New Releases for October 27th, or Here We Go Again!

Happy Halloween!

At this point you're saying "Hey chump! It's not Halloween yet!". You're right, but it certainly is the week of Halloween. I love this time of year. Gives me an excuse to look into my neighbors house when they give me candy and the right to dress as scantily clad as I want.

Too bad I'm a diabetic and can't eat candy. I'm also a Jehova Witness and so I don't observe any holidays. Maybe talking about movies will kill the pain.

NEW RELEASES:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Now wait! The first and second ones take place during the actually ice age, right? Well, wasn't the ige age loooooooong after the dawn of dinosaurs. So how are these eras colliding? Ugh. This is giving me a headache. I'm going to mix some aspirin and water then call it a night...

Il Divo: With this and Gommorah, this is the year for Italian crime films. That genre hasn't been popular since the seventies, but looks like they're on the up and up. In fact, I bought a few bottles of Italian wine, pizza, and anything else stereotypically Italian and started my own mafia crime syndicate! After seeing those films, I know what NOT to do and succeed in crime.

Orphan: I can't watch this film. That little girl on the cover scares me. In fact, when a customer gave me the case to rent this, my body went into shock. I used to like horror movies, but this one looks too scary.

Whatever Works: The 73 year-old Woody Allen truly shows no signs of stopping. As of right now, they just revealed that he's finishing up ANOTHER movie in London called "You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger". Now here he is again with his new movie staring my homey Larry David. This movie is based on a script he wrote in the seventies he wrote for Zero Mostel. Sounds neat!

OTHER NEW RELEASES AND NEW INVENTORY
Abel Raises Cain
Battle of Britain (Blu-Ray)
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Blood, Sweat + Gears
Caspar
Chops
Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
Eagles Over London (Blu-Ray)
Fados (Dir. Carlos Saura)
Fire & Ice (Blu-Ray)
Inside the Koran
The Longest Day (Blu-Ray)
The L-Word: The Final Season
Misery
Monty Python: Almost Truth
The New York Ripper (Blu-Ray)
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie
Perestroika
Scream of Fear
Shaun of the Dead (Blu-Ray)
Something to Do With the Wall
Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
Waxwork I & II
Whatever Works (Blu-Ray)
YPF
Z (Criterion)

BLOG PICK OF THE WEEK:

Man Hunt: With Valkyrie and Inglorious Basterds, the idea of finding Hitler and killing him is making a major comeback despite him being dead now for almost 65 years. While browsing around our classic film section, I stumbled upon this Fritz Lang film from 1942. The premise sounds simple enough. A British hunter goes to Germany to hunt the deadliest game of all: HITLER! While there, he gets caught and in order to leave the nation, he needs to sign that he was sent by the British government to assassinate Hitler. The whole movie is beautifully and carefully shot with expressionistic lighting that rivals what he did with his earlier German classics. Very interesting to see a German expatriate's take on the war erupting in Germany. Still made while the US was a neutral party during World War II and the American government was upset about a film that supported them entering the war. It might be a piece of propaganda, but what a great one!

NOW GO!:

Live your lives and forget about me!

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Peeking 'round the corner.

MORAL OF THE WEEK:
Wear a jacket when you go out. I don't want you guys to get sick!

New Releases for Oct. 20th, or Finally We're Back!

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!
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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.

New Releases for Sept. 29th, or Let's Hurry This Up!

We're really moving everything this week. I have no time for blogs, so let's keep this short.

NEW RELEASES AND NEW INVENTORY:

Away We Go
Battle in Space
The Brothers Bloom
Full Battle Rattle
The Girlfriend Experience
The Girlfriend Experience (Blu-Ray)
H-Man
IP 5
The IT Crows S.3
Labyrinth (Blu-Ray)
Life on Mars (US)
Management
Monsters vs. Alens
Mothra
Nerdcore Rising
Secrecy
Shaun the Sheep: Little Sheep of Horrors
Shrink
Take Out
Ugly Betty S.3
Wallace and Gromit Complete (Blu-Ray)

BLOG PICK OF THE WEEK:

Paths of Glory: I have no time to explain why, but just watch it.

BYE:
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MORAL OF THE WEEK:
Don't write blogs when you're busy.
This photo has nothing to do with the move, but I'll tell you this: I'd rather do what this cat is doing than continue to do what it is I'm doing at this moment.

New Releases for Sept. 22nd, or Are You Guys Open?

