Recent DVD Releases: 
Be Kind Rewind
Caramel
Chaos Theory
Fool's Gold
Rails and Ties
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Click below for more DVD's and CD releases.
DVD Special Editions/Other Releases:
TV Box Sets:
Blood +: Volume Two
Burn Notice: Season One
Californication: Season One
Dynasty: Season Three, Volume 1
ER: Season Nine
Jericho: Season Two
Meerkat Manor: Season Three
Popeye & Friends: Volume One
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Season Four
Special Editions/Other Releases:
It's A Boy Girl Thing
The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition
Just Add Water
Love and Other Disasters
My Mom's New Boyfriend
The Nude Bomb
So I Married an Axe Murderer: Deluxe Edition
Super High Me
The Sword in the Stone: Special Edition
The Transformers: Animated Movie
Under the Same Moon
New CD Releases:
The Briggs - Come All You Madmen
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Confide - Shout The Truth
Anthony David - Acey Deucey
Goo Goo Dolls - Greatest Hits Volume 2
Ice Cube - Raw Footage
MIGGS - Unraveled
Judas Priest - Nostradamus
The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me
The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
Ride The Boogie - Ride The Boogie
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Tilly and the Wall - O
Sister Hazel - Before The Amplifiers, Live Acoustic
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
Monday, June 16, 2008
DVD and CD Releases - June 17th
Sunday, June 15, 2008
American Film Institute's 10 Top 10
On Tuesday, June 17, CBS will air AFI’s 10 Top 10 at 7 p.m Central Standard Time. Every year, the American Film Institute puts together a list to celebrate older movies and acknowledge new classics. This year, 10 genres were selected and 10 films from those genres will be listed from 50 nominees each. I won’t complain too much about what’s left out (no room for a Film Noir?) or what’s left in (Courtroom drama?). As always, I have issues with the nominees. For a list of the nominees, go here. One things for sure, Quentin Tarantino is going to host the hell out of the Gangster list. Click below for my personal picks. None of the lists add up to 10 since many of my favorites weren’t nominated.
Western
1. The Wild Bunch
2. The Searchers
3. Stagecoach
4. Rio Bravo
5. Once Upon a Time in the West (Not nominated)
6. Unforgiven
7. The Last Picture Show (Not a Western)8. My Darling Clementine
9. Red River
10. Lone Star (Not a Western)
11. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Not nominated)
