NEW RELEASE PICKS OF THE WEEK

True Grit
I always love a good western, and this is a great one, with the Coens’ usual care for both honoring and putting their own spin on whatever genre they choose to tackle. Not as Coen-y as some of their films, perhaps, but a rip-roaring good time with great performances all around.
2010 USA. Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Another Year
After a bunch of Row Three writers put this in their top ten (or five, or three) last year, I tried to get out and see it but didn’t make it before it left town. Looking forward to setting that right soon.
2010 USA. Director: Mike Leigh. Starring: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville.
Amazon DVD/Blu-ray | Netflix

The Housemaid
A remake of a seminal 1960 Korean film, this one is plenty fun, too, a psycho-sexual domestic thriller with a healthy dash of WTF.
2010 South Korea. Director: Sang-soo Im, stars Do-Yeon Jeon, Seao-Hyeon Ahn.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

OTHER NEW RELEASES
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2010 USA, dir Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Carancho (2011 Argentina, dir Pablo Trapero, stars Ricardo Darin, Martina Gusman; Netflix)
The Company Men (2010 USA, dir John Wells, stars Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011 USA, dir various, stars Nathan Fillion, Jason Isaacs; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Just Go With It (2011 USA, dir Dennis Dugan, stars Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler; Netflix)
Sanctum (2011 USA, dir Alister Grierson, stars Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd; Blu-ray/3D Blu-ray/Netflix)
Shadows and Lies (2010 USA, dir Jay Anania, stars James Franco, Josh Lucas; Blu-ray/Netflix)

CLASSIC PICK OF THE WEEK

Night Flight
Ah, glad to see Turner Classic Movies is getting on releasing the rarer films it screened at this year’s festival – Night Flight isn’t a particularly great film, but as Robert Osborne put it, you can’t have a film with a cast like this and not at least take a look at it.
1933 USA. Director: Clarence Brown. Starring: John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

Paramount Era Marx Brothers
All of these early Marx Brothers films have been out on DVD before, but looks like they’ve been out of print, and here are nice new versions with pretty matching covers. Definitely pick up Duck Soup if you don’t already have it.
The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup

OTHER CLASSICS
Despair (1978 Germany, dir Rainer Werner Fassbinder, stars Dirk Bogarde, Andréa Ferréol; Netflix)
Marlowe (1969 USA, dir Paul Bogart, stars James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt)
Mister Buddwing (1966 USA, dir Delbert Mann, stars James Garner, Jean Simmons)
The Stunt Man (1980 USA, dir Richard Rush, stars Peter O’Toole, Barbara Hershey; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Wheeler Dealers (1963 USA, dir Arthur Hiller, stars James Garner, Lee Remick; Netflix)

BLU-RAY PICKS OF THE WEEK

The Outlaw Josey Wales
I’ve missed a few chances recently to see this; maybe the gods of cinema were waiting to give me a blu-ray version. It’s definitely been high on my must-watch list for a while.
1976 USA. Director: Clint Eastwood. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George.
Amazon Blu-ray | Amazon DVD

Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology
Your mileage may vary with the Superman series (I’ve only seen the first couple and the last one, and felt rather meh toward the lot of them), but if you are a fan, here’s a great chance to own them all on blu-ray, from the original 1978 Superman all the way through Superman Returns.
1978-2006 USA. Director Richard Donner/Richard Lester/Sidney J. Furie/Bryan Singer. Starring: Christopher Reeve/Brandon Routh.
Amazon Blu-ray

OTHER BLU-RAYS
61* (2001 USA, dir Billy Crystal, stars Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994 Australia, dir Stephan Elliott, stars Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving)
Bulletproof (1996 USA, dir Ernest R. Dickerson, stars Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler; Blu-ray)
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (2001 USA, dir Keith Melton, stars Ian McKellen, Nicky Dewhurst; DVD)
Hair (1979 USA, dir Milos Forman, stars John Savage, Treat Williams; DVD)
Long Riders (1980 USA, dir Walter Hill, stars David Carradine, Keith Carradine; DVD)
The Man Who Would Be King (1975 USA, dir John Huston, stars Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer; DVD)
New York New York (1977 USA, dir Martin Scorsese, stars Liza Minnelli, Robert DeNiro; DVD)
Posse (1993 USA, dir Mario Van Peebles, stars Stephen Baldwin, Charles Lane; DVD)
Vera Cruz (1954 USA, dir Robert Aldrich, stars Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster)

