Pretty simple update this week as the theatrical new releases all seem to be cowering in fear of The Bat Man. Now I’m sure the movie is great and Heath Ledger is perfection and Christopher Nolan finally has discovered how to shoot an action sequence, but something about the torrential buzz for the film is really giving me a bad taste in my mouth. I’d boycott the film but it seems pop culture would then be legally required to put a bounty on my head.
For DVD releases next Tuesday it all comes down to one simple release, Spaced: The Complete Series. The brilliant brainchild of Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost about a pair of friends (Pegg and Hynes) who lie about being a couple so that they can rent an awesome apartment. But with oodles of geeky references, and fantastic camera work and absurd characters. It is one of the best television shows ever made, and should be required viewing for any fan of the all powerful Pegg/Wright/Frost triumvirate.
So here we are again and I have nothing to recommend for theaters this weekend. Hancock blows, I could care less about Kitt Kittredge and … wait a moment! Gonzo:The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S Thompson comes on this weekend. Go see that post haste. Whether you want to ingest three or four rogue narcotics and a bottle of ether before you watch it is entirely up to you.
DVD releases aren’t much better. The abominable The Ruins is the major release, and I can’t emphasize enough how much I hate hate hated that movie. Please don’t rent it or borrow it or, grrrr, buy it. It’s Little Shop of Horrors, but totally taking itself seriously. Hopefully that blatant and unmarked spoiler totally ruined the film for you.
But their are several Independent releases coming out on DVD this week that might be interesting. The Tracy Fragments is a tiny Canadian (I think, don’t hold me to it) film that stars uber-annoy Ellen Page as some sort of smary, sassy, super intelligent girl who is always three or four steps ahead of every adult in the world. Well, it might not be, but since she’s played that role in every other film she’s been in I feel pretty comfortable on pigeonholing the film straight away.
Also out is the film Chop Shop, about a small boy living in the slums of New York. Don’t know much else but it has garnered some huge praise in spite of its very limited release.
And last, but certainly not least, is the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. It covers Strummer’s life before, during and after The Clash as told by a gaggle of people much cooler then you plus Bono.
DVD releases take a bit of a fall compared to last weeks bonanza of films. Be Kind, Rewind is the big release but I’m not all that excited to buy it. The only movie that I find even interesting is Russel Mulcahy’s The Sitter. Sure it’s a terrible made for TV movie that rips off The Hand that Rocks the Cradle but it is Russell Mulcahy. Expect crazy camera work and barely sensible plotting to follow. Awesome.
But the big DVD release that I am unfortunately excited for is the release of the complete series of Galaxy High. Galaxy High is a ridiculous cartoon from 1986 that I absolutely loved when I was growing up. It’s about two Earth kids who are whisked away to go to an intergalactic high school where they have all sorts of wacky adventures and hijinks. Trust me, it’s totally awesome. And it has one of my favorite TV intro songs ever. Sure it doesn’t top Misfits of Science, but nothing will.
As for film releases the two big ones are The Incredible Hulk and The Happening. I have little interest in The Incredible Hulk, but I am pretty excited for The Happening. I’m probably one of the only remaining M. Night fanboys left on the planet, so take my excitement with a grain of salt.
For smaller releases their really isn’t much I am interested in. I may go see The Promotion, but I am more then a little bitter that it is replacing Stuck, which was one of the better movies released so far this year, but unfortunately it only had about 100 people see it all of last week. Boo!
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