Archive for year: 2011

It’s the last week before something known around these parts as Christmas. Here’s a few points of interest – the store hours are as follows; Christmas Eve noon till 7pm, closed Christmas Day, regular hours noon till 11 at both stores on Boxing Day. Oh and we’ve extended the Cambie hours until 11pm for this week and next (except Wednesday – still closing at 10pm for Unthank Cinema). We’ll determine what the closing hours will be in the new year. If you’re the type to enjoy Christmas and the movies that the season brings with it, you can rent all or any of our Christmas films for a measly $3.00 for two nights. Good deal. Also, we’re restocked with gift certificates and the famous Black Dog T-shirts to help in the fight against nudity. Take these and stuff them in your stockings.

Since it’s the end of the year that also means it’s time for our much anticipated Best/Worst of the year lists. We’ve been working around the clock at Black Dog Headquarters to bring you the finest in what our not-so humble staff consider to be the finest entertainment the world of cinema has to offer. The first of many lists will appear at the bottom of today’s newsletter. I still have a few that I want to watch before finalizing mine. Feel free to comment on what you think of our selections and what you thought was good/dreadful from the past 12 months.

 New Releases for Tuesday December 20th

Beautiful Lies – The lovely Audrey Tautou receives a love letter in the mail and, being so lovely she can dismiss such things, gives the letter to her bummed out mom. Does a series of misunderstandings and complications ensue? It’s a cheeky French comedy so you be the judge.

Bloodied but Unbowed – Music. Punk. Rebellion. Sex. Drugs. Death. What else is there? Doc about the history of the Canadian punk scene. Good stuff.

Columbiana – After witnessing her parents brutal murder a young girl decides she wants to grow up to become an assassin. Girl’s gotta have dreams! She gets a job with her uncle as a hit-person with the hopes of avenging her parents murder. I wonder what she plans to do after her avenging is all done? Also on the Blu Ray.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame – Famed Hong Kong director Tsui Hark is back with this great mystery action thingy that follows and exiled detective as he tries to solve a case involving a bunch of mysterious deaths. Word of mouth has this as pretty pretty good. Also on the Blu Ray.

Dolphin Tale – Bloodthirsty, killer dolphins terrorize some bouncy coeds during an outing to a mysterious island. I may be getting that mixed up with a film about a friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap (I assume the dolphin and not the boy lost that tail in that crab trap).

Glee Concert Movie – Concert doc shot during a live tour of Glee? Does that make sense?

Good Old Fashioned Orgy – Nothing says Christmas like a giant orgy. A bunch of horny 30-year olds decide, for some reason, to throw an orgy. Good on ya! On the shelves this Friday.

Hostel Part 3 – Nothing says Merry Christmas like some kids being tortured and dismembered. Don’t really need to go into details as I imagine if this is your bag, you’ll know what it’s all about. This one’s set in Vegas, that’s all the details I can giver you. Not to sure why this film exists. On the shelves this Friday for some reason.

Midnight in Paris – Alright, all you people who’ve been badgering us for months about this can exhale now. Woody Allen’s latest finds Owen Wilson playing Woody in Paris who, for some reason, is transported back in time so he can hang out with Dali, Hemingway, Cole Porter, Picasso and a whole bunch of cool dead people. Come in and get your Woody fix. We got lots! Also on the Blu ray.

Margin Call – Pretty good drama that takes place in some creepy investment firm way back in 2008 on the eve of the financial crisis that these scumbags caused. Great cast – Spacey, Irons, Spock from the latest Star Trek film and a bunch of other dudes help out the proceedings. Could have been better – a little more tension would have been nice. Maybe 3-D? Also on the Blu Ray.

No Fun City – What! Two docs about Vancouver’s punk scene in one week? Glory be!  This one can be described as a punk rock journey through Vancouver’s underground music scene exploring its ongoing struggle to stay alive in a city that is hell-bent on shutting down all the fun. Stupid Vancouver.

A Matter of Size – Comedy about some fat people in Israel who decide they don’t like the current “thinness” attitude of society so they decide to become sumo wrestlers. Great idea! I would think less chips and fried chicken might be easier than becoming a sumo, but that’s just me. When was the last time you saw an Israeli sumo film?

