March 2013 - Black Dog Video

Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending April 1st (no, really)

March 27, 2013/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Darren

Two Weeks. My kid (and all he other kids in town, I assume) get 2 weeks for Spring Break. How did that happen? We all only got to enjoy one week from school when we were kids (and it was glorious!). Lucky bastards. And of course I didn’t realize that he had two weeks off until about a week beforehand. Had I known I would have made some special plans. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with fun activities that we can all enjoy. Especially when Swanson declares, “I’m not really into going outside. It’s not my thing.”

So what to do? After much thought and consolation I picked out few activities for us to try out that might inspire my life-less sprog; learn apiculture with the hope of growing a large beard of bees, try our hand at chicken sexing, well, because, step into the ring with a roo and try a little kangaroo boxing, practice the art of dumpster diving- just in case, learn how a brothel operates – just in case, challenge the ne’er-do-wells in the park to three legged races, build our own still – I think that might be more for me, knitting something with dog hair – maybe a bathing suit, go a few rounds of pankration, make some anatomically correct origami, street luging, bull riding, try to steal guns from cops, fart in church – I guess we’d actually have to go to church for that one which isn’t very likely, and maybe try to milk some rats – I hear their milk is high in vitamin gross. I think that should keep us busy for the two weeks.

What kid wouldn’t love this?

Our DVD and Blu Ray sale continues unabated at both stores. Lots of stuff added almost everyday. Check in on the Facebooks and the Twitters for updates (plus some other fun stuff as well).

https://www.facebook.com/blackdogvideo
https://twitter.com/blackdogvideo

New Releases for Tuesday March 26th

The Collection – Sequelish film to The Collector (you all remember The Collector, right?) finds the guy who escaped the vicious grips of The Collector being blackmailed into returning to The Collector‘s space-age bachelor pad (laden with nasty booby-traps of course) to rescue a fair maiden. I did enjoy The Collector and word has it that this one is actually pretty good – if you like this sort of Collecting thing, of course. Also on the Blu Ray. Will be late hitting the shelves, hopefully later this week. Check our Facebook site for updates…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n08aIH-Bhcc[/youtube]

Killing Them Softly – Very good slow-burn of a gangster flick that finds various low-life’s trying to eek out an existence in the underworld (not the leather-clad vampire type of underworld, sorry) and having a rough go of it. All the while the economic collapse of 2008 lingers in the background paralleling the crooks struggle and disillusionment with the life they have chosen. Oh, and it also includes a Brad Pitt who’s quite excellent as a killer for hire. Lots of cool cars and some really fine dialogue. Made by the dude who did the excellent The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Chopper. Also on the Blu Ray.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyaNnrgdp4[/youtube]

Lay the Favourite – Where did this one come from? Stephen Frears! Bruce Willis! Catherine Zeta-Jones! Vince Vaughn! Pacey! Corbin Benson! Seems that it’s some sort of gambling/waitressing/comedy/drama where the characters have names like Dink and Tulip and Herbie Plane Crash. Also on the Blu Ray.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vXIL8uQt5k[/youtube]

Lincoln – Dan-Day Lewis (I’d call him Dan-Day if I knew him) stars as the titular president of the US of A in this stuffy-looking bio-pic from one Senior Speilbergo. I was interested in seeing this until I found out that this particular Lincoln was light on the vampire-killing or the mermaid-hunting or Sasquatch-befriending or hipster-mocking or whatever that other Lincoln was famous for. Also on the Blu Ray.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs[/youtube]

Veep Season 1– Elaine from Seinfeld is the Vice President of the US of A in this HBO comedy series which I hear is quite excellent. Politics and laughs usually go hand-in-hand, right?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnAbwaDYr0[/youtube]

Coming Next Week

John Dies at the End

End of Time

Hemingway and Gellhorn

The Sweeney

Stitches

Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending March 25th

March 19, 2013/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Darren

So I was hoping to get around to adding more DVDs to the sale bins at the stores over the last week or so (just finally added a bunch to Commercial this morning) but my sprog, Swanson we’ll call him, came down with some shitty illness that confined both of us to the house. Now usually I kind of like it when Swanson gets sick – he’s very quiet, lovey and sleepy but still he retains his great sense of humour. And he’s usually only down for 1 or 2 days. Monday was day five and he finally is starting to get back on his feet. I remember when I was a kid and got sick, it was great – no school watch as much TV or movies as I could, ate whatever I wanted, doted on hand and foot. I guess the downside was the being sick part – the vomiting, the hair-loss, the uncontrollable falling down, the tail and horns that sprouted, the horrible rashes, the bleeding eyes, you all remember that from being a kid, no?

