So I missed doing last week’s DVD Triage altogether, and what a mistake THAT was. There were a lot of interesting releases last week, compared to a relatively slow week this week. So I thought I’d just quickly list last week’s most interesting releases quickly here before getting into this week’s. Highly Recommended: The Turin Horse, Extraterrestrial. Recommended: Mamitas. Curious Myself: Lockout, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Intruders. Other Notable Releases: The Three Stooges, Get the Gringo, Casa de Mi Padre, Friends With Kids, 4:44 Last Day on Earth. TV Releases: Eureka S5, Leverage S4, Sanctuary S4, Alphas S1. I’ll do the same for classics down in that section. I have just included last week’s Instant Watch releases along with this week’s; not an inordinate amount of either releases or expirations.
New Release Pick of the Week
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
This documentary about Jiro Ono, widely considered the finest sushi chef in the world, and his ongoing love for his art and striving toward perfection in the sushi that he prepares and serves has been getting near-universal acclaim on its way around the festival circuit. Our own Marina adds to that with a four-star DVD review.
2011 USA. Director: David Gelb. Starring Jiro Ono, Yashikazu Ono.
Other New Releases
Age of the Dragons (2012 USA, dir Ryan Little, stars Danny Glover)
Bathory: Countess of Blood (2012 USA, dir Jurai Jakubisko, stars Anna Friel)
Big Easy Express (2012 USA, dir Emmett Malloy, stars Mumford & Sons, etc.)
Boss: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars Kelsey Grammer, Connie Nielsen)
Brake (2012 USA, dir Gabe Torres, stars Stephen Dorff)
Inspector Lewis: Series 5 (2011 UK, stars Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox)
Meeting Evil (2012 USA, dir Chris Fisher, stars Luke Wilson)
My Way (2011 South Korean, dir Je-kyu Kang, stars Jang Dong-Gun)
On the Inside (2011 USA, dir D.W. Brown, stars Nick Stahl)
Treasure Island (2012 UK, dir Steve Barron, stars Eddie Izzard)
Catalog Pick of the Week
Last week we saw some really great Blu-ray upgrades, especially the new 60th Anniversary edition of Singin’ in the Rain, which came in both single-disc and collector’s editions. Also, we got Blu-rays of Down by Law (Criterion), Mean Streets, High Noon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), A Perfect Murder, Hard to Kill, Camelot (1967), The Butterfly Effect, and Cellular. And on the Warner Archive front, they released a bunch of rare Gene Kelly non-musicals – I didn’t even know he made this many non-musicals, but these are straight up dramas, comedies, and adventure films. Check out the list here. Now, on to this week.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1 Blu-ray
I’ve just started getting into The Next Generation on Netflix Instant, and have definitely been enjoying it – for die-hard Trekkers, upgrading to Blu-ray is probably a must.
1987 USA. Creator: Gene Roddenberry. Starring: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton.
Other Catalog Releases
WARNER ARCHIVE
Big Shots (1987 USA, dir Robert Mandel, stars Ricky Busker)
Brass Target (1978 USA, dir John Hough, stars George Kennedy)
Cool Freeze (1972 USA, dir Barry Pollack, stars Thalmus Rasulala)
The Doctor and the Girl (1949 USA, dir Curtis Bernhardt, stars Glenn Ford)
The Gallant Men: Complete Series (1963 USA, dir Robert Altman, stars Robert McQueeney)
John Paul Jones (1959 USA, dir John Farrow, stars Robert Stack)
Kirby Grant and Chinook adventure triple feature (1951-1952 USA, dir Frank McDonald, stars Kirby Grant)
OTHERS
Hey Arnold! Season 2, Part 2 (1997 USA, stars Toran Cuadell)
The Island of Dr. Moreau Blu-ray (1996 USA, dir John Frankenheimer, stars Marlon Brando)
The Last of England (1988 UK, dir Derek Jarman, stars Tilda Swinton)
Mystery Men Blu-ray (1999 USA, dir Kinka Usher, stars William H. Macy)
Touched by an Angel: Season 5 (1998 USA, stars John Dye)
The Untouchables: Season 4, Vol. 1 (1962 USA, stars Robert Stack, Walter Winchell)
Instant Watch Picks of the Week
The Future
Hard to believe this is only Miranda July’s second feature, but it’s a very strong one, with a couple’s relationship faltering because of their sudden awareness of their own mortality. Sounds heady, and it is, but it’s also very human, dark, and memorable. My review.
2011 USA. Director: Miranda July. Starring: Miranda July, Hamish Linkletter.
Attenberg
Stylistically caught between the French and Czech New Waves and whatever Tsangari and Lanthimos are leading down in Greece right now, this film is a low-key but secretly weighty look at a young woman’s unconventional attempts to deal with her late-blooming sexuality and the impending death of her father. My review.
2010 Greece. Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari. Starring: Ariane Labed, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelina Randou, Giorgos Lanthimos.
