Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF May 28th, 2012

  This Week's Highlights
Kufyenda - Meager week with some back-end Server issues to attend to but we still have films reviewed on Blu-ray by John Ford, Charles Chaplin, Woody Allen and Danny Boyle and more plus listings on the Upcoming Calendar with new listings of films by Orson Welles, Luis Bunuel, Michael Curtiz, more Hammer classics to Blu-ray and The Complete 22 Film Bond Collection. We also have our CONTEST clip with another brand new Criterion Blu-ray prize!

FEATURE DVD and Blu-ray of the MONTH chosen for MAY! HERE

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May 28th CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a brand new Criterion Blu-ray of Certified Copy

 

DVD and Blu-ray of the Year 2011 HERE

 

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection [Blu-ray] (with Limited Edition Hardcover Book) - MGM

Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection [Blu-ray] - UK MGM

That Obscure Object of Desire [Blu-ray] (Luis Buñuel, 1977) RB UK Studio Canal

The Hunger Games [Blu-ray] (Gary Ross, 2012) Lions Gate

The Trial [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1962) RB UK Studio Canal

Santa Fe Trail [Blu-ray] (Michael Curtiz, 1940) Intergroove

Devil's Advocate [Blu-ray] (Taylor Hackford, 1997) Warner

Dexter: The Complete Sixth Season [Blu-ray] Showtime

Visions of Ecstasy (with Sacred Flesh) [Blu-ray] - Sacrament

The Mummy's Shroud [Blu-ray] (John Gilling, 1967) RB UK Studio Canal

Rasputin: The Mad Monk [Blu-ray] (Don Sharp, 1966) RB UK Studio Canal

Free Men [Blu-ray] (Ismaël Ferroukhi, 2011) RB UK Artificial Eye

La promesse (Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1996) Criterion

La promesse [Blu-ray]  (Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1996) Criterion

Rosetta (Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1999) Criterion

Rosetta [Blu-ray] (Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1999) Criterion

Les Vampires: 2-Disc [Blu-ray] (Louis Feuillade, 1915-16) Kino

Odd Man Out [Blu-ray] (Carol Reed, 1947) RB UK Network

The Night Porter [Blu-ray] (Liliana Cavani, 1974) RB UK Anchor Bay

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie [Blu-ray] (Luis Buñuel, 1972) RB UK Studio Canal

Korczak [Blu-ray] (Andrzej Wajda, 1990) Kino

Things to Come [Blu-ray] (William Cameron Menzies, 1936) RB UK Network

The Tempest [Blu-ray] (Derek Jarman, 1979) Kino

Post Mortem [Blu-ray] (Pablo Larraín, 2010) Lorber Films

Black Magic Rites [Blu-ray] (Renato Polselli, 1973) Redemption

Two Orphan Vampires [Blu-ray] (Jean Rollin, 1997) Redemption

The Living Dead Girl [Blu-ray] (Jean Rollin, 1982) Redemption

Sebastiane [Blu-ray] (Derek Jarman, 1976) Kino

Total Recall [Blu-ray] (Paul Verhoeven, 1990) (Triple Play Steelbook Edition) RB UK Studio Canal

The AristoCats [Blu-ray] (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1970) RB UK Disney

The Message [Blu-ray] (Moustapha Akkad, 1977) RB UK Anchor Bay

Lion of the Desert [Blu-ray] (Moustapha Akkad, 1981) RB UK Anchor Bay

The Royal Tenenbaums [Blu-ray] (Wes Anderson, 2001) Criterion

Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011) Criterion

Weekend [Blu-ray] (Andrew Haigh, 2011) Criterion

Eclipse Series 35: Maidstone and Other Films by Norman Mailer - Criterion

Lonesome (Pál Fejös, 1928) Criterion

Lonesome [Blu-ray] (Pál Fejös, 1928) Criterion

Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979) Criterion

Quadrophenia [Blu-ray] (Franc Roddam, 1979) Criterion

Rio Grande [Blu-ray] (John Ford, 1950) Olive Films

Alfred Hitchcock Collection [Blu-ray] (Rope - Rear - Window - The Man Who Knew Too Much - Torn Curtain - The Birds - Family Plot - Frenzy - Shadow of a Doubt - The Trouble with Harry - Marnie - Psycho - Saboteur - Topaz - Vertigo) - RB DE Universal

