Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF June 16th, 2014

  This Week's Highlights
 
 

Mbolo! - A more modest week as the warmer weather approaches. We have a few multi-disc Blu-ray packages Orson Welles, Wes Anderson, Alain Robbe-Grillet and two very strong TV series on Blu-ray and some new DVD coverage! The Release Calendar has new updates of films-to-Blu-ray including Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, Alfred Hitchcock, Maurice Pialat, David Cronenberg, Anthony Mann, Wes Craven, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill and more. June's FEATURE Blu-ray and DVD are posted. An important announcement, and a new CONTEST posted with a region FREE Blu-ray prize - best of luck!

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BARNES & NOBLE: 40% OFF 1000's of Blu-rays HERE (Last DAY June 16th - TODAY!)

FEATURE Blu-ray and DVD of the MONTH selected for JUNE!

 

 

(Week of) June 16th CONTEST  identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a Region FREE Blu-ray of Wojciech Has' The Saragossa Manuscript

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If there are DVD or Blu-ray titles you'd like us to cover - please feel free to recommend!

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Frau Im Mond [Woman In The Moon] [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1929) - RB UK Masters of Cinema

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [Blu-ray] (Robert Wiene, 1920) RB UK Masters of Cinema

The Man Who Knew Too Much [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934) RB UK Network

The Lego Movie [Blu-ray] (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, 2014) Warner Bros.

We Won't Grow Old Together [Blu-ray] (Maurice Pialat, 1972) Kino Classics

We're in Movies: Palace of Silents & Itinerant [Blu-ray] - Flicker Alley

Kingpin [Blu-ray] (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, 1996) Paramount

Shivers [Steelbook] [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 1975) RB UK Arrow Films
Shivers [
Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 1975) RB UK Arrow Films

The Black Book (Restored) (Anthony Mann, 1949) Film Chest

Shogun [Blu-ray] (TV Mini-Series, 1980) Paramount

The People Under the Stairs [Blu-ray] (Wes Craven, 1991) Universal

Iguana [Blu-ray] (Monte Hellman, 1988) Raro Video USA

Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair [Blu-ray] (Guiseppe Ferrera, 2002) Raro Video USA

Countess Dracula [Blu-ray] (Peter Sasdy, 1971) RB UK Network

Twins of Evil [Blu-ray] (John Hough, 1971) RB UK Network

Eskimo Nell 40th Anniversary Special Edition [Blu-ray] (Martin Campbell, 1975) RB UK 88 Films

The Island of Dr. Moreau [Blu-ray] (Don Taylor, 1977) RB UK 101 Films

Night of the Comet [Blu-ray] (Thom Eberhardt, 1984) RB UK Arrow Films

Road [Blu-ray] (Michael Hewitt, Dermot Lavery, 2014) RB UK Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment

Pumpkinhead [Blu-ray] (Stan Winston, 1988) Shout! Factory

Sabotage [Blu-ray] (David Ayer, 2014) Universal Studios

Last Action Hero [Blu-ray] (John McTiernan, 1993) Mill Creek

White Noise [Blu-ray] (Geoffrey Sax , 2005) Universal Studios

Sorceress [Blu-ray] (Jack Hill, 1982) Kino Lorber

Once Upon a Time in America: Extended Director's [Blu-ray] (Sergio Leone, 1984) Warner

Favourites of the Moon [Blu-ray] (Otar Iosseliani, 1984) Cohen

Dark Crimes - Film Noir Thrillers, Volume 2 - You and Me (1938) Ministry of Fear (1944) Undertow (1949) Hollywood Story (1951) - TCM

Rosemary's Baby [Blu-ray] (2014 mini-series) Lions Gate

20 Million Miles To Earth / It Came From Beneath The Sea [Blu-ray] - Ray Harryhausen BD Double Feature - Mill Creek (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)

Tinto Brass: Maestro Of Erotica Cinema [Blu-ray] (Cheeky!, Black Angel, Private, Monamour) Cult Epics (BEAVER REVIEW) (BEAVER REVIEW) (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Unforgiven [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1960) Kino Lorber

The Party [Blu-ray] (Blake Edwards, 1968) Kino Lorber

The Children's Hour [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1961) Kino Lorber

Night of the Big Heat [Blu-ray] (Terence Fisher, 1967) RB UK Odeon Entertainment

Cast a Giant Shadow [Blu-ray] (Melville Shavelson, 1966) Kino Lorber

Breakheart Pass [Blu-ray] (Tom Gries, 1975) Kino Lorber

On the Beach [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kramer, 1959) Kino Lorber

Mr. Majestyk [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1974) Kino Lorber

Spike Lee Joint Collection 1 (25th Hour, He Got Game) [Blu-ray] Touchstone

Toy Story of Terror [Blu-ray] (Angus MacLane, 2013) Walt Disney

What's New Pussycat? [Blu-ray] (Clive Donner, Richard Talmadge, 1965) Kino Lorber