12. Butch Cassidy an the Sundance Kid
13. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance
14. Dances with Wolves (on 2 lists)
15. Ride the High Country
Sports
1. Raging Bull
2. The Hustler3. Field of Dreams (on 2 lists)
4. Bull Durham
5. Cinderella Man (Not nominated)
6. Rocky
7. Champion
8. North Dallas Forty
9. Jerry Maguire
10. Caddyshack
11. Breaking Away
12. Hoosiers
Science Fiction
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Blade Runner
3. The Empire Strikes Back (Not nominated)
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Minority Report
8. The Terminator (not nominated)9. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
10. Star Wars
11. Back to the Future
12. Children of Men
Romantic Comedies
1. The Philadelphia Story
2. His Girl Friday
3. Annie Hall
4. Manhattan (Not nominated)
5. It Happened One Night6. The Lady Eve
7. Some Like it Hot (Nominated under gangster?)
8. The Apartment
9. Shop Around the Corner
10. The Awful Truth (Not nominated)
11. My Man Godfrey
12. Palm Beach Story
13. Trouble in Paradise
Mystery
1. Vertigo
2. Chinatown
3. The Third Man
4. Rear Window
5. Blue Velvet
6. North by Northwest7. Notorious (Not nominated)
8. L.A. Confidential
9. Mulholland Drive
10. The Conversation
11. Rebecca
Gangster
1. The Godfather Part II (on 2 lists)
2. The Godfather3. Goodfellas
4. Touch of Evil
5. Bonnie and Clyde
6. Pulp Fiction
7. Miller’s Crossing
8. On the Waterfront
9. The Departed
10. Mean Streets (Not nominated)
11. Some Like it Hot (Not really a gangster film)
12. The Usual Suspects
13. A History of Violence
Fantasy
1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. King Kong
3. Wizard of Oz
4. Being John Malkovich
5. Field of Dreams (on 2 lists)6. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
7. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (not nominated)
8. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (not nominated)
9. Groundhog Day
10. Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Babe
12. Big
13. Brazil
Epic (my definition of epic is different than theirs)
1. The Godfather Part II (On 2 lists)
2. Lawrence of Arabia
3. Apocalypse Now
4. The Right Stuff (Not nominated)5. Saving Private Ryan
6. Bridge on the River Kwai
7. All Quiet on the Western Front
8. Patton
9. Dances with Wolves
10. Master and Commander
11. Last of the Mohicans
12. Spartacus
Courtroom Drama
1. JFK (Not nominated)
2. Paths of Glory3. The Insider (1 courtroom scene)
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. The Verdict
6. 12 Angry Men
7. Fury
8. A Man for All Seasons
9. Anatomy of a Murder
10. Erin Brockovich (1 pre-credits courtroom scene)
11. Compulsion
12. Young Mr. Lincoln
13. The Caine Mutiny
Animation
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Fantasia
3. The Incredibles
4. Finding Nemo
5. Beauty and the Beast6. Toy Story 2
7. Toy Story
8. Ratatouille (Not nominated - probably too recent)
9. Bambi
10. Pinocchio
11. Cinderella
Miscellaneous
1. Hilarious interview of Coldplay's Chris Martin by Ricky Gervais.
2. Ricky's blog about his 3 forthcoming movies.
3. New Office spin-off. To star the produce vendor from Flight of The Conchords episode 7, Aziz Ansari (also star of Human Giant). Article here.
4. Best Tim Russert column. RIP. Looks like David Gregory is the most likely successor, but I'm pulling for Chris Matthews.
The Happening - C+
In theaters. Rated R, 91 minutes. Trailer.
The knock on M. Night Shyamalan in Hollywood is that his ego is out of control and that he refuses to listen to constructive criticism. After his mega-successful debut The Sixth Sense (A-) and its lucrative but lesser follow-ups (Unbreakable (B), Signs (B), The Village (B+)) he declared himself the next Spielberg way too prematurely. Lady in the Water (haven't seen) was lambasted by critics and ignored by audiences, leaving Night to try and rehab his image via a cameo on Entourage (didn't work), and try and churn out another moneymaking thriller. With The Happening, Night has kept the franchise alive, but barely. Click below for more on scary shrubs.
The film opens with star Mark Wahlberg (Elliot) teaching a high school science class in Philadelphia when he is pulled out of class. Seems that an'event' has struck Central Park in New York City and the initial speculation is a airborn terrorist attack. After the kids are sent home, he and best buddy John Leguizamo make plans to take a train to Leguizamo's mom's house out in the country. Elliot argues with his girlfriend (Zooey Deschanel) and they get on the train, only to have it stop before they get to their destination. Seems the 'happening' is spreading all over after starting in places with lots of plants and lots of people. The passengers all disperse after it becomes clear that the Northeast is the only affected area.
The Wahlberg gang wanders the countryside, figuring out the phenomenon and surviving multiple harrowing situations and weird people. The resolution of the film is extremely unsatisfying, complete with ilogical actions from the characters and an uninteresting conclusion to the happening. Compounding the problems with the ending is the preachy environmental coda that hammers home the 'humans are hurting the earth, and the earth will fight back' theme, which is a dumb way to end an apolitical movie. 
