Some DVDs new to the library, in alphabetical order. All links go to the page where you can request the item(s).
It's another lean week. As I said in an earlier column, supply has become an issue. I talked to our DVD distributor, which is simply working with what the studios give it, and lately it's the studios that have been the slowpokes in getting their stuff out (or making new copies of old titles when needed). Again, I suspect it has to do with the perceived death of physical media, the big-box stores like Best Buy and Target no longer stocking movies and music, and thus lesser demand for even newer titles, never mind older catalog titles. When you can't even get Madame Web on time, something's wonky somewhere. Anyway, as always, we will continue to acquire the best old and new DVDs as long as they exist, in a timely fashion – or not. As more people explore streaming and discover that not everything is available digitally, libraries may become the last stand for physical copies of all kinds of entertainment.
Angel Heart – This was missing in transit for a few months, so I replaced it. It's too good not to. Where's the Criterion edition? Based on the novel Falling Angel. On DVD.
Damnation Alley – Post-apocalyptic action-thriller from 1977. “Giant mutated cockroaches, storms and crazed survivalists” are on the menu. Jan-Michael Vincent stars. On DVD.
The Devil and Daniel Webster – The Angel/Damnation/Devil thing was not intentional. Anyway, we just got this 1941 classic with Walter Huston as Old Scratch. The SAILS catalog has a picture of Knife in the Water for some reason. On DVD.
Kill or Be Killed – Those of us who were watching a lot of cable as kids in the early '80s remember this 1976 martial-arts extravaganza (and its sequel, Kill and Kill Again). It's pan-and-scan and looks as though it was sourced off an old VHS tape, maybe even one taped off of HBO back then. Which kind of adds to the whole cheerfully cheapjack experience. Some movies just benefit from looking like garbage, y'know? On DVD.
Patch Adams – Just so nobody thinks I only get stuff I like for the collection: This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and I wouldn't spend library money on it, but someone donated it, so now we have it. This is often how we end up with movies that it just wouldn't occur to me to order. I justify it because Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it, in an early role. On DVD.
We're All Going to the World's Fair – Psycho-horror about a girl who goes too far with an online horror game. Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, whose second feature I Saw the TV Glow is getting a wide release in theaters from A24 soon. On Blu-ray.
