So, here I am again after two weeks sans blog, in front of the computer screen at the 'Theque. We've been pretty busy getting things going at the new store & blogwriting time has been scarce.
One week, I rented a tuxedo and spent a crazy week in Reno. The week after that, I ran into a bookie I owe twenty bucks to and ran away from him. In the haste of trying to dodge his gunfire, I slipped on a fire escape and ended up spraining my ankle. Now I'm back here.
Now I got two weeks worth of releases to go through, so let's get started.
NEW RELEASES:Blood: The Last Vampire: I think the gore film featuring a Japanese girl in a miniskirt has honestly become a sub-genre. This seems to be the newest in the continuing trend.
Drag Me to Hell: I was hoping to see this as a return to glory and gore that Sam Raimi used to do so well. Then I witnessed the true horror: it was rated PG-13. I can't trust it. I know I say this a lot, but watch it for me and tell me how it is.
Hardware: Richard Stanley's forgotten murderous cyborg masterpiece has finally been given it's due on DVD and Blu-Ray by our friends at Severin Films. This film has three necessary elements to be a masterpiece: Iggy Pop, gore and a cyborg wearing a bandana with the American flag. God bless America!
Imagine That: Eddie Murphy never recovered from "Pluto Nash", did he? "Dreamgirls" didn't even help. We'll always have memories of "Coming to America" and "Trading Places"...
Objectified: I will never look at a toothbrush the same after seeing this documentary. It's a new doc about the design and ideas that go behind making consumer goods. You honestly see a team of people working together to design a toothbrush. I suppose having a handle and bristles isn't enough anymore.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: I don't even know what to say about this. It's good that John Turturro still has work though.
OTHER NEW RELEASES AND NEW INVENTORY:13 Worms (Hong Kong '71)
35 Shots of Rum (Dir: Claire Denis, France)
Adoration (Dir: Atom Egoyan)
Adoration (Blu-Ray)
Anvil: The Story of Anvil (hilarious doc of Canadian metal "coulda beens")
Assassination of a High School President (Mischa Barton)
Away We Go (Blu-Ray)
The Black List V.2
Blood on the Flat Track (all-girl roller derby doc)
Cheri (Dir: Stephen Frears, Michelle Pfeiffer)
Chinese Odyssey 2002 (w/ Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Wong Kar-Wai produced)
Deadgirl
Died Young, Stayed Pretty (Doc. on handmade concert posters)
Dominick Dunne: After the Party (Doc.)
The End of the Line (Doc. on world's dwindle edible fish supply)
Esther Williams set including: Easy to Love, Fiesta, Million Dollar Mermaid, Thrill of a Romance, This Time for Keeps, Pagan Love Song
Errol Flynn set including: Virginia City, San Antonio, Rocky Montain and Montana
John Ford set including: The Lost Patrol, The Informer, Mary of Scotland, Sergeant Rutledge and the documentary "Directed by John Ford" (Dir: Peter Bogdanovich)
For My Father (Israel)
French Cuisine
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry (Tattoo artist) (Doc.)
In a Dream (Doc.)
Italian Cuisine
It's Garry Shandling's Show
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!
Tom Jobin set including: No More Blues, Waters of March and She's a Carioca
Kabei Our Mother (Japan)
King Kong (1974)
Land of the Lost (Will Ferrel)
Least of These (Doc.)
Love 'n Dancing
Dusan Makavejev set including: Man is Not a Bird, Love Affair or the Case of the Missing Telephone Operator, and Innocence Unprotected
Marlene (Doc. on Dietrich)
Midsomer Murders (lot more volumes!)
Monsoon Wedding (Criterion)
Monsoon Wedding (Blu-Ray)
Mr. Skeffington (Bette Davis)
National Parks:America's Best Idea (Ken Burns)
Kevin Nealon: Now Hear Me Out
La Belle Personne (Dir: Christophe Honore, France)
The Legend of Paul and Paula (Germany)
Nerosubianco (Attraction) (Dir: Tinto Brass, Italy)
Nimrod Nation (High School basketball Doc.)
Nip/Tuck S.5 Pt.2
Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037
Not Quite Hollywood (Oz-ploitation documentary)
Pour Elle (For Her) (w/Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger, France)
The Proposal (Sandra Bullock)
Psycho II, III, & IV
The Queen and I (Doc. on the Shah of Iran's wife & the overthrow of the Monarchy regime, 30 years later)
Rage (Dir. Sally Potter)
Rethinking Afghanistan (Doc.)
