We live in Southern California, a land of people more wealthy and famous that myself! I think it's human nature to be obsessed with these people and to interact with them. Here are some of my favorite encounters:

Steve Buscemi: He was jogging across the street from my house. I ran outside in my soiled bathrobe and tackled him straight to the ground! I told him "Hey! You're Mr. Pink!". He said "Yeah" and gave me a cock-eyed stare. I told him he was pretty cool and then he continued merrily jogging away. About a week later, his attorney sent me a letter saying I was getting sued for permanent damage done to Mr. Buscemi's spinal cord due to my tackling. All and all, a nice guy!

Gérard Depardieu: He was eating some Chicken McNuggets at the McDonald's in downtown. I thought about how the little McNuggets look like peas in comparison to his massive hands. Okay, I really didn't think that, I actually said it out loud. He said thank you and that he was proud of his mighty hands and then he hand fed me a McNugget as thanks. It truly was the mightiest McNugget I've ever eaten.

David Byrne: There he was in the flesh buying a freshly made suit at the big and tall store. He was getting one of those giant suits from "Stop Making Sense" as part of his show. Then I realized I was buying the same suit and even then it was a bit too tight. Suddenly, a great depression came over me and I had to leave the store. He was the meanest celebrity I ran into.

Mark Ruffalo: Fresh off "The Brothers Bloom", he was impressing some ladies with the magic tricks he learned for his role inside a booth at the Congo Room. I asked him to do a trick for me and he asked for my wallet. as part of the trick. Just like that, he made my wallet disappear. Wow! I then asked for my wallet back, but all he said was "What wallet?". He wasn't as nice as he is in the movies.

Chow Yun-Fat: I ran into Chow Yun-Fat in the line at Whole Foods. He was buying some falafel with spicy tahini sauce. This was my first real celebrity encounter, so out of nervousness, I asked him "Sooooo... you must like food, huh?" Without a thought of hesitation, he drop kicked me so hard in the chest, he broke two ribs and stopped my heart for a few minutes. He was nice enough to give me a free pass to see Red Cliff though! That's an interview I'll never forget!

NEW RELEASES:

Bergman Island (included with "The Seventh Seal"): This sounds like a good title for a Bergman themed reality show where people have to stay on an island for thirty days while their marriage disintegrates, their questioning of God arrives, and they have to stay very stoic and stone faced. Instead, we get this pretty cool documentary about Mr. Bergman at the sunset of his life.

Madea Goes To Jail: While Madea goes to jail, Tyler Perry goes straight to the bank to deposit all the millions upon millions of dollars he's made off of controlling all the main media outlets including television, movies, legitimate theater, and books. He's back as the angry and crazy black woman he's been in the last few movies, but someone finally caught on that her craziness may be a potential threat against human life so they put her in jail. They would've stuck her in the nut house, but Reagan shut all of those down in the eighties.

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man: I thought I've seen all the movies where prominent musicians tell others to punch meat, but it turned out I was wrong. See Brian Eno, David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker and others look generally enthusiastic while listening to Mr. Walker's music, too.

The Seventh Seal: I know what you're thinking! You're thinking "But Videotheque has had this movie for the longest!". Well, they (and by "they", I mean Criterion) decided their ten year old edition of the DVD was old and passe. They needed to freshen it up with a new transfer, a documentary, prettier artwork, and a Blu-Ray edition to boot.

What Goes Up: I'm going to say rent this because the person who wrote and directed is a very nice customer who comes in here. Please rent it; he'd appreciate it! (Editor's note: the local connection notwithstanding, it's great!-- Steve Coogan as big city journalist in small-town New Hampshire burg,1986-- at his witty best. Check it out!)

OTHER NEW RELEASES/NEW ARRIVALS:
Addicted to Plastic (doc)
The Bronx is Burning
Cherry Blossoms (Germany/Japan)
Crips and Bloods: Made In America (doc. by Stacy Peralta)
Crying Fist (S. Korea-- boxing/action!)
Danielson: A Family Movie (doc.)
Death Note (Japan)
Death Note II (ditto)
Derby (roller derby doc.)
Dr. Strangelove (Blu-Ray)
Favela Rising (Brazil doc.)
First Wives Club
Friday the 13th (2009)
GFE: Girlfriend Experience
Harry Potter Series (Blu-Ray)
Let's Make Money (banking industry doc.)
My Unlucky Satrs (France, with C. Deneuve)
Seraphine (France, César winner 2008-- France's Best Picture!)
The Seventh Seal (Blu-Ray)
Summer Rain (Spain, dir. A. Banderas)
Swing (dir. Tony Gatlif)
Waiting for Someone (France)
Welcome Home (Spain)
The Window (Argentina/Spain)
Wizard of Gore (Crispin Glover remake)

SO LONG, FOOLIOS:

Hope you read me again next week.

www.vidtheque.com

This is my point of view everyday at work. Now you know how it feels like to work at Videotheque!

MORAL OF THE WEEK:
Don't preach about the glories of eating healthing while eating a cheeseburger. It just makes you look crazy.