DVD Releases for the Week of Sept. 9, 2008

The second week of September is a bit of a drag, release-wise. Unless you’re in the mood for some re-released films already available on DVD and more new editions of Halloween classics and not-so-classics, then this week may be a good one to catch up on some other DVDs you may have missed over the past few weeks. However, there are still some releases of note, most of which have received mixed reviews, but which may hit the mark for some viewers. Also, Criterion has begun releasing some of its library in affordable editions without the plethora of extras. Nothing new for those renting films, but maybe a good buy.

Three new dramatic format releases this week will likely top the shelves at the local rental shops. Baby Mama, written and directed by Michael McCullers is another one of those SNL-skit spin-offs that likely should have remained an SNL skit. The movie stars Tina Fey who must find a surrogate mother after she discovers she is unable to give birth. The rest of the cast is mostly pulled from the SNL regulars (including Amy Poehler), and while there should be nothing groundbreaking here, it may be that one stupid couple movie needed this week to lay off the stress of everyday life. The other popcorn movie being released is The Forbidden Kingdom, the martial-arts fantasy flick starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Lee. Directed by Rob Minkoff, the film has been called “nothing but disposable fun, but it is a great, heaping, overflowing helping of fun.” (source) Lastly, for a more artistic escapist film, and coming from Tarsem Singh, the director of The Cell: The Fall. An adult fairy tale, the film is about an injured stuntman in 1920s LA who recounts the tale of five mythical characters to a young girl - and in true fantasy form, the real world and the world of the man’s story begin to collide. This one should be worth watching even if only for the original visual design.

With its premiere at the Silverdocs Film Festival, 14 Women, is a documentary about the fourteen female American senators currently serving their country, and the issue of whether or not more doors are now open for women in U.S. politics. Surprisingly directed by a veteran of horror films, Mary Lambert, the documentary mixes cinema vérité in following the senators and expository format. Also hitting the documentary section this week is a film about homeless people who become involved in an international soccer competition, and how the sport has effected their outlook on life. Kicking It is directed by Susan Koch & Jeff Werner. Like War Dance, We Are Together (Thina Simunye) is a documentary about how music inspires African children despite dealing with extreme poverty, AIDS and other easily curable diseases. This was a winner at the Tribeca film festival and looks like another in the line of celebratory music documentaries from places of hardship.

Considering the minute amount of new releases this week, some re-releases of note are the first in a spree of Halloween movies between now and mid October. Child’s Play, Event Horizon, Friday the 13th, House of the Dead, Pumpkinhead and Sleepy Hollow are among the many new releases. A warning to purchasers that some of these are the same discs previously released with new covers. Despite having been available for home viewing before, they are all far superior to the two new Halloween-themed releases. Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! Strippers VS Zombies is a clear rip on Stripper Zombies, considered one of the first non-pornographic films featuring and produced by porn stars and distributors. While the much talked about Stripper Zombies won’t be available until October, this rip-off should tide over the many fans of… strippers… and zombies. Unless you are looking for a weekend of pure cheese with plastic-chested women, neither of them is worth a look. Likewise, the notoriously bad Uwe Boll has directed another stinker being released this week: Seed, which apparently makes other torture porn flicks like Saw and Hostel ”have the subtext of Shakespeare and the moral compass of Superman.” (source) Stick with the more classic re-releases this week.

Some classic films get the re-release treatment this week: the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski comes with a bowling-ball shaped package. A three-disk edition of the segmented classic How the West Was Won, also comes out. However, the two releases of note are the classic prison tale, Cool Hand Luke, and Criterion Films’ new affordable editions released individually or in a box set called Essential Art House, Vol. 1. At $18 a pop (or $90 for the set) as opposed to the usual $40-50 each for Criterion releases, the new editions come in plain black boxes with no special features, but for those looking to see the films by themselves, restored by Criterion’s experts, these are a good buy. The first set includes Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête), Roman Polanski’s Knife in the Water (Nóz w wodzie), Peter Brook’s Lord of the Flies, Jean Renoir’s The Grand Illusion (La grande illusion), Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället), and Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon.

Cinestrata’s Picks:
The Fall, The Forbidden Kingdom, Essential Art House Vol. 1, Cool Hand Luke