Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF February 20th, 2012
  This Week's Highlights
Iorana korua! - Bertolucci, Scorsese, Eastwood on Blu-ray - in a week besieged by a nasty Flu bug that caused me to park my butt on the couch (situation normal) but unable to pen many reviews. Apologies. Blu-rays added to our upcoming calendar include more Bernardo Bertolucci, Ingmar Bergman, John Cassavetes, Abbas Kiarostami, Spike Jonze and others... and we have our CONTEST clip with another brand new Criterion Blu-ray prize!

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February 20th CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a sealed Criterion Blu-ray of Smiles of a Summer Night 

 

Wilder's The Apartment is now available on Blu-ray from Amazon.com HERE

 

DVD and Blu-ray of the Year 2011

 
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Today's DVD & Blu-rays (Amazon)

Blu-rays Under $10 (Amazon)

Blu-rays Under £6 (Amazon UK)

Blu-rays Under £10 (Amazon UK)

Movies & TVs (Amazon Canada)

LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

1900 [Blu-ray] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976) Olive Films

Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) Criterion Collection
Summer Interlude [Blu-ray] (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) Criterion Collection

Summer with Monika (Ingmar Bergman, 1953) Criterion Collection
Summer with Monika [Blu-ray] (Ingmar Bergman, 1953) Criterion Collection

Shadows [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1959) RB UK BFI

Faces [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1968) RB UK BFI

Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) Criterion Collection
Certified Copy [Blu-ray] (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) Criterion Collection

Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) Criterion Collection
Being John Malkovich [Blu-ray] (Spike Jonze, 1999) Criterion Collection

Eclipse Series 33: Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. (Babo 73, 1964 - Chafed Elbows, 1966 - No More Excuses, 1968 - Putney Swope, 1969 - Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight, 1975) Criterion Collection

La haine [Blu-ray] (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995) Criterion Collection

The Jayhawkers! [Blu-ray] (Melvin Frank, 1959) Olive Films

Hit! [Blu-ray] (Sidney J. Furie, 1973) Olive Films

Pony Express (Jerry Hopper, 1953) Olive Films

Badge 373 [Blu-ray] (Howard W. Koch, 1973) Olive Films

The Black Panther [Blu-ray] (Ian Merrick, 1977) RB UK BFI

Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti, 1974) Raro

The Artist [Blu-ray] (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011) Columbia/Tri-Star

The Descendants [Blu-ray] (Alexander Payne, 2011) Fox Searchlight

Babette's Feast [Blu-ray] (Gabriel Axel, 1987) RB UK Artificial Eye

Plan 9 From Outer Space [Blu-ray] (Ed Wood, 1959) Legend

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Blu-ray] (David Fincher, 2011) Sony Pictures

Pillow Talk [Blu-ray] (Michael Gordon, 1959) Universal Studios

The Return of the Living Dead [Blu-ray] (Dan O'Bannon, 1985) RB UK Second Sight Films

The House by the Cemetery [Blu-ray] (Lucio Fulci, 1981) RB UK Arrow Video

King of New York (LE) [Blu-ray] (Abel Ferrara, 1990) RB UK Arrow Video

King of New York (Steelbook) [Blu-ray] (Abel Ferrara, 1990) RB UK Arrow Video

Shame [Blu-ray] (Steve McQueen, 2011) RB UK Momentum Pictures

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows [Blu-ray] (Guy Ritchie, 2011) Region FREE UK Warner

