Trying a bit of a different format this week, which will hopefully let me do a better job of highlighting older movies and TV without necessarily needing to put them into “buy” or “rent” categories they might not necessarily fit. I have continued to include “buy” and “rent” after the blurb where it seems useful. You can generally assume that I’m not particularly recommending anything that’s in the “more” sections, but I’m not “not” recommending it either – could be there’s something in there that interests you that I’m not into or don’t know much about, which is why I continue to list them. In the Instant Watch sections, there’s a much higher likelihood of stuff in the “more” sections being good. As far as films, the most notable release for me, anyway, is the blu-ray release of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Diabolique, which is a fantastic film in any format. Love the new cover art, too. Not a lot new on Instant this week, but watch for a bunch of Criterion and television expirations over the next two weeks.
NEW RELEASE PICKS
Vanishing on 7th Street
This is the latest in a string of interesting indie thrillers from Brad Anderson – I’ve liked everything he’s done, but not loved any of it (he always falls in the “yeah, that was solid but not breathtaking” category, which is not entirely a bad thing). From reviews, I’m guessing I’ll feel similarly about this one, about a rash of mysterious disappearances. Very curious to check it out, though. RENT
2011 USA. Director: Brad Anderson. Starring: Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
The Mechanic
Forgive me, I like Jason Statham movies. This looks pretty par for the course, maybe even a tad dumber based on reviews, but everyone raves about Ben Foster’s performance as well, so I’m thinking this will be a fun timewaster some weekend. RENT
2011 USA. Director: Simon West. Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
Daydream Nation
The cover for this quotes Variety saying “Juno as reimagined by David Lynch, or a funnier, sunnier Donnie Darko.” I’m guessing that’s a bit hyperbolic, but that concept is certainly one that intrigues me, and I do quite like Kat Dennings. RENT
2010 USA. Director: Michael Goldbach. Starring: Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
OTHER NEW RELEASES
The Other Woman (2011 USA, dir Don Roos, stars Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen; Blu-ray, Netflix)
The Rite (2011 USA, dir Mikael Håfström, stars Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue; Blu-ray, Netflix)
The Roommate (2011 USA, dir Christian E. Christiansen, stars Minka Kelly; Blu-ray, Netflix)
Alabama Moon (2009 USA, dir Tim McCanlies, stars John Goodman, Clint Howard; Netflix)
Broken Hill (2009 USA, dir Dagen Merrill, stars Alexa Vega, Timothy Hutton; Netflix)
Brotherhood (2010 USA, dir Will Canon, stars Trevor Morgan, Lou Taylor Pucci; Netflix)
I Want Your Money (2010 USA, dir Ray Griggs; Blu-ray, Netflix)
Elephant White (2011 USA, dir Prachya Pinkaew, stars Kevin Bacon, Djimon Hounsou; Blu-ray, Netflix)
CLASSIC PICKS
Diabolique Criterion Collection
Clouzot is best known for his two Hitchcockian thrillers Diabolique and The Wages of Fear; I’m a bit underwhelmed by the latter, but Diabolique is fantastic – a great mix of psychological thriller, murder, and even a hint of the supernatural thrown in. It’s been on Criterion DVD for a while, but this is new cover art and its Blu-ray debut. BUY
1954 France. Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot. Starring: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
Pale Flower Criterion Collection
I’m picking this sight unseen because the cover is gorgeous and the descriptive phrase “Japanese New Wave” caught my attention immediately. So I’m picking this to go into my Netflix queue and check it out. RENT
1964 Japan. Director: Masahiro Shinoda. Starring: Ryo Ikebe, Mariko Kaga.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix (not Criterion)
BLU-RAY PICKS
The Hustler
One of Paul Newman’s most memorable roles, and that’s saying a lot, as pool sharp Fast Eddie Felson – there’s a lot more going on here than just hustling suckers, though, as Fast Eddie goes from top to bottom and realizes what kind of sacrifices he might have to make to get back up. BUY
