Release Dates Aug 25 2008 @ 12:00 pm
DVD Releases for August 26th, 2008
Who loves grilled cheese sandwiches as much as I do? I could literally eat them 3-4 times per week, and I often do. I use my own handmade wheat bread, coat it with butter, and layer in thick slices of raw, sharp cheddar cheese that I get from a local dairy. That is the stuff that dreams are made of my friends. With that out of the way, lets get to some DVD releases.
Chicago 10
The top pick for the week, hands down. This experimental documentary tells the story of the infamous “Chicago 10″ trial in 1969, where 10 activists became the center of a political witch hunt. The film combines archival footage with animated recreations of the court transcripts, an aesthetic that I am dying to see on screen. It also stars the voices of Hank Azaria, Mark Ruffalo, Nick Nolte, Jeffrey Wright, and Liev Schreiber, among others. Daniel Getahun gave it a mostly glowing review over at Getafilm, so I am eagerly anticipating its arrival on Tuesday.
Recommended if you liked Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, or The Weather Underground
Redbelt
David Mamet does martial arts! In any other case that would be cause for celebration, but the critical acclaim for this film has been mostly on the quiet end. Chuck Bowen wrote that it was “competent, never particularly boring, but…doesn’t ever amount to anything.” Harsh words, but still. It’s friggin’ Mamet! That’s got to count for something, right?
Recommended if you’ve spent long nights dreaming about a Glengarry Glen Ross / Karate Kid mash-up. I know I have.
August
I know nothing about this film, although some IMDB user with way too much time on his hands says that it “centers on two brothers fighting to keep their start-up company afloat on Wall Street during August 2001, a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.” I know, I know, not exactly a premise that sends lightning bolts down your spine. But in addition to starring Josh Hartnett (not exactly in its favor), it stars Rip Torn and David Bowie, and any movie with Rip Torn and David Bowie in it can’t be half bad.
Recommended if The Man Who Fell to Earth (the only other film to star both Bowie and Torn) has its own shrine in your closet, complete with burning incense and David Bowie rosary beads. Also, if that’s the case, please don’t read my blog anymore.
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
I liked Supersize Me well enough, although the acclaim and hype it kept generating got a bit tiresome (it wasn’t that great). This is Morgan Spurlock’s second feature length doc, wherein he goes tramping around the middle east looking for you-know-who. Apparently he makes some nice observations about tolerance and the universality of the human experience, but the whole idea doesn’t really appeal to me on an entertainment level. Add middling reviews and this gets 2 1/2 shoulder-shrugs.
Recommended if you liked Supersize Me or Spurlock’s FX TV program 30 Days.
Hit the jump for more Digital Video Disc goodies.
Postal
This one definitely wins the WTF award of the week. It was close to going into the bin of shame but ends up being so bizarre that it demands some kind of attention, no matter how slight it may be. Worst Director In The World Uwe Boll assaults good taste in every way imaginable, with Vern Troyer and Dave Foley helping. There are jihadists and Osama Bin Laden and scantily clad cultists and who-knows-what else. Perhaps if he’s lucky Uwe can take the place of Roger Corman.
Recommended if a clown taking a dump in the gutter is worth a second glance.
What Happens in Vegas – 
My eyes burn a little every time I look at that poster. In fact I think my corneas are smoking slightly right now. Luke seemed to have gained some sort of mild enjoyment out of it, but it will take torture by red hot poker, badger, and feather duster before I’ll even approach this one with a 10ft pole.
Recommended if giving yourself paper cuts on your retinas isn’t quite the thrill it used to be.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 12:51 pm 1. Daniel said …
Uh oh, another doc with my name stamped on it! I don’t know, Evan, if you read it more closely (as I just did for the first time in a while), I come off criticizing Chicago 10 more than I realized. It’s OK, and appropriate as the 40th anniversary of the convention is basically right now, but with the number of other incredible documentaries this year, I could list at least 10 better than Chicago 10. I suppose the animation was pretty good, though…
That being said, there aren’t many movies I could name this year worse than either Redbelt or Bin Laden, both of which I railed against.
Consider all three of those pretty big disappointments this year. Oh well, there’s always next week!
Do you seriously make handmade wheat bread? That’s amazing!
on Aug 25 2008 @ 1:16 pm 2. Luke Harrington said …
It’s kind of funny that the one review we have is of the least interesting film being released this week (I wholly agree with its placement, by the way, mild guilty pleasure though it was).
You know what makes awesome grilled cheese? If you encrust the buttered side of the bread with some sort of hard Italian grating cheese (like parmesan or romano) before you grill it. That way you get toasty cheese on the outside and melty cheese on the inside.
