Hi Bryan Here….
A pretty good week for releases which includes CHAWZ plus some other goodies. As usual, in this article, you will get some info about the disc and the extras that come with the movie as well as a personal opinion about the movie and a link to purchase the film over at AMAZON where you can save quite a bit of money, and it will give a small percentage kick back to this site so we can continue bringing you excellent stories and sales.
Enjoy and Here We Go!!
BETTY BLUE (BLURAY)
I do have an obsession with French films. This is an excellent 80’s cult french film. This is a must see for any fan of cinema. A French cult classic, Betty Blue (37°2 le matin) was an international smash when released in 1986. Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva) and featuring an indelible screen debut by Béatrice Dalle, Betty Blue hypnotized audiences with its uninhibited sexuality and all-consuming vision of amour fou that defined youthful passion for an entire generation. An intimate portrayal of obsessive love, Betty Blue is the story of Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), an aspiring novelist who gets by as a handyman and Betty (Dalle), a beautiful, unpredictable temptress who turns his life upside down. As Betty’s mental state turns dark, Zorg desperately attempts to comfort her. Even when ensconced in a dreamy rural town, Betty’s fantasy world encroaches on her reality as she slowly spirals out of control.
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Exclusive interview with Beineix and Tim Rhy, MovieMaker Magazine
BLOW OUT (BLURAY CRITERION COLLECTION)
Not many people have seen nor heard of this film before. This is one hell of a fine film starring John Travolta, John Lithgow, and Nancy Allen and is directed by Brian De Palma. Criterion really knows how to pick films. It is a pretty scary paranoid thriller about a high end assassination and filmmaking. A must own. Seriously. Looks amazing. In the enthralling Blow Out, brilliantly crafted by Brian De Palma, John Travolta gives one of his greatest performances as Jack, a movie sound-effects man who believes he has accidentally recorded a political assassination. He enlists the help of Sally (Nancy Allen), a possible eyewitness to the crime who may be in danger herself, to uncover the truth. With its jolting stylistic flourishes, intricate plot, profoundly felt characterizations, and gritty evocation of early-1980s Philadelphia, Blow Out is an American paranoia thriller unlike any other, as well as a devilish reflection on the act of moviemaking.
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BOB DYLAN: DON’T LOOK BACK (BLURAY)
This was released on DVD a while ago, but alas it is released on bluray. This is a must own for any Bob Dylan fan. One of the better documentaries on music and the man out there. When acclaimed documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker filmed Bob Dylan during a three-week concert tour of England in the spring of 1965, he had no idea he was about to lens one of the 1960s most iconic feature films. Wanting to make more than just a concert film, Pennebaker decided to seek out both the public and private Bob Dylan. With unobtrusive equipment and rare access to the elusive performer, he achieved a fly-on-the-wall view of one of the most influential musicians of any era and redefined filmmaking along the way.
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CHAWZ (BLURAY)
MY FAVORITE RELEASE THIS WEEK!! Not Jaws, but CHAWZ. This is pretty much a shot for shot remake of Jaws but instead of a Giant killer shark in the water, it is with a giant blood-thirsty killer boar on land. This film is so much fucking fun. This is a Korean film. It doesn’t have quite the awesome of special FX that “The Host” had, but oh man, this film is awesome. BUY IT! You will love it. A young police officer is transferred from Seoul to a small village in the countryside for duty when he jokingly checked the box to be deployed “anywhere.” Arriving at the village, he encounters a bumbling police force who is working with a special detective to resolve some recent murders. As the bodies add up, it becomes clear that the gruesome deaths are attributed to a beast of an animal with a voracious appetite for human flesh. A famous hunter and his team are called in to track and destroy the man-eater. During their tracking expedition, they are confronted by a boar of massive size and strength, which they discover may be a result of experimentation during wartimes. Unprepared and unarmed for taking down the mutant creature, the group must disband as the hunters become the hunted.
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DAYLIGHT (BLURAY)
Remember the Stallone film where they got trapped in an underground tunnel? This is that. One of those mid- 90’s action films that everyone loved at the time. It holds up still somewhat, yet it has tons of cheese. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Tons of great action sequences and tense moments and tons of stuff to heckle throughout. I do have a soft side for these ridiculous action films. They are fun to watch a with friends. Plus Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (Viggo Mortensen) is in it. An accidental explosion rips through a jammed commuter tunnel beneath the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey, sealing off both ends and trapping a diverse band of survivors inside. A disgraced former emergency medical services chief manages to reach them and then struggles through fire, noxious gases, explosions, collapsing walls, massive flooding and rats to lead them to daylight.
