RoosterFlix DVD Picks for September 16th

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Speed Racer (2008)
dir. The Wachowski Bros.

I know I'm in the extreme minority here, but this is still my favorite movie of 2008 so far. There hasn't been a film this perfectly cast since Robert Altman's Popeye, and watching the movie is, as one reviewer put it, like having molten Starburst poured into your eyesockets. I went to the theater on opening weekend to see it and the place was completely empty. Bad for the movie but 100% awesome for me. This is the type of movie that must be seen on the largest screen possible to be fully appreciated. I really wish I would've been able to see it in IMAX. I know the last 2 Matrix movies were garbage, but Speed Racer left me genuinely excited for the Wachowski Brothers' next project.

Product Decsription:
An over-the-top, sensory overload experience determined to replicate its frantic, television-anime origins, Speed Racer is wild enough to induce a headache or wow a viewer with one dazzling effect after another. Adapted for the big screen as a live-action feature, Speed Racer is written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the sibling team behind the intensely satisfying The Matrix and its busier, less interesting sequels. Where the rich mythmaking of The Matrix was entirely accessible, however, Speed Racer's overwhelming and gratuitously complicated story exposition is an enormous challenge to follow, let alone embrace. After a while, one simply surrenders to the unbroken din of dialogue concerning corporate chicanery, corruption in the sport of racing, and a value conflict between racing as a family business versus multinational cash cow. At the same time, the film's hyper-real equivalent of the old Speed Racer cartoon's great whoosh of color, motion, and edgy production design--such as inventive uses of scene-changing wipes, bold framing, shifting perspectives--are more overbearing than fun.
Emile Hirsch plays Speed Racer, younger brother of a deceased racing legend, Rex, and son of car designer Pops (John Goodman). The latter invented Speed's Mach 5, and is singularly unimpressed by an offer from a giant conglomerate that would lock Speed into exclusive racing services. Speed opts instead for family loyalty, incurring the wrath of the conglomerate's unctuous head (Roger Allam). With family honor on the line and the affections of girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) behind him, Speed hits the track in hopes of fulfilling his destiny as a master racer. The cast is largely enjoyable, including Susan Sarandon as Speed's mom, Matthew Fox as mysterious Racer X, and a pair of chimps as the irrepressible Chim-Chim. All well and good, but in a movie that lives or dies by the excitement level of races that look like computer-animated Hot Wheels action, Speed Racer is a dreary adventure. --Tom Keogh

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Duckman - Seasons One & Two (1994-1995)
dir. n/a

One of the best animated shows of the 90s. Can't believe it took this long to reach DVD, although I'm skeptical about the fact that this DVD is listed as only having 1 disc, but it's the entire first two seasons? That's over 20 episodes, so either the quality is HORRIBLE, or the listing is wrong and there's more than one disc. I couldn't find any DVD reviews for this anywhere on the internet, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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 first two seasons are assembled in this collection.

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Snow Angels (2007)
dir. David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green isn't even mentioned on the box? I know he's not a HUGE director, but still, he's getting to the point where people seek out his movies because they're HIS movies. Can't wait to watch this.

Product Decsription:
Since 2000’s George Washington, his disarming debut, David Gordon Green has thrown in his lot with an assortment of down-on-their-luck characters. That empathetic tendency comes to fruition in Snow Angels, his most carefully-calibrated feature. Like a marginally more upbeat Ice Storm, solemnity never gives way to cynicism. The narrative revolves around a circle of small-town individuals (filmed in snow-covered Halifax, the action takes place somewhere on the East Coast). Restaurant worker Annie (Kate Beckinsale, in a career peak performance) is estranged from sporadically-employed high school sweetheart Glenn (Joshua's Sam Rockwell). The two have their own child, but in her younger days, Annie took care of co-worker Arthur (Lords of Dogtown's Michael Angarano), now a teenager himself. Arthur still carries a torch for his former babysitter, while artsy classmate Lila (Juno's Olivia Thirlby) finds him equally appealing. With the adult relationships around him crumbling--including that of his own parents (Jeanetta Arnette and Griffin Dunne)--Lila’s flirtatious behavior leaves Arthur flummoxed. When Glenn finds out about his wife's affair with the married Nate (Grindhouse's Nicky Katt), pent-up tensions give way to full-blown tragedy. In adapting Stewart O'Nan's novel, Green sets his film in the present rather than 1970s Pennsylvania, but the story is universal enough to work in any time or place. In the film's press notes, Rockwell says: "I believe the film is about second chances. Some of the people in the film get them, some don't." Fortunately, Green doesn't short-change a single one. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Pushing Daisies - The Complete First Season (2007)
dir. n/a

I've been watching so many TV shows that it's hard to catch up, but this is definitely on my radar of shows to watch. I've read good and bad reviews, but the premise sounds like something I would probably really enjoy. I'll have to watch this before season 2 comes starts airing (which is October 1st, by the way).

Product Decsription:
Every not-so-often, along comes a show that's different. Wonderfully different. Pushing Daisies, TV Guide's Matt Roush writes, "restores my faith in TV's ability to amuse, enchant and entertain." It's the story of Ned, a lonely pie maker whose touch can reanimate the dead. Cool, but there's a hitch. If Ned touches the person again, the miracle is reversed. If he doesn't, a bystander goes toes up. What to do? Easy: Team with a private eye, bring murder victims back just long enough to discover whodunit, and collect the rewards. Things go well until Ned's boyhood sweetie is the next dear departed, and he can't resist bringing her back for keeps! Dig the wit, style and quirky romance: If you're not laughing, you may need a visit from Ned.

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Beetlejuice (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (1988)
dir. Tim Burton

With all due respect to Jack Frost, this is the best thing Michael Keaton has done, and it's one of Tim Burton's best. Apprently there is absolutely nothing "deluxe" about this DVD at all, with the only new features compared to the 1998 release are 3 episodes of the Beetlejuice animated series. At least the transfer got a bit of an upgrade.

Product Decsription:
Before making Batman, director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton teamed up for this popular black comedy about a young couple (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) whose premature death leads them to a series of wildly bizarre afterlife exploits. As ghosts in their own New England home, they're faced with the challenge of scaring off the pretentious new owners (Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones), whose daughter (Winona Ryder) has an affinity for all things morbid. Keaton plays the mischievous Beetlejuice, a freelance "bio-exorcist" who's got an evil agenda behind his plot to help the young undead newlyweds. The film is a perfect vehicle for Burton's visual style and twisted imagination, with clever ideas and gags packed into every scene. Beetlejuice is also a showcase for Keaton, who tackles his title role with maniacal relish and a dark edge of menace. --Jeff Shannon

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88 Minutes (2008)
dir. Jon Avnet

Product Decsription:
Al Pacino looks startled through much of 88 Minutes, as though taken by surprise at being cast in a thriller that must've first passed across the desks of Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford. Still, Pacino brings his usual oomph to the role of a Seattle forensic psychiatrist, whose testimony secured the death sentence for a crazy serial killer (Neal McDonough). Wouldn't you know it, the very day the killer is sentenced to die, a copycat "Seattle Slayer" is on the loose, and Pacino starts getting ominous phone calls telling him the exact time of his own death. Tick tock: it's 88 minutes away. The film then serves up more red herrings than a Stalingrad fish fry, as possible culprits pop up every five minutes or so (among them an attractive group of med-school students played by Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, and Benjamin McKenzie). Lapses in logic abound, but if you hunker down and zone in on Pacino's weary-eyed, poufy-haired professionalism, you can enjoy the goings-on. (They even make him run up flights of stairs, which one would have thought beyond him now.) Seattle's frequent stunt double, Vancouver, B.C., stands in as a location, and Jon Avnet supplies the slick direction. The cast is talented (including Amy Brenneman), leading you to guess that a lot of people will do anything just to work with Al Pacino. And you've got to admire Pacino's chutzpah at sharing the screen with statuesque actresses such as Brenneman and Sobieski; they tower over him, but he still holds his own. --Robert Horton

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An American in Paris (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1951)
dir. Vincente Minnelli

Product Decsription:
A GI (Gene Kelly) stays in Paris after the war to become an artist, and has to choose between the patronage of a rich American woman (Nina Foch) and a French gamine (Leslie Caron) engaged to an older man. The plot is mostly an excuse for director Vincente Minnelli to pool his own extraordinary talent with those of choreographer-dancer-actor Kelly and the artists behind the screenplay, art direction, cinematography, and score, creating a rapturous musical not quite like anything else in cinema. The final section of the film comprises a 17-minute dance sequence that took a month to film and is breathtaking. Songs include "'S Wonderful," "I Got Rhythm," and "Love Is Here to Stay." --Tom Keogh

