Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF March 21st, 2011

  This Week's Highlights
Kukang  - Discs with films by Elia Kazan, Rob Reiner, Fernando Di Leo, Delmer Daves, Buster Keaton, Olivier Assayas, John Huston and more. New Criterion listings (for June) with Malle, Roeg, Ichikawa, Robert Siodmak + Edgar G. Ulmer - coming to Blu-ray. Plus a new Criterion Blu-ray prize for this week's contest clip. Enjoy!

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) Criterion
Kiss Me Deadly [Blu-ray] (Robert Aldrich, 1955) Criterion

People on Sunday (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer etc., 1930) Criterion
People on Sunday [Blu-ray] (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer etc., 1930) Criterion

Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle 1960) Criterion
Zazie dans le métro [Blu-ray] (Louis Malle 1960) Criterion

Insignificance (Nicolas Roeg, 1985) Criterion
Insignificance [Blu-ray] (Nicolas Roeg, 1985) Criterion

The Makioka Sisters (Kon Ichikawa, 1983) Criterion
The Makioka Sisters [Blu-ray] (Kon Ichikawa, 1983) Criterion

Black Moon [Blu-ray] (Louis Malle, 1975) Criterion

Eclipse Series 27: Raffaello Matarazzo's Runaway Melodramas (Chains, Tormento, Nobody's Children, The White Angel) - Criterion Collection

Twelve O'Clock High [Blu-ray] (Henry King, 1949) 20th Century Fox

The Hustler [Blu-ray] (Robert Rossen, 1961) 20th Century Fox

I Only Want You to Love Me (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1976) Olive Films

Albert Capellani - coffret 4 DVD + livret édition limitee - R2 FR Pathe

Despair (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978) Olive Films

Beverly Hills Cop [Blu-ray] (Martin Brest, 1984) Paramount

Barney's Version [Blu-ray] (Richard J. Lewis, 2010) Sony Pictures Classics

Taps [Blu-ray] (Harold Becker 1981) 20th Century Fox

All the Right Moves [Blu-ray] (Michael Chapman, 1983) 20th Century Fox

The Comancheros [Blu-ray] (Michael Curtiz, 1961) 20th Century Fox

The Greatest Story Ever Told [Blu-ray] (George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco - 1965) MGM

Gettysburg [Blu-ray] (Ronald F. Maxwell, 1993) Warner

Burial Ground [Blu-ray] (Andrea Bianchi, 1981) Shriek Show

When We Leave (Feo Aladag 2010) Olive Films

The Illusionist [Blu-ray] (Sylvain Chomet, 2010) Sony Pictures Classics

Brighton Rock [Blu-ray] (Rowan Joffe, 2011) RB UK Optimum

Nenette / Un Animal Des Animals (Nicolas Philibert) R2 UK Artificial Eye

La ville Louvre (Nicolas Philibert, 1990) R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Music Lovers (Ken Russell, 1970) R2 UK Final Cut

Civilisation [Blu-ray] (Kenneth Clark, 1969) 2entertain

Animal Kingdom [Blu-ray] (David Michôd, 2010) RB UK Optimum

 

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Stand By Me BD - In a small woodsy Oregon town, a group of friends--sensitive Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough guy Chris (River Phoenix), flamboyant Teddy (Corey Feldman), and scaredy-cat Vern (Jerry O'Connell)--are in search of a missing teenager's body. Wanting to be heroes in each other's and their hometown's eyes, they set out on an unforgettable two-day trek that turns into an odyssey of self-discovery. They sneak smokes, tell tall tales, cuss 'cause it's cool and band together when the going gets tough. When they encounter the town's knife-wielding hoods who are also after the body, the boys discover a strength they never knew they had. Stand By Me is a rare and special film about friendship and the indelible experiences of growing up. Filled with humor and suspense, Stand By Me is based on the novella 'The Body' by Stephen King. Blu-ray Release date: March 22nd, 2011

The Tourist BD - Given the screenplay for The Tourist, Alfred Hitchcock would have hired Cary Grant (or Jimmy Stewart) and Grace Kelly. Then he would have applied his particular brand of magic - the one that allowed him to sell the improbable - and an engaging romance/comedy/thriller likely would have been born. Unfortunately, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (the German-born filmmaker behind the brilliant The Lives of Others) lacks Hitchcock's deftness with this genre, and Grant, Stewart, and Kelly are all dead. The best that can be said of The Tourist is that it consistently looks glorious (credit at least in part goes to veteran cinematographer John Seale). Venice is postcard perfect (you can't see garbage floating around in the canals). But the shifting tones sound a sour note and the preposterous storyline calls attention to itself too often. Hitchcock could sell some of the silliest plots; based on the evidence at hand, von Donnersmarck's grasp is less certain. Blu-ray Release date: March 22nd, 2011

Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection - The inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s early films, Fernando Di Leo is the master of garish, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters who perfects the genre with an uncanny accuracy. For the first time digitally restored and remastered in collaboration with the Venice Film Festival, 4 of Fernando Di Leo’s masterpieces in one box set. Includes CALIBER 9, THE ITALIAN CONNECTION, THE BOSS, and RULERS OF THE CITY. DVD Release Date: March 15th, 2011

America America - Filmmaker Elia Kazan based America, America on the early life of his Greek-immigrant uncle. Stavros Topouzoglow is the... young immigrant, whose starry-eyed impressions of America are soon compromised by reality. Despite the casual cruelties, betrayals, and career setbacks, Stavros forms strong and lasting friendships which help him weather the worst. An Oscar went to the painstakingly accurate art direction of Gene Callahan. Despite moments that are not suitable for children, America, America won a rare bell-ringer rating from the high-school oriented Scholastic magazines back in 1963; in the years since, it has become a stalwart of the American Movie Classics cable service. DVD Release Date: February 8th, 2011

BMX Bandits - When two young BMX bikers - confidant A.J. (Angelo D'Angelo, THE COCA-COLA KID) and sarcastic Goose (James Lugdon, who shared the camera with Kidman once more in 1987's NIGHTMASTER) - crash their bikes into a row of shopping carts being steered by spunky young supermarket checkout girl Judy (Nicole Kidman), she joins them in search of funds for new bikes (including one for herself). DVD Release Date: March 15th, 2011

Dark Passage - Bogey's on the lam and Bacall's at his side in Dark Passage, Delmer Daves' stylish film-noir thriller that's the third of four films Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together. Bogart is Vincent Parry, a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face. Bacall is Irene Jansen, Vincent's lone ally. In a supporting role, Agnes Moorehead portrays Madge, a venomous harpy who finds pleasure in the unhappiness of others. The chemistry of the leads is undeniable, and they augment it here with exceptional tenderness. Exceptional, too, are the atmospheric San Francisco locations and the imaginative camera work that shows Vincent's point of view - but not his face - until the bandages are removed. Lest Irene get ideas, the post-surgery Vincent tells her: "Don't change yours. I like it just as it is." So do we. DVD Release Date: November 4th, 2003

The Kremlin Letter - A network of older spies from the West recruits a young intelligence officer with a photographic memory to accompany them on a mission inside Russia. They must recover a letter written by the CIA that promises American assistance to Russia if China gets the atomic bomb. Directed by John Huston. DVD Release Date: March 15th, 2011

Our Hospitality BD - Willie McKay (Buster Keaton) lives with his mother in the bustling city of New York in the 1830s, where people already complain of high traffic (consisting of two horse carriages and a bicyclist) and urban sprawl (a one-story house occupies the rural dirt road of the 42nd Street delta). He has received news that he has inherited the family estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and decides to head out west on a high-speed steam train (so fast that that the family dog runs alongside it for the duration of the trip) to claim his fortune. But before he leaves, his mother warns him of his family's longstanding feud with the Canfields ...and to be vigilant of Indians beyond Trenton, New Jersey - the unknown frontier. Blu-ray Release date: March 22nd, 2011

Against All Odds BD - There is plenty of evidence to support the idea that ''film noir,'' the late 1940's genre marked by shadow and duplicity, cannot successfully be updated for the 80's. There is also reason to wonder why the task would even be attempted, since modern characters who deliver the genre's dated dialogue or espouse its notions of evil can't help but seem mannered and false. Despite all that, Taylor Hackford's ''noir''-ish ''Against All Odds'' has a lot of appeal. If Mr. Hackford has done nothing more than make a steamy, sinister, great-looking detective film cum travelogue, he's still managed to come up with something fast-paced and eminently entertaining. Blu-ray Release date: March 22nd, 2011

Awakenings BD - "Awakenings" is cause for rejoicing, a literate and compassionate film in this season of chintz and barbarism. A sweetly stirring drama in the spirit of "Rain Man," it explores the mutual gain in a union between an emotionally handicapped man and his neurologically disabled friend. Featured here are Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, attuned as bow and fiddle in their roles of a clinical psychiatrist and the catatonic patient he awakens from a sleep of 30 years. Blu-ray Release date: March 22nd, 2011