The first two acts aren't bad, and I really enjoyed the performances of Leguizamo and Wahlberg. Shyamalan shows his considerable skill as a director with multiple affecting shots and set ups of the happening. The problem, though, is that we've been here before with him, but in a much better movie. The way the happening plays out and the weak 'relationship' between Deschanel and Wahlberg moves the movie to a subpar exercise, not a fun and thrilling movie. Its like his original imprint keeps getting fainter with each movie that comes. Like Wes Anderson, he appears to be stuck in a genre, which is bad for him. He (and Wes) need to take a cue from Paul Thomas Anderson (with There Will Be Blood) and get out of their comfort zone to use their immense directorial talent in a different genre and group of collaborators.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show - B
30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland
On DVD
Vince Vaughn takes 4 little-known comics (Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, and Sebastian Maniscalco) around the U.S. for a 30 day-30 city tour. The comics’ material is humorous if not hilarious and the forays into gravitas usually hit their mark (the tour took place during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita). The film is surprisingly successful dealing with the comics’ past and how it shapes their material (many family members are shown). Most touching is Maniscalco’s desire to ditch his waiter day job. To Vaughn’s credit, he could cash in huge paycheck after paycheck without spending 30 days and nights on a bus. You have to respect the guy for using his clout to help some struggling comics. Never mind the fact that his routines with Jon Favreau, Justin Long, and Peter Billingsley are funny in their own right. B
Flawless - C+
On DVD
In 1960, Demi Moore works as the lone female for the London Diamond Corporation. She’s been passed over for promotions several times. So when janitor Michael Caine requests her help to steal some diamonds, she reluctantly agrees. The choices of time and place seem so arbitrary, you’d think it was based on a true story (it wasn’t). The movie plods along for the first half, showing life only when Caine is on screen. But the second half is intriguing not only for Caine’s scheme, but his underlying motivation.
Click below for more of the hardly flawless “Flawless”
Caine sports his normal cockney accent and is typically great – but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Joss Ackland (Lethal Weapon 2, The Hunt for Red October) is superb as the goateed, malignant corporate bastard bad guy. But, predictably, Moore is less-than-stellar as the scorned woman. Her limited acting ability is even more obvious around a bunch of British accents. Director Michael Radford (Il Postino) directs too respectfully when some flash is needed. The period costumes and settings are fine, but Demi’s “modern-day” old lady make-up is terrible. Another recent film, The Bank Job, actually was based on a true story and is similar in location, time, and plot. But The Bank Job is like a greasy bacon double cheeseburger. Flawless is like a pretty good salad. C+
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Flock - C-
On DVD
Released theatrically overseas, but not in the US, I knew the film would be an iffy proposition. Richard Gere stars as the most vigilant government employee ever as he visits and registers sex offenders. He's violent and sarcastic with them and he has been fired and forced to train his replacement (Claire Danes). Of course, movie coincidences, revelations, and redemption follows. (Click below for more, including 3rd act spoilers)
Directed by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs), I figured the film would have some panache and style and it certainly does. Some of the settings and situations will get under your skin. Set in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico, the landscapes are predictably beautiful and used well. But the subject matter of rapists, pedophiles, and fetishists is a rough one to sit through, even more so when viewed through the eyes of Gere who thinks everyone around is total perv.
Danes is mostly wasted in her thinly written role, but Gere is believably earnest, selling his role of a burnt-out guardian well. The supporting characters are forgettable. I avoid modern horror films like Saw and its sequels, etc. because they're all about shock value and pushing the envelope. People will discuss what happened and how disgusting it was. This film turned into that genre in the last 30 minutes when the 17 year old abducted girl has her foot and ankle severed. Until then, it's a mildly respectable thriller with Taxi Driver and Silence of the Lambs undertones. I'm not sure how I would have ended it, but there was enough carnage (including Avril Lavigne) that preceded without going that far.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Conchords Writing Room
Click here for the NY Times article on the Flight of the Conchords writing room and their process (as well as some other shows). Good stuff.
Monday, June 9, 2008
DVD and CD Releases - June 10th
Recent DVD Releases: 
The Bucket List
Funny Games
Jumper
The Other Boleyn Girl
Otis: Uncut
The Signal
Witless Protection
Click below for more DVD's and CD releases.