We're in the final stages of our move to the new location. As the young kids say, I'm pretty "stoked". Over here, the store is considerably emptier. Over there, the flooring and paint are complete, shelving fixtures mostly assembled, posters hung, the wiring finished. In short, almost ready for your approval.

We're awaiting a counter addition, drop box, and a few other items to be completed by our our trusty carpenter team. We're looking at about a week and a half out, shooting for the weekend of Oct. 2-3
for the big opening (we'll close for 2-3 days prior to get the rest of the old store moved & the new one
ready to go). So far it's turning out real pur-tee. A beaut even.

NEW RELEASE:

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: This is about the twentieth romantic comedy to come out of Hollywood this year. It's almost overload. And to make things worse, it stars my mortal enemy Matthew McConaughey. It's basically about a guy who treats women poorly, learns a valuble lesson and loves again. The title makes it sound like it could've been a good horror movie about a guy who murders his girlfriends and is haunted by them, but I guess that doesn't fly with Hollywood.

Observe and Report: Riding on the coat-tails of Paul Blart Mall Cop, Seth Rogan stars in this comedic version of Taxi Driver where a weirdo and loner feels he needs to accomplish something great. Co-starring Ray Liotta with the worst plastic surgery I've ever seen and Anna Ferris as the most obnoxious woman in the world. It also has Michael Pena who's actually pretty funny and has a great voice (too bad he's only in the movie for about five minutes).

O'Horton: The cover for this has THE MOST ADORABLE DOG I'VE EVER SEEN. I should rent this just for the dog. I dare you to look into the dog's eyes and not go "Awwwwww". Somewhere underneath this cover lies the DVD which contains a Norwegian comedy about a train conductor's forced retirement. That doesn't sound funny. I wouldn't advise laughing at others' misery, but I condone you renting this.

OTHER NEW RELEASES AND NEW INVENTORY:

30 Rock S.3
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn
Diamant 13
Events
Everlasting Moments (Dir. Jan Torell)
Gervaise (Dir. Rene Clement)
Gigante
Godzilla/Gojira (Blu-Ray)
In the Womb (National Gerographic documentary)
Inju: The Beast Within (Dir. Barbet Schroeder)
James Dean: 1st American Teenage (Documentary)
Jimi Plays Monterey (Blu-Ray)
The Killer (Dir. Cedric Anger)
Le Sour Se Leve (Dir. Marcel Carne & starring Jean Gabin)
Lymelife
Mayerling
Monterey Pop (Blu-Ray)
The Sea Wall
Secret Defense
Sons of Anarchy S.1
That Hamilton Woman (Dir. Alexander Korda)
Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Waterlife (Documentary about... umm... waterlife)

BLOG PICK OF THE WEEK:

Pierrot Le Fou: I know you all too well. You're thinking "Yo! Videotheque! We know you like Godard. You got all those posters. Why pick this?". Why? Because it's maybe Godard's finest film (plus it was just re-issued on Blu-Ray). Godard's perfect mix of emotional instinct and intellectualism ends up turning the traditional love-on-the run story into something equally manic, romantic and fun drenched in pop art designs and colors of the French (and American) flag. Samuel Fuller has a nice cameo too where he tells us what he thinks cinema is ("In one word: emotions"). The new Blu-Ray transfer looks magnificent too. I saw the remastered print at the Aero Theater about two years ago and can't remember it looking as good as this. Maybe I'm a sucker for a pretty Anna Karina and a cool Jean-Paul Belmondo, but I can't suggest this film highly enough (hear!, hear! ed. MW ).

SAYONARA:

Thanks for reading this blog again!
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MORAL OF THE WEEK:
When you watch a movie with someone else, quit interrupting and asking questions. It's pretty annoying.

New Releases for Sept. 15th, or Smooth Movin'

Instead of writing this week's blog, I took photos of how the store is looking like while we move.


NEW RELEASES:

Grace: A co-worker of mine had the same name as this film and wanted to watch it. Unfortunately, she couldn't watch it but it has to be cool: IT HAS A BABY VAMPIRE.

Old Jews Telling Jokes: My uncle Moishe would've loved to have seen this. He was an old Jew who told jokes. Unfortunately he has a pain in the tucas and can't sit in front of the TV. That man is a schmoe! A meschugener! Oi vay!

