Coming Distractions June 30th, 2009

Two Lovers
The Education of Charlie Banks (Fred Durst's directorial debut)
Entourage - 5th Season
Eastbound & Down
Kaidan
Dark Streets
12 Rounds
Cherry Blossoms
Tokyo!

...& not to be forgotton: we finally have a copy of Foxfire on DVD (I know you've been waiting for "Rebelina without a cause" in this Joyce Carol Oates adaptation).

Also - The Jonas Brothers: Concert. (For a good time I recommend going to this IMDb page, clicking on the breakdown of the votes for the user rating and noting 1. the lack of votes that are not either 1 or 10, and then scrolling down to the breakdown of voters ages to note that 2. females consistently dominate the # of voters... until you get to the 45+ age range.)

New News: You can now also stay totally up-to-date on the latest movie releases by signing up for our e-newsletter! If you wish to receive this informative e-missive, feel free to leave a note here with your e-mail address. If you do, never fear: we will not post your e-mail address in the comments (or anywhere else, for that matter). We also have a sign-up sheet on the counter in the actual, physical store, if you prefer joining analog-style.from Michel Gondry's section of Tokyo!

Coming Distractions June 23th, 2009

Waltz With Bashir
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Inkheart
Phoebe in Wonderland
Pink Panther 2
The Code
Dragon Hunters
Bob Funk
Leonard Cohen: Live in London
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus
Last Year at Marienbad

Have you ever had that feeling when you are walking through the town where you live, the town where you've lived for years upon years, and you suddenly really see the place? And it doesn't look strange, but it no longer looks familiar. The town looks like it could be every place, any town, but it's still specific. You know its particularities well. And you have this moment of seeing this town so humid and so still (like a photograph, like the feeling of driving past Chicago; the falsely timeless look of all the houses crowding toward the highway as you curve away to someplace else), and yet the town so in motion, cars zipping by. This overwhelming feeling of both motion and stillness that makes you feel as if you could die sometime in the near future, because of the (also maybe false) sense of this moment's significance, but you're glad you're probably not going to die soon and still you are surprised that you live anywhere, in any place, at all?

Speaking of places, there's this big one to our north (you've probably heard of it): Canada. It's where Leonard Cohen is from (of the new Live in London DVD)! Those Canadians have also made some pretty awesome movies. The (some would say, sadly under-watched) film Léolo, like Mr. Cohen, is also from Quebec, as are Lilies (which interweaves theater with reality in a surprisingly pleasing manner), and Bon Cop, Bad Cop.


One of my all-time favorite directors, David Cronenberg, is from Toronto and has made many of his movies in his homeland. (Dead Ringers, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, Crash, Videodrome, Scanners).


Director Bruce McDonald is also a native of Ontario. I would strongly recommend Highway 61 (about a young Canadian barber's odyssey with a strange woman and a corpse to New Orleans), and I am very excited for the upcoming Pontypool, because there is always room for another good zombie movie (not Canadian but also upcoming and exciting: Dead Snow (Nazi Zombies)(Norway) & Zombieland (Woody Harrelson & Emma Stone killing zombies)(USA))


Guy Maddin is of Winnipeg, and specializes in a very entertaining modern day twist on silent film. He uses many of the techniques of a bygone era, such as smearing the camera lens with vaseline, in a highly original manner in such films as The Saddest Music in the World, Brand Upon the Brain, the upcoming My Winnipeg. Canadian band The Weakerthans have a song about Winnipeg. Check it out.

Other Canadian films: Porky's, Away From Her, 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould, The Sweet Hereafter, C.R.A.Z.Y., Meatballs, New Waterford Girl, and Prom Night (1980). Also: Dan Akroyd.
Yay for Canadian film! Am I missing any of your (most/least) favorites?