Sarah’s Key – Heartbreaking tale of the French roundup of Jews back in 1942. Little Sarah tries to hide her brother in a cupboard before she’s sent off to a camp.Things don’t go so well. Flash forward to now and Kristin Scott Thomas, who’s writing a story about the roundup, stumbles across this story. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a sad holocaust film!

Straw Dogs – Happy Holidays – here’s a nasty rape/revenge thriller! Remake of the infamous Peckinpah film from way back about a couple who move to the countryside (never move to the countryside or go camping or leave your house) and are terrorized by the locals lead by Alexander Skarsgård. Then the raping and the revenging start. Maybe watch this with the in-laws? Also on the Blu ray.

Warrior – Dramatic Rocky-type drama about two brothers involved in the mixed martial arts combat world. Crazy Nick Nolte is their dad. Supposed to be quite good. Also on the Blu Ray.

Coming Next Week

Final Destination 5

Tunnel

Apollo 18

Shameless Season 1

Old Stuff Just In

99 and 44% Dead

Nickel Ride

Recently Viewed and Recommended

Margin Call

Tree of Life

The Future

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Portlandia

So here’s the first in many best/ worst of the year lists…

From Joe on the Drive

The Best of 2011 or 13 movies that came out on dvd in 2011 that you might not have seen, but really should have.

The one thing each of these films has in common is that they are unique in the use of story structure, symbolism, and movie cliches. In my opinion each one has aspects that would turn some viewers off altogether (violence, non linear narrative, or simply no “action”) though they all are interesting takes on familiar genres, stories that work better than any of their more famous cousins being all nominated for things and whatnot.

Also ignore the IMDB ratings. those people are even less reliable than the dummies on rotten tomatoes. Listen to me. I know what’s good :p Maybe….

Down Terrace – One of those movies that morphs from family drama to Crime film in all the best “Loachian” manners you could think of. Would make an awesome stage play in fact. The honeyed tones of British crime sing across your brain as the film twists it’s climax in between your ribs. Subtle and preposterous at the same time. England is harsh.

The Girl – This year’s winner of the “Free Range Kids of Yore” award. Leaving your precocious kid alone with her Auntie who’s oh so likely to run off with any hoodlum who strolls past the farm isn’t a good idea in any era apparently. But the kid muddles through, with help from some locals, she manages to survive a kind of horrific all summer “Home Alone” situation. Some amazing performances from young Swedes in this flick, and a strong story that embraces it’s tropes rather than trip over them…. The Auntie for instance isn’t just some floozy prop, in her brief scenes, there’s an entire family history on display. Genius picture.

A Somewhat Gentle Man – If The Coen Brothers were Norwegian, this is what we might be seeing from them… Stellan Skarsgard plays a Stone faced career petty crook, who’s finally had enough of the jail after a long stint. The genius of this picture lies in every single figure on screen being somehow tragic and sympathetic, despite their on screen assholery. It includes the funniest sex scenes on film since Emma Thompson and Jeff Goldblum’s “Tall people sex destroying small bedrooms movie” – The Tall Guy“, Skarsgard’s deadpan expressions alone are worth the rental.

Dogtooth – This film is from another planet called Turkey where a dad is just a wee bit overprotective. It has a story that will shock mostly due to the banality of the evil laid bare. It has humor that makes you ashamed to be laughing, (and again on my list this year performances that are of the most intensely nuanced that I’ve seen in ages. ) The ending is one of my favourites of the year.

Marwencol – Is quite simply the best documentary I’ve seen all year. One of those docs that sucks you in so quickly and fluidly that you forget it’s a documentary. The narrative is that strong. Marwencol is the name of a town of toy soldiers set during WW2. The creator is a brain injured artist recovering from a small town bar ass kicking. As his story unfolds, he heals his physical and emotional trauma through stunning photos of his town of army dolls. Great story, great care taken not to exploit a very damaged, vulnerable person who as the film progresses becomes a fuller, more functional person than you could have imagined at the beginnings. See it now!

I love You, Phillip Morris – Was actually made a few years ago, but never got much of a release anywhere because Jim Carrey’s character is “gay”. Sad that an actor’s best performance ever can be overshadowed by a bunch of bigots. But that’s how the world works. Carrey is in my estimation pitch perfect as the bigger than life/real life con man Steven Russell. Knowing this is a true story makes it an even whackier tale. It’s both a crazy comedy and a heart warming love story at the same time.

