With the win, Nadal matched Bjorn Borg's fantastic feat of winning the Grand Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back and also prevented Federer from surpassing the five titles in a row Borg collected between 1976 and 1980.
Conditions for the latest duel between tennis's two finest players could not have been more demanding. The rain, which delayed the start for 27 minutes, eventually cleared but the chill, gusting wind which accompanied it persisted throughout the match, blowing winning shots off course and making life even more difficult for the two competitors. That they coped so well spoke volumes for their skill and adaptability.
The match is being proclaimed as the greatest Grand Slam finals of all time.
The Spaniard, who had squandered two match points in a nerve-shredding fourth set tie-break, added a first All England Club title to his four French Opens, shattering Federer's dreams of an historic sixth successive Wimbledon trophy.
'It's impossible to explain what I felt when I won. I'm just very happy to win this title. I never thought I could win but to do so is a dream'; said Nadal who had lost the last two finals to Federer.
It was late, very late, but not too late to crown a new champion.
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Marco Ferreri: The Collection
MOVIES INCLUDE:
El Cochecito (1960)
The Seed of Man (1969)
La Grande Bouffe (1973)
Don't Touch the White Woman (1974)
Bye Bye Monkey (1978)
Seeking Asylum (1979)
Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981)
The House of Smiles (1988)
Product Decsription:
Marco Ferreri's satirical and often surreal films embody a unique vision of humanity borne of exasperation and nihilism. Through these eight genre-bending black comedies the controversial director crafted a fiercely contemporary cinematic language of his own delving deep into the alienation of men women and children.
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The Riddle (2007)
dir. Brendan Foley
Product Decsription:
A brutal string of murders spurs reporter Mike Sullivan (Vinnie Jones, Snatch, X-Men: The Last Stand) to search for the cunning killer in this supernatural mystery. But to stop the killings, he first must solve a century-old murder hidden inside the pages of a newly discovered Charles Dickens manuscript. Co-starring Derek Jacobi (Gladiator, Underworld: Evolution) and Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement), this intriguing thriller takes an unusual twist guaranteed to surprise you!
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Fighting With Anger (2008)
dir. Sam Um
Could they have picked a less intimidating guy to play an "aging mentor assassin" in a martial arts action thriller? Can Wille even fire a gun without his heart exploding?
Product Decsription:
Ray (Fleming) is a young, beautiful and deadly assassin looking for answers about her past. Will (Willie Nelson) is her aging mentor who assigns her to a series of new jobs and may know more about her past than he is letting on. When an innocent woman is killed, Ray is faced with the pain of her past and a new nemesis that emerges from the shadows. Fighting With Anger is a non-stop martial arts action thriller filled with gripping mystery, blazing gun battles, and fast and furious hand-to-hand combat!
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