Johnny Guitar [Blu-ray] (Nicholas Ray, 1954) Olive Films

La Grande Illusion [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1937) Lions Gate

Bound [Blu-ray] (Wachowski bros. ,1996) Olive Films

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): No much to complain about this week with Criterion's Blu-ray of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush shining brightly offering both the silent and 1942 sound versions - plus a handful of impressive extras. Ford's The Grapes of Wrath is extremely impacting in the film-like glory of 1088P - an easy addition to any Blu-ray library. Back-to-back I saw two films I consider to have the best endings I've ever seen in film. Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave is a brilliantly conceived thriller and probably my favorite from the director. I always love seeing Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite and its joyous ending with both 'Deus ex machina' and a dramaturgical twist worthy of Shakespeare making it a highly recommended Blu-ray. Saying a film is one of John Wayne's best westerns is a mouthful but Hondo is worthy and now available on Blu-ray although not in the original 3-D but the first time in widescreen. Yukon aka Death Hunt could be viewed as a macho guilty-pleasure and has stalwarts Bronson and Marvin in a cat-and-mouse battle across the deep North. Adventurous stuff..... The best week of your life has just started...

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

The Grapes of Wrath BD - This classic Ford film eclipses much of the action of John Steinbeck's well-known novel of the Oklahoma farmers' migration from the dustbowl to the California Eden during the Depression years. The Okies were unwelcome in California, of course; they threatened the jobs of the locals. The brutal police hassled and harassed them unmercifully. The migrants formed unions in self-defence and struck for decent fruit-picking wages. This inevitably multiplied the official violence. Ford's film, shot by Gregg Toland with magnificent, lyrical simplicity, captures the stark plainness of the migrants, stripped to a few possessions, left with innumerable relations and little hope. Blu-ray Release Date: June 5th, 2012

The Gold Rush BD - Charlie Chaplin’s comedic masterwork—which charts a prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character. Shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featuring such timeless gags as the dance of the dinner rolls and the meal of boiled shoe leather, The Gold Rush is an indelible work of heartwarming hilarity. This special edition features both Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration, and a new restoration of the original 1925 silent film. Blu-ray Release Date: June 12th, 2012

Shallow Grave BD - Three unattached roommates share a flat and are in search of a 4th. They find a seemingly good fit, but without giving away too many spoilers - his positional (and past) function create huge conflicts. The once great friends now nervously border on interactions of paranoia, suspicion and greed. It certainly could be considered a modern film noir - with basically good people transformed to behave illegally... all for money. (Fox is a great Femme Fatale in the offing). Blu-ray Release Date: June 12th, 2012

Mighty Aphrodite BD - Released in 1995, Mighty Aphrodite was arguably Woody Allen's most successful film since Hannah and Her Sisters almost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted son's birth mother, Linda. His odyssey is narrated and commented upon with coruscating wit by a Greek chorus led by F Murray Abraham. Despite their dire warnings at his rather ham-fisted attempts at hubris, there is nothing tragic in the ultimately uplifting tale. Lenny eventually locates Linda (an Oscar-winning performance from the enchanting Mira Sorvino) and discovers that she's caught up in just about every aspect of the sex trade. Without revealing his reasons, he sets about improving her life with hilarious results. Blu-ray Release date: May 11th, 2012

Yukon BD - Canada 1931: The unsociable trapper Johnson lives for himself in the ice-cold mountains near the Yukon river. During a visit in the town he witnesses a dog-fight. He interrupts the game and buys one of the dogs - almost dead already - for $200 against the owner's will. When the owner Hasel complains to Mountie Sergeant Millen, he refuses to take action. But then the loathing breeder and his friends accuse Johnson of murder. So Millen, although sympathetic, has to try to take him under arrest - but Johnson defends his freedom in every way possible. Blu-ray Release date: January 27th, 2012

