Tuesday, January 29, 2008

DVD releases for January 29

This is the lazy bones every-other-week report on notable releases this week (for the notable releases just check Criterion's site):

Trade (2007) directed by Marco Ktruzpaintner
There was a reasonable buzz surrounding this film a couple years ago, and then I saw the trailer at the local and lovable Landmark Theater, and then it disappeared, and now here it is on DVD. Based or inspired by a horrifying 2006 New York Times piece on the very real sex trafficking of young girls in this country. It is hard to imagine a dramatic film that could carry the weight of the situation without being heavy-handed or trite. Of course, if it is handled properly, it is probably not a very easy film to sell despite its quality. Anybody remember that week that Lilja 4-ever played at Edina?

Delinquent Girl Boss: Blossoming Night Dreams (1970) directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Media Blasters picks up where Panik House left off by release the first film in the Delinquent Girl Boss series. If this is half as good as the synopsis sounds, it is more than worth the 28 bucks. This would be sitting on my shelf Wednesday, if it weren't for my unbelievably tight budget. I will just have to rent it like a reasonable person.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) directed by Seth Gordon
I'm the loser who did not see this movie.

The Yacoubian Building (2006) directed by Marwan Hamed
This film is based on a popular Egyptian novel that seems to garner more acclaim than the film. Nonetheless. This film seems interesting.

Miike Collection, Vol 1: Bodyguard Kiba (1993) directed by Takashi Miike
Trying to find information on what exactly what is on this disc is like looking for acupuncture needles in a Miike haystack. Other than " Junpei, a low level gangster, is in over his head..," I can't tell if this was for TV or just a basic straight to video production or what. For fans, you know the risk. This "collection" contains Bodyguard Kiba and Bodyguard Kiba 2.

Quiet City (2007) and Dance Party, USA (2006) directed by Aaron Katz
Quentescential independent cinema. Some people call it mumblecore. Real people shooting real people for real films. Whatever. There is a simplicity to these films that is quite charming. And they don't have that stupid song from Once.

1 comment:

Barry Kryshka said...

I'm just here to encourage you to see King of Kong. It made me spend a month "training" for the record. My high score of 86000 isn't too shabby, but as it turns out, I'm nowhere near world class.