DVDs, 11/6.

"You couldn't ask for a better match of new school and old, of bleeding-edge digital technology and antediluvian pen and ink." With a dash of theory and a good measure of history, the New York Times' Dave Kehr riffs on the releases of Pixar's Ratatouille and the fifth volume of Warners' Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

Meanwhile, Ratatouille continues to dominate the foreign box office "for a fifth consecutive weekend" (Hy Hollinger, Hollywood Reporter) and, sez Erik Davis at Cinematical: "Ratatouille will go down as one of the great films of 2007, and if there ever was a time to slide an animated film in the Oscar's best picture category, it's now."

Adds Bryant Frazer: "A-freaking-plus, man."

Sicko's out today. Michael Atkinson:

Here's the thing about Michael Moore, beyond which all critical discourse has the import of self-entranced flatulence: he is an unsubtle slob with no respect for the ethics of discourse, but he is absolutely imperative. He routinely backloads his arguments, slants reality, makes unfair mockery, ignores mitigating material and draws simplistic conclusions, but he is virtually the only public figure in America who puts his movies where his mouth is in terms of believing in a few simple truths: that corporations shouldn't be allowed to fuck us and our resources, that government should serve us and not vice-versa, that the self-serving lies politicians tell shouldn't be indulged as "spin," that capitalism is no excuse for exploitation, that economic equality is not only desirable and viable but necessary, that the citizen comes first, not the dollar. In other words, he's a full-on, pragmatic, new-world-order socialist, and he's not afraid to say so.

Also reviewed this week at IFC News, Basket Case 2, Frank Henenlotter's "magnum opus [which] remains biting for the outrageous subtexts (biological, sexual, racial, you name it) worming around not far beneath the even more outrageous surface."

"A few nights ago, I listened to two DVD commentaries that reminded me why I love alternate audio tracks and especially those that feature eloquent filmmakers on personal films: Terence Davies on 1988's Distant Voices, Still Lives (released in the UK a couple months ago) and Charles Burnett on 1977's Killer of Sheep (coming from Milestone later this month)," writes Doug Cummings. Related: "A glaring gap in movie history has now been filled with the long-awaited release of Burnett's Killer of Sheep on DVD," writes Ed Gonzalez in Slant.

"What [Joe] Swanberg and his collaborators have succeeded in doing is isolating those moments where the virtual world takes precedence over reality, displaying how out of touch we have become with ourselves," writes Zachary Wigon, reviewing LOL at the House Next Door. "The ultimate effect is one of realization - of the conditions surrounding us, which were previously so murky as to be unrecognizable."

The Shamus "watched [Zodiac] again last night and I am convinced it is the best mainstream American film of 2007."

Glenn Kenny takes a close, close look at Stanley Kubrick in high-definition.

"On air, Twin Peaks was a water-cooler phenomenon; for a decade and a half, it was a cult object; now, with Paramount's release of the Definitive Gold Box Edition, containing both seasons (the second was released separately this spring) and the pilot (in both versions), it's a cultural artifact." Mark Asch for Stop Smiling.

John McElwee suggests that a series of star-studded shorts promoting the philosophy of Father James Keller, wildly popular in the 50s, would make for a great DVD collection.

Online hmmm tip. Chris Stangl: "Strange visual resonance found on the covers of two upcoming Criterion Collection releases."

Posted by dwhudson at November 6, 2007 12:37 AM