So I thought that with him being confined to the couch it would be a good time to watch some films with him. There’s some fine animated fare out there right now – Wreck-It Ralph and Paranorman – but he wasn’t interested in either. “You know Dad, movies just aren’t my thing. I’m more of a TV kind of guy”, he told me, sending daggers into my heart. How could this be my son?! I had to question my wife and her over-familiarity with that hunky, movie-hating milkman. I did manage to squeeze in Raiders of the Lost Ark and he did seem to enjoy that, even with the melting faces and exploding heads (or because of those I hoped). I’ll get him turned around at some point. He doesn’t like food or hockey either but I imagine that will change. At least the food part. Don’t really care about the hockey. Time will tell.

Ain’t got no time for no movies, just milk. Lots and lots of milk.

New Releases for Tuesday March 19th

Detention – Strange, fun sounding horror/sci-fi/comedy thing about a bunch of students serving detention while being hunted by a serial killer. Add parts Breakfast Club, Donnie Darko, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Scream and Heathers, shake well and serve. Tasty! (late arriving at Cambie) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4PFz9gIKKM[/youtube]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Pretty entertaining film although not on par with the Lord of the Rings flicks. I’m not too sure why Peter Jackson decided to make a fairly slight book into 3 overly-long movies. I assume that they drove a dump truck full of money up to his door. For more “in-depth” thoughts of The Hobbit, check out a blog post I did about it a few months ago here http://ow.ly/jegnL. We’ll have it on the DVD and the Blu Rays of course. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDnYMbYB-nU[/youtube]

Mars & Avril – Weird but intriguing sounding Canadian sic-fi film about an old man who designs instruments inspired by the bodies of woman, his apprentice and the woman who models for them. Much sexual hi-jinks, I presume, ensue. Oh and there’s something about her getting lost in a form of cosmic consciousness (admit it, we’ve all been there) on her way to Mars. So there’s that. (sorry, couldn’t find an English subtitled trailer)

Les Miserables – Much ballyhooed adaptation of the hilarious story about bread thievery and everyone dying during the French Revolution. Everyone sings their own songs, including Russell Crowe and Borat. Just warning you. I remember seeing the stage adaptation waaay back in 1985. Three hours of singing, dancing and despair. Good times. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuEFm84s4oI[/youtube]

Rust and Bone – Heavy French drama starring one of my favourite actors, Marion Cotillard, who trains killer whales or killer octopuses or killer water monkeys or something who has a very bad day in the pool. She then meets a guy who piggy-backs her around. From the guy who made the excellent films A Prophet and Read My Lips. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2VgnDKYRU[/youtube]

This is 40 – Judd Apatow returns to clog up your eyes for 2 and 1/2 hours with this comedy/drama about rich white people turning 40 and all that that entails. I’ve heard both good and bad things about this one but any supposed comedy that is over 2 hours long his way out of order in this guy’s books. Someone hire this fella an editor. At least it has the fabulous Paul Rudd in it. Also on the extended edition Blu Ray which bloats it out to 2 hours and 17 minutes. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhVWgBQwIlo[/youtube]

Zero Dark Thirty – Controversial flick about the hunt for that dude named Bin Laden. I guess they had more luck than Morgan Spurlock did. I dunno for me, given the chance to have some Dark Thirties, I’d go with more than Zero. I’d say gimme at least 9 Dark Thirties. Also on the Blu Rays. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAtWcvCxPhc[/youtube]

