RoosterFlix DVD Picks for July 1st

I've been doing this weekly "DVD Picks" blog for the past 2-3 years for no real reason other than to keep myself aware of what's coming out. I buy DVDs nearly every single week, so it's nice to get all my ducks in a row when I go to place an order. Hopefully, you, the reader, will find these posts helpful & informative as well. You can view my past DVD Picks here.

And away we go...



Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection (1985)
dir. Paul Schrader

If you know anything about Yukio Mishima, then you know his life story would make for a compelling and thought-provoking movie. After all, anyone who has the balls to commit seppuku has got to be at least a little bit captivating. Mishima became so completely wrapped up in samurai tradition and its heroic ideals (among other things) that his suicide seemed like a foregone conclusion. With Paul Schrader writing and directing, is there really any way at all this could go wrong? The man wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull for fuck's sake. Come on. I'm so glad Criterion got their hands on this.

Product Decsription:
Paul Schrader's visually stunning structurally audacious collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yuko Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self art and society. Taking place on Mishima's last day when he famously committed public seppuku (ritual suicide) the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer's life as well as gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka and unforgettable highly influential score by Philip Glass Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a sincere tribute to its subject and a bold investigative work of art in its own right.

DVD Features:
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the director's cut, supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John Bailey
Optional English and Japanese voice-over narrations, the former by Roy Scheider, the latter by Ken Ogata
New audio commentary featuring Schrader and producer Alan Poul
New video interviews with Bailey, producers Tom Luddy and Mata Yamamoto, composer Philip Glass, and production designer Eiko Ishioka
New video interviews with Mishima biographer John Nathan and friend Donald Richie
New audio interview with coscreenwriter Chieko Schrader
Video interview excerpt featuring Mishima talking about writing
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima, a 55-minute BBC documentary about the author
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka's sets
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Patriotism - Criterion Collection (1966)
dir. Yukio Mishima

The companion piece to Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Yukio Mishima is known primarily as a prolific, critically-acclaimed writer, but Patriotism marks the first and last time he ever stepped behind the camera. The cover shows an officer in the final seconds of his life before committing suicide, an eerie premonition of Mishima's own suicide 4 years later. If you pick up Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, I see no reason why you shouldn't get this as well.

Product Decsription:
Playwright and novelist Yukio Mishima predicted his own suicide with this ravishing short feature his only foray into film making yet directed with the expressiveness and confidence of a true cinema artist. All prints of Patriotism (Yukoku) which depicts the seppuku (ritual suicide) of a naval officer were destroyed after Mishima's death in 1970 though the negative was saved and the film resurfaced thirty-five years later. New viewers will be stunned at the depth and clarity of Mishima's vision as well as his graphic depictions of sex and death.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the Japanese and English versions, with optional Japanese or English intertitles
A 45-minute audio recording of Yukio Mishima speaking to the Foreign Correspondents' Association of Japan
A 45-minute making-of documentary, featuring crew from the film's production
Interview excerpts featuring Mishima discussing war and death
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by renowned critic and historian Tony Rayns, Mishima's original short story, and Mishima's extensive notes on the film's production
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Vantage Point (2008)
dir. Pete Travis

The trailers for this movie never really got me interested in it, but I would probably check this out eventually just based on the strength of the cast.

Product Decsription:
Vantage Point, which aspires to be a cunningly twisted thriller, comes equipped with plenty of hurtling action, handheld camerawork, what-was-that? editing, and a plot that has multiple, contradictory agendas writhing like a nest of snakes. It's all set a-boil within a few blocks of a town square in Spain where a U.S. President is targeted for assassination. Although the movie lasts 90 minutes, the events it depicts are mostly over with in a quarter-hour or so--but seen, rewound, and reseen from half a dozen different (you guessed it) vantage points. The first line in the credits reads "Original Film," apparently the name of the production company. "Gimmick Movie" would be more accurate; the opening reel, effectively jolting, affords an initial overview of the events through the eyes, lenses, monitors, and dueling sensibilities of a TV news producer (Sigourney Weaver), her activist-minded reporter (Zoe Saldana) and crew. Everybody’s in Salamanca (actually, Mexico City) for the start of an international conference to reaffirm Arab-Western commitment to the fight against terrorism. Terrorism, of course, sees this as an ideal moment to break out. As gunshots and explosions reduce everything to chaos, the clock is reset to zero and we proceed to revisit the scene as experienced by several Secret Service agents (namely Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), an American tourist with camcorder (Forest Whitaker), sundry locals--including three who may be caught up in a love triangle or a conspiracy or both--and even the President himself (William Hurt).

