Domo arigato friends, tune in this week for our review of the new Todd Solondz film Palindromes on DVD, plus an all-Japanese playlist featuring bands such as the Polysics. Also hear our controversial top 5 countdown of the funniest people currently working in showbiz! Click below to listen.
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Well obviously the major release this weekend is Joss Whedon’s Serenity… it will be interesting to see how well a movie based on a cancelled TV series does. David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence also gets a wide release this weekend, and Everything Is Illuminated makes its debut in a couple of Toronto theatres. Unfortunately it looks like Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman’s trippy effects film “Mirrormask” is not playing anywhere in Canada yet.
The Greatest Game Ever Played
A History of Violence (wide)
Into The Blue
Serenity
Everything Is Illuminated (limited)
The Go! Team’s domestic release of their debut album “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” finally hits North American stores next Tuesday, over a year after it was released in the U.K. on indie label Memphis Industries. The album is released through Columbia Records in the U.S., a move that supposedly was going to allow the band to retain the rights to all the samples they used in the recording of the album. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly the case, as many of the songs have changed in subtle but noticeable ways due to the removal of various samples. Fans who have already been enjoying “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” for a while now will find that this album sounds familiar and yet strangely different… often with the addition of vocals from the band’s new frontwoman Ninja. There are also 2 new songs on the album, both of which appeared on the Australian Tour EP “Are You Ready For More?”: “We Just Won’t Be Defeated” and “Hold Yr Terror Close”. Scenestars is currently streaming the entire album, so head over and give it a listen and see if you notice any major differences. For a listing of their upcoming U.S. tour dates, check out their American website at www.thegoteamusa.com.
In a somewhat inexplicable move, Fox Home Entertainment will release a second version of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD on December 6th, a little over a month after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released to DVD. The new Star Wars Trilogy 3-Disc Limited Edition set contains the movies A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It will be somewhat leaner on special features, excluding the 4th disc with the documentary and featurettes, and leaving only the individual audio commentary tracks and a few Easter Eggs as bonus materials. The versions of the movies will be the 1997 Special Edition cuts, although it is not known whether they will also have the same 2004 enhancements that were added for last year’s DVD release. As I see it the only real reason to buy this would be the packaging, which I kind of like because it uses the original 1977 Star Wars artwork where Luke is all buff. But hey, you might as well wait anyways because I’m sure there will be yet another Star Wars box set next year containing all 6 episodes from I to VI. This is getting to be a little ridiculous.
In the “I Can’t Believe It’s Newsworthy” department, there’s a story from Reuters this week stating that Canadians watch more U.S. television shows than Canadian ones. Imagine that! Ratings data from the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement found that currently 19 of the top 20 shows in Canada are American-made, the exception being the sitcom “Corner Gas”. Well honestly, I can’t believe Corner Gas even cracked the top 20, and if that’s the best Canada has to offer it’s clearly a sad state of affairs. However, I think the main problem is that all of the Canadian talent goes to work south of the border because that’s where the money is. It would be interesting to see how many Canadians are involved in the production of the top 20 U.S. shows. Now there’s some data I’d to see! Seriously though, are there any decent Canadian TV shows currently on the air at all right now?
It seems that Gavin Rossdale has coasted long enough on the fame of being married to one Gwen Stefani, and now he wants the spotlight back. After finding little success with his acting career (did anyone know that he had a small role in Constantine? I didn’t), he has returned with a brand new band called Institute. The thing I found very strange about this project is that he is teaming up with ex-members of such respected bands as Orange 9mm, Helmet, Civ and Rival Schools. The band consists of guitarist Chris Traynor, bassist Cache Tolman, and drummer Charlie Walker, but here’s the real kicker… their debut album “Distort Yourself” was produced by Helmet frontman Page Hamilton and from the sounds of it, Page was intimately involved in the songwriting. So what does it mean? Has Gavin Rossdale gone completely hard-edged and heavy? Well… not really. I sampled a few tracks from Distort Yourself via XFM and it still sounded pretty terrible. I guess credible collaborators still can’t necessarily buy you good music.
Here’s something I’ve been thinking about lately that I thought I’d throw out for discussion. Is it just me or has the quality of TV shows been steadily rising over the past few years? Maybe this is a bit of a no brainer, but I think with the glut of reality shows finally at an end, all those good writers who previously couldn’t find work are now banding together to generate an explosion of creative output. I also think HBO has really helped legitimize the medium with shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Rome matching movies in terms of production value. The success of Lost has shown networks that high concept TV can attract more than just a niche audience, and other factors are contributing as well such as the rise of TV shows on DVD, and tools like Tivo, VOD and BitTorrent available to help people stay caught up. It occurred to me that I’m watching more TV now than I ever have before, and with the current slump that the movie industry’s in, I’m guessing I’m not the only one. What do you think?
As a recent recruit to the cult of Firefly, Joss Whedon’s short-lived sci-fi/western TV series, it seems I hopped on board too late to be outraged by the show’s cancellation, but just in time to reap the rewards of those who were. Fans of the show, who dub themselves Browncoats, caused such a fuss that someone finally realized that there was still money to be made, thus leading to the development of the feature film continuation, “Serenity” (which hits theatres on Friday). A small group of the show’s loyal fans have produced a documentary on the whole phenomenon and the community of fans surrounding it. The hardcore fan support for the show is well-founded; it’s a great show, both thoughtful and funny (and this coming from a guy who never liked Buffy or Angel all that much). Watch a trailer for the documentary at the link below; it is expected to be independently released on DVD in November. For more info on Firefly, check out this Wikipedia entry.
Here’s another trailer for a potential Oscar contender that has just been released online via Apple. “North Country” sees Charlize Theron return with an intense role that may prove to be a worthy successor to her performance in Monster. Directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider), it is based on the true story of the first successful sexual harassment lawsuit in the U.S. that involved a woman who was constantly abused while working as a miner in Northern Minnesota. With a great supporting cast that includes Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek and Richard Jenkins, I have a feeling this one is going to be worth checking out. I can only hope it’s not as emotionally draining as Monster was.
This week the Family Guy direct-to-DVD movie is in stores, along with the direct-to-DVD Carlito’s Way prequel, yet another Evil Dead 2 DVD, and This Divided State, a documentary about Michael Moore’s visit to Utah Valley State College.
Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (Unrated)
Evil Dead 2: Book of the Dead Limited Edition
The Gilmore Girls: Season 4
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: 20th Anniversary Edition
The Amazing Race: Season 1
Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power
Lords of Dogtown
Dr. 90210: The Complete First Season
Seuss Celebration
The Amityville Horror
Creature Comforts: Season 1
Star Trek Enterprise: Season 3
Spongebob Squarepants: The Complete 3rd Season
Robots
Hogan’s Heroes: The Complete Second Season
This Divided State
A Knight’s Tale: Extended Edition
Are We There Yet?
Silver Hawk
