Storm of the Century
Stephen King’s Storm of the Century
Small town Maine is Stephen King’s Transylvania and the white picket fences can’t hold evil at bay. As the winds of a paralyzing winter storm begin to blow, a stranger carrying a curious walking stick—and knowledge of everyone’s secrets—materializes on a Maine island and begins a terror spree with the brisk superficiality of made-for-TV movies. How will the townies stop this smug-faced personification of pure evil? The DVD release includes audio commentary by King.
And Soon the Darkness
In the post-1960s hangover, when peace, love and understanding curdled into distrust, a spate of B movies took the temperature of anxiety and found a fever. Think Texas Chainsaw Massacre in America or this 1970 British flick about two London girls whose bicycling vacation in rural France takes a wrong turn. Is the “dishy” moped-riding guy a serial psycho killer ready to strike again or are the cretinous country bumpkins the ones to look out for?
Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me
Despite the high-gloss production of his platinum hits, Teddy Pendergrass couldn’t entirely hide the grit in the back of his voice. He learned to sing and move in a storefront church in a Philadelphia (“Filthadelphia” he called it) neighborhood infested with violent gangs. Life wasn’t much different once he became a star, this documentary suggests. As one friend put it, the music business was “thug-life” filled with dangerous men, dangerous drugs and dirty deals.
“Robin Williams Comic Genius”
It was shocking in 1978: sex, drugs and bad language on TV! HBO’s “Off the Wall” was a manic performance by Robin Williams before a live audience. It’s the first of five HBO specials culminating with 2009’s ironically titled “Weapons of Self-Destruction” on this DVD collection. Early performances intentionally crossed many lines, yet a bit of Bob Hope can be discerned in Williams’ DNA as he asks, “Have I gone too far into the Land of Strangeness?”
