New Release Tuesday (8/16/11)!!!

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

THE KILLING (CRITERION BLU):  It has been far too long since I've seen this flick and I'm more than a little excited to get this new Criterion in my player.  Everyone loves 2001, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, and Full Metal Jacket but not enough love is given to either The Killing or Killer's Kiss (which appears here as a bonus feature!).  A great caper flick with frontman Sterling Hayden as a professional criminal worthy of Richard Stark's Parker.  Beautiful black & white photography I can't wait to see in 1080p.

Buy!

BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD SEASON TWO PART ONE:  Yeah, yeah, yeah I know you're all in love with Bruce Timm's animated series (and you totally should be), but if you love Batman and especially if you love the wacky history of Batman than you must see The Brave and The Bold.  Crazy Quilt!  Equinox!  Bat-Mite!  This show is nuts and a total hoot.  

JOHN CARPENTER'S THE WARD:  Honestly, I haven't heard to many good things about John Carpenter's latest but I don't care.  I'll buy every Ghosts of Mars, every Memoirs of an Invisible Man that he has in him cuz the man delivered Big Trouble in Little China into my life.  I owe him every cent.  Plus, the trailers for this flick still look promising to me and I'm liking Amber Heard more and more (I can't help but adore her in Drive Angry).  So yeah, Carpenter you got my faith.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (BLU):  One of my favorite Coen Brothers films that I'm sure will look absolutely stunning on blu.  There's no need to really drone on and on about this flick.  You know it's awesome.  Just ask What Would Jesus Do?

COBRA (BLU):  A childhood classic, Cobra is the ultimate exercise is 80s gratuitous grime and violence.  When this 10 year old first witnessed Sly Stallone cure the streets of crime I was forever haunted with nightmares of roving axe cults and Brian Thompson's horrible grunting smirk.  Love the grit of this picture and I'm curious to see if the blu wipes it too clean.  Demolition Man, The Specialist, and Assassins also hit blu today but none of those come close to the badassery of Cobra.

DEXTER SEASON 5:  A show that I only watch on DVD, so I'm still behind on what exactly happened in the wake of John Lithgow's creepy Trinity Killer.  Season 4 had a helluva shocking climax though and I can't wait to see where this leaves our poor serial murderer Dexter and fam.  Still, Julia Chiles is no John Lithgow.

Rent!

PRIEST:  Not a great movie, or necessarily a good one.  A lot of missed opportunities plagued my initial viewing and the PG-13 rating is a glaring error.  Needs gouts and geysers of blood.  Gotta love Karl Urban's black hat baddie but I was kinda crossing-my-fingers for more.  Worth a Netflix but it's no Legion....uh, yeah, I kinda preferred that mess to this.

THE CONSPIRATOR:  Besides A River Runs Through It, I've never really taken to Robert Redford's direction.  Still, this is some compelling subject matter and even though I'm fairly certain he gets the politics wrong on this one I want to see those costumes.  And it's a fine cast.  Not gonna push this to the top of my queue or nothin' but it'll get to me eventually.

CUL-DE-SAC (CRITERION BLU):  Here's another flick I've never seen...but Polanski and Criterion?  Yes, please.  

JANE EYRE:  Caught a little bit of this on the plane ride back from San Diego Comic Con, but I hate watching movies on planes so much--those tiny far off screens!  So, on the Netflix queue it goes.  Very gothic looking & Michael Fassbender = must see tv.

--Brad

New Release Tuesday (8/9/11)!!!

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

SUPER:  I was seriously bummed that I missed this in theaters and I just couldn't bring myself to watch it on demand.  James Gunn's Slither is one of my favorite wink-wink horror films of the last decade and I can't wait to see how his twisted sense of humor tackles the super hero genre.  Plus, my buddy Blain worked on the crew of this flick and one should always support their friends.  And you can all do with a little more Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, and Kevin Bacon in your lives.

Buy!

PAUL:  Yeah, this was nowhere near as bloody brilliant as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz but damn, I was pretty much laughing my butt off through the film's entire proceedings.  Hell, it's worth owning in the highest definition just for the Keith Nash nut shot.  Adorably vulgar, and yes, one of my favorite films of 2011 so far.

