Hey folks, Harry here with the latest two weeks of DVD PICKS & PEEKS. There’s some really great stuff on here – mainly from last week, but there’s some bright spots from this week as well – though the offerings for this week are slimmer. Lotta crap released today. As usual the pics and titles link you to Amazon, where if you happen to pick up an item via these links, you’ll help keep this column going. I really do love doing this, but there’s some weeks where it just escapes me. I think it should be right on schedule for the next several weeks. The next impending time crunch for me seems to be FANTASTIC FEST & the launch of my iteration of FAMOUS MONSTERS.Com. Both of which will take a good deal of time to live up to my standards for both. But this next month should be pretty damn good to go. So – let’s hop into it, you’ve waited long enough. Now that damn INCEPTION review….
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
THE GHOST WRITER
This is an extraordinary little movie. I put it in and watched the Blu-Ray last night, got caught up and enthralled. Ewan McGregor plays the titular GHOST WRITER of the film. Essentially, he’s writing Tony Blair’s memoirs – ghosting the original ghost writer, who turned up dead. Everything is suspicious – and technically it isn’t Tony Blair, but it really is. Only, last I heard… scratch that, you should see the movie. Roman Polanski crafted a wonderfully layered and handsome film out of the great novel it was based upon. One of the best films of 2010.
KICK-ASS
Now here’s a geek must have. KICK-ASS is so compellingly rewatchable, it is just sick. I’ve watched it about 3 times here on Blu Ray – and I love it. I don’t quite love it as much as I did at BNAT – and I really do think it sucks that Warner Brothers wouldn’t play ball with Vaughn so this could have that original epic score. I know, live with it, grow up, let it go. I have, that’s why I have enjoyed it so much on Blu. Here’s the extras you’re getting:
• Ass-Kicking BonusView™ Mode
• Matthew Vaughn Audio Commentary
• A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of KICK-ASS. In four chapters: 1) Pushing Boundaries; 2) Let’s Shoot This F*****! 3) Tempting Fate; 4) All Fired Up!
• It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of KICK-ASS
• The Art of KICK-ASS
• Marketing Archive
• BD Touch™ and Metamenu® Remote Enabled for iPhone®/iPod®/iPad® Interactivity
• D-Box Metadata Track to Connect to D-Box Motion-Based Systems
• Lionsgate Live™ – BD-Live menu system that lets you access exclusive content, special offers, ringtones, and more!
Now, I can’t wait to see what Matthew comes up with in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
Alright, so you fell in love with Chloe Moretz from KICK ASS – see her in something a helluvalot more age appropriate. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID is pretty damn fun. But lest you think Chloe is going all family friendly with us – I’ve seen her in LET ME IN – and it is her best work thus far. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID just feels like something good to share with the fam. Check it out.
HEROES: SEASON Four
I’m on the second disc of this right now as I’m working on the Column. I need to rewatch the end of season 3, because I’m not real sure why things are the way they are at the start of this season. I’m a tad confused. But I do like the roommate relationship with Claire at College. In fact that is a way for her to get around the whole regrowing Hymen situation. Whatever makes her happy. And I’m a little curious about the wisdom of having Sylar at a Carnival filled with superpowered types. I expect the worst. But I have to say – this is amongst the most compelling that I’ve seen HEROES for quite sometime. That’s usually how it goes – a show on the ropes sometimes rises to new heights with its final “fuck it” season. I am enjoying this.
