Yeah, yeah, this month’s nearly over and all the best film news has come and gone: Sundance happened, the Golden Globes were half-boozy and half-boring as usual, and what got nominated for all the Oscars this season? (Yawn.) But while you were busy refreshing your Twitter feed anyway, another crop of essential titles hit the home-video shelves. Speaking of must-haves—in my first guest segment this month, a question arises that I now ask you: of all the DVDs and Blu-rays you currently own, what are your most coveted treasures that would have to be pried from your cold, dead hands? Feel free to answer in the comments below.
Podcast Intro Music: Dionne Warwick, “The April Fools”
SPECIAL GUEST #1: Paul Dano on “The Long Day Closes”
Intro Music: Nat King Cole, “Stardust”
Paul Dano is a distinguished New York-based actor whose screen credits include “There Will Be Blood,” “Ruby Sparks,” “Looper” and “12 Years a Slave.” Later this year, he can be seen in Bill Pohlad‘s “Love and Mercy,” in which he plays reclusive Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson. On the podcast, we discuss Terrence Davies‘ “The Long Day Closes” (Criterion, BD/DVD combo, available now), a poetically autobiographical account of the British director’s childhood in 1950s Liverpool.
SPECIAL GUEST #2: Bobcat Goldthwait on “You’re Next”
Intro Music: Dwight Tilley Band, “Looking For the Magic”
Bobcat Goldthwait is an actor, comedian and former Nirvana opening act. He’s also the writer-director behind such darkly comic gems as “World’s Greatest Dad,” “God Bless America” and “Shakes the Clown.” His new film is “Willow Creek,” a Bigfoot horror-comedy (or is it a comic horror?) that will be released in theaters this summer. Here, we riff on Adam Wingard‘s gleefully twisted “You’re Next,” (Lionsgate, BD, DVD, available now), a home-invasion thriller by way of dysfunctional-family dramedy.
SPECIAL GUEST #3: Josh Johnson on “Rewind This!” and “Birth of the Living Dead”
Intro Music: Total Slacker, “Secret VHS Collection”
Josh Johnson makes his feature directorial debut with the anecdotally entertaining “Rewind This!” (FilmBuff, DVD, available now), a documentary ode to VHS culture that premiered at last year’s SXSW Film Festival. On a weekday afternoon at Video Free Brooklyn, where he also works part-time, Josh and I delved into his film, along with Rob Kuhns‘ “Birth of the Living Dead” (First Run Features, DVD, available now), a similarly fun peek into cinema’s past that puts George A. Romero‘s 1968 flesh-easter classic “Night of the Living Dead” into deliciously shaggy context.
Podcast Outro Music: Papa Razzi and the Photogs, “Zombie Movie Man, George A. Romero”
“10 WORTH A SPIN” (January 2014, as mentioned on the podcast):
“The Act of Killing” (2012, dir. Joshua Oppenheimer, Drafthouse Films, BD, DVD)
“The April Fools” (1969, dir. Stuart Rosenberg, Paramount, DVD)
“Cat People” (1982, dir. Paul Schrader, Shout! Factory, BD)
“Concussion” (2013, dir. Stacie Passon, Anchor Bay, DVD)
“Hail Mary” (1985, dir. Jean-Luc Godard, Cohen Media Group, BD, DVD)
“Key of Life” (2012, dir. Kenji Uchida, Film Movement, DVD)
“Metallica Through the Never” (2013, dir. Nimród Antal, Blackened Recordings, 3D/BD, BD, DVD)
“Nostalghia” (1983, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, Kino Classics, BD, DVD)
“Short Term 12” (2013, dir. Destin Cretton, Cinedigm, BD/DVD, DVD)
“We Are What We Are” (2013, dir. Jim Mickle, Entertainment One, BD, DVD)
“DVD Is the New Vinyl” is co-presented by Video Free Brooklyn, three-time “Best Video Store in NYC.” For more info, please visit the VFB website.