Howdy! It's been faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr too long since ITMOD's last New Release Tuesday, and I promise to never leave you guys hanging for that long again. It's been a fairly miserable summer as far as DVD/Blu Ray releases have been concerned but this week finally brings us out of the doldrums thank to Bruce The Shark hitting Blu.
MUST BUY DVD OF THE WEEK!
Jaws (Blu Ray): I've been anticipating this release for a while; Jaws remains firmly at the top of my All Time Favorite Films List and no matter how many times I've seen it (I'm thinking at least a hundred times at this point) I become completely enraptured in the story of Chief Brody. Obviously, with a classic like this, I don't need to do a lot of convincing: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfus, and Robert Shaw trapped together on the Orca. Their sea shanty dialog is legend. And, yeah, Jaws changed everything turning B-Movie Monster plots into A-List Summer Blockbusters. Without Jaws we wouldn't have Battleship...the less you think about that the better. However you may feel about the death of 70s art cinema and our current place in Franchise Fodder Filmmaking, you gotta respect the art of Jaws. Hitchcock on Steroids. Cannot wait to crack into the blu ray set tonight, devour every last doc and deleted scene. But can there be anything new to learn about the creation of Jaws???
BUY!
The Raid - Redemption: An insane collection of knife wielding hallway brutality, The Raid is the Action film to beat this year. Good luck to Expendables 2 or whatever nostalgiafest that comes along the way. The Raid is the real deal. Slicing, dicing, machine gun blasting. Not much story, just massive amounts of kick assery. And that's my highest compliment for this sort of thing. My buddy Darren warns me that the transfer is weak, but I still need to have this on the shelf.
Kill List: As I stated last April, the less known about this film the better. Don't watch the trailer, don't read the reviews. Just buy/rent it. One of the best films I've seen this year, Kill List is an incredibly unnerving and violent "horror" film. Right now, it's sitting pretty on my Top Ten Films of 2012. Will it remain there? Well, frankly, I'm hoping for a Fall Movie season that's gonna knock both The Raid & Kill List off from my Top Ten.
Shaft (Blu): I like Shaft as much as the next guy, but I've always preferred Shaft's Big Score & Shaft In Africa. That's where Richard Roundtree is let off the cop genre leash and goes freaking crazy on the underworld. Still, I'm happy to add the original to my blu ray collection. It's a significant entry in pop culture and it's theme is still one of the great musical numbers. Shut Yo Mouth.
The Royal Tenenbaums (Criterion Blu): My favorite Wes Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums is where the director mastered his beautiful artificial eye. And Gene Hackman is a wonderful monster of a patriarch. I love his shock and sadness at the realization of his infection on his children. It's such a sad performance, but also ultimately uplifting. The Royal Tenenbaums puts me through the wringer--Anderson would repeat and build on a lot of these themes in The Life Aquatic and The Fantastic Mr. Fox but this is the pinnacle of the sad dad story. I definitely want to pick up the blu ray upgrade but I'm gonna wait a bit before I double dip.
RENT!
Juan of the Dead: Haven't checked this one out yet, but it's supposed to be the real deal. An entertaining zombie sendup similar to Shaun of the Dead but shot in Cuba. Ok. Sure. Why not? But I'm also kinda done with the whole zombie thing. The market is flooded and I need to see some serious genius on display for me to get really excited.
Father's Day: So. Troma. I usually don't care about their films. But...I really want another Hobo With A Shotgun and the below trailer kinda has that wannabe grindhouse charm. Fingers crossed.
Les Vampires: A Seven Hour French Silent Film Serial Epic! Yes! This has to be a rent for me since I've never basked in this madness before but it feels like a blind buy. I just really want to love it. Kino has been rocking my world lately and I'm ready to drink the Kool Aid in the same gulping fashion I once choked down on Criterion.
AVOID!
The Hunger Games: I just don't get it. I found the film to be incredibly banal and rather boring. All this bitching and moaning about "Blah Blah Blah Battle Royale" is moot cuz The Hunger Games is just too "Who Gives A Crap?" for me to give a crap. Besides this is nothing like Battle Royale--it's totally a Running Man rip-off!
--Brad
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