Hey folks, Harry here… Still loving this desk and this column. There’s some fun stuff here for you to check out – as usual the box art and the titles are clickable to Amazon, where you can either learn more about the titles below or you can purchase the title in question – and a small portion will go to support this column, which I hope you support. Now let’s get on with it…

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

SHINE A LIGHT

While neither the best documentary by Martin Scorsese or about The Rolling Stones – SHINE A LIGHT still is spectacular. It just isn’t as awesome as THE LAST WALTZ or as historically disturbing and electric as GIMME SHELTER – SHINE A LIGHT is a wonderful look at the Rolling Stones and their magnificently carved complexions. The energy that a 64 year old Mick Jagger has is… well, humbling. And just looking at Keith Richards on the big screen is like watching the best Imagimation device cooked up by the wizards that make Lincoln stand and talk. It never gets better than watching Buddy Guy play with Keith – and it doesn’t get as awesomely disturbing as when Mick humps Christina Aguilera. Gives a man a sense of something to look forward to, eh? This was amazing in IMAX – and the Blu Ray captures an ounce of that if you have the home theater to take advantage of it. The dvd has 4 additional performances of “Undercover of the Night,” “Paint It Black,” “Little T & A,” and “I’m Free”! It’s fantastic work – the only thing that keeps it from being beyond what it is – is the astonishing history of achievement by both key artists. Beautiful film though!

AVATAR – THE LAST AIRBENDER – Book 3 FIRE, Vol. 4

If you’re a completist – you can’t go without the end of the series – right? There’s only one that doesn’t rule, but the other 5 chapters are extremely good and overall it’s a very nice completion to this series that took me a while to get into. Here ya go!

DARK CITY (Director’s Cut) BLU RAY

Remember Roger Ebert going bugnuts insane in love with this film? Have you listened to his commentary on this movie? Well – I would have picked this up in an instant just to have this beautiful and stunning film in 1080p – but then, to find out that Alex Proyas has put together his original Director’s Cut and that apparently the additional 15 minutes profoundly changes the film – and I’m dying to see what that means. Seriously – I’m running out first thing in the morning to pick this up and to sit at home and be flabbergasted by Proyas’ film. There is so much to marvel over in the film, but I always keep coming back to Kiefer Sutherland’s quirky as hell character. This is one I’m giddy about!

TOP GUN – Blu Ray

Basically a Blu-Ray version of the HD DVD release – but if you have a need… a need… for speed, then you’ll be picking this up. I love TOP GUN. It was one of the first films that I ever saw with THX sound and the jet sounds blew my aural mind. Rumors of a TOP GUN 2 kinda frighten me, but at the same time – I’d love to see it if they don’t just ape the first film – and perhaps deal with the remote control drones and the “needless” risk of life of a live pilot – when they could just be strapped into a “Video Game” back home. Somehow though, I don’t think that’ll be the direction they go with this new film. But what song will the new “pseudo-Maverick” sing to win Tom’s love? The disc is beautiful and is very nicely put together.

THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER – Blu Ray

Probably the most fun I’ve had at home this past week was watching all 4 Jack Ryan movies in pristine presentation in order. I’d never done that before. I started, of course, with THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER – a film that many feel was the best of the series. There’s no doubt that I love the film. It’s got one of the great Sean Connery performances – and everything about the film is exquisite. This was John McTiernan at the peak of his powers – this and DIE HARD are his best works – and how can we all not fondly love that Russian to English dissolve – which I just frigging love. I love how that whole end battle plays out – I’ve never seen it look better than on this disc.