Coming Next Week

Easy Money
Womb
Killing Them Softly
The Collection

Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending March 18th

March 12, 2013/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Darren

So it was with a bit of anticipation that I shoved the horror film Sinister into the Blu Ray player the other night. Was it going to be what I was looking for or was it going to be another disappointment? Can you guess what the result was? Despite have a few good moments, it too long and I had to endure Ethan Hawke’s giant head for almost 2 hours and it fell apart the moment you started to think about it. “Just get out of the house!” “Did you really think that your wife wasn’t going to find out that you bought (for some reason) a murder house?” “What’s with the dog?” “Do scorpions live in upstate NY?” These and many other questions reared their ugly, sinister head.
Why am I bothering to tell you this? Well, I love horror films. Always have. I remember during a hot summer when I was about 13 or so we had a pool so I was quite popular in July and August (not so much the rest of the year). On a particularly lovely Sunday afternoon there were a bunch of friends and people I kinda knew in my back yard splashing around having a fine time. Me? I was in my dark basement watching The Brain that Wouldn’t Die broadcast on the TV with poor reception and in black and white. To me this was great. I’d much rather watch a terrible (wasn’t terrible to me at the time ) scary flick then frolic in the sunshine and the pool. I loved horror films, what can I say?
But it’s a funny genre, I can’t think of any other category of films where there is so many movies produced, but so few good ones made. Maybe romantic comedies? There’s lots of those and a tremendous amount of terrible ones. Is it just that all the good scary ideas have been used up? A lot of horror films resort to gore and torture and banal stuff like that (but don’t get me wrong, I love copious amounts of gore – good gore that is, there’s a difference. And don’t even get me started on CGI blood!) instead of actually trying to scare you. What happened to all the good scares? Where’s the creativity? Horror films are relatively easy and cheap to produce – just add some blood, a cabin in the woods and some willing coeds and blammo, you’ve got yourself a horror flick. But many forget that what is needed is a good script with good ideas. Without that, you have nothing. Remember the original Haunting from 1963? It’s black and white, all atmosphere and sounds. Nothing is ever seen but it works so well. Now that’s a horror film!
And yet I’ll still watch pretty much any horror film released these days, hoping for a good fright and something that doesn’t fall apart if you peer at it too hard and long. Maybe I should just write my own horror flick and stop this whining. Hmmmm….

High art…when you’re 13.

And yes, the big DVD/Blu Ray sale continues unhindered at both store. Tons or previously-loved DVDs and Blu Rays to be had – DVDs are only $5 each or 3 for 12 bones while you can take home some bouncing baby Blu Rays for a paltry $8 a piece or 3 for 20 clams. Follow us on the Facebooks and/or the Twitters to keep updated on what’s going in the sale bins, new stuff that arrives on the shelves, daily film recommendations and just for fun stuff as well…Good times. https://www.facebook.com/blackdogvideo and https://twitter.com/blackdogvideo

New Releases for Tuesday March 12th

Hitchcock – Ever seen Psycho? Know who Alfred Hitchcock is? What about Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren? Put all these in a blender, crank it to pulse, pour it in a glass and drink it down. Now that’s pretty gross. If you don’t want to do that then check out this flick that has “Das Cock” (that’s what his friends called him, I presume) going about trying to get that famous film made. Good stuff. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7vYhtfNM9U[/youtube]

Kill for Me – Two women form a bond to “take care” of abusive men in their lives. Me thinks it may involve some violence. Let’s hope anyways. Time for some revengin’! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFvEbz4JNKU[/youtube]

The Last Gladiators – Doc by Oscar winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron) about hockey enforcers. Looks pretty interesting. Especially if you like hockey. And guys punching each other in the face. It’s really bizarre if you think about it – it’s the only sport where fighting is actually part of the game with penalties assessed and guys whose job is to fight. I love playing hockey but as for fighting, no thanks. I’m far to delicate for such things. My word! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47VyKzcUt_Q[/youtube]

A Late Quartet – Great cast; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken,Catherine Keener and probably at least one other actor, star in this drama about a member of a band (is it called a band when it’s classical instruments? Or is it called…A Quartet?) who have to deal with death, egos, lust, drugs, murder, poison monkeys, unicorns, and other assorted problems that always seem to come with classical music. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX66lRnNmqs[/youtube]

