I’m mildly obsessed with Alison Brie, and I don’t know why. I loved her on Community. I enjoyed her in that one season of Glow I watched (nothing wrong with the show; I just got distracted and never got around to watching the rest). I’ve seen her in various other things that were fine. But she’s been in a million other things that I’ve not watched. Honestly, I don’t think she’s that great of an actress – she’s fine, but not amazing. And she chooses a lot of projects that I have no interest in. But still, I like her. She feels like an actress from another era. She would have been huge in the 1980s. 

What I do really love about her is that she seems to have shied away from really big projects. Like the Lego Movie was probably the most mainstream thing she’s ever done, and that was a relatively small part. For years now she’s worked in smaller, more independent films (and some ridiculous animated TV shows) rather than try to climb the ladder to super fame. I appreciate when an artist is happy doing what they want instead of always trying to be famous. 

I know very little about Together. It stars Brie and her husband, Dave Franco. It is a horror movie about a married couple who move to the country and are attacked by some kind of supernatural presence. Apparently, this means their bodies start to meld together. The few images I’ve seen show their lips stuck together, stretching outwards. I love a good body horror picture, and I appreciate that Brie continues to make weird films that won’t appeal to everyone.  

Also out this week that looks interesting:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: 50th Anniversary 4K UHD: Milos Forman’s Oscar winning film is based on a Ken Kesey novel.  Jack Nicholson stars as a brash rebel sent to a mental institution where he rallies the patients against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched. I’ve not seen this in years, but I’m looking forward to catching it in UHD.

Burden of Dreams 4K UHD: In 1979, Werner Herzog took a film crew deep into the Amazonian rain forest to make Fitzcarraldo, a film about a man determined to move a steamship over a mountain. Herzog being Herzog, he decided that rather than use special effects, his film crew would literally move a steamship over a mountain. The film was plagued by setbacks, including accidents, poor weather, Klaus Kinski acting horrible, and an actual native attack. All this was documented by Les Blank in his documentary Burden of Dreams.  It is one of the greatest making-of movies ever made.  Criterion has the release.

The Howling 4K UHD: One of the great werewolf movies gets a nice Steelbook from Shout Factory.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale/The Ultimate Legacy Collection: I stopped watching this historical drama somewhere in Season Four, I think. It is one of those shows that I loved for a while, and then it all became a bit too much. But it was a huge hit and it chugged a long for several more seasons and a few movies. They just released what they are promising to be the final movie, and as such, they’ve also produced a big boxed set of everything.

The Luc Besson Collection: Luc Besson is a director who has made some great films (Leon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita) and some utter garbage (The Messenger The Story of Joan of Arc). The garbage turned me off enough that I stopped paying him much attention. This boxed set includes Le Dernier Combat, Atlantis, Angel-A, Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.

Caught Stealing 4K UHD: This Darren Aronofsky film about a regular guy trying to survive amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York kind of came and went without much fan fare.  I’m looking forward to catching up with it.

The Naked Gun: This remake of the popular 1980s-1990s film series got surprisingly good reviews and did pretty well at the box office. I loved the original films, but I tend to no longer like super silly comedies in my old age. But I’ll probably give it a shot for old times sake.

Creepshow: The Complete Series: I don’t think I ever watched this series, but I did enjoy the two films as a kid. It is an anthology horror series hosted by a creepy ghoul.

The Mask 4K UHD: Arrow Video gives this comedy that finds Jim Carrey at the height of his powers the UHD treatment.

Freakier Friday: Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan return in this legacy sequel to a remake of the 1976 Disney classic. This time it’s a quadruple swap with Lohan’s character’s daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter swapping alongside the Curtis and Lohan characters. Hilarity, no doubt, will ensue.