For a while, this is mildly diverting: that guy, or that gesture, so sinister when glimpsed across the plaza in one run-through, now appears harmless in close-up--or vice versa. But there's no real ambiguity (so stop with the careless comparisons to Kurosawa's Rashomon)--this is a shell game in which the peas aren't worth tracking. Despite decent actors, the characters might as well be holograms (although poor Forest Whitaker is saddled with "motivation" of surpassing sappiness), and the casting telegraphs several twists: one redoubtable good guy practically gives a wink-wink, nudge-nudge that he's really bad, etc. The movie declines to specify which nutjob philosophy the terrorists espouse, and their numbers are multi-ethnic. There's also a laborious suggestion that they have bloodthirsty, reactionary counterparts among the President's inner circle, which perhaps qualifies as redeeming socio-political comment and prompts a meaningless declaration of deep meaning from the Prez. The whole megilleh finally comes down to an extended car chase through impassably claustrophobic streets that would mark a lurch into unintentional self-parody--if only that point hadn't been passed a couple of rewinds earlier.

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Mad Men - Season One (2007)
dir. n/a

A critically-acclaimed series that I haven't had the opportunity to watch yet, but I'm going to try and catch up with it before the 2nd season airs. I've heard nothing but good things.

Product Decsription:
Set in 1960 New York City Mad Men explores the glamorous and ego-driven "Golden Age" of advertising where everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what it seems. And no one plays the game better than Don Draper (Golden Globe - winner Jon Hamm) Madison Avenue's biggest ad man - and ladies man - in the business.

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Gangs of New York (2002)
dir. Martin Scoresese

There have been complaints that the picture has been a bit over-processed for this Blu-ray release with edge enhancement running rampant. Still, it probably looks much better than the standard def release and considering how amazing the film looks, it deserves to be seen in HD. All the extras from the standard def release have been carried over to this disc.

Product Decsription:
Gangs of New York may achieve greatness with the passage of time. Mixed reviews were inevitable for a production this grand (and this troubled behind the scenes), but it's as distinguished as any of director Martin Scorsese's more celebrated New York stories. From its astonishing 1846 prologue to the city's infernal draft riots of 1863, the film aspires to erase the decorum of textbooks and chronicle 19th-century New York as a cauldron of street warfare. The hostility is embodied in a tale of primal vengeance between Irish American son Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his father's ruthless killer and "Nativist" gang leader Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis, brutally inspired), so named for his lethal talent with knives. Vallon's vengeance is only marginally compelling; DiCaprio is arguably miscast, and Cameron Diaz (as Vallon's pickpocket lover) is adrift in a film with little use for women. Despite these weaknesses, Scorsese's mastery blossoms in his expert melding of personal and political trajectories; this is American history written in blood, unflinching, authentic, and utterly spectacular.

DVD Features:
Discovery Channel Special: Uncovering The Real Gangs Of New York
Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Dubbed: French
Feature Audio Commentary With Martin Scorsese
Featurettes: Costume Design, Set Design, & History Of The Five Points - Explore The Sets Of Gangs Of New York With Multiple Angles Utilizing 360-Degree Shots Of The Sets
Interactive Menus
Music Video: U2's The Hands That Built America
Scene Selection
This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound
Trailers
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My Blueberry Nights (2007)
dir. Wong Kar-Wai

I like Wong Kar-Wai, but I don't think I'm as big a fan of his as alot of other people are. I absolutely love Chungking Express, and I don't think he's made anything as good since then. It'll be interesting to see how he handles his first English language film. One thing I'm sure is certain: it'll look amazing.

Product Decsription:
Bob Dylan's song "Lovesick" could describe every film Wong Kar-Wai has made since 1988's As Tears Go By. My Blueberry Nights, his first English-language feature, continues the Hong Kong helmer's fixation with the concept. Grammy-winning vocalist Norah Jones plays downhearted New Yorker Elizabeth. When her boyfriend takes up with another woman, she drowns her sorrows in the hand-crafted pie served up by sympathetic café proprietor Jeremy (Jude Law in a charming turn). Lizzie appreciates the support, but decides her best plan of attack is to leave town, so she hops a bus to Memphis, where she waitresses while serving as a sounding board for alcoholic police officer Arnie (David Strathairn), who pines for estranged wife Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz). Later, Lizzie tries her luck in Vegas, where she joins forces with professional poker player Leslie (a brassy Natalie Portman). During her journey, Lizzie sends Jeremy postcards; through her wistful words, he finds himself falling in love. With Ry Cooder's plaintive score (bolstered by tunes from Jones and special guest Chan "Cat Power" Marshall) and golden-hued camera work from Darius Khondji (replacing regular cinematographer Christopher Doyle), My Blueberry Nights reaches for the elegiac tone of Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas as much as Wong's own Chungking Express. It's an odd combination that doesn't always work--the banal dialogue isn't up to the director's usual standards--but lovesickness has rarely been rendered more vividly.

