THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS:
ECLIPSE SERIES 37: WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU
1968; $41.98-$59.98; UR
Japan’s Shochiku Studios were already famous for their lavish dramas long before Godzilla stomped Tokyo for Toho. But as the tide of public interest changed, the studio decided to try its own hand at horror. The result was a quartet of seriously loopy tales that have to be seen to be believed; this set contains all four: “The X from Outer Space,” “Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell,” “The Living Skeleton,” and “Genocide.” “X” was their first, a fun mishmash of flying saucers, rockets to Mars and a giant rampaging chicken/lizard thingie, but our favorite is “Genocide” in which all the word’s insects gather together to rid the world of man. Our highest recommendation.
TARANTINO XX 8-FILM COLLECTION
2012; $89.98-$119.98; R
Quentin Tarantino personally selected these eight films as a time capsule of his first 20 years in filmmaking (and to help goose interest in the upcoming theatrical release of “Django Unchained”). And it’s a pretty impressive list! Titles include “Reservoir Dogs,” the underrated “True Romance,” artsy-fartsy fave “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown” (one of our faves), both parts of “Kill Bill,” the somewhat overrated “Inglourious Basterds,” and the overrated “Death Proof.” Ten discs, including two full of bonus goodies.
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ANCIENT ALIENS: SEASON 4
2009; $22.98-$39.98; PG
We used to get angry over things like this “Chariots of the Gods”-inspired psuedo-scientific BS, but nowadays we just laugh and lament the state of the American educational system. Season 4 looks at disasters around the globe, plus all that “Mayan Calendar” horse-hockey, asking, “Was this the work of intergalactic travelers?” Did E.T. really send a 30-foot tidal wave crashing into a Japanese atomic power plant? Is Bigfoot really an otherworldly genetic experiment? Are you really dumb enough to buy any of this crap? No, no and probably ... Ain’t it fun to be silly?!
BIG TITS ZOMBIE
2010; $17.98-$19.98; UR
How could we pass up a title like that? A quartet of exotic dancers led by smokin’ Sola Aoi discover a secret doorway beneath their stripper pole. It leads to a hidden chamber where they find a moldy book and, as you’d expect, begin to read it aloud. Bad move, girls! Now it’s up to the four silicone-Sallies — with lethal fighting skills — to save us all from an army of the undead. As profound and erudite as it sounds; from Japan, based on a comic book; aka “The Big Tits Dragon.”
BRINGING UP BOBBY
2011; $24.98-$26.98; PG-13
Mila Jovovich, from the “Resident Evil” franchise and “The Fifth Element,” is one helluva actress, and every so often she does a serious role just to remind us of that. She’s in rare form here in a “Paper Moon”-like tale of a former con-woman who must choose between a new life that gives her son a chance at normalcy, or going back to her exciting criminal roots with the man she loves. Surprisingly funny; written and directed by Famke Janssen.
HARD CORE LOGO 2
1996; $21.98-$29.98; UR
The first “HCL” was a punk Canadian mockumentary in the “Spinal Tap” mode (with better music). Here filmmaker Bruce MacDonald, still agonizing over his role in the on-film death of HCL’s lead singer, returns to look at the band “Die Mannequin,” who claim to be channeling the dead singer’s spirit. Both flicks are excellent, we heartily recommended buying the pair!
MAN WHO WILL COME
2009; $19.98-$24.98; UR
Man, what an awful title! This Italian arthouse hit, based on true events, focuses on the life of a small girl, mute since the death of her infant brother. She now lives only for the birth of her new sibling, expected at any time. Outside it is the bitter winter of 1943, and the Nazi SS is rounding up civilians, sending them off to their deaths in the war. It’s all rather symbolic, if a bit over our pointy heads, but a powerful and haunting drama, nonetheless.
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES
2012; $83.98-$119.98; UR
A group of color-coordinated teens are given skin-tight suits, martial-arts skills and giant fighting robots by an alien voice to help him fight off cosmic evil. But their real power was in merchandising, setting in motion a cash-flow juggernaut that’s now in its 19th season. This 19-disc set contains all three seasons of the “Mighty Morphin” series, plus a megazord-load of bonus goodies — and you can get it free! We’re giving away one complete set at videotapeworm.com/video.php. Check it out.
MOMMY IS COMING
2012; $19.98; UR
If you caught that double-entendre in the title, then you’re in the target audience for this raunchy German sex comedy that’s a big hit in Europe. Lillian “Lil” Harlow stars as a bored blonde butch who meets similarly blue black-chick Papi Coxxx, and they “give it a go.” Their romp is interrupted when Lil’s mom, Maggie Tapert (a famous real-life Euro sex therapist), comes to town looking to par-tay. It’s all just a grand burlesque poking fun at boring, expected gender stereotypes (and occasionally poking fun latex elsewhere).
THE DEAD INSIDE
2011; $22.98-$24.98; UR
French-born Sarah Lassez, who has become something of an indie scream-queen, co-stars with Dustin Fasching in this inventive and artsy-fartsy horror musical about a pair of artists/lovers beaten down by the grind of workaday life. When it becomes clear that something corrupt has taken root inside of her, he locks her away until he can discover how to deal with it. Interesting and different.
THE EXPENDABLES 2
2012; $21.98-$39.98; R
Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) gathers together the original Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) along with newcomers Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu for another rock-’em, sock-’em all-out crash/bang-fest. Yeah, there’s some sort of plot involving bad guy Jean-Claude Van Damme, but it just gets in the way of the explosions, gunfights and other miscellaneous mayhem. The best thing to do is just ignore all that, kick back, and enjoy the testosterone. Recommended.
A more complete listing and free vids at videotapeworm.com.