Horror deals & new releases...

October is upon us... Halloween is right around the corner... Ready to get your HORROR on?

All next week, from Sunday to Saturday (10/2-8), to help get you in the mood,
when you rent one horror film, you can get another one free!
(limit one freebie per visit)

Also coming next week:
The first show of Vermont Stage Company's season (and the first show produced under the auspices of the new artistic director, Cristina Alicia), Photograph 51 boasts a great, all local cast and tells a compelling story of scientific discovery and disputed credit. Check it out!




New to Our Shelves This Week:


Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
Don't let the title mislead you: Michael Bay's latest installment in the franchise has nothing to do with Pink Floyd.

Carlos
Read Margot Harrison's review of the latest by Olivier Assayas here - part of her Movies You Missed blog series for Seven Days.

The Hour
This late-50s set BBC series just got picked up for another season.

The Arbor
Documentary on the troubled daughter of the troubled late playwright Andrea Dunbar.

The Ledge

L'Amour Fou

L.A. Zombie
Provocateur Bruce LaBruce continues mashing-up horror, porn, & satire with this follow-up to his Otto; or Up With Dead People.

Miss Nobody

Without Men

Inside Out

American Loser

The Lost Future

The Phantom Carriage
Criterion releases Victor Sjostrom's 1921 classic fable. One of the films that inspired Ingmar Bergman to make movies.

Inspector Lewis - 4th Season

Hung - 2nd Season

How I Met Your Mother - 6th Season

Modern Family - 2nd Season
"Don't apologize. I love it when you're human."

For more movie news & notes -- as well occasional exclusive deals --

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Contests & New Releases

This past week we ran a contest looking for everyone's favorite movie-related song. Congratulations to Amelia who wins some free rentals for her choice of "Sugar High" from Empire Records! View the winning entry in our movie-related song contest here. To view the other videos that were posted (and there were some great videos posted!), visit the Waterfront Video Facebook page. There will be more games, contests, and special deals announced through our Facebook page in the future, so be sure to "Like" us.



New to Our Shelves This Week:

Bridesmaids
One of the funniest movies of the year, featuring some of the funniest ladies in the biz, gets a DVD released loaded with hilarious extras. (This is a video-store exclusive; not available through Netflix/Qwikster or Redbox.) Comes with the option of watching either the theatrical cut or the unrated extended version.

Setup
Bruce Willis, 50 Cent, & Ryan Phillippe star in this direct-to-DVD actioner. Gotta be good, right?

Silent Light
Carlos Reygadas follows up his divisive Battle in Heaven with this meditative tale of an adulterous affair in a Mennonite community.

4th & Goal
Documentary that follows six aspiring footballers and their attempt to make it into the NFL.

Circo
Documentary on a traveling Mexican circus troupe.

If a Tree Falls
Documentary on the controversial environmental activist group, Earth Liberation Front. Features music by The National.

The Kennedys
See what caused all the hoopla with this mini-series that was originally commissioned by The History Channel, only to be unceremoniously dropped later. (Whether this decision was reached due to pressure from influential insider sources or other factors is still a matter of speculation.)

Raising Hope - 1st Season

Mike & Molly - 1st Season

Castle - 3rd Season

Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening
Get your funny on with one of the stars of Parks & Recreation, Human Giant, and Funny People.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
See the original horror flick that inspired the recent remake.

Les Cousins
Suspense maestro Claude Chabrol's second feature.

Daguerreotypes
An early personal essay/documentary by Agnes Varda.

Star Wars on Blu-Ray
See Lucas mess with your childhood more clearly than ever before! The complete saga plus a plethora of cool extras is included in this Blu-Ray boxset.

For more movie news & notes -- as well occasional exclusive deals --

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New York Characters & New Releases...

Bill Cunningham New York, a delightful documentary on the eccentric and wonderfully good-natured octogenarian photographer, familiar to all readers of the New York Times' Sunday Style section and many others, received its DVD release this week, and I highly recommend it. It's hard not to be taken with the man - his philosophy, his humor, and his work. Watching it called to mind some other great profiles of New York characters, of all stripes...