Rivers Wash Over Me – Speaking of films with well drawn queer characters, Rivers Wash Over Me is a very low budget Queer Indie film that needs to be more widely seen. It takes a few minutes to get past the initial shaky cam stuff and let the tensed up characters unwind and get comfortable with each other. A fish out of water story as the young proud black kid goes to the small hick town his parents came from when he’s suddenly orphaned. He encounters the racism, homophobia you might expect, but he also finds love and friendship that is genuine and understanding. a very real story, if you get my drift.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Is a Thai film that casually follows Uncle and other family members as they chat with and catch up with various ghosts, demons from their past (and past lives maybe). Another film on my list where hardly anything happens, yet somehow you (well me at least) are riveted. “Best film of the year that I almost fell asleep in, not once but twice”… is the category I invented for it.

13 Assassins – Film making factory Takashi Miike strikes gold (for the first time in quite some time in my estimation) with his best effort since “The Bird People In China” . A straight up (mostly) Samurai picture of the “Old School” (mostly) … 13 Assassins has the usual cast of weirdo Ronin/Samurai who come together to save the country from the current Evil Shogunate, so they can install their own. All the cliches are hit with a gorgeously cast silver hammer. The end chase through a village is one of the best choreographed sequences I’ve seen in any Samurai (or any other violent chase scene genre) picture, ever. And I’ve seen a lot of them. Bloody greatness.

Meek’s Cutoff – Director Kelly Reichardt has composed yet another genius film about people and how they act. Old Joy explored the world of hot spring bros trying to re-kindle their bro-ness. Wendy & Lucy is the best Girl & her Dog movie of all time. Meek’s Cutoff is again in Oregon, but this time back in wagon train days. Michelle Williams and the rest of the cast give Oscar (or any other acting award out there)  quality quiet performances… People stuck in their traditional roles seek a new life, and get it despite their best efforts at self sabotage. My other fave ending of the year. Reichhardt is maybe America’s answer to Ming-Ling Tsai.

Attack The Block – In an era where the alien invasion movie has kind of petered out, Attack The Block is a refreshing kick in the crotch. Aliens traveling by meteorite drop into the wrong end of London, and get a right kicking. Okay maybe the aliens are a bit tougher than that. But so are these South London kids. Played by mostly non-actors, the kids bluster their way through levels of face saving machismo, and eventually figure how to take out the very cleverly thought out Aliens. Good tension, great pace. unlikable characters that become people you like almost sort of by the end. Ripping flick!

TrollHunter – Trolls are very real in this other great film from Norway. Apparently Norway is hilarious. Some annoying college kids are making a docu about poachers in the North. they come across someone they think is the “big poacher” of the area, but it turns out he’s Norway’s version of MIB. (small country, really only need the one guy) … I keep saying how I hate the mockumentary style, but sometimes, like this time it’s done right, and all you can do is laugh your ass off.

Rubber – Easily “The Citizen Kane” of movies about old car tires. I went into this expecting it to get stupid fast… it does but in all the right ways. Again with the kinda sorta mockumentary style, but again it works, in such a way actually, that giving plot points works against spoiler-ing the flick. Look for wings Hauser to steal a few scenes, though, and some great editing that gives the old tire more depth that it deserves. Clever without being precious or too naive about the stupid story being told.

And here’s Torsten chiming in with his…

1) The Girl

2)  Drive

3)  Meeks Cutoff

4)  Down Terrace

5)  Dogtooth

6)  Tabloid

7)  Uncle Boonmie Who Could Recall His Past Lives

8)  Cave Of Forgotten Dreams

9)  Marwencol

10) A Somewhat Gentle Man

And over on Cambie St we have the lovely (if not jaded) Jessica’s list…

What a spectacularly terrible year it has been. What sort of hell on earth are we living in when I can’t even pick 10 films that I enjoyed that came out in the past 12 months? Here’s as close as I can get to making sense of what my eyeballs have processed. It’s a strange list for an equally strange year, but I stand by it despite the fact that it makes me seem like I’ve had a mental breakdown.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: What an exhilarating roller-coaster ride of a film this is. I never thought I’d see the day that I enjoyed a film with computer generated characters so immensely. Also, fun fact, a lot of this film’s exteriors were shot at Columbia & 10th Avenue, VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA (RIGHT ACROSS FROM WHERE I LIVED!) and not only stars Jimmy Franco, but TYLER LABINE! (YES THAT’S RIGHT: JIMMY FROM BREAKER HIGH. HA! take THAT Ryan Gosling – who was also on Breaker High, but failed to be in a film that I enjoyed this year. YES. Take that INDEED.)

