by Shane “Not Backwards” Hnetka

HnetflixAfter all the controversy, hacking, embarrassment, lost money and (I assume) tears, Sony will release The Interview on DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 24. Granted, this isn’t a huge deal — the movie’s  been available for download and streaming since Christmas — but the DVD comes with extras. Because everyone loves extras. There’s a commentary by co-directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, eight featurettes, some gag reels and deleted scenes, and (and!) the episode of that idiotic Discovery Channel show Naked And Afraid with The Interview co-stars Rogen and James Franco. Because after all that’s happened, Sony wants to make us feel better with naked Rogens and Francos. That isn’t how it works, Sony.

An X-Rated Festival

For the past couple of years, the Galaxy Cinema has hosted the Great Digital Film Festival, which screens classic (and classic-ish) movies. It’s back for 2015, running Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. This year’s line-up is Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, The Monster Squad, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Darkman, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: The Last Stand, X2: X-Men United, X-Men, Hellboy, Alien, Aliens, Pan’s Labyrinth, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. Visit cineplex.com/events for a complete schedule.

It’s not a shabby line-up: lots of superhero films, some sci-fi classics, a couple of Guillermo del Toro flicks, one of the best science fiction movies ever made — Blade Runner — and a Tarantino two-part kung-fu classic. I was more impressed with last year’s fest, though — in fact, I dragged semi-well-known Regina bridge-troll Stephen Whitworth to see Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (perhaps “dragged” is strong, since it’s one of Steve’s favourite movies. Still stands up, by the way).

Size Matters

It’s always cool to see films the way they were meant to be seen — in a movie theatre, on huge screens, with other humans. Even with a big TV and good sound system, movies just aren’t the same at home.

One quibble with GDFF 2015: the X-Men movie schedule. On its website, Cineplex promises it will be “fun” to watch all five films in reverse order, starting with the most recent movie then working backwards to the first. I don’t think it works, but Cineplex makes the schedule, not me.

As long as they don’t reverse the order of the Kill Bill movies, it’s all good.

Shane Hnetka is a Regina film and comic book nerd. Look for his weekly “Sunday Matinee” column on Dog Blog at prairiedogmag.com.

2015-01-22