Video TapeWorm
Releases through Tuesday, June 19
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS
WR: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM
1971; DVD $39.95, X
Polish director Dusan Makavejev is either a friggin’ genius or the cleverest pervert in history. How else can you explain this amazing film that somehow links orgasmic energy with the state of Communist Yugoslavia in 1971? A surreal collision of documentary filmmaking, the works of psychologist/philosopher Wilhelm Reich, and the sexual and political awakenings of a beautiful Slavic girl that’ll have you scratching your head but convinced that, somehow, you just learned something very profound. Rated X for scenes of an erect penis. Horrors!
SWEET MOVIE
1974; DVD $29.95, UR
Dusan Makavejev returns with yet another taboo-shattering treatise on complacency. More accessible than his breakout masterpiece, “WR,” this reveals how our personal and political freedoms are only cultural illusions as the camera swings from gynecological beauty pageants to grotesque food orgies — and more — with complete abandon and an innocent perversity that is absolutely beguiling. Funny, dark, shocking, thrilling and ultimately beautiful, this is a rare treat for adventurous movie lovers.
BOZO: THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS CLOWN, VOL. 1
2007; DVD $39.95, UR
… until G.W. Bush, anyway. While not as well known in the Louisville area, the “Bozo” daily kid’s TV show ran for 47 YEARS with a variety of actors portraying the fright-wigged host, sometimes with several different cities doing simultaneous local “Bozos” of their own! Contains 30 live-action, largely unscripted half-hour full-color episodes — each with a rare five-minute cartoon — starring Frank Avruch (we think) and Carroll “Big Bird” Spinney as “Mr. Lion.”
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
2007; DVD $29.95-34.95, PG
Disney put a lot of money into buying the rights for the book, then threw most of it out the window in order to play with the monsters, trolls, ogres and giants of the titular imaginary playland. Still, a fun little tale of two mismatched friends who create their own world when the “real world” (whatever that means) becomes too painful. Or you could buy the book and read it to your kids. Nah.
CRUISING QUEEN MARY 2 TO RIO
2007; DVD $19.95, UR
There’s a good, cheap mental vacation inside this generic travelogue disc as you board, settle in and enjoy all the sights and sounds of life aboard one of the world’s great luxury liners — and then prowl the streets and beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the tropical sun. Man, we need some time off …
FIRE SERPENT
2007; DVD $26.95, R
Incredibly stupid SciFi Channel fodder about “living fire” spewed from the sun that hunts humans for fuel. Co-written by William Shatner.
IF
1968; DVD $39.95, R
Long before “A Clockwork Orange,” this was the movie that made Malcolm McDowell a star. His sneering insolence is perfect in this treatise on the hypocrisy and anarchy inherent within proper British society, as his increasingly violent rebellions spark retribution at a ’60s boarding school. And once you hear his rebel yell, it will echo in your head forever. A true classic, now fully restored with all the DVD trimmings.
KING BOXER
1972; DVD $19.95, R
This is a new pressing of a true Shaw Brothers’ kung fu classic, whose badly-dubbed English version (“Five Fingers of Death”) is credited with starting the martial arts movie craze in America. Two martial arts schools prepare for a tournament as pressures inside and out lead to violence. Originally rated X in Britain and banned outright throughout much of Northern Europe! You’ll wonder why.
MAX AND MONA
2004; DVD $24.95, UR
OK, right up front: We are not making this up. A young man leaves his small South African village to become a doctor in the big city, unaware that he has mistakenly walked off with his people’s sacred goat. A big ol’ heapin’ hayride of farce, folly and fun told in English, Tswana, Afrikaans and Zulu with subtitles.
MISS POTTER
2006; DVD $28.95, PG
Renée Zellweger stars as the “Peter Rabbit” lady in this fun and innocent bio-drama that’s worth your time. She is trapped by the Victorian Age, forbidden a career and constantly under pressure by her controlling parents to accept politically advantageous marriages, until she meets publisher Ewan McGregor. A “family film” that won’t leave you diabetic.
POWERPUFF GIRLS: COMPLETE SEASON 1
2007; DVD $26.95, UR
This goofy-fun animated series from Craig McCracken and Genndy Tartakovsky (inspirations for the new love of our lives, Erin Esurance) is too good for kids. Three pastel-colored little girls — Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup — use their super-powers to fight Bad Guys and save the world before bedtime. Golly, it even comes with neat DVD bonus stuff!
SILVER SPOONS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
1982; DVD $29.95, UR
“Ricky” Schroder, most recently of TV’s “24,” starred in this odd sitcom with slinky Erin Gray (forever to be Commander Wilma Deering of “Buck Rogers” fame), about very rich people who still have lots to learn about life.
THE NIGHTCOMERS
1971; DVD $19.95, R
An all-but-forgotten Marlon Brando film inspired by Henry James’ ghostly “The Turn of the Screw.” He plays a crude gardener at an estate who mesmerizes a pair of orphaned children with his dark, twisted views on life and love, while secretly whipping and schtuping their leather-clad governess, Stephanie Beacham. When the housekeeper uncovers the affair, she fires the two, but the children have other, more chilling plans.
THE TOMB
2006; DVD $26.95, R
While the box art proclaims this as “Based on a story by the master of outrageous horror, H.P. Lovecraft,” it’s really just another “Saw”-inspired mutilator. If you want to see a good Lovecraft movie, ask for “The Resurrected” (1992), a low-budget updating of “The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward” that deserves more recognition.
Other DVDs of Interest
DANIEL BOONE: SEASON 4
1967; DVD $49.95, UR
PERRY MASON: SEASON 2, VOL. 1
1957; DVD $38.95, UR
PICKET FENCES: SEASON 1
1992; DVD $59.95, UR
THE DIE HARD COLLECTION
1988; DVD $39.95, R
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA: SEASON 3, VOL. 1
1964; DVD $39.95, UR
A more complete listing and free vids at www.videotapeworm.com!