Coming Distractions June 16th, 2009

Crash-landing onto our shelves next Tuesday:

What Goes Up
Friday the 13th
Burn Notice - 2nd Season
Secret Life of the American Teenager - 2nd Season
Saving Grace - 2nd Season
Raising the Bar - 1st Season
Family Guy - 8th Season
Scott Walker: 30th Century Man


What Goes Up stars Steve Coogan, Hilary Duff, Molly Shannon, and the two kids from The Wackness (Your problem is you always look at the wackness, whereas I look at the dopeness. Naaaaaww?) The movie is, apparently, the story of the teenagers at the high school where Christa McAuliffe worked until she was elected to become the first civilian sent into space on the Challenger. What a title for a movie that is, at least tangentially, about how McAuliffe was also the first teacher to explode on her way to space (Must Come Down). Right?
Real life tragedies have a long and robust (and healthy?) relationship with filmed drama. Some shows (see Law & Order: all incarnations, Criminal Minds, etc.) rely on dire news week after week. Let's take a look back at a few of the recent U.S. disasters that have been adapted for the big screen. And please feel free to comment with any films or tragedies I may have missed.


School Shootings have appeared in film before Columbine (If... ('68)), but throughout the 00's these tragedies have been all too prevalent in reality, and therefore on film . Elephant ('03, written & directed by Gus van Sant) & The Life Before Her Eyes ('07, starring Uma Thurman & Evan Rachel Wood) are two of the most famous. Duck! The Carbine High Massacre (1999), is another. Bowling for Columbine addresses both school shootings and the ease with which guns can be acquired in this great country.


Spike Lee's powerful documentary When the Levees Broke, takes on Hurricane Katrina in order to correct the widespread misbelief that it was Mother Nature, and not human incompetence, that destroyed the city of New Orleans. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button uses Katrina as a needless and annoying plot-framing device. Another documentary, Trouble the Water, will be out in August.


9/11 has inspired a slew of films and books, such as United 93, Flight 93, and Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (not to be confused with the pre-2001 electronic duo, I Am the World Trade Center). Reign Over Me (starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle) is about a man whose family was killed on that infamous day. The DVD September 11 contains 11 short segments from filmmakers around the world about the reactions to the terrorist attacks in each of their respective countries.

Coming Distractions June 9th, 2009

Gran Torino
The International
The Shield - 7th Season
Spinning Into Butter
Were the World Mine
Nicotina
Ladies or Gentlemen

I seem to be unable to pick a theme for this week's blog. Went to see Drag Me to Hell, so first thought was gypsy curses (ie. Thinner)

Then, following the rumors surrounding David Carradine's death Todd & I put together a short list of movies with deadly sexual encounters (Basic Instinct, Goldeneye, Teeth, Friday the 13th, Between Your Legs, Donkey Punch. I know there must be more?) Is that list disrespectful? Perhaps...

Another option: dog movies. With the cornucopia of dog movies that families can't stop lapping up (ha ha.) (Hotel for Dogs, Beverly Hills Chihuahua) I wanted to take a minute to remember some of the old classics (Cujo, Milo & Otis (famously, and regrettably, pre-PETA)). You should watch this video of a dog doing squats.

I've even been thinking a lot about Canadians lately, but I may save that one for its own post. Ahhh, Canadians...
Any suggestions for this little old blog?

I don't need to pick a theme this week, because we've got far more exciting news: two new shelves! 1. A Speaking Of... shelf, which contains movies that are related to current Burlington happenings (movies in the theater, plays, concerts, etc.) and is located behind the new arrivals/ recent hits shelf and 2. a Staff Picks shelf, under the glowing pink flamingo in the back of the store.

Coming Distractions June 2nd, 2009

These new releases are dedicated to the Tom Tom Club:

He's Just Not That Into You
Revolutionary Road
Defiance
Weeds - 4th Season
Spring Breakdown

You are most likely aware that David Byrne is coming to Shelburne Museum June 1st, to play not only songs from the David Byrne/Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, but also songs from any of the Eno-produced Talking Heads albums (More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light).

So today, we take a little stroll through some related video forays. That way, if you're going to the show you can get pumped here, or if you're not, (like me) you can get an internet fix instead. (But don't feel too bad for me - I did get to see him in Boston back in October...)

