Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF July 8th, 2013
  This Week's Highlights
Vebatho! - A solid week with a Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Atom Egoyan, Tinto Brass on Blu-ray and this may our most horror-heavy issue with ghouls from the fog, a melting man (who is not so incredible), evil, rampaging, cars, zombies battling strippers and more. We have new Calendar Listings on Blu-ray including a Kurt Neumann classic, Abbas Kiarostami, Andrey Konchalovskiy, Ronald Neame, edgy Stuart Gordon and more! We've chosen our FEATURE Blu-ray and DVD of the MONTH for July and we've posted a new CONTEST Enjoy!

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

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(Week of) July 8th CONTEST  identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a Brand New Blu-ray of Godard's Keep Your Right Up

 
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Today's DVD & Blu-rays (Amazon)

Blu-rays Under $10 (Amazon)

Blu-rays Under £6 (Amazon UK)

Blu-rays Under £10 (Amazon UK)

Movies & TVs (Amazon Canada)

LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

The Fly [Blu-ray] (Kurt Neumann, 1958) RB UK 20th Century Fox

Like Someone in Love [Blu-ray] (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012) RB UK New Wave Films

Runaway Train [Blu-ray] (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1985) RB UK Arrow Films

Riot [Blu-ray] (Buzz Kulik, 1969) Olive Films

Escape From Zahrain [Blu-ray] (Ronald Neame, 1962) Olive Films

Castle Freak [Blu-ray] (Stuart Gordon, 1995) Full Moon Pictures

The Vincent Price Collection [Blu-ray] (The Fall of House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death, Witchfinder General, The Abominable Dr. Phibes) - Shout! Factory

A Letter to Three Wives - 65th Anniversary [Blu-ray] (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949) 20th Century Fox

Halloween  - 35th Anniversary [Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1978) Fox/Anchor Bay

Stalag 17 [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1953) Paramount

The Audrey Hepburn Collection [Blu-ray] R0 UK Paramount

Nayak: The Hero [Blu-ray] (Satyajit Ray, 1966) RB UK Artificial Eye

Flat Top [Blu-ray] (Lesley Selander, 1952) Olive Films

5 Dolls for an August Moon [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1970) Kino

The Devil Bat [Blu-ray] (Jean Yarborough, 1940) Kino

Cavalcade [Blu-ray] (Frank Lloyd, 1933) 20th Century Fox

Stories We Tell [Blu-ray] (Sarah Polley, 2012) RB UK Curzon Film World

Something in the Air [Blu-ray] (Olivier Assayas, 2012) RB UK Artificial Eye

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye [Blu-ray] (Gordon Douglas, 1950) Olive Films

Knock on Wood [Blu-ray] (Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, 1954) Olive Films

My Favorite Spy [Blu-ray] (Norman Z. McLeod, 1951) Olive Films

From Up on Poppy Hill [Blu-ray] (Goro Miyazaki, 2011) RB UK Studio Canal

Blockade, Landscape, Revue: 3 films by Sergei Loznitsa - R2 UK New Wave Films

Scum (Alan Clarke, 1979) [Blu-ray] RB UK Odeon Entertainment

The Car [Blu-ray] (Elliot Silverstein, 1977) RB UK Arrow

Off Limits [Blu-ray] (George Marshall, 1953) Olive Films

Street Trash - Special Meltdown Edition [Blu-ray] (James Muro, 1987) Synapse Films

Come as You Are [Blu-ray] (Geoffrey Enthoven, 2011) RB UK Eureka

Charade 50th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, 1963) Universal

Internal Affairs [Blu-ray] (Mike Figgis, 1990) Paramount

Only the Valiant [Blu-ray] (Gordon Douglas, 1951) Olive Films

On the Double [Blu-ray] (Melville Shavelson, 1961) Olive Films

Popeye Cartoon Collection: Volume 1 (Max Fleischer Era) - VCI

Popeye Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 (Famous Studios Era) - VCI

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

The Jerk [Blu-ray] (Carl Reiner, 1979) Universal
 

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): I was impressed by three or four releases this week - both Carpenter's The Fog in the Shout! Factory Blu-ray and Arrow's package of De Palma's Dressed to Kill in the new format are easily the definitive releases for their respective films - as our comparisons should handily indicate. I also loved Bernardo Bertolucci's Me and You - a realist drama touching on many themes. Taika Waititi's Boy has much to offer and the Kino Blu-ray is competent. The Car may be a bit goofy but has evolved as a cult-classic and the new 1080P looks sweet. Atom Egoyan's Speaking Parts is a brilliantly understated film but some may have been expecting more from the bare-bones Artificial Eye Blu-ray. The Incredible Melting Man is schlock but the best kind - with an edge of supercilious satire that escalates the entertainment value. Tinto Brass' Private is certainly not his best film and the Blu-ray transfer is weak - I'd say this deserves a 'pass'. On DVD Eric covered another appealing Scandinavian Crime/Noir with Exit and an over-the-top comedy entitled Zombies vs. Strippers - you don't need to know much more than that. Have a musical week!

