Hey folks, Harry here, with a pretty interesting week of releases. As usual, the images and titles are linked to Amazon, where you can learn more on the titles or purchase the item, which gives a little to keep this column going. As it really is my favorite thing to write up each week. Without further bs, here’s this week’s releases that interest me…

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

GRAN TORINO

Isn’t just the best feeling in the world to see Clint Eastwood in a new movie? Right? And having him play a grizzled cantankerous racist with a heart of gold, surrounded by granite from lack of use… that just makes me do a happy dance. I know an odd amount of friends that really dislike everything non-Clint in this film, but I love the whole of this film. Maybe it’s that I had a very transforming cultural THANKSGIVING experience last year with my Korean In-Laws, that was kind of amazing. The games, the traditions… In a weird way, it was like experiencing Thanksgiving anew. And watching Clint in that household, being fawned upon and looked at with suspicion. Watching those old ladies delight at his food choices! That was nothing compared to the look on my new Grandmother as I ate Kim-Chi (which btw is why I didn’t die of Swine Flu). The BLU RAY has a wonderful transfer. The special features and the story behind what Clint did to this script and this material. It’s fantastic. Very happy with this disc!

WOODSTOCK: 3 DAYS OF PEACE & MUSIC Director’s Cut (Blu)

Um… This is a fantastic set! Ok. Yes, I was raised by hippies that did light shows for national groups, that became hippie antique dealers, that became hippie comic and movie memorabilia dealers, that became hippie artisans before they divorced and one became a Rancher and the other remained an Artist/Collector/Dealer. SO – you could say… I’ve seen WOODSTOCK a few times. As soon as I got the screener for this, I called Dad up and said… “Dad, I got WOODSTOCK Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray” and 7 minutes later he was knocking on my door.

So far this year, this is my favorite Single Film BLU RAY deluxe treatment… thus far. Yes, that box has real fringe on it, and that patch is real embroidery. If you order this through the above link – this is exactly what you’ll get:

Amazon-exclusive bonus disc with never-before-seen performance footage in hi-def from Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe and the Fish plus three bonus featurettes

40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition includes:

Lucite display with images from the festival

60-page commemorative LIFE Magazine reprint

Iron-on Woodstock patch

Woodstock fact sheet

Reproductions of festival memorabilia, including handwritten notes and a three-day ticket

New retrospective: The Museum at Bethel Woods: The Story of the Sixties and Woodstock

Woodstock: Untold Stories: Over two hours of never-before-seen musical performances by Joan Baez, Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Mountain, Santana, Sha Na Na, the Who, and Johnny Winter (Exclusive to Blu-ray: customize your own Woodstock playlist)

Woodstock: From Festival to Feature: comprehensive featurette gallery chronicling the festival and the filming from start to finish, interwoven with interviews from Martin Scorsese, Grace Slick, director Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock Festival executive producer Michael Lang, and more

Enhanced BD-Live bonus features

This is an AMAZING set. Allowing me to see parts of WOODSTOCK that I have never seen before. It was truly an amazing concert, experience and historic moment for the youth movement of the sixties. Hearing about it motivated my parents to head to several of the Pop Festivals. As great as one could hope for this title. BESIDES – you need this as a double feature with Charlton Heston’s OMEGA MAN!

THE INTERNATIONAL

I love Tom Tykwer as a filmmaker – and even this film’s harshest critics admit there is a fairly astonishing action sequence here. BUT – as someone that loves conspiracy cinema. Films like 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR, THE PARALLAX VIEW, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN… (all of which are vastly superior to this film btw) – Well, I pam pretty quick to suspend belief and allow myself to be taken by conspiracy theories. Ultimately, if you can believe that gigantic International Banking Conglomerates can manipulate the actions of countries (and who doesn’t believe that?) then you’ll dig the hell out of this film. Clive Owen and Naomi Watts do a fine job in the film – and I really really enjoyed the Blu Ray on this.

