Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF June 4th, 2018

  This Week's Highlights
 
 

Héébee! A good week with Blu-ray reviews of packages by Criterion, Arrow, Kino, Olive, Cult Epics and others of films directed by Josef von Sternberg. William Wyler, Robert Wise, Nathan Juran, Joe D'Amato!. Our Calendar has updates of films-to-Blu-ray, including works by Stanley Donen, Vincente Minnelli, Sergio Leone, Sam Fuller, Albert Brooks, Bill Gunn, Michael Haneke, Lewis Milestone, Orson Welles, Paul Verhoeven, Massimo Dallamano, John Frankenheimer, Steven Soderbergh, Terry Gilliam, Jean Renoir, Michael Cimino, Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, Lamberto Bava, Lynne Ramsay, James Cameron, Kinji Fukasaku and we have our Feature Blu-ray is posted for JUNE Enjoy!!

LISTING PAGES:

OZPloitation, 'WOMEN IN PRISON' CINEMACREATURE-FEATURES (on Blu-ray!), PRE-CODE FILMs (on Blu-ray!), SILENT ERA FILMs (on Blu-ray!), HAMMER Studios (on Blu-ray!) The 100 BEST Neo-Noirs (on Blu-ray!), The GREATEST 100 Westerns (on Blu-ray!), Giallo on Blu-ray!, ESSENTIAL NOIR on Blu-ray!, Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.FR (France), Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.DE (Germany) and our LATEST ARTICLES: Movies From... the End of the World The Beauties of Star Trek (TOS)

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Feature Blu-ray chosen for the Month of JUNE!

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, 1954) Region Free Warner Archives

Who Can Kill A Child? (a.k.a. Would You Kill a Child?) [Blu-ray] (Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, 1976) Mondo Macabro

Designing Woman [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) Region Free Warner Archives

Two Weeks in Another Town [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1962) Region Free Warner Archives

The Colossus of Rhodes [Blu-ray] (Sergio Leone, 1961) Region Free Warner Archives

Jack Reacher [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Christopher McQuarrie, 2012) Region Free Paramount

Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 [Blu-ray] (IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD, 1937 - ADVENTURE IN SAHARA, 1938 - POWER OF THE PRESS, 1943 - SHOCKPROOF, 1949 - SCANDAL SHEET, - 
THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959 - UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961) Region FREE US

Modern Romance [Blu-ray] (Albert Brooks, 1981) Region FREEUS

The China Syndrome [Blu-ray] (James Bridges, 1979) Region FREEUS

Where Is Kyra? [Blu-ray] (Andrew Dosunmu, 2017) Universal

Personal Problems [Blu-ray] (Bill Gunn, 1980) Kino Lorber

Chappaquiddick [Blu-ray] (John Curran, 2017) Lionsgate

Nightmare [Blu-ray] (Romano Scavolini, 1981) Code Red

Fire Birds (a.k.a. Wings of the Apache) [Blu-ray] (David Green, 1990) Kino Lorber

Disobedience [Blu-ray] (Sebastián Lelio, 2017) Universal

Truth or Dare [Blu-ray] (Jeff Wadlow, 2018)

Frank McKlusky, C.I. [Blu-ray] (Arlene Sanford, 2002) Kino Lorber

Happy End [Blu-ray] (Michael Haneke, 2017) Sony     

Pendulum [Blu-ray] (George Schaefer, 1969) Sony        

Dark Crimes [Blu-ray] (Alexandros Avranas, 2016) Lionsgate

Casualties of War [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 1989) Sony 

Blast [Blu-ray] (Albert Pyun, 1997) MVD Marquee Collection

Autumn in New York [Blu-ray] (Joan Chen, 2000) 20th Century Fox

Edwin Brienen Collection (Lena Wants to Know Once and for All, God, Terrorama!, Exploitation, Last Performance) [Blu-ray] (Edwin Brienen, 2001-2016) Brink

The Garden of Eden [Blu-ray] (Lewis Milestone, 1928) Flicker Alley

F for Fake [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1973) RB UK Criterion

