Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF February 14th, 2011

  This Week's Highlights
Shalogil?  - And a very Happy Valentines Day! - I hope you guys all bought your honey a Blu-ray of An Affair to Remember! We have three 70's gems (from Lumet, Pakula and Bernardo Bertolucci) now available on Blu-ray, a best picture Oscar winner from the 80's (Levinson) and a Phil Karlson definitive Noir in 1080P plus Christopher Nolan's inventive Noir-esque thriller in a superior 10th Anniversary Blu-ray a folksy reflection of Americana with Robert Duvall and a visionary reflection on an impending cyber apocalypse. On the DVD side - a classic voyeuristic-based horror from Amenábar an unusual romance film by Kim Ki-duk, a bio documentary on a counter-culture novelist and more !Another Contest with a Brand New Criterion Blu-ray as prize and Calendar Updates...

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

The Fighter [Blu-ray] (David O. Russell , 2010) Paramount Pictures

The Next Three Days [Blu-ray] (Paul Haggis, 2010) Lionsgate

Love and Other Drugs [Blu-ray] (Edward Zwick, 2010) 20th Century Fox

Rabbit Hole [Blu-ray] (John Cameron Mitchell, 2010) Lionsgate

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [Blu-ray] (Mamoru Hosoda, 2006) Bandai Visual

Rain Man [Blu-ray] (Barry Levinson, 1988) MGM

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould [Blu-ray] (Peter Raymont, 2009) Lorber Films

Christmas in July (Preston Sturges, 1940) Universal Studios

TCM Greatest Films: Johnny Weissmuller As Tarzan Vol. 1 - TCM

The Night of the Generals (Anatole Litvak, 1967) Sony

Tracy & Hepburn the Definitive Collection (Woman of the Year; Keeper of the Flame; Without Love; The Sea of Grass; State of the Union; Adam's Rib; Desk Set; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) Warner Home Video

A Summer in Genoa (Michael Winterbottom, 2008) Entertainment One

He (Creep Creepersin, 2009) Severin

The Sign of the Cross (Cecil B. DeMille, 1932) Universal Studios

Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges, 1944) Universal Studios

Budrus (Julia Bacha, 2009) Typecast Releasing

Galaxina / Crater Lake Monster [Blu-ray] - Mill Creek Ent

The Outlaw Josey Wales [Blu-ray] (Clint Eastwood, 1976) Warner

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [Blu-ray] (David Yates, 2010) Warner Home Video

The Frighteners [Blu-ray] (Peter Jackson. 1996) RB UK Cinram Logistics

Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl (Manoel de Oliveira, 2009) R2 UK New Wave

Two in the Wave (Emmanuel Laurent, 2010) R2 UK New Wave Films

 

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): I really enjoyed re-watching All the President's Men via Blu-ray this past week - ditto for Network as well which may have advanced even further. Staying in the 70's - Last Tango in Paris also has a bump to the 1080P level. I probably had the most fun with Get Low this week - an amusing, profound and expertly acted film. It would be hard to deny Levinson's Rain Man as anything less than fully entertaining in the new format. This was true of the splendorific Summer Wars - a dazzling animated adventure. Nolan's labyrinth-like Memento has not tarnished over time and remains an inventive, riveting, thriller in a new, superior Blu-ray transfer from Lionsgate. Unfortunately, like The Stranger transfer from HD Cinema Classics - Kansas City Confidential also appears over-digitized on Blu-ray. On DVD, Tesis still gives me a bad case of the chills - the new package is the definitive NTSC DVD edition. Eric has me interested again in Kim Ki-duk's Time. Also covered are two Scorpion releases and an educational documentary on William S. Burroughs.

