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Vulcan News & Updates

December 1, 2009: Amnesty Day!

On the first day of the month if you pay half your late fees, we will erase the other half!

So come face your fears! stat.

November 1, 2009: Amnesty Day!

On the first day of the month if you pay half your late fees, we will erase the other half!

So come face your fears! stat.

New Release October 13th, 2009

New Releases 10/13/09

Drag Me to Hell - Sam Raimi returns to his roots with this highly enjoyable slice of horror about a young bank assistant (Alison Lohman) who gets cursed to hell. It is pretty much just 90 minutes of aggressively terrible things happening to an annoyingly nice person. And yes, there are some moments of CGI crap that bog it down, but overall it is a really effective and fun horror movie. Watch it very loudly. Recommended.

Land of the Lost - Will Ferrell stars in this remake of the classic TV show. Expect the protagonists to run screaming from badly rendered CGI beasts and countless dinosaur poop jokes. Anna Friel and Danny Mcbride liven up the cast.

Objectified - Gary Hustwit's (Helvetica) new documentary about the design of everyday objects is a fascinating watch. Recommended.

Adoration - While it doesn't reach the heights of Atom Egoyan's 90's output, this small effective drama involving an orphaned teenager (Devon Bostick) is one of his better films in years.

Dusan Makavejev: Free Radical - Criterion continues its Eclipse series with this release of three late 60's films by Dusan Makavejev, including Innocence Unprotected, Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator, and Man is Not a Bird. Highly recommended.

The Stepfather - This fun 80's horror movie finally gets a DVD release, with Terry O'Quinn (yes, Locke from lost) as a family-killing madman.

Hardware - Richard Stanley's pre-cursor to Dust Devil is an awesome horror/sci-fi movie about a man who finds a severed robot head that tries to destroy the world. Lots of fun.

Full List

  • 100 Feet
  • Adoration
  • American: Violet
  • Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning
  • Ascent of Money: Financial History of the World
  • Beauty in Trouble
  • Curious George: Very Monkey Christmas
  • Drag Me to Hell
  • Dusan Makavejev: Free Radical
  • Elephants (Animal Planet)
  • Every Little Step
  • Exploitation Cinema: Teenage Graffiti & Teenage Mother
  • Fighter
  • Gnaw
  • Gotta Catch Santa Claus
  • Happy Birthday to Me
  • Harland Williams: Child Wild
  • Haunted Airman, The
  • Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry
  • How to be a Serial Killer
  • Hunger, The (Season 2)
  • Infestation
  • Inspector Morse: Remorseful Day
  • Jack Brown Genius
  • Jackass: The Lost Tapes
  • Jim Jefferies: I Swear to God
  • Katt Williams: Pimpadelic
  • Killing Room, The
  • Ladrones
  • Land of the Lost
  • Last Season (Life & Demolition)
  • Left Bank
  • Legend of the Seeker (Season 1)
  • Los Anos Desnudos
  • Love Field
  • Love of Siam
  • Love Stature LSD Experience
  • Lovejoy (Season 6)
  • My Family (Seasons 3 & 4)
  • My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure
  • Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted
  • Objective, The
  • Oral Fixation
  • Peacekeepers, The
  • Proposal, The
  • Stepfather, The
  • Tomy and Jerry's Greatest Chases
  • Wuthering Heights ('67)
  • Zen Noir

  • October 1, 2009: Amnesty Day!

    On the first day of the month if you pay half your late fees, we will erase the other half!

    So come face your fears! stat.

    New Releases October 22nd

    Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death - The new Wallace and Gromit short is just what you expect: comedic chases, gorgeous stop-motion animation, and heaps of British-ness. Highly recommended.

    Observe and Report - Jody Hill's oft-kilter dark as night comedy has divided audiences, with those in favor of comedies starring Seth Rogen as a bi-polar, racist, homophobic, borderline psychotic mall cops and those who would rather watch Paul Blart.

    Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - From what I can gather this is a re-working of A Christmas Carol, but with romantic comedy hijinks and CGI ex-girlfriends. It is unfortunately not about a bachelor whose previous girlfriends that he murdered come back to haunt him (aka a much better movie).

    Rage - The new Sally Potter film, shot in a half interview style, is a combination satire of the fashion industry and a murder mystery. It might not be entirely successful, but Potter is always an interesting filmmaker and the cast includes Steve Buscemi, Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, Diane Wiest, and a transvestite Jude Law.

    Adam Resurrected - Paul Schrader directs this movie starring Jeff Goldblum that has a fantastic plot summary on IMDB: "In the aftermath of WWII, a former circus entertainer who was spared from the gas chamber becomes the ringleader at an asylum for Holocaust survivors." Now obviously you want to see this movie.

    The TV barrage continues with some of the best episodes yet in 30 Rock (Season 3), the final season of cult show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Season 2), which is much better than that terrible new movie, more optimistic fabulousness intermixed with heavy melodrama and soap-opera style cliffhangers in Ugly Betty (Season 3), and someone has some kind of power to do something that they use to solve crimes in Mentalist (Season 1).