Body Double [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 1984) Imports

Divergent [Blu-ray] (Neil Burger, 2014) Lionsgate

Noah [Blu-ray] (Darren Aronofsky, 2014) Paramount

The Glenn Miller Story [Blu-ray] (Anthony Mann, 1954) RB DE Koch Media

Dancer in the Dark [Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 2000) RB DE Koch Media

Jodorowsky's Dune [Blu-ray] (Frank Pavich, 2013) Sony Pictures

The Nutty Professor [Blu-ray] (Jerry Lewis, 1963) Paramount Pictures

The Slave [Blu-ray] (Festa Campanile, 1969) Mondo Macabro

Salvatore Giuliano [Blu-ray] (Francesco Rosi, 1962) RB UK Arrow

Stray Cat Rock: The Collection [Blu-ray] (Delinquent Girl, Boss, Wild Jumbo, Sex Hunter, Machine Animal, Beat 71) RB UK Arrow

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins [Blu-ray] (Guy Hamilton, 1985) RB UK Arrow

Brute Force [Blu-ray] (Jules Dassin, 1947) RB UK Arrow Academy

Branded to Kill [Blu-ray] (Seijun Suzuki, 1967) RB UK Arrow

Bound [Blu-ray] (Wachowski Brothers, 1996) RB UK Arrow

 

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): True Detective on Blu-ray is a strong character-driven crime-drama that gets our top pick of the week. Currently 50% OFF on Amazon. Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel is filed with the director's charm and impressive visual style. The Blu-ray offers a fabulous presentation. TCM have redone their Blu-ray of The Lady From Shanghai but some don't appreciate the darker look - I love the rich, grain-soaked appearance. BFI have produced a wonderful Blu-ray package in Alain Robbe-Grillet: Six Films, impressive 1080P, Tim Lucas' commentaries and more. House of Cards -  Season 2 keeps up the intensity in both political and personal spheres - brilliant TV, available on Blu-ray. On DVD, we covered The Shadow of the Cat - a forgotten horror Hammer effort, steeped in the studio's classic Brit charm. Gregory covered The Man Who Finally Died - a superior UK thriller from the 60s, Serious Charge - a ground-breaking delinquent drama, and The Brain Machine - another crime-thriller from the 50's. Eric reviewed 2 Autumns, 3 Winters - a comedic love-story out of France. We only part to meet again next week.

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

House of Cards -  Season 2 BD - Masterful, beguiling and charismatic, Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his equally ambitious wife Claire (Robin Wright) continue their ruthless rise to power in Season 2 of '. Behind the curtain of power, sex, ambition, love, greed and corruption in modern Washington D.C. the Underwoods must battle threats past and present to avoid losing everything. As new alliances form and old ones succumb to deception and betrayal, they will stop at nothing to ensure their ascendancy. Blu-ray Release date: June 17th, 2014

The Lady From Shanghai BD - ***NEW Blu-ray Version*** Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, 1941) wrote, directed and starred in this treacherous tale of a sailor (Welles) hired to help a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her disabled lawyer husband (Everett Sloane) sail their private yacht from New York to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. On board, he is bribed to “fake” the murder of the lawyer’s partner (Glenn Anders), only to find himself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Welles created a scandal, and lots of publicity, by having his wife Hayworth’s trademark red locks cut short and bleached blonde for her role as a femme fatale, but the movie failed to score at the box office upon its release. Over time, critics have lavished praise on Welles’s uncommon vision, which culminates with the most elaborately staged of all film noir finales—the famous shootout in the hall of mirrors. Blu-ray Release date: June, 2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel BD - Wes Anderson heads to Europe for the first time with this Indian Paintbrush production starring Saoirse Ronan, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray, and Jude Law. The famous concierge at a legendary hotel situated in the Alps becomes the center of a farcical whirlwind of suspicion when one of his institution's oldest and richest patrons turns up dead, and she suspiciously leaves him her most priceless work of art -- a Renaissance painting of a boy with an apple. Blu-ray Release date: June 17th, 2014

Alain Robbe-Grillet: Six Films BD - Impossible to see for decades, these enigmatic, sexually-charged films have now been collected together for the very first time, and are made available here in beautifully remastered High Definition presentations, with extra features including video introductions by Catherine Robbe-Grillet, filmed interviews with Alain Robbe-Grillet by Frédéric Taddeï, and newly-recorded, exclusive feature-length commentaries by cult cinema authority Tim Lucas. Blu-ray Release date: June 30th, 2014