1961 USA. Director: Robert Rossen. Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason.
Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
The Comancheros
A relatively late western for John Wayne, teaming up with stalwart action director Michael Curtiz in this story of a Texas Ranger and his gambler prisoner working together to defeat a group of arms dealers. RENT
1961 USA. Director: Michael Curtiz. Starring: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman.
Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
The Twilight Zone: Season 4
I’m not entirely sure the release strategy for the original The Twilight Zone – the DVDs are in non-season-specific volumes, and these full-season sets appear to be coming out only on Blu-ray. In any case, I haven’t seen nearly enough episodes of this, but all the ones I have seen I enjoy. A lot of them are on Instant Watch as well. WATCH INSTANTLY
1963 USA. Creator: Rod Serling.
Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix
OTHER BLU-RAYS
Beverly Hills Cop (1984 USA, dir Martin Brest, stars Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold)
Jagged Edge (1985 USA, dir Richard Marquand, stars Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close)
Money Train (1995 USA, dir Joseph Ruben, stars Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson)
TELEVISION PICKS
Covert Affairs: Season 1
I enjoyed what I watched of this USA spy show, which is basically Alias without the supernatural Rimbaldi stuff. The plots are fun, the characters generally likable – pretty much what you expect from a USA show. Fun without much substance. RENT
2010 USA. Creator: Chris Ord, Matt Corman. Starring: Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham.
Amazon DVD | Netflix
The Bionic Woman: Season 2
I’m glad to see these coming out on DVD (if they’d come on Instant, that’d be perfect) – I have a great nostalgia for old TV shows I never watched, heh. But really, this is one I’d like to check out – I was one of the few that didn’t hate the abortive remake a few years ago, and the idea intrigued me enough to want to try the original. RENT
1977 USA. Creator: Kenneth Johnson. Starring: Lindsay Wagner, Richard Anderson.
Amazon DVD
OTHER TELEVISION
All in the Family: Season 9 (1979 USA, creator Rob Reiner, stars Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton)
Flashpoint: Season 3 (2010 USA, creator Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern, stars Hugh Dillon)
Royal Pains: Season 2 (2010 USA, creator Andrew Lenchewski, John P. Rogers, stars Mark Feuerstein)
Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job: Season 5 (2010 USA, creator/stars Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim)
The Virginian: Season 4 (1965 USA, creators Frank Price, Teddie Sherman, stars James Drury)
INSTANT WATCH PICKS
Our Hospitality
Another Keaton film sneaks on to Instant Watch, after three hit last week. I know I’ve seen this one, because it’s often packaged with Sherlock Jr., but I’m not sure I can separate it in my head from his others. No matter, though, everything he’s done is worth seeing. WATCH IMMEDIATELY
1923 USA. Director: Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone. Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Ralph Bushman.
Jack Goes Boating (5/19)
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut got kind of middling reviews on the festival circut last year, but he and Amy Ryan are such a strong pair of actors that I feel like they should be able to put over the rather awkward-looking premise. WATCH
2010 USA. Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman. Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan.
Stone (5/19)
YES. See, I’ve been hoping this would come on Instant because being a Milla Jovovich fan, I have to watch it (and reviews were better than I expected based on the disappointing trailer), but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to expend a disc rental on it. Now I don’t have to! It’s the little things, folks. WATCH (if you’re a Milla fan)
2010 USA. Director: John Curran. Starring: Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Robert DeNiro.
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow and Marriage Italian Style
A pair of sex comedies starring two of Italy’s biggest stars, directed by one of her foremost directors? Sign me up for those. These are both quite a bit after De Sica’s great neo-realist classics, but I would hope he hadn’t lost his touch. Note: the reviews for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow mention a poor, pan & scan transfer with an English dub – the Instant Watch version is widescreen and in Italian with English subtitles. I checked. WATCH
1963/1964 Italy. Director: Vittorio De Sica. Starring: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni.
Family Ties
A couple of seasons of the sitcom that brought Michael J. Fox to prominence hit Instant last week, but now every season is available. I’ve never actually watched it, and there’s a lot of other stuff I’ll likely watch first, but having these older shows on Instant makes me happy. MAYBE WATCH
1982-1988 USA. Creator: Gary David Goldberg. Starring: Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter.