Carlos the Jackal BD - The term "epic" often gets bandied around to describe movies that don’t really fit the description. But Olivier Assayas’ Carlos is the real deal – a 5 1/2 hour narrative, with more than 100 speaking parts, in eight languages, covering two decades in the life of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez (Edgar Ramirez), better known as the terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Born in Venezuela, educated in Cuba and Moscow, and devoted to Marxism, Carlos – Ilich’s self-imposed nom de guerre – begins his career as a hard line idealist, aligning himself with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as a way to strike a blow against western Imperialism, the enemy he proclaimed to be his life-long foe. Blu-ray Release date: March 15th, 2011
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

March 21st, 2011

 

Against All Odds [Blu-ray] (Taylor Hackford, 1984) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Along Came Polly [Blu-ray] (John Hamburg, 2004) RB UK Cinram Logistics

Le Amiche [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1955) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Awakenings [Blu-ray] (Penny Marshall, 1990) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Bible: In the Beginning... [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1966) 20th Century Fox

Caged Heat / Jackson County Jail (Jonathan Demme - 1974, Michael Miller - 1976) - Roger Corman's Cult Classics - Shout! Factory

Un Chien Andalou / L'Age D'or - R2 UK BFI

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

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

Island of Death (Nico Mastorakis, 1977) R2 UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

Iron Man [Blu-ray] (Jon Favreau, 2008) Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Moscow, Belgium [Blu-ray] (Christophe Van Rompaey, 2008) Terra

Our Hospitality [Blu-ray] (Buster Keaton, 1923) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Perfume of the Lady in Black (Francesco Barilli, 1974) Raro Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

La Signora Senza Camelie [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni 1953) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sleepers [Blu-ray] (Barry Levinson, 1996) RB UK Cinram Logistics

Spy Game / State of Play [Blu-ray] (Tony Scott, 2001) Universal (BEAVER REVIEW)

Stand by Me [Blu-ray] (Rob Reiner, 1986) Sony Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW)

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

Taking Off [Blu-ray] (Milos Forman, 1971) RB FR Carlotta Films

The Times of Harvey Milk (Rob Epstein, 1984) Criterion

The Times of Harvey Milk [Blu-ray] (Rob Epstein, 1984) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Tourist [Blu-ray] (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2010) Sony (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Windmill Movie (Alexander Olch, 2008) Zeitgeist Films

 

 

March 28th, 2011

 

Alice in Wonderland [Blu-ray] (Tim Burton, 2010) Walt Disney Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Bicycle Thieves [Blu-ray] (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) RB UK Arrow Films

Bird With A Crystal Plumage [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1970) RB UK Arrow Video

Black Swan [Blu-ray] (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) Fox Searchlight Pictures

A Day In The Life - Four Portraits Of Post-war Britain [Blu-ray] - RB UK - BFI

Dead Awake [Blu-ray] (Omar Naim, 2010) First Look Pictures

Dementia 13 [Blu-ray] (Francis Ford Coppola, 1963) 2-disc HD Cinema Classics

Dogtooth [Blu-ray] (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2010) Kino

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

Early Kurosawa - Collection - Sanshuro Sugata (1943), Sanshuro Sugata No 2 (1945), The Most Beautiful (1944), The Men Who Tread On The Tiger's Tail (1952), No Regrets For Our Youth (1946) And One Wonderful Sunday (1947) - R2 UK BFI

The Greatest Game Ever Played [Blu-ray] (Bill Paxton, 2005) Walt Disney Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Greatest Story Ever Told [Blu-ray] (George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco - 1965) MGM

Hammett (Wim Wenders, 1982) RB UK Optimum

I vinti aka The Vanquished (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1953) Raro Video

Inferno [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1980) Blue Underground

King of Kings [Blu-ray] (Nicholas Ray, 1961) Warner

The Lighthouse (Mariya Saakyan, 2006) R2 UK Second Run

Limelight [Blu-ray] (Charles Chaplin, 1952) RB UK - Park Circus

The Lion in Winter [Blu-ray] (Anthony Harvey, 1968) RA JP IVC

The Machine Girl [Blu-ray] (Noboru Iguchi, 2008) Tokyo Shock

Mad Men: Season Four [Blu-ray] - LionsGate

Made in Dagenham [Blu-ray] (Nigel Cole, 2010) Sony

Manhunter [Blu-ray] (Michael Mann, 1986) RB UK Optimum

5 Centimeters Per Second [Blu-ray] (Makoto Shinkai, 2007) RB UK Manga Entertainment

Miracle [Blu-ray] (Gavin O'Conner, 2004) Walt Disney Studios (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Mikado (Victor Schertzinger, 1939) Criterion
The Mikado [
Blu-ray] (Victor Schertzinger, 1939) Criterion

