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VIDEO AMERICAIN NEWSLETTER May 2012
Baltimore's Independent Video Store since 1989!
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Sorry we missed you all last month. With the closing of our Charles
Village store, our monthly newsletter was put on the back burner. The sale
at Charles Village (ongoing at least through July) has calmed down a bit,
and I'm happy to be back at the computer thinking about movies. So without
further ado, welcome to the May 2012 edition of the VA Newsletter. Read on
for some fiery recommendations, a free rental coupon, and a list of our
upcoming new releases.
If you like the Newsletter, let us know by email @ VideoAmeric...<http://groups.google.com/groups/unlock?hl=en&_done=/group/video-ameri...>@gmail.com
-- (and if you don't want to receive it, please let us know ASAP!) Please
pass this on to a friend, and subscribe by visiting
http://groups.google.com/group/video-americain-newsletter<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://groups.google.com/group/video...>or by emailing
video-americain-newsletter@googlegroups.com.
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CONTENTS
* Recommendations * Free Rental Coupon
* This Week's New Releases * Coming Attractions
* Friendly Internerd Information * Where in the world is Video
Americain?
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Avengers opened this weekend with a box office record of over 200
Million dollars. Hurray! Just kidding. The film's so-called success has
little to do with quality, which admittedly may be good. Director Joss
Whedon is worth paying attention to. He's real weird. But back to my point,
the movie was a safe bet. The producers put together a sequel to a half
dozen successful movie franchises that were themselves only made because
market research said they were low risk projects. The lesson being people
like comic books, let's give them what they want, and who cares about
growth in art. Let's take some risks people! Let's challenge ourselves! Hey
you producers, how about you judge your success by whether the films make
our societies healthier ones? And for the rest of us, instead of making a
revival of Captain America or Iron Man, why not check out some of these
important films that were box office flops?
Intolerance (1916, Dir. D.W. Griffith) A story of the recurrence of
intolerance within religion, politics, and class through the ages. In an
attempt to make amends for his racist movie The Birth of a Nation, the
silent filmmaker went for the epic of all epics. By far the most expensive
film ever made at the time, its failure to recoup its costs caused the
production company to be sold. Nevertheless it has become required
viewing, so if for no other reason you should come in and rent this
because you have no choice.
Duck Soup (1933, Dir. Leo McCarey) One of the great Marx Brothers films
and also one of the best portrayals of the absurdity of political
hierarchy. There's some debate as to whether or not this one bombed at the
box office, but what is certain is that people did not like it. Mussolini
banned it in Italy, and a town in New York sharing the name of the Marx's
Brothers' fictional dictatorship Freedonia protested the film's release.
People in general thought it was in bad taste. Well it's not. It's as
timely and honest as it ever was despite Groucho's claim, What
significance? We were just four Jews trying to get a laugh.
Heathers (1988, Dir. Michael Lehmann) A dark comedy in which high school
is used as a lens for understanding the most cut throat, sociopathic forms
of competition. A very funny satire of class disparity and resulting
fundamentalism with Winona Ryder as an aspiring socialite and Christian
Slater as J.D., the radical that disillusions her.
Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988, Dir. Terry Gilliam) A classic family
friendly film about the creation of legends and the blurring of lines
between imagination and the facts. Funny, dark, suspenseful and triumphant
in the strangest ways.
Babe: Pig in the City (1998, Dir. George Miller) This movie is for
children? The director of Mad Max gives his dark touch to this sequel.
Quite a few unsettling scenes here including an accident in a well that is
eerily similar to There Will Be Blood and the near drowning of a dog. The
overall mood is one of melancholy. It is also funny, cute and okay for the
whole family, but it's definitely not your typical kids movie.
Idiocracy (2006, Dir. Mike Judge) This one's lack of success is probably a
result of it kind of being drawn out and tedious. On the other hand it is
difficult to market such an unrestrained critique of the homogenization of
modern society and culture. Welcome to a political system fueled by sports
drinks and a political arena structured by professional wrestling. The film
may be long and tiring, but its primarily due to all of the characters'
idiocy that the audience gets bored. Not the best but worth a watch for its
insight into a direction in which we very well could be headed.
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FREE RENTAL COUPON
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* ~VIDEO AMERICAIN~ *
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* 1 FREE RENTAL *
* (LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER) *
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* (VALID THROUGH 6/7/12) *
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Print out the above coupon and redeem at
our Roland Park location.