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DEMENTIA 13 (BLURAY+DVD)
Francis Ford Coppola’s first real feature film is a horror film. A must have. “Considered Coppola’s first mainstream, “legitimate” directorial effort, this gothic psychological thriller – based on a story idea Corman penned in one night – was shot for a budget of $42,000. The majority of the American actors were college pals of Coppola, many of whom paid their own way to Ireland for the opportunity to appear in a film. Although Coppola promised “lots of sex and violence,” Corman later battled with Coppola and hired director Jack Hill to shoot additional scenes of carnage. For years, it was rumored that the film’s print had mysteriously disappeared. Now, Film Chest makes Dementia 13 available to fans, restored and in HD for the first time ever!”
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EL TOPO (BLURAY)
I wish they would release the whole set instead of single film. This is on hell of a movie. It was the landmark cult film that began the whole Midnight Movie phenomena of the counterculture crazy 1970s. El Topo was the most talked about, most controversial quasi-Western head trip ever made, transforming the way risk-taking audiences, seeking mainstream Hollywood alternatives, watched edgy underground films. Classic Americana and avant-garde European cinema sensibilities meet Zen Buddhism and the Bible as master gunfighter and cosmic mystic El Topo (played by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky) must defeat his four sharp-shooting rivals on an ever-increasingly bizarre path to allegorical self-enlightenment and surreal resurrection.
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FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (BLURAY CRITERION COLLECTION)
A re-release from criterion of the fucking awesome Terry Gilliam film about Hunter S. Thompson and his time in Vegas. This film is wildly dark, insane, funny and all about the American Dream. It is 1971, and journalist Raoul Duke barrels toward Las Vegas—accompanied by a trunkful of contraband and his unhinged Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo—to cover a motorcycle race. His cut-and-dried assignment quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey. Director Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil) and an all-star cast headlined by Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Donnie Brasco) and Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Che) show no mercy in adapting Hunter S. Thompson’s legendary dissection of the American way of life to the screen, creating a film both hilarious and savage. It looks great on bluray and the extras on this release are phenomenal.
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THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (BLURAY)
Like with El Topo above, I wish the entire set was released. I think in time it will. This film is pretty great as well. “The Alchemist” is a man who assembles a group of people from all walks of life and renames them for the planets in the solar system. Putting his recruits through strange mystical rites and divesting them of their worldly baggage, he leads them on a trip to Lotus Island to ascend the Holy Mountain and displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.
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HUMAN PLANET (BLURAY BBC)
Just like the beautiful documentaries, Planet Earth and Life comes Human Planet. This just looks spectacular on bluray. I love watching these because it relaxes me and it shows me just how beautiful the world and humans are and can be. It is also something great to put on in the background at a party. Following in the footsteps of Planet Earth and Life, this epic eight-part blockbuster is a breathtaking celebration of the amazing, complex, profound and sometimes challenging relationship between humankind and nature. Humans are the ultimate animals – the most successful species on the planet. From the frozen Arctic to steamy rainforests, from tiny islands in vast oceans to parched deserts, people have found remarkable ways to adapt and survive. We’ve done this by harnessing our immense courage and ingenuity; learning to live with and utilize the other creatures with which we share these wild places. Human Planet weaves together eighty inspiring stories, many never told before, set to a globally-influenced soundtrack by award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney. Each episode focuses on a particular habitat and reveals how its people have created astonishing solutions in the face of extreme adversity. Finally we visit the urban jungle, where most of us now live, and discover why the connection between humanity and nature here is the most vital of all.
EXTRAS
100 Minutes of Making-of Content
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR: BOB DYLAN LIVE AT T HE NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL (1963-1965) (BLURAY)
Few performances in history are as legendary or as controversial as Bob Dylan s 1965 appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. In a single, galvanizing instant, Dylan plugged an entire generation in, forever changing not only the way the music was made, but the way it was heard. By putting you in the audience for Dylan s Newport performances from 1963 through that pivotal set in 1965, Academy Award®-winning director Murray Lerner s The Other Side Of The Mirror captures Dylan s metamorphosis from folk prodigy to rock s fiercely confrontational poet who would electrify and inspire an entire nation and become the voice of his generation. This incredible film is now available for the first time on Blu-ray. The film features over 80 minutes of performances. This is the piece of music history that every Dylan fan and every music aficionado has been waiting for.
