More Articles By Ed Grant
- The Man From Earth
STARZ Street: Nov. 13 Prebook: now > Intelligent fantasy about a troubled college professor who’s a centuries-old immortal. This heady dose of cerebral fantasy was scripted by the late Jerome Bixby, who wrote Fantastic Voyage, four classic Star Trek episodes and one unforgettable Twilight Zone episode (“It’s a Good Life”). More - The Last Sentinel
ECHO BRIDGE Street: Nov. 13 Prebook: now > Sci-fi military movie made for gamers. Martial arts champ Don “The Dragon” Wilson is a dragon no more. He has shed his old nickname, which he used in a slew of action straight-to-tapers in the ’90s, for this by-the-numbers sci-fi war movie in which he is one of the last remaining human soldiers who must combat the “Drone Arm... More - Dog Bite Dog
WEINSTEIN/GENIUS Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: now > A classically styled Hong Kong action flick, outfitted with numerous extras. Take the recent Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs (the source for Martin Scorsese’s The Departed) and remove the backstory, the nuanced characters and the clever plot twists and you have this ultra-violent cop-hunts-crook thriller. More - Battleship Potemkin
KINO Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: now > Restoration of Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated classic, with a corrected, more violent 'Odessa steps’ sequence. Have film schools been wrong all these years? Well, maybe not on most things, but the oft-taught “Odessa steps” sequence from this milestone silent masterpiece definitely hasn’t been available in the exact manner t... More - Route 66: Season 1, Vol. 1
INFINITY/ROXBURY Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: now > Get your kicks with a ’60s TV series that exudes Rat Pack-era cool. It has been a while since this easygoing 1960-64 dramatic series has been seen on the classic TV networks, and it’s ripe for rediscovery on DVD. Like Naked City, Route 66 is essentially an anthology series in the guise of a continuing adventure program, with two dr... More - Breathless
CRITERION/IMAGE Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: now > Godard’s debut film, a landmark in cinema history, gets the Criterion treatment. The technical innovations—most of them due to an extremely low budget—that appear in Jean-Luc Godard’s debut feature might seem antiquated now, but that is because Breathless stands with only a handful of other films (Citizen Kane, Potemkin)... More - Fido
LIONSGATE Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: now > Horror spoof about a boy and his Lassie-like zombie pet. Billy Connolly plays the title role in this amiable zombie comedy, which does a good job extending a one-joke premise to feature length. The setting is an idealized, Norman Rockwell America in which zombies are kept as pets, servants and even lovers. More - Think Tank
MONARCH Street: Oct. 30 Prebook: Oct. 8 > Nerd comedy that hopes to capture the Napoleon Dynamite fan base. Think Tank is a resolutely goofy comedy that flaunts its characters’ childish behavior and scores as a gross-out-free nerd comedy featuring twentysomethings instead of teenagers or children. More - Protecting the King
ECHO BRIDGE Street: Oct. 9 Prebook: now > True confessions from Elvis Presley’s stepbrother/bodyguard. The name Elvis is never uttered in this fact-based tale of Presley relative and bodyguard David Stanley, who wrote and co-directed. Instead, probably due to legal issues, the manic, drug-taking, gun-toting rocker (Peter Dobson) is referred to as “The King” throughout. More - Lights in the Dusk
STRAND Street: Oct. 16 Prebook: now > Finnish noir that contains plenty of cigarettes, rock 'n’ roll and deadpan humor. Finnish cult filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki ventures into the world of film noir with this characteristically deadpan tale of a sad-sack security guard (Janne Hyytiäinen) who is tricked by a femme fatale (Maria Järvenhelmi) into taking the fall for a crime h... More - Absolute Wilson
NEW YORKER Street: Nov. 6 Prebook: Oct. 10 > Reverent portrait of theater guru and bad boy Robert Wilson. Avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson is profiled in this worshipful documentary, in which filmmaker Katharina Otto is so reverent about her subject that the film doesn’t actually offer a true understanding of what it is Wilson does on stage. More - Shanghai Kiss
STARZ Street: Oct. 9 Prebook: now > Hayden Panettiere is an unemployed actor’s teen-dream in this neurotic comedy. Shanghai Kiss is an easygoing Asian-American variation on Woody Allen’s Manhattan, about an actor (Ken Leung) who finds out he has inherited the family home in Shanghai. The Woody connection has to do with the fact that our hero’s most sincere and adult relati... More - Nearing Grace
FIRST INDEPENDENT/VIVENDI VISUAL Street: Oct. 23 Prebook: Sept. 25 > Sober-minded teen pic, featuring a killer '70s soundtrack and hot Jordana Brewster. A laid back coming-of-age film, Nearing Grace contains all of the usual elements common to teen movies (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll) but delivers them in an intelligent, character-driven package that produces smiles instead of laughter. More - The Other Conquest
UNION STATION/STARZ Street: Oct. 16 Prebook: now > A stylish slice of Aztec history that supplies a sound counterpoint to Apocalypto. The Spanish conquest of Mexico is the subject of this impressive-looking historical drama. The film follows a young Aztec (Damián Delgado) who witnesses the destruction of his people by the forces of Cortes (Iñaki Aierra) and is hellbent on revenge. More - The Jungle Book Platinum Edition
DISNEY Street: Oct. 2 Prebook: now > A bare necessity for kids, parents and animation buffs. The last Disney animated feature that was overseen by Walt himself is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and it’s being released in a two-disc Platinum Edition. The film itself has been gorgeously restored, and the second disc contains games for younger viewers. More - You Kill Me
WEINSTEIN/GENIUS Street: Oct. 9 Prebook: now > Uneven comedy works best when not going for laughs. A drunk hit man (Ben Kingsley) is forced to join “the program” in this dark comedy, which sporadically hits the target. The film’s strongest suit is its characters, who are ably embodied by Kingsley, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina as rival crime lords and le... More - Pittsburgh
STARZ Street: Sept. 18 Prebook: now > Waiting for Goldblum , with over-eager actor Jeff taking a plunge into musical theater. Jeff Goldblum stars as himself in this oddball mockumentary that finds him signing on to star in a Pittsburgh production of The Music Man , in order to bond with his Canadian fiancée. More - Splinter
IMAGE Street: Sept. 25 Prebook: now > Bullets (and clichés) fly as a tough cop investigates a gang killing. Hollywood bad boy Tom Sizemore supplies the nominal star power in this Latin gang-banger saga. The plot involves a young man (Enrique Almeida) who is dealing with the killing of his brother, with Sizemore playing (surprise) an addicted cop who’s investigating the case while... More - Plasterhead
ARTS ALLIANCE AMERICA Street: Oct. 2 Prebook: now > Another vengeance-driven monster makes the Halloween-release scene. The attempt to craft a new Jason/Freddy/Michael Myers horror character franchise continues with this poorly acted but fright-packed outing. Set in West Virginia, the movie follows a quartet of young people who stray into the path of the titular killer. More - At libraries, everything goes on DVD
AUG. 30 | In libraries, as in most other places, hit DVD releases from the major studios are popular, but librarians are finding niche categories also can do well. More
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