I have tio say that Chicago 10 sounds awesome enough conceptually that I want to see, even if it’s not great. It really has been a good year for docs, though, hasn’t it?
on Aug 25 2008 @ 2:02 pm 3. Daniel said …
There’s been no doc year like this in recent memory. Nothing even close. It’s to the point that I’m having trouble finding room for some very good ones on my Top 10 list of docs alone this year.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 2:20 pm 4. Evan Derrick said …
Watch the Academy piss all over our wonderful “year of docs” come February. Who wants to bet that “Man On Wire,” “Young@Heart,” and “Bigger, Stronger, Faster,” are all left by the wayside?
And yes, I do make my own bread, and I’ll have to try that tip out, Luke. Sounds uber-tasty.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 3:10 pm 5. Fox said …
No way dudes! Don’t hate on your What Happened in Vegas review! It’s lightweight for sure, but I appreciate that you guys didn’t brush it off like many writers did.
p.s. Give Postal a shot, if only so you can write a review of it. I saw it at a fest last year not really knowing anything about it, and it’s not half bad.
p.p.s. WHERE IN THE HELL IS SON OF RAMBOW!?!?
on Aug 25 2008 @ 3:18 pm 6. Evan Derrick said …
Actually Fox, I have no idea. I was freakin out for a second, thinking I had missed it, as it would certainly have gone near the top of the list if not the very top. Amazon isn’t selling it, and I can find no mention of it anywhere. You can purchase in the UK but that’s on a region 2 DVD and doesn’t do much for us American peeps. The website says “Buy it on DVD August 26th!” but I’m guessing something went wrong, as you definitely can’t buy it tomorrow.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 3:20 pm 7. Evan Derrick said …
Ok, so Best Buy has it listed as streeting tomorrow but Amazon doesn’t. I’m going to trust Amazon on this one.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 3:27 pm 8. Fox said …
I think you’re right, b/c it was at the top of my Netflix queue today and it got jumped, so perhaps there was some last second snafu.
Anyway… I was just playing with ya. I don’t expect you to be 100% every week on DVD releases. I’m not someone (uh,hum… Rick Olson) that would come on here and criticize you guys (…Rick Olson) and then talk about it some more on my web site (Rick Olson on Coosa Creek Mambo…).
on Aug 25 2008 @ 3:43 pm 9. Nick Plowman said …
I want to see Redbelt, Chicago 10 and August.
on Aug 25 2008 @ 6:11 pm 10. Haiku Girl said …
I loved Postal. It was so very offensive in so many ways. It probably helped that Uwe Boll was at the showing I went to. He stuck around for a good 20 minutes and talked to the 7 people who actually went to the opening night. He seems a very articulate and intelligent guy in person, leading me to believe the “Uwe Boll” persona is a bit of an act.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 1:37 am 11. Joseph said …
Hmm…Redbelt.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 12:38 pm 12. Film-Book dot Com said …
Hmmm…grilled cheese. I haven’t had that in about ten years.
I’ve been slack in my doc watching so I can’t comment on their quality or lack-there-of. I have seen Redbelt. Its not Mamet’s best work by any stretch of the imagination. For that, look to Spartan and his other films.
My review for Redbelt:
http://film-book.com/review-redbelt/
on Aug 26 2008 @ 2:01 pm 13. Evan Derrick said …
Haiku Girl, I think Uwe Boll has implanted a microchip in your brain that makes you say things like “he seems a very articulate and intelligent guy.”
Come back from the darkside, Colleen, come back from the darkside…
on Aug 26 2008 @ 2:03 pm 14. Luke Harrington said …
I think I tend to agree that the Boll persona is at least partially an act. I really think he makes bad movies on purpose, and then gets indignant about them, as a form of performance art. (And if I’m right, that makes him a genius.)
on Aug 26 2008 @ 2:14 pm 15. Evan Derrick said …
So he’s the Ed Wood version of Andy Kauffman, is that what you’re telling me?
on Aug 26 2008 @ 2:28 pm 16. Luke Harrington said …
Yeah, good metaphor. Why not?
on Aug 26 2008 @ 2:59 pm 17. Evan Derrick said …
I hear there is this killer Andy Kaufman documentary out there called “I’m From Hollywood.” I’ll have to check that out sometime.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:05 pm 18. Fox said …
I gotta jump in here and take Haiku Girl’s side… in interviews he comes off as quite intelligent to me.
I’m kind of obsessed with Boll, mainly b/c it makes me laugh when he gets fan boys get all red-fanged and foamy.
