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.

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 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

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.

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

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

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

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

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)

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)