Archive for year: 2012

If you’re like me, and I know that you are, you are very much looking forward to Christmas. For it to be over, that is. Try as I might (and I really want to be “into Christmas” if for no other reason than for my 7 year-old) I just can’t muster up any “feelings” for this wretched time of year. We went out the other day, killed a tree, dragged it home and then decorated to make it look as if a drag queen exploded all over it. What a strange tradition this is. And of course it fell over (6 years in a row the tree has fallen over, might be time for a new stand) breaking 3 bulbs, scattering classic holiday ornaments such as a soccer and baseball, gold elephants, a businessman holding a briefcase and a moose kissing a penguin all over the floor along with a cup and a half of water and about 1239 pine needles. Usually I blame the cat for everything that goes wrong in the house but this time I believe there was a flaw in my design and execution in the tree-putting up plan. I do admit though that the gaudy dying tree in the corner of the living room is my favorite part of Christmas. Besides the tree, there’s not much to like for me; I’m not a religious fella and the weather is cold and gloomy (gimme some snow!), everyone seems to be angrily rushing around buying stuff, the incessant drone of horrible Christmas music everywhere insidiously working it’s way into your brain (really, Alvin and the fucking Chipmunks, nobody should ever have to hear that!), the relentless ads everywhere for stuff nobody wants or needs (lots of ugly toys, crappy chocolates, chia pets and car commercials – who gives cars to each other for Christmas?!), the stress of having to spend time with family, relatives or friends that you don’t really want to spend time with (I’m not talking about you, Mom), and the ridiculous length of the damn season – does it really have to go from the beginning of November (I saw Christmas decorations and crap for sale two days before Halloween!) all the way to the end of the year? Maybe when we get a little closer to the actual date I may change my tune (drinks, food and a good film should help) but until then I’m just going to walk with my head down and try to stay home as much as possible. But don’t let my downer diatribe stop you from enjoying this festive season!

Don’t do it, Santa!

To make your Christmas viewing season that much more merrier, starting Wednesday you can rent all of our Christmas movies for a mere $3.00! The catch? You can only have them for 2 days. (And no, Die Hard and Gremlins are not considered Xmas films) Party on. Next week we’ll impress you with some recommendations for festive holiday films. Festive in our opinion that is. Heh-heh.

Remember to “like” us on the Facebook and check us out on the Twitter for lots of fun stuff. Everyone like the fun stuff, right?

New Releases for Tuesday December 11th

Alps – New flick from the director of the deranged Dogtooth! This one sounds pretty bizarre and interesting – four people form a little secret society where they set out to ease the suffering of people who have just lost a loved one. Their solution? For a fee they will act the part of the dead person that is being grieved. They will learn their hobbies and mannerisms and so forth. I can’t say as that sounds like a good idea to me. But one that might make for a fine evening of Greek weirdness. Enjoy. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl0ovVe0Ou4[/youtube]

Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story – Interesting sounding doc about a filmmaker who made a doc in the 60’s about race relations in the southern US (hint – they were’t all that good) and in particular one black dude who worked at an all-white diner. The doc changed his life forever. As one can imagine. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCRLZwUrWr4[/youtube]

Bourne Legacy – Jeremy Renner tires to fill the big shoes left by large-footed Matt Damon (MATT DAMON!) and keep this franchise going. Not too sure what the plot is, as if it mattered, but from what I can make out it’s about an undercover operative who needs drugs to make him real strong and fast and he’ll stop and nothing and kill everyone in the room to get them. Sounds like a documentary about Lance Armstrong. Zing! Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4McdaMBK1Tk[/youtube]

Exit Humanity – Civil war zombie apocalypse film to warm those heart cockles this Christmas. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DExlXcU20U[/youtube]

Girls Season 1 – Much ballyhooed HBO series about four women doing the life thing – you know the assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs that everyone goes through. Good stuff. Think Sex and the City but not at all like that show. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_L52eExAHU[/youtube]

