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Tristan + Isolde
BD - "Tristan and Isolde"
is not all love; in fact, it features large chunks of
professionally done action, including fierce attacks,
clandestine ambushes and copious amounts of smiting enemies with
mighty swords. And the convincing look of the film, the success
of cinematographer Arthur Reinhart and production designer Mark
Geraghty in making us feel we're in a reasonable fantasy
facsimile of Britain circa AD 500 is also a plus. Kino
Blu-ray Release date: April 11th,
2017
Split
BD - Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan
returns with an original thriller that delves into the
mysterious recesses of one man's fractured, gifted mind. Though
Kevin (James McAvoy) has revealed 23 personalities to his
psychiatrist, there remains one still submerged who is set to
materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct
three teenage girls, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all
of those contained within him – as well as everyone around him –
as the walls between his compartments shatter apart.
Blu-ray Release date: April 18th,
2017
The Founder
BD - Ray Kroc, the whirling
center of “The Founder,” doesn’t come across as a
meat-and-potatoes man — much less a mogul destined to peddle
burgers and fries. As played by Michael Keaton, an actor who
generates terrific centrifugal force, Ray seems more like a guy
who fuels up on 10 cups of coffee before calling it a night with
a bottle of Scotch. “The Founder” never figures out what makes
him spin and run and keep on running, but it does give you Mr.
Keaton zinging around like the Road Runner. His kinetic
performance doesn’t enhance the movie; it is the movie.
Blu-ray Release date: April 18th,
2017
The Scar
BD - "The Scar"
(1948) Originally released under the title "Hollow Triumph,"
(and also known as The Man Who Murdered Himself), this
dandy little film noir thriller from Eagle Lion features Paul
Henreid with a chance to lose his leading man image for not one,
but two sinister performances. When crooked gambler (Henreid)
seeks to hide from a rival mobster, he hatches a plot to take
the place of a psychiatrist that he's a dead-ringer for. But
it's not long before the good doctor's secretary (Joan Bennett)
is on to his scheme. Kino Blu-ray
Release date: April 18th, 2017
Fat City
BD - John Huston’s sombre
but compassionate boxing drama is a criminally-underseen
late-career masterpiece from the great director. Peppered with
outstanding performances this gritty yet affectionate look at
the world of small-time boxing highlights a down-and-out fighter
and a young up-and-comer, both moving through a world of seedy
gyms and flop houses. Blu-ray
Release date: March 27th, 2017
Ludwig
BD - Visconti’s 1972 film is
a lavish and operatic portrait of Ludwig II, the ‘Mad King’ of
Bavaria. From his glittering coronation to his mysterious
suicide, Ludwig II (1845-86) epitomised the doomed
nineteenth-century Romantic hero. A loner by nature, he was
tormented by his unrequited love for his cousin, Empress
Elisabeth of Austria, who sensed his true sexual nature and
fragile grip on reality. But as war raged around him, Ludwig’s
sole obsession remained the visionary music of Richard Wagner,
and he retreated more and more into a fantasy world, alarming
his ministers through his irrational behaviour, neglect of state
affairs and lavish expenditure on several fairytale castles.
Judged unfit to rule, Ludwig was declared insane.
Blu-ray Release date: April 11th,
2017
German Concentration Camps Factual Survey
BD - Sidney Bernstein
(founder of Granada Television) was the Producer of the film at
Britain’s Ministry of Information. Bernstein assembled a small
but distinguished and expert team in 1945 to work on the project
and this included the editors Stewart McAllister (acclaimed for
his work with Humphrey Jennings) and Peter Tanner and the
writers Colin Wills and Richard Crossman (writer, German expert
and future cabinet minister). Bernstein sought the help of
Alfred Hitchcock, who is known to have given important advice on
how the film should be put together. Bernstein described
Hitchcock as the film’s 'Director', but given that all the
footage had been shot prior to Hitchcock’s month-long
involvement on the project and that he was not in England to
oversee the editing of the rough-cut, it is more accurate to
retrospectively describe him as the treatment adviser.
Blu-ray Release date: April 17th,
2017
The Mephisto Waltz
BD - A frustrated pianist
himself, music journalist Myles Clarkson (Alan Alda) is thrilled
to interview virtuoso Duncan Ely (Curt Jurgens). Duncan,
however, is terminally ill and not much interested in Myles
until noticing that Myles' hands are ideally suited for piano.
Suddenly, he can't get enough of his new friend, and Myles'
wife, Paula (Jacqueline Bisset), becomes suspicious of Duncan's
intentions. Her suspicions grow when Duncan dies and Myles
mysteriously becomes a virtuoso overnight.
