Black Dog Newsletter for Week Ending May 28th

Disney. I’ve never liked the Disney. They’ve always appeared kind of evil to me for a myriad of reasons. Now I have another. The latest affront to all that is good and well comes in the form of the mouse house actively trying to put video stores out of business. They have a few titles coming out on DVD this week and down the road – The Secret World of Arrietty and John Carter – but they are releasing them for sale only with a 28 day hold back on the rental versions. Their ploy? To make consumers buy the DVD and Blu Rays (and the Disney stuff is the most expensive product on the market) instead of renting it. As you can tell this would spell disaster for us and all the other remaining DVD rental stores out there. So what we are doing is only picking up 1 -2 copies of each of these titles and renting them out anyways. It seems to me to be the only way to make Disney see the error of their ways. Not only is Disney trying to sink the rental business but they are in bed with Wal-Mart who gets very favorable prices for their product. Seems like a level of hell to me, these two together. Evil begetting evil. So please bear with us and support us as we try to tough it out against these pricks. We’ll still have a few copies of these films for your enjoyment, just not a whole ton of them. Thanks!

On the other side of bed, here’s a little article about the place in your community for businesses such as ourselves….http://ow.ly/b5dDy

New Releases for Tuesday May 22nd

Albatross – Comedy/drama dealy that finds a young sexy writer working at a B & B and having an affair with her friend’s dad. “Ruh-roh!”, as Scooby-Doo has been known to say.

Front Line – Fine looking Korean war thriller about the final battle in said Korean War that was to determine where the border between south and crazy north was to be drawn. Also on the Blu Ray.

The Grey – Stealy-eyed Liam Neeson survives a (very well done) plane crash with some other dudes only to be hunted by giant psychotic wolves for some reason. A pretty fun thriller that, despite gaping, non-sensical plot holes, being overly-long, peppered with ridiculous stunts, brimming with cliches, and having shoddy looking wolves ( one could just imagine a guy off camera with a stuffed wolf head jabbing it into the face and intestines of the actors), I still quite enjoyed for it’s entertaining silliness. Also on the Blu Ray.

Red Tails – From all accounts it is a pretty weak, cliche riddled war flick that tries to tell an important story mostly ignored in American history – that of the Tuskegee Airmen – a squadron of black pilots who are finally given the chance to prove themselves in the skies during WWII, after putting up with tons of horrible racism. George Lucas said he wanted to produce this film for many years and this was the best he could come up with? He probably tried to fir Jar Jar Binks somewhere in the film. “Meesa gonna kill some Nazi scum!” Also on the Blu Ray.

The River Season 1 – Cool, scary looking found footage TV thriller about some people traveling the Amazon in search of a missing explorer dude. From the guy who made the terrifying Paranormal Activity flicks. The found footage genre has been getting a pretty good workout as of late but when it’s on, it can be pretty effective. I’m looking forward to check this number out.

The Secret World of Arrietty – I want to say positive things about this fine animated Japanese flick that was inspired by The Borrowers that tells the tale of a bunch of four inch people living in someone’s home, but since it’s Disney I’ll just leave it at, well, suck it Disney! Also on the Blu Ray.

This Means War – Romantic action comedy (!) about a couple of CIA operatives who wage war on each other when they discover they are both dating Reese Witherspoon for some reason. One of those hybrid films that tries to appeal to everyone with the action and the romance mixed together. Kinda like crossing a gorilla with a gazzelle. A Gorzella. Hence forth these types of flicks will now be known as Gorzellas. Also on the Blu Ray.

Sherlock Season 2 – Benedict Cumberbatch, the best name in show business, stars as the titlular sleuth in this fine BBC series. I could go around all day saying Benedict Cumberbatch. Try it!

Some Days are Better Than Others – Hipster drama/comedy (with possibly the worst cover art ever) about an aspiring reality TV star and a dude who works as a temp who find each other in the rain and clouds of Portland. How hip is this flick? Well it stars James Mercer from The Shins and Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia and Sleater-Kinney. So there. Available at Commercial, soon at Cambie.

The Woman in Black – No it’s not a sequel to The Lady in Red (ear-worm!). Harry Potter stars in this scaarry horror flick as a dude who has to move into a mansion with a mysterious and horrible history. Oh and there’s a vengeful ghost hanging around there as well. Again with the vengeful ghost. Also on the Blu Ray.

Coming Next Week

We Need to Talk About Kevin
Goon
Mutant Girls Squad
There be Dragons
True Blood Season 4
Aggression Scale

Recently Viewed and Recommended

The Grey
Merantau
Chronicle
The Innkeepers
Mission Impossible 4
Breaking Bad S 3
Tiny Furniture
The Future
Guilty

Me thinks it’s going to be a fine year for films. Want a little proof? Here’s a teaser trailer for the new Paul Thomas Anderson flick, The Master. Can’t wait. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Teaser-Trailer-Paul-Thomas-Anderson-Master-31025.html

Oh and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page. Why would I do that, you ask? Well you can win free rentals that’s why. Every now and then I post a still from a flick and the first one to answer wins a free old title rental that day.

See ya’ll next week. Stay warm, well fed and watered and keep watching.

Black Dog Video