Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending April 9th

So I sat down to watch the Fincher remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo the other evening. It’s a very well made, taut thriller that packs a bit of a punch. It probably would have packed even more of said punch had it been an original piece of work, not a remake of a film that arrived on theses shores a scant 2 years ago. I just don’t get Hollywood’s obsession with remakes or sequels or movies based on toys or amusement rides or video games or whatever else may have been popular at some point in time. Fincher is a very gifted director and I want to see him doing more interesting stuff like with Zodiac or Seven or Fight Club. Doing a remake seems almost beneath him. I hope that he doesn’t sign up for the other two films. Another thing that quite irked me (apart from the over 2 and 1/2 hour running time) is the film is set in Sweden but everyone speaks English. Not only does everyone speak English but they do it with a slight Scandinavian accent. This makes it hard to understand some of the dialogue. To make things more confusing, all of the words – say street signs, newspaper headlines etc. – are in Swedish! How did they decide where to draw the line on was is Swedish and what is English? Bizarre. All that said, the film is solid and worth a look if you have the time and interest.

The fabulous DVD sale continues at both stores this week. I’m hoping to finish off the Commercial store tomorrow – going through the documentaries and then we’re done. Cambie shouldn’t be too far behind. Just added a pile of comedies there yesterday. $6.00 a piece or if you buy 3 or more the price drops to $5.00. Easy peasy!

New Releases for Tuesday April 3rd

Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey – Doc about the guy who has his hand up the gaping hole of that wretched puppet thing Elmo. I must say as the father of a small child I am eternally grateful that my kid didn’t take to Elmo the way so many millions of other sprogs have. That grating voice is almost enough for me to stick a compass in my eardrum. I was reading the description on the IMDB and I found the line, “Millions of children tune in daily to watch Elmo, yet when Kevin walks down the street he is not recognized”. No fucking kidding. He’s working a puppet! Does that make him sad? Too fucking bad, you just have your hand stuffed inside a gutted muppet! Nobody cares who you are. (Sorry for the profanity, just had to get that off my chest). All that said the doc is supposed to be quite good.

Chasing Madoff – Doc about the investigation into that incredible dirt bag Bernie Madoff who made the term ponzi scheme part of the vernacular. This scum bag scammed something like $18 billion from investors. Jeez dude, don’t you think you could have maybe stopped at $8 billion and been happy with that? Hope this turd rots in jail.

House of Pleasures – French drama that follows the lives of several prostitutes in a steamy brothel in Paris at the end of the 19th century. Supposed to be quite a fine number.

Private Eye – Mystery thriller from South Korea involving a young medical student who teams up with a hard boiled detective to solve a murder. Looks pretty cool. Lots of good stuff coming out of South Korea these days. (At the Cambie store, soon to Commercial)

Toast – Fine looking coming of age dealy set in late sixties England that finds a young boy growing up with a mom that’s a terrible cook. He tries to cope with the terrible food while maintaining high aspirations to become a great chef. Reminds me of growing up (I didn’t have aspirations though) as my mum was a terrible cook (it’s OK she doesn’t read the newsletter). Fried ground beef, boiled potatoes and cream corn anyone? Stars the tasty Helen Bonham Cater.

Space Dogs – Russian animated kids fare about the first dogs in space. I couldn’t find much else about this except this weird blurb form the IMDB – “Schoolbooks say that Belka and Strelka were first space dogs. But the dogs say that people dissemble a lot.” Huh?

War Horse – Senior Speilbergo’s second film from last year about a special horse that goes off to help win the first world war. I guess it has, like, machine guns for legs or something? Also on the Blu Ray.

We Bought a Zoo – Matt Damon (MATT DAMON!) and Scarlett Johansson – two of the prettiest people on the planet – buy a zoo, or animal jail as some like to call it, for some reason. Heart-warming comedic hijinks, I presume, ensue. The once promising Cameron Crowe – remember Say Anything – directs this tepid looking family film. All I can say in my head is “We bought a mother-fucking zoo!” Again sorry for the profanity. I have a potty mouth today. Also on the Blu Ray.

Coming Next Week

The Darkest Hour
Tyrannosaur
One Life
Cannibal
If a Tree Falls
Into the Abyss
The Iron Lady
Sleeping Beauty

Recently Viewed and Recommended

The Killing Season 1
Game of Thrones S 1
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Young Adult
Elite Squad
Cell 211
Senna
50/50
Shameless S 1
Nurse Jackie S 3

So we’ve all heard that Vancouver is now the most expensive place in North America to live. Why this is, I’m not too sure. But if you ever needed proof of the absurdity of this town, well, here ya go…
http://thethirtiesgrind.com/2012/04/02/absurd-vancouver-property-of-the-week-2/

That’s it for this week folks, try to stay dry, eat well, drink even better, listen to music, read a book and, of course, watch a fine film or several.

Black Dog Video