YOUR HIGHNESS:  This is just dumb fun.  If I laughed through the entire proceedings of Paul, then I lost my ever-lovin' mind during Your Highness.  It's soooooo smartly dumb and I love the medieval fantasy mockery. "Punch and twist...kissessssss."  Definitely, not for everybody, but where I can take or leave Franco in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I absolutely neeeeed him here in Your Highness.  He's goofily genius.  And Justin Theroux has to be my favorite evil wizard (sorry Ralph Fiennes).  A definite contender for this year's Best Foul Language award.

M.A.S.K. THE COMPLETE SERIES:  Man, I haven't watched an episode of this series since I was ten years old.  Thanks must be given once again to the treasure trove that is Shout Factory for re-releasing this bad boy on the public once more.  To this day, one of my favorite Christmas mornings was when Santa dropped off the MASK gas station mountain fortress under the tree.  That thing was badass.

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (BLU):  This might have made my Must Buy DVD of the Week but I've already got the standard edition on the shelf.  It's a pretty great set and I'm looking forward to revisiting it before Criterion Cast discusses it as part of their August War month.  Not an every Saturday Night kinda movie, but when the mood strikes you right than Algiers can really knock your socks off.

Rent!

JAMES ELLROY'S LA CITY OF DEMONS:  Ellroy wrote one of my all-time favorite novels with The Black Dahlia (DePalma's film is kinda neat but doesn't come close to capture the scope of that book) and the rest of his LA Quartet is utterly brilliant as well.  Not so sure about this tv show though.  Ellroy can be...a bit much when interviewed and I can see myself getting more than a little eye-rolly with this love/hate letter to Los Angeles.  It's a tempting buy, but I'm gonna show restraint and Netflix it.

--Brad

New Release Tuesday (7/26 & 8/2)!!!

7/26

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

SOURCE CODE:  I absolutely loved, loved, loved Duncan Jones' MOON.  It is withoutadoubt one of the best science fiction movies of the last ten years.  If you haven't seen it yet than drop what yer doing (you sure as hell shouldn't be reading this dribble) and get your hands on a copy.  That flick cost the amount it took to make one digital Navi eye in Avatar and MOON is worth a trillion Avatars.  Anyway, Source Code is damn good.  Not MOON genius, but a really smart Quantum Leap actioner with some seriously good performances.  Right now, it's on my Top Ten list for 2011.

Buy!

THE BLUES BROTHERS:  One of my all time favorite movies and easily my favorite musical (damn those that cry nay at it's musical status), The Blues Brothers is an epic Chicago based adventure with as much gravitas to its quest as that Frodo business in New Zealand.  And just as he did with An American Werewolf in London, director John Landis sells the absurdity of the situation by playing the narrative absolutely straight.  It's funny as hell, but it's serious business for these characters.  That's the beauty.

SOLDIER (BLU):  Yep, I love a Paul W.S. Anderson movie.  Love it.  And it's all on Kurt Russell and his silent brooding robot warrior.  It's not a great film and it definitely has its flaws but I enjoy the heck outta this Universal Soldier flick.  Sure, I'd love to see a faithful take on the David Webb Peoples script but I'll take this B-Movie.  Dig that montage sequence at the opening with Russell just blasting his way through various planetary landscapes.  Fun, okay.


Rent!

TRUST:  Clive Owen, I miss you.  Come back to movies I care about...well, you've got Killer Elite coming out and I am seriously excited.  I am less enthused about this Direct-to-DVDer.  But I'll give it a shot cuz yer in it.  And Catherine Keener, she's cool too.  So I'm there.  Still don't care what happens to your dumb internet surfing daughter.

BURN NOTICE THE FALL OF SAM AXE:  As much as I love Bruce Campbell, for some reason I've just never been able to get into Burn Notice.  I watched the first few episodes of the first season and I shrugged a meh.  But I do love Bruce Campbell.  And this is all about Bruce Campbell.  I'll give it a shot, hope I can understand what the heck is going on in this prequel.

SUPERNATURAL THE ANIMATION:  I turn into a teenage girl when I'm watching The CW show.  Sam & Dean are so dreamy!  Thank God my wife loves the show as much as I do and she doesn't seem to be questioning my sexuality every time I giggle at a Dean wisecrack.  One of my most anticipated panels at the San Diego Comic Con was the Supernatural panel--Squeal!  Squeal!  Squeal!  But then they showed the Anime footage.  Ugh.  It looks terrible.  With that panel this set went from an Absolute Buy to a Maybe Rent.