Flesh + Blood [Blu-ray] (Paul Verhoeven, 1985) RB UK Eureka

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? [Blu-ray] (Massimo Dallamano, 1974) Arrow Video

Birdman of Alcatraz [Blu-ray] (John Frankenheimer, Charles Crichton, 1962) RB UK Eureka

Sex, Lies, and Videotape [Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 1989) RB UK Criterion

Tideland [Blu-ray] (Terry Gilliam, 2005) Arrow Video

The Crime of Monsieur Lange [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1936) RB UK Studiocanal     

The Deer Hunter - 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition [v] (Michael Cimino, 1978) RB UK Studiocanal     

The Deer Hunter - 40th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] (Michael Cimino, 1978) RB UK Studiocanal

The Human Goddess [Blu-ray] (Meng Hua Ho, 1972) RB UK 88 Films

Mission: Impossible [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 1996) Paramount

Mission: Impossible II [4K UHD Blu-ray] (John Woo, 2000) Paramount

Mission: Impossible III [4K UHD Blu-ray] (J.J. Abrams, 2006) Paramount

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Brad Bird, 2011) Paramount

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015) Paramount

Devil Fish (aka Devouring Waves) [Blu-ray] (Lamberto Bava, 1984) Code Red

Tomb Raider [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Roar Uthaug, 2018) Region Free Warner Home Video

Bad Dreams [Blu-ray] (Andrew Fleming, 1988) RB UK 88 Films

Sunset Society [Blu-ray] (Phoebe Dollar, Rolfe Kanefsky, 2018) RB UK Cleopatra 

Bagdad Cafe [Blu-ray] (Percy Adlon, 1987) RB UK Studiocanal    

More American Graffiti [Blu-ray] (Bill Norton, 1979) Universal

The Mimic [Blu-ray] (Jung Huh, 2017) Well Go USA

I Can Only Imagine [Blu-ray] (The Erwin Brothers, 2018) Lionsgate

The Endless [Blu-ray] (Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, 2017) Well Go USA

Spinning Man [Blu-ray] (Simon Kaijser, 2018) Lionsgate

Midnighters [Blu-ray] (Julius Ramsay, 2017) Shout Factory

Submission [Blu-ray] (Richard Levine, 2017) Universal

One Good Cop [Blu-ray] (Heywood Gould, 1991) Kino

Spidarlings [Blu-ray] (Salem Kapsaski, 2016) Troma

You Were Never Really Here [Blu-ray] (Lynne Ramsay, 2017) Lionsgate

Piranha Part Two: The Spawning [Blu-ray] (James Cameron, 1981) Shout! Factory

Street Mobster [Blu-ray] (Kinji Fukasaku, 1972) Arrow Video

Killer Bees [Blu-ray] (Ben Cummings, Orson Cummings, 2017) Gravitas

 Indicator UK

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): We've covered four of the six Blu-rays in Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood package with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus with The Scarlet Empress and The Devil Is a Woman coming this week. We've compared to SD - all good - great extras - max'ed out bitrates... it's looking like a must-own. I'm a huge fan of William Wyler's The Big Country sand the new Kino Blu-ray has corrected the horizontal stretching that marred the previous Blu-rays. Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow is a brilliant Noir and the new, bare-bones, Olive Blu-ray finally has the film in the correct widescreen aspect ratio. Jack the Giant Killer is a young boys adventure reuniting the director (Nathan Juran) and stars (Kerwin Mathews and Torin Thatcher) of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad - and the Kino Blu-ray offers two version of the film and a Tim Lucas commentary. Death Smiles on a Murderer is a Giallo directed by Joe D'Amato starring sexy Ewa Aulin - now on Region FREE Blu-ray from Arrow. Frank and Eva is a Dutch artspolitation drama with Willeke van Ammelrooy, Hugo Metsers and Sylvia Kristel all in various stages of nudity. Meh.

'The Dude abides. I don’t know about you but I take comfort in that. It’s good knowin’ he’s out there. The Dude. Takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners.' - The Big Lebowski

Have a nature-embracing week!