ELVIS ON TOUR ( Blu Ray )
I love the lunacy of ELVIS. Watching this musical documentary this hitches a ride with Elvis as he hits 15 cities on 15 nights – and well… you’ve got a backstage pass – and ya gotta love the kisses he plants on fans… or the way he turns the lights on in the auditorium so he can get a look at the folks in the room. Now – how much Elvis music is there? 25 different numbers. Parts of this doc were supervised by Martin Scorsese. You’ll see many faces of ELVIS here and they’re all delightful.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (Blu Ray)
God I love this movie. I bought this last Tuesday and I’ve seen it twice since then. Once to show Yoko and once… just cuz once wasn’t enough. This is a film that I can leave to use the restroom and quote as I do my business and return right in time with the movie. Now – this is where we should all spank FOX. Ok. Now, thank you for releasing the movie… BUUUUUT, WTF – ZERO EXTRAS? Really? Ok… so for those of you like me… that just need to have a gorgeous print of this movie – we’re going to end up double dipping, because we WANT EXTRAS on this title in HD – and they didn’t give them to us, but we’re also impatient and geeks and we had to have this like goddamn oxygen… and Fox knows that. The bastards. But you can bet within the next few years there’ll be a better edition, but can you wait that long? I couldn’t.
THE BREAKFAST CLUB (Blu Ray)
Is this the best John Hughes film? What is? I’m drunk in love with WEIRD SCIENCE… but emotionally it just doesn’t hit quite like THE BREAKFAST CLUB or 16 CANDLES. For me, the Best John Hughes lies somewhere between BREAKFAST CLUB and SIXTEEN CANDLES. I love both of the films completely. But there’s something so right about detention in the Library on a day off that just seems universal. I remember feeling like the characters in this film. I remember being that age. I remember those conversations when different “types” from High School came together. When we dropped the pretense and became real. The music from the film, I remember dancing to those songs and feeling that they brought out of me. When emotions ran on fire. BREAKFAST CLUB, for me, represented what High School was really about. It was about seeing through the clothes, the hairstyles and the image that kids project – till you find that real common soul. That none of us know what the future has in store for us. That we’re all scared about that – and none of us have the perfect life. BREAKFAST CLUB is the Rosetta Stone for growing up in the 80s. For me, it is pure bliss. Nice to have it on Blu-Ray!
TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures (DESPERATE JOURNEY / EDGE OF DARKNESS / NORTHERN PURSUIT / UNCERTAIN GLORY / OBJECTIVE BURMA )
Got this set and put on NORTHERN PURSUIT, UNCERTAIN GLORY and DESPERATE JOURNEY right away. Why? Well, they were 3 Errol Flynn films that I hadn’t seen yet. And given that my favorite Star in cinema history is Errol Flynn, that meant this box set made me a very happy Harry indeed. NORTHERN PURSUIT is a great Nazi plot in the Frozen Tundra of Canada! Think… CLIFFHANGER without digital wire-removal and with better bad guys and you have the beginning of a notion about the film. DESPERATE JOURNEY has Reagan following Errol Flynn as they make their way back to England after being shot down over Germany. Wonderful little film. Loved it. UNCERTAIN GLORY takes place in Occupied France, where Flynn volunteers to be the wanted man, that will save 100 French Citizens from being put to death. Add to those three, the brilliant EDGE OF DARKNESS and the action and awesome OBJECTIVE, BURMA… and you have a really great set of not-the-typical FLYNN flicks that everybody knows. But Flynn was always great. Wish we had an actor like him today.
ROAD TO PERDITION (Blu Ray)
Watching ROAD TO PERDITION on Blu-Ray made me mourn the loss of Conrad Hall – all over again. The depth of his lens and all that it captured are on full display here. This is the film that made me dream of the Sam Mendes Daniel Craig / James Bond. Look at Craig in this film. He’s just amazing. But then, everyone and everything about ROAD TO PERDITION is great. Jude Law turned in what is still my favorite Jude role in this. Just great. Paul Newman brought it too. Then there is TOM HANKS and that lil boy that looks exactly like my mind’s eye of Bruce Wayne as a kid. Everything about this film I love. The sound design, the music, the images, the characters, even the very genre it all sings about. I LOVE THIS MOVIE! And it happens to look best on Blu Ray! Watch Sam Mendes’ intro – he confesses as much!