IRONCLAD:  This is probably not going to be very good.  But it does look bloody.  And I like Paul Giamatti (who doesn't?).  So, yeah.  We'll see.

Avoid!

DYLAN DOG:  Stay Away!  I so wanted to enjoy this movie but it is sooooooooo boring!  Criminally boring.  I'm a Brandon Routh supporter.  Thought he was a good Superman.  Thought he was fantastic in Scott Pilgrim.  And I loved him in season 3 of Chuck.  But this is dreck.  Boring dreck.


8/2

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN & CONAN THE DESTROYER (BLUS):  It has been way too long since I've seen either of these films.  Obviously, I grew up loving and watching Conan The Barbarian over and over and over again.  It's a great explosion of John Milius Frank Frazetta love.  Is it Robert E Howard's Conan?  Not really.  But it's badass.  Now, Conan The Destroyer?  Even as a kid I hated it.  I would take Red Sonja anyday over Destroyer.  But maybe now I can find some bit in their to love.  I'm putting on the shelf anyway.

  

SPY KIDS TRILOGY (BLU):  Robert Rodriguez's first Spy Kids film is some seriously silly fun.  One of the few occasions in which I've enjoyed kiddie bodily fluids humor.  Part 2 almost captures the original film's family joy.  But Part 3D and Shark Boy and Lava girl kinda killed my Rodriguez spankfest.  Still, if I'm gonna buy the first two flicks on Blu I might as well hunker down and purchase that third film.  

STREETWALKIN':  The latest entry in Shout Factory's Roger Corman Cult Classic line doesn't quite hit the nerve the way past entries like Humanoids From The Deep or Battle Beyond the Stars but you gotta put your faith in the Factory and go all in.  Prostitution-Sploitation starring recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo (but we should really care cuz she was awesome in Homicide Life On The Street), the film is also worth noting for brief turns from Julie Newmar and Antonio Fargas.  

Rent!

STAKE LAND:  This film reminds me a little bit of the other post-apocalyptic vampire flick Daybreakers, a film that I probably shouldn't have loved as much as I did.  I've heard good things and the trailer looks decent.  Nick Damici definitely looks properly heavy.

RIO:  Missed this in the theater.  Jesse Eisenberg doesn't jump out at me as my animated voice of choice, but man do I love the Rio Angry Birds game...sigh.

THE PENITENT MAN:  Lance Henriksen.  Nuff Said.  Yer there.  Trailer below...yeah, not gonna be a great flick most likely but you never know right?  

Avoid!

SOUL SURFER:  Shark bit off her arm.  Her will won't keep her away from surfing.  Don't care.  Yeah, I'd rather watch that cheap looking Henriksen flick any day over this pap.  Sorry.

--Brad

New Release Tuesday (7/19/11)!!!

Not a great week.  Some stuff I want to see, but nothing screaming to be a Must Buy!  And, of course, I'm not even going to bother till after San Diego Comic Con.

Rent!

LIMITLESS:  There definitely seems to be an interesting idea at play here with this film, and I'm kinda bummed that I missed it in theaters.  I dig Bradley Cooper when he's not doing Hangover movies and I like the fact that his name alone seems to have driven this movie into a success.  Robert De Niro seems to just cash paychecks these days, but he's one of the better work-for-actors when he's not messing with The Fockers.  Also, you should check out The Q & A with Jeff Goldsmith podcast episode with Limitless screenwriter Leslie Dixon.

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT:  The Omega Dork tells me that this was a fun flick.  Again, I wanted to see it in theaters but not enough for me to put for an actual effort.  I like Topher Grace.  And I like 80s teen comedies.  Mash them together and there might be some fun there.  I'm down.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (BLU):  What!?  A Criterion New Release that's not an essential Buy!?!?!?  Well, with the Barnes and Noble sale going on it might very well end up on my shelf, but I already have the original Criterion release and even though I love this film I'm not sure it's worthy of the double dip.  It probably is, but I'm also trying to save cash to blow at Comic Con.  Decisions, Decisions.

TEKKEN:  Man, this film looks terrible but I will suffer through this silliness cuz what if it's geniusly terrible?  What if?  I'm a sucker, but that's why you love me.  And when does the poster tag, "From The Producer of Ghost Rider" mean an indication of quality?  No, what that says is that we're all in a world of trouble.

