Commercially Acclaimed: Vol.#16 - HBO's Holiday Shopping Suggestions

TV commercials are a part of our everyday lives as TV viewers. Even though Tivo and DVR have allowed us to "skip through" the commercials, the advertising companies a still trying to peak our interests by coming up with creative commercials. To me, great commercials are an art form and are under appreciated by a society that is always trying to speed through things. Think about it... how many times did you see a great commercial that made you laugh hysterically or want to go out and purchase the advertised product??? And how many times has the best part of the Super Bowl been the commercials during a blow out game??? Whether you want to admit it or not, commercials are cool as shit... and here are some of my favorites.

This week we got HBO's commercial for the holiday... they want you to buy True Blood Season 1 on BluRay & DVD, and this guy will tell you exactly why you should buy it. He puts together a puppet show/creepy ass narrative for his girlfriend featuring Sookie, Eric, and Bill Compton. Lets just say the store bought episodes might be a tad bit better. Hope you enjoy!!!

Imagine This: Check Out These Lost Back To The Future Audition Tapes... Wow!

People have had a great time watching the lost clips of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future that were included in the new Blu-Ray release. These clips came from early in the movie film shoot when Stoltz was cast as McFly before they switched to Michael J Fox. Now, Saturday Night Live has unleashed the lost audition tapes from 1984... you gotta see these. Al Pacino, Bill Cosby & Robin Williams as Doc Brown??? Eddie Murphy, Nic Cage & Sam Kinison as Marty??? Alan Alda as Biff??? Jennifer Tilly as 1955 Lea Thompson??? Plus many more... These are great. Unfortunately, Hulu has made it a must to embed the whole episode of SNL, yet you can see the Back to the Future clips at the 17:55 and 25:10 mark. Great stuff... keep up the good work SNL!!!


  

DVD Release Day - April 13th, 2010

Its another slow week in DVD releases... lots of catalog stuff and re-releases of things you probably have in your collections. Here are some of the cooler ones... hope this is a help to you collectors out there.

A Nightmare On Elm Street Blu-Ray, The Great Mouse Detective Blu- Ray, Apollo 13 Blu- Ray, I Robot Blu- Ray, Gone With The Wind Scarlett Edition, Voltron: Beast King Golion Box Set, X-Men , X2 and  X3 on Blu- Ray

Another wack week... get your library collection game up by checking out the deals at all the local retailers... happy hunting!!!

DVD Release Day - March 22, 2010

The Blind Side - (Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron)

Trust me guys... Oscar got this one right. Sandra Bullock sparkles as the tough as nails rich lady with a heart the size of planet Earth. She feels bad for a large homeless boy named Big Mike that goes to here childrens school. So she does what any logical upper class white mother would do... she invites the boy to come live in the house with her husband and their two teenage kids!!! She takes a chance on Mike, and he learns what it is like to have a family that cares for him. This would suck the big one if it was  a typically made up story, but thats the best part: THIS IS A TRUE STORY!!! Michael Orr is currently playing in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens, and most likely this is because of the kindness that was afforded to him way back when. This one is a tear jerker, and Bullock gives the performance of her long, outstanding career. You will love this one, trust us. When they talk about feel good movies, this is what they have in mind.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - (George Clooney, Meryll Streep, Jason Schwartzman)

Wes Anderson is a wonderful director. This is not open for debate, this is a fact. I love when actors and directors take chances after they achieve a certain level of greatness. Tom Cruise has been sucking it up lately as an actor, but when he took a chance a poking some fun at himself and stole the show as the dancing movie mogul in Tropic Thunder. Thats what I mean by taking a chance... and it paid off. Anderson is known for his quirky movies and collaborating with Luke and Owen Wilson and Bill Murray repeatedly. He took a shot and adapted this stop motion version of the Roald Dahl classic novel. And boy did he nail it. It helps when you get George Clooney and Meryll Streep involved, because they are somewhat known to be pretty decent actors... WTF!!! This cast is incredible, from Clooney and Streep, to frequent Anderson collaborators Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. This also features so many cameos they can not ven be named. This movie was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film award at this years Academy Awards, and it could have easily been one of the best picture nominees... no bullshit. If it wasn't for the mega hit UP, Fox would have won the category easily. Nothing wrong with coming in second to UP (great flick). Good for both adults and kids, this one won't disappoint.

