Its been a few weeks since I’ve had the time to post some recommendations. And while the time aspect is a big part of it, some fault also goes to the complete lack of decent films being released on DVD for the past month or so. To call it dry would be an understatement. Thankfully, this Tuesday it looks like we finally have some decent selections. The big one I am excited for is the release of the Spanish horror film [REC]. I’ve already seen the US remake, Quarantine, which is decent, but I’m very excited to see the original. The other DVD release that is a must own is Season 2 of Mad Men. If you aren’t watching that show, you’re missing out on a fantastic show. Its amazing, and I can’t wait for Season 3 to start.
As for theatres the big release is of course Bruno, but after going to a late night screening of The Hurt Locker it is easily going to be my recommendation. Really a well made and tense film that was great to watch. My only complaint is I found the ending to be a bit heavy handed and unrealistic, but it wasn’t enough to ruin an otherwise great film. While I’m not a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow, their are plenty of her films I enjoy and I think this is easily her best film to date.
While mainstream theaters are being deluged with mediocre films, here in Minneapolis we have a few Independent films being released that look very interesting. First off is Frederico Fellini’sAmarcord, which is getting an exclusive re-release at the Lagoon. And while I’ve heard it is fantastic, the film I am even more interested in viewing is Everlasting Moments, the Swedish film perhaps best known for being submitted for Oscar consideration over Let the Right One In.
DVD releases are a bit drier as the mainstream films are almost universally awful, so the weight of the week falls upon the foreign film releases. Of course the big name release is Slumdog Millionaire, but make sure to keep an eye out for the French thriller Tell No One and the Spanish time travelling genre film TimeCrimes.
As I wrap up this first year of Where the Long Tail Ends I want to offer my thanks and appreciation to everyone who has visited, commented, encouraged or simply lurked on the site over this past year. It has been a fun experiment so far, and it seems that you all are enjoying the with me as much as I am. Hopefully anyways.
I’d also like to extend thanks to Derek for his contributions. I know you have had less opportunity to contribute then you had hoped, but I view everything you add to the site as a bonus. And as long as you keep it up, I will gladly wheel you away from danger when the inevitable zombie apocalypse strikes.
As for you Christian, my most half-hearted of thanks for continually writing better columns then me. If you weren’t so irritatingly likeable I would totally hate you for such behavior.
And of course, to Anna, who has sat through hours of my horrible selections, refused to watch my decent ones and who’s lectures of “Its T-H-E-I-R, Idiot!” from the next room keep me grounded and nearly grammatically correct. Nearly.
As for the next year my little Droogs, I have several goals in mind. Most deals with cleaning up the site (reducing and reorganizing the ads, finding and implementing a better site design when I get the chance, creating a usable archive page with downloadable content) and making it easier to navigate and look at. I have been doing some tinkering, but hopefully over the next year I can add a few more features that will be to everyone’s benefit. But the most difficult goal that I hope to accomplish is starting up my own podcast (or two as the case may be). The ideas for them are pretty fun, and hopefully during the next year I can eventually get one or two recorded. Needless to say the topics they will cover should fit in nicely with what we have been doing here so far.
But what about the films you ask? Well I will promise this. We have had a serious shortage of ninja content on this site and I promise that after next year that shall no longer be the case. I will also watch and review films that do not contain ninjas, but at this point it is up for grabs on which genre (Ninja vs Non-ninja) will outnumber which.
But that is the future yet to come, while next up is a film that is from the future soon to be. It is an obscure, yet cherished, Polish film that was recommended to me by none other then the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s film critic Colin Covert to watch for this site. It is best known for being Jerry Garcia’s (as well as many other famous type people’s) favorite film, and thanks to Garcia, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola it was finally made available on DVD just a few short years ago. And while it may be lacking in ninjas, it does counter by having cannibalistic gypsies, foolish Frenchmen, waking dreams, evil spirits, possibly incestuous lesbian Muslim sisters, exorcisms and The Spanish Inquisition to offer to the viewing public who is able to make it through the entire three hour running time.
That means next week’s film is The Saragossa Manuscript.
It seems as if the moratorium on good movies might finally be ending. This week has multiple movies being released both in mainstream theaters and arthouses that might actually be worth seeing. Sure, none of them will be great, but the fact that their is an actual selection of semi-decent movies is a big step up from the trickle of quality films we have had to deal with so far this year. And as an added bonus the DVD releases are quite good themselves.
As far as the multiplexes go the buzz on the street is all about Jason Segel’s penis. Me? I’ve had my fill of gratuitous male nudity, but what I haven’t had my fill of is Jackie Chan and Jet Li. But as much as I want to see the two of them in a movie together The Forbidden Kingdom isn’t my pick for this week. Neither is Audrey Tatou’s newest film, the French farce Priceless. My choice this week is a movie I have already seen, and while not a great movie, I still think it is a movie worth taking the time to go see. That movie is Morgan Spurlock’s new documentary Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
As for DVD releases the big name this week is Cloverfield, but the two movies I am recommending are two of my favorite films from last year. The first is the Spanish horror film The Orphanage. Produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Juan Antonio Bayona it is a slow moving tale high on atmospherics and low on jump scares. If you go into this movie expecting a lot of shocks, scares, and gore you will be very disappointed as The Orphanage takes its sweet time telling its unsettingly creepy tale of a mother who has lost her son.
The other film is one I can’t recommend enough, even though it is bound to bore a good portion of those who watch it, is Daft Punk’s Electroma. Foregoing their own music in favor of those who influenced them, Daft Punk’s Electroma is a film that uses extended shots, bizarre imagery, and a complete lack of dialogue to tell the tale of two robots who are desperately searching for their own humanity. It is an outstanding film, though definitely one you should watch first before you buy it.
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