Hey folks, Harry here - ya know – don’t expect a lot this week, it is the last week of the year, and those always seem to go out with more of a whimper than a bang, but there’s a few cool things on this very short list. As usual the pics and titles link to Amazon, where if you feel so inclined, you’ll help keep this column going or at the very least, you can learn more about the product in question. This is it, the last DVD column of 2009! Well… maybe.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

I absolutely, unapologetically love PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Why? Because I love that film can be made for next to nothing, and it can be made for a half billion dollars – and at the end of the day, I can love both. I like, “idea” horror, where it isn’t about gore and torture, but things that go bump in the night. I’ve watched PARANORMAL ACTIVITY twice since I’ve gotten the Blu-Ray. Once by myself. And once with Yoko. Both viewings were great. By yourself, late at night, you’re the only one awake, our dog, Rosy walking around, but then that thing in my kitchen that knocks happens and instead of taking me out of the movie, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It got to me. But watching it with my wife is the best. She seriously asked me tonight, “Do you think playing PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – that we might’ve invited something into our house?” HOW AWESOME IS THAT? See, you can’t get that out of a high energy blood & guts film with professional actors. It’s the weird tiny films, with no resources – where the filmmakers sit around and think, “Ok, I have no money. Well, how can I scare me with no money?” and they begin solving those questions with ideas, not with cash. Now – about the Blu Ray. They have the theatrical cut and the “original unseen ending” which is just the blackest black ending I’ve seen in a while. But the theatrical ending works better I feel, because it kinda has a wink to it. And the wink tells you, its ok. It is just a movie after all. With this other ending, there’s a chance you’d leave just twitching and thinking how you might not want to revisit that. Personally, I get the feeling we’ll watch this a bit. I also think, in some ways this film’s rather phenomenal success might be as influential or more than AVATAR – just simply because, seeing a $15k movie pull in over a $100 million… And this Blu Ray is going to sell like crazy I bet. That said, trying to make one of these… isn’t easy at all. You have to do something that strikes universal chords. This made a regular modern home scary. That’s cool.

9

The first time I saw this film, I didn’t care for it much at all. Watching it at home, I liked it much more. I think in the theater I was just disappointed that it wasn’t as great as the other animated films I saw this year, and when I brought it home – I saw it as a different film altogether. It played like a future fable, and suddenly the character depth I longed for wasn’t as important. This is a beautiful film. But in the end, the classic cartoon PEACE ON EARTH handles the story a bit better and more emotional, in about 70 less minutes. Here’s the cartoon:

JENNIFER’S BODY

I still haven’t seen this. Out of this week’s releases – it is the only release I wasn’t sent. SO I guess I’ll be picking this up later today. But here’s what you get on the disc:

• Audio Commentary with Director Karyn Kusama and Writer Diablo Cody (Theatrical Version)
• Audio Commentary with Director Karyn Kusama (Extended Version)
• Deleted Scenes (BD Exclusive)
◦ Dead Boys
◦ Jennifer Check Is Gross
◦ Needy Confronts Jennifer
◦ Who's Cindy Crawford?
◦ Needy Faces The Band
◦ Ass, Gas or Grass…
• Gag Reel (BD Exclusive)
• Jennifer's Body: The Dead Pool (BD Exclusive)
• Video Diaries (BD Exclusive)
◦ Megan Fox and Johnny Simmons
◦ Amanda Seyfried
◦ Diablo Cody
◦ Dan Dubiecki
• Megan Fox Is HOT (BD Exclusive)
• Megan Fox “Peer Pressure” PSA (BD Exclusive)
• Fox Movie Channel Presents ‘Life After Film School' With Writer Diablo Cody (BD Exclusive)
Digital Copy (Extended Version)

A PERFECT GETAWAY

I really liked about 3/4s of this movie, and then it made me want to flip it off. That said, I won’t say what set me off, I figure if you NetFlix this sucker, you’ll either go along, completely happy with where the film goes, or all of a sudden you’ll scream BULLSHIT at the screen and get angry at the movie. That said, the film is totally worth checking out for Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez. They’re fantastic.