Also Released This Week: Toy Story/Toy Story 2 Blu Ray Combo Pack, Mad Men Season 3, Seraphine, AfterDark HorrorFest Vol 4 (8 movies), Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire, The Men That Stare At Goats, The Prisoner (AMC Miniseries), Yojimbo and Sanjuro Blu Ray Combo Pack

DVD Release for Tuesday March 2, 2010

Where The Wild Things Are - (Max Records, Catherine Kenner, Mark Ruffalo, Voices of James Gandolfini and Forrest Whitaker)

This is Spike Jonze's soon to be cult classic film based on the 1963 childrens book by Maurice Sendak. Jonze expanded the original 10 setence book to a full length feature that will captivate you and transport you to the magical land of the Wild Things. The most impressive thing to me, other then the fact that Jonze miraculously squeezed a complete movie out of a relative picture book, is that he really gets it right. So right in fact that despite the fact that it is criticized by some movie critics, Sendak himself considers the film to be a genius interpetation of his book. The suits of the Wild Things are cool as shit, and little Max Records kills the role of Max. You feel all of the angst of a confused, bitter 11 year old boy. Jonze really outdoes himself here, and it was well worth the years and years that he put into this project. It is available on DVD as well as Blu-Ray. This one is a must have for your collection.

Ponyo - ( Voices of Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas, Tina Fey, Matt Damon, Cloris Leechman, Liam Neelson, Betty White and Cate Blanchett)

I love Japanese Animation, or anime if you will. Sometimes its is swords and magic, sometimes its vampires or sci-fi, and sometimes its super squid tenticle rape (I'm not making that up... some of this shit is really weird). But there is also other kinds of anime, that have really excellent scripts and deal with emotional issues. Hayao Miyazaki is the king of these Japanese type animation movies. Princess Moanoke, Spirited Away, and Howling's Moving Castle were all classics by Miyazaki, who is considered to be the Steven Spielberg of Japan. His films are wildly successful in Japan, and have begun to cross over to the US market well. Ponyo was his first large scale release here in the US (927 screens as opposed to the 30 or 40 screens for his former releases). It finished in 9th place, rspectable for a foriegn cartoon feature. The story centers around a little boy and a fish/girl who form a special bond. After they are seperated, the fish girl, Ponyo, wants to become a full human and rejoin her friend. She begs her father, but he will not let her go. Very adventurous and beautifully done, Miyazaki outdoes himself on this one. The all star voice cast shows just how fond the stars of Hollywood are of Miyazaki's work. He is able to retain top notch actors and actresses for his English translations. This lends to the stunning visuals that Miyazaki nails once again, and this film is a must see for families looking for a quality film to watch together. It wouldn't hurt to go grab some of his other classics either. Available on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Also being released this week: 2012, Castle In The Sky, Dr. Who: The Dalek War, Gentleman Broncos, Free Willy Trilogy, Pulp Fiction Blu-Ray, Clash of the Titans (1981) Blu-Ray, The Neverending Story Blu-Ray

Now get out there and get some movies kids... happy viewings!!!

DVD Release for Tuesday February 2, 2010

It's Tuesday... so for all you DVD fans out there, that means its Christmas all over again. All major DVD's are released on Tuesday. There are always about 50 titles coming out, but these are the creme de la creme.

PLANET HULK

This animated DVD is not just for the kiddies... these feature length animated films provide an excellent way for the stories of the comics to be brought to the big screen format without a 200 million dollar budget. This is Hulk's second animated feature, following up the success of Hulk Vs. which came out last year. Available in DVD and Blue Ray



Zombieland

This is the most fun I have watching a movie in a long time. Instead of focusing on the down side of a world wide zombie apocalypse, the director of this film choose to focus on all the fun activities you could participate in if the world went to shit. Bash heads, loot stores, take cars, raid a hollywood stars mansion... whatever you would want to do, these guys do it!!! Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are great, and Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin pull up the rear. Look out for the HUGE star cameo in this one... and the finale in the amusement park are absolutely awesome. Available in DVD and Blue Ray.



Go get these films plus plenty of more titles hitting the stores this week....