Life of Pi – Mmm pie, who doesn’t love pie? Oh, I’m thinking of something else. Pie I think it was. This here’s Ang Lee’s latest and greatest flick (won a wheelbarrow full of Oscars) about a guy stranded on a small boat with a big tiger. Supposed to be quite a profound and amazingly epic journey of discovery. Despite that description, I still want to see it. Also on the DVD. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Z9Cph0GzY[/youtube]

The Monk – Vincent Cassel has a creepy monk? You had me at Vincent Cassel has a creepy monk. Actually I don’t know how creepy he is, just hoping. I read one review where the uptight reviewer claimed the film mocked religion because it show male frontal nudity. Made me laugh. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaAGug8AFcs[/youtube]

Playing for Keeps – Remember a while back when I wrote about romantic comedies rivalling the abundance and abundant badness of horror films. May I present to you Gerald Butler and a bunch of hot soccer moms (including Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones) getting into oh-so-many awkward romantic situations. Please. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_RLSWRkaRE[/youtube]

Rise of the Guardians – Lame-looking animated kids fare about Santa, Tinkerbell, the Roadrunner, Wolverine and Big Bird or something like that who join forces to battle some bad guy. Why can’t animated characters just play nice? Also on the Blu Ray. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqHh6R_9F90 youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqHh6R_9F90[/youtube]

(late at Cambie – hopefully very soon)

Smashed – Heavy drama about a relationship built on a couple’s mutual love of booze that gets put to the test when one of them decides to sober up. When I first read this review I thought it was a secret documentary about my life. Whew! Supposed to be quite an excellent film with really good acting and other shit. Also on the Blu Ray http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL9xQtFWu6M[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL9xQtFWu6M[/youtube]

The Taint – Best name for a film in quite a while, I have to say. Tainted water has turned men into murderous raging misogynistic monsters who only want to kill women in terrible ways. Much violence and castration ensues. This film might have a limited appeal I think. It’s exploitation. It’s stupid and I hear it’s pretty fun for those of you who enjoy this type of nonsense. Definitely NSFW or most humans trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-ZHst2kMg[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-ZHst2kMg[/youtube]

This Must be the Place – Weirdest film out this week is not The Taint but this number that finds Sean Penn, as retired glam rocker Cheyenne, returning to the States from Ireland to track down a Nazi war criminal who made life tough for his dad in WWII. Told you that this one sounds bizarre. Also has Frances McDormand, David Byrne, Harry Dean Stanton and Judd Hirch to make things even more like the cult oddity that it is sure to become. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kplFGDHuYy4[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kplFGDHuYy4[/youtube]

Waiting for Lightening – Doc about a skateboarding guy – Danny Way – and his life and attempt to jump over the Great Wall of China. Not too sure where the lightening part comes in but if I was a skateboarder, I don’t think I’d be waiting for lightening ever. Seems kinda dumb. Unless it’s a metaphor for the right time of life to do something profound, like ride a skateboard in China, then it’s cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mQbD8xzNdY[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mQbD8xzNdY[/youtube]

Coming Next Week

Zero Dark Thirty
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Mars et Avril
This is 40
Les Miserables
Rust and Bone

Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending March 11th

March 5, 2013/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Darren

I have a cold. A stupid cold. Not that it should be any earth-shattering type of news or anything, but it’s kinda my way of saying that this newsletter might suck a bit (more so than its normal suckiness that is). We had a staff party last Thursday at my house and during the course of the evening I was spouting on about the impossibility of me ever becoming ill, “Ahhh I never get sick!”, I blathered on, posturing and strutting about like my immune system was on the outside of my body or something. I even knocked on wood. I knocked on friggin’ wood! Isn’t that supposed to automatically disqualify me from getting sick? Maybe it was because I was knocking on IKEA wood that it didn’t work. IKEA is forever letting me down. Sigh…

Our really big DVD/Blu Ray sale continues unabated at both stores. Just added more films – mostly comedies – to the bin at Commercial and lots of horror added over at Cambie. $5 each or 3 for 12 clams for the DVDS and $8 each or 3 for $20 for the Blu Rays.