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within - Burroughs was one of the first writers to break the boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950's. His novel Naked Lunch is one of the most recognized and respected literary works of the 20th century and has influenced generations of artists. The intimate documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. DVD Release Date: February 15th, 2011

Summer Wars BD - When timid eleventh-grader and math genius Kenji Koiso is asked by older student and secret crush Natsuki to come with her to her family's Nagano home for a summer job, he agrees without hesitation. Natsuki's family, the Jinnouchi clan, dates back to the Muromachi era, and they've all come together to celebrate the 90th birthday of the spunky matriarch of the family, Sakae. That's when Kenji discovers his summer job is to pretend to be Natsuki's fiancé and dance with her at the birthday celebration. As Kenji attempts to keep up with Natsuki's act around her family, he receives a strange math problem on his cell phone which, being a math genius, he can't resist solving. As it turns out, the solution to the mysterious equation causes a hijacking of the social networking site through which most of the world's social and business traffic flows. It s up to Kenji and his new fake family to put reality back in order. Blu-ray Release date: February 15th, 2011

Rain Man BD - Callous hustler Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is busy working on his next deal when he receives word that his estranged father has died. After traveling back to Ohio from Los Angeles for the funeral, Charlie is miffed to find that although he will receive a vintage Buick from his father's estate, he isn't getting a cent of the three-million-dollar fortune. Instead, Charlie finds that the money has been left to the caretakers of his institutionalized autistic brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Once he gets over the shock of the existence of a brother of whom he seems to have no recollection, Charlie kidnaps Raymond and heads cross-country in the Buick in an attempt to get a cut of the inheritance to pay off some of his failing deals. Blu-ray Release date: February 15th, 2011

Ghosts of War - Transmissions from Batallion 53 start making their way through the radio waves six months after they disappeared. Choi (Kam Woo-seong, SPIDER FOREST), who is still recovering from the physical and psychological effects of a battle of which he was the only survivor, is put in command of a unit appointed to find the missing Batallion who seem to be somewhere in R-Point, a long-abandoned military outpost that both sides refuse to enter. They trek through the endless fields until they come across a derelict temple built by the Chinese upon the graves of slaughtered Vietnamese locals. Soon the soldiers are seeing things, but are they all apparitions or are there other things to worry about at R-Point besides their states of mind (which is dangerous enough since the soldiers are all armed). DVD Release Date: January 17th, 2011

Legacy - There are cracks forming in upper class housewife Bissie Hapgood's (Joan Hotchkis, BREEZY) rigidly well-ordered existence. She can't find the "shocking pink" Christmas ornaments for her punch bowl birds next centerpiece (she bores her Mexican maid over the phone with the details). The good butter knives keep disappearing from the silver (and the designer is no longer in business). She and her husband can't have dinner with a friend because it is on the night when she sends her smelly German au pair to the Y for English lessons and she can't make the Japanese gardener understand that he can't sod the ground because they are planning to dig it all up and put in a sauna. DVD Release Date: February 22nd, 2011

Quest for Love - The revelations in the alternate timeline that World War II never happened and JFK was never assassinated serve only to make clear to Colin that he is in a different reality. Colin's search for the other Otillie comprises the last twenty minutes of the film, so there is little time to develop their relationship. Bell is good but constantly upstaged by Eric Rogers' lush orchestral score (which sounds like it would be more appropriate in a period romance) and Collins balances bitchiness and sympathy (as she did in Sidney Hayers' REVENGE, her other film for producer Eric Rogers). Elliot is underused while Naismith gives the liveliest performance. DVD Release Date: February 22nd, 2011

Time - A woman obsessed with her appearance takes drastic measures to hold onto the man she loves, with startling results in this offbeat drama from South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk. Se-heui (Park Ji-yeon) is a beautiful woman who has become convinced she isn't beautiful enough. Se-heui is certain her boyfriend Ji-woo (Ha Jeong-woo) is attracted to other women, and has so resigned herself to second-class status with him that she urges him to imagine other women when they make love. Se-heui decides that plastic surgery is the only solution for her problems, and without telling Ji-woo she checks herself into a clinic, where a doctor promises her a new and different face in six months. DVD Release Date: August 16th, 2010