OTHER INSTANT WATCHES
Araya (1959 Venezuela, dir Margot Benacerraf)
Bitter Sweet (2004 Japan, dir Mitsuru Meike, stars Konatsu, Hitoshi Ishikawa)
Dog the Bounty Hunter: Vol. 7 (2010 USA, stars Duane “Dog” Chapman)
Even the Rain (2010 Spain, dir Icíar Bollaín, stars Gael García Bernal)
Fragile (2005 USA, dir Jaume Balagueró, stars Calista Flockhart, Richard Roxburgh)
Goemon (2009 Japan, dir Kazuaki Kiriya, stars Yôsuke Eguchi, Eiji Okuda)
Hoarders (2010 USA)
Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean (1990 UK, creator/star Rowan Atkinson)
Mr. Bean: The Animated Series (2002 UK, creator Jipp Adiak, stars Rowan Atkinson)
Red White & Blue (2010 USA, dir Simon Rumley, stars Amanda Fuller, Noah Taylor)
Rule of Three (2008 USA, dir Eric Shapiro, stars Ben Siegler, Rodney Eastman, Parry Shen)
The Search for Mengele (1985 USA, dir Brian Moser) [5/21]
See all new and upcoming titles.
INSTANT WATCH EXPIRING PICKS
The major swaths of expirations are a bunch of Comedy Central and Nickelodeon shows on 5/22 and 5/29 (note that some which were on the list for 5/22 last week now have a 5/29 expiration date, but others have remained 5/22), and a bunch of Criterion films on 5/26. I’ve separated out my most recommended ones in each section by displaying their posters, but especially in the Criterion section, many of the others are excellent as well. Hover over the images to see title and date of expiration.
Movies
Full Frontal (2002 USA, dir Steven Soderbergh, stars Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood) [5/18]
The Girl on the Train (2009 France, André Téchiné, stars Émilie Dequenne, Catherine Deneuve) [5/18]
Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002 USA, dir Stacy Peralta) [5/18]
Seven Years in Tibet (1997 USA, dir Jean-Jacques Annaud, stars Brad Pitt, David Thewlis) [5/21]
Porcile (1969 Italy, dir Pier Paolo Pasolini, stars Franco Citti, Pierre Clémenti) [5/25]
Yentl (1983 USA, dir Barbra Streisand, stars Barbra Streisand, Mandy Patinkin) [5/25]
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009 USA, dir Kenny Ortega) [5/26]
Sleepless in Seattle (1993 USA, dir Nora Ephron, stars Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks) [5/26]
Look Who’s Talking (1989 USA, dir Amy Heckerling, stars Bruce Willis, John Travolta) [5/27]
Desk Set (1957 USA, dir Walter Lang, stars Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn) [5/30]
ABC Africa (2002 Iran, dir Abbas Kiarostami) [5/31]
Bandolero! (1968 USA, dir Andrew V. McLaglen, stars James Stewart, Dean Martin) [5/31]
There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954 USA, dir Walter Lang, stars Marilyn Monroe) [5/31]
Criterion (all 5/26)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959 USSR, dir Grigori Chukhrai, stars Vladimir Ivashov)
Bed and Board (1970 France, dir François Truffaut, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade)
Black Orpheus (1959 Brazil, dir Marcel Camus, stars Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn)
Branded to Kill (1967 Japan, dir Seijun Suzuki, stars Joe Shishido, Mariko Ogawa)
Burden of Dreams (1982 USA, dir Wes Blank, stars Werner Herzog)
Eyes Without a Face (1959 France, dir Georges Franju, stars Pierre Brassuer, Edith Scob)
Grey Gardens (1975 USA, dir Albert & David Maysles)
Harlan County, U.S.A (1976 USA, dir Barbara Kopple)
Hearts and Minds (1974 USA, dir Peter Davis)
Knife in the Water (1962 Poland, dir Roman Polanski, stars Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka)
Le jetee (1961 France, dir Chris Marker, stars Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain)
Lord of the Flies (1963 UK, dir Peter Brook, stars James Aubrey, Tom Chapin)
A Nos Amours (1983 France, dir Maurice Pialet, stars Sandrine Bonnaire, Maurice Pialet)
Ratcatcher (1999 UK, dir Lynne Ramsey, stars William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan)