PREDATOR 2 (Blu Ray)

I will always have a very fond spot in my heart for this crazy fucking film, if for no other reason than the immortal line, “Fooookin’ VooDoo Mah Gic Maaaannnn!” I love that line. Director Stephen Hopkins is one of the directors I’ve always rooted for. I love PREDATOR 2, though it is barely an abcess on the ass of McTiernan’s PREDATOR – but it is SO much better than those AVP movies – and that bugnuts insane opening, that elevated train sequence and that glorious end sequence that completely birthed the concept of Aliens and Predators being a part of the same universe. Which spawned that brilliant comic series, which is infinitely better than the films of the same name. That said, I’m quite fond of this film. But as FOX does not send me screeners of their product, I can’t tell you jack or shit about this release, whether it be bare bones or not. But I’ll be picking this up tomorrow. I mean, later today.

FIRED UP

Y’all bitched the fuck out of me for liking this movie, and I don’t give two shits. I think this movie is HILARIOUS! Excuse me all to hell for liking a movie that is about the fantasy of going to Cheerleader Camp to score with as many cheerleaders as possible. That’s a healthy bit of awesome in this film, in the nubile bodies of these cheerleaders – and in this unrated version you’ll get some nice boobies, and some other fun. But honestly – this film didn’t really need it. I think 13-17 year olds should get some good clean sexual enthusiasm with some laughs – though admittedly, I always preferred a bit of nudity in my Sex Comedies – and hey, in this version you get it!

The Jack Lemmon Film Collection ( PHFFFT! / OPERATION MAD BALL / THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY / UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE / GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM )

These are not the greatest Jack Lemmon films. By all means check out SOME LIKE IT HOT, BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, THE APARTMENT, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, MISTER ROBERTS, THE ODD COUPLE, THE FRONT PAGE and CHINA SYNDROME. But like many of you, I already have. And as a card-carrying member of the WHY CAN’T WE HAVE MORE JACK LEMMON MOVIES PLEASE SOCIETY, this set is that wish come true. More Jack Lemmon movies.

PHFFFT! – based on the George Axelrod play, this is a very fine comedy starring a crazy young Jack Lemmon, Judy Holliday, Jack Carson and Kim Novak! This film surprised and delighted me at every turn – and Jack Lemmon is quite the Mambo dancer! Seriously.

OPERATION MAD BALL – based on an Arthur Carter play, adapted by a young Blake Edwards and featuring Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Princess Parisa, L.Q. Jones and Mickey Rooney! This is a military comedy and Jack Lemmon’s private is a gas. But to single him out is a crime, as the whole cast is uniformly great. Heh. Uniformly. Heh.

THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY is a very fun mysterious comedy by Blake Edwards and joining Jack is Kim Novak, Fred Astaire and Lionel Jeffries! I love Lionel Jeffries in everything he does! Trust me, this is a pure delight.

UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE – a really wretched film.

GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM – based on a Jack Finney novel – this is one of those married comedies, where a married man must pretend to be married to another woman in order to collect millions, but it all goes horribly awry in a delightfully funny way.

In all – a very fun set! Though… avoid YUM YUM.

FATAL ATTRACTION (Blu)

Gorgeous transfer of a truly frightening film about how you should never have sex with Glenn Close. Ever. I’m serious. Don’t ever do it! She’ll boil your fucking pet rabbit. She’s the pussy best left alone. And I know she’s playing a character in a movie, but goddamn it, that character is so convincing that the idea of having sex with her… well, it makes me want to Sumo my privates up inside of me and glue the resulting mangina shut! Holy shit is she spooky! I’ve had CRAZY girlfriends. The ones, that when it turned bad, they floored it over the cliff. But after every bad breakup – FATAL ATTRACTION is the movie to watch to remind you… IT COULD BE WORSE. If it doesn’t work for you, then write your story and film it baby! That shit will make you bank!

DICK POWELL’S ZANE GREY THEATRE COMPLETE SEASON ONE

After Dick Powell ceased being the greatest musical dork in film history, he went on a fascinating adventure as a typecast actor. One that I feel all actors or actresses that face those issues would do well to learn from. He completely reinvented himself… first as a Hard Ass in Film Noir. Films he directed and ones he didn’t. He then became a bit of an auteur – forming relationships with talented actors and creating his own televised acting troupe that he used to give us some of the best televised anthology series ever. This was his Zane Grey theater. Working with a very young Aaron Spelling (yes, that was the case once) they began working with Zane Grey’s universe to create this half hour series. Here you have nearly 15 hours of wonderful western dramas starring folks like Dick Powell, Ida Lupino, Steve McQueen, Robert Culp, Chuck Connors and many more. Dick Powell’s son tells us about his father and this show in the extras. This is a real Television treasure!

