Hey folks, Harry here with another week’s releases of our favorite medium of films we get to take home! Interesting week – really can’t say enough great things about the first film on the list. Very surprising little film. As always the pictures and the titles take you to Amazon where you can learn more or possibly purchase the item thus giving a portion of that price to support this very column. And… helping the economy in general which is of course our duty as the pistons of commerce! Be a piston! And enjoy the column! If you can! Yes, I’m hopped up on caffeine!

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

SPLINTER

This is the top release of the week for me. Here’s a film that I didn’t catch until this release and you know… when I’m sitting at home alone, and I pick a film out of the stacks by my desk… sometimes it comes with no anticipation. The only thing about this DVD that raised an eyebrow was the company… MAGNET. Recently I’ve recommended their releases of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and DONKEY PUNCH… and I love both of those films – and historically… MAGNET has been batting a hundred.

So I put this little horror film in – and what I got was a no holds barred scare fest. If you’re following me on Twitter, you might recall me kinda losing my shit a bit during this movie. At one point, I believe the intelligent reaction of “FUCK FUCK FUCK” escaped my keyboard. This is an indie horror film that will get to you. Now – what sort of horror is it? It involves the reanimation of dead tissue. But in a way you’ve never seen before. The ‘what the fuck’ factor is high. The “COOL” factor is very high. I love the science of the film – and how it comes to play, but it also has the themes of isolation, internal conflict and desperate actions – which I loved in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. And the end is… well, you should check this out. This is an exciting, scary and wonderful small horror film with big ambitions and the filmmakers are to be watched closely. They nailed this one!

THE READER

First off – this isn’t, by any means, a bad film. It is quite good. And the performances by Winslet and Fiennes are of the quality that you would hope for. HOWEVER, the ire that came at this film came from the notion that it deserved to be considered as one of the top 5 films of 2008 instead of multiple superior films, by just about all accounts. However, that anger should be reserved squarely on the heads of the Academy – not this film. It’s an excellent film – with a truly Academy Award winning level performance from Kate Winslet – who is great here. It is definitely worth taking a look at.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Blu Ray)

Here’s the 300 minutes BBC adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! It’s not as handsome or as concise as the feature version, but it was a very handsome production and a wonderful adaptation. For lovers of the original novel, many that I know feel this is their favorite adaptation – and frankly while I can’t agree – as an adaptation it is undeniably more complete. The visual quality here is the best I’ve seen this look. So if you’re a fan, this is well worth it.

THE SPIRIT (Blu Ray)

Aha… the much maligned adaptation of Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT by Frank Miller. I was a moderate supporter of the film upon first viewing, but I didn’t go back at the theaters. I didn’t really have anyone to go see it with, most everyone I know despised it. But I sat here and re-watched the film on Blu-Ray and liked it even more. Miller had the audacity to go High Camp with his adaptation. Very near to Looney Tunes levels. This is very much a film that I feel will find a niche on home video. I watched after I saw the upcoming SIN CITY Blu-Ray – and my feeling was that Frank was actually doing something fairly radical. He decided to actually go with the comedy and camp that was actually in Eisner’s material. To actually throw in the kitchen sink and the crazy whacked out visuals that Eisner created from graphite and ink. I also found myself thinking about the fact that Miller and Eisner spent a good deal of time with each other and as a fan of the medium he looked over some of Will’s originals – and found the beauty of Eisner’s own ink work. I think the mistake was in ever putting any color into it – which called into play his own SIN CITY, and not Eisner’s rather colorful comics. Black & White or Technicolor was the route to go. At least that’s my take.

MEAN GIRLS (Blu Ray)

Yes, it’s Lindsay Lohan. But it is also MEAN GIRLS – and MEAN GIRLS is a lot of fun. This was before Lindsay went stark raving Lohan. Here’s the girl she was before. She’s sweet and this film is her high water mark in terms of her own special cuteness. There’s actually a degree of sadness in watching this.

SLAUGHTER HIGH

God, I forgot how deliriously awful yet funny this film was. This is not a mediocre film, it’s not TROLL 2 bad, but it is jogging not far behind… and like TROLL 2 it is hilarious in the way it wallows in ineptitude. If you’re a fan of bad fun cinema – this is one to endure repeatedly in the company of friends.