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (Blu Ray)
Often maligned as simply not being NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS – I’m quite taken with JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. There’s a genuine sweetness to James and a childlike wonder to his adventure which Henry Selick perfectly captures at the pit of the peachy tale. I’m on record as LOVING the Stop-Motion films intensely in Blu Ray – simply because the resolution difference gives such a rich texture to everything, which on these films… well it is key.
HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (Blu Ray)
Ok… Raise your hands if this was spank material on late night Cinemax for you during your pimple years? This might have some of the best cheesy yummy awesome genre nudity ever. Not as great a film as LIFEFORCE, but damn if this thing isn’t a crotch inspiring genre effort from the realm of Roger Corman! The “Hero” of the flick is played by Doug McClure and I won’t lie – I love me some Doug McClure. Oh sure, he’s about as wooden as Troy McClure – but that’s because Doug was the inspiration for that character. As a kid, his Burroughs films inspired me to start reading the vastly superior books, so when I originally saw HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP at the age of 9 at the Drive-In here in Austin, I thought this was based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel that I couldn’t find. Yeah. I was a very geeky kid. Extras are all over this BLU – (AHEM – FOX – dude, Roger Corman is handing you your ass!) My fave being the Deleted Scenes and the Maltin/Corman interview. Great disc!
PIRANHA (Blu Ray)
I loved watching this with the Rolling Roadshow in San Marcus with Joe Dante on the banks of where all the blood washed ashore. I actually remember this film very specifically as a kid. Growing up just down the road from where this was shooting – I was amazed hearing that they were shooting a movie near by. As a kid & as an adult – I’m always in awe of films shooting in my city. Anyway – as a result, when this opened in Austin’s Drive-Ins – my parents took me. As a result, I’ve had a lifelong fascination with real Piranhas. And these fish really freak me out. The movie is a blast – and Joe Dante really made a very good film out of this JAWS-wannabe material that he made far better than probably anyone expected at the time. I mean seriously – a geek publication movie reviewer directing a film? The internet would have destroyed him! Heh. Now, because Corman loves Extras here’s what you get:
* New Anamorphic Widescreen Version (1.85:1)
* Audio Commentary With Director Joe Dante and Producer Jon Davison
* Behind-the-Scenes Footage
* The Making of Piranha Featurette With New Interviews From Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Dick Miller, Belinda Balaski and Many More
* Bloopers and Outtakes
* Piranha Trailer With Commentary by Producer Jon Davison Courtesy of Trailers From Hell
* Stills Gallery With Photos and Posters From Around the World
* Behind-the-Scenes Stills Gallery Featuring Photos From Phil Tippetts Personal Collection
* Additional Scenes From the Network Television Version
* Radio and TV Spots
* New World Trailers
The Kim Novak Collection ( PICNIC / JEANNE EAGELS / BELL, BOOK & CANDLE / MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT / PAL JOEY )
I didn’t get this set, but I love PICNIC / BELL, BOOK & CANDLE and PAL JOEY. But when I looked up MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT – I discovered this is another Older Man and Younger Lady film to add to that particular Harr/Yoko sub-collection. Such a great subgenre which seems to usually feature James Mason as the older man… but here, Kim Novak is getting Fredric March’s Jekyll & Hyde! So, I’m definitely looking forward to that. Now from everything I hear, JEANNE EAGELS is a Biopic dying to be remade. Jeanne Eagels was a silent actress that was setting the world aflame – who suddenly committed suicide after her second sound film. The film apparently is a typical Biopic at the time, which was rarely about facts, but rather fancy. If you read up on Ms Eagels you’ll likely be intrigued by the film – but I hear it doesn’t satisfy. Overall though this is a very solid set of titles.
AFTER.LIFE
This is one of those films that I kinda liked, but can’t recommend with gusto – no matter how much I love seeing Cristina Ricci naked for the majority of the film. But… damn. Ya know. Christina is super hot – and Liam Neeson’s Mortician will definitely remind you of the TALL MAN from the PHANTASM series in very subtle ways that I wasn’t expecting. Justin Long kinda phones it in – and the kid in the film could’ve been written so much better. An almost good movie.