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Frank and Eva BD - In the liberal 1970s, Frank sleeps with every woman he can get. Eva, meanwhile, is looking for more security and wants to start a family. Frank's behavior frustrates her so much that she starts an affair with their mutual friend. This social drama offers a view on relationships not much different than today. Blu-ray Release Date: June 5th, 2018

Blonde Venus (1932) BD - Josef von Sternberg returned Marlene Dietrich to the stage in Blonde Venus, both a glittering spectacle and a sweeping melodrama about motherly devotion. Unfolding episodically, the film tells the story of Helen (Dietrich), once a German chanteuse, now an American housewife, who resurrects her stage career after her husband (Herbert Marshall) falls ill; she then becomes the mistress of a millionaire (Cary Grant), in a slide from loving martyr to dishonored woman. Criterion Blu-Ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Jack the Giant Killer BD - Farm boy Jack (Kerwin Mathews) heroically rescues Princess Elaine (Judi Meredith) from sorcerer Pendragon (Torin Thatcher) by slaying his bloodthirsty giant. But when Pendragon uses his evil powers to bewitch and imprison Elaine in his enchanted fortress, Jack must cross the ocean to brave dragons, two-headed ogres and an army of ghouls to save his lady love. Blu-Ray Release Date: June 12th, 2018

The Big Country BD - Returning home sea captain, James McKay (Gregory Peck), looks out-of-place as seen by the seasoned Texans of the open west. He seeks his lot with fiancée (Carroll Baker) yet all think he is a nancy-boy - unable, and unworthy. Future father-in-law and land baron (Charles Bickford) feuds with similar cattleman (Burl Ives) over the water for their cows owned by school marm Julie Maragon ( sexy Jean Simmons) - another character not given her deserved respect by the rough and rugged gun-toting, horsemen. Ives steals the show and wins the Oscar, as does the soundtrack. Kino Blu-Ray Release Date: June 5th, 2018

Morocco BD - With this romantic reverie, Marlene Dietrich made her triumphant debut before American audiences and unveiled the enthralling, insouciant persona that would define her Hollywood collaboration with director Josef von Sternberg. Set on the far side of the world but shot outside Los Angeles, Morocco navigates a labyrinth of melancholy and desire as the cabaret singer Amy Jolly (Dietrich), fleeing her former life, takes her act to the shores of North Africa, where she entertains the overtures of a wealthy man of the world while finding herself increasingly drawn to a strapping legionnaire with a shadowy past of his own (Gary Cooper). Blu-Ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Shanghai Express BD - Sternberg rightly banking his cinema muse's power avoids any chance of Anna May getting an entrenched foothold. Great support comes in the form of Warner Oland who plays the evil revolutionary leader who tries in on with both gals... but this is all Dietrich and Garmes' exquisite cinematography. This is film mood at its absolute pinnacle - a high-class exotic passenger ride in spacious train cars with thick velour seats - my imagination makes them maroon-ish red. A masterpiece. Blu-Ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Dishonored BD - My favorite among the seven glittering Josef von Sternberg features starring Marlene Dietrich, all of them made between 1930 and 1935, is ironically the least well known, and currently available only as a Swedish import, although Jean-Luc Godard once included it in a list of his ten favorite American films. It’s the second American film Sternberg made with Dietrich, although it was completed before he released the first (Morocco), and in some ways it’s the most stylistically perfect of all his sound features. Blu-Ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Odds Against Tomorrow BD - Harry Belafonte was both producer and star of this hard-edged film noir crime drama. Dave Burke (Ed Begley, Sr.) is an ex-cop who has been kicked off the force for refusing to inform on his colleagues to the State Crime Committee. Short on money, the former policeman jumps to the other side of the law and plans to knock over a bank in upstate New York. He'll need help, so Burke brings in two other men to assist him -- Johnny Ingram (Belafonte), a jazz musician with an addiction to gambling that's put him deep in debt to gangster Bacco (Will Kuluva), and Earl Slater (Robert Ryan), a disturbed war veteran who hasn't been able to find work after serving time for manslaughter. Olive Blu-Ray Release Date: May 29th, 2018

