All Cheerleaders Die – Under-rated indy horror filmmaker Lucky McKee returns in this horror-comedy remake of his own shot-on-a-shoestring-2001-film about a group of reanimated cheerleaders hungry for flesh and looking for revenge. I love his films May and The Woods (as well as Red and The Woman) so I’m looking forward to this.
Angriest Man in Brooklyn – From the director of Field of Dreams and Sneakers comes this Robin Williams film that looks like it’s from Bobcat Goldthwait. It’s what I honestly thought when I first saw the trailer. It looks really funny, actually. Robin Williams is an ass who is diagnosed with a brain condition. Because his doctor (Mila Kunis) is having a bad day and Williams isn’t helping with his fits, she tells him is going to die in an hour and a half 9which isn’t true). Hearing this news, he runs around town making amends for his bad behavior before he goes, with Kunis in hot pursuit to fix her flub. Has to be good, right? I’m hopeful.
Appleseed: Alpha – I don’t care, just having a new Appleseed anything is reason to be happy this week. This brand is awesome. And the fact that I’m referring to a cool anime series as a brand tells you our world is going to hell. Weeeeee!
Blue Ruin – They say any man looking for revenge better dig two graves, one for his object and one for himself. This is a movie about that. Funded by Kickstarter and premiering at Cannes, this is a dark tale, but one worth checking out.
Dom Hemingway – I honestly just want to see this because of the friggin’ movie poster. It just looks awesome. I don’t care what it’s about.
Ginger Snaps – A special edition of a now classic Canadian horror film about a pair of sisters who must deal with lycanthropy (werewolves, son!). This is where many of us first fell in love with Katharine Isabelle, so just for that – thank you Ginger Snaps.
Insomnia (Criterion) – I love this film. I had no idea what it was going in and was just astounded at home stellar it was at every turn. F*&k Nolan’s adaptation. Pick this up.
Sabata and The Scalphunters – Two great gritty as hell westerns on Blu-ray – yes please. Sabata is a badass spaghetti western with Lee Van Cleef, so yeah, get this. The Scalphunters stars Burt Lancaster, and I’m not as familiar, but I’m up on this one as well. I’m really going to spend a helluva lot of money this week.
Sabotage – Arnold is a DEA agent in this Ten Little Indians styled noir where a group of agents steal $10 Million in drug money from a cartel and pick each other off out of greed. A neat whodunit, but no classic. It’s a rental.
Shogun: Complete Mini-Series – If you know me, you know I love Japanese cinema, and this isn’t quite that, but it’s got Toshiro Mifune in it, so I have a certain affection for this five-part TV series. This is a Blu upgrade, and I haven’t seen it yet, but Paramount does good work and this 1080p remaster probably looks awesome.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance – The first in Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance trilogy (Oldboy and Lady Vengeance followed) is an odd affair about the domino effect of revenge compounded by extreme incompetence. This is a film that will have you talking to the TV with “no, don’t do that you idiot” type comments. Really.
And that’s that! I’m hurrying on out now so I can go stand in line for Hall H – if you see me, wave. Until next week, keep spinnin’ those discs.
– Todd Doogan