Forbidden Zone [Blu-ray] (Richard Elfman, 1982) RB UK Arrow Video

The Walking Tall Trilogy [Blu-ray] (Phil Karlson, 1973 etc.) Shout! Factory

Rôjin Z [Blu-ray] (Hiroyuki Kitakubo, 1991) RB UK Manga Entertainment

The Visitor (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1963) Raro

Tower Heist [Blu-ray] (Brett Ratner, 2011) Universal Pictures

The Iron Lady [Blu-ray] (Phyllida Lloyd, 2011) The Weinstein Company

The Little Shop of Horrors [Blu-ray] (Roger Corman, 1960) Legend

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): Briefly - Scorsese's Hugo on Blu-raygets top grades - wonderful film made for cinema buffs. The Conformist remains a masterpiece that presents extremely film-like on the new Arrow Blu-ray. On the Bowery - The Films of Lionel Rogosin, Vol. 1 posts a voyeuristic eye exposing homelessness, labor strife, poverty and more via the restored print put to 1080P. Eastwood's J. Edgar with DiCaprio has enough character to provide some impressive performances, education and entertainment in the Home Theater. Nine 1/2 Weeks on Blu-ray doesn't offer much beyond a reasonable price and a young, sex-charged Kim Basinger - of course, maybe that is enough. I've always been a big fan of the 1934 version of The Count of Monte Cristo with Robert Donat - now on Henstooth DVD. Eric presents a comparison for Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dellamore as well as reviewing Adrift and My Tehran for Sale. Have a healthy week!

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Nine 1/2 Weeks BD - Any story like "9 1/2 Weeks" risks becoming very ridiculous. The actors are taking a chance in appearing in it. Plots like this make audiences nervous, and if the movie doesn't walk a fine line between the plausible and the bizarre, it will only find the absurd. A lot of the success of "9 1/2 Weeks" is because Rourke and Basinger make the characters and their relationship convincing. Rourke's strategy is to never tell us too much. He cloaks himself in mystery, partly for her fascination, partly because his whole approach depends on his remaining a stranger. Basinger's strategy is equally effective, and more complicated. Physically, she looks sensuous and luscious; if you saw her in "Fool for Love," you won't be surprised by the force of her first appearance here. But if she'd just presented herself as the delectable object of all of these experiments, it would have been a modeling job, not acting. Blu-ray Release date: March 6th, 2011

The Conformist BD - Told in a non linear structure that would go on to influence The Godfather Part II (not the only influence on Coppola's film), the story begins in Rome, 1938. Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a young fascist who takes on the job of assassinating his former professor who has fled to Paris. With his girlfriend (Stefania Sandrelli) in tow he meets the professor and his young wife (Dominique Sanda). A thriller as well as study of Italian politics and psychological character, Bertolucci's Oscar nominated adaptation of Alberto Moravia's novel (an adaptation Moravia greatly admired) has gone on to influence filmmakers such as Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann and remains one of the great triumphs of world cinema. Blu-ray Release Date: February 27th, 2012

Hugo BD - Twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity.... But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. Blu-ray Release date: February 28th, 2012

On the Bowery BD - The old days don't look terribly good in Lionel Rogosin's narrative documentary ''ON THE BOWERY'' (1956), but they do look astonishing. A slice of down-and-out life, this black-and-white (and newly restored) portrait of lost New York tracks the arrival and rapid downward spiral of a young man (Ray Sayler), who lands on the Bowery with a suitcase and a deceitful thirst. Blu-ray Release date: February 21st, 2012

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas's 1845 novel about the betrayal, imprisonment, and eventual triumph of Edmond Dantes is one of world literature's most famous stories of dogged revenge. There have been many productions over the years, in the U.S. and other countries, but most critics cite the 1934 version of The Count of Monte Cristo as the best. It was also the only film the distinguished British actor Robert Donat ever shot in Hollywood. DVD Release Date: February 7th, 2012

J. Edgar BD - As the face of law enforcement in America for almost fifty years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and... revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life. Under the direction of Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the title role of "J. Edgar," a drama that explores the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. Blu-ray Release date: February 21st, 2012

Adrift - As a portrait of sexual stasis morphing into ecstasy, though at a price, Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen's Adrift works...this languid, quietly sensual sophomore feature lays on the estrogen as it explores sexual inexperience, frustration and desire in contemporary Hanoi from a female p.o.v. DVD Release Date: January 31st, 2012

My Tehran for Sale - Marzieh (Marzieh Vafamehr, BAREFOOT IN HEAVEN) is an actress living in Tehran and experiencing difficulty expressing herself under Iran's repressive regime. She meets Saman (Amir Chegini), an Iranian raised in Australia, at an illegal rave that is soon raided by the authorities. Marzieh and Saman are not rounded up because they hid in the stables, but Marzieh's friend Sadaf (Asha Mehrabi) is arrested. The couple fall in love, and the possibility of emigrating to Australia offers a freer existence; however, when she learns that she is HIV+, the embassy refuses to issue her a visa and her relationship with Saman falls apart. DVD Release Date: January 31st, 2012