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Exit - Businessman Thomas (Mads Mikkelsen -Casino Royale, Hannibal) stands at the peak of his career in a high-risk investment company that is on the brink of selling its valuable stake in another firm. However the Russian buyer has encountered irregularities in connection with an alleged suicide of an employee. At the same time Thomas's mentor and partner, William confides in Thomas that he wants to retire. That night William is brutally murdered in his home and Police arrest Thomas, as he had a motive due to the fact that he would benefit from his partner s death, plus the weapon used was a crowbar belonging to Thomas, with his, and only his, fingerprints in evidence. When Thomas phones his lawyer, the call is redirected to a stranger who threatens to hurt his wife and daughter if he does not give him access to his off-shore bank account in Jersey. DVD Release Date: July 8th, 2013

Dressed to Kill BD - Fashionable Manhattan therapist Dr. Robert Elliott (Caine) faces the most terrifying moment of his life, when a psychotic killer begins attacking the women (Dickinson and Allen) in his life— with a straight razor stolen from his office. Desperate to find the murderer before anyone else is hurt, Elliott is soon drawn into a dark and disturbing world of chilling desires. And as the doctor edges closer to the terrible truth, he finds himself lost in a provocative and deadly maze of obsession, deviance and deceit— where the most harmless erotic fantasies…can become the most deadly sexual nightmares! Arrow Blu-ray Release Date: July 29th, 2013

Speaking Parts BD - Pursuing the obsession with sex, death and videotape evident in Family Viewing, Egoyan here addresses the dangers of 'living in a situation in which everything depends upon one's attachment to, or rejection of, certain images'. For Clara (Rose), the danger lies in her desire to turn her dead brother's life into a TV movie, a project from which she is progressively erased. For shy hotel chambermaid Lisa (Khanjian), who watches videos of the man she loves as an extra in movies, it's her naive ignorance of the medium's potential for manipulation. Handsome gigolo Lance (McManus) has a role in both their lives; as the object of Lisa's unrequited, strangely ritualised love; as Clara's lover and the actor playing her brother in the film. Blu-ray Release date: July 24th, 2012

The Incredible Melting Man BD - Essentially a seedy '70s version of The Quatermass Experiment, this painfully cheap production from writer/director William Sachs involves the horrific plight of returning astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar), the sole survivor of a disastrous expedition to the rings of Saturn. The fatal outcome of the mission apparently involved the discovery of a space-borne virus, or radiation, or something (it's never made quite clear) that killed the rest of the crew and is causing West's flesh to melt and slough off his body. For reasons unexplained, the only relief from the pain of his condition can be found by consuming live human cells. After munching on a few bystanders, West escapes into the surrounding woods, pursued by NASA researcher Dr. Nelson (Burr DeBenning) and a disorganized posse of military monster-hunters. Blu-ray Release date: July 30th, 2013

Zombies vs. Strippers - Zombie comedy horror set in a run-down LA strip joint. Club owner Spider (Circus-Szalewski) is glad to see his business full of customers for the first time in years but it soon transpires that most of the clients are actually zombies. Now as the epidemic begins to spread, scantily-clad strippers Sugar Hills (Eve Mauro), Bambi (Victoria Levine) and Vanilla (Brittany Gael Vaughn) must fight for their survival. DVD Release Date: April 15th, 2013

The Car BD - Fasten your seatbelts for the terrifying thrill ride that has become a cult classic - The Car! The peaceful tranquility of a small Western town is disturbed when a murderous car wreaks havoc by viciously mowing down innocent victims. New sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) may be the only one who can stop this menace in its tracks until he realizes that the driver of this indestructible vehicle is far more dangerous than any man it is driven by pure evil. With a digitally remastered picture The Car has never been more thrilling more chilling or more explosively entertaining! Blu-ray Release Date: July 15th, 2013

