Release Dates May 13 2008 @ 09:49 am
DVD Releases for May 13, 2008
I am always amazed at the vibrant diversity on display every week with the DVD selection. Some of these aren’t winners by any stretch of the imagination, but movies about competitive debate, internet predators, female heisters, lightning struck age-regressors, and an autistic musical? It’s a veritable melting pot of tastes and genres. Food for thought: what would a movie be like that combined all 5 of those things? I’m telling ‘ya, there is money to be made.
The Great Debaters
Denzel Washington stars in and directs his second feature film, an inspiring true story that takes place in the heart-stoppingly thrilling world of, um, debate. It’s a classic underdog sports story, except in place of bone-crunching tackles or at-the-buzzer 360 slam dunks, you get people yelling at each other. Politely. Ok, I kid, I kid. This one got great reviews, and if you’re in the mood for an inspiring true story where the underdogs challenge the uppity-ups, this one should deliver in spades.
Recommended if you liked Antwone Fisher, Finding Forrester, Remember the Titans, or Glory Road
Untraceable
This one had a sociological important premise that could have made it a benchmark film for our times: a killer harnesses the anonymity of the internet to perpetuate his/her crimes, and the more you visit a certain website, the faster the victim dies. Knowing the bloodthirsty sheeple that crowd the intertubes, it isn’t long before people are dying left and right. Sadly, this descends into a by-the-numbers thriller where scathing commentary is replaced by generic Hollywood tropes. Diane Lane and Colin Hanks (i.e., Tom Hanks’ son) star.
Recommended if you always dreamed of a Silence of the Lambs meetsThe Net hybrid film. And really, if you combine Jodie Foster and Sandra Bullock you obviously get Diane Lane. I know I’m not the only one who thinks about these things.
Mad Money
Who doesn’t want to see the film that combined crackerjack trio Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes together for the first time in a madcap…wait, Katie Holmes? I thought she was missing or something. Didn’t I see her picture on a milk carton somewhere? Or was it on Nancy Grace? Or the wall at the post office? Someone should call the FBI. Oh, in the movie they steal money or jewels or estrogen injections or something…wow, Katie Holmes. Whodathunk?
Recommended if you liked…ohhowcoolisthis, Katie Holme’s character has her own MySpace page! Oh my gosh! She likes Bye Bye Birdie, So You Think You Can Dance?, and reading Stephen King! Oh, this is too funny, she met her, oh, I am so LOLing right now, she met her boyfriend when they had a fender bender! Hahahahahaha! Sigh, good times, good times….what was I saying again?
Youth Without Youth
Poor poor Francis Ford Coppola. The guy decides to get a bit risky with his storytelling with his first film in a decade, finances the production with his own money (he has a lucrative wine business), and gets raked over the coals by the critics for it. Where is Apocalypse Now Part Deux, where is The Godfather Part 4? they all seem to be saying (ok, maybe not the Godfather bit). A love story wrapped inside an enigma, set in pre-WWII Europe, where a man (Tim Roth) is struck by lightning and begins to get younger as a result. Sounds trippy and intriguing, and what do critics know, anyhow?
Recommended if you liked Inland Empire or The Fountain
Autism: The Musical
This weeks dark horse, my curiosity was severely piqued when I saw this title sitting on the release page at Amazon. A documentary that follows the lives of 5 autistic children as they prepare for a musical production, the film focuses on their struggles and triumphs over the course of 6 months. Equal parts call-to-action and inspirational heartwarmer, this one looks like a sweetly charming winner.
Recommended if you liked Spellbound or Mad Hot Ballroom
on May 13 2008 @ 11:03 am 1. Daniel said …
You’re right, The Great Debaters was exactly like other underdog sports stories. I think I compared it to Hoosiers…not to give anything away…
Youth Without Youth got exactly what it deserved. I tried to be patient with it, to no avail. I’m sure I missed something, but I thought it was horrid.
on May 13 2008 @ 1:34 pm 2. Ari said …
Youth Without Youth isn’t for everyone (these experimental films never are), but I loved the thing. It’s a throwback to a more adventurous and daring period in film history, when artistic freedom, integrity and experimentation was admired, not blasted. It’s not a film for today’s critics. Neither is Inland Empire. It’s a damn shame, too. The film isn’t perfect (too long, unevenly paced), but the story is still engaging, Tim Roth and Alexandra Maria Lara are great, and the cinematography and visual composition is beautiful. And it’s a film that inspires discussion and examination. How often do you get something with real thematic complexity these days? Can’t wait to see Coppola’s next film, Tetro.
on May 13 2008 @ 2:18 pm 3. Evan Derrick said …
So 1 for and 1 against. Another divider, this one. I admit I’m intrigued, and although I’m not a fan of Lynch, I am a fan of Herzog, so these surreal arthouse films can go either way with me.
on May 13 2008 @ 2:27 pm 4. Luke Harrington said …
Well, regardless of how we all feel about Youth Without Youth, I think we can all agree it has an incredibly ugly poster.
on May 13 2008 @ 2:45 pm 5. Phillip Johnston said …
I second that. I’m still holding out for YWY to be enjoyable, although I don’t like the idea of Coppola going digital.
on May 13 2008 @ 2:46 pm 6. Phillip Johnston said …
Oh, and you mentioned Inland Empire up there. We should have a Lynch month!
on May 13 2008 @ 3:00 pm 7. Joseph said …
But who would you lynch? Uwe Boll?
on May 13 2008 @ 3:47 pm 8. Evan Derrick said …
We should have a Lynch month! And then we can insert our man parts into bear traps for giggles!