TELEVISION PICKS OF THE WEEK

Breaking Bad: Season 3
I missed the boat on this show about an irascible high school teacher whose cancer diagnosis leads him to take up cooking meth, and still have to catch up on the whole thing, but from what I’ve heard, it will be well worth my time when I do.
2010 USA. Creator: Vince Gilligan. Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Burn Notice: Season 4
A true summer popcorn series, full of spies and explosions (and Bruce Campbell!). It doesn’t get much more fun than this.
2010 USA. Creator: Matt Nix. Starring: Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

OTHER TELEVISION
The Big C: Season 1 (2010 USA, creator Darlene Hunt, stars Laura Linney, Oliver Platt; Netflix)
The Gene Autry Show: Season 1 (1950 USA, stars Gene Autry, Champion, Pat Buttram)
Hopalong Cassidy: Complete Series (1952-54 USA, stars William Boyd, Topper, Edgar Buchanan)
Leverage: Season 3 (2010 USA, creator Chris Downey, John Rogers, stars Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman; Netflix)
Pretty Little Liars: Season 1 (2010 USA, creator I. Marlene King, stars Holly Marie Combs, Lucy Hale; Netflix)
Rawhide: Season 4, Vol. 2 (1961 USA, stars Clint Eastwood, Eric Fleming; Netflix)
White Collar: Season 2 (2010 USA, creator Jeff Eastin, stars Matthew Bomer, Tim Dekay; Netflix)

INSTANT WATCH PICKS OF THE WEEK

21 Up | 28 Up | 42 Up | 49 Up
Only a few weeks after expiring, the Up series is back – or most of it, anyway. For some exasperating reason, they’ve held off on Seven Up and 7 Plus Seven, the first two entries, and still won’t put up 35 Up (which wasn’t on Instant before, either). But still, I will take any chance to plug this series. Get the missing entries on disc and watch it all.
1977/1985/1998/2005 UK. Director: Michael Apted.

The Evil Dead
Evil Dead fans can breathe again, Evil Dead is back on Instant. Although, if you were really an Evil Dead fan, you’d own it. Never mind. Those of us who enjoy it but haven’t bought it can breathe again.
1981 USA. Director: Sam Raimi. Starring: Bruce Campbell, Betsy Baker.

Black Death [6/9]
A solid little genre film with a bunch of mercenaries and one priest seeking out a village they think may hold a demon responsible for the bubonic plague. It gets more complex than that, and gives a lot more to chew on than you’d expect.
2010 UK. Director: Christopher Smith. Starring: Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, Eddie Redmayne.

I Saw the Devil [6/9]
I’m probably not going to watch this, as extreme revenge flicks are not really my thing, but it does sound intriguing if extreme revenge flicks ARE your thing, and Instant makes it that much easier to find out.
2010 South Korea. Director: Ji-woon Kim. Starring: Byung-hun Lee, Min-sik Choi.

Ghost in the Shell
One of my favorite anime sci-fi movies (and its related TV shows as well) makes its way back onto Instant Watch. Definitely worth a look.
1995 Japan. Director: Mamoru Oshii. Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Tamio Ôki.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Sophie Scholl and her brother are participants in a resistance movement against the Nazis during World War II, and this riveting drama follows their capture and interrogation by the Gestapo. The scenes focusing on Sophie and her interrogator and among the most compelling scenes i’ve ever seen. Great stuff.
2005 Germany. Director: Marc Rothemund. Starring: Julia Jetsch, Fabian Hinrichs.

Popeye
This is 32 shorts from the 1930s Fleischer run of Popeye, including classics like Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s 40 Thieves. The reviews suggest poor picture quality on the DVD version of this set; I haven’t tested the Instant transfers.
1936 USA. Creator: Dave Fleischer. Starring: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Lou Fleischer.

