Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, we don’t have any major new releases coming out, so it’s a perfect opportunity to make this a bit of a 4K gifting guide. Yes, today brings a bunch of 4K re-releases, which are excellent stocking stuffers for Christmas, fit well for a night of Hanukkah this week, or just are treats for yourself. Throw in a pair of Criterion Collection debuts and there’s gift ideas galore. Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
Boogie Nights (4K)
Right as Paul Thomas Anderson seems poised to be crowned with several Academy Award nominations (and potentially wins, too), it seems only right to revisit on 4K the first film get him Oscar nominated. Boogie Nights is a modern classic and still ranks as one of Anderson’s very best movies. Any PTA fan would do right to add this one to their collection!
Also Available This Week
Babe (4K)
Jarhead (4K)
Leaving Las Vegas (4K)
Mallrats (4K)
Monk: The Complete Series and Movie (TV)
Re-Animator (4K)
Rock-a-Doodle (Blu-ray)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy (4K)
Thank You Very Much
Totally Awesome 80s (4K)
The Wolf of Wall Street (4K)
Criterion Corner
David Byrne’s American Utopia
From The Criterion Collection: “David Byrne meets America’s fractious political moment with the transcendent power of song in this ecstatic documentary of the Broadway adaptation of his acclaimed American Utopia tour. Captured with immersive immediacy by director Spike Lee, this uplifting spectacle interweaves twenty-one songs, both new and classic, with Byrne’s singular observations on the state of the nation—its perils, promises, and possibility for transformation. Choreographed by Annie-B Parson with the inventive minimalism that has become a signature of Byrne’s live performances, David Byrne’s American Utopia moves between moments of communal exuberance and hymnlike grace, making the case for music as an agent of protest, change, and above all unity.”
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Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
From The Criterion Collection: “One of the most eccentric comedies of the 1980s, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is a pop-culture touchstone that helped make a manic oddball named Pee-wee Herman—the creation and alter ego of actor-comedian Paul Reubens—into an icon for outsiders of all ages. It also established the distinctive style of director Tim Burton, whose eye-popping visual sense is already on full display in this, his first feature film. Following the gleefully irreverent Pee-wee as he embarks on a road trip to recover his beloved stolen bicycle, the movie unfolds with the antic invention of a live-action cartoon, combining a gallery of memorably wacky characters, colorful, kitschy Americana, and surreal flights of fancy into a joyously uninhibited paean to creativity and the spirit of childhood.”
Stay tuned for more next week!
Oh, no, The Wolf of Wall Street. Rob Reiner is in that one…
True, and one of his best performances too. Really strong comedic anger.