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NEW THIS WEEK 5/8/12
The Shrine 2012 horror
Mother's Day 2012 remake of the Troma horror classic
The Front Line 2011 Korean
Amador 2012 Spanish
The Kreutzer Sonata 2008 thriller
Queen of Hearts 2010 French
Pink Skies 2011 Breast Cancer documentary
Norman Mailer: The American 2012 documentary
The Big C : Season 2 TV series with Laura Linney
Kawa 2012 New Zealand
The Vow 2012 romance with Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie 2012 comedy
W.E. 2012 Romance/Docudrama directed by Madonna
Haywire 2011 Action/Thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh (Contagion,
Traffic, Ocean's franchise)
Joyful Noise 2012 Comedy/Musical with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton
New Year's Eve 2012 follow up to the movie Valentine's Day
George Harrison: Living in the Material World 2012 documentary by Martin
Scorsese
The One Who Got Away 1957 World War II film
The Mystery of Edwin Drood 2012 BBC program
Westward the Women 1951 Western by director William Wellman
Desperate Search 1958 film with Howard Keel and Jane Greer
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COMING ATTRACTIONS ON DVD
5/15/12
Albert Nobbs 2012 drama with Glenn Close
Chronicle 2012 scifi
The Grey 2012 action with Liam Neeson
The Devil Inside 2012 horror
Rampart 2011 crime drama with Woody Harrelson
One for the Money -2012 comedy
Amphetamine 2010 Hong Kong
Being John Malkovich (Criterion Edition)
Norwegian Wood 2010 Japanese
Look in Any Window 1961 drama with Paul Anka
Love Story: A Lady Surrenders 1944 drama with Stewart Granger
Hell on Wheels: 1st Season AMC series
My Perestroika 2010 documentary
Something Ventured 2011 venture capital documentary
Caravan 1946 drama with Stewart Granger
Eagle's Wing 1979 western with Martin Sheen, Harvey Keitel, and Sam
Watterson
Fanny by Gaslight 1945 drama with James Mason
Windfall 2010 documentary
The Buccaneer 1938 swashbuckler by Cecil B Demille
We Were Here 2011 LGBT documentary
5/22/12
Red Tails 2012 film about the Tuskegee Airmen
The Secret World of Arrietty 2012 anime based on The Borrowers
This Means War 2012 romantic comedy by director McG (Terminator
Salvation) with Reese Witherspoon
The Woman in Black 2012 ghost story with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
Eclipse Series 33: Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. (Criterion Edition)
Set includes Babo 73, Chafed Elbows, No More Excuses, Putney Swope, and
Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight.
Perfect Sense 2011 thriller/romance with Ewan McGregor
9:06 2009 Slovenian/German
Ilsa: The Wicked Warden 1977 cult
Newlyweds 2012 comedy
Mutant Girl Squad 2010 Japanese cult/scifi
United 2012 soccer doumentary
Certified Copy (Criterion Edition) 2010 directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Carol Channing: Larger than Life 2012 documentary
The Anatomy of Hate 2012 documentary
Sherlock: Season 2 BBC series
Too Late Blues 1961 film with Bobby Darin
My Piece of the Pie 2011 French
The First Beautiful Thing 2012 Italian
The River: Season 1 2012 TV Series
Run for Cover 1955 western
Memorial Day 2012 War Drama
Dog Bites Man: The Complete Series 2012 series with Zach Galifianakis
5/29/12
Coriolanus 2011 Shakespearean thriller directed by and starring Ralph
Fiennes (The English Patient)
Gone 2012 thriller
Man on a Ledge 2012 thriller with Sam Worthington
We Need to Talk about Kevin 2012 thriller with Tilda Swinton
Goon 2012 hockey comedy
Life without Principal 2012 Hong Kong
The House of Boys 2012 LGBT film with Udo Kier and Stephen Fry
Summer Interlude (Criterion Edition) Director Ingmar Bergman
Summer with Monika (Criterion Edition) Director Ingmar Bergman
Murdoch Mysteries: Season 4 BBC series
True Blood: Season 4 TV series
Hello Lonesome 2010 comedy/drama
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FRIENDLY INTERNERD INFORMATION
Buddy up with our borg clerk Vee Dee and check her status for SPECIALS!:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video.americain.baltimore<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://www.facebook.com/home.php%23...>
Check out our website for reviews, recommendations, and more deals:
http://www.videoamericain.com
Get tweets here:
http://twitter.com/#!/VideoAmericain
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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS VIDEO AMERICAIN?
Roland Park (410) 243-2231
700 W. Cold Spring Lane
Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm
Fri-Sat 11am-11pm
Charles Village (410) 889-5266
3100 St. Paul St
Sun-Thurs 12pm-8pm
Fri-Sat 12pm-9pm
Takoma Park (301) 270-4464
6937 Laurel Ave, Takoma Park MD 20912
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