Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF June 11th, 2018

Héébee! A great week with Blu-ray reviews of packages by Criterion, BFI, Arrow, Kino, Eureka, ClassicFlix, Code Red and others of films directed by Michael Powell and Emric Pressburger, Josef von Sternberg, Stanley Kramer, King Hu, Lino Brocka, Paul Verhoeven, Derek Jarman, Michio Yamamoto . Massimo Dallamano!. Our Calendar has updates of films-to-Blu-ray, including works by Costa-Gavras, Ronald Neame, David Mamet, Alain Resnais, Steven Spielberg, Mel Welles, Wes Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Dario Argento, Paul Verhoeven, Steven Soderbergh, Terry Gilliam, Jean Renoir, Michael Cimino, Brian De Palma and we have our Feature Blu-ray is posted for JUNE Enjoy!!

LISTING PAGES:

OZPloitation, 'WOMEN IN PRISON' CINEMA, CREATURE-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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ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): I consider Criterion's new 4K restored Blu-ray of Michael Powell and Emric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death an obvious choice for top pick of the week as the new image towers above the previous Blu-ray. But we don't want to forget Josef von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress fortunately, also, getting the Criterion Blu-ray treatment. A mesmerizing film experience. In a newsletter dense with Criterion Blu-ray reviews - let's add their 4K Restoration of Dragon Inn in another brilliant video presentation plus no reason to skip over von Sternberg's final collaboration with Marlene Dietrich; The Devil is a Woman - on a Criterion Blu-ray as delicious as the film's title. You know it's a strong week when Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light, also on Criterion Blu-ray, is mentioned so late in the comments. One can't deny the epic feel and importance of Stanley Kramer's Inherit the Wind - now on impressive Eureka Blu-ray. I was quite smitten with The Man Who Watched Trains Go By on ClassicFlix Blu-ray - a quintessential Brit Noir with a strong cast. Derek Jarman's provocative Jubilee gets a 40th Anniversary, single, Blu-ray from BFI. Two more exquisite Japanese horror genre flics from Michio Yamamoto, Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula, complete The Bloodthirsty Trilogy on Blu-ray from Arrow. Bull Durham remains a lot of fun and has made it to Criterion Blu-ray with a hint of controversy. Paul Verhoeven's Spetters pushes some boundaries and has a loyal following and Kino havea 4K-restored transferred it to Blu-ray. Breakheart Pass has Charles Bronson in an Alistair MacLean adaptation - it doesn't get much more adventurous-macho on Blu-ray from Eureka in the UK. Lastly, Code Red's Blu-ray of the curious supernatural horror, The Night Child, leaves something to be desired.

'I wanted to be Anthony Hopkins and ended up being neither a film star nor having a career on the stage.' - Dirk Benedict

Have a Bogie-cool week!

Bull Durham BD - Former minor leaguer Ron Shelton hit a grand slam with his directorial debut, one of the most revered sports movies of all time. Durham Bulls devotee Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon)—who every year takes a new player under her wing (and into her bed)—has singled out the loose-cannon pitching prospect Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a big-league talent with a rock-bottom maturity level. But she’s unable to shake Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), the veteran catcher brought in to give Nuke some on-the-field seasoning. A breakthrough film for all three of its stars and an Oscar nominee for Shelton’s highly quotable screenplay, Bull Durham is a freewheeling hymn to wisdom, experience, and America’s pastime, tipping its cap to all those who grind it out for love of the game. Criterion Blu-ray Release date: July 10th, 2018

Dragon Inn BD - The art of martial-arts filmmaking took a leap into bold new territory with this action-packed tale of Ming-dynasty intrigue. After having the emperor’s minister of defense executed, a power-grabbing eunuch sends assassins to trail the victim’s children to a remote point on the northern Chinese border. But that bloodthirsty mission is confounded by a mysterious group of fighters who arrive on the scene, intent on delivering justice and defending the innocent. The first film King Hu made after moving to Taiwan from Hong Kong in search of more creative freedom, Dragon Inn combines rhythmic editing, meticulous choreography, and gorgeous widescreen compositions with a refinement that was new to the wuxia genre. Its blockbuster success breathed new life into a classic formula and established Hu as one of Chinese cinema’s most audacious innovators. Criterion Blu-ray Release date: July 10th, 2018

A Matter of Life and Death BD - After miraculously surviving a jump from his burning plane, RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) encounters the American radio operator (Kim Hunter) to whom he’s just delivered his dying wishes and, face-to-face on a tranquil English beach, the pair fall in love. When a messenger from the afterlife arrives to correct the clerical error that spared his life, Peter must mount a fierce defense for his right to stay on earth—painted by production designer Alfred Junge and cinematographer Jack Cardiff as a rich Technicolor Eden—climbing a wide staircase to stand trial in a starkly beautiful, black-and-white modernist heaven. Peppered by humorous jabs intended to smooth tensions between the wartime allies Britain and America, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s richly humanistic A Matter of Life and Death traverses time and space to make a case for the transcendent value of love. Criterion Blu-ray Release Date: July 24th, 2018