Memento BD - Point blank in the head a man shoots another. In flashbacks, each one earlier in time than what we've just seen, the two men's past unfolds. Leonard, as a result of a blow to the head during an assault on his wife, has no short-term memory. He's looking for his wife's killer, compensating for his disability by taking Polaroids, annotating them, and tattooing important facts on his body. We meet the loquacious Teddy and the seductive Natalie (a barmaid who promises to help), and we glimpse Leonard's wife through memories from before the assault. Leonard also talks about Sammy Jankis, a man he knew with a similar condition. Has Leonard found the killer? What's going on?... Blu-ray Release date: February 22nd, 2011

Get Low BD - Felix is a miserable old hermit who has lived in an isolated cabin for the past 38 years. He catches word that an old... friend has passed away and hatches a plan to throw himself a "funeral party." He even wants the townsfolk, who either despise him or fear him, to attend the party and share all the crazy stories they may have heard about creepy old Felix. Is he a fugitive? A murderer? Or something worse? Blu-ray Release date: February 22nd, 2011

Last Tango in Paris BD - A powerful, controversial story of a man and woman whose special relationship defies social convention. Penetrate the moody, sensual world of Last Tango In Paris , and prepare yourself for the most controversial film of its era. Nominated for two Academy Awards - and exuding a powerful sexual energy unlike any film before or after, this scintillating modern classic shocked a nation...and altered the face of an art form. He (Brando) is a 45 year old American living in Paris haunted by his wife's suicide. She (Maria Schneider) is a 20 year old Parisian beauty engaged to a young filmmaker. Though nameless to each other, these tortured souls come together to satisfy their sexual cravings in an apartment as bare as their dark, tragic lives... Blu-ray Release date: February 15th, 2011

Network BD - An Oscar-winning Peter Finch gives the performance of a lifetime in this merciless TV satire. Driven mad by corruption, trivia and his network's obsession with ratings, a veteran anchorman threatens to blow his brains out live on air. Blu-ray Release date: February 15th, 2011

Tesis - The winner of 6 Goya Awards - including Best Picture - TESIS is an American-style thriller from Spain's director sensation Alejandro Amenabar (The Others, Open Your Eyes). Angela (Ana Torrent: Spirit of the Beehive, Cria), is a university student writing her thesis about violence in the media. During her research, she comes across a shocking ''snuff'' film (a film where a murder is actually committed for the camera) that has apparently been shot on the campus. Investigating further, she uncovers clues that the university s administrators may be involved in an unexplained series of student disappearances, leading her to the ultimate terrifying revelation: she might be the next victim. TESIS has been acclaimed by critics around the world as a superbly constructed thriller that generates considerable suspense and thrills from beginning to end. DVD Release Date: February 8th, 2011

All the President's Men BD - In the Watergate Building, lights go on and four burglars are caught in the act. That night triggered revelations that drive a U.S. President from office. Washington reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) grabbed the story and stayed with it through doubts, denials and discouragement. All the President's Men is their story. Directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on the Woodward/Bernstein book, the film won four 1976 Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor/Jason Robards, Adaptation Screenplay/William Goldman, Art Direction and Sound). It also explores a working newspaper, where the mission is to get the story and get it right. Blu-ray Release Date: February 15th, 2011

Kansas City Confidential BD - An action-packed film noir directed by Phil Karlson with a flare for showing off how violent it can be, but it's hardly a credible story. It's filmed in a semi-documentary style, as it opens when three masked men successfully rob a Kansas City bank of over a million dollars. They use a florist' van to make their escape, where they meet the fourth member of the gang in another vehicle--the Mr. Big who set up the heist. He gives the three spending money and half of the king card to identify themselves when they will meet a month later to split up the loot. The only one who knows all their identities is Mr. Big, therefore no one can squeal. Mr. Big sends each of the three to a foreign country to await a wire which will inform them where to meet for the split. Blu-ray Release Date: February 15th, 2011
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

February 14th, 2011

 

All the President's Men [Blu-ray] (Alan J. Pakula, 1976) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Arsenal (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1929) R2 UK Mr Bongo

Black (Pierre Laffargue, 2009) R2 UK Anchor Bay (BEAVER REVIEW)