    Smaller titles include O'Horten, a Norwegian drama about a train engineers retirement, Lymelife, an indie comedy starring Alec Baldwin, Timothy Hutton, and a couple of Culkins, and Tulpan, which is being considered the best Kazakhstanian feature ever, but I guess it doesn't have much competition.

  • 30 Rock (Season 3)
  • Adam Resurrected
  • Animal Jam: Shake a Leg
  • Anna Nicole Smith Story, The
  • Axe of Wandsbek, The
  • Battle for Terra
  • Brotherhood (Final Season)
  • Castle (Season 1)
  • Clive Barker's Book of Blood
  • Deliver Us from Evil/ Fox Affair
  • DJ Spooky & Matthew Shipp Trio: Freedom Now
  • Generation RX
  • Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
  • Haunted World of El Superbeasto
  • Little Miss Sunshine: Fun in the Sun
  • Loose Change 9/11
  • Lymelife
  • Mentalist, The (Season 1)
  • Mother Goose Stories: Humpty Dumpty
  • Nerdcore Rising
  • Observe and Report
  • O'Horten
  • One Bad Cat
  • Pierrot Le Fou
  • PVC-1
  • Road to Victory
  • Scooby-Doo: Mystery Begins
  • Sinking of Santa Isabel, The
  • Sugisball
  • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Season 2)
  • Tulpan
  • Ugly Betty (Season 3)
  • Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
  • New Releases September 8th, 2009

    Homicide (Criterion) - To atone for the sin of releasing a particularly awful DVD a few months back, Criterion is healing wounds with this stellar release. Homicide, starring Joe Mantagna, is David Mamet's weirdest film, half police thriller/ half religious odyssey. Highly recommended.

    Silent Light - Since slow-paced movies about adultery on a Mennonite farm in Mexico aren't really box office fodder, this truly great film never got much a of a release in the states. But now that it's on DVD, Carlos Reygadas' (Japan, Battle in Heaven) masterful little film can finally be seen. The opening shot alone is worth the price of rental. Highly recommended.

    Crank 2: High Voltage - Jason Statham has a fake heart that has to be jolted with electricity every so often or he dies as he pursues the kidnappers of his real heart or at least this is what I am piecing together from the trailer. Do not expect realistic action, finely nuanced character development, or great emotional depth.

    On the TV front, The Office (Season 5) continues its fantastic run, Parks & Recreation (Season 1) gives Amy Poehler the spotlight for a change, and J.J. Abrams mixes a CBS procedural with The X-files with Dawson's Creek in Fringe (Season 1).

  • Buttercup Chain, The
  • Country Teacher, The
  • Crank 2: High Voltage
  • Dance Flick
  • Fallen
  • Fringe (Season 1)
  • Gifted Hands
  • Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns
  • Harper's Island
  • Homicide
  • Human Condition
  • I'll Believe You
  • Important Things with Demetri Martin
  • Kabei
  • Local Color
  • Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
  • Model Shop, The
  • Nitro Circus (Season 1)
  • No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
  • Office, The (Season 5)
  • Origin: Movie
  • Parks & Recreation (Season 1)
  • Pursuit of Happiness
  • Reflecting Pool, The
  • Rock Star
  • Silent Light
  • Sleep Dealer
  • Summertree
  • That Hamilton Woman
  • Valentino: The Last Emperor
  • New Releases September 1st, 2009

    Earth - Disney re-configures BBC's Planet Earth into a kid-friendly 90 minute movie that is just as captivating as the series, primarily because everyone loves slow-motion baby penguins.

    Sin Nombre - Cary Fukunaga's well received drama/thriller is about a Honduran woman who joins her father and uncle as they journey to America. Won the Cinematography and Directing Awards at Sundance this year. Recommended.

    State of Play ('09) - Hollywood steals from the Brits again, this time adapting the truly great miniseries State of Play for the big screen. But unlike most attempts, this one actually works thanks to great performances, direction, and writing. Stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Helen Mirren. Recommended.

    Since new seasons are starting, the TV shows are piling up: Hunky guys fight demons in the actually fun and addictive Supernatural (Season 4), the writers try to make up for the unforgivable previous season and Milo Ventimiglia continues mumbling out of the corner of his mouth in Heroes (Season 3), and there's a lot of sex, alcoholism, and fire in Rescue Me (Season 5).

  • Alien Planet
  • All in the Family (Season 5)
  • All in the Family (Season 6)
  • America
  • Betrayal, The
  • Billy Jack (Complete Collection)
  • Black Mama/Foxy Brown
  • Brave New Voices
  • Bring It On: Fight to the Finish
  • Brothers and Sisters (Season 3)
  • Choke Canyon
  • Clatterford (Season 2)
  • Critters 4
  • CSI (Season 9)
  • Desperate Housewives (Season 5)
  • Doctor Who: Deadly Assassin
  • Doctor Who: Delta/Bannerman
  • Doctor Who: Image of Fendahl
  • Earth
  • Flag of Iron
  • Frontline: The Madoff Affair
  • Frontline: The Released
  • Good Dick
  • Heroes (Season 3)
  • Homeboy
  • Hope Floats
  • Impact
  • Love Potion #9
  • Meteor Man
  • Otis Redding: Respect - Live 1967
  • People Like Us (Complete Series)
  • Randy and the Mob
  • Rescue Me (Season 5)
  • Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory (Season 1)
  • Shaun the Sheep: Little Sheep of Horrors
  • Sheba, Baby/ Monkey Hustle
  • Sin Nombre
  • State I Am In, The
  • State of Play ('09)
  • Stuff Happens with Bill Nye
  • Sugar
  • Supernatural (Season 4)
  • Take Out
  • Toe Tactic, The
  • Truck Turner/ Hammer
  • Twice Upon a Yesterday
  • Unmarried Woman, An
  • Window, The
  • September 1, 2009: Amnesty Day!

