Now I have been fairly slow to hop on the High Def bandwagon for many reasons. I don’t like being forced into buying a new technology, nor have I fallen for the claims of how HD is the new standard bearer. HD still is vastly inferior to film, and no amount of campaigning by Sony is going to change that fact. But that all being said when it comes to home viewing HD is the best option. And my 25 inch analog set has hit 15 years old and is ready for a well earned retirement, leading me to have a less then ideal home viewing environment for the oodles of movies I watch on a weekly basis. So while I wasn’t ready to proclaim my undying love for all things HD, that didn’t change the fact that I needed a new television set.

So this week Anna and I have begun to do some shopping. Unlike most shopping, for example the kind where I have to find clothes that I don’t particularly like but try on simply because a certain someone thinks I look good in them only to discover that I feel even less attractive and by the third or fourth trip to the dressing room I have what could only be described as a meltdown in which I threaten to buy a Family Guy t-shirt or some other ridiculous advertisement of stupidity if I am not allowed to immediately leave the store, I quite enjoy shopping for televisions and home theaters. Probably because I don’t feel the need to immediately go on a diet after completing the entire ordeal.

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Going to be a quick post today as there is seriously not much to recommend this week in theaters or on DVD. Babylon A.D. is my pick for theatrical new release of the week, primarily due to my blatant sci-fi fanboy nature as well as to see if the claims by director Mathieu Kassovitz that the film was ruined by the studio are true.

DVD releases are especially slim pickings this week, leading me to choosing another relatively obscure and hard to find release in Cannibal. Cannibal is based on the true story of Armin Meiwes, a man who placed an ad on the Internet requesting someone who would allow him to eat them. Remarkably, someone responded to the ad and allowed themselves to be eaten. I must I have a bit of morbid curiosity over such a tale, though I have no idea how I am going to track down this film as I can’t even find an official site for the film, let alone a trailer. Evidently the hunt is on.

As always trailers are after the break! (more…)

The young people of today may not realize just how scary the word Satanist used to be here in the United States. You see, being a Puritanical society most people had a fear of God. But if there was one thing that could scare them even more then God it was Satan. And thanks to Hollywood hits like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby those fears were suddenly rationalized in celluloid.

Yes those kindly old neighbors are trying to stealthily allow Satan to rape you in your sleep. And yes, the reason your daughter has started cursing and crab walking everywhere is because she is possessed by a demon. And yes, that scary blind man constantly sitting in that chair in the attic is guarding the gateway to Hell.
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I can understand why you might not head over to Film Junk for enlightenment. Sure they run a great site and have the best film related podcast on the Internerd, so I understand that you might not realize they have a slumbering giant just beginning to awaken in Cantankerous. With only three episodes produced to date Cantankerous is a podcast still trying to discover just what it will cover, but what it has delved into is outstanding.

The duo behind Cantankerous is Jay Cheel, the sardonic film snob who just might be suffering from Munchausen syndrome, and Reed Farrington, the Star Trek uber-nerd who engages completism at warp factor 9. Apart they are capable of entertaining you, but together they form an intoxicating mix that will thrill and mystify you with each passing episode.

And while Jay typically dominates most of Film Junk’s podcast, it is Reed that makes Cantankerous destination radio. In episode one you discover his Kermit the Frog impression that only works when no one else is around, or marvel at his learning of the space shuttle Columbia disaster four years after it occurred.

But that would be outdone in episode two when Reed admits that his life is incomplete because he has never suffered from food poisoning. He then follows this up with a lecture on his disappointment at how people are not attempting to become more intelligent and uses his love of the film Soylent Green, which he views as a piece of high brow science fiction that will challenge people, as the basis for his argument.

But both episodes pale in comparison to the third, where we learn that the last hardcover book Reed purchased was the Joan Collins biography simply because she talks about her experiences guest starring on Star Trek. From there we learn about how Reed becomes confused at why white actors shouldn’t play other races in films, his short lived attempt at making his own cooking show entitled Cooking with Gerry, and Reed’s frustration with Dawson’s Creek inconsistent use of theme songs on the various DVD sets. But the true apex of the show is when we learn of Reed’s ongoing attempts to archive the Internet by using a video camera to tape it.

That Cantankerous continues to top its own style of unbridled brilliance in every show, drawing the listener ever closer to understanding the complex world Reed Farrington lives in, it quickly becomes evident that this podcast offers up the possibility of a window into a fantasy world that you never would have dreamed existed.

So go on, what are you waiting for?

Looks like their are plenty of future guilty pleasure being released this week for me to pick from. And while I do love me some Rainn Wilson, I don’t think I am going to be able to bring myself, or more importantly Anna, to go watch The Rocker. Death Race and The House Bunny both look like they will more likely be awful then entertaining, so my choice for new releases this week is Hamlet 2. I’ll go see anything with Steve Coogan in it, and with a solid cast and the chance to be rocked by a sexy Jesus it could be a fun film.

DVD picks this week are a bit more difficult as their are several films I would like to see. The infamous Salò get’s a new release by Criterion which should have cinephiles salivating at the thought of finally getting to watch the film. Besides that Redbelt, Son of Rambow and Chicago 10 are all getting their first release on DVD this upcoming week, and all are worthy of renting.

But my DVD pick this week is a lesser known film called Dante’s Inferno. Dante’s Inferno is performed in a toy theater style using paper sets and puppets to recreate the epic poem. With voices being supplied by James Cromwell and Dermot Mulroney, Dante’s Inferno looks to be one of the more fascinating and unique film releases this year.

As always trailers are after the break!

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