GREAT WALDO PEPPER
It is in WIDESCREEN! Finally. Bad news, no special features – c’mon someone interview Robert Redford for every film he’s ever made and just get those special features in place! And the opening and closing music is different from that of the original theatrical and I have no reason why and I’m not happy, as I liked that music. As they used to sing, “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there ya have the facts of life!” But if you love great aerial work from the birth of aerial activity – you’ll pretty much love this movie. It is quite good!
DEATH SPORT / BATTLE TRUCK
If you thought ROAD WARRIOR was the best Post-Apocalyptic movie ever made…. Watching this double feature with reinforce that belief with vigor. I’d be lying if I said I don’t enjoy these two – especially the funk that is DEATHSPORT – but then I have a serious weak spot for the erection-inducing awesome that was Claudia Jennings at this time. I have a nice Claudia Jennings home video collection including THE LOVE MACHINE (1971), THE STEPMOTHER (1972), GROUP MARRIAGE (1973), TRUCK STOP WOMEN (1974), GATOR BAIT (1974), THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976) – she was Playmate of the Year in 1970 with a very impressive 35-23-36 (yes, I have those issues), and my fascination with Claudia began at the behest of my friend, Jed Strahm, who’s first feature will be hitting the world shortly… and yes, he knows nut-ripping cinema better than anyone I’ve ever met. And yes, that includes the people you know I know.
That said – you should definitely check these out if you have a Post-Apocalyptic Collection going. I especially love those crazy Italian runs at this sub-genre!
BULL DURHAM (Blu Ray)
2nd best Kevin Costner Baseball film or third?
ECLIPSE SERIES 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa ( Criterion ) (SANSHIRO SUGATA / THE MOST BEAUTIFUL / SANSHIRO SUGATA Part Two / THE MEN WHO TREAD ON THE TIGER’S TAIL )
Last holiday season, these Kurosawa titles were the big carrot for buying that amazing 100th Birthday set of KUROSAWA titles from Criterion. Truly the most awe-inspiring box set I own. These are literally Kurosawa’s original films and they’re fascinating to watch because you watch the master become the master as you watch them. You see his eye take form fully developed. Lots of folks were screaming when Criterion released that earlier set – that Criterion wasn’t coming out with exactly this – so those that had been individually purchasing Kurosawa’s Criterion releases wouldn’t have to get that set. Well your patience has paid off – and here ya go!
HENSON’S PLACE: THE MAN BEHIND THE MUPPETS
A period documentary about Jim Henson that ends right at the point where he was preparing to make LABYRINTH – but that has total access to the Muppet master and his archive of footage and materials – along with the talents behind their brilliance. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Perhaps my favorite thing on this page. I love showing this to people that share my Henson addiction. I was born into the third year of SESAME STREET and Henson died during my first year of COLLEGE. To say he was one of the Gods of my childhood would not be an exaggeration. He was right there with Walt Disney, Max Fleischer, Ray Harryhausen, George Pal, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and a ton of others as being the folks that formed my mental workings. Yes, my wife and I went to FAO SCHWARTZ to design Muppets of ourselves – and of course at every drunken debauched party at my house – somebody ends up doing lewd things with our puppets and we all die laughing. I still want a fully robotic lifesized Hoggle to just do stuff for me around the house. I’m not kidding. Someone get to work on that! Meanwhile, I can’t imagine a film geek that would not love this. An incredible look at Henson’s major works when Henson could and did comment for the filmmakers. A treasure!
KALIFORNIA (Blu Ray)
Back when Brad Pitt didn’t need mad crazy awesome special effects to look 17 years younger – because he was 17 years younger and still everybit the actor he is today! For most of us though – at the time… we saw this movie because David Lynch & The X-Files had turned us into David Duchovny geeks. This is easily the best film in Director Dominic Sena’s regularly reprehensible filmography… but It gives us reason to hope before the actuality of his vision inevitably disappoints. That’s not the case here. That said, you’ll see his limitations here as while this is a very watchable film – there’s shit tons of places where you wish this material was in better hands. But like I said, it is still a good film, just not what it could have been with this exact cast, scenario and simply a stronger director’s guiding hand.