DVD Special Editions/Other Releases:
7th Heaven: Season Six
American Gangster: Season Two
Army Wives: Season One
The Boondocks: Season Two
The Dukes of Hazzard TV Double Feature
Fantastic Four: Season One
The Fugitive: Season Two, Volume One
Hawaii Five-O: Season Four
Home Improvement: Season Eight
John Adams: The Mini-Series
The Odd Couple: Season Four
Soap: Complete Series
What's Happening!!: Complete Series
Special Editions/Other Releases:
The Anton Chekhov Collection
Broken Trail
High Noon: Collector's Edition
Icons of Adventure
Jack and Jill vs. the World
The List
New CD Releases:
Adele - 19
The Bangkok Five - We Love What Kills Us
Solomon Burke - Like a Fire
Miranda Cosgrove -iCarly
Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things
The Fratellis - Here We Stand
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Alanis Morissette - Flavors of Entanglement
My Education - Bad Vibrations
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds
Plies - Definition of Real
Quitzow - Art College
Railroad Earth - Amen Corner
Setting Sun - Children of The Wild
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings, Too
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tootsie - B (AFI 100 Series)
On DVD (1982). Rated PG, 116 minutes. Trailer.
After Doc's Sydney Pollack memorial post, I realized I had not seen Tootsie (#69 on the AFI Top 100 List). Directed by (and co-starring) Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Angela Lange, Terri Garr, Geena Davis and Dabney Coleman (the poor man's Burt Reynolds), this comedy tells the story of a talented but difficult actor that only finds success acting as a woman on a daytime soap opera. I liked it, but didn't love it and really hated the pointless 20 minute 'farm sequence'. Still there are several classic lines ("How do you feel about Cleveland?") and classic deadpan from Murray. Worst soundtrack ever though, with lots of synthesizer and overwrought lyrics.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Miscellaneous
Bruno in Carrollton.
New trailer for Religulous, the documentary from Bill Maher and Larry Charles (director of Borat and several Curb Your Enthusiasms). Funny and he has a point...
Interested in what movies are filming in Texas or Oklahoma at any particular time? Go here for Texas and here for Oklahoma.
Coldplay's Viva La Vida Streaming
And it appears to suck.... Make up your own mind here And here is the rest of it.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Control - B+
On DVD (2007). Rated R, 121 minutes. Trailer.
Rock and roll rags to riches stories tend to provide an intriguing story arc and drama, and Control is no exception. This beautiful black and white film (directed by Anton Corbijn) tells the classic story of talented but fragile Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Joy Division was a band that got its start in that musical magicland Manchester, England, and rose to prominence in England before tragedy ended the band (whose surviving members later found success as New Order). Every frame of this film is striking and abstract in black and white. Click below for more on Control:
The film opens during Ian's high school years in Manchester, with his confidence and distance as the centerpiece to his personality. As the band begins to take shape, he falls in love and marries Deborah while they are both teenagers. Curtis' leadership and aggression get them down the path to stardom, and as they are climbing the ladder he begins having epileptic seizures. He receives rudimentary treatment for them, has a child, and falls in love with another woman all in a very short time span. His inability to cope with these competing issues puts the band under great stress and put him in an increasingly fragile state.
Ian Curtis is portrayed brilliantly by Sam Riley, with Samantha Morton predictably good as Curtis' true love and deserted wife. The remaining cast does a good, but not remarkable job. The director and art director are the stars of the show on this film. I loved the way the film was shot, with lots of space in every frame, usually with Ian to the side of the room.
The story has all the markings of a VH1 Behind the Music, with the humble beginnings, rise to fame, wife left behind and new girlfriend, but the filmmakers steer clear of any cliches or fun but useless scenes. The rise of the band is not directly address or central to the film, rather, it is shown subtly through magazines or other items that you can see in the background of certain scenes. While I usually can't stand long musical interludes in film, the concert performances are riveting, due mostly to Riley's channeling of Curtis' intensity and odd dancing style.