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Gigi (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1958)
dir. Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters

Product Decsription:
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1958 direct-to-screen follow-up to their My Fair Lady was--miraculously--every bit as memorable as that stage smash. Set in fin-de-siècle Paris and based on a Colette story, Gigi also is about a girl (Leslie Caron) on a lower rung of society who blossoms into Cinderellahood before our eyes and ears. Thank heaven for Hermione Gingold and Maurice Chevalier as her mentors, and Louis Jourdan as her prince. The screenplay writer and lyricist Lerner always said that Gigi's title song was his favorite of all he'd written, and it's easy to see why--"Gigi" is a transcendent anthem to being transformed by love from an unexpected source. The entire score, including "Say a Prayer" (which had been cut from My Fair Lady), "I Remember It Well," "The Night They Invented Champagne," and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," comprise a sparkling, rare soundtrack recording that stands alone and can be enjoyed and understood by those who have not yet seen the movie, deprived souls that they are. The winner of nine Academy Awards (plus a special Oscar for Chevalier), including Best Picture, Gigi was the last great MGM movie musical and one of the best. --Robert Windeler

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The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
dir. Max Ophuls

Product Decsription:
French master Max Ophuls's most cherished work, The Earrings of Madame de . . . is an emotionally profound, cinematographically adventurous tale of false opulence and tragic romance. When the aristocratic woman known only as Madame de . . . (the extraordinary Danielle Darrieux) sells her earrings, unbeknownst to her husband (Charles Boyer), in order to pay personal debts, she sets off a chain reaction, the financial and carnal consequences of which can only end in despair. Ophuls adapts Louise de Vilmorin's incisive fin de siecle novella with virtuosic camera work so elegant and precise it's been called the equal to that of Orson Welles.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar
Introduction by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
Interviews with Ophuls collaborators Alain Jessua, Marc Frédérix, and Annette Wademant
A visual analysis of the movie by film scholar Tag Gallagher
Interview with novelist Louise de Vilmorin on Ophuls's adaptation of her story
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Molly Haskell, an excerpt from costume designer Georges Annenkov's 1962 book Max Ophuls, and the source novel, Madame de, by Louise de Vilmorin
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La Ronde (1950)
dir. Max Ophuls

Product Decsription:
Simone Signoret, Anton Walbrook, and Simone Simon lead a roundelay of French stars in Max Ophuls's delightful, acerbic adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's controversial turn-of-the-century play Reigen. Soldiers, chambermaids, poets, prostitutes, aristocrats—all are on equal footing in this multicharacter merry-go-round of love and infidelity, directed with a sweeping gaiety as knowingly frivolous as it is enchanting, and shot with Ophuls's trademark mellifluous cinematography.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Susan White, author of The Cinema of Max Ophuls
Interview with Max Ophuls's son, Academy Award–winning filmmaker Marcel Ophuls
Interview with actor Daniel Gélin
Interview with film scholar Alan Williams
Correspondence between Sir Laurence Olivier and Heinrich Schnitzler (the playwright's son), illustrating the controversy surrounding the source play
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
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Le Plaisir (1952)
dir. Max Ophuls

Product Decsription:
Roving with his dazzlingly mobile camera around the decadent ballrooms, bucolic countryside retreats, urban bordellos, and painter's studios of late nineteenth-century French life, Max Ophuls brings his astonishing visual dexterity and storytelling bravura to this triptych of tales by Guy de Maupassant about the limits of spiritual and physical pleasure. Featuring a stunning cast of French stars (including Danielle Darrieux, Jean Gabin, and Simone Simon), Le plaisir pinpoints the cruel ironies and happy compromises of life with a charming and sophisticated breeziness.

DVD Features:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Introduction by filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven)
English- and German-language versions of the opening narration
From Script to Screen, a video essay featuring film scholar Jean-Pierre Berthomé discussing the evolution of Max Ophuls’s screenplay for Le plaisir
Interviews with actor Daniel Gélin, assistant director Tony Aboyantz, and set decorator Robert Christidès
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by film critic Robin Wood
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Blood Simple (1985)
dir. The Coen Bros.

Aside from the updated cover art, I'm not sure if this is any different from the 2001 director's cut DVD. Great movie.

Product Decsription:
The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales, and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M. Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance), and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client, and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh

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Noise (2007)
dir. Henry Bean

I remember seeing a trailer for this a while back, then it just kind of disappeared. The plot is kind of silly, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Product Decsription:
Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins stars as David Owen, a Manhattan husband and father so unhinged by the noise outside his window that he declares a one-man war on car alarms. But when David goes over the edge and becomes a citywide noise-vigilante known as 'The Rectifier', he incurs the wrath of New York’s sleazy blowhard Mayor (a hilarious performance by Oscar® winner William Hurt) who vows to stop him. How much damage will one guy inflict for a little peace and quiet? Bridget Moynahan (I, ROBOT) and William Baldwin (Dirty Sexy Money) co-star in this wickedly funny black comedy from award-winning writer/director Henry Bean (The Believer) that The New Yorker hails as "a splendidly eccentric film alive with the creative madness of New York City!"

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Surrender-Hell! (1959)
dir. John Barnwell

I would check this out based on the title alone. Fantastic.

Product Decsription:
The true-life WWII drama of Lt. Blackburn (Keith Andes) who avoided capture by the Japanese in the Philippines by venturing far into the unforgiving jungle, battling disease, starvation and hostile fire at every turn. He finally amassed a platoon of natives (including headhunters) to his cause, and led successful attacks on the enemy.

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Woman Times Seven (1967)
dir. Vittorio De Sica

One of the great Italian neo-realists directs Peter Sellers, Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. Sounds interesting.

Product Decsription:
Widow, seductress, model wife or passionate lover, Shirley MacLaine stars in the seven roles of a woman's life in seven sketches- a tour de force performance that earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

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The Man On The Eiffel Tower (1949)
dir. Burgess Meredith

Yep, THE Burgess Meredith.

Product Decsription:
Based on a novel by acclaimed writer Georges Simenon, THE MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER is a gleefully sinister romp through the City of Lights climaxing in a spectacular scene on the city s most famous landmark. The film follows Inspector Maigret (Charles Laughton) as he investigates a brutal killing that implicates a ne er-do-well playboy (Robert Hutton), a psychotic medical student (Franchot Tone), and a humble knife-sharpener (Burgess Meredith). Featuring a dark, droll script by journeyman screenwriter Harry Brown (A Place in the Sun), THE MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER is livened by cinematography by Stanley Cortez (Night of the Hunter) that captures late 40s Paris in the dark, moody palette of the Ansco Color process. The film was begun under the direction of producer Irving Allen. Laughton was so dissatisfied with Allen s work that three days into the shoot he threatened to quit unless Meredith (Rocky) be permitted to take control. Thus did the seasoned character actor land the most unexpected role of his career: director.
NOTE: THE MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER was photographed on ANSCO Reversal film, an early single strip color process, and no original elements exist today. This RESTORED film has been preserved from two nitrate projection prints, the only 35mm color copies known to survive.

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J'Accuse (1919)
dir. Abel Gance



Product Decsription:
The story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.

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RoosterFlix DVD Picks for September 9th

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It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3 (2008)
dir. n/a

Easily one of the funniest shows on TV. So many classic moments in this season, Green Man & Day Man being just a few of them. I still think the episode where Dee, Dennis & Mac tried out for the Eagles was my favorite episode of this season, but I can't wait to watch them all again to see if I'm still partial to that one. Don't forget, season 4 starts next week.

Product Decsription:
Philadelphia is known as "The City of Brotherly Love," but the town may soon be famous for its bad behavior thanks to this mean-spirited comedy. Not for the easily offended, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY--as the kids call it--is one dark sitcom. Still, it garners critical praise and loyal fans with its smart writing. Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Kaitlin Olson star as friends who run Paddy's Irish Pub. Fueled by alcohol, vanity, and selfishness, the foursome has a series of misadventures as high on the laugh scale as they are in their cringe quotient. Though most sitcoms don't joke about crack addiction, abortion, and racism, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA turns these subjects into comedy goldmines. Season 3 in particular counts a dumpster baby, a dead mom, Fatty McGoo, the aluminum monster, a registered sex offender, serial killers, a retarded person, fire, and bums--lots and lots of bums--among its guest stars. Last season, veteran actor Danny DeVito returned to TV to play a misanthropic patriarch and, yes, he's still around. This release includes the entire third season, plus an intimate look at the possibly incestuous McPoyle Brothers, a gag reel, and a number of other supplemental features.

