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DVDs

Not much in the way of movies this week. But there are three worth checking out.

Neverwas: From Miramax studio, this one stars Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellan, William Hurt, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Brittany Murphy. It concerns a man who discovers his childhood fantasy land is actually a real place. And it’s all somehow based upon a children’s book his father wrote.

Driving Lessons: From Sony Pictures Classic. Well, we’ve got the red-headed kid from the Harry Potter movies. He’s living in a conservative household and then he meets a crazy actress and it changes his life forever. Not quite Harold and Maude you know, but a few mild laughs in this oddly enjoyable coming-of-age story.

Drive-in Horror Series - Savage Spirit/They Feed: Yes! The best in cheesy b-movies continues. This double bill features a haunted spirit, upset that the new home owners are throwing a pool party and the second flick is about six friends who go investigate a plane crash in the woods, only to be attacked by flesh eating creatures that relentlessly pursue them through the woods.

Music

Another week and a few more albums to check out. Although this week seems particularly slow.

Los Campesinos! - “Sticking Fingers into Sockets EP” (Arts & Crafts) [Buy]

Probably the best little disc you’ll get your hands on all week. Maybe even in the coming months. Maybe in your entire life. No, okay, it’s too early in the week for hyperbole. We’d write more but we think we’re going to devote the next post to this album and this band.

Sara Bareilles - “Little Voice” (Epic Records) [Buy]

This Los Angeles songsmith has a silky smooth voice and crafts the kind of innocuous piano-based pop music. Little bit of pop, little bit of jazz, little bit of soul, little bit of blues. Perfect for a trip to pick the kids up at soccer practice or while having dinner on an outdoor patio. Not that anyone does that around here, it just I can imagine the future. Exists in the ether between Norah Jones, Fionna Apple or (fill in the blank of piano-based popstar). It sounds like you’ve heard the songs before, maybe in a movie or maybe in passing on the radio and the enjoyment is in the comfort of the songs. Lots of promise here.

Oh man! Bond is back in a big way. Not only was Casino Royale one of the most exciting movies from 2006, but it was quite possibly the best Bond movie since Connery donned the duds, shot a PPK, and had lots of sex. If you missed Daniel Craig’s star making turn as 007 on the big screen, well, we feel bad for you. The good news is now you can go out and buy it on DVD.

Casino Royale - A simple tale of James Bond becoming super stud 007. His first adventure takes him leaping off buildings in Madagascar, playing cards in Montenegro with international terrorist banker Le Chiffre and of course having sex in the Bahamas. It’s all in the life of Britain’s playboy MI6 agent. But seriously, this movie rocked like a drunken baby crib. Extras on the two-disc edition include: Becoming Bond: An intimate look at how Daniel Craig stepped into the role of the 6th James Bond, James Bond: For Real: Inside look at action and stunts of film, Bond Girls Are Forever: Closer Look at Bond’s Leading Ladies and Chris Cornell?s Music Video, ?You Know My Name.? So nothing worth spending the extra money for.

Harsh Times - Christian Bale continues his impressive run lately with this gritty drama from David Ayer (Training Day). Bale plays an ex-Army ranger trying to get a job with the LAPD. But soon he hooks up with his old pal, played by Freddie Rodriguez (he’s in Grindhouse and was in Six Feet Under), and the friends revert back to a life of petty crime, violence and drugs. Pretty heedy stuff and well worth a rental.

The Holiday - Steller cast of Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Jude Law, and Cameron Diaz can’t save this trite piece of garbage. Even fans of romantic comedies/holiday movies will be repelled by how formulaic this is. Guess what? Every thing works out in the end for every single character including the love matches. Just having to write about this makes my blood curdle with venemous bile.

Shortbus - Some call it porn, some call it art. Either way we call it penetration. Taking a page from the same book as Nine Songs, this movie from John Cameron Mitchell follows the hipster lives of New Yorkers and their quest to find love and experiment with sex at an underground salon. This one got fantastic reviews from the critics, who said this one had real humanity. Looks like another triumph from the maker of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Yeah, so you may have heard that a certain funny Kazakhstan reporter will be available today.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for the Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - Probably the funniest movie of the year. The cool thing about this DVD is that they’ve packaged it to look like a bootleg copy, written entirely in Kazak

Gotta love that!