Stella: Live in Boston: I actually saw this one! For once, I saw a new release! So if you've ever seen the short lived Stella show or the internet shorts, expect that except, you know, it's live. I had a blast watching this and it's worth it alone to hear them talk about things that are too offensive to mention on this blog.

Triangle: The homiest of my homies, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam, got together and made a heist film. I would've most definitely have seen this if I knew it existed. C'est la vie! The fact that the main characters are drinking buddies who get thrown into the world of Hong Kong crime leads me to believe this is going to be off the proverbial hook.

Trumbo: I like the cover. Reminds me of my uncle Moishe. Except my uncle Moishe wasn't blacklisted nor did he write Spartacus nor did he have a documentary about him. He did sit in the bathtub all day reading "Reader's Digest", though. Anyways, this is a documentary about famous screenwriter Dalton Trumbo: a man who was the polar opposite of my uncle Moishe.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: This is actually a very clever idea for the studios. They can make several sequels detailing each character from the X-Men series by giving them their own movie. I've never seen an X-Men movie before (and a co-worker was shocked), but you gotta admit that this is a guaranteed way to make money to take to the bank.

OTHER NEW RELEASES:

Easy Virtue
Four Dragons
The Human Condition (Criterion)
Iron Monkey (Blu-Ray)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia S.4
Kelly's Heroes
Legend of the Drunken Master (Jackie Chan) (Blu-Ray)
Rumba
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Blu-Ray)
Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano) (Blu-Ray)

BLOG PICK OF THE WEEK:

Dead Zone: Our very own Ronny D. kept insisting I had to see this after watching a parody of it on SNL. He hasn't recommended me one bad movie yet, so I took him up on it and watched it. I hate to gush all over a movie, but this was an excellent film. Christopher Walken plays an English teacher who after falling into a coma for five years, wakes up with the powers to tell the future (plus a cool new hairdo). The always great Martin Sheen plays a man running for senate that make Bush look like, uh... well, not look as bad and Brooke Adams plays his cutie who has since re-married after he fell into his coma. Despite not being one of Cronenberg's more auteur-ist works, it's still an excellent movie that's even separated into three different acts that almost feel like individual movies. Now that it was suggested to me, I want to pass on the oral tradition of suggesting movies and so I suggest that you watch it.

RECOMMENDED SECTIONS:

RV Parks' Criminal Lovers: RV has been married girl who's a rebel and who never-ever does any good. But he still loves her. To celebrate their recent crime-spree across the mid-west, he's dedicated a whole section featuring criminals with hearts in their eyes and their bullets in other people's hearts; classics like "The Honeymoon Killers", "Badlands", and "Wild at Heart".

BYE BYE:
See ya later.

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MORAL OF THE WEEK:
I don't care if you know me or not, but please, don't call me "bro". It's obnoxious.

New Releases for September 8th, or The Next Step Has Begun.

To my surprise, the moment I stepped into the store, things were different. No longer was Anna Karina smirking above my head. Nor was Lolita tempting me to rent her movie. Nor were the protagonists of Bicycle Thieves pulling at my heart strings. The walls were barren and desolate; all our posters have been moved to the new location.

We've started our first steps with the big move. Our office and storage have already emptied out, & over the weekend the shelving fixtures on the shopfloor will begin to do the same.
As you come in during the next two plus weeks, you'll have to pardon our dust.
Trust me when I say it's for the better good!

(we're currently estimating an opening at 1020 Mission during the last week of September, or first week of October, with perhaps 2-3 down days between our closure here & re-opening across the road! - Mark W. )

NEW RELEASES:

Crank 2: High Voltage: This has the Baryshnikov of bullets, Jason Statham, getting electrocuted to stay alive. The cover leads me to believe this has little to no substance, but features and insane amount of automatic weapons, so basically it's like my life.

Dance Flick: A new and relevant comedy that makes jokes about the CGI dancing baby craze that's sweeping America today and that was featured in last week's episode of Ally McBeal. Directed by one of the Wayans brothers.

Homicide: David Mamet's long unreleased drama about loss of identity and antisemitism is hidden in the guise of a police thriller. This movie is worth watching for a mustachioed William H. Macy playing his only tough guy role where he carries a shotgun and swears like a sailor. Coutesy of our friends at Criterion, you get a neat commentary and a featurette of interviews with the cast.

Model Shop: Jaques Demy classic Los Angeles feature finally arrives to us from Sony's Martini Movies series. See the always beautiful Anouk Aimee looking... uh... beautiful. According to one of my co-workers, she said this film was the "bees knees". Well, not in those words, but you catch my drift.

