Video Dogs

New Titles, June, 'Hugo', 'The Skin I Live In'

STORY OF FILM, THE: AN ODYSSEY (2011)

Mark Cousins' enormously comprehensive history of cinema was a great book and now he's turned it into a highly enjoyable series, with interviews and linking segments shot by himself on DV that visit the locations of some of cinema's greatest moments and turns a still, melancholy eye on them as they are today. His global approach gives fair space to Iranian, Indian and Japanese cinema, as much as to American and British approaches of storytelling, though his low-key, worldweary Irish accented narration may irk with some. All ten one-hour episodes are included on 5 disks.

Other new stuff this week

HUGO (2011)

SKIN I LIVE IN, THE (2011)

DEVILS, THE (1971)

ALBERT NOBBS (2011)

DARKEST HOUR, THE (2011)

FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE, THE (2011)

Q (2011)

UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING (2012)

KILLING, THE: SERIES 2 (2009)

STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUMS, THE (1939)

ALAMBRISTA! (1977) CRITERION

ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959) CRITERION

ORGANIZER, THE (1963) CRITERION

EDWARD SAID: TWO FILMS (2004/2005)

STROMBOLI (1950)

UNE SI JOLIE PETITE PLAGE (1949)

TOOMELAH (2011)

WELL-DIGGER'S DAUGHTER, THE (2011)

X (2011)

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE (2011)

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE (2011) BLU-RAY

BIG LOVE SEASON 5 (2011) DISCS 1-2

BIG LOVE SEASON 5 (2011) DISCS 3-4

TRUE BLOOD SEASON 4 (2011) DISCS 1-3

TRUE BLOOD SEASON 4 (2011) DISCS 4-6

New Titles, May, 'Young Adult' 'Tinker Tailor...' 'Muppets'

Here’s a new comedy from Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, the writer/director duo behind ‘Juno’. But don’t go expecting another happy, warm hug of a movie: YOUNG ADULT is much less of a charmer, trailing a juicy waft of sourness behind it. Charlize Theron gives her best performance in years; she’s properly funny (who knew?) as Mavis Gary, a train-wreck who crashes into her hometown to reclaim her high-school sweetheart, Buddy. What, Buddy’s happily married? Devoted to his new baby? Like Mavis gives a damn. She’s angry, self-obsessed, immature, stalkerish, possibly alcoholic… and we’re kinda gunning for her.

Other new stuff this week

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011)
MUPPETS, THE (2011)
FORBIDDEN LEGEND, THE: SEX & CHOPSTICKS 1&2 (2008)
WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR, THE (2010)

ON THE ECSTASY OF SKI-FLYING (2008)

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER (2003)

A SEPARATION (2011)

FRY'S PLANET WORD (2011)
COLORADO TERRITORY (1949)
GREED (1924)
WAYS OF SEEING (1972)

New Titles, May, 'We Bought A Zoo' 'War Horse' 'Iron Lady'

It’s not often we get to see Matt Damon in civvy emotions – these days he’s more likely to wear the dead-eyed stare of a man with too many deaths on his conscience. Here he is, though, with a soulful, tender performance as recently widowed dad-of-two Benjamin, anchoring another happy-sad feelgood drama from Cameron Crowe.

The film is based on British journalist Benjamin Mee’s account of buying Dartmoor Zoo, transplanted by Crowe to California, where even grief is dappled in warm sunlight and mellowed by Cat Stevens. Benjamin buys the tumbledown menagerie on a whim, to the delight of his seven-year-old daughter (Maggie Elizabeth Jones, the cutest kid actor since Drew Barrymore) and the horror of his teenage son. Among its quirky residents, on two legs and four, is zoo keeper Kelly (Scarlett Johansson, too smouldering by half). Crowe, to his credit, is more concerned with insights about family than romance – and some of these are heart-on-sleeve touching if you’ve got a sweet tooth for the stickier stuff.

Other new stuff

LIFE AT THE TOP (1965)

A BIGGER SPLASH (1973)

A BIGGER SPLASH (1973) BLU-RAY

PEEP SHOW (2010) SEASON 7

HER PRIVATE HELL (1968)

HER PRIVATE HELL (1968) BLU-RAY

MARWENCOL (2010)

CLOSE TO EDEN (1991)

WE HAVE A POPE (2011)

LETTER NEVER SENT (1959) CRITERION

WAR ROOM, THE (1993)

PATIENCE (AFTER SEBALD) (2012)

EL BULLI: COOKING IN PROGRESS (2011)

FACE TO FACE (2011)

TITANIC (2012) TV SERIES

WAR HORSE (2011)

WE BOUGHT A ZOO (2011)

THIS IS NOT A FILM (2011)

LUNACY (2005)

ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, THE (2011)