2. The Muppets: If you think you’re too cool to see and enjoy this movie, frankly I don’t care to know you. It had me laughing so hard I cried, and I sort of cried for real out of nostalgia I didn’t even know I had. If it’s still playing in theatres by the time you read this grab someone you don’t hate and GO WATCH IT! You will not regret it. Even the most jaded, uncaring old bastard can’t help but love this.

3. Friends With Benefits: Let’s get one thing straight. I hate chick flicks, I hate romantic comedies and I usually don’t care much for shiny Hollywood flicks, but this year I don’t know what snapped in me, or what sort of crazy pills I’ve started OD’ing on, but I sincerely love this film. I’ve seen it twice now, just to double check that I didn’t momentarily lose my sanity, and YES, it’s delightful and hilarious.

4. Dogtooth: (yes technically this is not from 2011, but it only came out on DVD this year.) OK FINALLY, a film in my top-5 that sort of makes sense for me: What happens when a Greek couple decide to never let their 3 children out of the house for 25 years and basically raise them wrong as hell? A beautiful, disturbing and somewhat hilarious depiction of a family so dysfunctional it will make your own issues seem pathetic. Oh boo-hoo you’re your own sister? BIG DEAL! TRY NOT KNOWING THERE IS AN OUTSIDE WORLD YOUR ENTIRE LIFE UNTIL YOU SECRETLY WATCH ROCKY: IV ON VHS AND LEARN TO DANCE FROM WATCHING ANOTHER SECRET VHS OF FLASHDANCE (this happens in the movie). This may not be making any sense to you right now, as I’m rambling on cold medicine and may be running a fever, but please just trust me, and rent it.

Honorable mentions:

The Trip: Watch 2 hilarious men drive around to different fancy restaurants as each attempts to out-do the other’s Michael Caine impression. Pretty great.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Werner Herzog succeeds again at making me obsessed with an obscure aspect of life on earth. Making me somehow feel simultaneously inspired and insignificant.

X-Men: First Class: Young X-men & X-men-ettes hang out in a GEODESIC DOME in the 1960’s while they try to defeat evil Kevin Bacon?! I love it.

Limitless: Rise of the Planet of the Apes is pretty much just Limitless with chimpanzees instead of Bradley Cooper. Enjoyable & ridiculous. Plus old useless Robert De Niro!

On the other hand, I had no problem selecting my top 10 worst films of the year which are as follows:

1. The Future: BLEAUGH! If this is what “quirky” and “arty” have become synonymous with, then PLEASE NEVER USE THESE WORDS TO EVER REFER TO ME OR ANYTHING I LIKE EVER AGAIN, thanks.

2. Submarine: I could say the same for this as I said for The Future. This took some great elements (i.e. coming of age romance, aquatic imagery, Paddy Considine) and RUINED THEM FOREVER!

3. Due Date: Zach Galifianakis, how could you? You can do so much better than this. I’m not mad I’m just disappointed. (I’m also mad.)

4. The Hangover Part II: ZACH GALIFICANAKIS! WHAT DID I JUST SAY???? (Although he did redeem himself slightly with his amazing cameo in The Muppets.)

5. Drive: This was painful to watch. Some of the worst performances from actors I expected a lot more from. Completely baffled at how it wound up on so many best of the year lists.

6. Our Idiot Brother: It’s insulting to cinema to even call this piece of crap a film. AVOID THIS LIKE THE CLAP.

7. The Rum Diary: Johnny D, how could you be so boring and puffy? Hunter S Thompson is vomiting on your from whatever hell-dimension he is now stuck in.

8. Arthur: Bleaugh. I tried to sleep through this, but it was so obnoxious I couldn’t.

9. Real Steel: Basically the plot to Rocky but instead of Sylvester Stallone there’s a ridiculous dancing robot, and instead of Talia Shire, there’s an obnoxious child teaching the robot to dance, and instead of Burgess Meredith there’s Hugh Jackman probably wishing he had more than just a cameo role in the new X-men film instead of being reduced to dancing with a CGI-robot and an obnoxious kid. Still pretty hilarious though. Maybe more hilarious after a few beers?

