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Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 12/30
Filed under: New on DVD », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
What are you renting this week? Let us know in the comments! To get you started, here's our look at more than a dozen new releases.
Serenity
Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly inspired a rabid fan base, myself included. The sci-fi Western featured good-looking, likable characters, witty dialogue, and a breezy pace. The 2005 movie was a thrilling, fitting capstone for a series that ended far too soon, but stands on its own just fine. Previously released on DVD and HD-DVD, the Blu-ray version adds several new features (detailed by Peter Bracke at High-Def Digest). Serenity is buoyant entertainment and rewards repeat viewings. Buy it.
Woman on the Beach
A sublime tale, Woman is a leisurely, dramatic battle of the sexes that's funny and insightful. J. Hoberman of the Village Voice described it as "a rueful tale of karmic irony, self-deceived desire, squandered second chances, and unforeseen abandonment." He noted director Hong Sang-soo's affinities with Eric Rohmer and Albert Brooks "in his deadpan presentation of absurd antics." In Korean with English subtitles. The DVD includes a "making of," interviews, and a trailer. Woman on the Beach is an ideal choice for date night. Rent it.
Towelhead
Directed by Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under), this "controversial and polarizing" drama relates what happens to "a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl living in Texas during the first Gulf War," per our own Eric D. Snider, who was writing in response to an Islamic group's call for a title change. The DVD includes a two-part featurette, "Towelhead: A Community Discussion." Sight unseen (by me), it sounds like a sure cure for a New Year's Day hangover. Rent it.
Also out: An American Carol (DVD; Blu-ray next week) and Surfer, Dude (DVD and Blu-ray).
Richard Petty flick will definitely star some Quaid or other
Filed under: Action », Drama », Casting », RumorMonger »
When word of a Richard
Petty bio-pic (to be written by Chris Cleveland and Bettina
Gilois, the pair behind the soon to be released Glory
Road) first came out over a year ago, Dennis
Quaid was expected to both produce and star in the untitled film. Now, however, it's big bro Randy
who is reported to be playing the legendary NASCAR driver. While it's a bit odd that someone thinks the two look enough alike to both be able to play the same real-life figure, it's always good to hear that the older Quaid is getting a starring role. Though he's (quite reasonably) known by most of us primarily as Clark Griswold's over-the-top, dickey-wearing cousin, Quaid is actually a quiet, solid presence in most of his best roles; it's nice to see this confidence in him. Well, it's either confidence, or someone just decided that he'd been away from cars too long (Days of Thunder was more than 15 years ago, after all) and decided to throw him a bone.
It's gonna be a while before this one starts shooting - who knows, maybe there's another Quaid we don't know about who can take over the role next.
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