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The Fall (2008)
dir. Tarsem Singh

As I've said many times before, I've always been a sucker for amazing visuals. Considering this movie is chock full of some of the most fantastic, awe-inspiring imagery ever committed to film, it was no surprise I responded so positively to it. I know I'm going overboard with hyperbole, but it really was incredible. Now, I should probably explain that I am not retarded and that the plot IS an important part of the equation to me...if a movie looks beautiful but the plot stinks, naturally, I won't have the best reaction to it. The Fall's plot isn't mind-blowing, but I felt that combined with what was happening visually, 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. I've read that the Blu-ray version of this film is possibly the best looking transfer of a movie ever committed to the format, DVD or otherwise, so I'd highly recommend picking this up if you have the equipment. I can't wait to watch this again.

Product Decsription:
Roger Ebert proclaimed it "one of the most extraordinary films I've ever seen," and there's no denying the avalanche of wild images in The Fall: grand castles, desert vistas, elephants swimming in the open ocean. Commercial and music-video director Tarsem has piled these visions into an elaborate remake of an obscure Bulgarian film, Yo Ho Ho, which is anchored in (but by no means limited to) a quiet hospital during the silent-movie era. A stunt man (Lee Pace) is laid up with leg injuries, and an eye-popping black-and-white prologue (utterly mystifying while we're watching it) tells us how he got here. Depressed over his disability and a recent lost love, he plans suicide, but is temporarily derailed by the inquisitive friendship of a little girl (Catinca Untaru), to whom he tells wild stories of adventurers and princesses. We see these stories, which is where the dizzying visuals come in. This movie probably won't inspire many lukewarm responses: either you'll fall madly for this paean to storytelling magic, or you'll be suspicious about the parade of pretty pictures, which tend to have a magazine-layout sheen. The movie certainly has more soul than Tarsem's yucky previous feature, The Cell, and the scenes between Pace and Untaru (who scores an 11 on the cuteness scale) are genuinely charming. The director actually put a considerable amount of his own money into the production (which shot in over 20 countries), and whether you buy his vision or not, he put his money on the screen.

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The Big Lebowski - 10th Anniversary Limited Edition (1998)
dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

If you love this movie (who doesn't?) and you love crazy DVD packaging, this is a must-buy (#1 reason is because it's actually really cheap). If you're also into extras, they actually included more of them this time around. The 2005 re-release was decent, but this 2008 re-re-release is the best-to-date. Now all we need is a Blu-ray version. 8-year-olds, dude.

Product Decsription:
After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies.

DVD Features:
Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo
Contained In Exclusive Bowling Ball Packaging, Individually Numbered For Collectibility!
Dubbed: French, Spanish
Featurettes: An Exclusive Introduction, The Dude's Life, The Dude Abides - The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later, The Making Of The Big Lebowski, The Lebowski Fest - An Achiever's Story, & Flying Carpets & Bowling Pin Dreams - The Dream Sequences Of The Dude
Interactive Map
Interactive Menus
Jeff Bridges' Photo Book
Original Theatrical Trailer
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Selection
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Baby Mama (2008)
dir. Michael McCullers

This movie looks terrible, but considering the people involved, I'll probably give it a chance.

Product Decsription:
Laughter and hearty guffaws abound in this comical look at 37-year-old career woman Kate Holbrook's (30 Rock's Tina Fey) desperate attempts to have a baby. Never mind that she's not married and has never been involved in a serious relationship; Kate wants a baby and will stop at virtually nothing to get one. After failed attempts at broaching the concept of conception with first dates and trying artificial insemination with the help of a sperm bank, Kate finds out that her t-shaped uterus leaves her with only a one in a million chance of conceiving a child. Adoption doesn't work out and she's left with the distasteful option of hiring a surrogate mother. Enter Chaffee Bicknell's (Sigourney Weaver) surrogate service and her recommendation of the working-class Angie Ostrowiski (Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler) who, with her common-law husband Carl (Dax Shepard), is just desperate enough to take on the job in order to make some money, and the stage is set for baby making. As fate would have it, Angie and Carl break up just after Angie announces she's pregnant and Angie ends up moving in with Kate. Unfortunately, the two are completely incompatible and what ensues is a hysterical struggle to coexist while clashing over everything from proper nutrition to stroller selection, hair dye, and delivery options. Further complicating matters is Kate's budding relationship with ex-lawyer and juice-store owner Rob (Greg Kinnear), who just happens to be morally opposed to the whole concept of surrogate parenting. Finally, there's the question of just how fully Angie embraces the virtue of honesty. It's the juxtaposition of opposing viewpoints--so boldly stated, humorously set, and blatantly exploited--that makes this witty comedy so darn funny. Expect graphic references, raunchy humor, and a whole lot of laughter. --Tami Horiuchi

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Cool Hand Luke (1967)
dir. Stuart Rosenberg

Paul Newman is one of my all-time favorite actors, and I think Cool Hand Luke is one of the best movies of the 1960s. You can check out what I had to say about this movie here (for those of you too lazy to scroll down the front page). Alternately, you can read a much better review/explanation of the movie by Paul Mavis at DVDTalk.com.

Product Decsription:
Paul Newman gives one of the defining performances of his career, and cemented his place as a beautiful-rebel screen icon playing the stubbornly tough and independent title character in Cool Hand Luke. And before he became familiar as a sidekick in 1970s disaster movies (Earthquake and the Airport movies), George Kennedy won an Oscar for playing Dragline, the brutal chain-gang boss who tries to beat loner Luke's cool out of him. It's a classic rebel-against-the-repressive-institution story in the line of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest or The Shawshank Redemption. Certain moments have become classics--particularly the hardboiled egg-eating contest, and the immortal line (drooled by Strother Martin, as a sadistic redneck prison officer), "What we have here is a failure to communicate." And don't forget, Luke is also the source of the oft-quoted driving ditty, "I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I have my plastic Jesus, right here on the dashboard of my car..." He is cool, all right.

DVD Features:
All-New Featurettes Including The Making Of Cool Hand Luke - A Profile Of Novelist, Co-Screenwriter & The Real "Cool Hand Luke" Donn Pearce
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono
Interactive Menus
New Audio Commentary By Eric Lax (Noted Writer & Paul Newman Biographer)
Newly Restored & Remastered!
Original Theatrical Trailer
Scene Selection
Subtitles: English, French
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Fox Horror Classics Collection, Vol. 2
MOVIES INCLUDE:
Dragonwyck (1946)
Chandu the Magician (1932)
Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)

Product Decsription:
Disk 1: Chandu the Magician **Commentary by Author Gregory William Mank **Masters of Magic: The World of Chandu **Chandu the Magician Radio Serial Episode **Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Still Gallery
Disc 2: Dr. Renault's Secret **By The Book: Horror, Suspense, and Literary Inspiration **Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Interactive Pressbook **Still Gallery

Disc 3: Dragonwyck **A House of Secrets: Exploring Dragonwyck **Dragonwyck Radio Show Performed by Vincent Price and Gene **Tierney - October 7, 1946 **Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Interactive Pressbook **Still Gallery

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The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
dir. Rob Minkoff

Thoroughly enjoyable, but not [i]great[/i]. Although it IS great to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li together on screen. The thing that killed the movie for me was the horribly miscast American kid. Aside from him, I really had fun watching this.

Product Decsription:
Getting martial-arts superstars Jet Li and Jackie Chan together in the same action film is like a fantasy come true, even if The Forbidden Kingdom is more of a children's movie than an instant kung-fu classic. Yes, Li and Chan square off in a lengthy, acrobatic fight scene that is a lot of fun, though it can't be what such a scene might have been even a decade ago: careful editing now compensates for the 54-year-old Chan's slower moves and reflexes. Still, Chan doesn't disappoint as Lu Yan, a drunken immortal in ancient China who mentors a modern-day American kid, Jason (Michael Angarano), the latter having slipped into the past while in possession of a magical staff that belongs to the imprisoned Monkey King (Li). In order to get back to his own time and help an old friend (also Chan) wounded by thugs, Jason accompanies Lu Yan and a lovely warrior, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), on a journey to return the staff. Along the way, a (mostly) silent monk (Li, again), who has spent his life in search of the staff, joins their mission. He helps Lu Yan train Jason in fighting and adding more muscle to the party as it comes under siege from a violent witch (Li Bing Bing) and pathological warlord (Collin Chou). Screenwriter John Fusco (Hidalgo) and director Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion) have made a slightly chintzy, Western version of a Chinese swords-and-sorcery tale. The gravity-defying, flying-through-the-air-while-fighting choreography looks pretty choppy and graceless compared to, say, the martial arts films of Zhang Yimou. But The Forbidden Kingdom is really aimed at kids, not aficionados of epic fight movies. On that score, the movie aims to please and does so for the right audience. -- Tom Keogh

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How the West Was Won (Special Edition) (1963)
dir. John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe

Product Decsription:
The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff Shannon

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Seed (2007)
dir. Uwe Boll

Uwe Boll for the second time in three weeks? What did we do to deserve this? (I mean that in the best way possible)

Product Decsription:
This story of a supernatural serial killer is reminiscent of Stephen King s finest horror films. Prison guards fail to exorcise the evil in a murderer and inadvertently unleash a malevolent monster. The resulting reign of violence, with its extreme gore and torture, set a new standard for the horror genre.