10. Trespass: By far the most enjoyably bad film I saw all year. Watch it if you’re in the mood for a laugh, but remember this fun fact: “Tresspas broke the fastest-ever-from-theaters-to-Home-Video record previously held by 2003’s From Justin to Kelly. That film took 29 days to get to DVD, Trespass made it in only 18.”

Other dishonorable mentions:

Thor: What was happening in this film?! Why was Natalie Portman there?? Pretty great if you’re in the mood to make fun of a film.

Somewhere: I never thought I’d say this, but Sofia Coppola may be getting lame. I’ll give her another chance before I decide to take her out back and shoot her though.

Best TV:

1. The Heart, She Holler: An insane 6-episode miniseries starring Patton Oswalt as a boy who grew up inside a wall who inherits a strange southern town filled with sci-fi and incest. A MUST SEE!

2. Children’s Hospital: Another hilarious season has passed of this great hospital-drama-mocking comedy-show and STILL NOBODY IS WATCHING. HILARITY from the mind of Rob Cordry. DO NOT MISS IT IF YOU ENJOY HAPPINESS.

3. Portlandia: if you love making fun of Portlandians as much as you love gazing upon at the gracefully aging patina of Kyle Machlaclan’s beautiful face then watch this! Also features great guest-stars such as Steve Buscemi and Gus Van Sant!

4. NTSC:SC:SUV: The hilarious Paul Scheer wears a wig and makes fun of CSI-like shows along with a cast full of hilarious comedians and awesome guest-stars (i.e. Jeff Goldblum!)

5. Curb Your Enthusiasm: I don’t know how but each season seems to be better than the last. This show gets an A+ for featuring Michael J. Fox in the season finale. You’ll pee with laughter.

Honorable TV mentions:

Boardwalk Empire & Breaking Bad: still the best big-budget entertainment on TV.

Oh and don’t forget enjoyable fluff like Parks and Recreation and the heartier 30 Rock!

And from the lovely Shiobhan….

1) Take Shelter by Jeff Nichols

2) Lemmy by Greg Oliver & Wes Orshoski <3

3) I Saw the Devil by Jee-Woon Kim

4) Drive by Nicolas Winding Refn

5) Tabloid by Errol Morris

6) Life During Wartime by Todd Solondz

7) Life with Murder by John Kastner — DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MURDER WITHIN A FAMILY, CRAZY STUFF!

8) The Trip by Michael Winterbottom

And from the lovely John…

That’s it? The year is over?  Okay.  There were a lot of really good films this year and most of them are already on the shelves of Black Dog Video.  Here’s my top ten list:

1. Bill Cunningham New York

2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

3. Trollhunter

4. Nostalgia for the Light

5. The Trip

6. Take Shelter

7. Melancholia

8. Win Win

9. Shame

10. Tree of Life

And last but not least, the enchanting Patrick…

BEST

1. limitless

2. oki’s movie

3. meek’s cutoff

4. the tree of life

5. captain america

6. le havre

7. the trip

8. rise of the planet of the apes

9. secret world of arriety

10. prom

WORST

1. just go with it

2. drive

3. bellflower

4. submarine

5. the change up

I’ll bore you with my list next week along with whoever else wants to contribute.

In the spirit of the season, I’ll leave you with this nice little Christmas tale as told by a drunk guy and acted out by some actors…http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d044421cd6/drunk-history-christmas-with-ryan-gosling-jim-carrey-and-eva-mendes?rel=player

I hope that everyone has a safe a swell holiday, eat too much, drink too much and watch too many films!

Black Dog Video

Hey, have you heard, Christmas is coming. In fact it’s almost here. And to celebrate this oh-so festive time of year we here at Black Dog would like to offer you this – $3.00 Christmas movies! That’s right, no need to adjust your eyeballs, three dollar movies, Christmas-freakin’ movies! All of our Christmas flicks will only cost you 3 measly bones, but here’s the catch (you know that there was going to be a catch, right?) the rental period will only be for 2 days. So starting today at both stores, drop in and grab a copy of It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Die Hard or Christmas Evil (we have many more titles, don’t worry) for only three dollars! (Did I mention that they only cost $3?).

We also have gift certificates and are fully restocked with our fabulous Black Dog T-Shirts (black only) to help keep you warm and styling throughout the cold winter months.