Last Night
With only six hours before the end of the world, a bunch of people in interlocking stories try to make their last few hours count. This is one of the first films I remember being intrigued by when I heard of it on the festival circuit (before I was really into festivals) and I didn’t get to see it. Would like to now.
1998 Canada. Director: Don McKellar. Starring Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie.

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
A fascinating documentary if you’re interested in architecture, Los Angeles, Hollywood history, or any combination of the above, focusing on the life and photography of Julius Shulman, whose photography of Los Angeles defined a style and an era.
2008 USA. Director: Eric Bricker. Starring: Julius Shulman.

Alice
Svankmajer is well-known as one of the greatest Czech stop-motion artists ever, and his version of Alice in Wonderland sounds appropriately whacked out, with a live-action Alice interacting with a strange and wonderful stop-motion Wonderland.
1988 Czechoslovakia. Director: Jan Svankmajer. Starring: Kristyna Kohoutova.

OTHER INSTANT WATCHES

Agnes and His Brothers (2004 Germany, dir Oskar Roehler, stars Moritz Bliebtreu, Herbert Knaup)
A Boy and His Dog (1975 USA, dir L.Q. Jones, stars Don Johnson, Jason Robards)
The Bridesmaid (2004 France, dir Claude Chabrol, stars Benoît Magimel, Aurore Clément)
Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005 Italy, dir Dario Argento, stars Chiara Conti, Elisabetta Rocchetti)
Dragnet (1951 USA, dir Jack Webb, stars Jack Webb, Ben Alexander)
Gable and Lombard (1976 USA, dir Sidney J. Furie, stars James Brolin, Jill Clayburgh)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2004 Japan, dir Kenji Maimyama, stars Atsuko Tanaka)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964 Japan, dir Ishirô Honda, stars Akira Takarada, Yriko Hoshi)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956 Japan, dir Ishirô Honda, stars Raymond Burr)
The Guild (2007 USA, creator Felicia Day, stars Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh)
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983 USA, creator Lou Scheimer, stars John Erwin)
H.R. Pufnstuf: The Complete Series (1969 USA, creator Sid & Marty Kroft, stars Jack Wild)
Inspector Gadget: Seasons 2-4 (1984-86 USA, creator Bruno Bianchi, Jean Chalopin, Andy Heyward, stars Don Adams)
A Jihad for Love (2007 USA, dir Parvez Sharma, stars Muhsin Hendricks, A.K. Hoosen)
La vie promise (2002 France, dir Olivier Dahan, stars Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory)
The Libertine (1969 France, dir Pasquale Festa Campanile, stars Jean-Louis Trintignant)
Lost in America (1985 USA, dir Albert Brooks, stars Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty) [6/10]
Merci pour la chocolate (2000 France, dir Claude Chabrol, stars Isabelle Huppert)
MST3K: Monster a Go-Go (1965 USA, dir Bill Rebane, stars Phil Morton, June Travis)
MST3K: Secret Agent, Super Dragon (1966 Italy, dir Giorgio Ferroni, stars Ray Danton)
MST3K: The Giant Gila Monster (1959 USA, dir Ray Kellogg, stars Don Sullivan, Fred Graham)
MST3K: The Rebel Set (1959 USA, dir Gene Fowler Jr, stars Gregg Palmer, Kathleen Crowley)
MST3K: The Starfighters (1964 USA, dir Will Zens, stars Robert Dornan, Richard Jordahl)
Nine Lives (2005 USA, dir Rodrigo García, stars Dakota Fanning, Amy Brenneman, Holly Hunter)
The Pledge (2001 USA, dir Sean Penn, stars Jack Nicholson, Dale Dickey)
Running on Empty (1988 USA, dir Sidney Lumet, stars Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix)
Sherman’s March (1986 USA, dir Ross McElwee)
South Park (1997 USA, creators Matt Parker, Trey Stone)
Spice World (1998 UK, dir Bob Spiers, stars The Spice Girls, Alan Cumming)
The Ten (2006 USA, dir David Wain, stars Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Jessica Alba)
Unborn in the USA (2007 USA, dir Stephen Fell, Will Thompson)
Yo Gabba Gabba (2007 USA, creator Christian Jacobs, Scott Schultz, stars DJ Lance Rock)

See all new and upcoming titles.