Ice Age: Incontinental Drift – More animated fare starring a hairy elephant, a tiger with enormous teeth and some gopher-looking rat thing. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzixp8s4pyg[/youtube]

Ted – Fair to middling comedy starring Marky Mark and his best friend Ted, a foul-mouthed stuffed teddy bear. It started out quite funny and had a few inspired moments – the fight between Marky Mark and Ted had me in stitches (and for this I give it a barely passing grade) but then it just meanders from one rom-com cliche to the next throughout it’s almost 2 hour running time. As a rule (my rule) comedies should never be more than an hour and a half. Why do these type of romantic comedy films always resort to the tired formula of boy loves girl, boy loses girl because he’s too immature, boy gets girl back, boy loses ill-tempered stuffed bear, boy gets potty-mouthed bear back from crazy guy? There’s some good stuff here – I give it a 6/10 but there’s also a lot of lame crap – really, are they actually still making gay jokes? My wife gave it a 1 and 1/2 out of 10. Not too sure what the extra 1/2 was for. Also on the Blu Ray. Red Band trailer – [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSkFJm-eP8o[/youtube]

V/H/S – Another (yawn) found footage horror flick. This one is a bit of anthology dealy with some kids finding an old VHS tape (a what?!) that has five nasty stories on it. I imagine that I’ll give it a look see sometime soon but really, can we retire the found footage genre for a while? Especially in the horror field which is a field that I like to frolic in. Also on the Blu Ray. Red Band Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LfLDeXLmAw[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LfLDeXLmAw[/youtube]

Trouble with the Curve
Halo 4
10 Years
Total Recall
Intouchables
Pitch Perfect
Californication Season 5
Premium Rush
Resident Evil: Retribution
Butter
Arbitrage
The Good Doctor
Killer Joe
Beast of the Southern Wild
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
For Greater Glory

Recently Viewed and Recommended

The Campaign

Girls
Ted (barely)
Men in Black 3
Queen if Versailles
Paranorman
Safety Not Guaranteed
Amazing Spider-Man
If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise
Brave
Liverpool
Sound of My Voice
Bullhead
Woodmans

Have a great week folks! Stay warm. Stay full. Stay drunk. We’ll get through this together….

This is what my idea of Christmas should be….

Black Dog Video
www.blackdogvideo.ca

Well I was going to comment on the US election and how that country seems to be progressing in the right direction and how it seems the opposite up here what with our slimy evil government taking us down a dark path and all, but then another story caught my eye…This dude who won the lottery in Terrace. He’s a pot activist (his last name is even Erb!) and by all accounts a good guy. He was on his way to his father’s funeral when he bought the winning ticket. What struck me was what he said he was going to do with a chunk of his dough; donate to homeless shelters, the food bank, family, friends and to furthering the fight for the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Good on ya, Mr. Erb. I got me to thinking about all of those terrible lotto commercials where a bunch of horribly selfish douches win the lottery and how do they spend their winnings? They chase each other around in helicopters and speed boats, they have breakfast on top of a fucking mountain! Just once I’d like to see a lotto commercial where someone says their going to something good and unselfish with their winnings. Well that’s my Monday morning rant. Please carry on..

Speaking of the food bank, we are extending our food for late charges at the Commercial location until this Wednesday. The response has been entirely underwhelming and disappointing. So please, if you can, bring in a wheelbarrow full of food (doesn’t have to be a wheelbarrow) to the Commercial store and we’ll destroy all of your late charges right before your very eyes.

Also just another reminder that the Commercial store will be closing early – 8pm – this Thursday (the 15th) for a private function. So get in early and often to stock up for the night.