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Heckler (2007)
dir. Michael Addis

Product Decsription:
Heckler, a comedy-documentary that explores the increasingly critical world we live in, follows Jamie Kennedy as he investigates hecklers and the entertainers who endure them: Russell Peters, Lewis Black, Craig Ferguson, Bill Maher, Paul Rodriguez, Roseanne Barr, and more. A fast-moving, "hilarious...claws-out look at the often brutal relationship between performers and their most vocal critics" (VARIETY), Heckler shows just how nasty and mean the fight is between those in the spotlight...and those in the dark.

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House of Traps (1981)
dir. Chang Cheh

Product Decsription:
Produced by the famed Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong, HOUSE OF TRAPS follows a team of fierce martial artists into a terrifying haunted home built to ensnare any and all entrants. This 1981 kung fu cult classic stars the Venoms, a team of fighters best known for serving up bloody action in the Shaw Brothers' DEADLY VENOMS film series.

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Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! - Strippers VS Zombies (2007)
dir. Jason M. Murphy

Well, if I'm judging a book by it's cover (and I am), count me in.

Product Decsription:
A drug experiment gone wrong produces a league of blood-thirsty zombies. It is up to a small band of exotic dancers trapped in a gentleman's club to fight back. Together they must rely on their wits and skills to survive the night, and pray that they don't become victims of the flesh-eating zombies!

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Read Full Post »

Your friend Fully Baff Baff answers your questions!

"How do I know if a movie is good?" - Jason from Corn, Washington



First, check the boxart: does it have one or two really big heads on it? If not, put it back and keep moving. As with Basilicas, Mosques, and football stadiums, the prominent placement of large domes lets the customer know that whatever this thing is, it's got the power of Jesus inside of it. Noggin-fueled DVD covers are Hollywood's coded method of alerting the 'insiders' which movies are worth their time. The practice has its roots in one of Variety's many industry turns of phrase: much the way a long-running theatrical release has 'legs,' a surefire DVD winner is bound to get plenty of 'facetime' with potential viewers.

Here are some examples of winners, and a few losers too:

Pretty good, too much talking though.

This isn't bad. Too many people, but the gun man seems to have it in check.

Oh this is nice, great profile, but why is everybody so sleepy looking?

It's like the studio couldn't decide if this was great or garbage. Top half says yes, bottom says mess.

Basically perfect

Once again perfect


Don't see why they couldn't have centered it, but you can tell this is a good movie right away, so I guess they did their jobs.

Incredible, Whitaker was so good they gave him two giant head closeups plus a bonus third picture!

Okay what is this garbage, who are these people? Is that Clint Eastwood? I don't know, you don't know, and how could we? This is a terrible movie.

What? Clearly a shitty movie since half the cast is tiny, blurry, and monochrome

What is this, a book? And who's Henry Fonda, a knife?


Jesus christ, take a lap.

Unbelievable, maybe the worst movie ever

Okay let me get this straight, you don't bother to show me the faces of the stars and on top of that you put the names of a bunch of old dead people instead of Liam Neeson? Madness

Usual Buttsex more like

Three movies and this is the best you could do? You couldn't find one single picture of ANYbody that was worth using? Try making a movie with without using the ugliest people in the world next time, huh guy.



"But," I hear you saying, "What if the movie isn't available on DVD yet? How then could one ascertain its relative goodness?" Well, generally speaking, movies that don't premiere first on DVD aren't really worth your time anyway. Known as DTT's, or Direct-to-Theaters, these releases feature the kind of prurient chicanery and slapdash cash grabbing that were responsible for Hollywood's dark age (AKA shit age, roughly 1891-1998) in the first place. Avoid at all costs.



"Did you know that Speed Racer is coming out in like two weeks? And what are you doing to prepare for it?" - Jessica from Buttonwillow, California

Uh yeah, right, like I didn't know that Speed Racer was coming out in two weeks. Bleep, bloop I guess I'm the Dumbatron 5000. So yeah, hi Jessica, maybe you didn't know this or you were born all gay or something, but I've written the third most articles here on Roosterflix (out of like SIX writers you fucking gash*) and that kind of counts for a lot around here. So yes, yes I did know that Speed Racer was coming out. Go fuck yourself.

As for the rest of your question, oh boy, what haven't I been doing to prepare for it? I finally upgraded to Blu-Ray just in the nick of time and am planning on making a memory on the day that I make Speed Racer my first Blu-Ray purchase. And no, this isn't some post-irony Road Movie: From Two of the Writers of Meet the Spartans horseshit, I am genuinely super excited and can't wait

*Ed.'s note: Only three of the writers employed by Roosterflix are active



"So, what is a movie anyway?" - Greg from Curdey, Wyoming

Ah yes, by far the most commonly posed query we encounter here at Roosterflix. To properly understand what a movie is, one must first approach the task by noting the sheer scope of the subject. A movie is so large that even if one were to somehow reach its edge, scientists postulate that you would have actually ended up right back where you started! My third graders like to ask me how long it would take to walk a movie, and of course it would be impossible, but even in a zoomin' airplane with an endless supply of fuel the journey would take so many generations that by the time the flight got to the end of the movie, nobody would know who any of the characters were or why exactly they were fighting over the little blue test tube in the first place (Spoiler alert: It was the antidote).

So a movie is big, what else is a movie? Why don't I let Cecil and Decoy fill in some more of the details for you?

Cecil:

ok 1st of all number 1. If ur a dumb movie,
stop acting like you don't know it.
The lil captions under you poster that says
"top model pose"
doesn't convince anyone.

2. 2 the people who have like 25,098 dvds,
are u serious?
Nobody in this universe has that many dvds.
You're stupid.
Go kill yourself.

3. Don't ever write stuff and say
"OMG, I'm hate that movie"
because if you did,
you wouldn't post them,

4. PS Nobody cares about threats.
Don't try to act hardcore.
Fighting is like racing in the olympics;
even if you win a record,
you're still retarded.

5. Making 20 ads a day
about how you have new movies
and begging people to go see them is pathetic.
Make the dumb ad once if you have to,
and those who actually care about it
will look at it.

6. If all ur movies are the same,
don't make them all.
Please put some variety in your stuff.
Nobody wants to see a actor's face
8 different ways.

7. Who really gives a rat's ass if
I don't accept you as a actor?
MOVE ON.
Don't send me another diss or message asking
"what's up with you not liking me?"
I don't want you as a friend;
than's what's up!

8. Little 6th and 7th graders who do ponos
and look like sluts,
go somewhere else
because nobody wants you here.

9. And if you open a movie review and it says something like
"you will die in 10 days if you dont watch this,"
IT'S NOT REAL!
QUIT BEING A DUMBASS!!!!!!!!

Decoy:

I’ve long hated the New York Times Arts and Entertainment section. The articles that make it to the front page are typically pretty good, but the summaries are sometimes misleading, poorly worded or written by someone who clearly had no idea what the movie was actually about. Worse, and the actual source of my hate, are the comments each submission acquires.

Whenever I read the comments on a movie about Quantum Information (or some other field I actually know something about), I find the number of comments which contain pertinent information to be small, and those that contain accurate information to be entirely negligible. Reading the comments of such reviews is infuriating. Why people read a naive explanation of some movie about a physical principal and then assume they know all there is to know about it, I don’t understand. Why they claim this knowledge and then publicly demonstrate their ignorance is further beyond me. Extrapolating, I long ago decided that comments on all of the reviews were, with high probability, similarly misinformed, so I simply stopped reading the Gray Lady. A better solution might have been to stop reading the comments, but knowing just how terrible the comments were, I lacked the will power to stay away from them; I was the moth, they the flame.

Anyway, movies suck.

Hope that helps!

Keep sending in those questions everybody! Read Full Post »

RoosterFlix DVD Picks for August 26th and September 2nd

DVD Picks for August 26th, 2008

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Heroes: Season 2 (2008)
dir. n/a

Yeah, the writer's strike killed the show's momentum, but it was still fun to watch. Hopefully season 3 can get in the same groove that season 1 was in.

