ZiaZine July 2008 : 9
The Hills— The Complete Third Season The makers of The Hills are big fans of Michael Mann; it’s the Heat director’s panoramic, lush style that informs the still ultra popular MTV reality show lending a filmic quality to the relatively rote interactions of rich boys and girls in beautiful southern California. The big plot points of season three are Spencer and Heidi’s on-again/off-again engagement, and of course, more feuding with good-girl protagonist Lauren Conrad. In Stores July 29 MTV th till lt l Trafic Yes, that’s spelled correctly, and no, it’s not the acclaimed 2000 Steven Soderbergh adaptation (spelled conventionally) of the British miniseries (spelled with a “k” at the end). All confu- sion aside, this Trafic is about director Jacques Tati’s alter ego Monsieur Hulot, an auto company’s director of designs, and his pratfall-stoked journey to Amsterdam. Among the bonus features, a 1971 cast interview and documentary of Hulot’s sin- gular evolution. In Stores July 15 CRITERION (spelled with a “k” a dh High and Low Akira Kurosawa. Toshiro Mifune. Two names that imme- diately ensnare the attention of anybody who even remotely ap- preciates great cinema. This long overdue Criterion package offers a high-def digital transfer of the film, in which an industrialist (Mifune) deals with a high-stakes kidnapping plot. The bonuses include a rare interview of Mifune, a half- hour making-of special and an audio com- mentary from Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince. Without a doubt, one of Kurosawa’s This long overdue C most underrated efforts. In Stores July 22 CRITERION Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns Michigan, Braylon Edwards! Wait a second… you’re telling us this isn’t an NFL Films product but in fact a work of fiction? As in, courtesy of family-friendly, oft-fat-suited African-American A writer-director phenomenon Tyler Perry? Gotcha. is time, a single mother (Angela Bassett) attends the funeral of her estranged father, only to deal with the nutty titular Brown family. LIONSGATE s t quarterback, out of Oregon State, Derek Anderson! At wide receiver, out of Stop-Loss Be it apathy, inundation or a disconnect with/ resentment for Hol- lywood, the American people just won’t go see movies about the Iraq war. One could argue th t Li f L b that Lions for Lambs, Rendition, In the Valley of Elah and the like were not exceptional films, and Stop-Loss (from Boys Don’t Cry director Kimberly Peirce) regrettably joined their ranks despite a breakout per- formance from Ryan Phillippe as a veteran soldier recalled to the front lines. In Stores July 8 PARAMOUNT/MTV d it b i Superhero Movie Unlike the recent spate of execrable kitchen- sink satires (Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans), Superhero Movie had the good sense to employ Leslie Nielsen, who, despite being over 80 years old now (!), is always a legitimizing element. We under- stand that Superhero Movie is actually funny, too, probably because Craig Mazin—the producer/writer behind the decent Scary Movie series—takes the directorial reins. And there’s probably no Britney jokes. In Stores July 8 WEINSTEIN COMPANY [ JULY 2008 + monitorTHIS! + 9 ] stores in july
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