Is it Tuesday again already? It would appear that it is, and that means new releases are out today! Let’s take a look and see what’s hitting the shelves today…

Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt star in Five Minutes Of Heaven, a drama based on the murder of a young Catholic man by a young Protestant man in 1975 Ireland during the fighting between British loyalists and the IRA. The killer has done his time in prison and emerged a changed man, while the brother of his victim has dreamed only of revenge. Now, a TV crew has arranged a meeting between the two for an attempt at reconciliation.

In It’s Complicated, Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin have been divorced for ten years but remain friendly. Into their already busy lives, complete with a smitten romantic interest and a new spouse respectively, they’ve somehow managed to rekindle the flame they once had. Comic romance ensues!

Finally, the much talked about Terry Gilliam flick The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, starring Heath Ledger (in his final role), Johnny Depp, Jude  Law and Colin Farrell as the mysterious Tony and Christopher Plummer as Doctor Parnassus, the proprietor of a traveling show. Turns out the good Doctor had, many years before, made a deal with Mr. Nick and payment is almost due… If Terry Gilliam’s other work is any clue, Imaginarium promises to be a wild ride indeed.

We also still have new copies of Pirate Radio, One Peace At A Time, The Lovely Bones, The Young Victoria and Peacock, too!

Come in and see us.

We’ve been having a good time with the shelves on the Wall O’ Cool lately, devoting space to Steve Martin,  Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Tim Burton (which morphed into a Johnny Depp shelf), Bruce Willis and John Cusack, to name just a handful. It’s always interesting to sort through the various titles we have on hand to try to put one of these shelves together as sometimes there’s only about enough to fill the shelf (like in the case of Tim Burton) and other times there’s way too much to choose from (in the case of Woody Allen).

Today’s featured artist on the Wall O’ Cool falls somewhere in the middle, with several choices to be made without being completely overwhelming. Of course, there are always titles we want to use but are currently out of stock, but that’s a different story. Anyhow, enough of my yakkin’, let’s boogie.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jackie Chan. Martial arts, slapstick comedy and at well over 3000 years old, he does his own stunts! He’s like a cross between Bruce Lee and Harold Lloyd!

First Strike is the fourth installment in Jackie Chan’s Police Story series, in which Jackie is a cop hot on the trail of stolen nukes!

In Mr. Nice Guy, Chan is a well-known TV chef who also happens to be a martial arts expert (weird, right?). He becomes involved with a news reporter who has a video tape of a shady deal involving a local drug lord and now the two of them are on the run.  This is not Iron Chef!

In Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3, Chan teams up with the ever-annoying Chris Tucker (maybe it’s just me, but as funny as he is, I just can’t take his voice) in this trilogy of buddy cop films. The first is clearly the best of the bunch, but they are all pretty enjoyable for the action and comedy, both of which are served up in heaping helpings.

In The Tuxedo, Chan is a hapless chauffeur for a suave millionaire who has suffered and accident and lays in a hospital bed. Sent to retrieve some items from his bosses home, Chan tries on a special tuxedo that gives him super-spy powers, sending him into a world of intrigue and danger. Go go gadget tuxedo!

The Forbidden Kingdom pairs Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time. A young man in Boston, obsessed with kung-fu movies and Chinese culture, discovers an ancient staff in a pawn shop. After local thugs attempt to rob the pawn shop, our young hero finds himself in possession of the staff and mysteriously transported to ancient China where he embarks on a mythical quest to save the Monkey King. Not as ridiculous as it sounds, actually.

Shanghai Knights is the sequel to Shanghai Noon, which we sadly do not currently have in stock. Chan teams up with Owen Wilson in these East-meets-Old-West action comedies. In this sequel, they find themselves in England chasing after the man who murdered Chan’s father. Hilarity and wild martial arts stunts ensue!

Whatever you’re after, whether it’s laughs or martial arts wizardry, Jackie Chan delivers. And so do we! Come check us out.

I noticed we had four Tim Burton films on the Wall O’ Cool and wondered why the guy did not have a whole shelf to himself.  So I perused the store and made it so!

8 films directed by the super strange Burton and several featuring his go-to actor, Johnny Depp.

Beetlejuice (1988) – The story of a couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who want to start a life together in their new home, and instead must start their afterlife together following a car accident. They learn that most of the world beyond is a lot like the DMV and that dealing with the living sucks. Michael Keaton plays the title character as a super creep that causes havoc for the dead and the living.

Batman (1989) – Michael Keaton plays the dark knight in this version. The Joker being played by Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale, the most annoying reporter ever. I understand she is pretty, but her screams in this movie drive me INSANE. I like Keaton’s Batman though. He plays him with humor and reluctant heroism. It always worked for me.

Edward Scissorhands (1990) – One of Burton’s best. This twisted fairy tale is reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, with Johnny Depp playing the title character of a patched together man with scissors for hands. He is sweet, naive and brought into the home of a wholesome suburban family (Dianne Wiest and Alan Arkin as the folks are wonderful) to change their lives. Edward falls for their beautiful daughter (Winona Ryder) and finds he has too many sharp edges to truly fit in.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) – Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, the classic coward who encounters the Headless Horseman in the tiny town of Sleepy Hollow. Christina Ricci also stars.

Planet of the Apes (2001) – I think the title pretty much says it all about this sci-fi retake of the 1968 film of the same name. The ape make-up is cooler, the action is more packed and it has Tim Roth in it…..I like Tim Roth and so should you. Also during this film, Tim Burton became romantically involved with his current sweetie, Helena Bonham Carter. Who now apparently has to be in all his movies.

Big Fish (2003) – One of my absolute favorite Burton films,  although some fans think it strays too far from his usual touch. It is the tale of Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) who goes to visit his dying father, Ed Bloom (Albert Finney), and listen to the collection of seemingly tall tales of his life that Ed insists are all true. The film flashes back to all the stories with Ewan McGregor playing a young Bloom to perfection. This movie is sweet and original.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) – Another film remake that, while good in some ways, does not begin to touch the original 1971 musical. I like that Burton stayed true to the Roald Dahl story, but I think he fell flat with his Oompa Loompas (Deep Roy….he played ALL of them) and let Depp go too far with his interpretation of the eccentric candyman, Willy Wonka. The kids were all good though.

Corpse Bride (2005) – A stop-motion animated feature with Johnny Depp voicing the character of Victor Van Dort, a young man nervous about his wedding vows, so he decides to practice them to a grave. When he slips the ring onto what he believes is a stick, an energetic dead women (Helena Bonham Carter) comes to life thinking they are married. It is dark, funny and a great little love story.