| Summertime and the reissues are easy. Now is the time to catch up on all those movies you totally forgot about – like The Monster Squad.
· Avenue Montaigne (2006, dir. Danièle Thompson, Thinkfilm): Can you be an artist and want success? Exploring this question through three interconnected characters, this film cleaned up at the French Oscars.
· Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006, dir. Scott Glosserman, Anchor Bay): All premise and no delivery, this satirical mock-doc follows aspiring psychopath Leslie Vernon as he tries to take his place in the canon of serial killers alongside Jason, Freddy and Michael Myers.
· Black Snake Moan (2007, dir. Craig Brewer, Paramount Vantage): Samuel L. Jackson is a washed-up blues man who tries to rehabilitate a wayward nympho played by Christina Ricci. In a film that could be nothing more than exploitation, Brewer finds the heart of the characters and delivers one of the best films of 2007.
· Blood and Chocolate (2007, dir. Katja von Garnier, Sony): From the producers of Underworld comes a werewolf movie as bad as its title. No story, no good performances, no cool makeup effects – just real wolves.
· The Bridge (2006, dir. Eric Steel, Koch Lorber): Tireless camera crews focused their lenses on the Golden Gate Bridge for two years, capturing several suicide attempts, and followed this up by interviewing survivors and their families.
· Dead Silence (2007, dir. James Wan, Universal): The writer and director of Saw spin a ghost story about a ventriloquist and her possessed puppets. It’s actually scarier than it sounds even if the unrated version is still barely a PG-13.
· Factory Girl (2006, dir. George Hickenlooper, The Weinstein Company): Sienna Miller gets her 15 minutes of fame starring as Edie Sedgwick, the gorgeous protégé of Andy Warhol. Available in an uncut version.
· Glastonbury (2007, dir. Julian Temple, Think): Live from the 30th annual Glastonbury music festival, it’s Billy Bragg, Bjork, Radiohead, Coldplay and more.
· The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (2006, dir. Jerry Aronson, New Yorker): With the help of interviews with such luminaries as Stan Brakhage, William Burroughs, Johnny Depp, Philip Glass, Timothy Leary and Andy Warhol, Aronson tells the story of one of the legendary beat poets. This two-disc set is loaded with over six hours of bonus documentaries.
· The Manhattan Project (1986, dir. Marshall Brickman, Lionsgate): The Cold War was a crazy time. John Lithgow stars in this story of nuclear technology gone wrong. It’s WarGames meets The Fourth Protocol.
· Meatballs: Special Edition (1979, dir. Ivan Reitman, Sony): Are you ready for the summer? Bill Murray is the one and only bright spot in this summer camp comedy from the director of Ghostbusters.
· The Monster Squad (1987, dir. Fred Dekker, Lionsgate): Wow, has it been 20 years already? A group of kids take on Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man and Frankenstein. Laughs ensue. Features one of the best lines of dialogue ever written – "Wolf Man’s got nards."
· Partition (2007, dir. Vic Sarin, Seville): This story of racial tension and forbidden love was sold on the strength of Neve Campbell in a supporting role. The real power of this film comes from the two leads, Jimi Mistry and Kristin Kreuk, as their love is torn apart by the border between India and Pakistan.
· Pride (2007, dir. Sunu Gonera, Lionsgate): Oscar nominee Terrence Howard stars in the inspirational true story of an underdog swim team. If Howard in a Speedo doesn’t appeal, then Bernie Mac in a supporting role will.
· Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2007, dir. Tom Tykwer, Paramount): Based on the brilliant novel by Patrick Suskind, Perfume tells the story of an obsessive killer with a sensitive olfactory system. Dustin Hoffman is just one of the interesting casting choices.
· Red Dawn: Collector’s Edition (1984, dir. John Millius, MGM): The brat pack goes to war in this outlandish story about a group of high school kids that takes on the Russian army as it invades the American Midwest at the height of the Cold War. Laughably bad now, this was the film that pioneered the PG-13 rating.
· Showgirls: Fully Exposed Edition (1995, dir. Paul Verhoeven, MGM ): Released on DVD for the third time (this must be the charm), this campy schlock fest about a young dancer (Elizabeth Berkley) who learns about the seedy world of Las Vegas strippers is horrible, but the commentary, trivia track and lap dance tutorial actually make this worth watching.
· Trading Places: Collectors Edition (1983, dir. John Landis, Paramount): Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy’s modern day take on the Prince and the Pauper has not aged well. Slow, dry and mildly racist, the bonus features on this disc are the best parts. Murphy’s Coming to America has also been reissued. |
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