And one other note – the Holiday hours at both stores are as follows – Christmas Eve – noon till 7pm. Closed Christmas Day. Noon till 11pm on Boxing Day. Oh and starting next week at the Cambie store (Monday the 19th) we will be open until 11pm every night until the new year (except, of course, Christmas Eve and Day). Hope to see ya’ll soon.

Oh, and one more thing (last I promise) – big thanks for all the folks who took advantage of our late charge amnesty for food promotion. I filled up my car (and almost threw out my back) with tons of edibles. Good job!

New Releases for Tuesday December 13th

Circumstance – Heavy, lovely drama about two girls who fall in love. Sounds like nothing all that special, right? Well what if I said that the girls were Iranian (I believe that lesbians are kind of frowned upon in Iran) and that one of the girls brother is suspicious. Now does that sound a little heavier. Supposed to be quite excellent.

Fright Night – Mediocre remake – Colin Farrell is no Chris Sarandon (never thought I’d utter that sentence) – of the quite good original from years back. Actually none of the characters are as interesting or compelling compared to the first time around. Where’s Roddy McDowell when you need him? Maybe that was what was lacking – that and the use of crappy CGI blood and gore. It just looks so phony. I was vaguely disappointed and I had quite low expectations. Also on the Blu Ray.

Gainsbourg – Bio-pic of the famous, some say sexy, some say cheesy (I say cheexy), French crooner. Expect lots of cool sounds, fine ladies and cigarettes being smoked.

Kung Fu Panda 2 – OK sequel to the pretty fun original. The animation is incredibly well done (would have been nice to see this in 3-D in the theatre) but the story is kind of lacking and somewhat boring in parts. The action is fast and furious (a little too furious for my old tired eyes). Might be a bit scary for the real young-in’s – my 6 year-old thought so. Also on the Blu Ray.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Who knew? Who knew that this prequel to those fine Ape movies of the 1960’s and 70’s (we’ll totally ignore Tim Burton’s abomination) would turn out so good? It really had all the earmarks of being a disaster but it’s quite a well made, compelling action drama thing. Outside of the X-Men movie, Apes is the best of the big summer blockbusters. It’s shot mostly around the town here – there’s a scene when the apes are running rampant through parts of downtown that reminded me of the hockey riot a few months back. Just slap some Canucks jerseys on the apes and it would have looked pretty much identical. Good times. Also on the Blu Ray.

13 – Kind of a remake of the fine French thriller 13 Tzameti, finds a bunch of tough guy actors – Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, Alexander Skarsgard, Michael Shannon, 50 Cent and Ben Gazzara (I thought he was dead?) involved in a secret organization that plays Russian Roulette (the worst kind of roulette) for money and fun and what not. Also on the Blu ray.

Coming Next Week

Warrior

Margin Call

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Columbiana

Straw Dogs

The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner

Midnight in Paris

Love Exposure

Hostel Part 3

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Beautiful Lies

Dolphin Tale

Old stuff just in…

Alien Anthology – Blu Ray

Heavenly Creatures (uncut edition) – Blu Ray

Evil Dead 2 – Blu Ray

Recently Viewed and Recommended

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Future

A Better Life

Point BlankNHL 24/7

Project Nim

Portlandia

Friends with Benefits

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Incendies

That’s it for this week folks. I’ll leave you with a little Christmas greeting comic from The Oatmeal. Enjoy!

 http://theoatmeal.com/comics/christmas

Have a good week, eat and drink well, stay warm and keep watching.

Black Dog Video

A few important announcements from your cruise director here;

Starting December 1st (this Thursday) the hours at the Cambie store will change slightly – we will be open at noon (just like in the good ole days) everyday. Stay tuned for adjusted holiday hours as well.

Also starting this Thursday and running until the following Monday will be our famous late charge amnesty period! That’s right, just bring in some tasty (well doesn’t have to be all that tasty, I guess) non-perishable food items to donate to the Vancouver food bank and we will absolve you of all outstanding late charges you may have accrued. This does not include late charges you may get after tomorrow. It’s a great way to make you feel less guilty about returning your films egregiously late and you get to do a good deed. Win-win. Please no expired clams, jellied grass or liquid horse anus.

Also we will have a fresh batch of T-shirts for sale starting tomorrow at both locations. They will be the same design as the old ones but will only be available in black.

Also we finally received a bunch of DVD copies of Beginners. Sorry it took so damn long. They were only available in the Blu-Ray combo packs and since we don’t need 4 -6 Blu Ray copies we are selling a couple brand new Blu Rays for only $10.00! Score!

