Club Columbia DVD

I know the last couple of films on here have been… well kind of dark.  Brooding, sulky kind of films.  What can I say, I love them.  Le Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge are like crack for me.  And you better know that Club Columbia DVD will pay tribute to Jean-Pierre Melville soon enough.  Don’t worry- just because his name is French doesn’t mean I’m about to throw some philosophical, existential, montage-filled bore-fest your way.

Anyway, let’s get on to the main topic.  Team America, World Police is a film I will always treasure.  It’s by the guys who do South Park.  For some it’s a crude, rude, hilarious and insightful cartoon about a bunch of kids- like Rugrats but jaded, adult and very, very funny.

For others it means rude, crude, deeply offensive and full of childish toilet humour.  I think both views are right- and that’s almost everything I love about South Park.  It’s genius.

So let’s talk about Team America, World Police.  This film is amazing.  The market for films forces comedies to either be dull- like most romantic comedies- or really, really stupid in an attempt to be popular- like the never-ending stream of parody movies like Date Movie.

Thankfully the South Park crew thrives on sticking a big middle finger up at the conventional.  Sure, sometimes they may take it too far- but if they can’t take it too far, they won’t do it at all.  You might call them crusaders for comedy, but that’s a totally different post.

So, back to Team America, World Police.  Politics, Hollywood, acting, Matt Damon, action movies- this film has all the ingredients for greatness.  And it’s with puppets.  While the infamous puppet sex scene is really more about publicity, the puppets make some of the best physical comedy scenes I’ve ever seen.

While the focus may be the satire of American foreign policy for some people, I liked it more as a parody of action movies and Hollywood.  There is some competitive acting with the great Alec Baldwin (puppet) and one of the greatest speeches ever captured on film- and it’s about dicks, pussies and ass.

If you go to church regularly, this may not be the film for you.  But I thoroughly recommend this film many times over.  Again and again.  Amazon has Team America, World Police for $9.99, and if it suits you it’s available used for about $4.

Technorati Tags: rugrats, south park, team america

It’s taken me a while to realise I love David Mamet. As Club Columbia DVD starts up I’ve started watching some more films now. I don’t think I was prepared for Redbelt.

I’m going back to London soon and am looking into some martial arts to take up- they’re more fun than football and you learn how to fight while keeping fit. I had seen posters for Redbelt on the shelves but had dismissed it as some cheap Rocky knock-off.

I could picture the studio heads round a shiny black table, nervously fidgeting with their water bottles until one of them sparked up with “How about like Rocky, but make the main guy black. It can be like a black Rocky.

“Yeah, Obama, race, fighting- great idea Chad!”

No thank you, I thought.

Then I looked closer and the main actor was Chiwetel Ejiofor. Remember him? He was Denzel’s detective pal in Inside Man. Great actor. So I decide to go with it. Plus it had Tim Allen in a drama which I figured would either be really good, or really bad and really funny.

Redbelt was AMAZING. I hate phrases like tour de force. But this movie genuinely deserved all the usual praise films get. It was actually one of the best films of the year.

If you’ve seen some samurai films, you may see them in this. The lone warrior, living by the code. Living with honour. Chiwetel Ejiofor captures this spirit without being bland. He has this serene outside, while he harbours all this potential violence underneath. Crazy good.

The main credit has to go to David Mamet though. I remember his name from some plays a while back- didn’t think twice about it when I was choosing movies.

Then I looked him up on IMDB- he is responsible for so many great stories, and films that I want to see- The Untouchables, Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag The Dog and The Winslow Boy? This man is total genius.

David Mamet is what they talk about when they say you can’t make a good movie without a good story. He isn’t some annoying obtuse art house man- he knows how to tell a story- simple and powerful. I’ll review the films I’ve seen of his soon enough- but if you have to see one right now- go get Wag The Dog. I had never heard of it, but this film is so good, and even more bizarre… it’s so true.

Anyway, Club Columbia DVD definitely recommends Redbelt today. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hollywood, fight promotion and David Mamet- go see this movie as fast as you can. You will not regret it.

Technorati Tags: david mamet, redbelt, wag the dog

Club Columbia DVD believes Michael Mann is one of the best things to come out of Hollywood. From Collateral to Miami Vice, Michael Mann has proved that he is the master of capturing urban nightlife and the modern organised crime that thrives in it.

Heat is a masterpiece. With another director this film would be an average action movie, but with Mann this becomes a tragic film with depth. That’s not the only reason I like it though. It has pace. It has energy. It has a lot of fireworks.