ELVIS 75th Anniversary DVD Collection ( ELVIS ON TOUR / JAILHOUSE ROCK / VIVA LAS VEGAS / IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD’S FAIR / THIS IS ELVIS / AT THE WORLD’S FAIR / KISSIN’ COUSINS / SPINOUT / HARUM SCARUM / LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE / CHARRO! / GIRL HAPPY / TICKLE ME / SPEEDWAY / ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS / STAY AWAY, JOE / THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS )
One day this will all be Blu. And I’ll be happier. I do believe every title here has been released previously, if you have them, there’s no reason to upgrade til Blu. That said – this is just a hair under $57 and you get 17 Elvis films – which is a damn fine deal if you’ve been holding off picking them up for a while. So fry up a peanut butter and banana sandwich or 3 and enjoy the awesome that is Elvis – in all his forms…
METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN
Where’s my 3D Blu Ray? This is a seriously funky bit of childhood fun by Charles Band for UNIVERSAL PICTURES! I remember seeing this in 3D at the Northcross Mall theater as a kid and thinking… THAT WAS FUN! And when I put this on last week – I remembered that little kid and had quite a bit of fun with it – though it is weird to watch this in 2D, because this was a coming at you 3D film and in 2D – it just isn’t nearly as much fun. RERELEASE SPECIAL EDITION IN THEATERS? One could dream.
PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (Blu Ray)
KINO did an amazing job with this. The TECHNICOLOR is gorgeous and this is one of those titles that you have to just fall to your knees and worship KINO for putting out – because the studios would never ever get around to releasing a title like this. BTW – Scorsese’s quote is dead on perfect (big surprise) If you’re a fan of the cinematography legend that is Jack Cardiff, this is amongst his finest and most surreally wonderful work of his career. A very strange film that needs no drugs to assist it’s manic delirium. TRULY AWESOME to see this way. If it seems I’m dodging the plot – I think the filmmakers did too – or were less concerned with it. And in this case, that is a wonderful thing. Absolutely worth seeing for the cineastes out there!
THE DUNGEON MASTERS
Never entirely awesome, yet train wreck fascinating is THE DUNGEON MASTERS. Oh – had they only added 1 more Dungeon Master… Massawyrm. Then the freakshow would be complete! Giggle. Actually, there’s a lot to like about this, but the great Doc on this subject has yet to be made and shown to me.
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
CRUMB (Criterion Blu)
The night before Yoko and I left for Comic Con 2010 – as Yoko began packing, I put CRUMB on as the perfect last film to watch before going to Comic Con. I’d just gotten the Criterion release of this Blu Ray – and well… Yoko didn’t get much packing done, because shortly after the documentary got started… she stopped what she was doing and began watching… It just sucked her right in. All of a sudden she was caught up in the life of someone that she hasn’t read a single issue of a single work that he’s ever created – but she was fascinated. You know what I get to do now? Giggle. I get to actually pull out all my Crumb books and let her discover his brilliance in an even more intimate manner – just his ink and her thoughts. That’s how awesome this film is. Now if you want to know why getting this on Blu Ray is awesome… let me tell ya. You need 1080p to fully appreciate Crumb’s awesome line-work. But more so – everything in Crumb’s life is a textured thing and the photography is gorgeous. Here’s the extras that Criterion has for you:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
2010 audio commentary with Zwigoff
2006 audio commentary with Zwigoff and critic Roger Ebert
Outtakes and deleted scenes
Stills gallery
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
MAX HEADROOM: THE COMPLETE SERIES
You may find this handy when reading Ernie Cline’s READY PLAYER ONE next year or later this year. Whenever it comes out. I’m only vaguely joking there – but Ernie does show some serious love for Max Headroom – and as many of you have seen – of my Max Headroom Harry Animation I’ve often put up in the corner when I felt in a particularly 80s mood. All of this is still 20 minutes in the future – and at Comic Con – the guy that put the special features and this set together – went on record that this project has resulted in one of his actual Dream Sets to work on – and I COMPLETELY GET THAT – because MAX HEADROOM is such a particularly weird bit of 80’s oddness – but I loved it. LOVED IT! So bizarre, weird and awesome! Here’s a few of the extras, the set has more than this!