PATRIOT GAMES – Blu Ray

Film is a strange thing. At times it can be an astonishingly powerful emotional and personal time machine – and you won’t know it till it happens. When THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER ended, I grabbed my Blu Ray of PATRIOT GAMES and slipped it into the player and as the opening credits began…. WHOOSH! It was Summer 1992 – I was in Downtown Dallas – and I remembered… this was the last film I ever saw in a movie theater with my Mother while she was alive. I had forgotten that. For the first 15 minutes or so – I had a profound attack of sadness and nostalgia as I remembered our conversations about the film. She absolutely adored it. I remembered everything about that night, if truth be told it was the last great evening I had with my mom and as I watched PATRIOT GAMES for the first time, in quite some time. Perhaps in 16 years – I found myself in love with the film. Sean Bean is such a pissed off’d bugger. And Harrison Ford’s personal rage was amazing as well. And damn – I forgot about ol Samuel L Jackson and his medal he presents Ford with! What a pleasant experience to rediscover this film, the memories it held and to be reminded of how great Harrison can be, with the right material.

CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER – Blu Ray

When I went to put this one in, I was plagued by memories of not liking the film, but as I watched… I couldn’t remember a damn thing that I didn’t like. What’s particularly strong about the two Jack Ryan / Harrison Ford films was how strongly based in a seeming reality they were. There really isn’t anything particularly fantastical about the technology, the action or the situations that you couldn’t believe as being real. You could believe that this story and the one in PATRIOT GAMES could happen – and not appear in the papers – without great notice, but that doesn’t mean that they’re any less exciting or compelling than any other story of intrigue we could enjoy. In particular – the exquisite ambush that Jack finds himself in is remarkable work. Talk about Koybayashi Maru. And how great is Willem Dafoe here?

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS – Blu Ray

I get it – A whole bunch of you just have some sort of hatred for Ben Affleck. I understand, I feel the same way about Matt Lillard. There’s just something about that guy that I hate. It’s like he prison raped me in another life. It doesn’t make sense to hate him – and I’m an asshole for probably just arbitrarily hating Matthew Lillard, but then so are you for hating on Ben Affleck. We just can’t help it. That said – I fucking love THE SUM OF ALL FEARS. It’s not at all in the same universe as the previous three Jack Ryan films – it is a far more dangerous speculative universe. In this universe Jack Ryan can still win, but it’s a conditional win. The risk isn’t localized or small, this is save the world scale. But it’s very likely that well over a million died in the midst of it all. It’s a great wonderful film… one that feels more and more likely to be closer to our reality with each passing year. Only, having visited Baltimore, I can say – Please… don’t nuke Baltimore. It’s got too cool of a vibe.

HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (unrated 2-disc)

Filthy, Bizarre, Surreal and Fucking Funny. It is moreso of all here.

DOOMSDAY

A Bugnuts Escape From New York from Neil Marshall and I just couldn’t help but have a great time with it. It’s utterly absurd and bugnuts and the unrated version is even moreso. Absolutely crazy film. There’s tons of extras and the transfer is great. One of the most unoriginal original cinematic collages gone insane that I’ve seen. But it really wants to have fun with every single moment. It is crazy though. Absolutely Bugnuts.

THE LOST BOYS – Blu Ray

A fucking great movie! THE LOST BOYS is classic. Last year, sitting on that beach alongside the boardwalk watching LOST BOYS – it really hit me just how much I love this movie. It’s a joke in my home that this movie is as old as my wife, Yoko – but in 1987… I was a sophmore in High School and when this film opened it brought everyone at school together. We all loved this movie. It is the best thing that Joel Schumacher has ever done, perhaps FALLING DOWN has more artistic merit, but LOST BOYS is just blissfully fun and happy and creates such a wonderful California Vampire mythology. Great stuff!

LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE

It really is as bad as you’d think. Not even worth a curious peek.

FREAKAZOID: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

This show was a blast. Unhinged and crazy. Wacky in the best way that toons can be. So if you like your superheroes to be geeks that get transformed by the internet into a whacked out weirdo FREAK! Well here ya go!

Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection – ( CAFÉ METROPOLE / GIRLS DORMITORY / JOHNNY APOLLO / DAYTIME WIFE / LUCK OF THE IRISH / I’LL NEVER FORGET YOU / THAT WONDERFUL URGE / LOVE IS NEWS / THIS ABOVE ALL / SECOND HONEYMOON )

Tyrone Power is he definition of a Matinee Idol – but he’s more than that – he was a damn fine actor. Just check him out in something like WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION or THE SUN ALSO RISES. In those later films in his career – he was a powerful actor – and I’d say in many of these films – at the height of his matinee powers – he’s extremely great. In CAFÉ METROPOLE, he’s just a gigalo – albeit a forced one out to grift an heiress to pay a debt to the fantastic Adolphe Menjou. The heiress? Loretta Young – that’s some honey to rob! Next is GIRLS DORMITORY isn’t really a Tyrone Power film – it is, as in he appears in it, but only at the very very end. That said – it does star CAT PEOPLE’s Simone Simon – who could very well be the sexiest cutest girl in the history of cinema. She’s the sort you dream of. Now JOHNNY APOLLO is one of THE Tyrone Power films for me. He plays the titular gangster type and he’s fantastic – working with other great talents like luscious Dorothy Lamour – and wonderful character actors like Edward Arnold, Lloyd Nolan, Lionel Atwill and ol Fuzzy Knight. A wonderful crime flick. In DAY-TIME WIFE – he plays the husband of my cousin Linda Darnell – and this film is really her film – and it’s a subversive film about husband’s indiscretions and a wife’s curiousity about that type of life. I’m quite fond of LUCK OF THE IRISH – it’s a whimsical film about a newspaper reporter that meets a fantastic Leprechaun named Horace – played by Cecil Kellaway, who got nominated for Supporting Actor for his delicious turn. Great film. When you think of the great Time Travel Romantic films you think of SOMEWHERE IN TIME and TIME AFTER TIME… but do you think of… have you ever heard of I’LL NEVER FORGET YOU from 1951? You should, cuz it is a fantastic film. Absolutely fantastic. And it has finally been cleared for release. That’s as far through the set as I’ve gotten, but I’m dying to see THIS ABOVE ALL – I’ve heard amazing things about it. This set really gives you a dimensional look at the actor, Tyrone Power – a bit of everything.

WAR GAMES (25th Anniversary Edition)

It’s crazy. I’ve been hearing from folks that have seen this DVD – that I’m apparently in the Documentary made for the 25th Anniversary of WAR GAMES – and if that’s true – I’m going to be so fucking happy. I did an interview for this dvd, but I don’t think I can really put in words how cool it is that I’m on this DVD. Sure I’m on DVDs like KING KONG (1933) and RESERVOIR DOGS – but WAR GAMES is one of those films that inspired me to love computers, to dream of something that would become the internet – and I loved this movie like very few. It came out when I was 11 and the film blew me away – Where are the films like this that make kids think? I remember watching this film and being afraid of the world going boom. When David laments never having time to learn to swim, assuming that he’d always have time… It made me realize at Eleven – that we may not have time to put things off. That’s a helluva thing for an 11 year old kid to realize. It’s the sort of thing we need to put in kids’ heads. I’m just curious why the hell this isn’t in Blu Ray?

BEOWULF – Blu Ray

Again this is the HD DVD release, but now available for BluRay. I’m really quite fond of the film – even though I do feel that they should have gone a little more stylized for the characters – instead of pushing for photorealism – cuz with it being so close – you see so many flaws – mainly in the nuance of the acting – which is so superior when done by real humans. That said – GOD DAMN this movie is outrageously fun. And I wish that I could watch it at home in 3D as I saw it in theaters originally. But here ya go.

NEVER BACK DOWN

Ya know what – it’s not that great, but it is kinda fun. It’s basically beat down porn – where you get off to watching people kick each other’s ass. Bu Tony Jaa does this thing about 5 billion times better… ya know?

TAI CHI MASTER

If you want to see badass ass-whuppery – fuck NEVER BACK DOWN – what you want is Jet Li from the early 90s – cuz Man… he was unfuckingbelievable. Especially directed by Yuen Woo Ping here! They’ve done a nice remaster here – and it frankly needed it with that shit release of TWIN WARRIORS back a bit. Here – they’re no doubt timing this to take advantage of Jet and Michelle being publicized for the MUMMY 3.

INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (3-Disc Special Edition)

Watched this today. Gorgeous transfer – tons of extras – including that wonderful interview between Quentin Tarantino and Enzo Castellari! But the jewel here is INGLORIOUS BASTARDS – a surprisingly large scale and ambitious WW2 Italian Exploitation flick! Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson are great in the movie – and it’s very old school. Love the big Slow Motion sequence towards the end. Now I do need to warn you, this movie is pretty much nothing like Quentin’s INGLORIOUS BASTARDS – which doesn’t have a single same character. But you owe it to yourself to discover this little seen film, it’s much more than a great title.

Classic British Thrillers ( THE PHANTOM LIGHT / RED ENSIGN / THE UPTURNED GLASS )

This is a steal of a deal. THE PHANTOM LIGHT and RED ENSIGN are a pair of rare early works of Michael Powell – ( BLACK NARCISSUS & PEEPING TOM ) – and These films are excellent thrillers. The third film in the set was something I’d never seen before – THE UPTURNED GLASS from 1947 starring a fantastic James Mason as a detecting surgeon, who is on a revenge fueled case where he has no intention of bringing the guilty party to the authorities – this is a dire and great film. Loved discovering it here!

HAIR EXTENSIONS ( EXTE): Special Edition

Another Fantastic Fest luminary. This is a weird as fuck, brutal film – about killer Hair Extensions. Seriously. And it kicks an intense amount of ass. I know… it sounds ridiculous, but it’s so much more than that. It is ridiculous, but it’s also very very good. It should actually creep you out, while making you giggle a bit.

DADDY DARLING

I’m a bit of an expert on “FUCKED UP CINEMA” – Films about verboten subjects that are offensive and concern the most twisted of exploitation. When I received this DVD – I was giddy. Daddy/Daughter exploitation is some of the most messed up shit this world has outputted. That said, this goes in a direction that I was ABSOLUTELY not expecting. I wouldn’t spoil a twist – Joe Sarno does some twisted stuff here (as you should expect if you know Sarno’s work!)

FIRE AND ICE

This is a Single Disc edition priced significantly cheaper than the last time out, but missing a great deal of material from that second disc. That said – It has a quote from me on the cover… on top of fucking FRANK FRAZETTA artwork, professing my personal love of this film! This is the second time I’ve found my quote on Frazetta artwork – and both times, I’ve been giddier than whoever has sex with Natalie Portman. If you’ve never seen FIRE & ICE – this is your chance – this is a collaborative work between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. The work is wonderful and the story is fantastic! And I TRULY LOVE THIS MOVIE!

FORBIDDEN ZONE (in Color?!?!?)

This is one of my favorite WEIRD FILMS! And make no bones about it – this is one of the weirdest films you’ll ever see. That said – I loved that the film was Black & White and I can’t possibly imagine the film being in color. That said – I love the classic b&w Betty Boop cartoons that inspired this bit of Elfman insanity – and I’ve seen the colorized versions of them that were done for television in the 60s. I’m morbidly curious to see what Richard Elfman has done with the color work, as I can’t imagine color in this film. That said – the Pop-Up Trivia feature is the reason to get this version – along with the 5.1 DTS track. I just kinda wish it had a black & white version on it as well.

VIRGIN WITCH

Lesbian Incest! Ahem! You kinda had to love the 70s. In fact the film is actually aka’d as LESBIAN TWINS! The sisters are the reason to get this – they’re incredibly hot – and if you like funky self serious witchcraft thrown you’re your spank material – like you found in TEENAGE TWINS last year – well here ya go. And heck the sisters were even featured in an episode of SPACE: 1999 – because that show fucking ROCKS! However, they don’t rule as much as they do here!

Next week we begin August by looking at: Season 1 of GET SMART, NIM’S ISLAND, STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MARAUDER, STAR TREK THE ORIGINAL SERIES – Second Season, LONSOME DOVE (Blu Ray), MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION: THE COMPLETE SERIES, THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON, LOVE STORY, BEASTMASTER: COMPLETE COLLECTION, JOY HOUSE, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, A FAREWELL TO ARMS, KLANSMAN / VENGEANCE IS MINE, and the I LOVE THE 80s series!