Hey folks, Harry here - This is an interesting week, especially for you Blu Ray owners – as there’s some pretty cool stuff available this week. As usual, you can click on the images or links and you will goto AMAZON to learn more on the title – or you can purchase it – thus providing a small portion of the offering price to help keep this column coming. Thanks for the support and I hope you enjoy this weeks Picks & Peeks…

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

I LOVE YOU, MAN

A modern bromantic comedy that I enjoy quite a bit. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are both great, but I kinda feel the movie unravels a bit at the end. So it is flawed, but funny as hell. BTW… what’s up with all the RUSH love? First FANBOYS, then this? Do people really worship RUSH?

17 AGAIN

Never again.

THE NINTH GATE (Blu Ray)

I remember when this film came out and got shat upon by just about everyone and their brother. But god damn Polanski made a pretty freaky film with THE NINTH GATE. Depp’s performance, Langella… jeez – it is a fun flick. That said, the photography on the film was incredibly lush – and that has never been sharper than on this Blu Ray. But then, I’ve always been a sucker for “Dealer” movies that involve supernatural elements. I like watching this with NEEDFUL THINGS personally.

THE CLASS

Academy Award nominee for Foreign Film. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year. And a film that most of you haven’t had the ability to see – as it never received a truly wide distribution – nowhere near like what it can enjoy now on DVD and Blu-Ray. This is extremely well made story about an incredibly diverse French Class. Fantastic film.

SUPER FRIENDS: The Lost Episodes

While all obviously Super Friends episodes, these 24 episodes were never shown as a part of SUPER FRIENDS, instead they were packaged into THE SUPERMAN/BATMAN ADVENTURES – which is where I originally saw them. But hey man… I take my WONDER TWINS seriously (well kinda) and I love the Super Friends! This should complete your collection, if you’ve been buying them thus far. Glad to have these.

CUTTHROAT ISLAND (Blu Ray)

The film that killed Carolco, for all intents and purposes. And it should have. Do you realize that it is for this film, that we never got Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s CRUSADES? Literally one of the greatest unmade films. Arnold in his prime. Verhoeven… well, is always a good thing. Instead we get Matthew Modine and Renny Harlin. Now – at the time this got the go ahead over CRUSADES… it starred HARRISON FORD, who apparently read the script late and realized he should walk off the project. That said, I kinda enjoy this film. It’s pretty, has a damn fine score… and Geena Davis is a lot of fun in it… especially Langella! But this movie is why everyone thought PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN was going to bomb in advance of release. “A pirate movie? Nobody’ll see it!” No, we just want our pirate movies to rock!

STARMAN (Blu Ray)

Probably the most out of character feeling John Carpenter film ever… but it works at every level. STARMAN is great. Jeff Bridges delivers an oscar worthy performance… and Karen Allen is spectacular. A completely different take on aliens visiting Earth and how that would work. There are many people that consider this to be Carpenter’s best work. Those people are pussies that can’t take THE THING, and they should be forgiven their wussitude, but they should also be commended for thinking outside of John’s more popular titles. This looks great on Blu. So glad to have another Carpenter bit of perfection.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Film Collection (All Four Films) Blu Ray!

Ok – you get TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, SECRET OF THE OOZE, TURTLES IN TIME and the cg flick TMNT – all in Blu Ray! You also get “collector items” like a Beanie Hat, character cards, a miniature comic book and reproduction sketch with a reproduction Peter Laird autograph. Woo Hoo, right? Not really. This box set is outstanding in terms of the Blu Rays themselves. Top of the line. I mean, I’ve never seen the eye slits that the actors could see out of the turtle costumes in TURTLES IN TIME before, but now… they’re painfully clear. The quality and the extras are all solid. What isn’t so solid is the packaging. I hate the box. It’s a cardboard box (think Pizza box material) One of the flaps in the box already broke loose on mine – and there is no case inside the box that you can transfer your pizza decorated discs in. So you have to keep this overly thick box which takes up way too much space and is not particularly attractive. Companies… if you’re doing these sorts of box sets – include a case that the discs go in that can be taken out – just in case we don’t wish to be stuck with the box.

KATYN

A truly tremendous film by director Andrzej Wajda – about how in 1940, after the Nazis ran roughshod over Poland, the butcher Stalin took 22,000 Polish officers out into Katyn Forest and ate their hearts and gained super powers. Ok. It wasn’t Stalin taking them to the forest, but men that Stalin ordered – and they were just killed and disposed of. This was nominated for Best Foreign Film – and one viewing and you’ll totally get why. It is a tremendous film. Highly recommended.

