Lost Attractions: A Look at Coming DVD Rentals

By Chasse Rehwinkel

Sometimes a movie will have a short or poor run in American theaters due to circumstances that aren’t based on its quality. Prime examples include 2002′s City of God, which enjoyed tremendous critical acclaim but was released in fewer theaters then I have fingers because it was in Portuguese, and 1999′s The Boondock Saints, which got onto five US screens because of director Troy Duffy’s not so flattering comments about Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films, but since its DVD release, it has enjoyed a massive cult following. Films like these don’t come out every week, but a handful of neglected masterpieces are missed by the majority of filmgoers each year and 2007 was no different.

I’m not sure if director Seth Gordon knew what he was getting into when he started work on King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters , but at some point during production he must have stood up in disbelief, wondering whether this story was actually happening or if someone was just messing with him. A documentary following Seattle middle school science teacher Steve Wiebe as he attempts to set the high score in Donkey Kong, King of Kong progresses quickly from a ridiculous joke to the perfect allegory of good versus evil. Wiebe becomes a representative of the purely good underdog, who has failed at everything he has put effort into, but continues to always give an unwavering 100% in everything he tries to accomplish. Losing his job, failing at his band, not being able to pay his mortgage, Steve becomes such a sad character that you can’t help but root for him; especially when you discover the currant record holder is the evil incarnate Billy Mitchell. Comparing the controversy he brings to the video game world to the abortion issue and often dismissing Steve as a loser not worth his time, Mitchell is everything you hate in an overly-talented ass. Weaving in and out of controversy and competition the film is perfectly edited together to show the struggle between good and evil, a topic often explored in film but never using classic arcade video games. King of Kong is a film that starts in a normal place but just slips into a world that makes you think it’s a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Totally worth your time, Kong is in my opinion the best documentary to come along since 1997′s Fast, Cheap and Out of Control.

Romance and Cigarettes is the baby of well known character actor John Turturro. Written, directed, and produced by Turturro, this unique musical was completed in 2005 but lay dormant until ’07 because of a merger within its distributor United Artists. The merger basically killed the film’s theatrical release but trust me, this is a film worth finding. When I said unique musical, I meant something totally alien from the mainstream; if Sweeny Todd was a musical out of left field, Romance and Cigarettes isn’t even the same ballpark. Based loosely on Turturro’s own experiences growing up near JFK Airport in New York, this musical mixes the fantastical with hard reality creating a funny movie that, when it’s all said and done, has a pretty sad story. Dark comedies are tough, but when pulled off right they can be very satisfying, and this is one of those kinds of comedy. A great cast featuring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi and Christopher Walken, Romance and Cigarettes will make you redefine your view of musicals; any fan of the Coen Brothers’ work will certainly enjoy this.

After a mixed release at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, King of California waited a little long to pull the trigger on its American release. Producers seemed to be a little unsure about a movie featuring a damaged teen, played by Evan Rachel Wood, who has dropped out of school and her father, played by Michael Douglas, who is a recently released mental patient, and is now trying to find a Spanish treasure in suburban California. The film was released in middle September and was annihilated at the box office. King of California however, has some truly redeemable qualities to it; a great performance by Douglas and a quirky story that I think in the end really hits its target make this a nice watch. A cross between The Fisher King and the work of Charles Bukowski, King of California is definitely worth a look.

Director Danny Boyle has made quite the career for himself using strange and strong visual imagery. 2002′s 28 Days Later redefined the zombie movie and pulled that genre out of the grindhouse theaters and into the mainstream, while 1996′s Trainspotting is one of the greatest achievements in film from the 1990s. In spite of these credits Boyle couldn’t really find a home for his 2007 film, Sunshine. The film is the story of an international space crew’s voyage to the sun, which has begun to die, in hope of restarting it with a large nuclear payload. Sounds cheesy I know, but the film is a clever way to create some truly fantastically shot sequences. With times of no light and times of complete submersion in the rays of the sun, this has to be a cinematographer’s wet dream. The end product is something like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Event Horizon. Though it is very well put together film visually, it has a rather weak cast, which is the part that turned people away. Studios buried it and the project went largely unseen.

These are four films that I’m pretty sure most of you haven’t seen, but each definitely worth checking out. Unfortunately, it’s too late to see most of these in theaters but I wouldn’t tell you about something you couldn’t enjoy on your own, I’m not that much of a sadist. All four of these will be out on DVD by the end of next month. While they were shunned in theaters, please be willing to take a chance on these films. It’s a much better idea then renting one of the many sequels that “graced” theaters this summer.