Product Decsription:
Rejoin the epic and suspenseful phenomenon as Heroes: Season 2 arrives on DVD. Experience all the new and exciting twists of the astonishing series in this 4-disc set that includes every gripping Season 2 episode. Plus, see what could have been with exclusive bonus features that reveal the untold stories that never aired and an alternate ending to the season finale, where the fate of humanity takes an ominous turn when Peter fails to catch the vial containing the deadly virus.

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Entourage - The Complete Fourth Season (2007)
dir. n/a

It's weird, I can't really remember much about this season. When I watch this show, I just kind of sit there and absorb it without thinking about anything, and then in about 24 hours, it's all gone. It's a very re-watchable show, so maybe I'll watch the last couple episodes and refresh my memory before season 5 starts.

Product Decsription:
Sure it would be great to have it all, but at what price? For Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle, life in Hollywoods fast lane can be an intoxicating ride. In Season Four, in fact, Eric and Vince have taken on new roles as producers. Will their film be hailed as a critical masterpiece, or will it end up on the trash heap of broken Tinseltown dreams?

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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
dir. Henry Selick

Compelling story, incredible music, amazing animation...just a great movie in every aspect. One of Tim Burton's best (even though he wasn't the director).

Product Decsription:
For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called ... Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful James and the Giant Peach), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen."

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Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini

At last, Criterion gets the rights back to distribute this movie. Now people won't have to pay thousands of dollars on eBay for that out-of-print edition...although, this new version doesn't really change the fact that the DVD was so rare, so I'm sure those hardcore collectors will still have an interest in the fabled "white-ring" DVD. I mean, they could've just as easily bought a region 2 version of the movie for standard price if it's just the movie you were wanting to buy. Anyway, many people regard this as Pasolini's masterpiece, as controversial as it is. It was his final film, but not by choice; he was murdered shortly after the movie was done shooting.

Product Decsription:
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it’s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker’s transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.

DVD Features:
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
"Salò": Yesterday and Today, a 33-minute documentary featuring interviews with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini friend Nineto Davoli
Fade to Black, a 23-minute documentary featuring directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury, as well as scholar David Forgacs
The End of "Salò", a 40-minute documentary about the film’s production
New interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and director and film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Neil Bartlett, Catherine Breillat, Naomi Greene, Sam Rohdie, Roberto Chiesi, and Gary Indiana, and excerpts from Gideon Bachmann’s on-set diary
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The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
dir. Michael Curtiz

One of the best movies of all time. Can't wait to check out all the wondrous technicolor imagery in 1080p.

Product Decsription:
Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls.

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Errol Flynn Westerns Collection
MOVIES INCLUDE:
Montana (1950)
Rocky Mountain (1950)
San Antonio (1945)
Virginia City (1940)

Product Decsription:
Montana: Big Sky Country is cattle country! But sheep rancher Flynn has other ideas in this gun-blazing range-war saga. Alexis Smith co-stars. In Technicolor. Rocky Mountain: The Civil War comes to California, and rebel leader Flynn finds that marauding Shoshones may be fiercer foes than the Union Army. With future Mrs. Flynn, Patrice Wymore. San Antonio: A man is only as good as his aim when Flynn rides into ol' San Antone to hunt cattle rustlers. A landmark of Western excitement with an amazing saloon shoot-'em-up... and the lovely Alexis Smith. In Technicolor. Virginia City: Union officer Flynn goes undercover to stop a gold-laden Nevada wagon train rolling to Dixie. With Randolph Scott and, yes, Humphrey Bogart as a pencil-mustached desperado.

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Warner Home Video Western Classics Collection
MOVIES INCLUDE:
Escape From Fort Bravo (1953)
Many Rivers to Cross (1955)
Cimarron (1960)
The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Saddle the Wind (1958)
The Stalking Moon (1968)

Product Decsription:
Escape from Fort Bravo: Union officer William Holden contends with Johnny Reb prisoners inside Fort Bravo... and fierce Indians outside. John Sturges (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven). Many Rivers to Cross: Bullwhip-crackin' trapper and resolute bachelor Bushrod Gentry comes to Kentucky, where a marriage-minded lass is a-waitin'. Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker team in a comedy/adventure. Cimarron: Oklahoma is theirs.. if they can tame it. Glenn Ford stars in the decades-spanning tale of the famed land rush and of settlers sinking deep roots. Anthony Mann (Winchester '73) directs. The Law and Jake Wade: Lawman Robert Taylor is sworn to uphold the law but destined for a showdown with his outlaw past when former partner Richard Widmark resurfaces. Directed by John Sturges. Saddle the Wind: Blood for blood. Brother against brother. An ex-gunslinger's attempts to go straight meet a fury of violence ignited by his brother. Robert Taylor stars in Rod Serling's taut tale. The Stalking Moon: A suspenseful manhunt saga. A relentless foe tracks Army scout Gregory Peck as he attempts to lead a woman (Eva Marie Saint) once held captive by Apaches to safety.

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Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
dir. Morgan Spurlock

Product Decsription:
There's no doubt Morgan Spurlock is a brave man. In Super Size Me, the director subsisted on junk food for 30 days and suffered the consequences. In 2006, after finding out his wife, vegan chef Alexandra Jamieson (who features in his previous effort), is pregnant, Spurlock takes action--John McCain style--to secure a more peaceful planet for his unborn child. In Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, he gets his shots, works out, and takes a self-defense class in preparation for a jaunt through Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to track down the Al-Qaeda fugitive (his itinerary neglects Iran and Iraq). With a child on the way, the $25 million reward holds some attraction, but video-game graphics, terrorist trading cards, and action-movie music underline the quixotic nature of Spurlock's quest. Similarly, the movie itself is a mixed success. The humor that fueled his first film can fall flat when the stakes are higher. Pop-culture references and serious conversations with concerned citizens make for odd bedfellows. It isn’t that Spurlock disrespects his subjects, but that he tries harder to entertain than to elucidate, and his interviews merely reinforce the notion that people everywhere share similar concerns. Unfortunately, fellow Oscar nominated filmmakers, like Laura Poitras (My Country, My Country) and James Longley (Iraq in Fragments), already beat him to the punch. Spurlock has also released a book with the same name to expand on themes explored in this somewhat superfluous documentary.

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Redbelt (2008)
dir. David Mamet

Product Decsription:
Like David Mamet's previous films, Redbelt's narrative slowly exposes the well-guarded secrets of systems shrouded in mystique and conspiracy, this time at martial-arts academies and on Hollywood film and television sets. Reminiscent of Rocky, Redbelt is an unapologetically moralistic tale of an impoverished, inner city Jiu Jitsu instructor whose idealism is an affront to those who seek to sink him. Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), unknowingly affiliated with the wealthy Brazilian family who rigs televised MMA matches, naively rescues actor Chet Frank (Tim Allen) from being mutilated in a bar brawl, but isn't able to link Frank's sketchy relations until Terry's life is endangered. Fated to assist Terry is attorney Laura Black (Emily Mortimer), who conveniently stumbles into Terry's Jiu Jitsu academy early in the film's opening. With an impossibly mandarin plot, Redbelt is packed with improbable coincidences and confusing, maze-like dead-ends, but the sheer brainpower required to sleuth along keeps one riveted throughout. Plus, it is hard not to be thrilled by ample, accurately enacted Jiu Jitsu fight scenes. Mamet's actors deliver deadpan, poker-faced dialogue to comedic effect, especially Ricky Jay, who plays an MMA star's corrupt manager. Allen, also, is surprisingly suited to portraying an untouchable, overly serious Hollywood film star. Even Redbelt's subplots revolve around fighting: while Frank shoots a war film, Terry hashes it out with his wife who urges him to earn some cash. In the end, one wonders if Terry's uphill struggle isn't representative of the director's attempt to sift through convoluted narrative threads for an archetypal hero legend that is sparklingly simple.

