We’re on vacation at Budget Rock this weekend and have a gift for those of you that long for ye olden days: another exciting episode of Videodrome Classic!
We’re obviously not at Cannes this year. Or any year, for that matter. But, as it seems everyone is super-pumped to know about all the stuff going on there, we figured we’d better hep you to the stuff we can hep you to. Which ain’t much, since we’re not there, have no money to spend on production values, let alone travel costs, and don’t really go in for European cinema – you have listened to the show, haven’t you? But that being said, there are some pretty badass looking movies headed our way.
First: The Artist – The Weinsteins picked up the rights to this silent movie so it should play in a sad-sack small market town like San Jose. I mean, we got Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D, so we should be able to muster up some support for an actual silent movie, maybe even enough to get it into the stankified old-ladies-doused-in-perfume confines of the CineArts at Santana Row. It looks exciting, even if the trailer gives away a bit too much in way of story progression if not actual plot:
There’s, of course, the movie that all of you should be crappin’ your collective pants to see, that being Terrance Malick’s Tree of Life. I’m pretty sure this is gonna be the best movie of the year, no matter what, just because Malick is the greatest living director. If you wanna argue about that, go somewhere else. If you wanna hear me gush over and over and over about how badass The Thin Red Line is, listen to our show from last October here. Check out the trailer for Tree of Life:
Rian Johnson’s Looper got a distribution deal. Rian made Brick all them years back. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but if you haven’t, open a new tab (control + t) and make it your top queue on your blasted Netflix account. Check out all of Rian’s great stuff for Looper at the official tumblr here.
Nicolas Refn’s the dude what made Bronson. Bronson is one of the most over-looked and under-rated movies to come out in the past ten years. Check out our review for it here. Refn’s newest movie, Drive, debuted at Cannes this year. Go here to check out this clip that should have you yearning for more. Can you also yen for more? I asked B.K. and he says “Yeah, I suppose so.” There you have it, I yen for more of Drive.
Takashi Miike’s Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai debuted there. Miike’s been hit-or-miss over the last ton of years, but when he hits, he really hits, just don’t hold your breath. We’re still waiting on 13 Assassins to play in the South Bay. We may wait for-ev-er given how lame our movie offerings can be. Here’s a teaser for the new one:
And, finally, we have Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia. I’ve liked a fair number of his movies over the years, but not all of them. Most notably I have the audacity to claim Dogville as the number ten best movie of the last decade. I also didn’t put the first Pirates of The Caribbean movie on there, but gave it an honorable mention, so what do I know? Man, going through the list, in the past 3 years I’ve reviewed a hell of a lot of Von Trier movies. Europa, was in ’08, but sadly there’s no audio link, but hear about Element of Crimehere, and the great date movie Antichristhere. In case you haven’t heard, Von Trier’s been spending the last day apologizing for some comments he made about sympathizing with Hitler, in an effort to, evidently, move away from his image as solely a misogynist. He should get whoever handled the Schwarzenegger-secret-kid-cover-up to help him out. Here’s the Melancholia trailer, but be careful, there’s some nnnn-nnn-nn-nudity…
So, that’s it. That’s the Videodrome Radio Report: Cannes 2011. Remember our motto: Videodrome Radio – We can’t be blamed, we were never there. Hear us on Sunday for the Piratestravaganza from 8-9pm on www.kscu.org or 103.3 FM.
– Interesting Death of the Week with B.K.: Jane Russell – movie star of note(s); Frank Buckles – last surviving US troop to have served in World War I.
Here it is. My Top Ten Movies of the Oughts. I’ve been hemming and hawing over how to piece together this list. What to add, what to remove, what to try and pull my personal grievances and forgiveness away from in an attempt to look at them all objectively. There were many hard decisions made. Movies that I feel particular personal guilt over excluding, but I removed none-the-less are: Primer, Brick, The Host, Psycho Beach Party, Good Night, And Good Luck, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Sunshine, The Way of the Gun, Man On Wire, and Casino Royale.
In the end, I don’t know where I, Videodrome, or “the pictures” would be without this group of movies. I felt it necessary to provide a list that was in keeping with the heart of the radio show, and what we try and do week in and week out. Tell the truth, be critical, and mostly be right. Mostly.
If you have some thoughts or grievances, feel free to send a message to and I’ll do my best to thank you or explain to you why you’re wrong.