New Release Picks of the Week

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
This film got much better reviews than I ever expected it to, and that’s after I was already interested due to Brad Bird and Jeremy Renner (sorry, Tom). Busy holidays kept me from it, though, so I’ll have to catch it on DVD…which is sadly not IMAX-sized.
2011 USA. Director: Brad Bird. Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner.

Shame
A divisive film in many ways, with some praising Fassbender and the film’s style, while other were put off by its lack of depth. I didn’t manage to get out to see it in theatres, but I definitely want to catch up with it before too long.
2011 UK. Director: Steve McQueen. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan.

Other New Releases

After the Banquet (2009 South Korea, dir Kim Yoon-cheol, stars Sin Seong-woo)
American Dad!: Volume 7 (2011 USA, creator Seth MacFarlane)
Bob’s Burgers: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars H. Jon Benjamin)
The Divide (2012 USA, dir Xavier Gens, stars Lauren German, Michael Biehn)
Garbo: The Spy (2009 UK, dir Edmon Roch, stars Nigel West)
Girlfight (2011 USA, dir Stephen Gyllenhaal, stars Anne Heche)
A Heavenly Vintage (2009 New Zealand, dir Niki Caro, stars Keisha Castle-Hughes)
Hell’s Labyrinth (2011 USA, dir Drew Maxwell, stars Leah Rose)
The Last Rites of Joe May (2010 USA, dir Joe Maggio, stars Dennis Farina)
Man on the Train (2011 USA, dir Mary McGuickian, stars Donald Sutherland)
7 Below (2012 USA, dir Kevin Carraway, stars Val Kilmer)
Up from Slavery (2011 USA, dir Kevin R. Hershberger)

Catalog Pick of the Week

Buck Privates: Collector’s Series Blu-ray
Yeah, I just picked an Abbott and Costello film to feature over two Criterion releases. Deal. I really enjoy A&C on a good day, and I think Buck Privates is up their with their best, a really enjoyable romp as the boys join the army – interestingly, the film was released almost a year before the US entered WWII. Throw in the Andrews Sisters for good measure, and this is a lot of fun.
1941 USA. Director: Arthur Lubin. Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, The Andrews Sisters Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis.

Other Catalog Releases

WARNER ARCHIVE
The Bride Walks Out (1936 USA, dir Leigh Jason, stars Barbara Stanwyck)
Easy Living (1949 USA, dir Jacques Tourneur, stars Lucille Ball)
A Millionaire for Christy! (1951 USA, dir George Marshall, stars Eleanor Parker)
Rendezvous (1935 USA, dir William K. Howard, stars William Powell)
Romance in Manhattan (1935 USA, dir Stephen Roberts, stars Ginger Rogers)
Skin Deep (1982 USA, dir Blake Edwards, stars John Ritter)
S.O.B. (1981 USA, dir Blake Edwards, stars Julie Andrews)
Purchase Warner Archive titles here

The Asphyx (1973 UK, dir Peter Newbrook, stars Robert Powell)
Eight is Enough: Season 1 (1977 USA, stars Dick Van Patten, Lani O’Grady)
High Road to China (1983 USA, dir Brian G. Hutton, stars Tom Selleck)
In Too Deep Blu-ray (2012 USA, dir Michael Rymer, stars Omar Epps)
Roger Corman’s Cult Classics: The Nurses Collection (includes Candy Stripe Nurses, Private Duty Nurses, Night Call Nurses, Young Nurses)

Instant Watch Picks of the Week

Melancholia
I had this as pick of the week when it came out on DVD a few weeks ago, and now again. I usually try to mix it up a bit, but almost everything notable that came out on Instant this week was released on DVD a few weeks ago, and this is still the best of that bunch.
2011 Denmark. Director: Lars von Trier. Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland.

Other Instant Watch Releases

I didn’t list any of them individually because I haven’t seen any of them and can’t speak to their quality, but Netflix just added a boatload of concert videos and music documentaries, covering just about every band you can think of. So if you’re interested in that, head over to Instant Watcher and see the listings yourself. Also, they added a whole bunch of Marvel animated movies, so check those out over there as well.

Bob’s Burgers: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars H. Jon Benjamin)
Chop Shop (2007 USA, dir Ramin Bahrani, stars Alejandro Polanco)
Weeds: Season 6 (2010 USA, stars Mary-Louise Parker)

Expiring Picks of the Week

Sports Night
This remains one of my favorite TV shows (especially in the sitcom subgenre) of all time. You don’t have to be a sports fan to like it; I’m certainly not. You do have to be a fan of good things. The dialogue and character here are the main draw, all of them well-drawn, interesting, flawed, and with their own arcs. I also love that the show, even though it’s a comedy and a very funny one, isn’t afraid to have some really sobering episodes, if that’s where the narrative needs to go.
1998 USA. Creator: Aaron Sorkin. Starring: Josh Charles, Peter Krause, Felicity Huffman, Joshua Malina, Sabrina Lloyd.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
I feature this one most times it goes on and off Instant, but I don’t care. It’s awesome, it’s NOT a guilty pleasure but a real one, it’s one of Marilyn Monroe’s (and Jane Russell’s) best performances, and it proves that Howard Hawks does all things well.
1953 USA. Director: Howard Hawks. Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan.