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Chicago 10 (2007)
dir. Brett Morgen

Product Decsription:
Some documentaries endow historical events with context, while others recreate them in all their messy glory, leaving viewers to organize the chaos themselves. Brett Morgen (co-director, The Kid Stays in the Picture) takes the latter tack in his multi-media reconstruction of the protests during 1968's Democratic National Convention. Using the ensuing conspiracy trial as a framing device, he assembles archival footage and animated sequences into a Rorschach-type pattern (the title refers to the eight defendants and their attorneys). Further, he turns to blistering tracks from the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine to distinguish his doc from the usual nostalgia parade--sprinkled with period-appropriate selections, like Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." In the motion-capture portions, actors voice the primary players: Yippie leaders Abbie Hoffman (Hank Azaria) and Jerry Rubin (Mark Ruffalo), Black Panther Bobby Seale (Jeffrey Wright), Prosecutor Thomas Foran (an ultra-raspy Nick Nolte), and Judge Julius Hoffman (Roy Scheider, in one of his final roles). Until the tone darkens towards the end, Chicago 10 is almost too diverting for its own good. Hoffman and Rubin come across as charismatic comedians rather than committed activists, though there’s nothing funny about their furor over the conflict in Vietnam. If Morgen spends too much time on their Marx Brothers-like antics--in attempting to expose the ridiculousness of their plight, they sometimes seem more like petulant pranksters than First Amendment champions--Chicago 10's contemporary relevance makes it necessary viewing for free-speech proponents and anti-war protestors alike.

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Postal (2007)
dir. Uwe Boll

Uwe Boll + Scut Farkas = destined for greatness.

Product Decsription:
Prepare yourself for the hilarious, laugh-packed comedy POSTAL, the irreverent and outrageous film based on the popular video game. After a clueless slacker named the Postal Dude (Zack Ward) loses his job, he joins his shady Uncle Dave (Dave Foley) and a bevy of big-breasted, scantily–clad female cult followers in a scheme to steal a shipment of hot new toys. But first they must foil a band of ruthless terrorists — led by none other than Osama Bin Laden — and save the world from destruction in this offensive, mayhem-ridden laugh riot that threatens the very limits of common decency.

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Pale Rider (1985)
dir. Clint Eastwood

Product Decsription:
After a nine-year break from the genre that made him an international star (the Western just before this one was The Outlaw Josey Wales, from 1976), Clint Eastwood returned in this gritty Western, crafted in the tradition of Shane and High Noon. Eastwood directed and stars as the nameless stranger known only as "Preacher," because he rides into a beleaguered mining town wearing a clerical collar. He's either an agent of death or an angel of mercy, and the echoes of Shane ring loud and clear when he comes to the aid of independent miners who are being terrorized by a local tycoon (Richard Dysart) and his ruthless band of hired guns. Befriended by a miner (Michael Moriarty) and idolized by the miner's wife and daughter (played by Carrie Snodgress and Sydney Penny, respectively), the "Pale Rider" sparks the defiant spirit of the underdog miners and takes after the bad guys with single-minded purpose.

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Virgin Territory (2007)
dir. David Leland

Product Decsription:
Hayden Christensen of Jumper stars as charming scoundrel Lorenzo di Lamberti who can – and does – deflower any woman he wants in 14th century Florence. But the only maiden that truly sets his heart ablaze is the sexy beauty Pampinea (Mischa Barton of The O.C.) who is also being pursued by an obsessed Russian count (Mathew Rhys of Brothers & Sisters) and a psycho nobleman (Academy Award® nominee Tim Roth) who has vowed to take her virtue. In a time when lust is contagious, can trickery become the ultimate act of seduction? Christopher Egan (Eragon) co-stars in this sexy action-comedy where one kiss may unlock a world of pleasure and anything can happen when you’re in Virgin Territory.

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Delicatessen (Special Edition) (1991)
dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro

Apparently this is a pretty pointless double-dip, but it's still worth mentioning since it's such a great movie.

Product Decsription:
The title credit for Delicatessen reads "Presented by Terry Gilliam," and it's easy to understand why the director of Brazil was so supportive of this outrageously black French comedy from 1991. Like Gilliam, French codirectors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro have wildly inventive imaginations that gravitate to the darker absurdities of human behavior, and their visual extravagance is matched by impressive technical skill. Here, making their feature debut, Jeunet and Caro present a postapocalyptic scenario set entirely in a dank and gloomy building where the landlord operates a delicatessen on the ground floor. But this is an altogether meatless world, so the butcher-landlord keeps his customers happy by chopping unsuspecting victims into cutlets, and he's sharpening his knife for a new tenant (French comic actor Dominque Pinon) who's got the hots for the butcher's nearsighted daughter! Delicatessen is a feast (if you will) of hilarious vignettes, slapstick gags, and sweetly eccentric characters, including a man in a swampy room full of frogs, a woman doggedly determined to commit suicide (she never gets its right), and a pair of brothers who make toy sound boxes that "moo" like cows. It doesn't amount to much as a story, but that hardly matters; this is the kind of comedy that springs from a unique wellspring of imagination and inspiration, and it's handled with such visual virtuosity that you can't help but be mesmerized. There's some priceless comedy happening here, some of which is so inventive that you may feel the urge to stand up and cheer.

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Purple Violets (2007)
dir. Edward Burns

Product Decsription:
Four college friends meet up again years later and reconnect in ways that will change their lives forever.

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Devil Hunter (1980)
dir. Jesús Franco

Product Decsription:
Re-Mastered In High-Definition And Featuring An All-New Interview With Jess Franco!King Of EuroSleaze Jess Franco (BLOODY MOON MACUMBA SEXUAL) takes on the 80s Cannibal genre and delivers a jungle sickie like no other! When a safari of sexy babes and violent boneheads ventures into native-crazed wilderness Uncle Jess unleashes a deluge of relentless nudity dubious anthropology and his own brand of cut-rate carnage. Ursula Fellner (SADOMANIA) Al Cliver (ZOMBIE) Robert Foster (CANNIBAL TERROR) and Gisela Hahn (CONTAMINATION) co-star in this original Video Nasty also tastefully known as SEXO CANNIBAL and MANDINGO MANHUNTER with something to offend everyone now fully restored from the original Spanish negative and presented uncut and uncensored for the first time ever in America!

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Lynch (One) (2007)
dir. blackANDwhite

Product Decsription:
Compiled from over two years of footage, the film is an intimate portrait of Lynch's creative process as he completes his latest film, INLAND EMPIRE. We follow Lynch as he discovers beauty in ideas, leading us on a journey through the abstract which ultimately unveils his cinematic vision. The director of the documentary immersed himself in David Lynch's world; living and working at Lynch's home. His unobtrusive style has captured a personal side of David Lynch not seen before. The film reveals Lynch not only as one of the most original and compelling directors of contemporary film but also as an artist who continues to explore and experiment in countless mediums. We witness his "hands on" approach to painting, sculpting, music and screenwriting. His enthusiasm is infectious; inspiring us to tap into the well of creativity that Lynch believes we all have.

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Mr. Cinema (2007)
dir. Samson Chiu, Leung Chun 'Samson' Chiu

No idea what this is about aside from the Cinema Paradiso comparison, but I must say I'm really interested in seeing it.

Product Decsription:
Tracing the life of a left-wing film projectionist and his family over 40 years of Hong Kong history.

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On the Ecstasy of Ski-Flying: Werner Herzog in Conversation with Karen Beckman (2007)
dir. n/a

I guess this is just an interview. Simple as that. Great cover, too. If you check it out on Amazon, there should be a video excerpt there, if you're interested.

Product Decsription:
n/a

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Dante's Inferno (2007)
dir. Sean Meredith

Product Decsription:
Hell goes animated as apocalyptic graphic novel artwork and eerie Victorian toy theater converge in this subversively satiric update of a literary classic. Reinterpreted with the use of intricately hand-drawn puppets and stunning miniature sets, this bizarre travelogue narrated by Dante, a hard-living hoodie-clad twenty-something, will take you on a gritty, violent tour of hell that bears a disturbing resemblance to our own world. Featuring the dark, mood-drenched voice of Dermot Mulroney (Zodiac, My Best Friend's Wedding) as Dante, and the wizened pipes of James Cromwell (L.A. Confidential, Six Feet Under ) as his ghostly guide, Dante s Inferno is like nothing you ve ever experienced before.

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Phantasm 4: Oblivion (1998)
dir. Don Coscarelli

Product Decsription:
The Sequel With Balls... Now Loaded With Extras! Writer/director Don Coscarelli reunites A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury and Angus Scrimm for the final shocking chapter of the most unique series in horror movie history! As The Tall Man’s unholy harvest reaches its crescendo, Mike, Reggie and Jody will converge across portals of time and dimensions of the undead to uncover his startling secrets. Flying spheres will be unleashed. Ice cream vendors will reload. But will the ultimate nightmare end where it all began? The final game now begins in this decisive sequel that Digitally Obsessed calls "a superb conclusion…one of the most rewarding films in the series!"

