20 Million Miles To Earth (1957) (Blu-ray) with the commentary track on. Its so cute to hear Harryhousen make the Ymir growls live on his microphone during his turn at the commentary track. Even though his mind isn't as sharp with anecdotes or memories (Tippet and the other commentators seem to know this so they keep feeding Ray answers) Harryhausen's enthusiasm for his work is contagious and makes for a lively discussion.
Brian De Palma's Sisters (1973) on IFC for the first time. Creepy and effective low-budget thriller in which De Palma, suprise, indulges himself in his Hitchcock infatuation with such gusto (B&W flashbacks, split-screen, a body hidden in plain sight, etc.) you can overlook the puzzling open-ended ending (who is who?) and the weak acting of William Finley as Emil (his is a very crucial role in the mystery and Finley's overacting borders on parody). A lifetime of TV procedurals has ruined for me the full impact of the final reveal, but to its credit "Sisters" is such a mood piece parts of it still shocked the hell out of me. The hospital reveal (dream?) scenes in B&W feel like "Young Frankenstein" mixed with "Freaks" on acid! Is it me or is Margot Kidder's accent as Danielle (Dominique?) the sexiest and most mental voice-over from a Hitchcockian damsel-in-distress ever? I dug it.
Federico Fellini's Amarcord (1973) on IFC for the first time. I've never been able to make it past a few minutes with any of Fellini's most famous work ("La Dolce Vita," "8 1/2," etc.) but somebody recommended I start with "Amarcord" because it's one of Fellini's most accesible films. I'm glad I took a chance because "Amarcord" just blew me away. There is no story or narrative here, just a series of vignettes (some real, some imagined and some a mix of both) featuring a couple of dozen eccentric small town Italian characters going about their lives sometime in the 1930's (with the arrival of Spring bookending the film). Magali Noël's Gradisca, Domenico Pertica's blind accordion player and Armando Brancia's Biondi patriarch are the most memorable characters but they're just part of a large canvas of colorful performances. With Nino Rota's excellent music as background Felline frames some memorable shots (a peacock during a winter storm, a Musolini rally, a concubine hotel fantasy, an Italian ship in the middle of the ocean, a mentally ill person standing atop a tree, etc.) and indulges in a flight of fancy so personal you can't help buit smile throughout. When tragedy strikes in "Amarcord" it's followed soon after by a wedding to convey both the joy of living and the sadness of dying, which is a part of life in Fellini's peculiar world. Simply masterful from start to finish, "Amarcord" rocks!
Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid (1981-85) on HD-DVD for the first time. Holy crap, was Freddie Mercury an over-the-top colorful performer or what? Having never seen Queen perform in concert (just hearing their songs and seeing some music clips here and there) this 1981 Montreal concert, remastered in high-def with LPCM surround sound for HD formats, was like a trip back to rock's golden age with these guys at the top of their game. Brian May's guitar solo was awesome and Mercury does a pretty mean cover of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' to go with Queen's classic songs (although its odd to see the group use their own pre-recorded vocals for the middle portion of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'). The Live Aid footage looks pretty bad though (full screen and interlaced as heck) but seeing Freddie command the stage and have 100,000+ people eating from the palm of his hand makes up for the bad PQ.
The Invasion (2007) on HBO-HD for the first time. All things considered (Silver's butchering of Hirschbiegel's yet-to-be-seen version, the Wachowski's involvement, the redundancy of yet another "Body Snatchers" remake, etc.) I found this a taught and entertaining thriller because I had close-to-zero expectations going in. Yes, the car chases and amount of running around corridors/empty buildings was ridiculous (plus the ending reeks) but Kidman gives a workmanlike performance with what little she's given. The scenes where Kidman's character has to walk around Washington pretending to be one of 'them' have a chilly effectiveness that's missing from most of the rest of this version of the flick. Bonus points for Veronica Cartwright and Jeffrey Wright but Daniel Craig is a bust as Kidman's love interest. Overall there are worst ways to waste 95 minutes of your time than giving "The Invasion" a try.
And, last but not least, Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) at NYC's Landmark Sunshine theater. Just when I thought Miike's prodigious output was compromising his once-legendary warped creativity here comes "SWD" to bitch-slap me back into giddy fanboy fervor. A prequel to Sergio Corbucci's 1966 Italian spaghetti western "Django" but set in 11th century Japan, the movie uses the Minamoto and Taira clans as the equivalent of the warring clans in "Yojimbo" that a nameless guman (Hideaki Ito) must confront for personal reasons. The movie's first 45 minutes are disorienting as heck; a pre-credits prologue with Quentin Tarantino in full Clint Eastwood mode (and later with a make-up job so shitty it has to be an inside joke) followed by the Japanese cast speaking their lines phonetically in English (
) had me cringing and thinking everybody involved was idulging their movie fantasies at the expense of anything remotely interesting. But the last two thirds of "SWD" pick up the pace, twist the cliches inside-out and allow Miike to stage a series of bloody, silly and kinetic action shoot-outs that work as both tribute and stand-alone western fare. Teruyuki Kagawa steals the movie as a cowardly Sheriff with a split personality from being forced to constantly switch sides between the Minamoto and Taira clans. Somewhere in the middle of Miike's second-tier body of work (like QT's "Kill Bill" flicks), "Sukiyaki Western Django" will be enjoyed by few and leave most casual viewers scratching their heads in disbelief. Even discriminating fans of QT and Miike should check their sanity at the door to make it out of this flick with all senses intact. 