THE SIEGE (Blu)

Watching this film in a post-9/11 world, specifically during the Bush Administration – this was the liberal paranoia film of choice. But this is the work of Hollywood minds that could and did imagine the worst case scenario for a Terrorist Attack, in terms of what it could do to us Americans. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case after 9/11. It didn’t come anywhere near the nightmare that Zwick directed back in 1998. That said, it is fascinating to watch – and this transfer is nice. It doesn’t quite work, but it is worth seeing.

INDECENT PROPOSAL (Blu)

My wife’s fantasy. To net a million dollars by spending one adulterous night with Robert Redford, then divorce me, and live with Robert Redford. She calls bullshit on going back with Harry… I mean Woody Harrelson. Heh. Just kidding. This film doesn’t really hold my attention anymore. Though, DAMN! Demi Moore is hot! And damn Redford is smooth! Another really good transfer.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Blu)

This is the Japanese Import – yes, it will play on U.S. Blu Ray players – and yes, at some point we’ll probably get a superior domestic disc, but I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen. Personally, I have the HD DVD, which I enjoy – but I know how dear this movie is for a lot of you, and wanted to let you know this version is available now. Brilliant film! Absolutely love it!

CHARIOTS OF THE GODS / THE OUTER SPACE CONNECTION

”Childs, Childs… CHARIOTS OF THE GODS, man. They practically own South America. I mean, they taught the Incas everything they know!” – I love that line and the way David Clennon delivered it in John Carpenter’s THE THING. And it makes me donkey laugh, because I’ve seen this awesome historic “Documentary”. I know many may scoff at this being a “Documentary” – but the year I was born, this movie was nominated for Best Documentary at that year’s Oscars! It did not win sadly. It is enough to just be nominated. As some one that has seen the amazing carvings inside that beautiful Pyramid at Palenque – To actually see 1000 + year old carvings of what ABSOLUTELY looks EXACTLY like an Astronaut’s Capsule during the Apollo missions. But you know what? That doesn’t have to mean ALIENS. It could simply be some amazing psychic Mayan that foresaw an Apollo mission. But that documentary and THE OUTER SPACE CONNECTION are two films that no X-FILES geek should be without. They were desperate to get the TRUTH OUT THERE… even if there’s a lot of “fill in the gaps”! That said, I love these two docs. Not a great transfer, but the only other way to see it is on 16mm or 35mm. Psst. Good luck with that!

THE JESUS TRIP

This is a very cool film. A motorcycle western that is from a director that’s only other feature film that I know of, was THE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL, which is kinda amazing in its own way. This film stands out from a lot of the MOTORCYCLEXPLOITATION of the time. These are not savages. Not brainless rapists and sadists. They do run drugs, but that isn’t necessarily an evil in this era and universe. The amazing thing about this film is how wonderful it is – even though nobody here really did anything of its like again! If you’re an adventurous film lover, you really should check it out. Its likely to really surprise you.

That’s it for this week. Next week we’ll be discussing Vol 6 of the THREE STOOGES Collection, GHOSTBUSTERS (Blu), LOST seasons 1 & 2 (Blu), FRIDAY THE 13th (2009), TRANSFORMERS (1st Season!!!), DR STRANGELOVE (Blu), SEVENTH SEAL Criterion BLU, JOHN ADAMS (Blu), GENERATION KILL (Blu), SPACEBALLS (Blu), FRIDAY THE 13th Part 2 & 3 in Blu, MORNING LIGHT, MIRACLE (Blu), THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED (Blu), KICKBOXER (Blu), CHERRY BLOSSOMS, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Blu), THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO LOVE, THE OUTLAW, BERGMAN ISLAND, LAST HOLIDAY, THE STRANGE ONE, WHAT’S UP TIGER LILY?, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND OTHER STORIES, SUDDENLY, HIDDEN FORTRESS, ASHES AND DIAMONDS, RICHARD III (Olivier’s), MY BREAKFAST WITH BLASSIE, BLACK MAGIC 2 and much more!