12/26/2008 4:58 PM
posted awhile ago
Holiday DVDs 12/23 &12/30 -- Wes Anderson, Johnny Depp, and more Ninja movies than you'd ever want to see
Did you get gift cards for Christmas? Here's how to spend them over the next two weeks.
SkyPIlot's Top 3 December DVD Picks
1. Bottle Rocket is in the Criterion Collection! Watch the trailer.
For those who haven't seen Bottle Rocket, it's a quirky slacker comedy/heist flick, like...Reality Bites meets Ocean's 13. No wait, is there really anything like early Wes Anderson (except later Wes Anderson)? This edition has loads of special features including eleven deleted scenes and the original 13-minute, b&w Bottle Rocket short from 1992.
2. Burn After Reading -- Watch the trailer. It won't convert any unbelievers into the Coen cult, but a lot of it's worth watching over and over again (especially the parts with Brad Pitt).
3. And it goes without saying that everyone should pick up one copy of The Dark Knight, a second copy to keep in your glove box, and a third to keep in your hope chest. Watch the trailer.
Check out Kevin Kelly's DVD gift guide for documentary and box set recommendations.
Dec. 23 DVD releases
1. The Johnny Depp Triple Feature -- It's just one of those cheapie 3-sets, like the ones you find at Target, but get a load of this playlist:
Edward Scissorhands -- Watch the trailer. Wow, I was not ready for this when I was 9 years old.
Benny & Joon -- Watch the trailer. Looks funny, sweet, and sad.
From Hell -- Watch the trailer. In this gritty, hallucinatory murder mystery, Depp is an opium-addicted detective on the trail of Jack the Ripper. Dark stuff, but worth a look.
2. The Jake Gyllenhaal Triple Feature is definitely worth some consideration as well.
Donnie Darko -- Watch the trailer. The movie that made befuddled teens everywhere watch a film commentary for the first time, Donnie Darko is charming, touching, and strange. Very good, but in my opinion the real gem of this set is the The Good Girl.
The Good Girl -- Watch the trailer. In this very under-appreciated dark comedy, Gyllenhall is a sensitive teen obsessed with J.D. Salinger (what sensitive teen isn't?) and has a short-lived affair with Jennifer Aniston. Aniston is unhappily married to a pot-smoking John C. Reilly. Great minor role from Tim Blake Nelson.
The Day After Tomorrow -- Watch the trailer. Bombastic and boring, but hey--two good films out of three ain't bad!
Other new triple features: Gene Hackman (The French Connection, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning), Tom Hanks (Bachelor Party, The Man With One Red Shoe, That Thing You Do!), Kevin Costner (Bull Durham, Dances With Wolves, No Way Out).
3. Hamlet 2 -- Watch the trailer. Steve Coogan is really talented, but the trailer doesn't quite sell me on it. Does anyone recommend it?
4. Death Race -- Watch the trailer. Jason Statham, as usual, is threatening and very watchable, but this fair car action thriller doesn't come close to matching the crazed, exhilarating original -- Death Race 2000. Watch the trailer to Death Race 2000.
Dec 30 releases
1. Towelhead -- Watch the trailer. In this coming-of-age story, 13 year old Jasira has to deal with American racism and the romantic attentions of Aaron Eckhart (yikes!). It's written by the author of American Beauty, and it looks really good.
2. Strangers With Candy -- Watch the trailer. This is a big-screen prequel to the mind-bending comedy series that starred Amy Sedaris and a pre-fame Stephen Colbert. (He played the science teacher Mr. Noblet, remember?)
3. Ghost Town -- Watch the trailer. Ricky Gervais (of The Office and Extras) can see ghosts, and one of them is Greg Kinnear. I've heard some good things about this film.
4. Bangkok Dangerous -- Watch the trailer. This is the one where Nic Cage uses a boat propellor to cut off a guy's hand.
5. An American Carol -- Watch the trailer. Kelsey Grammar plays the Scrooge character in this spoof of the classic Christmas tale.
6. Babylon A.D. -- Watch the trailer. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Michelle Yeoh would kick Vin Diesel's butt.
7. The Love Guru -- Watch the trailer. Paul Moore saw this Mike Meyers vehicle, and Paul said that although it's not bad per se, we've seen all these jokes before in the Austin Powers series.
Re-releases
1. Lost in Translation (limited edition) -- Watch the trailer. Includes deleted scenes, a conversation with Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola, plus the "City Girl" music video from Kevin Shields.
2. Atonement (limited edition) -- Watch the trailer. Includes some making-of featurettes and commentary from director Joe Wright. I haven't seen this one yet.
3. A Beautiful Mind (limited edition) -- Watch the trailer. I still haven't seen this one yet either! Includes deleted scenes with commentary from director Ron Howard, plus feature commentaries from Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldman.
4. History of Ninja, Volume 1 -- Ten ninja movies on three discs means over 15 hours of "entertainment."
Contents: Ninjitsu, Ninja, Ninja Hunt, Purple Hood Ninja, Purple Hood Ninja 2, The Hero of Swallow, Ninja Power Force, Ninja Kids Phantom Force, Golden Ninja Invasion, and last but not least, Cyber Ninja.
I like how you can just switch around the words in the titles to get ideas for new ninja movies: Phantom Cyber Force, Golden Hood Hunt, Ninja Kids Invasion, Golden Hunt of the Purple Cyber Swallow. If we're lucky, those will appear in History of Ninja, Volume 2.
By the way, Cyber Ninja reminds me of Dr. Ronald Chevalier, author of all ten Cyborg Harpy trilogies. Watch Dr. Chevalier's tips on inspiration.
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