There aren’t a lot of door crashers this week, but there are a lot of notable smaller titles, particularly from the Warner archives. Note that a lot of the Warner classics are in Amazon’s DVD-R format and unavailable through other retailers.
Title | Available Formats |
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Action | |
A Better Tommorrow 2012 |
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A Korean re-make of John Woo’s classic heroic bloodshed film. This film is not directed by Woo, just produced by him, despite what the cover says. | |
Anime | |
Black Cat: The Complete Series (SAVE Edition) | |
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker | |
Anime based on the popular video game series. | |
Gintama: The Motion Picture | |
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple – Season 2 (Anime Classics Collection) | |
Shiki Part 1 | |
Comes with an art-box to hold parts 1 & 2. Murder mystery series. | |
Shiki Part 2 | |
Art House | |
Summer Interlude (Criterion Collection) | |
Directed by Ingmar Bergman | |
Summer With Monika (Criterion Collection) | |
Directed by Ingmar Bergman | |
Biopic | |
Coriolanus | |
Sing Your Song: Harry Belafonte |
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Classics (Cult) | |
Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies | |
Classics (Traditional) | |
Birth of a Nation – Diamond Classic Collection |
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Blaine: This was a monumental and controversial film in history. It is revered for creating the film epic genre, clocking in at 187 minutes when the average film was closer to 40. It is further revered for demonstrating that movies can be used to promote a social message. It is detested for the message it promotes: that the U.S. won the Civil War and the “good guys” lost. | |
Bridge to the Sun |
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Starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta | |
Star of Midnight |
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Starring William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly and Gene Lockhart | |
Strange Love of Martha Ivers |
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Starring Kirk Douglas, Van Heflin and Barbara Stanwyck | |
This Could be the Night |
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Starring Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas and Joan Blondell. Directed by Robert Wise. | |
Comedy | |
Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Third Season |
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Monroe: Series 1 |
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Royal Pains: Season Three – Volume Two |
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Three Stooges (1934-1959) – Diamond Classic Collection DVD Set |
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This is a 12 disc, 3204 minute set. | |
Drama | |
Degrassi Season 11: Part 1 |
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Rookie Blue: Season Two |
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Blaine: I watched the first episode via iTunes and really enjoyed this Canadian police drama. Season three just started. | |
Too Late Blues | |
Fantasy | |
True Blood: Season One | |
True Blood: Season Two |
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True Blood: Season Three |
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True Blood: Season Four | |
Mystery | |
Mudroch Mysteries Season 4 | |
Science Fiction | |
A Trip To The Moon & The Extraordinary Voyage Deluxe Edition |
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The George Melies classic is here. | |
Wing Commander Academy – The Complete Series | |
Alex: I watched this religously as a kid, even though I didn’t have a computer that could run the games. While, on the one hand, I am kind of concerned that it won’t age well, it did use much of the games’ cast, including Malcolm McDowell & Mark Hammill. | |
Sports | |
Goon | |
WWE Presents Extreme Rules 2012 |
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Brock Lesnar makes his return to the WWE with a match against John Cena. | |
Superhero | |
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | |
Suspense | |
Flareup |
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Starring Raquel Welch | |
Gone | |
Man on a Ledge | |
We Need To Talk About Kevin | |
War | |
Memorial Day | |
Western | |
Denver & Rio Grande | |
Starring Edmond O’Brien, Sterling Hayden, Dean Jagger and Lyle Bettger. Directed by Byron Haskin. | |
Maverick – The Complete First Season |
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Alex: I watched some of this on Netflix back when they had it streaming. I thought it was pretty good. Blaine: This is the series that made James Garner a star, despite the fact that the old school shooting schedules were so intense he was only in half the episodes. | |
Outlaw Josey Wales |
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Run For Cover | |
Silver City | |
Starring Edmond O’Brien, Yvonne De Carlo, Barry Fitzgerald, Richard Arlen and Michael Moore. Directed by Byron Haskin |
Finally, the picks of the week. Alex says, “While I realize that this might not have aged as well as I’d like, I’m going with Wing Commander Academy.” Blaine says, “I’ve seen very few releases this week, but I have yet to see an Ingmar Bergman film I didn’t love, so I’d recommend either Criterion Collection release.”
Wow. I didn’t realize the new Ghost Rider movie had even made it into the theaters, let alone onto video. Yikes!
Yeah, Spirit of Vengeance was out in February in theatres. I haven’t seen it because every review I’ve read described it as being significantly worse than the original, which is a feat unto itself.
Birth of a Nation goes further than that, and is a must-see if you want to understand film history. It brought together a number of techniques, codifying, in the words of Roger Ebert, the visual language of film.
However, it presents a white racist view of history. Its handling of African-American characters was controversial even in its day. It lionized the old Ku Klux Klan, and was the major factor in reviving the then-defunct Klan.
Think of it as the American cultural equivalent of Triumph of the Will, a beautiful, historic work of film made in service of ugly, horrific ideas.
Interesting Netflix releases this week:
Henry’s Crime – Keanu Reeves as the adorable bank robber.
Tripping Forward – Low budget comedy in the vein of The Hangover. Some of the jokes fall flat but for the most part it’s a good tribute to the genre.
Jack’s Back – 80s James Spader is the only true Spader.