POOR PRETTY EDDIE (BLURAY+DVD)
You have heard of exploitation, blaxploitation, and even nunspoiltation films. Well Poor Pretty Eddie is hicksploitation, pure and simple. A true gem of “hicksploitation” cinema –horror films exploiting stereotypical depictions of backwood Whites of the rural American south – Poor Pretty Eddie (1975) both relishes and ravishes the genre and is sure to appeal to aficionados of ’70s, grindhouse celluloid. Liz Wetherly (Emmy and Tony Award-winner Leslie Uggams, ABC’s Roots, CBS’ The Leslie Uggams Show), sets off on the road for a two-week break from performing, seeking rest and relaxation. Unfortunately for her, that road leads to the middle of nowhere … where her car breaks down. Coming across a ramshackle motel and bar, Bertha’s Oasis, Liz has no choice but to rely on creepy mechanic Keno (Ted Cassidy, “Lurch” from ABC’s The Addams Family, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) to get her back on her way. At the motel, Liz meets Eddie (Michael Christian, TV’s Peyton Place, Private Obsession), a young Elvis impersonator who is involved with the overweight owner, Bertha (two-time Academy Award-winner Shelley Winters, A Patch of Blue, Alfie, A Place in the Sun), a washed- up singer. Eddie sees Liz as his ticket out of the boonies and into the spotlight, deluding himself that she has fallen for him. Creepy soon turns to terror as Liz fights to survive amidst a cast of demented characters including a perverted sheriff (Slim Pickens, Dr. Strangelove, The Howling) and a twisted justice of the peace (Dub Taylor, Bonnie and Clyde, Maverick).
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SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE FOURTEENTH SEASON UNCENSORED (BLURAY)
Every single episode from season 14 of the hit show. This 14th season contains the following 14 episodes:
Sexual Healing – The country searches for an explanation for all the recent famous people cheating or becoming supposed “sex addicts”, in the process two of the boys from South Park are revealed as sex addicts themselves. [A great episode in that it doesn’t make fun of the rich men cheating as much as it makes fun of the people who keep trying to dissect why they do it]
The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs – Reading a banned book in class inspires the boys to write their own filthy book, one that mentions Sarah Jessica Parker 465 times, sick! When they are caught and blame it on Butters he becomes a national bestseller until his next book gets a famous celebrity killed. [Pokes fun at a lot of things, possibly even the idea that Matt and Trey feel people find deeper meaning in their writing than they intend, among other things such as media blaming art for the actions of clearly insane people]
Medicinal Fried Chicken – Randy radiates his balls in order to be prescribed medicinal marijuana. Meanwhile Cartmen essentially lives the life of Tony Montana, Scarface, only with fried chicken and gravy rather than cocaine. [Lots of funny visuals if a little weak on the poignant social commentary]
You Have 0 Friends – Kyle “friends” a loser kid with no friends on facebook when he feels bad for him but soon he becomes an outcast himself. Stan gets tired of facebook and wants to delete his profile but there’s one problem, it won’t let him. [If Social Network “brilliantly” tells the story of how facebook started, this episode brilliantly portrays what it has become and certainly what it will turn into if we don’t stop it now!]
200 & 201 (Yes they will be included despite the controversy) – After seeing Tom Cruise working at a fudge packing plant the boys piss him off and 200 celebrities come back to get their revenge on the town of South Park. Things escalate when the ginger kids return and when we may finally find out…who is Eric Cartmen’s father?
[The episode becomes centered on whether or not they can show Muhammad. Nice to have all the call backs, unfortunately it does seem that the DVD/Blu-ray version is censored like the broadcast version I saw was. Fairly ridiculous on Comedy Central’s part but I want to own the season regardless. Still, we should be able to see Muhammad if we want to see Muhammad!]
Crippled Summer – Jimmy, Timmy and Nathan???(the drug dealer from Up the Down Steroid) all go to ‘special’ summer camp and pay homage to classic cartoons as Nathan tries to foil Jimmy and the cooler kids. Meanwhile Towelie gets a long awaited Intervention. [All I have to say is hahahaha, laughed my ass off at both stories]
Poor and Stupid – Cartmen gets Butters to help him become a NASCAR driver. The title sums up the main repetitive joke of the episode but it’s hilarious to watch unfold. [Laughed my ass off again]
It’s a Jersey Thing – Jersey starts to spread across America and reaches South Park causing Kyle (or Kylie B.) to face some inner demons he didn’t know about his mother or himself.
Insheeption – A trip into Mr. Mackay’s twisted childhood mind allows Matt and Trey to mock the confusion of Inception and the constant music played throughout the movie to make dialogue seem more intense. I loved the movie but love this episode even more.
Coon 2: Hindsight (1), Mysterion Rises (2), Coon Vs. Coon and Friends (3) – In the three parter South Park serves up a sequel of sorts to the episode “The Coon”. Now all the kids have super hero alter egos and a new hero named Captain Hindsight shows up on the scene mocking all the good people have brought to the world lately by pointing out what should’ve been done rather than actually doing something about it now. In part two Mysterion is finally revealed and explored and in part three we get some new insight into one of our favorite characters.
Creme Fraiche – Randy become addicted to the cooking channel and thinks he should be a chef despite not being able to cook. With Randy busy Sharon finds herself a new toy that brings her all the pleasure a man can bring, a shake weight. [hahaha, the visual of that ridiculous shake weight. A great episode, silly, fun and makes good points, especially with how Randy gets turned on by the food network]
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That’s it for this week. Stay tuned for next week. Next week has tons and tons of releases.