Black Sheep's Blu-Tuesday

There are plenty of new and upcoming home video releases to get to but first, I want to briefly follow up on CADDYSHACK from last week.  Man, humour has changed a lot in 30 years.  Inspired performances from Bill Murray and Chevy Chase elevate this Harold Ramis comedy higher than it could have ever aspired to reach but the laughs are pretty minimal.  I'm not sure if it is the pacing or the style but it just doesn't work comedically in today's context.

There are a bunch of Blu-ray announcements to get excited about this week.  For me, the most intriguing is the October 12 release of the David O. Russell 1999 film, THREE KINGS, starring George Clooney.  I look forward to seeing this beautifully shot and insightful commentary piece again as I have not seen it in ages.  Another classic, one I haven't seen at all, is coming August 30 - Peter Weir's PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK.  The surprise Academy Award nominee for Animated Feature, THE SECRET OF KELLS, will be available October 5.  And contemporary films, Roman Polanski's GHOST WRITER and Disney Nature's OCEANS, make their debuts on August 3 and October 19, respectively.

And now, what can you get your hands on right now?!

YOUTH IN REVOLT

Michael Cera has a hard time proving that he can be anything other than the endearing, awkward teenager we've all come to love and appreciate.  Even though we sit around enjoying his shtick, we also sit around and complain that he's only got the one note.  Cera tries very hard to kill that persona in YOUTH IN REVOLT, from indie director, Miguel Arteta (THE GOOD GIRL, CHUCK & BUCK).  Theoretically, it should work perfectly.  Cera plays a geeky teenager who falls for a girl but must fracture into a split personality in order to maintain her interests.  His alter ego is bad-ass in preppy clothing but he isn't any less delicate than Cera's regular everyday persona.  Still, if you're a Cera fan, YOUTH IN REVOLT is a good time.  I found it to be funny and enjoyable - perfect for a little leisurely rental time. It is a bit of a disappointment for Arteta but the indie spin gives this Hollywood tale some some reasonably sharp edge.  If you want real edge though ...

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM - SEASON 7

No Blu-ray release here but the good people at Warner Brothers sent me this seventh season of Larry David's infuriating HBO comedy, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and I could not have enjoyed it more.  I had only seen one season prior to this and let me assure you, you do not need to know the history to get David's current situation.  I love to hate this guy.  He is the worst human being on the planet but he means well.  The first episode finds him rushing to break up with his girlfriend before she gets the results of her biopsy.  You certainly can't break up with someone after they've found out they have cancer but apparently the hours leading up to that are fair game.  The 10-episode season continues with a genius build to a "Seinfeld" reunion show, with all the major cast and some of the minor characters returning for hilarious turns as themselves.  Any "Seinfeld" fan will appreciate the subtleties of this season.  

ALSO NEW THIS WEEK: Other releases this week include Denzel Washington's failed work with the Hughes Brothers, THE BOOK OF ELI.  Underground animated cult fave, MARY & MAX is a tale of two oddly matched pen pals.  That chick from FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL has some issue with coins in a fountain and men following her around afterward in WHEN IN ROME.  And is you want a good drunken night in with the girls, check out the 15th anniversary edition of SHOWGIRLS!

Source: blu.ray-com

 
  

Black Sheep TIFF Review: YOUTH IN REVOLT

Personally, I found the audience had a good time watching the world premiere of Miguel Arteta’s dark comedy, YOUTH IN REVOLT, yesterday at the Scotia Bank Cinema. Even the people who spent a good twenty minutes complaining before the movie started that they had barely seen anything of note at TIFF so far this year and called YOUTH IN REVOLT, “filler” in their schedule, were not lost on the wit and nuances of this twisted comedy. Yet today, I received a press release from the film’s distributor, Alliance, that said that the film had been pushed back to January 2010 from its initial October 2009 release. There was no explanation attached so I can only assume that the film didn’t connect as much as they had hoped. I thought it was great but what do I know?

Brampton boy, Michael Cera, plays Nick Twisp, a boy in his later teens, an age hopefully Cera will get the chance to grow out of sooner rather than later. He is most certainly a youth in revolt but not in the way that you would think. Nick’s rebellion, at first anyway, is aimed at the young generation he cannot help be a part of. He listens to Sinatra, watches Fellini movies and scoffs at the boys and girls he grew up with. It all changes when he meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday). She listens to Gainsbourg, watches Godard and steals Nick’s heart immediately. Nick lives in a neighbouring city and must get kicked out of his mom’s so that he can go live near Sheeni, with his dad and so he creates a bad-ass alter ego called Francois in his head to do what needs to be done in the name of love.


As Francois, Cera sports tight white pants, a silly mustache and smokes all the time. Cera has been desperate to show other sides of himself for ages now and he attacks this duality with gusto. You can argue that Cera always plays the same guy but I feel that he consistently brings different shades to the same character type that show his ability for subtlety and nuance and give way to his potential genius. I might have a tiny crush on him so there may be bias here but YOUTH IN REVOLT is his first serious play for progress in his career and he does not disappoint.

Black Sheep Previews: TIFF 2009 (part two)

Another day has passed and I still haven't heard back from the wonderful people at TIFF as to whether or not they intend to accredit me for this year's festival. I sure hope they do. I would love to see Steven Soderbergh's THE INFORMANT or Drew Barrymore's WHIP IT or Jason Reitman's UP IN THE AIR. In the meantime though, I will focus my energies on the films I actually might be able to catch through the graciousness of Alliance films. Alliance has a strong showing at this year's festival and today, I will focus on the four that I am so excited to see: CAPITALISM: ALOVE STORY (Michael Moore), THE ROAD (John Hillcoat), A SERIOUS MAN (Joel and Ethan Coen) and YOUTH IN REVOLT (Miguel Arteta).

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
Directed by Michael Moore
Special Presentation


It's an important year for Mr. Moore. It is now 20 years that he has been making movies and rewriting what it means to make a documentary. And he has decided to tackle a topic this time out that is very close to America's heart and, more importantly, their wallets, the economy. Moore actually embarked on his criticism of America's love for capitalism before the economic downturn last fall so maybe, when he's done making movies, he can embark on a new career as a psychic.

THE ROAD
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring: Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron
Special Presentation


THE ROAD, based on the Corman McCarthy (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) novel about a post-apocalyptic struggle for one family, was scheduled to be released last year but was pushed back a whole year for more fine tuning and to avoid an already cluttered awards season. Apparently, the hard work has paid off as the cinematography and art direction are already being buzzed about. This is to be the thinking man's apocalypse movie.

A SERIOUS MAN
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg


Last year, the Coen brothers showed up at TIFF fresh off their Oscar win for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN with BURN AFTER READING. It was the North American premiere and, aside from George Clooney, every cast member was present, from Brad Pitt to Tilda Swinton. This year, they return with what is being billed as their most personal story ever and they are doing it without any glitz. With no recognizable names in the cast, the Coen brothers have decided to let the story speak for itself.

YOUTH IN REVOLT
Directed by Miguel Arteta
Starring: Michael Cera, Ray Liotta and Justin Long


I had a difficult time convincing friends of mine that Arteta's CHUCK & BUCK was one of the best films I had seen that year. It was an easier sell a couple of years later when he released THE GOOD GIRL, with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal. His third feature film should prove to be his most wwell received as it stars not just one Michael Cera but two! Cera somehow splits into two personalities in order to win the love of a girl. I don't care how far fetched the premise is. I can't wait to see Cera play bad ass to his goody goody at the exact same time!

That's it for now. The schedule is online now at the Toronto International Film Festival website so get cracking. And if you're reading this and you happen to work in the media department at TIFF, call me!