get yr wish list on (***updated!***)

Gimme the loot!

(For those of you looking for our regularly scheduled Tuesday-DVD-releases post, you may go here. But really, unless you've been looking forward to Momma Mia! on DVD, there's nothing for you, nothing at all. Otherwise, check out what will make Christmas merry and bright for Boothers below)


Dear Santa:

We here at the Denver Projection Booth have been very good this year though there's been like zero movies to see. Even you, jolly old elf, would have to agree with my man Ice Cube when he said, "Fuck Hollywood."

But never mind all that. We have been very good, Santa, very, very good, despite all the shit you've handed us (that's right, you're not fooling anyone: we know you have something going with Jesus, Allah, Robert Rubin, the Bilderbergs, and the Mole People - one hand giveth, the other to taketh away), so we want things, see. Things you will bring us, or the will be no frenching mom. Dig?


Dex wants:

Chungking Express (Criterion): All the leaves are brown/ (all the leaves are brown)/ And the sky is grey!









Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Seriously Ultimate Edition - Seriously. Ultimate. 'Nuff said.

Phantasm - 5 Disc Box Set - In the shape of one of the spheres, yo. One of the spheres.

Heathers: Limited Edition Boxed Set -
For many moviegoers of a certain age and disposition, Heathers was not only a quantum leap into coolness, but because it spoke directly to so many fans, a protective amulet to carry into adulthood as well. Alas, time has not been so kind to the cast of this 1989 cult classic: once a muse to art school and alt-rock kids, Winona Ryder just manages to continue to coast on the rep she built as Tim Burton's feminine ideal (Heathers might be her last original role), while drugs, booze, and domestic weirdness have reduced Christian Slater to picking up roles on the margins of the action and sci-fi genres, and screenwriter Daniel Waters (who also penned the underrated Batman Returns (1992) is mostly MIA. But the movie Heathers, for the most part, has managed to endure, though the cynicism of the last half of the film continues to be a huge drag that muddles the spirit it shows in it's first. While I'm still sweet on the flick, I'm not sure it deserves the super-fantastic collector's set treatment it gets here - separate making-of documentaries, a CD-ROM of the original ending, a "Big Fun" tee, and magnets for the high-school locker carrying case it comes in - but Americans do so enjoy needlessly gorging themselves during the holidays, and nostalgia isn't fattening.

Pike Bishop wants:

1.) Georges Melies: First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913) - (Flicker Alley) - Region 1 US Box Set - If you have a taste for the fantastical in cinema, then you owe a debt of gratitude to Georges Melies. He started out his professional life as a stage magician but, after seeing a demonstration by the Lumiere Brothers of their cinematographe machine, Melies began making magically fantastic short films that he called “feeries”. The horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres, along with many of the optical and special effects used to create our modern day spectacles, were born in these short films. This 5-disc box contains most if not all of Melies existent films along with a documentary about the man by another filmmaker of the fantastique, Georges Franju.


2.) Intégrale Jacques Demy - (Cine-Tamaris) - Region 2 French Box Set with English Subs - Jacques Demy’s films, for the most part, are pure pleasure. His musicals like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and his fantasy films like Donkey Skin rank especially high. This box set of his complete works was put together with loving care by filmmaker Agnes Varda. It is available on her website, Cine-Tamaris.


3.) Naruse Box Set Volume One - (Masters of Cinema) Region 2 UK Box Set with English Subs - Naruse Mikio was a contemporary of Ozu Yasujiro, Mizoguchi Kenji and Gosho Heinosuke. From a layman’s point of view he may have a surface similarity to Ozu but at their respective best (for my money anyway) he was the better filmmaker of the two for being less overtly mannered by stylistic concerns and less reverential to Japan’s feudalistic hierarchy. This box set presents three of his most recognized films (Repast, Sound of the Mountain, and Flowing) and comes from the fine folks at Masters of Cinema.



4.) Shimizu Hiroshi Collection - Parts 1 & 2 - (Shochiku Home Video) Region 2 Japanese Box Set with English Subs - Shimizu Hiroshi was another of Ozu’s contemporaries who began his film career at Shochiku studios. Ozu, a close friend of and collaborator with Shimizu considered him to be a true master filmmaker. These box sets, from Shochiku Home Video, are the first English subtitled collections available. Shimizu’s works from both his silent and sound periods are represented.

Patrick wants:

Griffith Masterworks 2 (Kino Video): And Santa, please note that I have not yet received the Vol. 1 of this set that I asked for a few years ago. He is the Father of Cinema, after all.

The Last Laugh (fancy dee-lux version by Kino Video): Ahhh, Murnau. This shit's good, y'know? Emil Jannings is about as perfect a schlub as I can imagine - as good here as in Der Blaue Engel.

Nathalie Granger (Facets video): So, about this one, Santa. Here's the thing - John Waters once wrote about the impenetrable genius of the cinema of Ms. Marguerite Duras and I've never had a chance to see any of her work and I am suspicious that anyone is crazy enough to think they can make any money releasing them on DVD. So maybe I should just rent it, but with this nice, fancy package, I think I'll probably be enthralled and aggravated in equal amounts. There is, of course, a less fancy version, but would that really do her justice? Plus, Jeanne Moreau is in it - how bad could it possibly be?

Vampyr (Criterion) : Dreyer, another one of those brilliant silent-era guys. but this one's got sound. And vampires and creepy imagery and atmosphere out the wazoo. Amazing.

Busby Berkeley Collection Vol. 2 (Warner Home Video): Y'know Santa, I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you still haven't gotten me the superior Vol. 1 that I asked for a while ago, but if you get me this one, I'll just let it slide.