Other Instant Watch Expirations

As Good As Dead (2010 USA, dir Jonathan Mossek, stars Cary Elwes) [4/18]
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009 USA, dir Werner Herzog, stars Michael Shannon) [4/18]
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2009 USA, dir Tiller Russell, stars Lizzy Caplan) [4/19]
Theater of War (2008 USA, dir John W. Walter, stars Meryl Streep) [4/19]
Easier with Practice (2009 USA, dir Kyle Patrick Alvarez, stars Brian Geraghty) [4/20]
Marwencol (2010 USA, dir Jeff Maimberg) [4/20]
Moving McAllister (2007 USA, dir Andrew Black, stars Mila Kunis) [4/22]
Saw VI (2009 USA, dir Kevin Greutert, stars Tobin Bell) [4/25]
Tecknolust (2002 USA, dir Lynn Hershman-Leeson, stars Tilda Swinton) [4/26]
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) (2006 USA, dir John Scheinfeld) [4/26]
The Beloved Rogue (1927 USA, dir Alan Crosland, stars John Barrymore) [4/27]
The Boy with the Green Hair (1948 USA, dir Joseph Losey, stars Dean Stockwell) [4/27]
Captain Kidd (1945 USA, dir Rowland V. Lee, stars Charles Laughton) [4/27]
Cropsey (2009 USA, dir Joshua Zeman & Barbara Brancaccio) [4/27]
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950 USA, dir Michael Gordon, stars Jose Ferrer) [4/27]
The Eagle (1925 USA, dir Clarence Brown, stars Rudolph Valentino) [4/27]
The Front Page (1931 USA, dir Lewis Milestone, stars Adolphe Menjou) [4/27]
Gung Ho! (1943 USA, dir Ray Enright, stars Robert Mitchum) [4/27]
Happy Go Lovely (1951 USA, dir H. Bruce Humberstone, stars Vera-Ellen) [4/27]
Heartbeat (1946 USA, dir Sam Wood, stars Ginger Rogers) [4/27]
In Old California (1942 USA, dir William McGann, stars John Wayne) [4/27]
The Iron Mask (1929 USA, dir Allan Dwan, stars Douglas Fairbanks) [4/27]
Lady of Burlesque (1943 USA, dir William A. Wellman stars Barbara Stanwyck) [4/27]
Love Laughs at Any Hardy (1946 USA, dir Willis Goldbeck, stars Mickey Rooney) [4/27]
Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939 USA, dir Norman Foster, stars Peter Lorre) [4/27]
Our Town (1940 USA, dir Sam Wood, stars William Holden) [4/27]
Rain (1932 USA, dir Lewis Milestone, stars Joan Crawford) [4/27]
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947 USA, dir Stuart Heisler, stars Susan Hayward) [4/27]
The Stork Club (1945 USA, dir Hal Walker, stars Betty Hutton) [4/27]
Svengali (1931 USA, dir Archie Mayo, stars John Barrymore) [4/27]
This is the Army (1943 USA, dir Michael Curtiz, stars Ronald Reagan) [4/27]
Three Came Home (1950 USA, dir Jean Negulesco, stars Claudette Colbert) [4/27]
Three Guys Named Mike (1951 USA, dir Charles Walters, stars Jane Wyman) [4/27]
Hook (1991 USA, dir Steven Spielberg, stars Robin Williams) [4/28]
At Long Last Love (1975 USA, dir Peter Bogdanovich, stars Burt Reynolds) [4/30]
Guncrazy (1992 USA, dir Tamra Davis, stars Drew Barrymore) [4/30]
Leaves of Grass (2009 USA, dir Tim Blake Nelson, stars Edward Norton) [4/30]
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956 USA, dir Nunnally Johnson, stars Gregory Peck) [4/30]
To Be and To Have (2002 France, dir Nicolas Philibert) [4/30]
Around the Bend (2004 USA, dir Jordan Roberts, stars Christopher Walken) [5/1]
Dr. T and the Women (2000 USA, dir Robert Altman, stars Richard Gere) [5/1]
Fallen (1998 USA, dir Gregory Hoblit, stars Denzel Washington) [5/1]
Flesh and Bone (1993 USA, dir Steve Kloves, stars Meg Ryan) [5/1]
Gable and Lombard (1976 USA, dir Sidney J. Furie, stars James Brolin) [5/1]
Gothika (2003 USA, dir Mathieu Kassovitz, stars Halle Berry) [5/1]
Hair (1979 USA, dir Milos Forman, stars Beverly D’Angelo) [5/1]
Look Who’s Talking Too (1990 USA, dir Amy Heckerling, stars John Travolta) [5/1]
Made (2001 USA, dir Jon Favreau, stars Vince Vaughn) [5/1]
Misery (1990 USA, dir Rob Reiner, stars Kathy Bates) [5/1]
Philadelphia (1993 USA, dir Jonathan Demme, stars Tom Hankes) [5/1]
Practical Magicc (1998 USA, dir Griffin Dunne, stars Sandra Bullock) [5/1]
She’s Gotta Have It (1986 USA, dir Spike Lee, stars Tracy Camilla Johns) [5/1]
Titan A.E. (2000 USA, dir Don Bluth, stars Matt Damon) [5/1]
To Be or Not to Be (1983 USA, dir Alan Johnson, stars Mel Brooks) [5/1]
Under the Cherry Moon (1986 USA, dir Prince, stars Prince) [5/1]
The Vanishing (1993 USA, dir George Sluizer, stars Jeff Bridges) [5/1]
A Walk on the Moon (1999 USA, dir Tony Goldwyn, stars Diane Lane) [5/1]
The Wendell Baker Story (2005 USA, dir Andrew & Luke Wilson, stars Luke Wilson) [5/1]
The Wild Angels (1966 USA, dir Roger Corman, stars Peter Fonda) [5/1]

See all expiring titles.