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City of Men (2008)
dir. Paulo Morelli

City of God is still my favorite movie of this decade, so needless to say, my expectations of anything associated with it are exceedingly high. I still haven't seen the TV series, but I'm looking forward to watching it, as well as this movie.

Product Decsription:
Action-packed and fueled by Brazilian funk, City of Men returns the makers of City of God to the scene of their first success. In this case, the search for family supersedes the search for identity--not that there isn't a correlation between the two. Though produced by Fernando Meirelles, Paulo Morelli's feature isn't a sequel, but a follow-up to the four-season series of the same name. While Meirelles's movie takes place in Rio de Janeiro's past, Morelli's transpires in the present (not counting flashbacks from the show). Days away from turning 18, boyhood friends Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha, a.k.a. Wallace (Darlan Cunha), grew up without fathers. Ace has a wife and child; Wallace has a steady girl. The duo gets along with the gang that rules their labyrinthine hillside neighborhood or favela, but hoodlum life holds little appeal. Ace struggles to raise his young son--his security guard father was murdered during a robbery--while Wallace tries to track down the dad he never knew. With Ace's assistance, Wallace solves the mystery of his genealogy, but at great cost to their friendship (and lives). Despite the South American pedigree, City of Men suggests the South Central of Boyz N the Hood more than City of God. It's not that Morelli's kinetic film looks like John Singleton's more classically composed enterprise, but that it deals with similar inner-city concerns. That said, Silva and Cunha are every bit as charismatic as Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr.--if not more so.

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Sex and Death 101 (2007)
dir. Daniel Waters

I heard a couple decent things about this movie, but never got a chance to see it. The director, Daniel Waters, is responsible for writing The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Hudson Hawk, Batman Returns, and Demolition Man. "Be Well!"...."Be Fucked."

Product Decsription:
Less than two weeks before his wedding, good-guy Roderick Blank (Simon Baker of The Devil Wears Prada) receives a mysterious email listing every girl he's ever had sex with...and the 70+ names of everyone he ever will have sex with. But as Roderick begins enjoying all the strippers, porn stars, stewardesses and celebrity lesbians on the list, he discovers that his ultimate date with destiny may lay with the serial killer known as 'Death Nell' (Oscar nominee Winona Ryder). Is the luckiest man in the world now doomed to face the final position of the Karma Sutra? Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Neil Flynn (Scrubs), Julie Bowen (Boston Legal), Sophie Monk (Date Movie) and Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life) co-star in this sexy black comedy written and directed by Daniel Waters, creator of the legendary cult classic Heathers.

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The Pied Piper (1972)
dir. Jacques Demy


Product Decsription:
The Pied Piper is director Jacques Demy's masterful retelling of the classic children's tale. Set in the Middle Ages, the divided town of Hamelin tries in vain to rid itself of the black plague. When a mysterious musician arrives (played by music legend Donovan), can the townspeople put aside their personal agendas to rid themselves of their rat infestation? Or will the petty and greedy town leaders, led by the sublimely creepy Donald Pleasence, attempt to take advantage of their savior? With great music and spectacular costumes and sets, The Pied Piper is a fascinating take on a familiar legend.

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The American Film Theater Complete 14 Film Collection

Lee Marvin will kick your ass if you don't buy this.

Product Decsription:
All these DVDs are presented in their original aspect ration and are loaded with Extras - This star-studded 14 FIlm Collection Includes the Following Films:

Eugene O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH (1973) (2 DISCS) - Directed by John Frankenheimer - Starring Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan and Jeff Bridges. 239 minutes - A Majestic and Thrilling Achievement -- Charles Champlin, The Los Angeles Times

Edward Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE (1973) - Directed by Tony Richardson - Starring Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick and Joseph Cotten. 132 minutes - A Superlative Record of Albee's Play, Enthrallingly Brought to the Screen -- San Francisco Examiner

Robert Shaw's THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH (1975) - Directed by Arthur Hiller - Starring Maximilian Schell in His Academy Award nominated Performance. 117 minutes - Daring, Outragious, Utterly Provocative, Strikingly Effective -- Los Angeles Times

Eugene Ionesco's RHINOCEROS (1974) - Directed by Tom O'Horgan - Starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, the stars of Mel Brooks' The Producers. With Karen Black. 104 minutes - Rhinoceros is a Fast Paced, Inventively Realized Film -- The Boston Phoenix

Simon Gray's BUTLEY (1974) - Directed by Harold Pinter - Starring Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy and Georgina Hale. 104 minutes - An Extraordinary Success... A devilishly entertaining piece and showpiece for Alan Bates -- San Francisco Examiner

Jean Genet's THE MAIDS (1975) - Directed by Christopher Miles - Starring Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivien Merchant. 94 minutes

John Osborne's LUTHER (1974) - Directed Guy Green - Starring Stacy Keach, Judi Dench, Hugh Griffith and Patrick Magee. 111 minutes - One of the Best Pictures of the Year -- The Denver Post