Blu-ray Release date: March 27th,
2017
The Front
BD - The McCarthy-era "witch
hunts" in the entertainment industry set the stage for this
comedy drama set in the 1950s. Howard Prince (Woody Allen) is a
cashier at a corner bar who works as a small-time bookie on the
side, with little success. One day, Howard's old friend Alfred
Miller (Michael Murphy), a successful television writer, makes a
business proposal to him; Alfred's leftist political views have
resulted in him being blacklisted from the major television
networks, and he can no longer get work. Alfred asks Howard to
act as a "front" -- Howard puts his name on Alfred's scripts,
sells them, and takes a cut of the payment for his trouble.
Indicator Blu-ray Release date:
March 27th, 2017
The Big Heat (Indicator
added!) BD - Ruthless
criminals, a dedicated honest cop, sultry women and a gripping
plot - all the elements of a classic police action-drama are
here in full force. Police Sergeant Bannion (Glenn Ford) is
investigating the apparent suicide of a corrupt cop, then is
suddenly ordered to stop - and The Big Heat is on. Driven
to unravel the mystery, Bannion continues probing until an
explosion meant for him, kills his wife. He resigns from the
force and soon learns that behind it all is the powerful
underworld led by Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) and his
cold-blooded henchman, Vince Stone (Lee Marvin). When Stone's
girl Debby (Gloria Grahame) makes a play for Bannion, Stone
disfigures her face. In revenge, she tells all she knows.
Ultimately, Bannion and Stone square off in a life-or-death
confrontation. Indicator Blu-ray
Release date: March 27th, 2017
The Mad Dog Killer
BD - Inspired by the crimes
of infamous mobster, Renato Vallanzasca, Mad Dog Killer is a
deliriously violent poliziotteschi that pushes the limits of
onscreen brutality and is a must-have for any self respecting
fan of Italian Cult cinema. Blu-ray
Release date: November 7th, 2016
Syndicate Sadists
BD - Mention the name
Umberto Lenzi, and chances are folk’ll rattle off the
flesh-ripping frenzy of
NIGHTMARE CITY or
CANNIBAL FEROX. But for
Lenzi himself, there was no genre that proved too much for his
directorial prowess, not least the distinctly Italian-style of
crime flick - the Poliziotteschi.Boasting a taut script by
Vincenzo Mannino (HOUSE
ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK), and featuring
Hollywood icon Joseph Cotten (NIAGARA)
as a scheming Mafioso, Lenzi’s SYNDICATE SADISTS is a
potent example of the dexterous Tuscan journeyman’s compelling
thriller work; a fabulous concoction of eye-watering violence
and white-knuckle thrills, as an ex-cop (Thomas Milian, THE
CYNIC, THE RAT AND THE FIST) seeks retribution against two
warring mafia families after his brother is killed during a
kidnap investigation. Blu-ray
Release date: March 27th. 2017
Doctor Mordrid
BD - For the past one
hundred and fifty years, thousand-year-old sorcerer Anton
Mordrid (Jeffrey Combs,
CASTLE FREAK) has
watched over the Earth posing as a reclusive criminologist (with
a pet raven named Edgar). When mysterious heists of alchemical
elements start taking place around the globe, Mordrid learns
that his childhood friend turned evil sorcerer Kabal (Brian
Thompson,
THE TERMINATOR) has
escaped his imprisonment in another dimension and means to take
over the plant. Mordrid arouses the curiosity of police
psychologist neighbor Samantha Hunt (Yvette Nipar, SKI PATROL)
as well as the suspicion of Detective Gaudio (Jay Acovone,
INDEPENDENCE DAY) when
the body of one of Kabal's sacrifices (stuntwoman Julie
Michaels, WITCHBOARD 2); and Mordrid will have to
convince Samantha of the reality of magic before Kabal can get
the final alchemical element to create the Philosopher's Stone
and bring demons from another dimension into ours.
Blu-ray Release date: December 5th,
2016
Night Passage
BD - Former railroad worker
Grant McLaine (James Stewart) is hired by boss Ben Kimball (Jay
C. Flippen) to help transport the railroad's payroll. The train
carrying the payroll has been robbed multiple times in the past,
and Kimball hopes that McLaine can successfully guard the money
from the robbers. But matters are complicated for McLaine when
he finds out that one of the robbers is his brother, who is now
going by the name of the Utica Kid (Audie Murphy).
