THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS:
OBLIVION
2013; $19.98-$34.98; PG-13
Frankly, this Tom Cruise movie is not really “a Tom Cruise movie”: It is more of a feature-length “Star Trek” episode with astounding visuals, big-budget stars and terrific effects that seem absolutely real. In the future, the Earth is dying after decades of war with marauders from the stars. Mankind has moved elsewhere in the solar system, leaving only a single pair of humans to manage a handful of important energy machines. But then someone new arrives, and she knows things that can’t possibly be true. To say more would spoil a brilliant cinematic experiment that sci-fi fans should be rallying around. We thought it was brilliant.
TRANCE
2013; $14.98-$29.98; R
James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson star in this wildly popular Danny “Trainspotting” Boyle-directed production that the studio dumped to video after an exceedingly poor theatrical ad campaign. It’s a crime drama with definite “Inception” leanings about an auctioneer (McAvoy), in thrall to a gang of criminals, who works with a hypnotherapist to help find a lost painting. Director Boyle is on fire here, producing one of the best — if least seen — films in his exceptional career. Don’t miss this.
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AFTERSHOCK
2012; $19.98; R
Blunt-instrument horror director Eli Roth takes a break from directing to star in this natural-disaster movie. He’s the only American survivor in an underground nightclub after a massive Chilean earthquake. But the real terror occurs once they dig out to find humans behaving like sadistic animals. It seems to be a deliberately bad movie sometimes, with laugh-out-loud horror-humor and gags that will literally make you gag. Surprisingly effective on so many levels.
FRIDAYS: THE BEST OF
2013; $29.98; UR
The first-ever DVD release from “Fridays,” the historic (if little remembered) late-night music- and sketch-comedy series from the early ’80s that launched the careers of Larry David and Michael Richards (“Seinfeld”), as well as a score of others who became writers on the best shows of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Worth checking out if only for the guests that include Devo, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Cars, The Clash, KISS and a rare stand-up performance by the late Andy Kaufman.
MUD
2012; $12.98-$24.98; PG-13
Matthew McConaughey, covered in filth, babbling about killers on his trail, and hiding on a tiny island in the Mississippi River, is clearly a mental case. He’s also in this movie. That’s where a pair of impressionable boys (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) discover him and become infatuated by his romantic tales of killing an evil man and searching for his true love (Reese Witherspoon) while evading an army of bounty hunters. It’s too crazy to be true, right? We won’t spoil it. Our only complaint is the PG-13 rating. We would have liked to have seen the themes ramped up to an R treatment. Good indie stuff.
ON THE ROAD
2013; $26.98-$29.98; R
When the decision was made to attempt a film of Jack Kerouac’s legendary book, “On The Road,” the studio hired one of the great filmmakers of a generation, Walter Salles (“The Motorcycle Diaries”), to direct. Good move! Sam Riley plays “Sal Paradise” (Kerouac), whose mundane life is shattered when he meets a true free spirit, played by Garrett Hedlund, and his ethereal girlfriend, Marylou (Kristen Stewart, in a winsome portrayal). Sex, drugs and the ultimate quest for freedom amid the staid conformity of the modern world. What more could you possibly want?
SMILEY’S PEOPLE
1982; $36.98-$59.98; UR
Limey-TV lovers know that this is the follow-up to John Le Carré’s superb “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” series, with Alec Guinness reprising the role that made him a household name: George Smiley, aging spymaster. Here he once again plays each of the human pawns against each other in a brilliant, deadly game of nerves to expose the machinations of his ghostly nemesis, Karla (played by Patrick Stewart, whose screen presence screams despite the actor never muttering a sound). Slow, thoughtful, deliberate and devastating. Highly recommended.
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
2013; $19.98-$34.98; R
This over-romantic drama is all over the map: Ryan Gosling, a carnival motorcycle stunter, meets up with old flame Eva Mendes, only to discover that they have a son. So he settles down and tries to be a good father, but new boss Ben Mendelsohn coerces him into a bank robbery, putting rookie cop Bradley Cooper and his evil detective-boss (Ray Liotta) on his trail. But that’s only a portion of the ever-mounting conflicts, destined to reverberate into succeeding generations, ad infinitum. Needed more killer robots.
THE SAPPHIRES
2012; $16.98-$30.98; PG-13
The more or less true story of a quartet of Australian Aboriginal girls, raised in a remote mission, who form a singing group à la The Supremes and tour Vietnam during the tumultuous year of 1968. The girls are terrific, but it is their rhythm-impaired soul-singer agent, Chris O’Dowd, that makes the chemistry work as the girls get a crash-course on life, love, racism, family and the PG-13 horrors of war. Simply terrific; don’t miss it.
TO THE WONDER
2012; $19.98; R
This high-pedigree adult drama is a bit long-winded and complex for our humble tastes, but you can’t argue with its power. Famed writer/director Terrence Malick (“The New World”) bites deep into human frailty as Ben Affleck falls for Olga Kurylenko while in Europe, and asks her to relocate to America with her 10-year-old daughter. Problem is, once here, their ardor cools as her visa runs out. Along the way she meets struggling priest Javier Bardem, while Affleck hooks up with Rachel McAdams (nice work if you can get it). Artsy, deep, mystical and moving.