If you’ve seen a Michael Bay film, you’ll know that this isn’t enough to make a good movie though. A great action film needs great characters, not just explosions. Die Hard was the best because of McClane.

With Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer this film is filled with gravitas. Whatever you think of the actors in this film, they sure do know how to play criminals.

Heat has Mann’s dynamic camera-work and rhythm which inspired Christopher Nolan when he was filming the robbery in The Dark Knight. Below is a clip from Heat which captures the fast pace and tension of the movie:

Los Angeles, crime, guns, heists- these have been used to make a lot of bad movies, but Mann knows what he’s doing. Club Columbia DVD definitely recommends Heat if you want something to pump your adrenaline up. What holds Heat together is the emotional ties between the characters that bring drama and meaning to the film. Without that, it would just be a well-shot fast-paced action thriller. With the emotional story it’s one of the best films of the 90s.

If you’re interested, Heat on DVD goes for $7.99 on Amazon.

Technorati Tags: al pacino, club columbia dvd, dark knight, heat, mann, robert de niro

Club Columbia DVD believes there are certain films that stick with you forever. Some how they capture some truth, and life throws things at you that reminds you of them. Something someone says. A look that a friend gives you. A ridiculous situation that life puts you in.

There are a few films that you have to see before you die. I’m not being morbid- they are just amazing and totally unique experiences. I feel that if you don’t see these films you are truly missing out on something. Now narrowing these films down to five is impossible, but this is a blog and that’s what blogs do best.

So if you’re bored and wondering what to watch tonight- go get American Psycho. This is one of the great movies that may have slipped by you. Video stores often put this in the horror section. It was years before I saw if because I thought it was a cheap rip-off of Hitchcock’s Psycho. I was completely and totally wrong.

American Psycho is so much more than an everyday hack’n’slash. It’s a comedy, it’s satire, it’s tragedy- don’t let all of this put you off though. It’s not overwhelming with pretentious bullshit like a lot of art films. You don’t have to have a PhD in Sociology to understand what’s going on. It’s a damn funny and gory film by itself without any help from intellectual ideas.

At the same time it’s one of the most profound films you’ll ever see if you want it to be. I’m not going to delve into all the theory behind it- other people have written books that will be a far better read than this about the ideas behind the film. Also I can’t really convince you how good this film is by talking about it. It’s not one of those films you can describe by saying ‘Well, it’s kind of like a cross between Charlie’s Angels and Titantic.’ It’s American Psycho. The film is in a league of it’s own.

Below is a short clip from American Psycho. While it doesn’t capture the violence of the film, it has the tone. On that note, if you don’t like the sight of blood, stay far far away from this film.

I rarely buy films- it usually doesn’t make any sense because I only watch them once or twice- but every time I travel I make sure to carry my copy of American Psycho with me. It’s so good that, who knows, maybe one day I’ll even read the book!

Amazon has the film for pretty cheap if you’re interested. American Psycho on DVD goes for $3.99, and if you’re lucky enough to have Blu-Ray, American Psycho on Blu-Ray goes for $14.99

Technorati Tags: 5 films for life, american psycho, club columbia dvd

This is the first post of Club Columbia DVD!  Let me spread some background over this site and what it’s about.  Life can be difficult.  Frustrating.  Ugh.

Whatever your philosophy on film, they make a great way to just get away from it all.  Some of my best memories are of sitting around on a sofa watching a film with friends.  Seeing Martin Sheen drop with a huge splat of blood in front of Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Departed’ will always be imprinted on my mind.

Even the more annoying movies have a place in my life.  Every girlfriend I’ve ever had as tried to get me to watch ‘The Notebook’.  None have succeeded.

One of the first things I’m interested in when I meet a person is what films they like.  You can tell a lot about a person from what they choose to watch when they want to take their mind off things.  You can get a feel for their humour, their personality, their values- ask someone if they laughed throughout ‘American Psycho’ and you’ll see what I mean.

Now while I love films, today is a strange place in the industry.  With Blu-Ray, DVD, piracy, Blockbuster and Netflix all over the place it’s hard to know what’s the best way to get a movie.  Going to the cinema is getting expensive as well as annoying.  I’m one of those people who can’t watch a film with the backlight of a mobile phone shining in my face as I laugh about how Jess said that to Brian and then she was like all pissed and whatever and then oh my God you won’t believe what happened next.

I just want to watch movies.  With Club Columbia DVD I’ll lay out what has worked in my experience.  What films to see.  Which to miss.  The where, how, when and why of the DVD world.

Technorati Tags: american psycho, club columbia dvd, departed