Other Instant Watch Releases
Columbo: Season 6 & 7 (1976 USA, stars Peter Falk)
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1976 USA, stars Bill Cosby)
Fraggle Rock: Season 4 & 5 (1986 USA, creator Jim Henson)
The Guild: Season 1 & 2 (2007 USA, creator Felicia Day)
Happy Accidents (2000 USA, dir Brad Anderson, stars Marisa Tomei)
How to Train Your Dragon: Legends (2011 USA, stars Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler)
Merlin (1998 UK, stars Sam Neill, Miranda Richardson)
Mulholland Falls (1996 USA, dir Lee Tamahori, stars Nick Nolte)
Powder Blue (2009 USA, dir Timothy Linh Bui, stars Jessica Biel)
Rampart (2011 USA, dir Oren Moverman, stars Woody Harrelson)
The Russia House (1990 USA, dir Fred Schepisi, stars Sean Connery)
Touching the Void (2003 USA, dir Kevin MacDonald, stars Nicholas Aaron)
White Christmas (1954 USA, dir Michael Curtiz, stars Bing Crosby)
You Kill Me (2007 USA, dir John Dahl, stars Ben Kingsley)
Expiring Picks of the Week
Downfall
The final days of Hitler through the eyes of his young secretary – it’s a look inside Hitler’s bunker that’s been parodied by countless YouTube videos, and yet the original is absolutely amazing still. One of the best movies of the aughts.
2004 Germany. Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel. Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara.
Other Instant Watch Expirations
Ip Man (2008 Hong Kong, dir Wilson Yip, stars Donnie Yen) [7/26]
The Lone Ranger (1949 USA, stars Clayton Moore) [7/26]
Chocolate (2008 Thailand, dir Prachya Pinkaew, stars JeeJa Yanin) [7/30]
Eden Log (2007 USA, dir Franck Vestiel, stars Clovis Cornillac) [7/30]
The Perfect Sleep (2009 USA, dir Jeremy Alter, stars Anton Pardoe) [7/30]
Two Lovers (2008 USA, dir James Gray, stars Joaquin Phoenix) [7/30]
The Cutting Edge (1992 USA, dir Paul Michael Glaser, stars D.B. Sweeney) [7/31]
The Good Son (1993 USA, dir Joseph Ruben, stars Macauley Culkin) [7/31]
Les Miserables (1952 USA, dir Lewis Milestone, stars Michael Rennie) [7/31]
8 Seconds (1994 USA, dir John G. Avildsen, stars Luke Perry) [8/1]
The Addams Family (1991 USA, dir Barry Sonnenfeld, stars Anjelica Huston) [8/1]
Addams Family Values (1993 USA, dir Barry Sonnenfeld, stars Anjelica Huston) [8/1]
Analyze This (1999 USA, dir Harold Ramis, stars Robert De Niro) [8/1]
Angel Eyes (2001 USA, dir Luis Mandoki, stars Jennifer Lopez) [8/1]
Big Night (1996 USA, dir Stanley Tucci, stars Stanley Tucci) [8/1]
Boys Don’t Cry (1999 USA, dir Kimberley Peirce, stars Hilary Swank) [8/1]
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 USA, dir Walter Lang, stars Clifton Webb) [8/1]
Congo (1995 USA, dir Frank Marshall, stars Laura Linney) [8/1]
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990 USA, dir Renny Harlin, stars Bruce Willis) [8/1]
Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005 Italy, dir Dario Argento, stars Elio Germano) [8/1]
Drugstore Cowboy (1989 USA, dir Gus Van Sant, stars Matt Dillon) [8/1]
Everything is Illluminated (2005 USA, dir Liev Schrieber, stars Elijah Wood) [8/1]
Ghost in the Shell (1995 Japan, dir Mamoru Oshii, stars Atsuko Tanaka) [8/1]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002 Japan, stars Atsuko Tanaka) [8/1]
Grand Theft Auto (1977 USA, dir Ron Howard, stars Ron Howard) [8/1]
The Grand (2007 USA, dir Zak Penn, stars Woody Harrelson) [8/1]
Letters from Iwo Jima (2007 USA, dir Clint Eastwood, stars Ken Watanabe) [8/1]
A Man Called Peter (1955 USA, dir Henry Koster, stars Richard Todd) [8/1]
Mississippi Burning (1988 USA, dir Alan Parker, stars Gene Hackman) [8/1]
Monkey Business (1952 USA, dir Howard Hawks, stars Cary Grant) [8/1]
The Net (1995 USA, dir Irwin Winkler, stars Sandra Bullock) [8/1]
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982 USA, dir Taylor Hackford, stars Richard Gere) [8/1]
The Omega Man (1971 USA, dir Boris Sagal, stars Charlton Heston) [8/1]
Paycheck (2003, dir John Woo, stars Ben Affleck) [8/1]
The Shadow (1994 USA, dir Russell Mulcahy, stars Alec Baldwin) [8/1]
Stargate Atlantis (2004-2008 USA, stars Joe Flanigan) [8/1]
Staying Alive (1983 USA, dir Sylvester Stallone, stars John Travolta) [8/1]
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007 Japan, dir Takashi Miike, stars Hideaki Ito) [8/1]
Sweet November (2001 USA, dir Pat O’Connor, stars Keanu Reeves) [8/1]
Changing Times (2004 France, dir André Téchiné, stars Catherine Deneuve) [8/2]
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972 Italy, dir Lucio Fluci, stars Barbara Bouchet) [8/2]
I Vinti (1952 Italy, dir Michelangelo Antonioni, stars Franco Interlenghi) [8/2]
Inferno (1980 Italy, dir Dario Argento, stars Irene Miracle) [8/2]
A Summer in Genoa (2008 UK, dir Michael Winterbottom, stars Colin Firth) [8/2]
Hoop Dreams (1994 USA, dir Steve James) [8/7]
The Ruling Class (1972 UK, dir Peter Medak, stars Peter O’Toole) [8/7]
See all expiring titles.