Of course, we have the (best ever!) concert DVD Stop Making Sense (directed by Jonathan Demme, of Rachel Getting Married, and also Silence of the Lambs). Here's Byrne interviewing Byrne as a bunch of not-Byrnes.



We also have 2 David Byrne concert DVDS, Live at Union Chapel and Live from Austin. Each contains a rousing (and unironic) rendition Whitney Houston's "Wanna Dance With Somebody".



We will happily rent to you, True Stories, written/directed/scored/narrated by Byrne, about a fictional, and very plucky, small-town in Texas.



Or the documentary Îlé Aiyé (The House of Life), about a spirit cult of Brazil.



He also did the scores for Big Love, The Last Emperor, Young Adam, and Married to the Mob.



In the next video clip, if you can sit through 5-minutes of Patton Oswalt making faces (or you could just fast-forward, I suppose...) you will be treated to Byrne's version of my favorite ode to liquor, "There Stands the Glass" (originally by Webb Pierce).



We also have Brian Eno's DVD 14 Video Paintings. Though it's got pretty static imagery, you do get to select whether you want the images vertical or horizontal.

After the show, I'll be sure to check Byrne's online journal to see what he's got to say about our little village. Here is the man next to one of the bike racks he designed. If you go, enjoy the dancers, and especially the office chairs!

Coming Distractions May 26th, 2009

New in Town
The Sky Crawlers
Powder Blue
The Devil's Tomb
24 - 7th Season
The Princess of Nebraska/a Thousand Years of Good Prayers


As Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina, "Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." After browsing AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com and watching The Ross Sisters' amazing feats of dexterity I felt the need to gather a list of all the absorbingly awkward family movies. The list was so long, and so uncomfortable, I had to break it up into three rough categories.



What fresh hell is this?: Awkward Couples
War of the Roses
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Staircase
Parents
The Squid & The Whale
Breaking the Waves



Families that are too close for comfort
The Celebration
Savage Grace
Cement Garden
Twin Peaks
Spanking the Monkey
Hotel New Hampshire
Volver
The War Zone



Sometimes it's just easier to give a kid away: General Dysfunction
Arrested Development
American Beauty
Towelhead
Léolo
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Home for the Holidays
Hamlet
The Lion in Winter
Capturing the Friedmans
Happiness
The Ice Storm
The Ref
Any Tennessee Williams Adaptation

It's so interesting how we humans are so often wont to treat those closest to us the worst. Either these movies can help us steer clear of that particular tendency, or just make us feel better that we're not that dysfunctional (I hope...)

Coming Distractions May 19th, 2009

Valkyrie
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
True Blood - 1st Season
Friday Night Lights - 3rd Season
Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts
Russell Brand in New York
My Bloody Valentine

What's up the similarities between the poster for Alan Ball's new show (see above) and the upcoming Diable Cody/Megan Fox (that lil genius) film Jennifer's Body?

Next, and most urgently: Fridgewatcher!

We finally have Helvetica (and yeah, that's arial, but it's blogspot and a pc and all, plus I didn't want to contribute to the conflict in Iraq). It's amazing that an 80 minute film can be made on a font and still really work. It's also amazing the level of quality of digital film these days. (I'm assuming this was shot on a digital camera) I really wish David Lynch had been aware of these amazing technological advances.

An interesting side effect of watching the film is that afterwards you can't stop noticing the fonts that are everywhere. A little Sans-serif here, a little serif there. Burlington does not seem to be as Helvetica-ized as many larger cities. In an effort to start noticing the words again, and not just the typeface in which they are written, I recommend indulging in some other word-related documentaries. Such as:

Word Wars: Highly overlooked documentary on scrabble, with some bizarre characters/real people that rival any other film on unusual obsessions (such as King of Kong.) Really, really recommend it.

Wordplay: about crosswords, with such interviewees as Will Shortz, John Stewart, and Bill Clinton.

Spellbound: widely beloved doc about the drama of spelling bees.

Then there are some single word documentaries, such as Fuck or The N Word. Am I missing others?

Now please enjoy this trailer for Debbie Gibson's new film, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus or some Romanian pop music.