Live On Network 23: The Story Of Max Headroom – The creative team shares their stories
Looking Back At The Future: An intimate roundtable discussion with members of the cast
The Big-Time Blanks: Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei reflect on Max Headroom
The Science Behind The Fiction – George Stone reveals the role of technology in the creation of Max Headroom
These are very involved and superior extras that anyone craving to fill some extra Headroom…. Well, you’ll totallyyou’re your money’s worth!
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION (Blu Ray)
Now that Chevy Chase’s career was fully brought back from the land on the otherside of the river Styx with HOT TUB TIME MACHINE – Warner Home Video has released the remaining great Vacation flicks – the first two!!! I’ve always preferred the sequel – but I love this journey to WALLY WORLD – and the commentary alone is worth it – featuring Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and HAROLD RAMIS! There’s also a nice introduction, but I really wish there were more extras here.
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S EUROPEAN VACATION
I really, truly, without a doubt, despise the cover for EUROPEAN VACATION. I mean… that looks like SOUND OF MUSIC. No. That looks like a modern shitty spoof flick of SOUND OF MUSIC… and that is absolutely not the awesome that is EUROPEAN VACATION! It features a commentary by Chevy – and that’s it. I haven’t seen this disc yet – so I can’t tell y’all if this is the original cut or that unfortunate cut from a few years back. If you get this disc and see it – let folks know in the talkback below – if I pick it up today, I’ll modify this posting. But I’m going tubing with my nephew and Yoko today…. So I won’t be in til later tonight.
WHAT’S UP DOC
One of many great Peter Bogdanovich movies – and a favorite of my dear departed mother. This is an incredibly well written, witty, sharp as all hell Screwball Comedies that you’re likely to see. There’s even a doc here to give you some great Screwball Comedies to check out besides this one. And it is a damn fine one. Streisand does a few specific scenes of commentary, but there’s a full commentary by Peter Bogdanovich – who I could listen to tell stories for a week at a time. Oh – and Madeline Kahn’s film debut is kinda friggin awesome!
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
Space documentaries on Blu Ray are an instant purchase in this household, but this is one of the great ones. Interviewing every man that ever walked on the moon – then setting their voices in a very non-talking head fashion over this amazing archival footage, some of which I’ve never seen – and how the hell is that continually possible? Just how many cameras did NASA have shooting non-stop on these missions – and is the reason the rockets were so big and powerful… was it just to get that much filmstock off the ground? I don’t know. But just rewatching this made me look up Moriarty’s great piece from back in 2007 on the film! OH! And there’s great extras on here:
Feature Commentary with David Sington, David Fairhead and Chris Riley
Ron Howard Film Intro
Scoring Apollo: A Short Feature with Composer Philip Sheppard
Bonus Interviews And Stories
Ron Howard: Inspired By Apollo
Theatrical Trailer
UNDER THE MOUNTAIN
Better than about 90% of the pap smears the youth of today have to stomach in theaters is UNDER THE MOUNTAIN – a very never seen film that only seems to be adored by a smattering of film geeks that run websites and found Jonathan King’s UNDER THE MOUNTAIN to be pretty amazing and awesome. This is the remake of ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN – as completely reconceived, far scarier and starring the awesome Sam Neill as a downright scary fucking Gandalf type. This is rated PG 13 – but if your kid is 9 to 16, they’ll probably eat this up! And if you like juvenile fantasy – you’re probably gonna like this a lot. It is gross in the right kind of ways thanks to WETA – and as is often the case, things from New Zealand tend to rock at just the right frequency to get me onboard. This is a very nice little film.