Black [Blu-ray] (Pierre Laffargue, 2009) R2 UK Anchor Bay

Blue Velvet [Blu-ray] (David Lynch, 1986) RB FR Fox Pathe Europa

Buried [Blu-ray] (Rodrigo Cortés, 2010) RB UK - Icon Home Entertainment

Chaplin [Blu-ray] (Richard Attenborough, 1992) Lions Gate

Easier with Practice (Kyle Patrick Alvarez, 2009) R2 UK Axiom

Fugitive: Fourth & Final Season Vol. 2 - Paramount

Glorious 39 [Blu-ray] (Stephen Poliakoff, 2009) Ent. 1

Kansas City Confidential [Blu-ray] (Phil Karlson, 1952) - Arts Alliance America (BEAVER REVIEW)

Kites [Blu-ray] (Anurag Basu, 2010) Image Entertainment

The Lady Hermit (Meng Hua Ho, 1971) Funimation

Last Tango in Paris [Blu-ray] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972) MGM (BEAVER REVIEW)

Memories of Matsuko [Blu-ray] (Tetsuya Nakashima, 2006) RB UK Third Window Films

Moonstruck [Blu-ray] (Norman Jewison, 1987) MGM

Network [Blu-ray] (Sidney Lumet, 1977) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Police, Adjective (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Rain Man [Blu-ray] (Barry Levinson, 1988) MGM

Red [Blu-ray] (Robert Schwentke, 2010) - RB UK Entertainment One (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Social Network [Blu-ray] (David Fincher, 2010) RB UK Sony Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Stranger [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1946) - Arts Alliance America (BEAVER REVIEW)

Susan Sontag's Promised Lands (Susan Sontag, 1974) Zeitgeist

Susana (Luis Buñuel, 1951) R2 UK Mr Bongo Films

Summer Wars [Blu-ray] (Mamoru Hosoda, 2009) Funimation (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sword Masters: The Web of Death [Blu-ray] (Yuen Chor, 1976) Well Go USA

Time For Drunken Horses (Bahman Ghobadi, 2000) Lorber Films

The Twilight Zone: Season 3 [Blu-ray] - Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Valley [Blu-ray] (Barbet Schroeder, 1972) RB UK BFI

William S Burroughs: A Man Within (Yony Leyser, 2010) Oscilloscope (BEAVER REVIEW)

Women Without Men (Shirin Neshat + Shoja Azari, 2009) IndiePix Films

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger [Blu-ray] (Woody Allen, 2010) Sony Pictures Classics

Zvenigora (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1928) R2 UK Mr Bongo

 

 

February 21st, 2011

 

Birdemic: Shock and Terror [Blu-ray] (James Nguyen, 2008) Severin

The Buddy Holly Story [Blu-ray] (Steve Rash, 1978) RB UK Fabulous Films

Daughters of Darkness [Blu-ray] (Harry Kümel, 1971) Blue Underground

Faccia a faccia (Sergio Sollima, 1967) R2 UK Eureka Entertainment
Faccia a faccia [
Blu-ray] (Sergio Sollima, 1967) RB UK Eureka Entertainment

Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection - Raro Video

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) Criterion Collection
Fish Tank [
Blu-ray] (Andrea Arnold, 2009) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Get Low [Blu-ray] (Aaron Schneider, 2010) Sony

I Clowns (Federico Fellini, 1970) Raro Video

Last Train Home (Lixin Fan, 2009) Zeitgeist Films

Leap Year (Michael Rowe, 2010) R2 UK Axiom

Megamind [Blu-ray] (Tom McGrath, 2010) Paramount Pictures

Memento [Blu-ray] (10th Anniversary Edition) (Christopher Nolan, 2000) - Lions Gate (BEAVER REVIEW)

Meserine: Killer Instinct: Part 1 [Blu-ray] (Jean-François Richet, 2008) Music Box Films

Rain Man [Blu-ray] (Barry Levinson, 1988) RB UK 20th Century Fox

Rififi [Blu-ray] (Jules Dassin, 1955) RB FR Paramount

Room in Rome (Julio Medem, 2010) MPI

Senso (Luchino Visconti, 1954) Criterion Collection
Senso [
Blu-ray] (Luchino Visconti, 1954) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Stieg Larsson Trilogy Box Set [Blu-ray] - Music Box Films

Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) Criterion Collection
Sweet Smell of Success [
Blu-ray] (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sympathy For The Devil [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard,1968) RB UK Fabulous Films

The Temptation of St. Tony (Veiko Ounpuu, 2009) Olive Films

Two In The Wave (Emmanuel Laurent , 2010) Lorber Films

 

 

February 28th, 2011

 

127 Hours [Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 2010) Fox Searchlight Pictures

Another Year (Mike Leigh, ,2010) R2 UK Momentum

Bambi [Blu-ray] (James Algar, 1942) Walt Disney

Bedevilled [Blu-ray] (Jang Cheol-so, 2010) RB UK Optimum

Brighton Rock Special Edition (John Boulting, 1947) R2 UK Momentum
Brighton Rock [
Blu-ray] (John Boulting, 1947) RB UK Momentum

The Cable Guy [Blu-ray] (Ben Stiller, 1996) Sony

Cronos - Special Edition [Blu-ray] (Guillermo del Toro, 1993) RB UK Optimum

Cuckoo [Blu-ray] (Richard Bracewell, 2009) Verve Pictures

Dark Star [Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1974) RB UK Fabulous Films

The Devil's Backbone [Blu-ray] (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) RB UK Optimum

Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl (Manoel de Oliveira, 2009) R2 UK New Wave

Falstaff-Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965) R2 UK Cornerstone Media

High Hopes [Blu-ray] (Mike Leigh, 1988) RB UK Fabulous Films

The Hunter (Rafi Pitts, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Journey Into Fear (Norman Foster, 1943) R2 UK Cornerstone Media

Larks on a String (Jirí Menzel, 1990) R2 UK Second Run

Love and Other Drugs [Blu-ray] (Edward Zwick, 2010) 20th Century Fox

Martin Scorsese Shorts - R2 UK Optimum

The New York Ripper - Fan High Res Edition [Blu-ray] (Lucio Fulci, 1982) RB UK Shameless

Out of Sight [Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 1998) Universal Studios

Pan's Labrynth - Special Edition [Blu-ray] (Guillermo del Toro, 2006) RB UK Optimum

The Strange Door (Joseph Pevney, 1951) R2 UK Odeon

 

 

March 7th, 2011

 

And Soon the Darkness [Blu-ray] (Marcos Efron, 2010) RB UK Optimum

Around A Small Mountain (Jacques Rivette, 2009) Cinema Guild

The Complete Avengers 50th Anniversary Edition - R2 UK - Optimum

Don't Look Now [Blu-ray] (Nicolas Roeg, 1973) RB UK Optimum

The Dorm That Dripped Blood [Blu-ray] (Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow, 1982) Synapse Films

Excalibur [Blu-ray] (John Boorman, 1981) Warner

Exit Through the Gift Shop [Blu-ray] (Banksy, 2010) - Oscilloscope Laboratories

A Film Unfinished (Yael Hersonski, 2010) Oscilloscope

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould [Blu-ray] (Peter Raymont, 2009) Lorber Films

How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster? (Carlos Carcas + Norberto López Amado, 2010) R2 UK Dogwoof

Ip Man 2 [Blu-ray] (Wilson Yip, 2010) RB UK Cine-Asia

Letters to Father Jaakob (Klaus Härö, 2009) Olive Films

The Man Who Fell to Earth [Blu-ray] (Nicolas Roeg, 1976) RB UK Optimum

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind [Blu-ray] (Hayao Miyazaki, 1984) Walt Disney Video

The Next Three Days [Blu-ray] (Paul Haggis, 2010) Lionsgate

Off Limits (George Marshall, 1953) Olive Films

On the Double (Melville Shavelson, 1961) Olive Films

Phenomena (Dario Argento, 1985) RB UK Arrow Films

To Each His Own (Mitchell Leisen, 1946) R2 UK Odeon

The Walking Dead: Season One [Blu-ray] - AMC and Anchor Bay

 

     
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