And, yeah, that's if for the DVDs I care about this week.  I think this might be the weakest string of DVDs since Matt & I started this blog.  Bummer.  Oh well, next week we've got Source Code, The Blues Brothers blu ray, and the Sam Axe film.  And, uh, Dylan Dog.

--Brad

New Release Tuesday (7/12/11)!!!

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

RANGO (BLU):  The year is halfway over and the film that rests atop all others right now is Rango.  We here at ITMOD don't tend to write to many long reviews, but Rango (along with The Devil's Rain and Dr. Black & Mr. Hyde) got some extra love from us back in March and I'm guessing I'll be raving about this flick for the rest of the year.  It's probably my favorite animated movie since Pixar's UP and it's probably one of the best Westerns from the last ten years.  And it's freakin' beautiful!  Gore Verbinski and the geniuses over at ILM knocked it out of the park with the design and the CG beauty.  Can't wait to get this one in my hands.

(UPDATE:  Comes Out On The 15th)

Buy!

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (BLU):  Oh, man, since I discovered the glory of Shout Factory's Roger Corman Cult Classic line I've been dying to rediscover Battle Beyond the Stars.  This is a bugnuts Star Wars knockoff that I haven't seen since I was a wee lad.  And I don't think I saw the full cut back then, probably a USA Network print.  It's cheese, but we all know that Corman cheese can be glorious Cheeze.

DAMNATION ALLEY (BLU):  Now here's one that I have yet been lucky enough to see.  But I've always wanted to be one of the privileged.  The film stars Jan Michael Vincent (The Mechanic!), George Peppard (The A-Team!), Paul Winfield (Star Trek II!), Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen!), and Dominique Sanda (The Crimson Rivers!).  And they're trekking across a post apocalyptic wasteland in a pimped out RV!  Hope it's better than Battle Truck.

THE LINCOLN LAWYER:  This was a solid flick.  It's probably a rental for most people but my weird uncontrollable Matthew McConaughey love (Surfer, Dude!!!) forces me to crack open my wallet.  The film looks and feels like a slick episode of Law & Order and I'm already forgetting some of the plot points, but I need it for a potentially upcoming McConaughey-A-Thon.

NAKED (BLU):  Never seen it.  And again, this would normally be a rental but with Barnes & Noble's 50% Criterion Sale kicking off today it's falling into the buy category.  You like Harry Potter's David Thewlis right? And you want to see him as a rapist right?  Uh...sounds like fun times???

Rent!

INSIDIOUS:  Not a great horror film, but it does have some pretty fantastic jump scares and it cost something like a million dollars to make which just blows my mind.  Saw (and Death Sentence!) director James Wan knows how to make a little look like a lot and that's easily worth the Red Box.  Plus, love me some Patrick Wilson.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES:  This movie looks crazy.  I had never heard of the flick until Mondo put out a poster and then I saw the trailer below.  Some creepy haunting stuff there.  And it's on Netflix Instant!  No excuses people.

DINOCROC VS SUPERGATOR:  I still haven't seen a mess of these SyFy Corman Nature Rampage flicks but this one is going on the queue with the others.  Plus, do you see that quote?  "Dino-Mite" AND "Croc-Tastic!"  Sold.

ARTHUR:  This should probably be on the Avoid! list (which is sorely lacking this week), but my wife absolutely loves Russell Brand and I kinda find him charming in an annoying British comedian way.  Plus, Helen Mirran!

--Brad

Lucio Fulci's Zombie Blu Ray!

When I was fourteen years old I discovered Horror films when my buddy Jason brought over a copy of Clive Barker's Hellraiser.  From there I started reading Barker's novels, Stephen King (which lead to my discovery of Stanley Kubrick via The Shining), and Richard Laymon.  Then I discovered Lucio Fulci.  And my life was forever changed.  The first film I devoured was Fulci's Zombie, the unofficial sequel to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.  Worm Eyes!  Slow Motion Eyeball Impalings!  Zombies vs Sharks!  From there it was Italian Horror all the time; the rest of my high school years were consumed with that very particular form of exploitation.  I fell in love with Gates of Hell (aka City of the Living Dead), The House By The Cemetery, and The Beyond.

Now, the good folks at Blue Underground are finally awarding us dorks with a blu ray edition of Fulci's zombie island horror and it looks utterly fantastic.  Just hearing that score sends goosebumps across my flesh. I'm gonna need to do a Fulci Movie Night at this apartment soon.  Invite all my uninformed friends over for some gooey Italian cinema.

--Brad