A very good film. Joy Division's biggest hit was "Love Will Tear Us Apart". 
New York Stories (1989)
New York natives Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Woody Allen use their considerable talents to make 3 short NY-based films. The film opens with Scorsese’s segment, “Life Lessons”, where well-known artist Nick Nolte needs inspiration for an upcoming show. His “student” and sometime-lover Rosanna Arquette is his obsession and muse. Nolte’s obsessive and overbearing behavior drives her away and their relationship is on its last leg. Scorsese is in top form with his camerawork, music selection, and editing. At 45 minutes, this is the best short film ever and second only to Vertigo in films dealing with obsession.
(Click below for even more Twin Towers)
I could point out the brilliant use of irises, background artwork, and writer Richard Price’s multi-layered dialogue for longer than the running time. So I’ll just point out Scorsese’s use of the Twin Towers (which are visible from Nolte’s loft).
Seen in the daytime first, while the relationship still has life, Scorsese places the Towers between Nolte and Arquette as a symbol of fame, fortune, and glory. It’s what Nolte has and Arquette wants.
Later in the movie (at night), the relationship is finally over and Arquette is leaving New York, the Towers are placed over Nolte’s head.
All of the brilliance of the first 45 minutes make the next 33 minutes all the more painful. Coppola’s segment, “Life Without Zoe” is his worst film. It’s co-written by his daughter Sofia and about a spoiled girl who hangs out with other spoiled pre-teens. She misses her famous daddy. It’s painful to the ears, eyes, and soul. Avoid it.
At least Coppola works in the Twin Towers (barely).
“Oedipus Wrecks” is about a lawyer (Woody Allen) with an overbearing mother who is constantly intrusive in his life and bosses him around. Woody’s reaction shots are priceless, and there are many funny situations. The movie doesn’t come together too well at the end and Allen doesn’t strive for anything deep like in his greatest movies. He only wants to be funny – and that’s enough.
After a magician “loses” his mother during his act, she winds up in the sky overlooking New York, and follows Woody around. (It’s funnier than it sounds)
Still not convinced? That’s Larry David (with some kind of Clown haircut).
Life Lessons: A
Life Without Zoe: D-
Oedipus Wrecks: B
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Twin Towers in the Movies - Part 3
Part 1 Part 2
I've been collecting film shots of the World Trade Center Twin Towers since my last 2 posts. Some I knew I forgot immediately (The Killing Fields), some I was surprised to find (The Usual Suspects), and some I went looking for (Coming to America). Here goes:
Superman - (1978) Flying around with Lois Lane
Trading Places - (1983) The whole film takes place in Philadelphia but the climax is in New York.
Trading Places - The second of 2 staggering establishing shots.
Trading Places - Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy at the ground level of the WTC.
Ghostbusters - (1984) Near the mid-point when Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson talk in the car.
Ghostbusters - After William Atherton (D!ckless) releases the ghosts.
The Killing Fields - (1984) - An establishing shot that pans down to . . .
The Killing Fields - journalist Sam Waterston, after he escapes from Cambodia. His friend, Dith Pran (played by real-life gynecologist Dr. Haing S. Ngor), is left behind. Pran passed on March 30, 2008. Oscar-winner Ngor passed on in 1996.
Coming to America - (1988) The Twin Towers are often used as a symbol for characters from New York's other boroughs, striving for success.
Working Girl - (1988) Part of the opening shot. Hard to see this without that Carly Simon song in your head.
Working Girl - The New York skyline is what motivates Melanie Griffith and she turns to it frequently.
Working Girl - Four separate times, in fact, including over the closing credits. It's a respectable chick flick from director Mike Nichols. Watch out for a young Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin.
The Usual Suspects - (1995) After the flashback when the guys set the cop car on fire.
Copland - (1997) - I expected to see more shots of the Towers in this one, but James Mangold finally came through in the last minute, just prior to the radio chatter. "I give you a chance to be a cop, and YOU BLEW IT!" This one gets better with every viewing.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Films Premiering in Texas?