David Storey's IN CELEBRATION (1975) - Directed by Lindsay Anderson - Starring Alan Bates, Brian Cox, Bill Owen and Constance Chapman. 130 minutes - Anderson and a superb cast have made a harrowing and satisfying suspense drama -- New York Magazine

Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS (1970) - Directed by Laurence Olivier - Starring Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates, Joan Plowright and Derek Jacobi. 162 minutes - Four Stars... Highest Rating - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Harold Pinter's THE HOMECOMING (1973) - Directed by Peter Hall - Starring Ian Holm, Vivien Merchant, Paul Rogers and Cyril Cusack. 114 minutes - A Fine, Ferocious Film -- Time Magazine

Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO (1974) - Directed by Joseph Losey - Starring Topol, Edward Fox, John Gielgud and Tom Conti. 138 minutes - Taste, Class and a First-rate Cast -- Variety

Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's LOST IN THE STARS (1974) - Directed by Daniel Mann - Starring Brock Peters, Melba Moore and Raymond St. Jacques. 97 minutes - Brock Peters is Outstanding... his ending scene is a triumph -- Atlanta Journal Constitution

Brian Friel's PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME! (1975) - Directed by John Quested - Starring Siobhan McKenna, Donal McCann and Fidelma Murphy. 95 minutes

Jacques Brel's JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS (1975) - Directed by Denis Heroux - Starring Jacques Brel and Elly Stone. 97 minutes - Infected With Spirit... Bitingly Relevant -- Variety

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Only the Valiant (1951)
dir. Gordon Douglas

Product Decsription:
Capt. Richard Lance is an officer who is both respected and hated by his men, due to his by-the-book methods. Then one day, he and a small team of soldiers are assigned to keep watch over a mountain outstation, until the other troops arrive to retrieve them. Realizing that the nearby Apaches will surely attack their small, vulnerable group, Lance decides to choose the men who despise him the most for the life-threatening task...

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Drillbit Taylor (Unrated Extended Survival Edition) (2008)
dir. Steven Brill

Looks like pure shit, but I like Owen Wilson. I'll give him a chance.

Product Decsription:
Like Owen Wilson himself, Drillbit Taylor has a loose, shaggy-dog appeal. Wilson plays a homeless ex-soldier who wants to emigrate illegally to Canada--and when three misfit high-school students hire him to protect them from bullies, he sets out to fleece them for the money he needs to get away. Naturally, this being a formulaic crowd-pleaser, he bonds with the kids and discovers that maybe his life isn't so worthless after all. Fortunately for moviegoers, the creators of Drillbit Taylor (including co-writer Seth Rogen, star of Knocked Up) have the wit to tweak the formula and give what could have been prefabricated and bland some grit, surprises, and genuine laughs (as well as an allusion to this movie's obvious inspiration, the 1980 teen-movie classic My Bodyguard). While nowhere near as funny (or as rude) as Rogen's previous co-writing effort, the dorkily sublime Superbad, Drillbit Taylor benefits from a similar grasp of the genuine cravings and frustrations of adolescence. Still, it's Wilson's movie, and his slacker-romantic rhythm gives the hmor its swing. Also featuring Leslie Mann (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), who is woefully underutilized as Wilson's love interest. One sneaky bit of casting: The main bully is played by Alex Frost, who played an unhappy teen driven to shoot up his school in director Gus Van Sant's Elephant.

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Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
dir. George Marshall

Van Hammersly is all I can think of.

Product Decsription:
Jackie Gleason stars in this warm-hearted look back at one family's larger than life father. Set at the start of the 20th century, Gleason plays Jack Griffith, a gregarious railroad man whose love for his family is rivaled only by his love for the bottle. Griffith's penchant for outrageous behavior, followed up by a more outrageous gift to atone for it, has begun to alienate his wife and oldest daughter, although his youngest still adores her father. Gleason portrays Griffith's "delicate condition" with a mixture of humor and humanity, and the end result is a moving portrait of a family's ups and downs. Gleason's performance of the Academy Award® winning song "Call Me Irresponsible" is not to be missed.

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Triloquist (2007)
dir. Mark Jones

If you enjoyed every single Leprechaun movie, you might enjoy this since Mark Jones wrote all of them, and directed the first one. He even wrote episodes of the A-Team and Turbo Teen, one of the most frightening cartoons of all time!

Product Decsription:
This is that old coming-of-age tale of two wide-eyed siblings who go on a life-changing road trip to Las Vegas, taking nothing with them but a creepy dummy that appears to be alive, some loaded weapons, and their own twisted and dangerous psychoses. It's the kind of simple, straight story that rekindles the nostalgia of your youth. Renowned horror director and creepy-little-monster lover Mark Jones (LEPRECHAUN, RUMPLESTILTSKIN) writes and directs this horror-comedy.