We have 218 items to share with you - these are the ones that appeared in Amazon's new listings for the week beginning Tuesday, 5/8. There were another 150 or so that show release dates BUT come up unavailable. You don't get those. You get THESE! All of these new releases are actually in stock (pending me performing any edits) and you should be able to see Amazon's current price by hovering over those titles.
If you have seen any of these films, or are particularly excited by any particular release, please pitch in your two cents by adding a reply to this thread!
Repeat visitors who may have made some purchases are encouraged to let us know how the stuff they bought turned out - assuming you got around to actually watching it! (I never do!)
Links abound - click on the IMDb icon for IMDb information, click on the tv.com icon for episode lists, click on other links to be moderately entertained!
Let's begin with two releases that snuck up on me but nonetheless made it up to the top of the listas my
CO-PICKS OF THE WEEK: That Thing You Do! - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (The W at Amazon) (1996) Now, listen - I like this movie a lot, and if I happen to swing by it while channel surfing I inevitably stick around to watch it - but a director's cut with an extra *39* minutes? I think you're testing my faith, Tom Hanks. Yes I do. Plus it goes without saying there are a gazillion extras on disc two, but I'll say it for the benefit of the keyword searchers Big - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1988) Speaking of Tom Hanks... also Elizabeth Perkins - Another 25 minutes added to this cut and loads of extras on the second disc
MGM MEGASETS: Ultimate Westerns DVD Giftpack - 10 releases: The Big Country, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Extended Cut (2-Disc Collector's Edition), Hang 'Em High, Heaven's Gate, Hour of the Gun, The Magnificent Seven (Collector's Edition), The Missouri Breaks and Red River Ultimate War DVD Giftpack - 10 releases: The Great Escape, Flyboys, 633 Squadron, The Battle of Britain, The Devil's Brigade, Exodus, Paths of Glory, Platoon, Run Silent, Run Deep and Zulu Ultimate Summer Break DVD Giftset - 10 (mostly crappy) releases: National Lampoon: Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj (Unrated), National Lampoon: Class Reunion, National Lampoon: Dorm Daze, National Lampoon: Gold Diggers (Unrated), National Lampoon: Going the Distance, National Lampoon: Movie Madness, Cooley High, UHF, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
PLATINUM DISC TV MOVIES: Acts of Contrition (Original Sins, made for TV, 1995) Mark Harmon, Julianna Phillips Summer of Fear (made for TV, 1996) Jane Doe: How to Fire Your Boss (Hallmark Channel, 2007) Lea Thompson, Joe Penny return in the latest in series of TV movies
DOCUMENTARIES OF THE WEEK: Basketball Man (2007) A look at Dr. James Naismith The Fearmakers Collection Assmebled documentaries of "horror's greatest directors" - yes, Kim, Dario Argento IS in it! 638 Ways to Kill Castro (made for TV, UK, 2006) But none of them have worked! Deliver Us from Evil (2006) Stories of a priest's 30 year history of pedophilia and his sheltering by the Catholic church Whole (made for TV, UK/USA, 2003) The story of people who long to become amputees - no, REALLY A Life Without Pain: A Documentary (2005) People who have congenital analgesia - I'm starting to think Melody Gilbert (who also brought you "Whole" above) has a thing about .... certain things
Man, a lotta French/Canadian stuff this week for some reason...
HEY, LET'S PUT OUT A "GRINDHOUSE" COLLECTION AND STIRKE WHILE THE IRON IS - OOPS, TOO LATE: Skin in the 60's I think they mean the 1960s, not that the actresses are in their 60s - The Madam (1969) , L'Amour de Femmes (France/Switzerland, 1982) , and Take Them as They Are (?)
ONE MORE TRIPLE FEATURE FOR SPECIALISED TASTES: White Slave Collection Naked Amazon (Feiti&ccdeil;o do Amazonas - Brazil, 1954) , White Slave (Schiave Bianche: Violenza in Amazzonia - Italy, 1985) and Sacrifice of the White Goddess (?)
