New Release Pick of the Week
The Myth of the American Sleepover
Of course Hugo is the obvious pick of the week, an excellent film to be sure, but why be obvious? You all know about that one already. I saw The Myth of the American Sleepover on a whim at a festival over a year ago, and it crept its little way right into my heart. An unassuming coming of age drama that utilizes its ensemble cast perfectly, the film has been on Instant Watch for a few months now, but if you don’t have Netflix or want a hard copy, here it is. Give it a chance.
2010 USA. Director: David Robert Mitchell. Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen.
Other New Releases
Answers to Nothing (2011 USA, dir Matthew Leutwyler, stars Dane Cook, Julie Benz)
Beneath the Darkness (2011 USA, dir Martin Guigui, stars Dennis Quaid)
I Melt With You (2012 USA, dir Mark Pellington, stars Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane)
Johnny English Reborn (2012 UK, dir Oliver Parker, stars Rowan Atkinson)
Justice League: Doom (2012 USA, dir Lauren Montgomery, stars Kevin Conroy)
Tomorrow When the War Began (2012 Australia, dir Stuart Beattie, stars Caitlin Stasey)
Catalog Pick of the Week
Scarlet Street Blu-ray
After the success of 1944′s film noir The Woman in the Window, Lang reunited with the cast from that film to make Scarlet Street, which I actually like a little bit better, if you force me to choose. Robinson is always solid, never more so than here, as a henpecked husband who sees Joan Bennett as a way to rejuvenate himself a bit, but she’s only playing him for the money she thinks he has.
1945 USA. Director: Fritz Lang. Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea.
Other Catalog Releases
The Buccaneer (1958 USA, dir Anthony Quinn, stars Yul Brynner, Clare Bloom)
The Crash / Registered Nurse (1932/34 USA, stars Ruth Chatterton / Bebe Daniels)
Law & Order: The Tenth Year (2000 USA, stars Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach)
Love in the Time of Money (2002 USA, dir Peter Mattei, stars Steve Buscemi)
Mission: Impossible: The 1989 TV Season (1989 USA, stars Bob Johnson, Peter Graves)
The Mountain Blu-ray (1956 USA, dir Edward Dmytryk, stars Spencer Tracy)
Nijinsky (1980 USA, dir Herbert Ross, stars George De La Pena, Alan Bates)
The Runaway Jury (2003 USA, dir Gary Fleder, stars John Cusack, Rachel Weisz)
Where Love Has Gone Blu-ray (1964 USA, dir Edward Dmytryk, stars Bette Davis)
Instant Watch Picks of the Week
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
Now an Academy Award-winning actor-director team, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin, and Bérénice Bejo are no strangers to each other – they’re best known in France for their collaboration on a pair of spy parodies, of which this is the first. I haven’t seen these, but after the success of The Artist, I’m sure I’m not the only one curious to check them out. OSS 117: Lost in Rio is due to expire from Instant on 3/15, so for a couple of weeks, you can see them both.
2006 France. Director: Michel Hazanavicius. Starring: François Damiens, Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo.
Other Instant Watch Releases
Expiring Picks of the Week
Pictured films all expire on 3/1. Which is tomorrow.
Other Instant Watch Expirations
All the Pretty Horses (2000 USA, dir Billy Bob Thornton, stars Matt Damon) [3/1]
Encounters at the End of the World (2007 Germany, dir Werner Herzog) [3/1]
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967 USA, dir Stanley Kramer, stars Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn) [3/1]
Hud (1963 USA, dir Martin Ritt, stars Paul Newman, Patricia Neal) [3/1]
The Italian Job (1969 UK, dir Peter Collinson, stars Michael Caine, Noel Coward) [3/1]
La Femme Nikita (1990 France, dir Luc Besson, stars Anne Parillaud) [3/1]
The Last Emperor (1987 Italy, dir Bernardo Bertolucci, stars Peter O’Toole) [3/1]
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993 USA, dir Woody Allen, stars Woody Allen) [3/1]
The Odd Couple (1968 USA, dir Gene Saks, stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau) [3/1]
Romeo & Juliet (1968 UK, dir Franco Zeffirelli, stars Leonard Whiting) [3/1]
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990 USA, dir Tom Stoppard, stars Gary Oldman, Tim Roth) [3/1]
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993 USA, dir Steven Zaillian, stars Joe Mantenga) [3/1]
Silent Running (1971 USA, dir Douglas Trumbull, stars Bruce Dern) [3/1]
Stripes (1981 USA, dir Ivan Reitman, stars Bill Murray, Harold Ramis) [3/1]
To Sir With Love (1966 UK, dir James Clavell, stars Sidney Poitier) [3/1]
The Virgin Suicides (1999 USA, dir Sofia Coppola, stars Kirsten Dunst) [3/1]
War and Peace (1956 USA, dir King Vidor, stars Henry Fonda, Audrey Hepburn) [3/1]
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008 USA, dir Jodie Markell, stars Bryce Dallas Howard) [3/7]
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009 France, dir Michel Hazanavicius, stars Jean Dujardin) [3/14]
See all expiring titles.
I am kind of interested in catching up with The Yellow Sea and Miss Bala, both films I missed on the fest circuit last year.
I missed Miss Bala, too – heard mixed things about it and didn’t try too hard to see it, I have to admit. The Yellow Sea is a ton of fun. A bit slow in the beginning, but the last half is pretty much solid chase – and mostly on foot!
I liked Miss Bala a fair amount. The style of the film was my favourite part; it was very dirty and grimy and added a lot to the feel of the film. It felt like the director had some sort of filter going on. It was slow when it needed to be, but had some solid action set pieces too. Definitely worth a watch.
Yellow Sea is worth a watch. I liked it for totally different reasons to Jandy though – I loved the slow first half and thought they spoiled that build up with a ludicrous second half. It’s fun to watch, but didn’t settle with the first half for me.
I will appreciate the first half more on rewatch, David, I’m sure. It was a festival viewing, and the first half was a STRUGGLE to stay awake through, just because I was exhausted. The running parts kept me awake just fine.
But I did think the chases were awesome. Over the top, sure, but awesomely so.
Looking forward to finally catching up with Hugo (courtesy of $1 RedBox).
The OSS movies did nothing for me but people who are curious about some more Jean Dujardin may find some interest in them.
I think Gamble loves them, so if you like his brand of humor, you may love these things.
Yeah, I’m in the “curious” mode more than anything else on the OSS movies. I’ve known about them for a while, but had only been mildly interested in checking them out until now.
I can’t believe I somehow neglected to include Archer on here – Season Two just came on Netflix Instant this week. That definitely would’ve been pick of the week, but somehow I didn’t see it on Instant Watcher when I was putting this together, and it totally slipped my mind. Even though I’m already halfway through watching it. Such a hilarious show.