Blu-ray Release date: March 15th,
2017
The City of the Dead
BD - George Baxt scripted
this extraordinarily good chiller from a story by Milton
Subotsky, who also co-produced. A college student (Venetia
Stevenson) with an interest in witchcraft goes to the
Massachusetts town of Whitewood. It's a foggy, spooky town which
gets even scarier when Stevenson discovers that the owner of the
Raven's Inn, Mrs. Newlis (Patricia Jessel) is in fact a 268-year
old witch. Jessel sold her soul to the Devil to regain her life
after being burned at the stake. The whole town is her coven,
including Stevenson's kindly history professor (Christopher
Lee). Arrow Blu-ray Release
date: April 24th, 2017
The Devonsville Terror
BD - Ulli Lommel co-writes
and directs this '80s horror starring Suzanna Love and Donald
Pleasence. 300 years after three local women, who were accused
of witchcraft and brutally murdered by the local townsfolk,
cursed the New England town of Devonsville their modern-day
counterparts arrive in the colonial town. The arrival of three
socially liberated women causes panic in the town's
male-dominated hierarchy, who fear the presence of the women
heralds the fulfilment of the curse. One of the women,
schoolteacher Jenny Scanlon (Love), seeks help from psychiatrist
Dr. Warley (Pleasence) when she begins experiencing horrific
dreams, the precursor of events about to unfold that are rooted
in her past life. Blu-rayRelease
date: December 26th. 2016
Written on the Wind
BD - Bathed in lurid
Technicolor, melodrama maestro Douglas Sirk’s Written on the
Wind is the stylishly debauched tale of a Texas oil magnate
brought down by the excesses of his spoiled offspring. Features
an all-star quartet that includes Robert Stack as a pistol-packin’
alcoholic playboy; Lauren Bacall as his long-suffering wife;
Rock Hudson as his earthy best friend; and Dorothy Malone (who
won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance) as his
nymphomaniac sister. Blu-ray
Release date: May 3rd, 2016
Cathy's Curse
BD - Forget what you've seen
in blurry bootlegs and cruddy budget packs. This first-ever
restoration of the depraved Canadian shocker is being hailed as
the genre re-discovery of the year: In 1947, a young girl is
roasted alive in a car accident. Thirty years later, her grown
brother returns to their childhood home with his mentally
unstable wife and sweet daughter Cathy. But when the dead aunt's
vengeful spirit possesses the child, it will unleash an
unnerving nightmare of creepy mediums, demonic dolls, and plenty
of sick 70s foul-mouthed moppet mayhem.
Blu-ray Release date: April 11th,
2017
The Blue Lagoon
BD - Seven-year-old cousins
Emmeline (Elva Josephson) and Richard (Glenn Kohan) survive a
shipwreck and find themselves marooned on a beautiful island
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Under the tutelage of a fellow
castaway, Paddy Button (Leo McKern), the two learn the basics of
survival. When Paddy dies, however, the now adolescent Emmeline
(Brooke Shields) and Richard (Christopher Atkins) are on their
own to discover sex, love and loneliness in a tropical paradise.
Blu-ray Release date: April
10th, 2017
The Goddess (Shen nu) - The
great actress Ruan Lingyu earned international acclaim for her
powerful performances in a series of social dramas made between
1927 and 1935. Her success brought her much fame that caused her
to commit suicide at the age of 24. In The Goddess (1934), Ruan
Lingyu portrays a single mother whose only hope for supporting
her son is to submit to a life of prostitution. The film is a
heartbreaking look at life under the strictures of an intolerant
society. BFI DVD Release Date: April 24th, 2017
The Kettering Incident -
Set on the isolated island of Tasmania, The Kettering Incident
is a tense, gripping thriller following one woman's journey to
find the truth about her past. Dr Anna Macy was just a child
when her best friend Gillian mysteriously disappeared. The two
girls had been playing in ancient woodland on the edge of town
when Anna saw strange lights in the sky, accompanied by a
high-pitched noise. Hours after, Anna was found alone. Fifteen
years later Anna returns to her home town of Kettering to find
that the rumours still persist about what really happened to the
girls that night - from Anna killing Gillian to alien abduction
- so when 17 year old Chloe Holloway also disappears Anna is
compelled to discover what really happened to Gillian. DVD
Release Date: April 10th, 2017
Fragments of Love - The
twisted and erotic FRAGMENTS OF LOVE follows
perfectionist composer Rodrigo's new obsession with the
mysterious and alluring Susana. Cocooned in her home, the two
enter a torrid love affair as Susanna opens up and tells Rodrigo
stories of sexual encounters with her past lovers. As Rodrigo is
both artistically inspired and romantically tormented by
Susana's stories, they turn out to be the least of Susana's dark
secrets. DVD Release Date: March 28th, 2017
Joe Bullet - When local
soccer team The Eagles fall prey to a series of onslaughts from
a mysterious gangster only a week before the championship final,
the team turns to one man that can help save their chances at
victory - Joe Bullet (Ken Gampu). Joe will have to battle
against villainous henchmen, escape booby-trap bombs and bring
his martial arts expertise to the fore in order to survive an
attack from a deadly assassin. DVD Release Date: February
21st, 2017
The Ardennes - From the
producers of Bullhead. Featuring the actors from top recent
Belgian films, including Bullhead, Borgman, and
Broken Circle Breakdown. Brothers Dave and Kenneth are
reunited on Kenneth's release after four years in prison
following a failed home invasion. While Kenneth is anxious to
dive headfirst into the drug-centered existence that ensnared
him in the first place, both Dave and Kenneth's erstwhile
girlfriend, Sylvie, have adopted clean lifestyles. Drugs, crime
and the bonds of brotherhood create this dark crime thriller
journey in The Ardennes. DVD Release Date: March 7th, 2017 |