LOUIE BLUIE (Criterion)
Long before Terry Zwigoff took the critical world by storm with CRUMB, all the way back in cassette tape days of 1985, Zwigoff made LOUIE BLUIE – a film I’ve never had a chance to see, until two days ago. I put it on so I could watch it with Yoko – thinking it was just going to be a typically amazing documentary from Terry Zwigoff about an early Black Jazz man from back in the day. And given Yoko is currently on a Louis Jordan kick, I figured she would appreciate the new talent to dig into. WOW – this is so much more than a music documentary. Seriously – this is just a flat out amazing story of a man that is just brilliant as a musician – but equally so as a cartoonist, artist and writer. After watching this doc – I suddenly found that my fondest wish was for Denis Kitchen to get his hands on Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong’s WHOREHOUSE BIBLE and reprint it – actual size as it is. Just watching and listening to Armstrong as he reads and riffs on it through sections of this movie… Hand illustrated by Armstrong – from ages untold – but long before the Underground Comix scene had started – was this amazingly blasphemous work of wonder. I’ve searched to see if it has ever been reproduced and as far as I know – the only way I can see it – is if I pause while watching and read while slowly advancing – but they skip sections!!! It isn’t all there! I must read this amazing work – illustrated as you see on the cover of this DVD. If, like me, you haven’t seen this film… I promise – this is a great work! Check out Roger Ebert’s great piece on this film. I started searching around to find out more and found his great write-up where he talks about watching Louie Bluie perform in a club in Chicago regularly. OH – TO BE THERE! This ANTONES lover craves more!
SCREWBALLS II: LOOSE SCREWS (Blu Ray)
Now you are instantly aware of why it is paramount that a film like this is released in Blu Ray’s awesome 1080p delivery. And yeah – this is pretty bad – but then there are moments where the costume design is so absent that it is just positively beautiful. And yeah… that’s the very definition of home entertainment!
VINTAGE LESBIAN EROTICA
Because… it fucking rules, ok? That’s why this is here. And if you’re gonna have Vintage Lesbian Erotica (for research purposes only, my ass) you have to have “THE UNCENSORED VERSION” because… you’re doing research into important things – like the mating habits of choral girls that probably were in Busby Berkeley chorus lines – and yeah – immediately after watching a great film like FOOTLIGHT PARADE – or say before you watch GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 – this is the perfect thing to watch to remind you that yeah… back in the Flapper days with their IT GIRLS – this was going on – and film was awesome enough to capture some of it for us to be in awe of.
LITTLE WOMEN
Ya know – sometimes I find the synchronized fashion of random acts of my life and this column to just be absolutely uncanny. Yoko has been reading the entire Louisa May Alcott series of books beginning with LITTLE WOMEN – and I was just telling her how she really should see the Katherine Hepburn version of LITTLE WOMEN that George Cukor directed. Because it is my personal favorite version of the story. It was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture, and won a Best Adapted Writing Oscar. This is a great film – and everybody that hasn’t gone on a George Cukor voyage of discovery, should. Really did do great work. BTW, you don’t have to be a girl to enjoy this – and it’ll help you understand both little and not-so little women. Cuz they’ve pretty much all read this novel at some point. Learn why Jo is so dear.
That’s it for these last two Tuesdays. Next Tuesday we’ll be looking at the 4th Season of DEXTER, THE LAST SONG, 4th season of BULLWINKLE, FURRY VENGEANCE (could be worst film ever?), the first season of COUGAR TOWN, THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN, HAMLET (Blu), BLACK ORPHEUS (Criterion Blu), THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD on Blu, NANNY McPHEE, part 1 of season 1 of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, THE CONVERSATION, L’ENFANCE NUE (Criterion), Drive In Cult Classics, GOSH ALICE GOODBODY and that looks like it. See you next Tuesday!