DEEZER D SIGHTING OF THE WEEK: Lord Help Us (direct to DVD, 2007) Possibly also the MOST ECLECTIC CAST OF THE WEEK, includes Al Jarreau, Nadia Turner, Debra Wilson, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Diva
AND THE REST: The Stranger Beside Me (made for TV, 1995) Tiffani-Amber Thiessen wonders if husband Eric Close is committing the series of rapes that are terrorizing the neighbourhood - I bet my wife has seen AND loved this movie on one of those Lifetime networks
You and Your Stupid Mate (Australia, 2005) Two wacky lads rush to save their favourite soap from cancellation - I don't either of the two dudes, but I recognise Rachel Hunter Graveyard Alive (Canada, 2005) For those who enjoy their horror in black & white - and Canadian Swamp Zombies (2005) Trailer at Brain Damage
HELP ME HELP YOU: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success Only Olivia Newton-John can bring Deepak Chopra to the masses - unless you're Bill Duke, Dave Stewart or Tina Mickelson
SOFTCORE: The Sexual Story of O (Historia Sexual de O - Spain, 1984) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0087413/] A *sexual* story?? That's my favourite kind of story! Directed by Jesus Franco The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle (Las Orgas inconfesables de Emmanuelle - Spain, 1982) aka "Emmanuelle Exposed" aka "Emmanuelle Forever" - also directed by Jesus Franco under a pseudonym
SEX & VIOLENCE: Punch Up, Vol. 3 "More brutal boxing from London's Caesar with all of the blood, beatings, and bad topless girls." Punch Up Boxing Volumes 1-3 in one box(ing box)!
AND FINALLY: JuggleVision 1 Sorry, dudes.... it really IS about juggling
Come back tomorrow for any edits and Amazon's Top 24 preorders!
With all apologies to my street cred, I have to say that I liked Music and Lyrics quite a bit. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't find Hugh Grant charming -- there's quite a lot of skating on that charm here -- or if you hate romantic comedies or, you know, music in general.
The songs are written by Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger -- I'm not a huge Fountains of Wayne fan, but one thing that's tough to find is a movie about pop music that has pop songs that are worth listening to. I can't stand movies about bands who "make it big" while their songs are duller than a comatose James Blunt swaddled in foam rubber. This movie has a couple of good tracks, especially the great '80s supposed-smash-hit "Pop! Goes My Heart" ("I said I wasn't gonna lose my head / but then POP! *newwavedrumsound* goes my heart").
The last movie before this that had a "hit song" that you could actually believe was a hit song was Dreamgirls, I guess (I really liked "Cadillac Car"), and before that? Probably That Thing You Do! featuring songs by...Adam Schlesinger.
Anyway. It's fun and frothy and probably not particularly accurate re: the way the contemporary pop world operates, but I enjoyed it.
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Linda Linda Linda follows a group of Japanese schoolgirls for three days as they try to get ready for a "Rock Festival" at their school, a process that is complicated by the fact that they have just recruited a new singer, a Korean exchange student whose shaky grasp of Japanese causes some communication difficulties.
Actually, the language barrier may not matter, since most of the characters have difficulty communicating with one another, preferring instead to stare awkwardly at (or past) each other in hunched silence, as the camera sits, motionless, waiting. But if the movie is purposefully short on closure, it nevertheless has some really pretty great musical catharsis.
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The Painted Veil is based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, and stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts as a young married couple in the 1920s who travel to small-town China during a cholera epidemic. He's there because he's a bacteriologist; she's there because he is punishing her for her infidelities.
They were married without really knowing each other, and once in China, finally grow to do so mostly by living around the edge of each other, each showing no interest in sitting down and talking things over. He dives into his work with little outward concern for anything else; she grows increasingly bored, finally begging the nuns at the local convent (including Diana Rigg!) to find some tasks for her to do.
My lovely and brilliant wife says that she really appreciated the "emotional depth" of the characters. I can't pretend that it's really "my thing," but I'll say: if you're sad that half of Merchant Ivory has passed away, you should definitely check it out.
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And that's all I watched. I picked up a copy of the Pirates of the Golden Age collection but haven't looked at it yet. It's got four pirate movies for the price of one! Errol Flynn! Yvonne DeCarlo! Donald O'Connor??? It should be great to keep around for some rainy night when only pirates will do. Man, I sure wish they'd come out with a new Pirate movie someday!
--K
(edited by Karlos the Jackal on 11.5.07 1420) Last 5 movies seen: Linda Linda Linda ***1/2 - The Painted Veil *** - Music and Lyrics ***1/2 - Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? ***1/2 - Little Children *** - This Boy's Life ***