ISTANT WATCH EXPIRING PICKS

Criterion (all 6/21)

Closely Watched Trains (1966 Czechoslovakia, dir Jirí Menzel, stars Václav Neckár, Josef Somr)
Europa (1991 Denmark, dir Lars von Trier, stars Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa)
General Idi Amin Dada (1974 France, dir Barbet Schroeder, stars Idi Amin Dada)
The Hidden Fortress (1958 Japan, dir Akira Kurosawa, stars Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara)
I Vitelloni (1953 Italy, dir Federico Fellini, stars Franco Interlenghi, Alberto Sordi)
Ikiru (1952 Japan, dir Akira Kurosawa, stars Takashi Simura, Shinichi Himori)
La Bete Humaine (1938 France, dir Jean Renoir, stars Jean Gabin, Simone Simon)
Le Corbeau (1943 France, dir Henri-Georges Clouzot, stars Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc)
The Lower Depths (1936 France, dir Jean Renoir, stars Jean Gabin, Suzy Prim)
M. Hulot’s Holiday (1953 France, dir Jacques Tati, stars Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud)
Mala Noche (1985 USA, dir Gus Van Sant, stars Tim Streeter, Doug Cooeyate)
Man Bites Dog (1992 Belgium, dir Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, Benoit Poelvoorde)
My Life as a Dog (1985 Sweden, dir Lasse Hallström, Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen)
Onibaba (1964 Japan, dir Kaneto Shindo, stars Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura)
Overlord (1975 UK, dir Stuart Cooper, stars Brian Stirner, Nicholas Ball)
Sanjuro (1961 Japan, dir Akira Kurosawa, stars Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai)
Sisters (1973 USA, dir Brian De Palma, stars Margo Kidder, Jennifer Salt)
Summertime (1955 USA, dir David Lean, stars Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi)
Walkabout (1971 UK, dir Nicolas Roeg, stars Lucien John, Jenny Agutter)

Others

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005-2009 USA, stars Anthony Bourdain) [6/8]
Becket (1964 UK, dir Peter Glenville, stars Peter O’Toole) [6/9]
G-Force (2009 USA, dir Hoyt Yeatman, stars Will Arnett, Bill Nighy) [6/9]
Spider Baby (1964 USA, dir Jack Hill, stars Lon Chaney Jr, Carol Ohmart) [6/9]
Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2007 USA, dir Eddy Moretti, Suroosh Alvi, stars Acrassicauda) [6/11]
Moonlight Mile (2002 USA, dir Brad Silberling, stars Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman) [6/11]
The Hawks and the Sparrows (1964 Italy, dir Pier Paolo Pasolini, stars Ninetto Davoli) [6/12]
What’s Your Raashee? (2009 India, dir Ashutosh Gowariker, stars Priynaka Chopra) [6/14]
The Five Obstructions (2003 Denmark, dir Lars von Trier, Jorgen Leth, stars Claus Nissen) [6/15]
Fly Away Home (1996 USA, dir Carroll Ballard, stars Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels) [6/15]
Incendiary (2008 USA, dir Sharon Maguire, stars Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor) [6/15]
Sanctuary: Season 2 (2009 USA, creator Damian Kindler, stars Amanda Tapping) [6/15]
War Dance (2006 USA, dir Sean Fine, Andrea Nix) [6/15]
Friday (1995 USA, dir F. Gary Gray, stars Ice Cube, Chris Tucker) [6/16]
Zombieland (2009 USA, dir Ruben Fleischer, stars Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone) [6/16]
Fanny (1961 USA, dir Joshua Logan, stars Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier) [6/17]
Addicted to Love (1997 USA, dir Griffin Dunne, stars Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick) [6/19]
Bella (2006 USA, dir Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, stars Tammy Blanchard) [6/20]
The Pillars of the Earth (2010 USA, dir Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, stars Matthew Macfadyen) [6/21]
Starship Troopers (1997 USA, dir Paul Verhoeven, stars Casper van Dien, Denise Richards) [6/21]

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.