True Detective Season One BD - In 2012, Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart are brought in to revisit a homicide case they worked in 1995. As the inquiry unfolds in present day through separate interrogations, the two former detectives narrate the story of their investigation, reopening unhealed wounds, and drawing into question their supposed solving of a bizarre ritualistic murder in 1995. The timelines braid and converge in 2012 as each man is pulled back into a world they believed they'd left behind. In learning about each other and their killer, it becomes clear that darkness lives on both sides of the law. Blu-ray Release date: June 10th, 2014

The Shadow of the Cat - A normally placid pussy turns into a ferocious feline hell-bent for revenge against the treacherous trio who murdered her mistress in this interesting horror film. One of the killers was the woman's husband; the other two were her servants. The woman was quite wealthy, and the avaricious trio killed her to get at her fortune. Unfortunately, the crime was witnessed by the cat. Later the husband tries to convince his niece that the cat and the will must be destroyed. Soon after, the killer kitty leaps out and literally scares him to death. The cat then takes the niece and her lover to her aunt's corpse. In the end, the three inherit the fortune. DVD Release Date: May 19th, 2014

Serious Charge - An unmarried vicar in a new parish (Quayle) accuses a local 19 year old of being partially responsible for the death of a teenage girl. In defiance, the young man claims the vicar molested him. Out of spite, his story is backed up by a local woman (Churchill) still furious that the vicar rejected her advances. Unfortunately for the vicar, the woman is a highly respected member of the community - her father is the previous clergyman. DVD Release Date: June 30th, 2009

The Man Who Finally Died - In the quite Bavarian town of Konigsbergen, a horse-drawn hearse containing the coffin of Kurt Deutsch creaks across the town square whilst two men anonymously phone London to request the deceased’s long-lost son, jazz musician Joe Newman (Stanley Baker), come to Germany. Newman arrives a week later, he is told that his father had only recently died, but Joe believed his father died 20 years ago in action during WWII. DVD Release Date: July 1st. 2013

2 Autumns, 3 Winters - Arman is 33 and ready to make a change, starting with a run in the park. When he literally bumps into Amélie - slightly cynical but nevertheless lovely - on the jogging path, he is dead-set on making a connection with her. As a bit of contrived fate brings them together, Armans best friend Benjamin suffers an unexpected stroke, relegating him to the hospital for weeks where he falls for his doting young physical therapist. Over the course of two autumns and three winters, Arman, Amélie and Benjamin share the incidental moments, unexpected accidents, unconventional love stories and unforgettable memories that will define who they are. DVD Release Date: June 17th, 2014

The Brain Machine - When the reading on psychiatrist Allan's electro-encephalograph indicates that amnesiac hospital patient Reed is none other than a dangerous psychopath she'd previously tested, the patient in question kidnaps the doctor and threatens her life - leaving medic husband Barr racing against time to track down the villain's hide-out. Pacy little British B-pic which finds an interesting early techno angle on a pretty familiar storyline. DVD Release Date: November 4th, 2013

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

June 16th, 2014

 

Black Beauty [Blu-ray] (Caroline Thompson, 1994) Warner

The Complete Dr Phibes [Blu-ray] - The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Phibes Rises Again  - RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW)

Ernest & Celestine [Blu-ray] (Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, 2012) New Video Group

The Final Member [Blu-ray] (Jonah Bekhor, Zach Math, 2012) New Video Group

The Grand Budapest Hotel [Blu-ray] (Wes Anderson, 2014) 20th Century Fox (BEAVER REVIEW)

Hearts and Minds [Blu-ray] (Peter Davis, 1974) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Home Before Midnight [Blu-ray] (Pete Walker, 1979) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

House of Cards: Season 2 [Blu-ray] - Sony (BEAVER REVIEW)

House of Mortal Sin [Blu-ray] (Pete Walker, 1976) Redemption (BEAVER REVIEW)

Joe [Blu-ray] (David Gordon Green, 2013) Lions Gate

Judex [Blu-ray] (Georges Franju, 1963) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Lego Movie [Blu-ray] (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, 2014) Warner Bros.

The Monkey's Paw [Blu-ray] (Brett Simmons, 2013) Shout! Factory

Nashville [Blu-ray] (Robert Altman, 1975) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Picnic at Hanging Rock [Blu-ray] (Peter Weir, 1975) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Porky's [Blu-ray] (Bob Clark, 1982) RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW)

Porky's Steelbook [Blu-ray] (Bob Clark, 1982) RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sybil Danning Double Feature (Cat in the Cage/French Pussycat) - Substance

Victim [Blu-ray] (Basil Dearden, 1961) RB UK Network

When a Stranger Calls [Blu-ray] (Fred Walton, 1979) RB DE Alive

 

June 23rd, 2014

 

Birds, Orphans and Fools (Juraj Jakubisko, 1969) R2 UK Second Run

The Black Book (Restored) (Anthony Mann, 1949) Film Chest

Blood Ties [Blu-ray] (Guillaume Canet, 2013) Lions Gate

Breaking the Waves [Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 1996) RB UK Artificial Eye