So Lynch isn’t my favorite. However, this is a democracy, so if you all pound on the door hard enough, I guess we could feature him. But I’ll need pancakes. Lots of them.
on May 13 2008 @ 4:44 pm 9. colleeny said …
Forget David Lynch (as much as I do love Lynch) you shoul feature Guy Maddin. A director who is just as surreal as Lynch, but has a much stranger sence of humor.
on May 13 2008 @ 10:20 pm 10. Daniel said …
Incredibly, Ari, I agree with pretty much everything you say – except for the story. The 3rd quarter really muddled things up for me, even though the beginning and end are pretty intriguing. This trip – and it is a trip – just didn’t take me where I hoped it would.
Visually, yes, it’s pretty spectacular, and I’m also looking forward to Tetro.
on May 13 2008 @ 10:25 pm 11. Phillip Johnston said …
Colleeny, I’ve been wanting to check out Guy Madden and I know there are one or two DVDs of his on Netflix, but otherwise his work isn’t readily available on DVD, is it?
I really want to see My Winnipeg…
on May 13 2008 @ 10:49 pm 12. Evan Derrick said …
Ok, so I don’t know who Guy Madden is. Does that mean I am somehow deficient as a cinephile?
on May 14 2008 @ 12:01 am 13. colleeny said …
@philip It might just be a difference between the netflix world and the zip world. Zip being a Canadian version of netflix might have more Guy Maddin available to all of us Canunkleheads. My Winnipeg was awesome and easily made my top five from last year. The hardest film of his to get through from my perspective was his first feature “tales from Gimli Hospital.” Totally messed up. Saddest Music in the world was super strange too….glass legs filled with beer for a beautiful amputee.
@Evan Guy Maddin is a secret jewel that is only known to a half a dozen Canadians,and even fewer non-Nucks. He films only in black and white(sometimes a few frames of magenta thrown in for good measure), and dialogue is almost non existent in most of his films. He did a magnificent Silent Black & white Balet movie based on Dracula…great. Truely a mad man living in a bizzaro land filled with insanity…yet somehow oddly familiar. I really need to see Band upon the brain.
My Winnipeg is getting a US release sometime in late May or June. Major city centers only I suspect. If it comes around to were you live,make the trip.
I heart Guy Maddin to itsy bitsy black and white bits.
on May 14 2008 @ 5:52 am 14. Evan Derrick said …
Ok, I am familiar with the Saddest Music in the World. He sounds…like an acquired taste. Knowing my proclivities, I’ll probably hate his work, but it’s worth a shot. Lynch drives me up the wall like a madman. I just wanted to punch something after I saw Mullholland Dr., although I guess fury is a better response than apathy.
on May 14 2008 @ 8:20 am 15. Colleen said …
Guy Maddin is most definatley not for everyone.
I would say if someone liked David Lynch, they might like Guy Maddin. Surreal like Lynch but with a constant strange sense of humor.
on May 14 2008 @ 8:38 pm 16. Film-Book dot Com said …
Do not rent Untraceable. It SUCKED.
on May 14 2008 @ 9:15 pm 17. Phillip Johnston said …
I’ll admit a strange affinity for Mullholland Drive. Naomi Watts is spectacular … especially in that audition scene. Chills.
@Colleen: strangely enough, Brand Upon the Brain is one of the only Madden films available on Netflix.
on May 15 2008 @ 2:12 pm 18. Phillip Johnston said …
Evan, for some reason I just now read your comment up there (#8) about Lynch, man-parts, and bear traps. It made me smile. Have you seen Blue Velvet? It’s more conventional than his recent work. I didn’t particularly like it in the end, but he really demonstrates a firm grasp on sin and human frailty in it. It actually reminded me a bit of Flannery O’Connor in places, but that may be going a bit too far.
And, coincidentally, I picked up Guy Maddin’s The Saddest Music in the World pre-viewed at Blockbuster for $7.99 today. W00t!
on May 15 2008 @ 8:12 pm 19. Joseph said …
Elephant Man is fantastic. And it’s a normal film…for Lynch.
on May 15 2008 @ 9:11 pm 20. Luke Harrington said …
Well, you know a movie will be “normal” when you combine the talents of David Lynch and Mel Brooks.