The Fog BD - Following the phenomenal box-office success of his seminal horror classic Halloween, director John Carpenter teamed up with producer Debra Hill for a second independent horror project, this time in the mode of an old-fashioned ghost story. The end result was The Fog, a spooky romp about a dark secret that returns to haunt the Pacific fishing community of Antonio Bay on the 100th anniversary of the town's charter. Carpenter sets the mood in the film's prologue, which features grizzled old sea salt Mr. Machen (John Houseman) spinning ghost stories for a group of local children. For his final tale, he recounts the legend of the Elizabeth Dane -- a ship which crashed 100 years ago against the very rocks upon which the children are sitting. Meanwhile, as the clock strikes midnight on the fateful anniversary of that disaster, eerie phenomena begin to plague the town as a dense fog bank creeps toward the bay. Seeming to appear from nowhere and emitting a ghostly glow, the fog surrounds a small trawler filled with drunken fishermen, who glimpse the vague outline of a decrepit sailing vessel before being brutally killed by shadowy figures brandishing hooks and swords. Blu-ray Release Date: July 30th, 2013

Private BD - Six sexy stories of couples finding their joy in sharing with others! Directed by renowned filmmaker Tinto Brass, Private (aka DO IT) is an erotic comedy about erotically charged youthful couples who realize that nothing can bring them together as effectively as regular doses of fooling around. Blu-ray Release date: May 21st, 2013

Me and You BD - Italian adolescent drama directed by legendary Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. Introverted oddball Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) enjoys nothing more than his own company and using the excuse of a week-long skiing trip to hide out in his basement seems like the perfect opportunity to spend some time alone. But when his heroin-addicted half-sister Olivia (Tea Falco) arrives at his sacred refuge, his dreams of isolation are quickly shattered. Blu-ray Release date: July 8th, 2013

Boy BD - The year is 1984, and on the rural East Coast of New Zealand Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' is changing kids' lives. ''Boy'' (James Rolleston) is a dreamer who lives with his brother Rocky, a tribe of deserted cousins and his Nan. While Boy idolizes Michael Jackson his other hero is his father, Alamein (played by director / writer Taika Waititi), who is a distant memory to him, but is the subject of Boy's dreams and fantasies. Boy imagines his father as a deep sea diver, a war hero and a close relative of Michael Jackson (he can even dance like him), but in reality he's ''in the can for robbery''. When Alamein returns home after seven years away, Boy is forced to confront the man he thought he remembered find his own potential and learn to get along without the hero he had been hoping for. Inspired by the Oscar nominated ''Two Cars, One Night'' (also included on this Blu-ray), BOY is the hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age tale about heroes, magic and Michael Jackson. Blu-ray Release date: July 9th, 2013
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

July 8th, 2013

 

Blood and Sand [Blu-ray] (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941) 20th Century Fox

Boy [Blu-ray] (Taika Waititi, 2010) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Broken [Blu-ray] (Rufus Norris, 2012) RB UK StudioCanal

The Brood [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 1979) RB UK Second Sight

Charade 50th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, 1963) Universal

Cohen and Tate [Blu-ray] (Eric Red, 1988) Shout! Factory

A Field in England [Blu-ray] (Ben Wheatley, 2013) RB UK Channel 4

Gattaca [Blu-ray] (Andrew Niccol, 1997) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Hands Of The Ripper [Blu-ray] (Peter Sasdy, 1971) Synapse Films

The Jerk [Blu-ray] (Carl Reiner, 1979) Universal

The Life of Oharu [Blu-ray] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
 The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952) Criterion Collection

Me and You [Blu-ray] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2012) RB UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

One. Two. One (Mania Akbari, 2011) R2 UK Second Run

Shell [Blu-ray] (Scott Graham, 2012) RB UK Verve Pictures

Shun Li and the Poet (Andrea Segre, 2011) Film Movement

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

Speaking Parts [Blu-ray] (Atom Egoyan, 1989) RB UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Spring Breakers [Blu-ray] (Harmony Korine, 2013) Lionsgate

Street Trash - Special Meltdown Edition [Blu-ray] (James Muro, 1987) Synapse Films

 

 

July 15th, 2013

 

Black Sabbath [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1963) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Castle Freak [Blu-ray] (Stuart Gordon, ) 88 Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan [Blu-ray] (Hugh Hudson, 1984) Warner Bros

Heavy Traffic [Blu-ray] (Ralph Bakshi, 1973) Shout! Factory

The Complete Humphrey Jennings volume 3: A Diary for Timothy [Blu-ray] - RB UK BFI

Jackie Chan: Battle Creek Brawl / City Hunter [Blu-ray] - Shout! Factory

Kidnapped aka Rabid Dogs [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1974) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1976) RB UK BFI (BEAVER REVIEW)