New Releases for Tuesday November 13th

2 Days in New York – Julie Delpy expands on her 2 Days in Paris with, well, 2 Days in NY. She directs and stars with Chris Rock in this comedy/drama or drama/comedy – you choose – about a couple, each with children from a previous relationship, who live in NY and talk about things and walk around and stuff. Heard good things. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kx1UK7ACmw[/youtube]

Brave – Animated Disney fare (limited copies available because, well, Disney are dicks) about a arrow wielding girl who fights a bear for some reason and fights to restore order to her kingdom or something like that. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEHWDA_6e3M[/youtube]

Elles – Sexy sex number that has investigative journalist Juliette Binoche immersing herself in a prostitution ring run by some university students. With plot keywords such as Female Masturbation, Wine, Women Dancing Together, Oral Sex, Male Masturbation, Female Nudity, Vodka, Bare Breasts and Golden Shower, this is probably not a good film to watch with your parents. Probably also wouldn’t make a good double bill with Brave. Or maybe it would. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIWiNzszcAo[/youtube]

Heathens and Thieves – Western that finds a couple of heathens out to steal gold (they’re thieves as well) from a Chinese immigrant. I’ve heard that it’s better than this lame description makes it sound. For those of you who like yer westerns. Has the bonus of starring Don Swayze! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfWrXjDLeYQ[/youtube]

Liverpool – Festival fave finds a coat-check girl trying to return a coat left at the coat-check to the guy who coat-checked it. Criminal intrigue and love interests to follow. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyYVsrxBgM[/youtube]

Pixar Short Films Collection Vol 2 – I believe that the title says it all. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmn4dAliDEk[/youtube]

Queen of Versailles – In what some are calling one of the best documentaries of the year, an insanely rich couple (bet they voted for Romney) set out to build a stupidly huge house (it would have been the largest single family home in the US!) modeled after Versailles but watch their world fall apart due to the devastating sub-prime mortgage collapse of a few years ago. For those of us who love to see the grotesquely ostentatious get their comeuppance. I also hear it’s hilarious. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdJYzgJ4CwI[/youtube]

Savages – Oliver Stone’s latest finds a drug business threesome getting the high hard one from an encroaching Mexican drug lord (Selma Hayak!). Pretty good time waster (bad ending though) with some great violence and nice scenery. VHS film thief Benicio Del Toro steals the show as a nasty enforcer for the cartel and a balding John Travolta made me wince with his giant face and his insatiable scenery-chewing. Could have been better but it’s too long and the three sexy leads are not among this generations best actors. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC2zbOwbeEs[/youtube]

The Watch – Comedy heavy-weights Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill fall short in this tale of neighborhood watch imbeciles who try to thwart an alien invasion (the kind from outer space, not south of the American border, although maybe that’s a metaphor for the immigration issue that some think is plaguing the US. Probably not as this is just a silly comedy). Also on the Blu Ray. Red Band Trailer – [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZTZXgv6LSw[/youtube]

Old Stuff Just In

The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour – DVD and Blu Ray

Coming Next Week

Ken Burn’s Dust Bowl
Expendables 2
The Invisible War
Lawrence Anyways
Peace Love and Misunderstanding
Source Des Femmes

Recently Viewed and Recommended

Queen of Versailles
Savages
Brave (even if it Disney)
Safety Not Guaranteed
Mad Men S 5
Homeland S 1
Fringe S 4
The Sound of My Voice
Bullhead
The Woodmans

That’s it for this week folks. If you are bringing in food for the food bank (I know you are) please bring in this….