Dellamorte Dellamore - The residents of Buffalora cemetery don't stay dead for long. They have a tendency - unexplained by voodoo, radiation, or chemical spills - to rise from their graves in search of human flesh, and it's up to cemetery caretaker Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett, THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS) - and his sidekick Gnaghi (François Hadji-Lazaro, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN) - to put them back in the ground with a bullet in the skull or a shovel in the brain. DVD Release Date: February 27th, 2012

 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

February 20th, 2012

 

Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959) Criterion
 Anatomy of a Murder [Blu-ray] (Otto Preminger, 1959) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Blank City (Celine Danhier, 2010) Lorber Films

Contagion [Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 2011) Region Free DE Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fort Apache [Blu-ray] (John Ford, 1948) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

La grande illusion [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1937) RB FR StudioCanal

Her Private Hell [Blu-ray] (Norman J. Warren, 1968) RB UK BFI

The Insect Woman/ Nishi-Ginza Station [Blu-ray] (Shohei Imamura) - Dual Format RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

J. Edgar [Blu-ray] (Clint Eastwood, 2011) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Kansas City Confidential / The Stranger (Karlson / Welles) [Blu-ray] - Film Chest Inc. (BEAVER REVIEW) (BEAVER REVIEW)

Martha Marcy May Marlene [Blu-ray] (Sean Durkin, 2011) 20th Century Fox (BEAVER REVIEW)

October (Diego Vega Vidal, 2010) New Yorker Films

On The Bowery - The Films of Lionel Rogosin, Vol. 1 [Blu-ray] (Lionel Rogosin, 1956) Milestone (BEAVER REVIEW)

Puss in Boots [Blu-ray] (Chris Miller, 2011) DreamWorks

Puzzle of a Downfall Child [Blu-ray] (Jerry Schatzberg, 1970) RB FR Carlotta

Repo Man [Blu-ray] (Alex Cox, 1984) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Repo Man [Blu-ray] (LTD Edition Steelbook) (Alex Cox, 1984) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Student Comedies (The Ozu Collection) - Days of Youth, 1929, I Flunked, But... 1930, The Lady and the Beard, 1931, Where Now are the Dreams of Youth, 1932 - R2 UK BFI

To Be or Not to Be [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942) RB FR StudioCanal

Tower Heist [Blu-ray] (Brett Ratner, 2011) Universal Pictures

Underdog: The Complete Series - Shout! Factory

The Way [Blu-ray] (Emilio Estevez, 2011) ARC Entertainment

Who Pays the Ferryman? (Michael J. Bird, 1977) R2 UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973) Criterion
 World on a Wire [Blu-ray] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

February 27th, 2012

 

Automobile / L'Automobile - Raro Video USA Ltd

Baba Yaga [Blu-ray] (Corrado Farina, 1973) Blue Underground

Beneath the Darkness [Blu-ray] (Martin Guigui, 2011) Image Entertainment

The Buccaneer [Blu-ray] (Anthony Quinn, 1958) Olive Films

The Conformist [Blu-ray] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970) RB UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

Hugo [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 2011) Paramount Studios (BEAVER REVIEW)

I Melt with You [Blu-ray] (Mark Pellington, 2011) Magnolia

InSight (Richard Gabai, 2011) Phase 4 Films

Johnny English Reborn [Blu-ray] (Oliver Parker, 2011) Universal Pictures

The Killing Fields [Blu-ray] (Roland Joffém, 1984) RB UK Optimum

The Little Death (Bret Wood, 2010) Kino

Mandrill [Blu-ray] (Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, 2009) Magnolia

Margin Call [Blu-ray] (J.C. Chandor, 2011) RB DE Koch

The Mizoguchi Collection [Blu-ray] - Osaka Elegy (1936), The Story Of The Last Crysanthemum (1939), Sisters Of The Gion (1936), Utamaro And His Five Wives (1946) - RB UK Artificial Eye