Fast Food Nation - Director Richard Linklater’s look at McDonald’s. It’s a huge tapestry touching on tough topics from illegal immigration to the process of making meat. Not as good as the book, but still compelling enough for a rental.

Let’s Go to Prison - Even funny man Will Arnett couldn’t make this movie funny. Oh well. One of this year’s most forgettable releases.

Stranger Than Fiction - Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in this unusual comedy. Will Ferrell is an IRS agent who hears the voice of a novelist in his head. He must persuade the novelists (Thompson) to change the ending of her story so that he may live. Very Kauffmanesque.

Tideland - Terry Gilliam directs this story about a young girl with a terrible life. To escape said life she retreats into a fantasy world. Unfortunately even Terry Gilliam can’t save this convoluted mess and a plot similar to the much superior Pan’s Labyrinth. Speaking of? How did Pan’s not win the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture?

A Good Year - Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott teaming up for a movie that’s the exact opposite of Gladiator. Crowe stars as an investment banker who inherits a French vineyard. And he learns the true importance of life. Yeah, it’s that schmaltzy.

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny - The epic story of how The D became the greatest rock band in the world. Um… Jack Black and Kyle Glass steal a supernatural pick. It’s sort of funny, but was much funnier when they used the same jokes for their HBO show.

The Return - A creepy horro movie staring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Someone needs to call her agent and let them know SMG doesn’t need to do teen horror movies anymore. Treads a similar tone to The Grudge.

And just because we love Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. I’m still sad I missed this live. Oh well.

Movies

13 Tzameti - A suspenseful thriller about a young man who becomes entangled in a deadly game of Russian roulette. It’s got subtitles, so that’s why no one has heard of it. A shame, because it’s worth looking into for fans of mystery/suspense/noir.

The Departed - Was there anyone who didn’t enjoy this movie? I liked it. A lot. But it was still not as great as the original Hong Kong version, “Infernal Affairs.” One of the few instances where the Boston accents didn’t make me want to kill someone, due in large part to local guys, Matty Damon and Marky Wahlberg. Even DiCaprio didn’t blow it. Scorcese should finally get his due come Oscar time.

Half Nelson - Ryan Gosling, well make that Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling to you, plays a drug addicted teacher, who forms an unlikely bond with one of his students. Breakthroughs all around for Gosling, Shareeka Epps, and the creative team behind it: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden.

Infamous - Pity poor Toby Jones. While Phillip C. Hoffman got all the love and adulation for his portrayal of the gasp! gay writer Truman Capote, it was widely believed this was the superior movie and Jones’s the superior performance. Featuring a stellar cast with the likes of Daniel Craig, Gweneth Paltrow, Sandra “I can do more than rom-coms” Bullock and Sigourney Weaver.

Marie Antoinette - Sophia Coppola’s much maligned follow-up to “Lost in Translation.” Which could have been the title for her movie about the yet-to-be-beheaded Queen of France. The story follows the teenage Queen as she tries to produce an heir to the throne and have fun while doing it. Too much was written about the soundtrack and use of new-wave songs and not enough about Coppola’s intention of showing the story of Marie Antoinette from a woman’s perspective and not a man’s.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon - A fascinating documentary examining John Lennon’s transformation from musical messiah to anti-war advocate during the tumultuous Sixties. Not surprising the gov’t was scared of the icon and tried to put a stop to his shenanigans.

Zoom - Um… well this Tim Allen movie is being released today. Does anyone care? I didn’t think so, but he plays a superhero trying to teach a group of kids how to be super and heroic.

Television

Beauty and the Beast: Season One - Linda Hamilton and Ron Perleman in a modern retelling from CBS. Man the early nineties were great for serial television.

The Golden Girls: Season Seven - I can’t believe the adventures of Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia lasted this long. But this was the final season. Fun fact for the day: In real life, Rose (Betty White) was actually a year older than her mother on the show Sophia (Estelle Getty).
The Hills: Season One - MTV drek.

Picket Fences: Season One - David Kelly’s charming and quirky show finally sees the light of DVD.

Mastors of Horror: Pelt - The second season of Showtime’s experiment continues with this outing from Italian master Dario Argento. Stars Meat Loaf as a guy obsessed with making a fur coat out for a lesbian stripper. How very Buffalo Bill of him. Word on the street is PETA would be proud of the film.