New Releases for Tuesday March 5th

The Bay – Barry Levinson (yes that Barry Levinson- Diner, Wag the Dog, Rain Man) comes back from the dead – I thought he was dead – with this cool looking horror number about a small town’s water becoming infected with something that makes people dead and crazy. Probably not in that order. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRtgoJ_pFnQ[/youtube]

Collaborator – The always pretty cool Martin Donovan (bunch of Hal Hartley films) writes, directs and stars in this tight little drama/comedy about a broken down writer who’s taken hostage by his broken down neighbour, the always pretty great David Morse, who’s also a crazy cop fella. Looks to be a pretty good two-hander. No, not that kind of two-hander, perverts. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YcX7a8-tjA[/youtube]

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai – Takeshi Miike seems to single-handedly be trying to revive the samurai genre with this flick following on the heels of his great 13 Assassins from a couple of years ago. Of course it being a samurai tale, it involves lots of revenge, honour and disgrace. Oh, and lots of cool sword-play. Love me some good sword-play! Blu Ray is coming soon.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29El4phRPaw[/youtube]

How to Survive a Plague – Oscar nominated doc chronicling the history of HIV and AIDS and the activists who helped turn a death sentence into something manageable and, hopefully, eventually curable. Good job! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuxV9yjzgwg[/youtube]

The Intouchables – Much sought after French film about a paraplegic who hires a dude from the projects to help him out. Much misunderstandings and comic hi-jinks with a dash of dramatic understanding, I presume, ensues. This one was a long time coming on the shelves so now everyone can stop hounding us it. (We have no control over what and when films are released – just so ya know) Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34WIbmXkewU[/youtube]

The Loneliest Planet – Award-winning drama tells the tale of a couple backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains with a local guide when something dramatic happens – hand-glider accident? mountain goat attack? Sasquatch buggery? – that changes their relationship. Looks pretty dang interesting. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIIMFHcC1Fc[/youtube]

The Master – The great PT Anderson finally makes another movie after 2007’s There Will Be Blood. Come on dude, step up the pace a bit. I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard some amaze-balls things about it. Great performances abound in this story of a WWII guy returning to civilian life and having problems adjusting. That is, until he meets a creepy cultish leader reportedly based on the creepy cultish leader L. Ron Hubbard. Really looking forward to this one. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DquU0BlSPG8[/youtube]

Red Dawn – In the “absolutely no reason to remake a mediocre movie to begin with” category, I give you this waste of celluloid. This time out it’s the North Koreans are invading the US for some reason. Come on, at least have a plausible enemy. The North Koreans aren’t going to be invading anyone anytime soon. They’re eating bark over there for Christ’s sake! ! Be better if the Canadians were the invaders. Red and White Dawn, Eh! they might call it? Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fh-DGBu9ms[/youtube]

Spiral Season 1– Well regarded French gritty cop thriller TV show along the lines of The Wire, “darker and more twisted than the Wire” it says on the box. That’s some pretty good box talkin’! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YQJ5CLJiCc[/youtube]

Wreck-It Ralph – Excellent animated fare finds a video game villain who sets out on a quest (always a quest in these things) to become a good guy. Much hilarity ensues. Good for the kids and the adults, so I’ve been told. Also on the Blu Ray. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Np5N98Gcw[/youtube]

Old Stuff Just In…

Archer Season 1 – Good fun hilarious animated stuff.

Coming Next Week

The Last Gladiators
Life of Pi
Taint
Le Moine
Rise of the Guardians
Smashed
Waiting for Lightening
This mUst be the Place
Kill for Me
A Late Quartet

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Archive for month: March, 2013

New Releases for Tuesday March 26th

Coming Next Week

Recently Viewed and Recommended

New Releases for Tuesday March 19th

Coming Next Week

Recently Viewed and Recommended

New Releases for Tuesday March 12th

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Recently Viewed and Recommended

New Releases for Tuesday March 5th

Old Stuff Just In…

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