I Like Killing Flies
The irascible and oddly endearing chef and diner owner Kenny Shopsin pontificates on food, community, and... whatever else crosses his mind in Matt Mahurin's lo-fi doc.

Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
The daughter of Manhattan socialites, Berlin left behind the world of debutantes and soirees at a young age to pursue a more idiosyncratic path. A regular amongst the New York underground scene, Berlin was a famed member of the Warhol Factory and a good friend of Andy himself. In addition to pursuing her own artistic muse (ie, her "Cock Book" and appearances in John Waters' films), she also candidly battled eating disorders and obsessive compulsive tendencies. In Shelly Dunn & Vincent Freemont's documentary, she holds forth on her past and present accomplishments and challenges with refreshing honesty.

The Cruise
A tour guide of New York's Gray Line double-decker buses, Timothy "Speed" Levitch treats his captive audiences to stream-of-consciousness musings on subjects ranging from historical and architectural trivia to philosophical conjectures to reasons why he loves his city. Levitch is also featured in Richard Linklater's doc, Live From Shiva's Dance Floor.

Public Speaking
Martin Scorsese directs this portrait of noted writer and iconoclastic thinker Fran Lebowitz, who delivers witty and provocative reflections on an impressive range of topics.


This week's new arrivals:

Thor
This week's superhero quota is fulfilled by Thor and his mighty hammer. Kenneth Branagh directs!

Hesher
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a rough-living loner who becomes entwined in one family's lives. Also stars Rainn Wilson and Natalie Portman.

Incendies
Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-nominated film is a riveting, Middle Eastern set mystery (based on a play by Wajdi Mouawad) that leads to a sucker-punch of an ending.

Meek's Cutoff
The latest from Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Old Joy) is a slow-burning Western, starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, and Paul Dano.

American Breakdown
This omnibus film strings together several shorts, featuring James Gandolfini, Steve Carell, Eric Stonestreet, Paris Hilton, and many others.

Blades of Blood
The latest Korean martial arts flick. Original title: Goo-reu-meul beo-eo-nan dal-cheo-reom... Not sure why they changed it.

True Legend
Another martial arts offering, this one directed by Woo-ping Yuen (fight choreographer for Kill Bill; The Matrix; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and many others).

Son of Morning
Nothing like being mistaken for the messiah to make you famous overnight.

Brand New Day
Geoffrey Rush stars in this Australian musical comedy.

Wishful Drinking
Carrie Fisher's wonderful one-woman show. Read a great AV Club interview with Fisher here.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
When Conan becomes contractually forbidden from performing on television, radio, or the interweb, he takes it on the road. Read Margot Harrison's here, part of her Movies You Missed blog series for Seven Days.

Vidal Sassoon: The Movie
Documentary profile of the influential stylist.

The National: A Skin, A Night
Vincent Moon's impressionistic portrait of the band as they record their album Boxer.

'Tis the season for TV on DVD! This week's arrivals:

Rescue Me - 6th & Final Season

Glee - 2.2nd Season

Camelot - 1st Season

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena - 1st Season

The Big Bang Theory - 4th Season

Grey's Anatomy - 7th Season

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - 6th Season

For more movie news & notes -- as well occasional exclusive deals --
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Spotlight on Michael Fassbender! Plus New Releases...

On Friday, X-Men: First Class comes out on DVD as a video store exclusive (not available through Netflix or Redbox). This highly entertaining origin story is directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake) and features a great cast that includes James McAvoy, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult. But it's Michael Fassbender, who plays the young Magneto, who gets the spotlight this week...


Fassbender has quickly and quietly established himself as one of the strongest and more versatile actors working today. With a duo of upcoming, highly anticipated films (David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, where he plays Carl Jung opposite Viggo Mortensen's Sigmund Freud, and British director Steve McQueen's Shame, where he portrays a sex addict), Fassbender seems poised to cement his rising stardom. Here we take a look at some of his earlier roles:

Hunger
Steve McQueen's directorial debut is an austere and meditative look at the 1981 IRA hunger strike in the Maze Prison of Northern Ireland. Fassbender plays strike leader Bobby Sands in a physically transformative performance that is as unsettling as it is impressive.