Sans Soleil (1982 France, dir Chris Marker, stars Florence Delay, Arielle Dombasle)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940 UK, dir Michael Powell etc., stars Conrad Veidt, Sabu)
Television
The State: Complete Series (1993 USA, stars Kerri Kenney, David Wain, Michael Showalter) [5/22]
Strangers with Candy (1999-2000 USA, stars Amy Sedaris) [5/22]
Premium Blend (1997-2005 USA, creator Paul Miller) [5/22]
Comedy Central Presents (1998 USA, stars various) [5/22]
MST3K: Monster a Go-Go (1993 USA, stars Joel Hodgson, Kevin Murphy) [5/25]
MST3K: Secret Agent, Super Dragon (1993 USA, stars Joel Hodgson, Kevin Murphy) [5/25]
MST3K: The Giant Gila Monster (1992 USA, stars Joel Hodgson, Kevin Murphy) [5/25]
MST3K: The Rebel Set (1992 USA, stars Joel Hodgson, Kevin Murphy) [5/25]
MST3K: The Starfighters (1994 USA, stars Kevin Murphy, Michael J. Nelson) [5/25]
Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1994 USA, creator Mike Judge) [5/29]
Drawn Together (2004-2006 USA, creators Dave Jeser, Matthew Silverstein) [5/29]
Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009 USA, stars Demetri Martin) [5/29]
Ren & Stimpy (1991-1993 USA, creator John Kricfalusi) [5/29]
Reno 911! (2003-2009 USA, creators Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon) [5/29]
Rugrats (1991-2003 USA, creators Gabor Csupo, Paul Germain, Arlene Klasky) [5/29]
See all expiring titles.
Disclaimers
- Amazon links use my affiliate account, and will kick a small percentage of your purchase back to me. You pay the same price you would anyway.
- Not all new releases are available on Netflix immediately. Some studio films have a 30-day release window before Netflix can rent them, and some smaller releases are not picked up by Netflix immediately. Add them to your “saved” queue if you’re interested; that tells Netflix there is demand for the disc.
- Not all new Blu-ray releases are available on Netflix – Netflix usually buys both DVD and Blu-ray editions of new releases, but if a DVD has already been released, they don’t always get the Blu-ray when it comes out later.
- Instant Watch releases are not always 100% accurate – often the data from the API is not fully accurate until the actual day of release. I always check on release day to make sure things actually do hit Instant Watch, but for things that come out later than Tuesday when I publish this post, I won’t be able to tell.
- Instant Watch expirations are not always 100% accurate – sometimes they don’t expire after all, sometimes things expire with little advance warning. I always check to make sure the data is accurate to the best of my knowledge when I publish the post, but things could still change, especially since I’m giving expiration warnings up to two weeks in advance.
- I rely on Box Office Mojo and InstantWatcher for the majority of the data for these posts, so thank you to them for the work they do.
PALE FLOWER is a very, very solid bit of noir. Not quite a “CLASSIC” but nevertheless engaging throughout.
I’m using the term “classic” for that section pretty loosely.
But yeah, I’m looking forward to checking it out – it’s actually on Instant Watch here in the US, but not the Criterion edition.
Must-see instant watch expiring picks:
Bright Star
Sweet Hereafter
Harlan County USA
regarding the Milla fan remark… Jandy you know she is on twitter now right?
She’s been on Twitter a long time. She has a very entertaining Twitter. :p With about the same level of intellectual content as her movies, heh.
I’m going to try to watch Harlan County USA before it expires. Not much of a doc fan, but I’ve heard a lot about this one. Ought to see what all the fuss is about.
right now she is talking about her dress at Cannes and wants to know if anyone photographed her. She is so complex.
Harlan county USA is one of the best documentaries ever made. Haunting soundtrack, intense story, really good filmmaking. Very much catch it before it expires.
And a hearty recommendation for Branded To Kill before it expires to anyone who hasn’t seen a Seijun Suzuki movie. Wicked fun.