Hondo BD - Often considered John Wayne's best and most memorable film. The character is Hondo Lane (which later spawned a television series) is a quiet loner who attempts to save rancher Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) and her son, Johnny 'Small Warrior' Lowe, from Apache Indian attacks as they make a stand and refuse to leave their homestead. Much of the film is in the character of Hondo, another that cursory glances never give Wayne the acting credit he deserved. Easily cited as an essential western - quite violent in parts and a little epic it even has an intermission! Blu-ray Release Date: June 5th, 2012

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

May 28th, 2012

 

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

Chinatown [Blu-ray] (Roman Polanski, 1974) UK Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Coriolanus [Blu-ray] (Ralph Fiennes, 2011) The Weinstein Company

The Demoniacs [Blu-ray] (Jean Rollin, 1974) Redemption (BEAVER REVIEW)

Denver & Rio Grande [Blu-ray] (Byron Haskin, 1952) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Diplomatic Courier (Henry Hathaway, 1952) R2 UK Odeon Entertainment

The Fall of the Louse of Usher (Ken Russell, 2002) R2 UK Final Cut

Gone [Blu-ray] (Heitor Dhalia, 2012) Summit Entertainment

Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton, 1932) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

Island of Lost Souls [Blu-ray] (Erle C. Kenton, 1932) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)
Island of Lost Souls [
Blu-ray] Steelbook (Erle C. Kenton, 1932) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Lawless (Joseph Losey, 1950) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Man on a Ledge [Blu-ray] (Asger Leth, 2012) Summit Entertainment

Meridian (Charles Band, 1990) R2 UK 88 Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Michael [Blu-ray] (Markus Schleinzer , 2011) R2 UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Mother Joan of the Angels (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1961) - R2 UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)

Nightbirds [Blu-ray] (Andy Milligan, 1970) RB UK BFI

The Rafi Pitts Collection - 3 Disc Set R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Rape of The Vampire [Blu-ray] (Jean Rollin, 1968) Redemption (BEAVER REVIEW)

Requiem for a Vampire [Blu-ray] (Jean Rollin, 1973) Redemption (BEAVER REVIEW)

Ruggles of Red Gap [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1935) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Run for Cover [Blu-ray] (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sanam (Rafi Pitts, 2000) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Silver City [Blu-ray] (Byron Haskin, 1951) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers [Blu-ray] (Lewis Milestone, 1946) Film Chest

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

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

Too Late Blues [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1961) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Traveller / Telling Lies In America [Blu-ray Double Feature] - Shout! Factory

We Need to Talk About Kevin [Blu-ray] (Lynne Ramsay, 2011) Oscilloscope (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

June 4th, 2012

 

Act of Vengeance [Blu-ray] (Mashun Kirmizigul, 2010) Millennium Entertainment

Blood Work [Blu-ray] (Paul Rodriguez, 2002) Warner

Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray] - Sony

Classic Bergman - 5 Disc Set [Blu-ray] - It Rains on Our Love (1946) - A Ship Bound For India (1947) - Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) - Frams (1955) - So Close to Life (1958) - RB UK Artificial Eye

Cocktail [Blu-ray] (Roger Donaldson, 1988) Touchstone / Disney

The Color of Money [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1986) Buena Vista

David Lynch Box Set [Blu-ray] (Eraserhead, Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Dumbland, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, shorts etc.) Universal Pictures UK

Eraserhead [Blu-ray] (David Lynch, 1977) Region FREE Universal Pictures UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Flame Over India [Blu-ray] aka: The North West Frontier (J. Lee Thompson, 1959) VCI

The Grapes of Wrath [Blu-ray] (John Ford, 1940) Fox Home Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Hondo [Blu-ray] (John Farrow, 1953) Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Hoosiers [Blu-ray] (David Anspaugh, 1986) MGM