And finally, we’re looking at a pretty good week for releases. Seems that the majority are relationship films; romantic comedies, romantic dramas, love between friends, love between siblings, love between hillbilly friends, love between friends and cats, love between small blue creepy things and love between a man and a dead woman. Something for everyone.

New Releases for Tuesday November 29th

Another Earth – A strange looking sci-fi kind of drama involving the discovery of another earth (hence the title) and a young woman who gets involved in a tragic accident with a guy. Not too sure what this all has to do with each other but I guess that’s where the watching the film part comes in. Note – we only have the Blu Ray at the moment as the DVD’s have not arrived as of yet. This seems to be an ongoing theme as of late with the studios. Bastardos!

The Art of Getting By – Teenage rebel, Catcher in the Rye kind of high-school dude meets a kindred spirit in the form of a cute girl who helps change his dour perspective on life. Or something like that. Supposed to be pretty pretty good. Also on the Blu Ray.

Balcony by the Sea – Happily married French dude meets a woman from his past, has a brief encounter with her and then learns that she died years before. I imagine he took a long shower after that. Spooky. Freaky.

Friends with Benefits – Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are friends who decide to have many brief encounters i.e., getting it on, knocking boots, having sexual intercourse or whatever the kids are calling it these days. Complications and hilarity, I presume, ensue. Also on the Blu Ray. Note – doesn’t actually hit the shelves till this Friday for some reason.

The Future – Couple adopts a cat which in turn alters their perspective on their lives as well as altering space and time around them. Cats will do that, they’re magical. From Miranda July who made the great Me and You and Everyone You Know a few years back. Probably the most interesting flick out this week.

Griff the Invisible – Romantic comedy starring that dumb hunky guy from True Blood who plays a office worker by day and then dresses up in superhero garb and doles out some justice at night. Seems like a pretty popular theme as of late. He then meets a girl and things happen.

One Day – Anne Hatheway and Jim Sturgess sleep together on their graduation day and then we see them on the same day for the next several years doing stuff (not always together) such as sleeping, shopping, raising helper monkeys, foxy boxing, making a robot, farming bees and all kinds of nice things (I made most of that up). Also on the Blu Ray.

Our Idiot Brother – The funny Paul Rudd stars as the slacker brother of some sisters who thinks he’s quite the title character. He ends up staying with them at different intervals after he gets out of prison for some lame pot charge. Comedy and family drama (mostly comedy I presume) ensue. Also on the Blu Ray.

The Smurfs – Creepy blue troll like creatures invade New York and eat the brains out of children. Or something like that. For kids.

30 Minutes or Less – Jesse Eisenberg is a loser pizza delivery guy who is forced to rob a bank by that loser guy from Eastbound and Down. Not a bad little flick, hums by at a scant 78 minutes. Has some laughs and some guffaws. I could think of a worse way to spend an evening. (stabbing myself in the eyes with a fork comes to mind). Also on the Blu Ray.

30 Rock Season 5 – More hijinks from the funniest show on network TV.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil – Fun spin on the kids go into the woods and are butchered by some inbred hillbillies theme. Some obnoxious coeds mistake the kindness of some local yokels for a kidnapping and they end up dying trying to kill the hillbillies and “rescue” their friend. Pretty fun film, has a bit of nice gore and some good laughs. I could think of a worse way to spend an evening (dry shaving my entire body comes to mind). Also on the Blu Ray.

Old stuff Just In

Going Places (1974)
Metropolis (1984 Giorgio Moroder soundtrack version)

Coming Next Week

NHL 24/7 Penguins vs Capitals
Portandia Season 1
The Debt
Life Above All
Project Nim
Psychic Experiment
Cowboys and Aliens
Big Love Season 5
A Bout Portant
The Help
Mr. Poppers Penguins
The Hangover part 2

Recently Viewed and Recommended

Tucker and Dale vs Evil
30 Minutes or Less
Friends with Benefits
The Last Circus
Devil’s Double
Super 8
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Attack the Block
Captain America

That’s it for this week, folks. I hope that everyone has a great week. Stay dry, stay happy, keep watching.