Saturday Morning Cartoons 70's V.1
Silent Hill
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (Reissue/Remaster)
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-Ray)
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Helicopter String Quartet
Summer Hours (Dir. Olivier Assayas)
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
The Sword (Hong Kong, '71)
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense (Blu-Ray)
Three Monkeys (Dir. Nuri Bulge Ceylon, Turkey)
Tierra (Dir. Julio Medem, Spain, '96)
Treeless Mountain (Korea)
Triage (Doc. on Doctors without Borders)
Trick 'r Treat (Bryan Singer-produced instant Halloween classsic!)
Trick 'r Treat (Blu-Ray)
What Makes Sammy Run? (teleplay '59)
Katt Williams: Pimpadelic
Year One (Michael Cera & Jack Black, Dir. Harold Ramis)
More Warner Archive:
Abe Lincol in Illinois
Al Capone
All Falls Down
All the Marble (Peter Falk, Dir. Robert Aldrich)
Any Wednesday
Boulevard Nights (East Los cholos)
Convicts 4
Crime and Punishment U.S.A.
Crisis (Cary Grant)
The D.I. (Jack Webb)
Dream Wife
Experiment Perilous (Dir. Jaques Tourneur)
Get to Know Your Rabbit
Goodbye, Mr. Fancy
The Grasshopper
Green Mansions (Anthony Perkins & Audrey Hepburn)
The Ice Follies of 1939
Kaleidoscope (Warren Beatty)
King of the Roaring 20's
Lepke
Mannequin (Joan Crawford)
The Money Trap
The Moon is Blue
Mr. Lucky (Cary Grant)
Once Upon a Honeymoon
Room for One More
The Shining Hour (Dir. Frank Borzage)
The Toast of New York
The Terminal Man
This Woman is Dangerous
When Ladies Meet
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
Blog Pick of the Week: Black Rain (1989): Shohei Imamura's masterpiece about the Hiroshima bombing may be twenty years old, but it's a poignant story and a memory of a point in history that shouldn't be forgotten. With the effect of it's black and white cinematography and the Toru Takemitsu soundtrack that just crawls under your skin, you feel the horror and confusion everyone must've felt after the bomb. Buddha watches the whole time, powerless to do anything about the violence man brings upon each other. Excellent edition from Animeigo/E1 includes an alternate ending, interviews with the star Yoshiko Tanaka and with assistant director Takeshi Miike (!) and American propganda from the World War II era.
RECOMMENDED SECTIONS: Happy Halloween: It's the most wonderful time of the year: HALLOWEEN! It's the one day of the year I don't feel like an idiot because of the way I dress! We're in the celebratory spirit by having a section full of classic horror films like Friday the 13th, Psycho, The Exorcist and The Paul Lynde Halloween Special.
Martina's "Champagne Chillers": Martina is a very classy person. In fact, she's too classy to watch dreck like Saw. "No way" she says! Grab a glass of champagne, some brie and caviar and sit in your Manhattan loft watching Murnau's version of Nosferatu, The Man Who Laughs and The Cat People.
Grace's "Suck My Blood": Well, don't actually suck her blood. Rent some vampire movies out of her section instead. She's got some of the suckiest (in vampire terms) films around including Blood for Dracula, the old Hammer Dracula films with Christopher Lee and Coppola's Dracula film.
Mark A's "Let's Talk About Gore": Mark noticed all the pansy horror sections in the store and was upset. He told me that Halloween isn't for lame-o's, but for the bloodthirsty individuals like himself. Here you'll fnd some pretty awesome gore like Tokyo Gore Police, The Gore, Gore Girls, and even Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth.
RV Parks's "Monster By Moonlight": On one of RV's many late night strolls from the pub to his home something happened. He's not too sure (he had a few too many Anchor Steams) but woke up with a mysterious bite on his arm. Even stranger, he's been coming to work with blood on his shirt and his shirt torn. The back of his hands have gotten noticebly hairy too. Even stranger than that is that he's made a section about werewolves including films like The Howling, Dog Soldiers, Wolfen and Teen Wolf.
Hallo Kids: So maybe gore, vampires and werewolves aren't for your kids. Little Jimmy, Tommy, and Stacey just aren't old enough to handle it. We understand and as a result, have put together a section of kiddy classics like Mad Monster Party, Escape to Witch Mountain and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
IT FEELS GOOD TO BE HERE AGAIN:See you guys again!
www.vidtheque.com
www.facebook.com/videotheque
vidtheque.blogspot.com
For those who haven't seen it, we'll have nice res photos of our new location. In the mean time, enjoy this one image!
MORAL OF THE WEEK:Pay all your debts before they come after you.
Peeking 'round the corner.
