Hey folks, Harry here with my latest pick and peeks at this Tuesday’s releases that interested me or didn’t. As usual, the images and titles are linked over to Amazon, where you can learn more on the title, or just go ahead and purchase it, that way you end up supporting this column with a small portion of the purchase price if you use the link! Not a whole lot this week, but some nice stuff and some not really nice stuff.

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN

Have you ever wondered why Moriarty never became a great actor? Has it ever made you curse the injustices of the world? Well curse no longer. The evidence of Drew’s absolutely horrid performance capabilities as even a mere extra are on full display in 1080p in RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. Drew is a bad extra. That the shot is left in the final film comments upon the rest of the production. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Carla Gugino survive the film – which is alright I s’pose for a badly made continuation of the Witch Mountain saga. But the worst is actually upon Mori. Watch him as he watches everything that The Rock does in the scene. Not only that, but he seems to be checking THE ROCK out! I’m serious. It is all there, see for yourself. Or… take my word for it. Drew is definitely looking with fondness upon The Rock.

THE SOLOIST

I really didn’t like this movie. Jamie and Downey do nice work, but the film is just tedium. I really just felt annoyed as I watched the film though. It feels like blatant subpar Oscar baiting – and thankfully Oscar didn’t take notice. Because this is just crap. Watching two quality actors performing with mediocre material is one of my biggest pet peeves. They don’t save the film in my opinion.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (Blu Ray)

Haven’t seen this Blu Ray yet. I won’t be getting it today, as I’ll be at a Bob Dylan concert, but Wednesday – is my BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA day. Fox generally does a good job on their discs, so I’m not expecting anything to be particularly lacking. I hear the extras are supposed to be just like the last DVD that hit, but there is supposed to be an extended cut of the film – and that is something I’m feverish to watch. This is the BLU RAY above all others for this Tuesday!

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS: The Warner Bros. Story (Amazon Exclusive)

If you’re a movie freak, this is catnip. This is a 5-part salute to the 85th Anniversary of Warner Brothers that was put together by Richard Schickel and narrated by Clint Eastwood. What is great? The history of my favorite Hollywood Studio (historically speaking). Learn about the context in which their films came out, the politics and behind the scenes. The best thing is that you’ll most likely discover some titles that you’ll then have to seek out and enjoy. It’s extremely well done!

MY COUSIN VINNY (Blu Ray)

The film that created the phrase “Academy Award Winning Marisa Tomei!” Which she 100% earned with her turn in THE WRESTLER. This is actually a very funny film – and Marisa is amazing in the film. Seriously. Personally, I don’t love it so much as to go out and buy it, but it is something that is fun to revisit. Perhaps a turn on your queue?

SLING BLADE (Blu Ray)

Flat out brilliant film. Be it that kid, Dwight Yoakam or Billy Bob himself… I was transfixed from beginning to end. Every bit as great as it was originally – the transfer is stunning – and I still don’t see Billy Bob at all in Carl. He is completely invisible in there. This and A SIMPLE PLAN are the two finest performances of Billy Bob’s career. To me, a must own.

ULYSSES

The sequel to TROY! Kinda. I have always wished that Ray Harryhausen had been involved in this film. I like it, but it is missing the magic that Ray would have brought to it. Instead, you get wonderful performances by Kirk and Anthony Quinn. We’re still waiting on the GREAT version of this particular tale.

WOLFHOUND

I don’t know what crackhead gave this film the quote, “CONAN THE BARBARIAN meets LORD OF THE RINGS” But they seriously need to scale that down. It is more like “WILLOW meets WATERWORLD!” Massawyrm has a gigantic hard on for this movie. It is enjoyable, but it isn’t “all that”. It’s kinda silly, and I kinda kept expecting Jack Black to jump out and belt out a Tenacious D song. It is wildly entertaining, beautifully set designed, but it just doesn’t float my boat nearly as much as any number of other films in the genre. But I would recommend adding it to your Fantasy film library as a film to show people stoned.

GOMORRAH

Martin Scorsese loves this film, and presented it to the United States as something we serious movie geeks should pay attention to. SO… FUCKING PAY ATTENTION! If the Master says watch GOMORRAH, watch it! He knows what he’s talking about! This is an Italian modern mafia film that is brilliant. A truly great film. Watch it and see!

THE WATERBOY (Blu Ray)

I find the film fairly miserably one note. You see, The Waterboy has a lot of hidden anger. When he gets mad, he is unstoppable. The Fonz teaches him to lose his cool with direction. They win. Not really a big fan.

BIG IRON COLLECTION ( CROOKED RIVER, COLORADO RANGER, FAST ON THE DRAW, HOSTILE COUNTRY, MARSHAL OF HELDORADO & WEST OF THE BRAZOS )

Here you get 6 B-Westerns from 1950, when B WESTERN was king. You’ll see Jimmy Ellison and Russell Hayden going at it in a series of remakes of classic 30’s B-Westerns – and director Thomas Carr did a dang good job of it, especially WEST OF THE BRAZOS which is the best out of the lot. But that’s probably because it has the Creature From The Black Lagoon’s girlfriend in western wear. Damn she’s hot!

THE ITALIAN JOB (Blu Ray)

This is a pricey import, but I really have no idea how long it’ll be till we get a domestic Blu Ray of this classic old school Michael Caine flick. I’m told that the disc will play the film fine, but there are features in PAL that won’t play – specifically the commentarys and deleted scenes. Sigh. So that’s the good news/bad news of it. You have been warned.

THE MACHINE GIRL

Yes! It is bugnuts fucking whacked out insane. But that’s exactly why we must own this. We must own this to show people just how crazy cinema can get. Expecially when made by the Japanese! This is all kinds of special.

MIMIC (Blu Ray)

A pricy Canadian import. Some day, I predict there will be a fascinating Blu Ray of this film – with the intended script, a documentary with Guillermo Del Toro going into exacting detail regarding what exactly happened on this film. But for now, this is what we have. It could be worse, but it could be a lot better. Personally, I have a soft spot for MIMIC. My original review is why I connected with Guillermo all those years ago.

That’s it for this week. Next week we’ll look at 17 AGAIN, I LOVE YOU MAN, THE CLASS, THE NINTH GATE (Blu), SUPERFRIENDS: THE LOST EPISODES, CUTTHROAT ISLAND (Blu), STARMAN (Blu), KATYN, EAGLES OVER LONDON (Blu), TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES FILM COLLECTION (Blu), BLUE THUNDER (Blu), GIGANTIC, ICHI THE KILLER (Blu Ray), ST ELMO’S FIRE (Blu), BAD BOY BUBBY (Blu), ABOUT LAST NIGHT (Blu), REPLICANT (Blu), Grindhouse Girls of the 1970s Collection, THE WEEKEND MURDERS, ALL THE SINS OF SODOM, GOZU, CLASSIC 1940’s ACTION BOX SET, Wicked Women Set and more!