CARRIERS

Now this? This I really liked for about 9/10ths of the film. And my problem is so small, that I have no problem fully recommending checking out CARRIERS. First off, as a “end of the world” style film that harkens back to OUTBREAK or THE HOT ZONE’s scenario, but centering on two brothers and their girls (kinda) as they try to make it to a clear area where they have a chance to survive. They have hard and fast rules to live by, but man… there’s a character in this film that I just hate, and you’re supposed to hate them for their selfish, stupid, moronic, cuntish behavior. I love how HARD this film is. It is a terrible situation to imagine and explore. Let’s hope this sort of shit never ever happens. Cuz I think life could probably be a lot like what you see here. This is a film that deserved a national release in the wake of STAR TREK, as Chris Pine shows here that his Kirk was not a fluke – and that he’s got genuine charisma and presence on screen. I am a big fan of this one.

FACING ALI

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! Loved it! If you were a boy in the late sixties through the seventies… like me, you probably worship at the Muhammad Ali altar. I remember watching all his fights from 77 forward and I remember crying and being depressed when Holmes destroyed him. For me, I always wanted to see Ali vs Bruce Lee. Because after Ali beat Superman, I knew the only guy that couldn’t possibly lose to Ali was Bruce Lee. But he was dead. Which I thought and still think, sucks big time. Anyway, watched this wonderful documentary tonight. This is a retelling of the ALI story through the eyes of some of his greatest opponents. Shot on the RED system, the film is gorgeous. They talk to Chuvalo, Cooper, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes, Lyle, Norton, Shavers, Spinks & Terrell. Each man’s story and interview adds so much to the men Ali faced, as well as their reverence for Ali that they expressed. Ken Norton’s story destroyed me. Frazier’s shook me and fuck, I just want to make a film out of Shavers. But win or lose, these men respect Ali and acknowledge why he is indeed The Greatest – and that’s something I didn’t necessarily expect. In addition, the restoration work they did to the fight footage… well, it’s the sort of thing that makes you hope somebody goes through and does this process to those entire fights. I’d buy a dvd of each.

PRINCESS OF MARS

Ok, I didn’t get sent this either, but this is a train wreck that I can’t possibly resist. I’m hoping for, at best, 70’s era Burroughs film work, and I know it’ll miss that bar by a mile, just from the cover alone. But I have to admit – if this were porn, it would be great porn, or at least then there’d be fucking.

NUNS OF SAINT ARCHANGEL

I’m a sucker for Nunsploitation, so I put this on the second I got it, knowing nothing about its history. That said, there’s some amazing Nunsploitation films that are not only hot, but incredible mindfucks. This isn’t one of those. It is, however a bit better than a simple foray into the nunsploitation genre. When I went to pull up the credits for the film, the IMDB reviewer, ‘matthewscott8’ wrote a really strong piece about the film, that I would have to say I completely agree with. He compared the film to Ken Russell’s THE DEVIL – and if you know Russell’s amazing film, that knowledge will better prepare you for this movie than any review that anyone could write. If you don’t know Ken Russell’s THE DEVIL… find that film first – then watch these two as a double feature of erotic subversion. GOOD STUFF.

Well, I know there isn’t much for this final week of the year. Next week isn’t that amazing either, but I’ll be here to cover it just the same, here’s what it’ll comprise: CHUCK 2nd Season, THE FINAL DESTINATION, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, The Complete Bakshi MIGHTY MOUSE: NEW ADVENTURES series, SUPERFRIENDS Season 1 Vol 1, THE GREEN BERETS Blu, RIDING GIANTS Blu, TRUCKER, Elvis Presley Gladiators: The 1974 Elvis Karate Legacy Project!!!, IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES Vol 2, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS Blu and that’s it. There’s fun stuff there, but hopefully the year will get much better from there.