Death Smiles on a Murderer BD - A haunting and dreamlike gothic horror/giallo hybrid, Death Smiles on a Murderer is a compelling early work from the legendary sleaze and horror film director Joe D'Amato (Anthropophagus, Emanuelle in America), here billed under his real name Aristide Massaccesi. Blu-Ray DVD Release Date: May 21st - 22nd, 2018

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

June 4th, 2018

 

 

 

120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) [Blu-ray] (Robin Campillo, 2017) RB UK Curzon Artificial Eye

This Ancient Law [Blu-ray] (Ewald André Dupont, 1923) Flicker Alley

The Big Country [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1958) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)

Birdman of Alcatraz [Blu-ray] (John Frankenheimer, 1962) FR Wild Side Video (ALT Blu-ray REVIEW)

Birth of the Dragon [Blu-ray] (George Nolfi, 2016) Altitude Film Distribution

Black Butterfly [Blu-ray] (Brian Goodman, 2017) RB UK 101 Films

The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance [Blu-ray] (Alfredo Rizzo, 1975) RB UK Black House Films

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1938) RB FR Elephant Films

Brimstone [Blu-ray] (Martin Koolhoven, 2016) RB DE Koch Media

The Coen Brothers: Director's Collection [Blu-ray] (The Coen Bros, 8 Films) Region Free UK Universal Pictures

The Dam Busters [Blu-ray] (Michael Anderson, 1955) RB UK Studiocanal

The Dam Busters (Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] (Michael Anderson, 1955) RB UK Studiocanal

Darkest Hour [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Joe Wright, 2017) RB Universal Pictures UK

Deadtime Stories [Blu-ray] (Jeffrey Delman, 1986) RB DE White Pearl Movies

Death Wish [Blu-ray] (Eli Roth, 2018) MGM

De Palma [Blu-ray] (Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow, 2015) RB FR Carlotta Films

Design for Living [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1933) RB FR Elephant Films (ALT Blu-ray REVIEW)

Devil's Gate [Blu-ray] (Clay Staub, 2017) Shout! Factory

eXistenZ - Turbine Steel Edition [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 1999) RB DE Alive (ALT Blu-ray REVIEW)

Frank & Eva [Blu-ray] (Pim de la Parra, 1973) Cult Epics (BEAVER REVIEW)

Freak Show [Blu-ray] (Trudie Styler, 2017) Shout! Factory

Game of Thrones - The Complete 1st Season [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Various, 2011) DE Warner Home Video

Greaser's Palace [Blu-ray] (Robert Downey Sr., 1972) Doppelganger Releasing

The Great Silence [Blu-ray] (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) Film Movement Classics

If I Had a Million [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932) RB FR Elephant Films

Jake Speed [Blu-ray] (Andrew Lane, 1986) RB UK Arrow Video

Journey's End [Blu-ray] (Saul Dibb, 2017) Lionsgate

Lost Horizon [Blu-ray] (Frank Capra, 1937) Sony

Broken Lullaby [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932) Elephant Films

The Mercy [Blu-ray] (James Marsh, 2018) Studiocanal

The Midnight Man [Blu-ray] (Travis Zariwny, 2016) Shout! Factory

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington [Blu-ray] (Frank Capra, 1939) Sony

One Hour with You [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor, 1932) RB FR Elephant Films

The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow [Blu-ray] (Hyeong-yoon Jang, 2014) Shout! Factory

Saving Private Ryan [4K UHD Blu-ray](Steven Spielberg, 1998) Region Free UK Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, 1954) Region Free Warner Archives

The Steam Engines of Oz [Blu-ray] (Sean Patrick O'Reilly, 2018) Cinedigm

 

June 11th, 2018

 

 

Abominable [Blu-ray] (Ryan Schifrin, 2006) MVD Rewind Collection

American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock [Blu-ray] (Marcus Koch, 2015) Unearthed Films

The Asphyx [Blu-ray] (Peter Newbrook, 1972) RB UK Screenbound Pictures

Black Magic 2 [Blu-ray] (Meng Hua Ho, 1976) RB UK 88 Films

Black Panther [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Ryan Coogler, 2018) Walt Disney