    On the first day of the month if you pay half your late fees, we will erase the other half!

    So come face your fears! stat.

    New Releases August 25th, 2009

    New Releases August 25th, 2009

    Duplicity - Tony Gilroy's followup to the great Michael Clayton is a bit of a letdown, albeit a fun couple of hours. Clive Owen and a miscast Julia Roberts star as spies who try to out-con two rival corporations, run by Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson. It lies somewhere on the spy-couple movie totem below Prizzi's Honor and way above the already forgotten Pitt/Jolie vehicle Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

    Adventureland - A mis-marketed coming of age comedy set in 1987, this is a much better movie than the trailer would have you believe. Jesse Eisenberg stars as a kid stuck working at a rundown amusement park over the summer before college. While the story is nothing new, Adventureland succeeds by going for characters over punchlines, a rarity in most teen comedies, plus it includes fantastic turns by Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Martin Starr, and even a surprisingly good performance by Ryan Reynolds. Highly recommended.

    The Last Days of Disco - Whit Stillman's last movie (yes it has been 11 years), finally gets re-released with this fantastic Criterion DVD. Stillman's epic tale of yuppie-dom in early 80's New York features Chloe Sevigny, the much underrated Chris Eigeman, and Kate Beckinsale playing pretty much the worst person ever. Fantastic dialogue, insanely pretentious characters, great soundtrack. Highly recommended.

    Sunshine Cleaning - Amy Adams and Emily Blunt star in this loose, character-driven dark comedy about a single mother who starts a crime-scene cleanup business to send her son to private school. Tries to walk the line between dark, drama and lightweight comedy, to mixed results.

    On the TV front, David Duchovny has alot of sex in Californication (Season 2), Hugh Laurie continues saving lives at the last moment through a mixture of curmudgeon-ness and obscure medical knowledge in House (Season 5), Damian Lewis stars in the sadly canceled Life (Season 2), and Clark Kent is somehow still dealing with his teen angst in Smallville (Season 8).

  • Adventureland
  • American Son
  • Apres Lui
  • Babysitter, The
  • Batman: Brave & Bold Vol. 1
  • Berenstain Bears: Halloween Treats
  • Boot Camp
  • Burning the Future: Coal in America
  • Californication (Season 2)
  • Cartune Xprez 2008
  • Demon Warrior: Koji
  • Duplicity
  • Fighting
  • Goodbye Solo
  • Great Indian Wars, The
  • House (Season 5)
  • How Bruce Lee Changed the World
  • Informers, The
  • Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Com, 1080 Bruxelles
  • Landscape No. 2
  • Last Days of Disco, The
  • Lie to Me (Season 1)
  • Life (Season 2)
  • Life is Hot in Crack
  • Little Magician
  • Mama Cass Television Program
  • Mushishi: The Movie
  • Newcastle
  • Nights and Weekends
  • Nikkatsu Noir
  • Rockford Files (Season 4)
  • Rudo Y Cursi
  • Samatha Who? (Season 2)
  • Scrubs (Season 8)
  • Smallville (Season 8)
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7)
  • Sunshine Cleaning
  • Thirtysomething (Season 1)
  • Trouble the Water
  • Walden: Diaries, Notes, Sketches
  • Weekend Murders, The
  • Wiseguy (Season 1)
  • Terror Tuesday: 976-EVIL

    Rated R; 92min; Director:Robert Englund (1988)
    10 PM @ Alamo Downtown
    Tuesday, August 25, 2009
    Admission: $1 • Buy tickets

    • Freddy Kreuger's directorial debut is every bit the virginal nerd's vengeance fantasy you'd expect from a man who's spent his entire life working in the horror genre. FRIGHT NIGHT alumnus Stephen Geoffreys plays Hoax, a simple-minded teen who giggles at nude photos in National Geographic, idolizes his bad-boy cousin and lives under the thumb of his overbearingly religious mother. Bereft of friends and dignity, Hoax becomes drawn in to a supernatural phone line that predicts, alters and ultimately cancels the future of its callers. In short time, the mysterious service empowers the once-timid teenager with all the forces of darkness, and he begins a rampage of reckoning and powermad violence. Geoffreys does an impressive job in the lead role, masterfully playing both lovable loser and demonic force of absolute retribution. A few years later, this multifaceted young actor would try his luck in a different genre as one of the central performers in LATIN CROTCH ROCKETS and GUYS WHO CRAVE BIG COCKS. (Zack)

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