Fish Tank
Director Andrea Arnold's excellent depiction of Mia, an aspiring teenage flygirl, features authentic performances and a vivid sense of place. Fassbender shows up as the seductive boyfriend of Mia's mother - a beguiling mixture of charm and danger.

Inglourious Basterds
In Tarantino's divisive revisionist war fantasy, Fassbender plays one of the Basterds, Lt. Archie Hicox, whose tension-filled scene in the basement of a German tavern is one of the film's stand-out sequences.

Eden Lake
One of the more effective horror offerings of recent years, this disturbing tale centers on a young couple on holiday (Fassbender and Kelly Reilly) who find themselves terrorized by a menacing group of chavs. White-knuckled suspense marked by moments of gore and terror.


Other notable new releases:
Hanna
Joe Wright (Atonement) directs this action thriller, starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Cate Blanchett. This is also a video store exclusive (not available through Netflix or Redbox).

Everything Must Go
Will Ferrell stars in this adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story.

Frederick Wiseman on DVD!
Our first offerings by the legendary documentarian include his two most recent films, Boxing Gym and La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, as well as his first, Titicut Follies from 1967, an unsettling look inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater.

Another good week for TV on DVD!

The Office - 7th Season
Catch Michael Scott's final season and learn a new dance in the process!


Parks and Recreation - 3rd Season

Community - 2nd Season

The Good Wife - 2nd Season

Fringe - 3rd Season

For more movie news & notes -- as well occasional exclusive deals -- like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Labor Day Sale, Hurricane Relief Efforts, & New Releases

Labor Day Weekend Customer Appreciation Sale!!!

Stop by the store between Friday and Monday for our annual
Customer Appreciation Weekend.
Discounted rentals, late-fee forgiveness,
deals on all previously-viewed movies for sale, & more!

This has of course been a difficult time for many of our neighbors in this state as we all come to terms with the destruction and devastating effects of Hurricane Irene. Relief efforts had already begun before the storm was over, and there has been a truly affecting display of generosity and community spirit as volunteers and organizations around Vermont have stepped up to help.
If you are looking for ways to get involved in the relief effort, some recommended sites include:
An excellent resource that has helped co-ordinate much of the aid effort, #VTResponse.
A VT Irene Flood relief fund was also created on Facebook here.
Governor Shumlin posted about ways to donate on his blog.
And Seven Days has done a typically great job of reporting on the state of the state as well as offering directories of sites and organizations active in the relief efforts, especially this list here.
Texting FOODNOW to 52000 will donate $10 to the Vermont Foodbank.
There are also a couple of benefit concerts being planned for next weekend, including this one on Sunday the 11th at Nectar's. We'll post more info about these over the next week.
And at the Waterfront Video store, we will have Red Cross donation boxes available. Because every little bit helps.

(Thanks to James B. for the WeepyVT picture.)


New to our shelves this week:

In a Better World
Susanne Bier's Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film of 2010.

Prom
Who are you going with?

True Adolescents
Mumblecore enters its 30s.

The Perfect Host
David Hyde Pierce hosts a dinner party with a rather sinister menu.

Forks Over Knives
Documentary examining the relationship between diet and disease.

Police, Adjective
Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu follows up his excellent droll comedy, 12:08 East of Bucharest, with this meditation on the banality of procedure and intricacies of semantics.

X
An erotic Australian thriller.

Wrecked
Adrien Brody awakes in the wreckage of a car with no memory of how he wound up there.

Skateland
Back to the 80s... again.

Sons of Anarchy - 3rd Season

House - 7th Season

Cougar Town - 2nd Season

Parenthood - 2nd Season

Running Wilde - 1st Season

The Vampire Diaries - 2nd Season

Brewster McCloud
Altman's early absurdist comedy gets an MOD release.

The Complete Vigo
Criterion releases a 2-disc set of legendary French director's four films, including the iconic L'Atalante and the iconoclastic Zero du Conduit. A big fan, Michel Gondry, created this short piece of animation to herald the DVD release: watch it here!

For more movie news & notes -- as well occasional exclusive deals -- please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!