Ham it up all you want, Stiller. I’m still watching that old dude pick his nose instead of watching you.

There are a lot of new DVDs this week, and The Watch (pictured above) is just one of them. There’s also the latest Pixar flick and the latest Oliver Stone film.  There are films starring Christopher Walken, John Travolta, Chris Rock, and Sean Astin.  There are vamps and vampires, dark horses, devil’s angels, British thieves and British prison guards. We’ve got two Dove Foundation-approved films, and one of them even stars an Oscar-nominee. It’s an exciting week to watch films on DVD -especially if you don’t limit your viewing choices to this week’s admittedly mediocre new releases.

The DVDs:
The Watch
Brave
Savages
Vamps
2 Days In New York
Dark Horse
The Queen Of Versailles
Natural Selection
Highway
Amazing Love: The Story Of Hosea
Comes A Bright Day
Lukewarm
Prairie Love
A Beer Tale
Screwed
Dust Up
The Ghostmaker
3 Times A Charm
Devil’s Angel
Vampires: Brighter In Darkness

One of this week’s movies has a loose tie to The Beatles.  If you want to know which one, continue reading.  Curious which Oscar-nominee is making Dove-approved films now?  Continue reading. Want to watch a movie right this very second?

Streaming
Click here for the Netflix suggestions, but if you do, you’ll never find out which film involves a cannibalistic drug lord -unless you come back and read the article after you’ve watched your Netflix movie, in which case, we’re all good.  But seriously, why the rush? Read the rest of this entry »

Almost all of my favorite documentaries are in some way or another about odd subcultures (American Movie, King of Kong, Anvil, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Spellbound), and what’s an odder subculture than magicians?  Make Believe (via FilmSchoolRejects) is a documentary about teen magicians.  It’s all the awkwardness of being a teenager combined with the awkwardness of magicians, which is enough awkwardness to spawn a thousand Birdemic remakes.  Make Believe was executive produced by King of Kong director Seth Gordon and directed by Kong assistant editor (a much bigger job on a doc than it is on a narrative feature) J. Clay Tweel.  Yes, J. Clay Tweel. I can’t say whether that was his birth name or if he changed it to sound more magiciany. Needless to say, this looks fantastic.

“The World Magic Seminar is… If you’re a teen, and you’re doing magic, you can’t miss it.”

“I don’t have too much friends, my friend is magic.”

“Kristin could be… the greatest lady magician that ever lived.”

THE GREATEST LADY MAGICIAN THAT EVER LIVED! That’s a bold statement, but then look at her levitate those metal rings. Anyway,Make Believe played the LA and Austin film festivals last year, and you can check it out now on Showtime or VOD, or when it opens in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles next month. The only kid I’m worried about is the one doing magic in Africa.  BE CAREFUL, DUDE. One day you’re pulling playing cards from behind peoples’ ears, the next they’re accusing you of shrinking the chief’s penis.  Unless you want people showing up at your hut with baskets of severed albino hands demanding you cure their wife’s infertility, you might want to move.  Magic is all political over there. So I hear. Of course, I get all my information about Africa from my racist uncle.

I wonder if this is how the Hip Hop Magician got his start.