The Night Child BD - Richard Johnson, Joanna Cassidy, Edmund Purdom, Ida Galli, Nicoletta Gelmi. A filmmaker is working on a project concerning demonic paintings. When his young daughter comes to possess a mysterious ancient medallion, she falls under a terrible supernatural spell. This impressive Italian horror film obviously pays homage to thematic elements of both The Exorcist and The Omen. It boasts beautiful photography and an outstanding music score. Blu-ray Release Date: May 7th, 2015

Jubilee BD - The mythological past and bleak future converge on the sparse, grey streets of London in this cult classic of the punk era. Queen Elizabeth 1 and her occult aide Dr John Dee (brilliantly played by Jenny Runacre and Richard O'Brien, respectively) travel into the future, encountering the megalomania of big business as well as gangs of violent, marauding killers. Director Derek Jarman doesn't spare the shocks while electrifying punk rock numbers are delivered by Jayne County and Adam Ant. Blu-ray Release Date: June 18th, 2018

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By BD - Mild-mannered bookkeeper Kees Popinga lives a mundane life and dreams about the places he can go on the trains that travel through his hometown of Groningen, Holland. But when a French police detective shows up at his firm to inspect the books, Popinga's unremarkable existence is instantly altered, and he soon finds himself on the way to Paris with a suitcase of cash, on the run from the law and entranced by a strange and beautiful woman. Blu-ray Release Date: May 29th, 2018

The Devil is a Woman BD - Josef von Sternberg's final collaboration with Marlene Dietrich (1935) was out of circulation for many years, withheld by Paramount at the request of the Spanish government, which objected to the portrayal of the nation's officials as doom-ridden romantics. But the material world, of Spain or anywhere else, has little to do with Sternberg's creation, which remains one of the most coldly beautiful films ever made. Sternberg's universe is a realm of textures, shadows, and surfaces, which merge and separate in an erotic dance. Blu-ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Inherit the Wind BD - When a teacher in a small Tennessee town is brought to trial for teaching Darwinism, attorney Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) faces off against fundamentalist leader Matthew Harrison Brady (Frederic March) in an explosive battle of beliefs. Also operating as a searing critique of McCarthyism, Inherit the Wind was nominated for multiple Academy Awards, and is rightfully recognised as one of the most entertaining, and provocative films of its era. Eureka Blu-ray Release date: May 21st, 2018

Spetters BD - Raw, intense and unabashedly sexual, Spetters is a wild ride that will knock the unsuspecting for a loop. Rien, Eef and Hans are three young guys stuck in an industrial town on the outskirts of Rotterdam. They couldn't be more different except for one thing: their shared passion for motorcycle racing, which each sees as his ticket to a better life. But a deeper passion will soon rule each of their lives, when a sexy, ambitious blonde comes between them and provokes unforeseen events that will rock their worlds. Blu-ray Release Date: June 12th, 2018

The Scarlet Empress BD - Filmmaker-svengali Josef von Sternberg escalates his obsession with screen legend Marlene Dietrich in this lavish depiction of sex and deceit in the 18th-century Russian court. A self-proclaimed “relentless excursion into style,” the pair’s sixth collaboration follows the exploits of Princess Sophia (Dietrich) as she evolves from trembling innocent to cunning sexual libertine Catherine the Great. With operatic melodrama, flamboyant visuals, and a cast of thousands, this ornate spectacle represents the apex of cinematic pageantry by Hollywood’s master of artifice. Blu-ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Lake of Dracula BD - Lake of Dracula begins with a young girl suffering a terrifying nightmare of a vampire with blazing golden eyes. Eighteen years later, the dream is revealed to be a hellish prophecy when a strange package containing an empty coffin mysteriously turns up at a nearby lake. Blu-ray Release Date: May 21st - 22nd, 2018

Evil of Dracula BD - In Evil of Dracula, a professor takes up a new post at an all-girls school only to discover the school s principle conceals a dark secret and the pupils are in grave danger. Abounding with images of dark thunderous nights, ghostly mansions and bloody fangs, Michio Yamamoto's trilogy emphasises atmosphere and style and is sure to please both fans of classic gothic horror and Japanese genre cinema. Blu-ray Release Date: May 21st - 22nd, 2018

Breakheart Pass BD - This Alistair MacLean adaptation is a sturdy entry in Charles Bronson's '70s-era filmography. MacLean's script isn't as tricky or thrilling as his past classic Where Eagles Dare, but it goes about its business in an effective, straightforward style, keeping the story rolling at a fast clip and adding in a few fun surprises along the way. Tom Gries' direction is stylish but unobtrusive, giving the film plenty of visual scope and getting solid performances from the well-chosen ensemble cast. The latter element is where the true joy of Breakheart Pass lies: Bronson's subtle, mysterious turn as the film's secret sleuth is ably backed by effective performances from Ben Johnson as a grizzled sheriff, Ed Lauter as a hard-headed military leader, and Richard Crenna as a rather high-handed governor. Eureka Blu-ray Release date: May 21st, 2018

Manila in the Claws of Light BD - Lino Brocka achieved international acclaim with this candid portrait of 1970s Manila, a breakout example of the more serious-minded filmmaking the director had turned to after building a career on mainstream movies he described as “soaps.” A young fisherman from a provincial village arrives in the capital on a quest to track down his girlfriend, who was lured there with the promise of work and hasn’t been heard from since. Criterion Blu-ray Release date: June 12th, 2018

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