Body of Evidence [Blu-ray] (Uli Edel, 1993) Shout! Factory

Curse of the Puppet Master [Blu-ray] (David DeCoteau, 1998) Full Moon Features

The Dark Mirror [Blu-ray] (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Region Free UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW)

Darkest Hour [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Joe Wright, 2017) Universal Pictures

Darkman Trilogy (Darkman, Darkman II: The Return of Durant, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die) [Blu-ray] (Sam Raimi, 1990-1996) Universal Pictures

The Defiant Ones [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kramer, 1958) UK RB Eureka Entertainment

Designing Woman [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) Region Free Warner Archives

The Devil's Carnival [Blu-ray] (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2012) Cleopatra Entertainment

Doctor Dolittle 4K-Restored [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1967) RB DE Koch Media

Force of Evil [Blu-ray] (Abraham Polonsky, 1948) Region Free UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW)

Forrest Gump [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Region Free UK Paramount

Forrest Gump [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) DE Paramount

Gross Anatomy [Blu-ray] (Thom Eberhardt, 1989) Kino Lorber

I Can Only Imagine [Blu-ray] (The Erwin Brothers, 2018) Lions Gate

King of Hearts [Blu-ray] (Philippe de Broca, 1966) Cohen Media

Jack the Giant Killer [Blu-ray] (Nathan Juran, 1962) Kino Lorber

The Late Great Planet Earth [Blu-ray] (Robert Amram, Rolf Forsberg, 1979) Scorpion Releasing / Kino Lorber

Let Me Down Hard [Blu-ray] (William DeVizia, 2016) Mainman Records

Little Big Man [Blu-ray] (Arthur Penn, 1970) Region Free UK Paramount

Lionheart [Blu-ray] (Sheldon Lettich, 1990) MVD Rewind Collection

Love, Simon [Blu-ray] (Greg Berlanti, 2018) 20th Century Fox

Loveless [Blu-ray] (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2017) RB UK Altitude Film Distribution

Loveless [Blu-ray] (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2017) Sony Pictures

A Man Called Horse [Blu-ray] (Elliot Silverstein, 1970) Region Free UK Paramount

Manila in the Claws of Light [Blu-ray] (Lino Brocka, 1975) Criterion Collection

The Mimic [Blu-ray] (Jung Huh, 2017) Well Go USA

Mind Ripper [Blu-ray] (Joe Gayton, 1995) RB UK 88 Films

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters [Blu-ray] (Paul Schrader, 1985) RB UK Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

More American Graffiti [Blu-ray] (Bill Norton, 1979) Universal

Ninja III: The Domination [Blu-ray] (Sam Firstenberg, 1984) Shout! Factory

No Way Out [Blu-ray] (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950) RB UK Masters of Cinema

The Purge [4k UHD Blu-ray] (James DeMonaco, 2013) Universal Pictures

The Purge: Anarchy [4K UHD Blu-ray] (James DeMonaco, 2014) Universal

The Purge: Election Year [4k UHD Blu-ray] (James DeMonaco, 2016) Universal Pictures

Rio Lobo [Blu-ray] (Howard Hawks, 1970) Region Free UK Paramount

The Sleeper [Blu-ray] (Justin Russell, 2012) Scream Team Releasing

Spetters [Blu-ray] (Paul Verhoeven, 1980) Kino Lorber

Sunday in the Country [Blu-ray] (John Trent, 1974) Region Free UK Screenbound Pictures

Terminator Genisys [Blu-ray] (Alan Taylor, 2015) Paramount

Ultimate Puppet Master Collectable Trunk (12-disc) [Blu-ray] - Full Moon Pictures

Vigil [Blu-ray] (Vincent Ward, 1984) RB Arrow UK

Vigil [Blu-ray] (Vincent Ward, 1984) Arrow US

The Wild Angels [Blu-ray] (Roger Corman, 1966) RB DE Koch Media

The Wild Heart [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1950) Kino Classics

Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut), Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964) - The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965) RB UK BFI

Xtro [Blu-ray] (Harry Bromley Davenport, 1982) Second Sight