After a few high points like Good Night, and Good Luck and Capote, we're sucked back down into the mire that is the 2005 movie year. Our two big weekend contenders are both turkeys; Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown is a mess, and Tony Scott's Domino is only slightly less so. Even the art house fare is uninspiring. We get two ultra-serious medidations on war, Innocent Voices and The War Within, both of which sink into their own timid good intentions. If you're anywhere near San Francisco, however, definitely check out Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself, which played some time ago in the bigger cities. It's the week's one must-see.
The week's DVDs are another thing entirely. Movie fans could put away the entire weekend laying on the couch. First we have all five Batman films, starting with Tim Burton's 1989 original and Christopher Nolan's new Batman Begins. (Reviews of the other three coming later.) The Criterion Collection has finally released Jean-Pierre Melville's ultra-cool Le Samourai (1967), and Fox has graced us at Halloweentime with a new double-disc edition of David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986). Warner Home Video delivers all nine of Val Lewton's horror films in a five-disc box set called The Val Lewton Horror Collection, and cult fans will rejoice over a new edition of The Big Lebowski from Universal, featuring Jeff Bridges's amazing photographs from the set. Finally, Paramount's Mad Hot Ballroom should appeal to just about anyone with eyes and ears.
The week's DVDs are another thing entirely. Movie fans could put away the entire weekend laying on the couch. First we have all five Batman films, starting with Tim Burton's 1989 original and Christopher Nolan's new Batman Begins. (Reviews of the other three coming later.) The Criterion Collection has finally released Jean-Pierre Melville's ultra-cool Le Samourai (1967), and Fox has graced us at Halloweentime with a new double-disc edition of David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986). Warner Home Video delivers all nine of Val Lewton's horror films in a five-disc box set called The Val Lewton Horror Collection, and cult fans will rejoice over a new edition of The Big Lebowski from Universal, featuring Jeff Bridges's amazing photographs from the set. Finally, Paramount's Mad Hot Ballroom should appeal to just about anyone with eyes and ears.
| :: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 10/14/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
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