August 28, 2012 (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Plastic Zombie Head)

Five Plastic Discs Released Today:

The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season (Limited Edition)

Seriously… just look at that thing. It is ridiculous and huge and holy mother of all that is beautiful, I want it. I don’t even watch this show and I want the damn thing. Marketing genius.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  
  Just a re-release in a combo pack, so be warned – this is not a remaster and there isn’t anything special about this ‘new’ release. I just wanted a chance to think about this film again, it was so… wonderfully devastating. A story about processing loss and justifying it with your own concept of identity – this film is just staggeringly beautiful to me for some reason. The cast is excellent, the direction is eloquent and the writing – oh the writing. I think Charlie Kaufman is definitely one of the best contemporary writers working in American film today. This film and Kaufman’s next, Synecdoche, New York are probably my favorite American films of the last decade that weren’t made by Paul Thomas Anderson or David Lynch.
  
  Heartbreaking, exhilarating, unique and profoundly inspiring.
  - Quadrophenia
  Mods and rockers, man. Mods and rockers.
  
  Better than Tommy. What else can be said?
  - Harvey
  Ah, the classics… the good old days. Back when you could make movies about alcoholics and they didn’t need to quit drinking by the end of the film to “learn their lesson”.
  
  Jimmy Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, said alcoholic, and by god he is the sweetest and most interesting drunk you’ll ever meet. Elwood’s best friend, the “Harvey” of the title, is a six foot tall invisible rabbit.
  
  James Stewart was a prince amongst men and one of those people I could watch, and enjoy, in damn near anything. My childhood would have been drastically different if not for Mr. Stewart, for that alone I salute the man and will still gladly follow him all these years after his death. R.I.P.
  - Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
    
    Here is my top pick for the week. Now, I know I spoke nostalgically of Jimmy Stewart, but really, this film here… this was one of my favorites when I was but a wee lad. I was really into all the Universal monster films and I adored Abbot and Costello – so put the two together and it was like my 5 year old fanboy mind exploded in never ending joygasms.
    
    This isn’t necessarily the best Abbot and Costello film – but damn it’s fun. Plus you get Lugosi and Dracula, Karloff and the Monster and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman. The stars all aligned perfectly and the world FINALLY got to see the classic Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster together in a film. This was a huge deal to me when I was a kid, but even without all the nostalgic baggage, the film still definitely holds up with some great performances and sharp gags and one liners.