Pale Flower is pretty solid, but even better are Shinoda’s other two Criterion titles – Double Suicide and Samurai Spy. Great stories inventively told and both with stunning black and white photography.
Harlan County is also terrific. The kind of documentary that can turn someone into a documentary watcher. Speaking of great docs, I note that Dogtown And Z-Boys is also expiring. Really, really great and you don’t have to know or care anything about skateboarding.
Branded to Kill, what the heck did just watch?
Branded to Kill, what the heck did I just watch?
It manages to be a spoof film without being self-aware or dreamy. I did not know that was possible.
Even the protagonist’s cheeks are absurd looking.
I watched Branded to Kill a few months ago and pretty much had antho’s reaction – I should rewatch now that I know not to expect it to make any freaking sense.
Bob, thanks for the mention of Shinoda’s other films – this is why I fail at Japanese film. I was just like “oooh, pretty artwork” and really didn’t know anything about the film, filmmaker, or that he had other stuff in the Criterion Collection. Research fail.
‘Branded to Kill’ …all I could get as one continuous thematic concern is that everyone has an ‘obsession’ and it seems generally to invovle ‘smell’ & ‘food’. And don’t get me wrong, I can be obsessive myself..(but you all know that). It’s just that in this film there’s so much other stuff going on that I can’t seem to join the dots at all or find any pattern (is that the plan?) Even when I try I end up with zig zags that make no real sense. Or is there purpose in the chaos afterall? I can’t find it!
But back to obsessions….Hanada obsessed with the smell of freshly boiled rice, Susuki mentions something about steak and the smell as I recall…and on it goes…to no where.
There are some attempts to bring in passion but they also leave me a bit cold…and/or very confused….dead bird killed with a spike…not getting this one, even on a symbolic level.
This film doesn’t seem to have a real plot, nor are the characters fully developed…probably the only worthy note is its obscurity which at very ‘tiny’ moments is alluring. It’s like a WTF moment…is this for real? Yet this WTF moment continues almost throughout the entire film. Poor Hanada and Misako will we never understand them? Oh and aren’t death wishes a bit too 90s?
Yep, this film needs some serious work to decipher…and frankly deceiphering this film is too much work for me. I’ve savoured and enjoyed the visual elements, the mystery, sucked out the pulp without removing the skin….but I’m going to leave it at that.
Seems that even the ‘obsessed’ have their limits.
Don’t reach for too much meaning in Branded To Kill Ms Curious – it’s story and script are very much straight B-movie (not that you can’t get meaning from B-movies). Suzuki’s approach was that if he had to do a generic yakuza picture with generic characters, he was going to play with form. He uses visual techniques to dispense with exposition and creates a shorthand that steps you through the basics of the story. For me, that’s pretty thrilling. Yeah, I admit that some of it is the WTF reaction to certain moments, but if you get into the rhythm of it, it’s so damn fun to see how he conveys information. It’s by no means a straight narrative. Character development? Best look elsewhere.
If your first reaction to that sequence of assassinations he pulls off is “That’s ridiculous! You can’t kill somebody through the drainpipe of a sink! Escaping by jumping out a window to land on a balloon? Stupid!”, then this movie certainly is not for you (I’m not saying you’re wrong to have that reaction, just that I think you’re looking for different things than this movie is offering). For me, that sequence is invigorating.
And yeah, I love Jo Shishido’s cheeks (he had plastic surgery to inflate them like that). Check him out in Suzuki’s earlier “Youth Of The Beast” (also on Criterion) for a more straightforward yakuza tale (though still stylish as all get out).
I also love Shinoda’s “Double Suicide” partially because of the way it plays with form as well. It’s story is based on an old play which was typically performed using puppets. After beginning with actors preparing to perform a puppet show, the film shifts to real actors taking on the roles of the puppets and occasionally you will see dark figures in the background directing actions or changing scenery as if you were inside the puppet play. It’s beautifully realized.
Also Tokyo Drifter, which is oozing with style, but a bit more comprehensible than Branded to Kill. I haven’t seen Youth of the Beast – I’ll have to check that out.