Captain Clegg aka Night Creatures [Blu-ray] (Peter Graham Scott, 1962) RB UK Final Cut Entertainment

Enemy [Blu-ray] (Denis Villeneuve, 2014) Lionsgate

Exhibition [Blu-ray] (Joanna Hogg, 2013) RB UK Artificial Eye

The Four Feathers [Blu-ray] (Zoltan Korda, 1939) RB UK Network

A Hard Day’s Night [Blu-ray] (Richard Lester, 1964) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Lars von Trier Collection (5 Disc Blu-ray - Nymphomaniac Vol. I & Vol. II, Melancholia, Antichrist and Breaking the Waves) RB UK Artificial Eye

Lift To The Scaffold [Blu-ray] (Louis Malle, 1958) RB UK Artificial Eye

The Night Is Young [Blu-ray] (Leos Carax, 1986) RB UK Artificial Eye

Night of the Big Heat [Blu-ray] (Terence Fisher, 1967) RB UK Odeon Entertainment

Pluto [Blu-ray] (Su-won Shin, 2012) Third Window Films

Rob the Mob [Blu-ray] (Raymond De Felitta, 2014) Millennium

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot [Blu-ray] (Michael Cimino, 1974) RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

June 30th, 2014

 

Alain Robbe-Grillet: Six Films 1964-1974 (Blu-ray Box Set) The Immortal One (1964), Trans-Europ Express (1967), The Man Who Lies (1968), Eden and After (1970), N. Rolls the Dice (1971) and Successive Slidings Into Pleasure (1974). - RB UK BFI (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Big Heat Deluxe Edition with book [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1953) RB FR Warner

Cannibal Holocaust [Blu-ray] (Ruggero Deodato, 1980) Grindhouse Releasing

The Final Terror [Blu-ray] (Andrew Davis, 1983) Shout! Factory

Good Sam [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1948) Olive Films

The Killing Fields (30th Anniversary Steelbook Edition) [Blu-ray] (Roland Joffé, 1984) RB UK Studio Canal

Lord Jim [Blu-ray] (Richard Brooks, 1965) RB FR Wild Side

The Lunchbox [Blu-ray] (Ritesh Batra, 2013) Sony Pictures

Non-Stop [Blu-ray] (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2014) RB UK Studiocanal

Operation Petticoat [Blu-ray] (Blake Edwards, 1959) Olive Films

The Rocket [Blu-ray] (Kim Mordaunt, 2013) RB UK Eureka

So This Is New York [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1948) Olive Films

Too Late Blues [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1961) RB UK Masters of Cinema

 

July 7th, 2014

 

Absentia [Blu-ray] (Mike Flanagan, 2011) Region FREE UK Second Sight

Black Narcissus [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1947) RB UK Network

Body Double [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 1984) Imports

Caught [Blu-ray] (Max Ophüls, 1949) Olive Films

Curtains [Blu-ray] (Richard Ciupka, 1983) Synapse Films

Dark Crimes - Film Noir Thrillers, Volume 2 - You and Me (1938) Ministry of Fear (1944) Undertow (1949) Hollywood Story (1951) - TCM

The Death Kiss [Blu-ray] (Edwin L. Marin, 1932) Kino

The Grand Budapest Hotel [Blu-ray] (Wes Anderson, 2014) RB UK 20th Century Fox

Hands of the Ripper [Blu-ray] (Peter Sasdy, 1971) RB UK Network

Jodorowsky's Dune [Blu-ray] (Frank Pavich, 2013) Sony Pictures

Lake Placid [Blu-ray] (Steve Miner, 1999) Shout! Factory

The Legend of the Lone Ranger [Blu-ray] (William A. Fraker, 1981) RB UK Network

The Lost Moment [Blu-ray] (Martin Gabel, 1947) Olive Films

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid [Blu-ray] (Irving Pichel, 1948) Olive Films

Nymphomaniac Vol 1 & Vol 2 [Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 2012, 2013) Magnolia

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I [Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 2012) Magnolia
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II [
Blu-ray] (Lars von Trier, 2013) Magnolia

Point Blank [Blu-ray] (John Boorman, 1967) Warner Home Video

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins [Blu-ray] (Guy Hamilton, 1985) RB UK Arrow

Sgt. Bilko - The Phil Silvers Show - Complete Collection (20 disc set) - R2 UK Mediumrare

Southern Comfort [Blu-ray] (Walter Hill, 1981) Shout! Factory

The Time Machine [Blu-ray] (George Pal, 1960) Warner Home Video

The Vanquished (I Vinti) [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni , 1953) Kino

Watermark [Blu-ray] (Jennifer Baichwal, 2013) Koch

Le Week-End [Blu-ray] (Roger Michell, 2013) Music Box Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

   
   
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