Life After Death Project (Paul Davids, 2013) Indieblitz

Lord of the Flies [Blu-ray] (Peter Brook, 1963) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook, 1963) Criterion Collection

Manhunt of Mystery Island (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1945) Cheezy

 

July 22nd, 2013

 

The Adjuster [Blu-ray] (Atom Egoyan, 1991) RB UK Artificial Eye

Babette’s Feast [Blu-ray] (Gabriel Axel, 1987) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987) Criterion Collection

Beware of Mr. Baker [Blu-ray] (Jay Bulger, 2012) RB UK Curzon

The Birth of a Nation [Blu-ray] (D.W. Griffith, 1915) RB UK Masters of Cinema

The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

The Car [Blu-ray] (Elliot Silverstein, 1977) RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW)

Graceland [Blu-ray] (Ron Morales, 2012) Image Entertainment

Harlow [Blu-ray] (Gordon Douglas, 1965) Olive Films

The Ice Storm [Blu-ray] (Ang Lee, 1997) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
 In the House [Blu-ray] (François Ozon, 2012) RB UK Momentum Pictures

The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Episodes - Shout! Factory

Kiss of the Damned [Blu-ray] (Xan Cassavetes, 2012) Magnolia

Kiss of the Damned -alt cover [Blu-ray] (Xan Cassavetes, 2012) Magnolia

Once Is Not Enough [Blu-ray] (Guy Green, 1975) Olive Films

Pieta [Blu-ray] (Ki-duk Kim, 2012) Image Entertainment

Post Tenebras Lux [Blu-ray] (Carlos Reygadas, 2012) RB UK Drakes Avenue

Runaway Train [Blu-ray] (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1985) RB UK Arrow Films

The Silence [Blu-ray] (Baran bo Odar, 2010) Music Box Films

Summer and Smoke [Blu-ray] (Peter Glenville, 1961) Olive Films

Tower of Evil [Blu-ray] (Jim O'Connolly, 1972) Scorpion

WUSA [Blu-ray] (Stuart Rosenberg, 1970) Olive Films

 

July 29th, 2013

 

Angel and the Badman [Blu-ray] (James Edward Grant, 1947) Olive Films

Assault on Wall Street [Blu-ray] (Uwe Boll, 2013) Peace Arch Trinity

Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 1 [Blu-ray] - Olive

The Bronte Sisters [Blu-ray] (André Téchiné, 1979) Cohen Films

Bullfighter and the Lady [Blu-ray] (Budd Boetticher, 1951) Olive Films

Bus Stop [Blu-ray] (Joshua Logan, 1956) Fox Home Entertainment

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell [Blu-ray] (Otto Preminger, 1955) Olive Films

Cowboy Bebop Collectors Edition Part 1 [Blu-ray] RB UK Anime Ltd.

Cry Vengeance [Blu-ray] (Mark Stevens, 1954) Olive Films

The Demented [Blu-ray] (Christopher Roosevelt, 2013) Anchor Bay/Starz

The Devil’s Backbone [Blu-ray] (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) Criterion Collection

The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) Criterion Collection

Dressed to Kill [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 1989) Region B UK Arrow Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fernando Di Leo: The Italian Crime Collection: Vol. 2 [Blu-ray] (Shoot First, Die Later, Kidnap Syndicate & Naked Violence) - Raro (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fire Maidens of Outer Space [Blu-ray] (Cy Roth, 1956) Olive Films

The Fog (Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1980) Shout! Factory (BEAVER REVIEW)

Foolish Wives [Blu-ray] (Eric Von Stroheim, 1922) Kino

God's Little Acre [Blu-ray] (Anthony Mann, 1958) Olive Films

The Incredible Melting Man [Blu-ray] (William Sachs, 1977) Shout! Factory (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Keys of the Kingdom [Blu-ray] (John M Stahl, 1944) RB UK Odeon Entertainment

Knightriders [Blu-ray] (George A. Romero, 1981) Shout! Factory

A Late Quartet [Blu-ray] (Yaron Zilberman, 2012) RB UK Curzon

Love Me Tender [Blu-ray] (Robert D. Webb, 1956) Fox Home Entertainment

Niagara [Blu-ray] (Henry Hathaway, 1953) Fox Home Entertainment

Peggy Sue Got Married [Blu-ray] (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986) Image Entertainment

Possession [Blu-ray] (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981) RB UK Second Sight

Le pont du Nord [Blu-ray] (Jacques Rivette, 1981) RB UK Masters of Cinema

Le pont du Nord (Jacques Rivette, 1981) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

That Touch of Mink [Blu-ray] (Delbert Mann, 1962) Olive Films
   
     
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