Valentino: The Last Emperor: I went to the American Cinematheque two nights in a row back in May and they played the trailer for this both nights. From the trailer, I'm going to assume it's about a feminine and obnoxious man with skin texture similar to that of a football who owns several dogs and who's aging is forcing him out of the fashion world. Even though I summed it up, you should come in and rent it anyways because a portion of the money you pay goes to my paycheck, which itself is spent to find my three kids.

OTHER NEW RELEASES AND NEW INVENTORY:

Born in '68
Heroes S.3
Metalocalypse S.2 (Adult Swim)
The New World (Blu-Ray)
Nikkatsu Noir set with I Am Waiting, Rusty Knife, Take Aim at the Police Van, Cruel Gun Story and A Colt is My Passport
No.1 Ladies Detective Agency (HBO show)
Zen & Zero (surf doc)

BON VOYAGE:

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MORAL OF THE WEEK:
Be careful when you drive. You don't want to make the same mistake I did!

Took this photo this Friday. They were filming a Honda commercial. Because of this, they took away your parking that whole night. I would suggest you protest against them and quit buying their cars, but I own a huge chunk of stock in them so please don't. Like I said earlier, I need to feed my kids.

New Releases for September 1st, or I can't stand the heat. I can't stand it.

Man, I used to like fire. I remember having barbecues, heating water, breathing fire, lighting fireworks, burning hair, etc. Now it's become my worst enemy.

The last week has been nothing but smoky skies and ash. Two firemen have died and we're now in a state of emergency.

I'm glad I have Videotheque at times like this. It has air conditioning to clean up the smoky air and lets me see movies so I don't have to watch constant updates on TV about how the fire isn't getting better.

Thank you Videotheque.

NEW RELEASES:

Earth: "Better than March of the Penguins" - Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com
"What!?" - Me, vidtheque.com

Good Dick: Oh look! An other indie movie with a hand drawn cover! It's about a customer at a videostore (It's Cinefile, our buddies out on the westside) who falls in love with one of the clerks who works there. Anyone who knows us video store clerks know we are an uncompassionate bunch and lack the emotion of love. These filmmakers obviously didn't do their research!

Sin Nombre: My whole life I've been surrounded by people very similar to the movie. I've had friends, family, and coworkers who've experienced the trouble of coming to America illegally to make an honest buck. I wanted to see this film, but I didn't for some reason or an other. I did have a friend who saw it (both his parents were from Guatemala, Honduras' neighbor) and he was nuts about it.

State of Play: My dawg Russell Crowe plays an American in this remake of the BBC mini-series of the same name. It's written by my other homeboy Tony Gilroy and features a plot about a major government conspiracy. Aaaahhhh yeeeaaah!

Sugar: There's been a considerable drought of baseball movies. The creative team behind Half Nelson thought so too, so they made this drama about the perils of a gifted baseball player from the Dominican Republic. I was a little sad when it turned out it wasn't about actual sugar. When I discovered that, I went to Buster's and got a mint and chip ice cream instead.

OTHER NEW RELEASE AND NEW INVENTORY:

Bad Boy Bubby (Blu-Ray)
Becoming Charley Chase (Silent)
Earth (DVD, Blu-Ray)
Homeboy (Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken, '88)
Metalocalypse S.1, S.2
Rescue Me S.5 V.1
State of Play (Blu-Ray)
Stuff Happens with Bill Nye
The Toe Tactic (American Indie)
Unwigged & Unplugged Live (Spinal Tap reunites)

BLOG PICK OF THE WEEK:

Hard Boiled: Seeing this depresses me. Not because it's a bad movie. On the contrary: it's one of the greatest action movies ever. What depresses me is that John Woo left Hong Kong only to make Hollywood dreck. Before action movies had to be nothing but quick action and quick cuts, you have men like John Woo combining Douglas Sirk melodrama with the slow-motion violence of Peckinpah to turn the shoot-out into a bloody ballet. Chow-Yun Fat and Tony Leung not only add great acting to the film, but can pull off the whole genre well. See how they can handle minute long shots of them running through hospital corridors, timing their shots perfectly while they choreograph their way around.

THAT IT!:

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MORAL OF THE WEEK:
Don't smoke around dry brush. I saw some idiot doing it on a hiking trail last Thursday. Things like this start the fires that turn our humble hiking trails into a state of emergency.