The Mountain [Blu-ray] (Edward Dmytryk, 1956) Olive Films

Nijinsky [Blu-ray] (Herbert Ross, 1980) Olive Films

Against All Flags [Blu-ray] (George Sherman, 1952) RB DE Koch Media

Runaway Jury [Blu-ray] (Gary Fleder, 2003) Fox

Scarlet Street [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1945) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sleeping Beauty [Blu-ray] (Julia Leigh, 2011) RB UK Revolver Entertainment

Spiders (Fritz Lang, 1919) Kino

The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Vol 3 - The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991) Ulysses' Gaze (1995) Eternity and a Day (1998) The Weeping Meadow (2004) and The Dust of Time (2008) - R2 UK Artificial Eye

Tomboy [Blu-ray] (Céline Sciamma, 2011) RB UK Peccadillo Pictures

Vanya on 42nd Street (Louis Malle, 1994) Criterion
 Vanya on 42nd Street [Blu-ray] (Louis Malle, 1994) Criterion

Where Love Has Gone [Blu-ray] (Edward Dmytryk, 1964) Olive Films

 

March 5th, 2012

 

9 1/2 Weeks [Blu-ray] (Adrian Lyne, 1986) Warner Home Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

Chung Kuo China (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1972) - US Mr Bongo

Columbus Circle [Blu-ray] (George Gallo, 2010) Universal Studios

Dead in the Water [Blu-ray] (Bill Condon, 1991) Timeless Media Group

The Deer Hunter [Blu-ray] (Michael Cimino, 1978) Universal

Dracula: Prince of Darkness [Blu-ray] (Terence Fisher, 1966) RB UK Optimum

Evil Roy Slade & Brother's O'Toole - Double Feature [Blu-ray] - Timeless Media Group

Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988) Section 23

Harvey [Blu-ray] (Henry Koster, 1950) Universal

Jesus of Nazareth [Blu-ray] (Franco Zeffirelli, 1977) RB DE Koch Media

King of Devil's Island (Marius Holst, 2010) Film Movement

The Little Shop of Horrors [Blu-ray] (Roger Corman, 1960) Legend

The Man from Snowy River [Blu-ray] (George Miller, 1982) Fox

Meet the Parents [Blu-ray] (Jay Roach, 2000) Universal

Monty Python and the Holy Grail [Blu-ray] (Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, 1975) Sony

Plan 9 From Outer Space [Blu-ray] (Ed Wood, 1959) Legend

Reindeer Games [Blu-ray] (John Frankenheimer, 2000) Miramax Lionsgate

Requiem for the Damned [Blu-ray] (Johnny Bones, 2011) Hannover House

The Search for One-eye Jimmy [Blu-ray] (Sam Henry Kass, 1994) Lorber Films

The Skin I Live in [Blu-ray] (Pedro Almodovar, 2011) Sony Pictures

To Catch a Thief [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955) Paramount

Weekend [Blu-ray] (Andrew Haigh, 2011) RB UK Peccadillo Pictures

Who Dares Wins [Blu-ray] (Ian Sharp, 1982) RB Arrow Video

 

March 12th, 2012

 

4 Movie Marathon: James Stewart Western Collection (Bend of the River / The Far Country / Night Passage / The Rare Breed) Universal Studios

Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) E1 Entertainment

Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti, 1974) Raro

A Dangerous Method [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 2011) Sony Pictures

The Descendants [Blu-ray] (Alexander Payne, 2011) Fox Searchlight

Jane Eyre [Blu-ray] (Cary Fukunaga, 2011) RB UK Universal Pictures

The Last Temptation of Christ [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1988) Criterion

Melancholia [Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 2011) Magnolia

My Joy (Sergei Loznits, 2010) Kino

A Night to Remember [Blu-ray] (Roy Ward Baker, 1958) RB UK ITV

No Man of Her Own (Mitchell Leisen, 1950) Olive Films

La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti, 1948) E1 Entertainment

Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except [Blu-ray] (Josh Becker, 1985) Synapse Films

Virgin Witch (Remastered Edition) [Blu-ray] (Ray Austin, 1972) Redemption

The Visitor (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1963) Raro

What's Eating Gilbert Grape [Blu-ray] (Lasse Hallström, 1993) RB DE Concorde

The Wild Geese [Blu-ray] (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1978) RB Arrow Video

Young Violent Dangerous (Romolo Guerrieri, 1976) Raro
     
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