GIGANTIC

I’m not sure if I agree with Ain’t It Cool News, that this is a “Perfect Love Story,” but it is a very damn good one. Maybe it is because I’m hopelessly infatuated by Zooey DeSchanel. It goes beyond her films to even her music career. Her eyes. The families are a bit zany for me, but dammit – having John Goodman, Paul Dano, Ed Asner and Jane Alexander? They’re all very funny and very good in GIGANTIC. Definitely worth looking at!

BLUE THUNDER (Blu Ray)

Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Malcolm McDowell, Daniel Stern and Candy Clark? And do you remember BLUE THUNDER? Ok – sure, BLUE THUNDER was no AIRWOLF, but it definitely had the cooler pilot. Rewatching this on Blu, I realized first… how much I really like this movie, but secondly… I discovered how small this film is. That said, the aerial chase through the city is HOLY FUCK great on Blu. Besides… how could you not get BLUE THUNDER on Blu. Right?

ALIEN TRESPASS

Do you remember R.W. Goodwin’s hilariously camp and awesome episodes of THE X-FILES? If you do… you will not hesitate for a half second picking this up. This time, Goodwin decides to make a 50’s Alien terror flick with a wink and a nod and an elbow to the ribs to join the guffaws you’ll have watching this film. Plus it has the T-1000 in it! That’s right, the Coach from the FACULTY! And he rules! If you’ve ever been as MST3Ker – or a fan of 50’s horror/sci-fi – this is a very loving film that happens to rock! I love it.

ST ELMO’S FIRE (Blu Ray)

Joel Schumacher’s Brat Pack opus! The theme song for the film is better than the film, and I actually get goose pimples when I hear it. I have to sing along. But the film’s characters are older versions of THE BREAKFAST CLUB – and frankly they’re no where nearly as well drawn or textured. Lovely transfer – and the film is fun to watch and laugh about the mid eighties in which it was hatched.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT (Blu Ray)

Ed Zwick’s first directorial feature film… based on a David Mamet play… Starring Rob Lowe and an impossibly young Demi Moore. What went wrong? It just wasn’t that good. It’s an ok film. If you watch it, you’ll finish it… most likely, but I’m not sure who would end up buying this. It just isn’t that good of film. Unless maybe your name is Jeff.

REPLICANT (Blu Ray)

Starring Van Damme and Michael Rooker – and it was directed by Ringo Lam. I really like this Van Damme flick. I think that’s mainly because of Ringo Lam, who I love… It isn’t at all like BLADE RUNNER, which the title instantly reminded people of. Instead, you get a grade b better than average Van Damme flick and a bunch of hokey sci fi. You’ll wish it were better, but it’s really fun as is.

BAD BOY BUBBY (Blu Ray)

A simply incredible film and performance. This is a really fucked up, in the right ways, kinda flick. Nicholas Hope plays the titular character – and he is indeed a Bad Boy. You see, just like in BEING THERE – we have a man child that hasn’t really had any contact with the outside world. So – just imagine BEING THERE… if it went terribly wrong. I’ve only ever seen this on DVD, so seeing a gorgeous print like this was a real treat. The extras are basically the same as the DVD from a few years back, but with a far better image quality of the film, due to the wonders of Blu Ray.

THE WEEKEND MURDERS

Originally this was double featured with NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES – I’ve never seen this film. But I’ve seen this trailer about a million times. NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES is kinda crazy fun, so I’m pulling for THE WEEKEND MURDERS. I just know I’ve wanted to see it for some time now.

CLASSIC 1940’s ACTION BOX SET

I haven’t seen JESSE JAMES RIDES AGAIN, but I have seen the other two serials that are a part of this set. G-MEN VS THE BLACK DRAGON is held in very high esteem amongst Serial junkies like me. But KING OF THE ROCKET MEN. Crack! “Controls so easy a Child could use them!” This my friends is the daddy of the Rocketeer – and I love the serial. It really doesn’t get much better than this. That said – this set is low low low on quality. It is nowhere near the quality that I find acceptable. Just wanted to warn y’all.

Next week we’ll be looking at HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE (really), THE SIMPSONS 12 season with my doppleganger as the cover, THE LAST STARFIGHTER (Blu Ray), LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT remake, ICONS OF SCI FI Toho Collection, KAGEMUSHA Criterion Collection Blu Ray, DONALD IN MATHMAGIC LAND, TYSON, PETE’S DRAGON, HUSBANDS, PLAYTIME – Criterion (Blu), THE 5 DEADLY VENOMS, GO (blu Ray), THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Vol 1-5 and 6-10, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS 2: HELL HEROES and that’s about it. See you next Tuesday!