MY BEST FRIEND’S A VAMPIRE

Unlike the above flick – I recommend this with no caveats of quality. This is a snap shot of my High School times (saw this my Junior year) and came long before the Vampire in High School movement became the sole ownership of a gal named Buffy. But this is the most fun this subject matter has been dealt on film. Very much a forgotten fun film!

ANNA KARENINA

For me, the definitive version of ANNA KARENINA starred Greta Garbo in the title role with Fredric March. However, when this disc came with the lovely Claire Bloom and a crazy young Sean Connery – I was very curious. Claire is lovely, but she is no Garbo, nor is she Vivien Leigh. And the whole thing is a bit unfair because this was a BBC production – so didn’t have the budget for the lavish flair that these other versions which had more time, more money and frankly much more talent. This isn’t particularly strong, but I find it fascinating to watch young Connery in anything. He grew so much after this. The next year he became Bond.

AMERICAN SWING

Contrary to the deceptive title – I was shocked to find this was not a film about playground equipment in America – but rather the seedy den of sin that could only fester in the upper West Side of New York called PLATO’S RETREAT where something called SWINGERS came to… God, I can’t believe I’m typing it. But… they came to forni… Forni… I mean, they came to FUCK! Admission was a $35 fee – and you came to fuck, be fucked and to watch fucking. I’m laughing and fooling – because as a card carrying pervert – I know of the legendary PLATO’S RETREAT – it was a sponsor of that MIDNIGHT BLUE show about all things adult that aired on some crazed network broadcast in New York. But this is a fascinating documentary on that particular period of free love New York style that existed in the years prior to AIDS changing quite a bit. But frankly – not much has changed – these kinds of clubs have actually grown in America. We’re a pretty deviant society behind closed doors, just outwardly shut in. For those curious about sexual history in this country – this documentary definitely is worth a watch!

8 MILE (Blu Ray)

A far better film than I was expecting, but then I shouldn’t be surprised by any Curtis Hanson film… even if it did star Eminem. Whatever happened to him? Wasn’t he bigger than Wonder Bread for a while? The photography on this film is pretty amazing on Blu-Ray and the sound is definitely as bombastic as I remember in the theater. But I don’t know if I’ll ever have a call to watch it again.

THE LAST KISS (Blu Ray)

I like Zach Braff – and I really like this film. Maybe its just how much of a crush I had on Jacinda Barrett and in particular Rachel (pant pant) Bilson! She’s just well, really damn cute and adorable. The film was a remake of an Italian flick that I haven’t seen, but I don’t feel this was watered down material. Instead it comes across fairly honest about MEN – and isn’t a chick flick as much as a dude flick about relationships and how many guys are wired.

MR SUPERINVISIBLE

It is pretty shit quality unfortunately, but its the only way to see the film. Other than the rare 35mm screening you could enjoy at the Alamo Drafthouse and like establishments once in a blue moon. But I really enjoy this film, quirky and bizarre don’t even cover it. But what else would you expect from Anthony Dawson, right?

That’s it for this week’s releases – but I wanted to be sure to alert you to a special edition that’s coming up that is actually a Limited Edition that some of you will want to go ahead and Pre-Order to make sure you get it.

T2 Complete Collector’s Set (ENDOSKULL) Limited Edition Blu-Ray

First and foremost – you’re picking this up for that awesome Terminator head with light up LEDs. If you’re like me, you have that Jack Skellington Bust edition of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS – and you need an off setting Terminator skull to off set it. Well Lionsgate is going to make sure some of you get that chance. This is basically the same BLU RAY which will be hitting May 19th – which is going to look and sound fantastic, but all those other discs are essentially the DVD extras and features that you’ve probably bought before – so you have to ask yourself – do you want the same old extras from all those editions, along with the new extras from the new Blu Ray and the Terminator head to store them all in – OR would you rather keep your $116.99?

Next week we’ll be looking at CAPRICA, THE WRESTLER, FROST/NIXON, X-MEN TRILOGY (Blu), SIN CITY (Blu), HELLRAISER Box set(Blu), NOTORIOUS, FREAKAZOID season 2, WAGES OF FEAR (Blu), THE BURROWERS, TINY TOONs, THE ARRIVAL (Blu), ARCTIC TALE (Blu), I DISMEMBER MAMA, KIKE LIKE ME and more.