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (Sophie Fiennes, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Poor Pretty Eddie [Blu-ray] (Chris Robinson, David Worth, 1975) Cultra

The Resident [Blu-ray] (Antti Jokinen, 2010) Image Entertainment

The Rookie [Blu-ray] (John Lee Hancock, 2002) Walt Disney Studios (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray] (14-films on 5 discs) MPI

Soylent Green [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1973) Warner

The Spiderwick Chronicles [Blu-ray] (Mark Waters, 2008) Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Summer Wars [Blu-ray] (Mamoru Hosoda, 2009) RB UK Manga Entertainment

The Ten Commandments [Blu-ray] (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956) Paramount

The Ten Commandments (Limited Edition Gift Set) [Blu-ray] Paramount

The Terror [Blu-ray] (Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill + Jack Nicholson, 1963) HD Cinema Classics

Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, 1999) Criterion
Topsy-Turvy [
Blu-ray] (Mike Leigh, 1999) Criterion

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) R2 UK New Wave Films

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [Blu-ray] (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) R2 UK New Wave Films

We Are What We Are [Blu-ray] (Jorge Michel Grau, 2010) R2 UK Chelsea Cinema

 

April 4th, 2011

 

...And Justice for All [Blu-ray] (Norman Jewison, 1979) Image Entertainment

About a Boy [Blu-ray] (Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, 2002) RB UK Cinram Logistics

Araya (Margot Benacerraf, 1959) Milestone Cinematheque

Artificial Intelligence: AI [Blu-ray] (Steven Spielberg, 2001) - Dreamworks (BEAVER REVIEW)

Babe [Blu-ray] (Chris Noonan, 1995) Universal Studios

Boudu Saved from Drowning [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1932) RB UK Park Circus

Come Undone (Silvio Soldini, 2010) Film Movement

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

Fiddler on the Roof [Blu-ray] (Norman Jewison, 1971) MGM

I Love You Phillip Morris [Blu-ray] (Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, 2009) Consolidated Pictures

Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey [Blu-ray] - PBS Direct

Mean Streets [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1973) RB FR Carlotta Films

Minnie and Moskowitz (John Cassavetes, 1971) R2 UK Mr Bongo

Miral (Julian Schnabel, 2010) R2 UK 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

The Mountain (Edward Dmytryk, 1956) Olive Films

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

Obsession (Brian De Palma, 1976) R2 UK Arrow Video

Peter Pan [Blu-ray] (P.J. Hogan, 2003) Universal Studios

Rope of Sand (William Dieterle, 1949) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Eclipse Series 26: Silent Naruse (Flunky, Work Hard; No Blood Relation; Apart from You; Every-Night Dreams; Street Without End) - Criterion

Tales of Beatrix Potter [Blu-ray] (Reginald Mills, 1971) RB UK Elevation Sales

Taxi Driver [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1976) Columbia Tristar

Taxi Driver [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1976) RB DE Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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

 

 

April 11th, 2011

 

Adua & Her Friends Adua (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1960) Raro Video

The Bob Hope Collection: Volume Two (The Great Lover / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / How to Commit Marriage / Son of Paleface / Cancel My Reservation) - Shout! Factory

Cars [Blu-ray] (John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, 2006) Disney*Pixar (BEAVER REVIEW)

Cat O Nine Tails [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1971) RB UK Arrow Films

Le Cercle Rouge [Blu-ray] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970) Criterion

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry / Race With The Devil - Shout! Factory

Elephant White [Blu-ray] (Prachya Pinkaew, 2011) First Look Pictures

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

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

I'm Dangerous with Love (Michel Negroponte, 2009) First Run Features

The Incredibles [Blu-ray] (Brad Bird, 2004) Walt Disney Video

Laila (George Schnéevoigt, 1929) Flicker Alley

Marwencol (Jeff Malmberg, 2010) Cinema Guild

The Paranoids (Gabriel Medina, 2008) Oscilloscope Laboratories

Plastic Planet (Werner Boote, 2009) First Run Features

Rubber [Blu-ray] (Quentin Dupieux, 2010) RB UK Elevation Sales

Secret of Dorian Gray (Massimo Dallamano, 1970) Raro Video

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

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

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

White Material (Claire Denis, 2009) Criterion

White Material [Blu-ray] (Claire Denis, 2009) Criterion

 

     
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