Coming Distractions December 1st, 2009

Terminator Salvation
Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian
Into the Storm
Paper Heart


So many exciting things happening here at the video store!



First (1st!): You should stop by to enter our drawing to win 2 free tickets to see "A John Waters Christmas" at the Flynn on December 10th. Here you can read an interview with the director by Brent Hallenbeck of the Burlington Free Press.



Second (2nd!): What's the next best thing to free? That's right: Cheap! We are also having a giant sale on previously-viewed DVDs. Get this creativity: It's tiered. If you only feel like buying 1 DVD it will cost you $7, if you select 2 they are $5 each, but if you want to stock up on 3 or more each movie is only $3. Kirsten Stewart was so shocked she actually accidentally displayed an emotion!

Here is a wildly inappropriate and fabulously awesome music video from Rue Mevlana starring a couple of your favorite Waterfront Video employees and a ton of other local persons. Note: no video store employees were harmed during the making of this song and/or video. The magic of camera trickery!

Coming Distractions November 24th, 2009

Funny People: I haven't finished it, (but I will!) so the ending could be terrible, but so far I was very pleasantly surprised. Far funnier than I expected. Funny People seemed to get mixed reviews for vacillating too extremely between comedy and drama, but I guess I don't mind dick jokes and death discussions back to back. Doesn't comedy ultimately spring from a place of pain and humiliation and confusion about the human condition, anyway?

Isn't it strange that every director who uses Jason Schwartzmann has to have at least one centered, almost-fish-eyed, head shot of him in their movie, even if they are not Wes Anderson? Strange, must have something to do with the mole.


Also, Aubrey Plaza (also of Parks and Recreation) has really grown on me. Like I'm a mighty tree and she's this lovely emerald green soft fuzzy monotone moss with long brown bangs that always get in her eyes. (What?! sssshhhhh, it works. )

Angels and Demons
Taking Chances
The Indian
Four Christmases
Shorts
Pray the Devil Back to Hell


The Last Mistress: Here to remind us that wound-licking, unlike laughter, is not the best medicine.

Coming Distractions November 17th, 2009

More New Releases Than You Can Shake a Stick at.

Star Trek: It's here! Your wait is over. Though really, you probably should have seen it in the theater. It's just that type of big screen movie. (Welcome to my guide to how to alienate your blog readership & customers within 30 seconds.) Also, note Anton Yelchin in back of photo, he, for you wily, attentive readers, also played the precocious son on Huff.



Bruno: We have several things on a shelf behind the counter here at (off the) Waterfront Video. The leg lamp like the one from A Christmas Story used to get the most comments, but it has been given a run for it's money in the last few years by the I (heart) Kazakhstan sticker. Now Bruno's out. And that's my story. (waterfrontvideoburl.blogspot.com: now with even more free associating than ever before!)



The Limits of Control: The new Jim Jarmusch film. I'm excited. Are you excited?






My Sister's Keeper: I really enjoyed the New York Times Magazine article with Jodi Picoult (whose book this is based on), though I've never read any of her wroks. Also, check out this amazing photograph of the author in her studio, with her son in the shadows on the left side. I've heard Abigail Breslin has been picked to portray Helen Keller in an upcoming biopic.



Humpday: 2 straight men decide to make a gay pornographic film. Do they go through with it?





Is Anybody There?: Directed by John Crowley, who also directed Boy A: a film I highly recommend about a young man who committed a serious crime as a young boy and has spent all his formative years in prison and now must try to readjust to life on the outside. Is Anybody There? has Michael Caine. He's often a winner. This movie looks pretty heartwarming, but I have some faith that Crowley might be able to put a twist on the old man/young boy friendship genre.


Franklyn: Though this movie got mixed reviews, I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes I've seen so far. A mix of 3 stories, it opens on a dystopian town (called Meanwhile) and Ryan Philippe as narrator quoting Seneca with,

“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.”

The Open Road: Justin Timberlake. Jeff Bridges. Baseball. Road trips.



Spread: Ashton Kutcher & Anne Heche in a self-proclaimed sex comedy.



Thirst: New movie by Chan-woo Park, director of Oldboy. Divided audiences at Cannes. I'm excited! Anyone seen it yet?



The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard: Jeremy Piven & Ving Rhames



Margaret Cho: Beautiful: Did anyone get a chance to see her when she was in town recently? I hear it was hi-larious.

Dane Cook: Isolated Incident


It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas - Oh man, they go even farther than they normally do. And I laughed, and laughed. And Danny DeVito gets birthed from a leather couch. So, so wrong.

Coming Distractions November 10th, 2009

UP
The Ugly Truth
Summer's Moon
The Accidental Husband
Rethink Afghanistan
Polanski Unauthorized
ink

I recently quit smoking cigarettes (Nov. 1st - this is the longest I've gone without in the last 5 years! It's an adventure...) which has made me quite aware of how much I enjoy movies about excess. Some recent ones I've partaken of:

In Bed With a Stiff Drink
The Thin Man: this classic has the most absurd amount of drinking I've ever seen. It's also great fun, with some of the best of the snappy dialogue the 30's are known for. My favorite drinking scene is Nick and Norah at home, at night, in their separate beds. Norah asks Nick, "Are you awake?" Nick: "Yes." Norah:"Good, I need to talk."Nick offers Norah a drink to help her get back to sleep and when she refuses he pours himself one from the bar at the foot of his bed. Sensational!


Crazy Love (1987): is an adaptation/conglomeration of Charles Bukowski stories, this one from Belgium. The movie is split into 3 parts, the first one about the introduction to girls/sex, the 2nd about the struggles Bukowski had with facial boils (the recreation of this is really quite fascinating/horrifying. Acne that horrible engenders instant sympathy, but it's also so incredibly painful to look at. Apparently the actor, Josse de Pauw, went for a walk in public with the boils still on, and was scarred by the reaction of the public.) & his introduction to his "deep & gorgeous thirst", and then the 3rd section takes a bizarre turn (spoiler) into necrophilia. I can't recall any Bukowski story about lust for corpses. Did I just miss that one? The movie is not great, but it's interesting.

Huff: A fun show, with terrible, terrible treacly music. Don't get turned off by the pilot; it gets better. Hank Azaria plays a psychiatrist who is sick of listening to people, Lara Flynn Boyle shows up occasionally as a lunatic in a modified sexy sailor suit, Blythe Danner (Gwenyth Paltrow's mom, just as beautiful and a better actress) is Hank's acerbic mom. But the best character is the lawyer played by Oliver Platt, a man who goes in for just about any excessive excesses he can lay his hands on. The show ran for 2 seasons but they've only ever released the 1st on dvd or vhs. Is there somewhere I can lodge a protest?

Here's to giving up some of our vices, so that we can appreciate the deep and gorgeous ones we keep all the more.