Roadside Attractions
Maggie
Could this be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best performance? He is an unshaven, tired-eyed presence in this dystopian vision of a near-future America in the grips of a zombie pandemic. The virus is carried through agricultural products and the fields are on fire to stop the spread. Schwarzenegger kills any zombie that crosses him, but is more concerned with preserving his family. He conveys the sadness and loss that suffuses this film by director Henry Hobson.
Tentacles / Reptilicus
That master of schlock, producer Samuel Z. Arkoff, was always quick to jump on a trend. With Tentacles (1977), he capitalized on Jaws by rendering a seaside resort menaced by a creature from the deep—a monster capable of reaching onto the shore or a ship deck for its victims. Arkoff summoned a name cast, including Shelley Winters, Henry Fonda and surly John Huston. Tentacles is out on Blu-ray, paired with a prehistoric predator, Reptilicus (1963).
Pandas: The Journey Home
Resembling stuffed toys more than real animals, pandas are among the world’s most adorable creatures. This National Geographic documentary visits their shrinking habitat, the misty bamboo forests of China and explores efforts to restore the endangered species. Pandas have been recognized as a national treasure by China’s regime; not unlike the American campaign to save the bald eagle in the ’70s, government and private citizens are working together in a convergence of patriotism and environmentalism.