Black Dog Video

Halloween is finally upon us. I don’t know about you, but to me, it seems this Halloween has dragged on forever and has become a bit of a chore. I’m usually a huge Halloween guy but this year, I dunno, some of the magic seems to have disappeared. Maybe it’s because it’s become so popular – Spootacular Savings here Ghosteriffic Gadgets there. Ugh. Too many people see it as nothing but a big party where they can don the latest “sexy” costume. You know, just because you put the word sexy in front of something, doesn’t actually make it sexy. Like “Sexy Big Bird”?! Come on. All these cheap-ass fireworks places popping up that sell lame, really expensive explosives – since when did Halloween become about blowing shit up? So many houses with bad decorations – happy ghosts, pumpkin garbage bags, cheap plastic crap – where’s the scary? I know these are trivial things to be discussing, what with all the earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, flooding, poison monkeys, giant lizards, brain-eating hobos, rude children, hairless dogs, goat-men, Snooki’s and so forth that plague the planet, but this is the one season I look forward to. Maybe it’s the lack of scary movies I’ve watched recently, maybe I’m just getting old. I dunno. I saw some Christmas decorations for sale in the Superstore yesterday. Part of me died a little. Again.

Nothing says Halloween like a Sexy Idiot Bird or Sexy Clown Fish

When I think of Halloween I think of nights like this (A photo I took Monday night outside my house).

Be sure to check out our Facebook Page or Twitter thingy to keep up on our list of over-looked horror gems. I’ll run down what we’ve done so far later in the newsletter in case you might want to watch something good and terrifying this week. For whatever reason (money reasons of course) in order to get updates from Facebook sites, liking it isn’t enough you have to do this now…

New Releases for Tuesday October 30th

The Campaign – Two doofus’ battle it out for public office in this comedy starring Mittens Romney and Barak Obama. Wait that’s real. The synopsis for this film is two doofus’ battle it out for public office in this comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omcm3VCVpag[/youtube]

Ruby Sparks – From the director of Little Miss Sunshine (even the box art looks similar) comes this tale of a lonely writer who creates the perfect female character who he thinks will love him and then he wakes up the next day to find out she’s real. Yes, I agree that synopsis sounds brutally cloying and dull but from what I’ve heard the flick is supposed to be surprisingly good. I wrote a story one time about a guy who had crabs, then the nest day I woke up to find out that I had crabs. So I guess anything is possible when you’re a writer. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HzVkK8f9ws[/youtube]

Safety Not Guaranteed – From the producers of Little Miss Sunshine comes this fine little indie effort that finds the awesomely dour Aubrey Plaza as a magazine intern hot on the trail of a guy who put an add in the paper looking for a partner for his time travel escapades. I had a great time watching this excellent flick even though my stereo wasn’t working and I couldn’t hear any of the music in it. There’s a scene when the guy turns on his portable music player and nothing is heard. It was then I realized something was wrong. I bet it’s even better with music! I bet the music featured some really cool hipster tunes! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE94RKIE7xQ[/youtube]

Turn Me On, Goddammit! – A 15 year-old Norwegian girl wants to get laid really bad. I’m sure that there’s a joke in there somewhere. Won a bunch of awards at various film festivals and it seems that most everything that comes out of Norway lately has been solid so it may be worth a look. I’m sure the perverts will be lining up to get this one and I’m sure they’ll be a little disappointed when they find out it’s a Norwegian comedy. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tfu99WkSrs[/youtube]

Coming Next Week

360
Arthur Christmas
Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story
Dinotasia
Even the Rain
Kiss Me
Trishna
Your Sister’s Sister

For your Halloween enjoyment we’ve been running a daily horror film recommendation (on the Facebook as mentioned above) highlighting films that you may not have see or heard of but that we think they are something that should not be missed. Here’s what we have so far (only 2 more to go!)

Trick ‘r Treat
Shutter
Triangle
The Devil’s Backbone
Inside
The Haunting (1963)
Drag Me to Hell
I’m Not Scared
Eden Lake
The Woman
I Saw the Devil
Cemetery Man
The Innocents
Uzamaki
Dead Snow
Rogue
Session 9
Martyrs
Frontier(s)
Bug
Psycho 2
The Orphanage

Poor New York, always getting the stuffing knocked out of it in the movies and real life. Hang in there…

That’s it for this week. I hope that everyone has a fine Halloween (Happy Halloween doesn’t sound quite right, does it?).

Black Dog Video