Black Dog Video

Rats! I was hoping to have this newsletter done by yesterday so I could prattle on about Halloween and all that jazz but I got caught up doing shit, decorating the house, getting the sprog ready for trick or treating and everything else that All Hallows Eve brings. That said, I had a great night last night. The house looked swell, we had over a hundred kids come by, trick or treating was a success, there were fireworks, an awesome funeral procession type jazz band winding their way through the hood and even a beautiful crescent moon to enhance the enjoyment. Good times.

I also just wanted to let ya’ll know that there won’t be a newsletter for the next couple of weeks as I’m taking a much needed vacation. I hope that everyone copes well in the absence.

New Releases for Tuesday November 1st

Beginners – Family comedy/drama that has Ewan McGregor finding out that Christopher Plummer (his dad – in the film) has cancer and is gay. Dramatic and comedic hijinks, I presume, ensue. Also on the Blu Ray – My apologies as the DVDs for this flick are late. We’re hoping to have them on the shelf by the end of the week. Keeping my fingers and other body parts crossed.

A Better Life – Illegal Mexican worker in LA tries to make, cue…A Better Life…for his son. Shhh don’t tell any Republicans about this guy!

Californication Season 4 – Sex addict David Duchovney plays sex addict Hank Moody in this sex riddled comedy series. It’s not bad but seems to be trying to hard sometimes and it comes across on occasion as Three’s Company but with lots of naked boobs.

Cars 2 – As much as I enjoy the Pixar films, this one holds little or no interest for me (or my 6 year-old). Also on the Blu Ray.

Crazy Stupid Love – Newly single Steve Carell has to navigate the single’s scene (yikes, how scary!) with the aid of shirtless Ryan Gosling. As much as I like the Gosling – he was great in the awesome Drive – I think he may be getting to be a little over exposed (no shirt-pun intended). Also on the Blu Ray.

Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather of Gore – Doc about famed exploitation director of such wholesome fare as Two Thousand Maniacs, The Gore Gore Girls, Blood Feast and The Wizard of Gore.

The Hour – No it’s not the George Snuffleupagus show, it’s a great miniseries from the BBC (so it’s gotta be good, right?). It’s a cold war espionage thriller that stars McNulty from The Wire. Looking forward to this one for sure!

A Little Help – Pam Beesley from The Office stars in this comedy about a woman who gets caught in a crazy web of lies as she tries to make do for her and her 12 year-old sprog. Hilarity, I presume, ensues.

A Serbian Film – Notorious flick from Serbia about a former porn star who gets sucked back into the life. I haven’t seen this yet but word has it that it contains all sorts of depravity and I have to throw out a warning that this may be a bit much even for seasoned film goers. Enjoy!

Tabloid – The great documentary film-maker Errol Morris pops up out of the blue with this excellent doc about a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary. Only Morris could even find this story, never mind making a film about it. Mormons. Hee-hee.

Trespass – Straight to video is becoming quite common these days even if it doesn’t star Eric Roberts. Nic Cage and Nicole Kidman slum with crappy director Joel Schumacher in this tale of a home invasion gone wrong. Do they ever go right? Hey, check out those waxy looking faces on the cover. Weird.

Water for Elephants – And Guinness for Darren. Sorry. Nicely shot tale about a vampire (well it is the guy from Twilight!) who runs away to join the circus. As a veterinarian. There he hooks up with Reese Witherspoon. Things happen. People say stuff. They kiss at some point. Am I giving too much away? Also on the Blu Ray.

Oh, and I should mention that we finally got more DVD copies of The Robber – excellent French crime thriller – at both stores.

Coming Next Week

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Magic Trip

Becoming Santa

The Change-Up

And Coming the Week After That

Superheroes

Bunraku

Camelot

Larry Crowne

Face Off

Drummond Will

Dreamworks Dragons

Recently Viewed and Recommended

Attack The Block

Tabloid

The Robber

Captain America

The Hour

Rare Exports

Bill Cunningham: New York

Red Corner

Hesher

Red State

One from the Internets

Sorry this is a day late…And in the spirit of the almighty Halloween, I’ll throw your attention over to the fine folks at the Onion who prattle on about their favorite scary moments in film…What’s yours? I’d have to put the ending of Carrie and the scene in Ringu (The Japanese original) when she crawls out of the TV, up there for good scares. http://www.avclub.com/articles/scariest-movie-scenes,64163/

That’s it for this week, folks. Remember no newsletter for a couple of weeks. Be safe and keep watching.

Black Dog Video