A more complete listing and free vids at videotapeworm.com.
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5 SOULS
2011; $9.98-$26.98; UR
This no-budget Texas horror stars no one of great consequence but satisfies by being original and timeless. A man lies in a coma, near death, when he is offered a Faustian deal: Kill a list of five people or die … eventually. He decides to do the deed, killing the first four, but when faced with murdering the fifth, he comes to understand the grand, mystic and horrifying design behind it all. We liked it.
A BOY AND HIS DOG
1975; $19.98-$26.98; R
A true sci-fi chestnut, finally available on Blu-ray! Don Johnson, in the role that made him … well, less unknown, is the titular boy wandering through Harlan Ellison’s post-Apocalyptic wasteland with his telepathic dog, Blood, who can not only find him food but the most precious commodity left on the planet, WOMEN! Through a series of dark comic misadventures, he winds up with his penis plugged into an electroshock/milking machine, supplying semen for a weirdly peaceful cult lead by Jason Robards. A must-own guy-fantasy flick with all the requisite bonus goodies.
AMELIA’S 25TH
2013; $19.99; UR
Electra Avellan, one of those amazingly hot babes from “Machete,” stars here as an aspiring actress who ditches her boyfriend on the morning of her 25th birthday. From there she visits a wonky psychic and spends the rest of the day in a more-or-less comic attempt to find something meaningful and life-affirming in Hollywood. Good luck! With help from Danny Trejo, Jennifer Tilly, Robert Rodriguez, Margaret Cho and others.
BOOM VARIETAL
2011; $19.99; UR
After a disappointing start in France, Malbec grapes found a perfect home in Argentina, where they flourished, giving rise to the world’s fastest-selling wine variety. This doc looks at the history and future of wine consumption, especially in the U.S., its commercial exploitation and the fragile lives of thousands of people who depend on the fickle culture of snooty American winos. Surprisingly entertaining.
DOM MATTEO: SETS 5 AND 6
2013; $34.98-$39.98 each; UR
This comedy/drama/mystery series from Italy is wildly popular for one reason: grindhouse stalwart Terence Hill, most famous in America for his Trinity movies of the ’70s and ’80s, and for starring in 1968’s “Django, Prepare a Coffin.” Here he is the titular average, everyday crime-solving … Catholic priest! No gunplay, few chases (always on foot) and zero violence. So why are they so good? Because the are brilliantly written, flawlessly directed and filled with enough wonder, wisdom, warmth, humor, hope and nonsense to entertain even this pair of jaded American viewers. Incredibly addictive.
DUCH: MASTER OF THE FORGES OF HELL
2011; $19.98; UR
In only four short years, Khmer Rouge Party Secretary Kaing “Duch” Guek Eav tortured and killed nearly 2 million people. It wasn’t until 25 years later that he was brought to justice in the world court, which is where this straight-up, no-frills doc picks up the story, told largely in Duch’s own words. A chilling, frightening look at a corrupt government, a human monster and his legacy.
LOVE ME TENDER
1956; $14.98-$19.98; UR
This was Elvis Presley’s first movie, and while the box art suggests he’s the star, it’s an ensemble piece with heavy-hitters Debra Paget and Richard Egan, set just after the end of the Civil War. Egan returns from the war to find his best girl now married to El, who had stayed home. A far less exuberant film that you usually think of when Presley is involved, but there are a number of good songs, including the sad title tune, and at least one that seems wildly anachronistic. But nobody’s complaining. Uh, thank you. Thank you very much.
MAGIC MAGIC
2013; $21.98-$26.98; R
The amazing Juno Temple finds herself stranded on a South American island with a trio of strangers (Michael Cera plus two locals) after her cousin, Emily Browning, leaves unexpectedly. And something is very wrong with her: She can’t sleep, she’s becoming increasingly afraid — especially of Cera, who is a closet sadistic pig — and the animals seem to be losing their fear of people. Or is she just going nuts? Slow but wonderfully dreadful and icky on a very personal level.
NIAGRA
1953; $16.98; UR
The ’50s were ripe with pseudo-Hitchcock thrillers, and this one features Marilyn Monroe at her purring, lounging, baby-doll best. She’s married to Joseph Cotton who is, well, kinda nuts; she plans to do away with him at the nearby falls. Lots of great scenery (including Jean Peters) but free of the usual distracting Monroe comic elements, this is a fun, naughty little schemer with a great climax. Now available on Blu-ray.
TWILIGHT ZONE: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON
1963; $19.98; UR
This next-to-last season for the penultimate outre’ series is heavy on sci-fi, space travel and time-travel themes — sometimes all in the same episode. One of our all-time faves is “Death Ship,” with Jack Klugman and Ross Martin as terrestrial space travelers, surveying a distant planet (in the ship from “Forbidden Planet”), who discover a crashed spaceship — their own! The combined sense of horror and wonder is unique in the annals of TV, and the ending is brilliant. A must-own.
This article appears in July 30, 2013.