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Tall Tale: The Unbelieveable Adventure of Pecos Bill (1994)
dir. Jeremiah S. Chechik



Product Decsription:
A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community. When Daniel Hackett (Nick Stahl) sees his father Jonas (Stephen Lang) gravely wounded by the villainous Stiles (Scott Glenn), his first urge is for his family to flee the danger, and give up their life on a farm which Daniel has come to despise anyway. Going alone to a lake to try to decide what to do, he falls asleep on a boat and wakes to find himself in the wild west, in the company of such "tall tale" legends as Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze), Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt), John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown) and Calamity Jane (Catherine O'Hara). Together, they battle the same villains Daniel is facing in his "real" world, ending with a heroic confrontation in which the boy stands up to Stiles and his henchmen, and rallies his neighbors to fight back against land grabbers who want to destroy their town.

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Gypsy Caravan: When the Road Bends (2007)
dir. Jasmine Dellal

Product Decsription:
An audience favorite at film festivals worldwide, GYPSY CARAVAN is a dazzling display of the musical world of the Roma, juxtaposed to the real world they live in. Five bands from four countries unite for the World Music Institute s Gypsy Caravan 6-week concert tour across North America with the musicians astounding every audience they meet. Their musical styles range from flamenco to brass band, from Romanian violin and Indian folk to Raga and jazz. And with fire in their bellies and soul in their voices, they present an explosion of song and dance that celebrates the best of Gypsy music and the diversity of the Romani people.

Shot by cinema verité icon Albert Maysles, the film takes place during the USA tour as well as on location in Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, the tales of these characters unfold and are woven between their performances, reflecting the imagery and emotion of the music. GYPSY CARAVAN is a Romani celebration that will leave your toes tapping, your heart pumping, and your soul uplifted.

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The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Beginning (2008)
dir. Peggy Holmes

worrrrrrrrrrd

Product Decsription:
Every story has a beginning but only one begins under the sea now for the first time ever discover the story you never knew in The Little Mermaid: Ariel s Beginning an all-new motion picture only on Disney DVD. Long ago in a kingdom where music is outlawed King Triton s youngest daughter Ariel discovers her love for music in a secret underground music club. Torn with the choice of whether to hide her passion or share it with her father and risk losing everything Ariel sets off on a daring adventure to restore music to Atlantica.

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Lords Of The Street (2008)
dir. Amir Valinia

Gotta love those photoshopped heads. I'm not so sure that Kris Kristofferson would be making that face while holding a rifle and surrounded by fire and explosions. Maybe he really likes it, I don't know.

Product Decsription:
DMX and Kris Kristofferson star in this action packed thrill ride set in post hurricane New Orleans. A brutal Mexican drug lord busts out of jail to retrieve the $15 million that his girlfriend is hiding. Can he find the girl and the cash before the cops track him down?

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DVD Picks for September 2nd, 2008

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The Office: Season Four (2008)
dir. n/a

Weakest season yet, but still very very funny.

Product Decsription:
Steve Carell (Get Smart) returns in his Golden Globe®-winning role of “The World’s Greatest Boss,” Michael Scott, in Season Four of the hit comedy series The Office! This must-own four-disc set includes every irreverent episode from Season Four, including the five extended full TV-hour specials, plus hours of hilarious deleted scenes and bonus features! Rejoin Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) as they bring romance to the workplace, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) as he continues his quest to be Michael’s right-hand man, and newly deemed “Wunderkind” Ryan (B.J. Novak), who’s working to drag Dunder Mifflin into the digital age. Developed for American TV by Primetime Emmy® Award winner Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Simpsons), The Office is the intelligent and edgy Primetime Emmy® Award-winning series that critics are hailing as “the funniest show on TV” (Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone). You’ll enjoy the inappropriate remarks, uncomfortable silences and petty behavior again and again!

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Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2007)
dir. Michael Bay

This was initially only released on standard DVD and HD-DVD, but since HD-DVD is all but dead, this was inevitable. Shitty movie, but I bet it looks good in HD.

Product Decsription:
"I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" deadpans Sam Witwicky, hero and human heart of Michael Bay's rollicking robot-smackdown fest, Transformers. Witwicky (the sweetly nerdy Shia LaBeouf, channeling a young John Cusack) is the perfect counterpoint to the nearly nonstop exhilarating action. The plot is simple: an alien civil war (the Autobots vs. the evil Decepticons) has spilled onto Earth, and young Sam is caught in the fray by his newly purchased souped-up Camaro. Which has a mind--and identity, as a noble-warrior robot named Bumblebee--of its own. The effects, especially the mind-blowing transformations of the robots into their earthly forms and back again, are stellar.
Fans of the earlier film and TV series will be thrilled at this cutting-edge incarnation, but this version should please all fans of high-adrenaline action. Director Bay gleefully salts the movie with homages to pop-culture touchstones like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong, and the early technothriller WarGames. The actors, though clearly all supporting those kickass robots, are uniformly on-target, including the dashing Josh Duhamel as a U.S. Army sergeant fighting an enemy he never anticipated; Jon Voight, as a tough yet sympathetic Secretary of Defense in over his head; and John Turturro, whose special agent manages to be confidently unctuous, even stripped to his undies. But the film belongs to Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and the dastardly Megatron--and the wicked stunts they collide in all over the globe. Long live Transformers!

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Eraser (1996)
dir. Chuck Russell

It's not the greatest movie on Earth, but I still enjoy the hell out of it. For my money, it's the last Arnold movie I really liked. The 6th Day was pathetic, and Collateral Damage just kind of passed through me with no reaction whatsoever.

Product Decsription:
If you're going to submit yourself to a dazzling example of mainstream action, this thriller is as good a choice as any. Eraser is a live-action cartoon, the kind of movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger can survive nail bombs, hails of bullets, an attack by voracious alligators ("You're luggage," he says, after killing one of the beasts), and still emerge from the mayhem relatively intact. Arnold plays an "eraser" from the Federal Witness Protection Program, so named because he can virtually erase the existence of anyone he's been assigned to protect. His latest beneficiary is an FBI employee (Vanessa Williams) who stumbled across a secret government group involved in the sale and export of an advanced weapon capable of shooting rounds at nearly the speed of light. Fantastic action sequences are handled with flair by director Charles Russell (The Mask), so it's easy to forgive the fact that this movie is almost completely ridiculous.

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The Promotion (2008)
dir. Steve Conrad

Was this even in theaters at all? The trailers didn't look that great, but I'll watch aaaaanything with John C. Reilly.

Product Decsription:
In a hilarious take on life in mid-management hell, two junior managers at a Chicago grocery store vie for a coveted promotion, while their wives and their co-workers can only stand back and watch how far the one-upmanship will go to get the job done.

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Fist of Legend (1994)
dir. Gordon Chan, Yuen Woo Ping

Great, great movie. They could've picked something more exciting for the cover, though....looks like they took that at the DMV.

Product Decsription:
A Chinese martial artist returns to Shanghai to find his teacher dead and his school harassed by occupying Japanese forces. He has but one choice - to avenge his master's murder and restore his school's honor.

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The Boys in Company C (1977)
dir. Sidney J. Furie

Product Decsription:
Set in 1967, The Boys in Company C follows the lives of five Marine inductees from their training in boot camp through a tour of duty in Vietnam that quickly devolves into a hellish nightmare. Disheartened by futile combat, appalled by the corruption of their South Vietnamese ally, and constantly endangered by the incompetence of their own company commander, the young men discover a possible way out of the war. They are told that if they can defeat a rival soccer team they may spend the rest of their tour playing exhibition games safely behind the lines. But, as might be expected, nothing in Vietnam is as simple as it seems. Andrew Stevens was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his performance as Private Billy Ray Pike.

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Married Life (2008)
dir. Ira Sachs

Product Decsription:
Far too many period productions look right, but feel wrong. Set in 1949, Married Life doesn't just bring the post-war era to vivid life with cigarettes and cocktails aplenty; it even plays like a product of the time. In that respect, it calls to mind AMC's Mad Men, except Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue) takes a lighter tone towards domestic disharmony. In this well-scrubbed suburban world, middle-class wives, like Pat (Patricia Clarkson), build their lives around their husbands. Pat and Harry (Chris Cooper) seem happy, but Harry confesses to his pal, Richard (narrator Pierce Brosnan), that the spark is gone. He plans to leave Pat for vibrant young war widow Kay (Rachel McAdams in a role that recalls The Notebook). Once Richard, a notorious ladies man, gets a gander at the platinum blonde, he secretly sets out to win her affections, while Harry plots to take Pat out of the picture. Married Life almost simulates one of Alfred Hitchcock’s pessimistic disquisitions on matrimony, yet Harry and Richard seek less hurtful means to achieve their goals. Though women's lib has yet to hit the suburbs, Pat and Kay harbor desires of their own, and the best-laid plans soon go awry. Though Kay could use further development, this ensemble hums along almost as harmoniously as the quartet in Starting Out in the Evening. Along with co-writer Oren Moverman (I'm Not There), Sachs transforms John Bingham’s 1953 novel, Five Roundabouts to Heaven, into an insightful treatise on love, marriage, and fidelity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Road House (1948)
dir. Jean Negulesco

Product Decsription:
Jefty, owner of a roadhouse in a backwoods town, hires sultry, tough-talking torch singer Lily Stevens against the advice of his manager Pete Morgan. Jefty is smitten with Lily, who in turn exerts her charms on the more resistant Pete. When Pete finally falls for her and she turns down Jefty's marriage proposal, they must face Jefty's murderous jealousy and his twisted plots to "punish" the two.