EYE OF THE STORM, THE (2011)

HAPPY FEET 2 (2011)

IRON LADY, THE (2011)

TOWER HEIST (2011)

MARTYRS (2008)

RESTLESS (2011)

DEEP BLUE SEA, THE (2011)

AGES OF LOVE, THE (2011)

BURNING MAN (2011)

MACHINE GUN PREACHER (2011)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL (2011)

MELANCHOLIA (2011) BLU-RAY

New Titles, April, 'Once Upon A Time In Anatolia'

The new film from Nuri Bilge Ceylan follows a group of men driving across the Turkish steppe, hunting for the body of a murder victim. The murderer is in the car. The men are cops, escorting him to the site where he has buried the remains. The film is a cop procedural, with a difference. For the director is Turkey's answer to Andrei Tarkovsky, Bela Tarr, Angelopoulos and Sokurov. The great bores of modern cinema. This is Tarantino for film studies PhD's.

Murder mysteries rarely run as deep as this long, dark night of the soul from Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director of ‘Uzak’ and ‘Three Monkeys’. Ceylan is a master of brooding stories defined by their wry questioning of human nature and often focused on men in crisis. He has an unflinching eye for the worst in all of us and for the black comedy and absurd banalities of everyday life.

For his sixth film, Ceylan has chosen his bleakest canvas yet: a murder investigation that begins in the dark wilds of the great Anatolian outdoors and ends in the cold light of an autopsy room. In tone, it’s Ceylan’s most epic and talky film yet. But don’t be fooled – it’s also his most mysterious and meditative.

Other New Stuff This Week

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2010)

DREAM HOUSE (2011)

PUSS IN BOOTS (2011)

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (2011)

SHAMELESS (US) SEASON 1 (2011)

FIRST GRADER, THE (2010)

JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER (2011)

SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS, THE (2010)

IDES OF MARCH, THE (2011)

IDES OF MARCH, THE (2011) BLU-RAY

TREME SEASON 2 (2011) DISC 1-2

TREME SEASON 2 (2011) DISC 3-4

BURNT BY THE SUN (1994)

ANNA: FROM 6 TILL 18 (1994)

DARK EYES (1987)

New Titles, March, 'Vanya On 42nd St', 'Moneyball', 'My Week With Marilyn'

A great list of titles for the month of March. Best of all, it's good to see 'Vanya On 42nd Street' from Criterion. If you want to see other versions of Chekhov's play, check out the 'Anton Chekhov' set for the Olivier, Ian Holm & Anthony Hopkins versions.

We also changed our Rent By Mail policy. Now you can rent one title at a time for only $7.70 a time, and keep it for up to one month. (4 titles still costs $19.95). We also repeated our popular special so members can pay $20 and get $50 of rental credits on their account.

ATTENBERG (2010)

MONEYBALL (2011)

MYSTERIES OF LISBON (2010)

RED STATE (2011)

TRANSIT (2012)

IMMORTALS (2011)

PROJECT NIM (2011)

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (2011)

THE DESCENDANTS (2011)

HIGHER GROUND (2011)

MARGIN CALL (2011)

GILIAP (1975)

AMARCORD (1973) BLU-RAY CRITERION

RECONSTRUCTION, THE (1970)

DAYS OF '36 (1972)

TRAVELLING PLAYERS, THE (1975)

HUNTERS, THE (1977)

DEBT, THE (2010)

GUILTY OF ROMANCE (2011)

KNUCKLE (2011)

REAL STEEL (2011)

SHOCK DOCTRINE, THE (2009)

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011)

BREAKING BAD SEASON 4

DESK SET (1957)

STATE OF THE UNION (1948)

RUM DIARY, THE (2011)

VANYA ON 42ND STREET (1994) CRITERION

PORTRAIT D'UNE ENFANT DECHUE (1970)

PROVIDENCE (1977)

STRUCTURE OF CRYSTAL, THE (1969)

WALKING DEAD, THE SEASON 1 (2010)

J. EDGAR (2011)

DAYS OF THE ECLIPSE (1988)

IL DONO (2003)

ILLUMINATION (1973)

ILLUSION TRAVELS BY STREETCAR (1954)

L'AMOUR FOU (1969)

THE MIRROR (1997)

THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (1973)

OUT 1 (1971)

THE QUINCE TREE SUN (1992)

SUMMER IN THE CITY (1970)

SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY (1988)

VISITOR OF A MUSEUM (1989)

TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (2011)

OUR IDIOT BROTHER (2011)

PERFECT SENSE (2011)

TAKE SHELTER (2011)

DRIVE (2011) REGION 4

TT: CLOSER TO THE EDGE (2011)

HUGO (2011)

