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Blu in Your Face: July 2nd, 2013


For the first time since starting this column, I’m really kinda stumped. Maybe it’s the holiday, but this is not a good week at all. I mean, usually even if I haven’t seen a decent share of the week’s releases, I have something to say about them…something to recommend from a geek perspective.

This week, however, there are literally only two that stand out:

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The Producers For most people, introducing Hitler into an argument is called Godwinning and it is regarded as an inevitable-yet-desperate tactic. For Mel Brooks, however, Hitler jokes worked. Often imitated and semi-duplicated as a musical, The Producers centers on the idea of setting out to create the worst stage show ever so as to profit from bankruptcy with a production entitled Springtime for Hitler. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel star in this 1968 comedy that essentially predicted the kind of ironic love we give to movies like The Room today. If you only know Brooks primarily for his parody movies, you’ve missed out on one of his best, and need to pick this up. If you already know it, there’s really only one new featurette on the Blu-ray.

The Kentucky Fried MovieJohn Landis and the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team collaborated on this raunchy sketch-comedy feature back when they were all still funny, and would never have dreamed of making dreck like The Stupids and An American Carol. All of them, along with producer Robert Weiss, contribute to a commentary track.

I’m going to make the rest of this an open thread. Can you sell me on 6 Souls or any of today’s other rather scant Blu debuts?