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Moontide (1942)
dir. Archie Mayo

Product Decsription:
After a drunken binge on the San Pablo waterfront, longshoreman Bobo fears he may have killed a man. In his uncertainty, he takes a job on an isolated bait barge. That night, he rescues lovely Anna from a watery suicide attempt and installs her on the barge. But Tiny, Bobo's longtime pal and parasite, hopes to drive Anna away before domestic bliss tears Bobo away from him; the still unsolved murder may be just the wedge Tiny needs. There's fog on the water and evil brewing...

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How to Rob a Bank (2007)
dir. Andrews Jenkins

Product Decsription:
Half of the fun of writer-director Andrew Jenkins' feature debut - a heist film that gets everything right about a crime that goes all too wrong - is keeping track of who is doing what to whom and why. Who is robbing the bank? What are they after? These are the simple elements that keep rearranging themselves as Jinx (Nick Stahl) and Jessica (Erika Christensen) find themselves trapped inside a vault, with bank-robber Simon (Gavin Rossdale), stuck on the other side of the vault door, and the police stuck outside the bank. A fresh, freewheeling take on a genre perennial, Jenkins' film playfully hits the reset button every time things seem to settle into place.

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Time After Time (1979)
dir. Nicholas Meyer

Product Decsription:
H.G. Wells has just invented a time machine but hasn't tried it out yet. When he discovers that one of his friends is actually Jack the Ripper, Jack makes his escape using the time machine. Herbert follows Jack into the late 1970's where he meets Amy, a bank clerk, who teaches Herbert about life in 70's while they pursue Jack, who is enjoying the more violent society in which he continues his murderous activities.

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It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1981)
dir. Bill Melendez

Product Decsription:
Charlie Brown gets rocks in his trick-or-treat bag, Linus awaits a visitation from the Great Pumpkin in his terribly sincere pumpkin patch (while the adoring little Sally sits tight with him), Snoopy falls asleep, Lucy harasses Schroeder, and Pig-Pen kicks up a dust storm even beneath his costume in this classic television broadcast. Funny stuff, but also graced with Charles Schultz's more poignant and gently satiric themes from the 1960s on the influence of faith, failure, and hope in our lives.

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Under Siege 2 - Dark Territory (1995)
dir. Geoff Murphy

They could've picked a better Seagal movie for Blu-ray...although that cover is extremely kick-ass.

Product Decsription:
The success ofUnder Siege made a sequel mandatory according to Hollywood's rules of maximum revenue, and as sequels go, this one's not half bad. Steven Seagal returns as former Navy SEAL and skilled chef Casey Ryback, who's trying to spend quality time with his niece on a cross-country train trip. But as luck and action-movie formulas would have it, the train has been hijacked by a demented genius (Eric Bogosian) who is using the train as a moving platform to seize computerized control of a top-secret U.S. satellite that is capable of causing earthquakes from space. Seagal has to stop the train or the villain (whichever comes first), and the action is fast and furious on its way to a high-speed climax. He's not as wacky as Tommy Lee Jones in the first Under Siege, but Bogosian has got a delirious quality that serves the comic-book plot, and action fans get more than their fill of dazzling stunts and special effects. --Jeff Shannon

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The Wolves (1972)
dir. Hideo Gosha

Anything with Tatsuya Nakadai is worth checking out. End of story.

Product Decsription:
At the dawn of the Showa Era, the new Emperor has granted amnesty to almost 400 prisoners. One of those men, Seiji (Nakadai), formally a henchmen for one of Japan's toughest gangs, must now cope with the fact that his former boss is dead and the power shift has created new conspiracies.

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The Gauntlet (1977)
dir. Clint Eastwood

Can someone please explain why people don't get Frank Frazetta to make their movie posters? Is mostly everyone retarded, or would just be an overload of awesomeness?

Product Decsription:
Clint Eastwood is a down-and-out cop who is sent on a routine mission to pick up a witness and deliver her to the Phoenix courthouse. Sounds easy until he realizes he's been set up by the man who gave him this simple assignment. The interplay between Eastwood and the witness, a clever prostitute played by the actor's former girlfriend, Sondra Locke, is tough and playful. They obviously had strong chemistry. The story is highly implausible at times, but the action sequences are satisfying. Eastwood directs The Gauntlet very much in the style of his Academy Award-winning Western Unforgiven. Although the body count is surprisingly low for an Eastwood action film, a house, several cars, and a large bus get shot through with more holes than a big wheel of Swiss cheese. For Eastwood fans, this is the laconic hero at his prime.

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Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
dir. James Fargo

Product Decsription:
Clint Eastwood's 1978 comedy introduces Filo Beddoe, a truck driver and mechanic whose daily life is an absurd grind. He's constantly coming up short on money, love, and anything else to help him get through the day, while also saddled with a loony mother (deliciously played by Ruth Gordon), a best friend (Geoffrey Lewis) who's not too swift on the uptake, and an orangutan named Clyde who fights almost as well as Clint. While moonlighting as a bare-knuckle fighter, Clint finally meets the girl of his dreams (Sondra Locke), a snooty country singer who rebuffs him even as he pursues her, trailed by bikers and brawlers. It's Eastwood's magnetism and charm that make this more than a mere string of comic sketches, and things move along quickly enough to be entertaining, if a little thin. Clyde is a natural scene-stealer, but it's Ruth Gordon's crazy, cranky old coot who steals the movie. --Robert Lane

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Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
dir. James Bridges

Dang, can you imagine Michael J. Fox on cocaine? I bet it registers on the richter scale. *groan*

Product Decsription:
Michael J. Fox plays the most sympathetic cocaine addict you've ever seen in the movie of Jay McInerney's popular novel Bright Lights, Big City, the book that famously chronicled the coke- and cash-fueled era of the 1980s. Jamie Conway (Fox) works as a fact-checker for a major New York magazine, but because he spends his nights partying with his glib best friend (Kiefer Sutherland), he's on the verge of getting fired. His wife, a fast-rising model (Phoebe Cates), just left him; he's still reeling from the death of his mother (Dianne Wiest) a year earlier; and he's obsessed with a tabloid story about a pregnant woman in a coma. Bright Lights, Big City doesn't have much of a plot, but in its meandering way it captures some of the glossy chaos of the time and of a man desperately trying to escape the pain in his life. --Bret Fetzer

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Quark - The Complete Series (1977)
dir. Hy Averback

Product Decsription:
A spoof of science fiction films and TV series, these are the adventures of Adam Quark, captain of a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol ship. His cohorts include Gene/Jean, a "transmute" with male and female characteristics; a Vegeton (a highly-evolved plant-man) named Ficus; and Andy the Android and Betty and Betty (who always argue over who's the clone of the other). Based at Space Station Perma One are Otto Palindrome and The Head. Though Quark is supposed to stick to his sanitization patrols, he and his crew often meet adventure with such colorful space denizens as the evil High Gorgon (head of the villainous Gorgons), Zoltar the Magnificent, and Zargon the Malevolent.

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Monster Camp (2007)
dir. Cullen Hoback

Unfortunately, the LARPers in this movie are not the butt of every single joke, so I'm not sure how enjoyable this would be to watch.

Product Decsription:
MONSTER CAMP is a rare and fascinating glimpse into the world of live-action role playing, known as LARPing, as people act out the real-life version of the videogame phenomenon, "World of Warcraft." In this award-winning documentary, gamer stereotypes are simultaneously shattered and confirmed. Immerse yourself in a world completely unlike our own; a world built upon fantasy, chivalry, and imagination; a place where you can be anything, dress however, and have almost any power. This is the true story of NERO Seattle, one of over 60 LARPing franchises with thousands of members in North America.

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Savage Weekend (1979)
dir. John Mason Kirby, D. Paulson

Product Decsription:
Several couples head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately they are stalked by a murderer behind a ghoulish mask.

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