There are a couple of films of Chlotrudis-interest being released on video and DVD this week. Most notably, BUBBA HO-TEP, Chlotrudis nominee for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay will be released on Tuesday. Adapting a story by Joe Lansdale, director Don Coscarelli imagines Elvis (that’s Presley, played by genre film superstar Bruce Campbell) as a geriatric waste-case who’s snapped out of his funk when a mummy in cowboy boots starts preying on souls at his Texas rest home. Surely one of the most anticipated DVD releases for many Chlotrudis members.
THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND was in contention in the Best Documentary nomination process last year, but not enough people saw it. Now is your chance. This film was nominated by that other Awards Organization, and looks back at ’60s radicals the Weatherman and their improbable, impassioned bid to take down the government. For those who like their indie films on the epic side, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, the lengthy conclusion to Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s trilogy, hits the stores on Tuesday. At least the first version does… I’m sure an extended edition will be released in a couple of months.
DVDs have done wonders for beloved television series, and here are a couple of interesting ones being released this week. “Northern Exposure: The Complete First Season” is sure to be a crowd please for many. That first season of gentle, quirky humour focusing on a doctor stuck in a tiny town in Alaska is one of my favorite pieces of television history. Going back a little farther, this Tuesday also sees the release of “The Jetsons: The Complete First Season.” I bet there are a lot of you out there who can sing the entire theme song. “Meet George Jetson…”