7 Seeds | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Babylon | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | Political drama with some very unpleasent supernatural elements. | ||||||||
Bachelor in Paradise | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Dolly Parton and Friends: 50 Years at the Opry | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Drive (Special Collector’s Edition) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | This is the action film with Mark Dacascos, not the neo-noir with Ryan Gosling. | ||||||||
Drive (Special Collector’s Edition) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Criterion Collection) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Criterion Collection) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Final Stand | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Final Stand | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Giants and Toys (Arrow) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Hillbilly’s in a Haunted House | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Horizons West | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Infinite Dendrogram | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | Anime series set in a VR MMO. The limited edition release comes with an artbook, art cards, sticker sheets, and a keychain. | ||||||||
Infinite Dendrogram | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
John Wayne Essential 14 Movie Collection | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | Includes Big Jake, Donovan’s Reef, El Dorado, Hatari, The High and the Mighty, Hondo, In Harm’s Way, Island in the Sky, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, McLintock, Rio Lobo, The Shootist, The Sons of Katie Elder, and True Grit. | ||||||||
Justice Society: World War II | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Justice Society: World War II | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
King Kong (1976) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Land | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Legend of Hei | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | Chinese fantasy animated film. | ||||||||
Legend of Hei | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Man With a Camera | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Marksman | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Marksman | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Mauritanian | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Mauritanian | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Merrily We Go To Hell (Criterion Collection) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Naruto | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Nina Wu | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
One Piece | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
One Piece | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Pixie | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Quantez | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Reason I Jump | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Reason I Jump | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Saw | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Senior Moment | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Shark! Double Feature | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Comments | Includes House Shark and Bad CGI Sharks. | ||||||||
Shrek | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Shrek | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Shrek | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Suitable Boy | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Tank | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
They Won’t Believe Me | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
To New Shores/La Habanera (Kino Lorber) | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Twilight’s Kiss | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Wild Geese II | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Wild Geese II | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Yearling | |||||||||
Amazon | |||||||||
Finally, the picks of the week. Alex says, “Nothing really grabs my interest this week. Maybe next week.” Blaine says, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a very enjoyable film, now available through the Criterion Collection. That will be worth picking up.”
I was going to say, if you haven’t seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High, see it. Most recent releases even include both versions– a few scenes were shot twice, for R-movie-release and TV-broadcast.
Tank has a few good moments. A Suitable Boy has its literary pedigree and positive reputation.
The John Wayne collection has a few classics, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, True Grit, and The Shootist. The last one is a must-see, the serious film from the 70s that, along with the comedic Blazing Saddles killed the western for about a decade. It was Wayne’s last film. Incidentally, Mel Brooks asked Wayne to appear in Blazing Saddles. He declined, but promised he’d see it opening night. That might have been a very different film with the Duke and Richard Pryor in the leads, as was proposed early on. The collection also contains a number of films of varying reputation, and the bizarre early-60s western comedy McLintock!, the popularity and reputation of which I will never understand.
I have never heard of Hillbillys in a Haunted House, but it’s free oniine. I suspect that’s the best way to see it, although a double bill with Hobo with a Shotgun might prove interesting:
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, as I know it.
The song and the film, both based on the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson, came out in 1962, but they’re technically, possibly not otherwise connected. Pitney claims that Paramount paid for the recording session and that he assumed it would be used in the movie. Whatever the truth may be, it wasn’t used in the film. Obviously, each helped promote the other.
The story and film are examples of a somewhat more realistic western, at least in historical context. They undercut some of the romanticism and myth-making of the genre, while still telling the kind of story fans of that genre could appreciate.