I don’t know if I would go as far as Luke did, but I think he’s onto something. Meaning, I don’t think Boll purposely tries to make bad films, but I think he does play up the “I’m a genius” ego thing b/c he knows it gets AICN-philes’ goats.
I do think Boll loves making movies, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he self-finances a lot of his stuff. In that way I think he is kinda like Ed Wood in that he makes movies for the love of it, damn the lack of accolades. I think that’s pretty cool.
I think Postal is worthy. It is really funny at times but equally NOT funny in others. Definitely hit and miss, but I respect it’s all out onslaught. Having said that In The Name of The King : A Dungeon Siege Tale was pretty unwatchable.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:16 pm 19. Evan Derrick said …
So the last thing I ever expected to see at MovieZeal was a sudden outpouring of love and affection for Uwe Boll.
I’m not sure if I’m proud of all of you or terrified. Maybe a little bit of both.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:21 pm 20. Fox said …
I’m feeling a Movie Zeal month dedicated to The Cinema of Uwe Boll coming!
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:30 pm 21. Evan Derrick said …
Fox, although I am unqualified, I’m completely willing to perform your exorcism. Let me know when a good time would be.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:42 pm 22. Nathan Keltner said …
Wasn’t Uwe Boll’s shtick that he found a tax loophole that allowed him to make terrible movies almost completely for free? Ah, there we go, epic win for the internetz (via wikipedia):
“Boll is able to acquire funding thanks to German tax laws that reward investments in film. The law allows investors in German-owned films to write off 100% of their investment as a tax deduction; it also allows them to invest borrowed money and write off any fees associated with the loan. The investor is then only required to pay taxes on the profits made by the movie; if the movie loses money, the investor gets a tax writeoff.”
Somehow that doesn’t make me me think he’s “pretty cool”. Germany should shut this fool down in a big way.
Also, he beats up internet kidz for fun. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_Boll#Critic_boxing_matches_.28Raging_Boll.29)
on Aug 26 2008 @ 3:48 pm 23. Fox said …
Maybe we should take this to the ring like Boll does. It seems like the only clean way to decide the debate once and for all.
I don’t blame him for wanting to fight the internet kids. I’ve always had the urge to punch Anthony Kaufman in the mouth.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 5:43 pm 24. Haiku Girl said …
I am not a Uwe Boll fangirl. I have seen very little of his previous work, and what I have seen…. I don’t like. Postal is the exception. When the trailer for Postal came out, I knew I had to see it.
The more I read up on Uwe (not the fanbashing stuff), the more I find myself comparing him to Roger Corman. Uwe like Coreman keeps his projects on time, and on budget. That is a feat I thing most Directors can’t boast.
Also Uwe may have found all sort of tax dodges for his film, but I think he has found a niche that lets him continue to make films (good or otherwise). Video Game adaptations.
Video Game Companies love to see their ideas on the big screen. Uwe Boll loves taking there money to make more films. Its a win/win relationship except for maybe the moneypaying film goer.
Anyone heard of anything on his next project? Seems I heard a rumor that it was getting some critical praise.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 6:15 pm 25. Fox said …
Haiku-
I know that Seed (a horror film of some kind) is due on DVD in the close future. Then – and this makes me laugh, he was making Alone In The Dark 2 and Bloodrayne 2 amd Bloodrayne 3.
On top of that he has 4 or 5 films in production at the moment from horror to war films. see here—> CHECK IT OUT EVAN! AN UWE BOLL LINK ON YOUR BLOG!
on Aug 26 2008 @ 6:26 pm 26. Luke Harrington said …
We should change the name of the site to UweZeal.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 10:51 pm 27. Nathan Keltner said …
“Video Game Companies love to see their ideas on the big screen. Uwe Boll loves taking there money to make more films. Its a win/win relationship except for maybe the moneypaying film goer.”
Video game fans hate this more than you could possibly imagine. These are people that really fall in love with their characters, only to see them completely embarrass themselves on the big screen. No one wants to see this guy lay waste to potentially good content/franchises.
on Aug 26 2008 @ 10:53 pm 28. Evan Derrick said …
Ok, so Zombie Massacre sounds kind of sweet…
on Aug 26 2008 @ 10:54 pm 29. Evan Derrick said …
And I am still awaiting the first great video game adaptation. I had high hopes for Hitman, but I think we all know how THAT ended. Hopefully Max Payne won’t be completely embarrassing, but I’m not crossing my fingers.
on Aug 27 2008 @ 6:43 am 30. Luke Harrington said …
It’ll never happen, Evan. Just accept it.