Lost Highway [Blu-ray] (David Lynch, 1997) Region FREE Universal Pictures UK

Life Is Sweet [Blu-ray] (Mike Leigh, 1990) RB UK Channel 4

A Perfect World [Blu-ray] (Clint Eastwood, 1993) Warner

Ransom [Blu-ray] (Ron Howard, 1996) Touchstone / Disney

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

A Room with a View [Blu-ray] (James Ivory, 1985) RB UK Film4

Safe House [Blu-ray] (Daniel Espinosa, 2012) Universal

Scent of a Woman [Blu-ray] (Martin Brest, 1992) Universal

Sea of Love [Blu-ray] (Harold Becker, 1989) Universal

Seven Days in Utopia [Blu-ray] (Matt Russell, 2011) Arc Entertainment

The Seven-Ups [Blu-ray] (Philip D'Antoni, 1973) RB DE Koch Media

Smokey and the Bandit [Blu-ray] (Hal Needham, 1977) Universal

The Sting [Blu-ray] (George Roy Hill, 1973) Universal

Summertime [Blu-ray] (David Lean, 1955) RA JP

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three [Blu-ray] (Joseph Sargent, 1974) RB UK 20th Century Fox Home

Yellow Submarine [Blu-ray] (George Dunning, 1968) Capitol

Yellow Submarine [Blu-ray] (George Dunning, 1968) RB UK EMI

Zorba the Greek [Blu-ray] (Mihalis Kakogiannis, 1964) Fox Home Entertainment

 

June 11th, 2012

 

The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925) Criterion Collection
The Gold Rush [
Blu-ray] (Charles Chaplin, 1925) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971) Criterion
Harold and Maude [
Blu-ray] (Hal Ashby, 1971) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance [Blu-ray] (John Ford, 1962) RB DE Paramount

Passport to Pimlico [Blu-ray] (Henry Cornelius, 1949) RB UK Studio Canal

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

Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle, 1994) Criterion Collection
Shallow Grave [
Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 1994) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Movie Only [Blu-ray] (Guy Ritchie, 2011) Warner
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows UltraViolet [
Blu-ray] (Guy Ritchie, 2011) Warner

The Squad (Jaime Osorio Marquez, 2011) R2 UK Momentum Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW)

Too Big to Fail [Blu-ray] (Curtis Hanson, 2011) HBO Studios

The Woman in the Fifth [Blu-ray] (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2011) RB UK Artificial Eye

 

June 18th, 2012

 

All Screwed Up [Blu-ray] (Lina Wertmüller, 1974) Kino

And Everything Is Going Fine (Steven Soderbergh, 2010) Criterion Collection
And Everything Is Going Fine [
Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 2010) Criterion Collection

The Belly of an Architect [Blu-ray] (Peter Greenaway, 1987) RB UK BFI

Chariots of Fire (30th Anniversary Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] (Hugh Hudson, 1981) RB UK 20th Century Fox

The Colossus of New York [Blu-ray] (Eugène Lourié, 1958) Olive Films

Django Kill If You Live Shoot [Blu-ray] (Giulio Questi, 1967) Blue Underground

Empire of the Sun [Blu-ray] (Steven Spielberg, 1987) Warner

Gray's Anatomy (Steven Soderbergh, 1996) Criterion Collection
Gray's Anatomy [
Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 1996) Criterion Collection

Insomnia [Blu-ray] (Christopher Nolan, 2002) Warner

The Invisible Man - Complete Series [Blu-ray] (Steven Bochco, Harve Bennett, 1975) First

Keyhole [Blu-ray] (Guy Maddin, 2011) Monterey Video

Love & Anarchy [Blu-ray] (Lina Wertmüller, 1973) Kino

Odd Man Out [Blu-ray] (Carol Reed, 1947) RB UK Network

Ozu - The Melodrama Collection - Early Spring (1956) and Tokyo Twilight (1957) Woman of Tokyo (1933) - R2 UK BFI

Project X [Blu-ray] (William Castle, 1968) Olive Films

Revolution: The Director's Cut [Blu-ray] (Hugh Hudson, 1985) RB UK BFI

Seduction of Mimi [Blu-ray] (Lina Wertmüller, 1972) Kino

The Space Children [Blu-ray] (Jack Arnold, 1958) Olive Films

Things to Come [Blu-ray] (William Cameron Menzies, 1936) RB UK Network

 

     
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