Sony Pictures Classics is premiering their new film, Baghead, in Austin instead of New York and LA, and this may be a larger trend. The New York Times article about the trend here.
The paragraph that makes me feel good about Dallas: "The movie will show first in Austin, Tex., where its writer-directors, the brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, got their filmmaking careers in gear. Then “Baghead” will probably move on to Dallas, Houston or, maybe, Portland, Ore. — cities that, in the words of Tom Bernard, the co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, “tend to connect with what’s new and different".
DVD and CD Releases - June 3rd
Recent DVD Releases: 
Control
The Eye
Flawless
Meet the Spartans
Remember the Daze
Semi-Pro: Unrated Edition
Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show
Click below for more DVD's and CD releases.
DVD Special Editions/Other Releases:
The Andromeda Strain: The Mini-Series
The Animation Show: Volume 3
CHiPs: Season Two
The Dead Zone: Final Season
The Incredible Hulk: Seasons 3 & 4
Mannix: The First Season
My Three Sons: Season One, Volume One
Rescue Me: Season Four
Weeds: Season Three
American Crude
Big Rig
Boarding Gate
Casino Royale (2006): Collector's Edition
Casino Royale (1968): 40th Anniversary Edition
City Slickers: Collector's Edition
The Dead Pool: Deluxe Edition
Dirty Harry: Two-Disc Special Edition
Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition
Diva: Meridian Collection
The Enforcer: Deluxe Edition
The Evil Woods
The Jamie Foxx Film Collection
Magnum Force: Deluxe Edition
Mama's Boy
The Onion Movie: Raw & Uncut
The Red Violin: Meridian Collection
Sudden Impact: Deluxe Edition
New CD Releases:
Ashanti, "The Declaration" (Universal)
Bret Michaels, "Rock My World"
Chris Brown, "Exclusive: The Forever Edition" (Jive)
The Byrds, "Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971" (Sundazed)
Brendan James, "The Day is Brave" (Decca)
Jewel, "Perfectly Clear"(Valory Music)
Ladytron, "Velocifero" (Nettwerk)
Aimee Mann, "@#%&*! Smilers"(Superego)
Opeth, "Watershed" (Roadrunner)
Sam Phillips, "Don't Do Anything" (Nonesuch)
Radiohead, "The Best of Radiohead" (Capitol)
Gavin Rossdale, "Wanderlust" (Interscope)
Various Artists, "Now That's What I Call Music, Vol. 28" (Capitol)
Weezer, Weezer (Red Album)
Amy Winehouse, "Frank: Deluxe Edition" (Universal)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tom Cruise Self Tribute
Great highlight reel tribute to Tom Cruise here. Extremely well done, great clips and songs. Odd that its on his own site, but its still a reminder of how many great films and performances he has given over the past 25 years.
Continue reading this postFavorite Scenes - L.A. Confidential
Ed Exley: Vincennes? I need your help with something.
Jack Vincennes: I’m busy right now. Why don’t you just go ask some of your boys in Homicide?
Exley: I can’t. I need someone outside Homicide. I want you to tail Bud White ‘til he goes on duty this evening.
Vincennes: Why don’t you do me a real favor and leave me alone?
Exley: Do you make the three Negroes for the Night Owl killings?
Vincennes: What?
Exley: It’s a simple question.
Vincennes: Why in the world do you want to go digging any deeper into Night Owl killings – Lieutenant?
Exley: Rollo Tomasi.
Vincennes: Is there more to that or am I supposed to guess?
Exley: Rollo was a purse-snatcher. My father ran into him off duty and he shot my father six times and got away clean. No one even knew who he was. I just made the name up to give him some personality.
Vincennes: What’s your point?
Exley: Rollo Tomasi is the reason I became a cop. I wanted to catch the guy who got away with it. It was supposed to be about justice. Then, somewhere along the way I lost sight of that. (pause) Why’d you become a cop?
Vincennes: I don’t remember.