April's DVD Picks

No, this will not become a regular feature and no, I am not reviewing the best DVDs to come out this month. I am humbly reporting to you that I just purchased two DVDs from amazon.com and I would like to preach their praises. Doc can preach the praises of his most recent DVDs, or argue that he hates my choices, or whatever he wishes. Now, if you haven't noticed I like older things. Call me a wanna be hipster if you want (oh, please do I wanna be a hipster so badly), but I like vintage stuff. So, my two choices come from the years prior to 1984, that most holy year. Let's do it chronologically.

Inherit the Wind (1960) Directed by Stanly Kramer

Oh Stanly Kramer, how cool you are. If only there were as many directors as you willing to make movies about controversial subjects and actually state an opinion about those subjects. I can not think of a popular film recently that actually took an opinion about controversies. Three Kings and Munich come to mind, but not one can deny that they are few of them out there. Anyway, for those who do not know, Inherit the Wind is a film about the trial in Tennessee about the teaching of evolution in a public school. This is the famous "Scopes Trial." What is fascinating about the film is that it is not really only about this topic, but also an allegory for McCarthyism, which was near its end when the film was made. To cover these two topics at all is a daunting task. However, the movie does a fascinating and entertaining job of this. This is largely thanks to the two leads in the film, the attorneys who argue the case. I have not seen the film in a while and am looking forward to revisiting it. I was incredibly surprised by the comments on the amazon.com page for the film to see people are still arguing about the film and the points of view that it represents. It is certainly a challenging film and we will see if my glowing opinion remains after a new viewing. Even if it does, which I doubt, I will always applaud it for taking on such a controversial topic.

Modern Romance (1981) Directed by Albert Brooks

I do think that these two films compliment each other in that they both deal with real issues, but this second film attacks the personal arena, as opposed to the political one. The fear with this film is that most people will look at the title and DVD case and assume it is just a romantic comedy. It is anything but this. This may be one of the darkest films about a relationship that exists. The film is really about jealousy. Two people are dating and they are constantly breaking up and becoming reunited. This is all done out of fear of the other cheating and the confusion that surrounds one choosing to be with a person for the rest of our life. Also, the movie is darkly hilarious. One laughs at the film because they understand what the main characters are going through as everyone has been through being jealous at one time. Relationships are not always easy and the film hilariously acknowledges this, while other films opt to put romantic relationships in a neat box. You know the type where a guy and a girl almost get together the whole movie, then get close to never seeing each other again and decide to marry each other in the last minute of the film. Modern Romance is certainly not that film. It aims for realism and lands in very dark territory with sardonic laughs all the way. As Stanly Kubrick is reported to have said, it is probably the best film ever made about jealousy.

Well, I am quite excited to watch both films and then push them on friends and loved ones to enjoy until they grow sick of me asking and request that I never mention the films again. I have been loving random list making on this blog, so I would like to sign off with another one. Here is a partial list of films that have been released on DVD in April 2011 and I hope to never ever see:

Country Strong
Gulliver's Travels
Street Kings 2: Motor City

That list ended up being rather short, so I would like to get off on a quick rant. I do not like movie titles that are phrases. None of the movie titles above actually represent this actually. Still, I never want to see a film with a common phrase as the title and has little bearing on the plot of the actual movie. Here are some real and fake examples, see if you can figure out which ones are which.

What's the Worst that Could Happen?
Something to Talk About
Two in the Bush
Never on a Sunday
Nothing to Lose
New York Minute
The Battle of the Sexes
Don't Be a Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
Nick of Time
Beating Around the Bush
What Just Happened?
It Could Happen to You
How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
The Last Straw
Training Day
On the Rocks
Electric Bogaloo

Ugh, so annoying. In May, I am actually excited for a movie that is coming out on DVD. All though the movie was made in the 1930s. So I don't know if that counts as me wanting a DVD that is a new release or not. It is The Great Dictator. Aight, I feel like I nereded it out on this blog enough for the day. Doc let your nerd flag fly and let us know some nerdy things your excited for or just comment on how I included Training Day on that list and how much you love that terrible, horrible, no good very bad film. King Kong ain't got shit on Training Day (because both of those films were so terrible but Training Day was worse) (I am referring to the most recent King Kong) (parenthesis are fun)