TINY FURNITURE (2010) CRITERION

THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI (1964) CRITERION

LES GIRLS (1957)

GODZILLA (1954) CRITERION

POTO AND CABENGO (1980) CRITERION

ROUTINE PLEASURES (1986)

MY CRASY LIFE (1992)

WARP VISION: THE VIDEOS 1989-2004

BELLE DE JOUR (1967) Criterion

XALA (1974)

A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (1996)

MOMENT OF TRUTH, THE (1965) CRITERION

3 BY THEO (1994, 1996, 2003) 3 X DVD SET

BEST MAN, THE (1964)

DROLE DE DRAME (1937)

TAKEN (2008)

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)

BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK (2010)

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 1 (2011)

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 1 (2011) BLU-RAY

MILDRED PIERCE (2011)

THE WHISTLEBLOWER (2010)

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (2009)

ANOTHER EARTH

ANONYMOUS (2011)

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2: FULL SEQUENCE (2011)

IN TIME (2011)

BELLFLOWER (2011)

PINA (2011) BLU-RAY

ANOTHER EARTH (2011) BLU-RAY

February, New Titles, 'Dust Of Time' 'Melancholia'

Theo Angelopoulos (1936-2012)

The Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos, who has died aged 76 in a road accident, was an epic poet of the cinema, creating allegories of 20th-century Greek history and politics. He redefined the slow pan, the long take and tracking shots, of which he was a master. His stately, magisterial style and languidly unfolding narratives require some (ultimately rewarding) effort on the part of the spectator. "The sequence shot offers, as far as I'm concerned, much more freedom," Angelopoulos explained. "By refusing to cut in the middle, I invite the spectator to better analyse the image I show him, and to focus, time and again, on the elements that he feels are the most significant in it."

Angelopoulos was born in Athens, where he studied law. After military service, he went to Paris to attend the Sorbonne but soon dropped out to study at the IDHEC film school (now known as La Fémis). Back in Greece, he worked as a film critic for the leftist daily Allagi, which was closed down by the military junta that came to power in 1967. The seven-year regime of "the colonels" was seared into his consciousness and remained a subject – overtly or subliminally – throughout his oeuvre. (Guardian)

Other New Titles

ACROSS THE LINE (2010)

LOPE (2010)

KILLING, THE VOL.2 (2007)

INBETWEENERS MOVIE, THE (2011)

OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST (2008)

CONTAGION (2011)

DRIVE (2011)

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011)

MELANCHOLIA (2011)

THE DUST OF TIME (2008)

SALT OF LIFE (2011)

A PATCH OF BLUE (1965)

BOYFRIEND, THE (1971)

IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (1982) CRITERION

FUTURE, THE (2011)

GETTING STRAIGHT (1970)

AUTOLUMINESCENT (2011)

THING, THE (2011)

THING, THE (2011) BLU-RAY

HUNTER, THE (2011)

FOOTLOOSE (2011)

TALL MAN, THE (2011)

HELP, THE (2011)

DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) 2 DISC CRITERION EDITION

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (1947)

SOMETHING OF VALUE (1957)

TAWNY PIPIT (1944)

KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP!

MONTE CARLO (2011)

HOSTEL PART 3 (2011)

ZOOKEEPER (2011)

TEMPEST, THE (2010)

A WARM DECEMBER (1972)

MOON AND SIXPENCE, THE (1943)

VANINA VANINI (1961)

REV - SERIES 1 (2011)

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 (1987)

THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011)

PARIS: THE LUMINOUS YEARS (2010)

ARRIETY (2010)

SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2011)

LET THE BULLETS FLY (2010)

DOORS MR. MOJO RISIN' THE STORY OF LA WOMAN (2011)

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (2011)

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

APOLLO 18 (2011)

BUNRAKU (2010)

LEAP YEAR (2010)

February, New Titles, 'The Skin I Live In', 'Crazy Stupid Love', 'Hostel 3'

Pedro Almodóvar again reveals his genius for turning the ridiculous into the sublime with this creepy skin flick – THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011) - a melodramatic thriller that is sombre but never sober and that moves through time and space with much of the boldness and style we’ve come to expect from Spain’s leading director. Antonio Banderas puts in a charismatic turn as a tragic figure touched by evil. The last time Banderas worked with Almodóvar was for ‘Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!’ in 1990. Twenty-one years later, they’re back together for an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet’s French novel ‘Mygale’ (‘Tarantula’ in English translation), the story of a plastic surgeon, Dr Robert Ledgard (Banderas), whose skills with the knife allow him to take control of a messy personal life in ways unimaginable to anyone but him. Banderas puts in a commanding performance in a film whose thriller tendencies are made doubly interesting by also being an artful study of masks and identities, sex and flesh, bodies and power.

Other New Stuff