I’m having a hard time coming up with a recommendation for a theatrical release this week. The mainstream release is Defiance, which sucks something awful, and the only new Oscar bait being released in the arthouse theaters is Revolutionary Road. I’m sure it has fine acting and is all wonderfully melodramatic, but I find myself only passably interested in it because it looks like Mad Men only not as good. So go see it if you must, like I care.

As for DVD releases the picking there aren’t much better. Though that has more to do with me having not seen any of them as far as I can tell. Thus this week I will shirk my responsibilities and pass off the recommendation onto Daniel Getahun over at Getafilm.com who has seen The Grocer’s Son and liked it quite a bit. So go read his short review (and the rest of his excellent site while you are at it), rent the movie and if it stinks remember that I’m just the messenger, he’s the one who sucks.

As always trailers are after the break!

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Finally an easy week of recommendations. Ignore Big Willie or Jim Carrey, heck ignore Doubt and its prodigious scenery chewing by everyone involved (Pssst … word is in the final tumultuous conclusion that Philip Seymour Hoffman literally starts gnawing on his desk in frustrated disbelief at what has occurred). You don’t need a feel good movie, or a comedy or blatant Oscar bait this holiday season. Instead, try something different. Like an Independent Spanish time travel film. You know, like Timecrimes.

And what could be a better gift this Christmas then the gift of Burn After Reading? You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll discover just which of your relatives is part of a League of Morons. And isn’t that what the holidays are for?

As always trailer are after the break!

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Who knew that in the middle of the Christmas buying season their would come a week of absolutely terrible DVD releases to choose from? I mean seriously, I’d rather be dead then be forced to choose between Mamma Mia! or The House Bunny. And the safety selection is like the 13th Mummy movie. Thankfully, standup comic Louis C.K. is releasing a new DVD of vitriolic hatred that will spread Holiday cheer to all who watch.

As for the theatrical releases this weekend, they are slightly better, but thanks to one man their truly is only one film that should be watched, so the lack of a decent second film doesn’t really matter. That man? Jean-Claude Van Damme. The movie? JCVD. No … seriously. This movie rules. Go watch it. Go watch it now.

As always trailers are after the break!

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You would think this would be a difficult weekend to select just one recommendation out of all the movies being released, but really, the multiplex fare looks less then interesting, and the Indy fair while loaded with quality (Slumdog Millionaire and I’ve Loved You So Long), none compares to my selection this week, Let the Right One In. While most may not have much of a stomach for horror films, Let the Right One In is one I think that will appeal to people less then excited by the genre. It is more then a simple vampire film. It is more then a gore filled fright flick. In fact, most of the gore occurs off screen and the film is far from scary. This is a film reliant on atmosphere and character development. It is touching and moving and deeply and painfully honest. I can safely say I have never seen anything like it, and that it is far more then a genre masterpiece, it may be the best film of the year.

As for my DVD pick, it is a relatively easy one as well as Criterion has continued its quest to be Wes Anderson’s personal label by releasing Bottle Rocket this Tuesday. They also are releasing several other films as well on Tuesday, so be sure to stop in their store and checkout the selection. Oh yeah, I hear they are having some sort of fire sale as well.

As always trailers are after the break!

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Even though their a re a ton of new DVD releases that are worth owning that will be released this upcoming Tuesday, my selection was a fairly easy one. Though, to be fair, I have not yet watched Up the Yangtze, which I have heard from numerous people to be a fantastic film. And even though I loved WALL-E and Tropic Thunder, and even with an under seen Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S Thompson, and even my latest copy of Wholphin being shipped my choice was an easy one. Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World is simply one of the best films I have seen this year, and and it continues his recent string of outstanding films that he has made the past few years. I will be adding it to my collection, and hopefully you will add it to yours.

As for theatrical releases, that was yet another easy choice. While I have mild interest in the latest Bond film, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas might be interesting, my choice is a film I recommended several weeks ago, as it is finally getting released here in Minneapolis. Fears of the Dark is now playing at the Lagoon Cinema, and most likely only for a one week run, so please get out and see this film while you have the chance.

As always trailers are after the break!

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Finally a week in which I have plenty of options to choose from! The last several have left me grasping at straws in order to supply even a halfway decent recommendation, both DVD releases and theatrical releases are giving me a few options to pass on.

In theaters this week is the latest work of genius from Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York, which I’m sure will leave everyone scratching their heads while simultaneously praising it. So you know, a typical Charlie Kaufman film, only this time on a far grander scale.

As for DVD releases I had a bit more of a struggle in trying to choose which film to recommend. As you can probably imagine Hellboy II: The Golden Army was calling to me, but while I loved Hellboy II, I have instead decided to go in another direction and select a film I haven’t seen yet, and no one else has either. This particular film has taken seven years to make, and is just beginning to make a run as a midnight movie here in the US, and for those of you living in the Minneapolis metro area, you will be able to see it at The Uptown Theatre on November 22nd. It should be a great midnight show, so hopefully you will be in attendance. But for those of you who can’t wait, The Flaming Lips: Christmas on Mars will be released on DVD this Tuesday.

As always trailers are after the break!

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