Juno
Fox Home Video
Time was when an independent film simply meant a film released outside the studio system by an independent production company. However, once the Sundance festival became as much of a corporate-sponsored entity as any other film festival in the world, a vast majority of independent films have tried to one-up each other on the hipness scale.
I Am Legend
Warner Home Video
What is it about the end of the world? The current trend is to speculate about what the planet would be like if humans weren’t around to tend to the old homestead. Both The History Channel and The National Geographic Channel have run specials about it, and there’s I Am Legend.
DVD Zone
Sony’s Revenge
Do you like having the newest gadgets? Does the thought of running out and buying the latest technology, no matter the cost, make you a little moist? If so, you might have been one of the few who plunked down some hard-earned coin on a spiffy new HD-DVD player. Guess what? You’re screwed.
Strike? What Strike?
What seems to be troublin’ ya, bunkie? Are you bummed because you haven’t seen a new episode of your favorite show in months? Do you feel you’ll projectile vomit if you stumble across another inane “reality” show? Have you gotten a little sick of all those high-falootin’ writers thinking they should get paid for their work? Rest easy, troubled soul. I’m here to help.
Once
Fox Searchlight
It seems to happen every year: The S.L.I., or Scrappy Little Indie. At some point a scrappy little indie flick from across the pond shows up on our doorstep to remind us $300 million is not needed to make a good film. It will generally be about a scrappy dweller (or dwellers) of the underclass fighting the odds to work their way to better things. The writing will be impeccable, and the love story — be it love of family or love of another — will be universally hailed. Above all, it makes us remember that when green-lighting a film, the executives and tastemakers in Hollywood are really doing nothing more than tossing darts at a board.
Help!
Capitol/Apple
After the success of A Hard Day’s Night, it would have been easy for The Beatles to try to recreate the faux documentary style that made that film such a delight. Instead, for their second foray into the big-screen world they went a totally different direction. While it isn’t the grand slam that Night was, Help! qualifies as a solid RBI double.
Grindhouse Presents: Planet Terror
Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
Dimension
B-movies have been around practically as long as the film industry itself. Originally, the studios would knock off a feature with second-tier actors to toss on the bill at drive-in theaters, often using the same sets as other films to keep the budget to a minimum.
The Graduate:
40th Anniversary Edition
MGM
With all of the hoopla surrounding the 40th anniversary of all things 1967, it’s about time someone got around to the best film of the year, The Graduate. Tons of ink has been spilled about the summer of love, and now MGM has released a two-disc Special Edition of director Mike Nichols’ masterpiece that had the same effect on the film world that The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper had on music.
The Elvis Re-Releases
Warner Home Video
You could say that Warner Home Video is commemorating the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death by re-releasing a healthy portion of Elvis’ Hollywood work. There’s a six-film box set, two “Deluxe” editions, and one giant oversight. However, “commemorate” is the wrong word. Let’s just call it what it is: “cashing in.”
Factory Girl
The Weinstein Company
Call her the prototype. Call her the mold from which today’s crop of celebutards — your Hiltons, Ritchies, et al — sprung. Call her the first person famous for just being famous. Just remember, she did have a ringside seat and a heavy hand in the most revolutionary movement of 20th century art.
Glastonbury
Thinkfilms
With the summer festival season in full swing, why not take a look at one of the most famous and long-running get togethers of them all?
Not Just The Best Of The Larry Sanders Show
Sony Pictures
Nineteen ninety-two saw a seismic shift in the landscape of late-night television, touched off by the retirement of Johnny Carson. In a futile effort to fill the void, every network tried to throw someone up in the 11:30 time slot. The results, for the most part, were disastrous. If the late-night territory wasn’t rife with opportunities for parody, nothing was.
Smokin’ Aces
Universal
Picture if you will Ocean’s Eleven with a mob hit at the center of the plot instead of a casino heist. Now amp up the gunfire and mayhem, and you get Smokin’ Aces.
Casino Royale
Rocky Balboa
MGM/Sony Pictures
When it was announced Pierce Brosnan would no longer be filling the tux of Bond, James Bond, the chatter among industry insiders and the blogosphere reached a kind of critical mass. Would it be Clive Owen? What about Colin Farrell? When little-known actor Daniel Craig was chosen, the response was swift and sure: Who’s this Craig? Why Craig? Ugh . . . Craig. He certainly can’t play Bond, he’s blonde for cryin’ out loud. What in the name of George Lazenby are they thinkin’?
Dissenting Opinions
The U.S. Vs. John Lennon
Lionsgate
Shut Up And Sing
The Weinstein Company
Public backlash was nothing new to John Lennon. After all, it was his ill-fated 1966 comment about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus that set off a firestorm of protest among Southern conservatives.
