Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Movies Worth Buying!

Howdy!

Anyone who has ever been to my apartment knows that I buy entirely too many movies. Every Tuesday, I find myself scouring Amazon's list of new releases, looking to see what new gems are available for me to spend my hard-earned dollar on...and more often than not, I find stuff! So, in my rethinking and trying to come up with posts I could do on a more regular basis, it occurred to me that maybe it would be cool to do a list of stuff that I think is cool that is coming out "this week". I figure we'll give it a shot and see how it goes. I know lots of sites do this kind of "what's out"-type lists, Ive's even been doing a comic book one for us, but I think it's worth a shot. Obviously, I can't list everything that's coming out, but I'll try to hit what I think are the highlights. I'll give you my reasons, and then you can tell me why I'm wrong at the end. Amazon links for each title will be in the title for the movie, but feel free to buy stuff anywhere...it's just convenient.  Because I talk a lot, I'm going to put the list behind the jump.


Sound like a plan? Here we go!



For the week of 12/6/11

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Vol XXII
Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, the list can end right here.  This is the most important release of the week, bar none.  So, we’re now twenty-two volumes into releasing MST3k episodes, four at a time.  There were 198 total episodes of the show.  Counting them all up, and adding in the single release episodes, they’ve now released 97 of them…so we’re just under half-way there.  So only another twenty-two or so sets to go.  This particular set contains episodes featuring the movies: Time of the Apes, Mighty Jack, The Violent Years, and The Brute Man.  Two Joel, two Mike.  They are all incredibly good episodes, but I’ve gone on entirely too long already.

Cowboys & Aliens
By all accounts, this movie should have been huge.  It stars Han Solo and James Bond.  It’s got Iron Man’s director.  It’s got cowboys and freakin’ aliens.  So what happened?  Honestly?  I don’t know.  Amazon has my order, but I don’t have my copy yet.  If I had to guess, it suffered from the same problem that is the reason I have yet to see it: this summer was PACKED with movies.  The truth is, this was likely just the easiest one to skip…that’s what it was for me.  I hope it finds the audience in DVD release that it didn’t get in theaters.

The Simpsons: Season 14
I’m going to keep this short.  It’s the Simpsons.  Either you love it or you don’t.  Either you want to buy it or you don’t.  It’s honestly not huge on MY list, but from the standpoint of “people who might read this”, it seemed important to pass along.

Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition
So…this is coming down on us like a ton of bricks.  Based on the best-selling books, the David Fincher version of these movies is coming our way very, very soon.  However, THESE movies already exist.  Like other stuff on this list, I haven’t seen these, or even read the books…but I am interested, and that’s enough for it to make the list. 

Sarah Jane Adventures: Complete 4thSeason
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a bit of an odd duck.  You see, Doctor Who was originally considered to be a kid’s show.  To say it’s matured since the reboot is putting it mildly.  However, there was still a place for something that skewed a little younger.  So, when former Who companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) turned up they offered her a show of her own.  It was a little campy…okay, a lot campy.  But it had a lot of charm and was generally a lot of fun.  Don’t judge me.  Sadly, this season is the last complete one, as poor Sarah Jane succumbed to cancer during the filming of season 5.    

I’m going to combine these two.  Yes, it’s because I’m lazy.  Here’s the thing: Captain Power and Skeleton Warriors were both Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid.  Captain Power was definitely the better of the two, but both were, as I remember it, not a small amount of fun.  Like the Simpsons, you either care or you don’t.  But if you’re here and in your 30’s…there’s a better than average chance.

Santa Claus
Getting close to the end of my list.  Next week will be better, as I made the mistake of deciding to do this today, and am writing the whole thing today, while trying to watch the Christmas episodes of Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Haven.  I’ll space it out better next week, promise.  Anyway, this movie is “special”.  It’s a really bad movie where Santa lives in the clouds and does battle with Satan, and was actually an episode of MST3K.  BUT it’s being released on Blu Ray, and that’s always cause for a Christmas celebration.

Porkchop
I picked this one mostly on a whim.  I’m betting it’s a fairly grade-z flick.  The editorial review mentions a “chainsaw wielding psychopath wearing a pig’s head mask”.  It also mentions 80’s pop-synth.  I really want to see this movie, but I’m afraid it won’t live up to my expectations.

Okay, last bit.  I’ve become a full blown fan of the movies put out by the Criterion Collection, so any time they release movies, they’re going to get their own spot on the list.  It just so happens that for the month of December, this is their release week.  And so:

Criterion Corner:

The Lady Vanishes
For our purposes, this is the more important of the two movies Criterion is releasing this week.  Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1938, the movie centers on a woman who meets an old lady on a train, who mysteriously disappears.  She then spends the rest of the movie looking for her.  It’s a trope that’s been copied countless times since, but this is the first place I know of it popping up.  It’s a Criterion edition of one of Hitchcock’s better movies (in my opinion)…do you need more?

Okay, last one. Better: I don't know much about it.  According to the notes, it's from 1933, written by Noel Coward, and directed by Ernst Lubitsch.  It also stars Gary Cooper, and is apparently the 1933 version of a sex-comedy.  That's all I know.  It seems to be well-liked, and Coward and Lubitsch are well-known for doing excellent work...so there's that.

And that brings us to the end of this week's list.  I hope it was helpful.  With any luck, I'll be doing this more often.  Wish me luck. Also...anyone got any ideas for what to call this if I keep doing it?

1 comment:

  1. Keen to check out The Lady Vanishes.
    This definitely needs to be regular!

    ReplyDelete