DVDBeaver Newsletter - July 9th, 2012

Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF July 9th, 2012

	This Week's Highlights
	Hien da'? - Summer slowdowns in a week with an Academy Award Best Picture Winner, Silent Era daring to address 'incendiary subject matters', a comic-book rendition stinker, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jacques Tourneur, Fritz Lang, Claude Chabrol, Michael Winterbottom and more! Plus important listings on the *Upcoming Calendar* with some Mary Pickford films to Blu-ray, Wes Anderson, Wong Kar-Wai, David Cronenberg, Tobe Hooper, Sydney Pollack, Joss Whedon. We also have our CONTEST clip with another brand new Criterion Blu-ray prize! FEATURE DVD and Blu-ray of the MONTH chosen for JULY! *HERE* FOLLOW US on TWITTER! (where we post important reviews, contests - prizes, calendar updates - plus much more...)
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	July 9th CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a brand new *Criterion Blu-ray of Tokyo Drifter* DVD and Blu-ray of the Year 2011 HERE
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NOTE:_	If there are DVD titles you'd like us to cover - please feel free to recommend! Gary at 2ze dot com

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:

Rags and Riches: The Mary Pickford Collection [Blu-ray] (The Poor Little Rich Girl. 1917, The Hoodlum. 1919, Sparrows. 1926) Milestone

Moonrise Kingdom [Blu-ray] (Wes Anderson, 2012) Region FREE Universal UK

Suddenly [Blu-ray] (Lewis Allen, 1954) HD Cinema Classics

Cosmopolis [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 2012) RB UK Entertainment One

Terror Train [Blu-ray] (Roger Spottiswoode, 1980) Shout! Factory

The Funhouse [Blu-ray] (Tobe Hooper, 1981) Shout! Factory

Night of the Devils [Blu-ray] (Giorgio Ferroni, 1972) Raro

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry [Blu-ray] (Alison Klayman, 2012) RB UK Artificial Eye

Sailor of the King [Blu-ray] (Roy Boulting, 1953) RB UK Odeon Entertainment

Delicacy [Blu-ray] (David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos, 2011) RB UK Studio Canal

Marvel's The Avengers [Blu-ray] (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) (Joss Whedon, 2012) Walt Disney Video

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled [Blu-ray] (10-Disc Limited Edition Six-Movie Collector's Set) [Blu-ray] (Joss Whedon, 2012) Walt Disney Video

One Hundred and One Dalmatians [Blu-ray] (Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, 1961) RB UK Walt Disney Studios

The Firm [Blu-ray] (Sydney Pollack, 1993) Paramount

Lone Wolf & Cub Complete [Blu-ray] - Animeigo

Patience (After Sebald) (Grant Gee, 2012) Cinema Guild

Shakespeare High (Alex Rotaru, 2011) Cinema Guild

Payback (Jennifer Baichwal, 2012) Zeitgeist

Wong Kar-Wai Double Feature: Fallen Angels + Happy Together [Blu-ray] - Kino

Downton Abbey Seasons 1 & 2 Limited Edition [Blu-ray] - Original UK Version Set [Blu-ray] - PBS

Psychotica [Blu-ray] (Michael Klawitter, 2010) Shriek Show

The Crossing Guard/The Human Stain [Blu-ray] - Echo Bridge

Damsels in Distress [Blu-ray] (Whit Stillman, 2011) Sony Pictures

Dial M for Murder [Blu-ray] 2D + 3D (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) Warner

Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection [Blu-ray] - Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Phantom of the Opera (1943), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Wolf Man (1941), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) - Universal

The Battle of Algiers [Blu-ray] (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) RB UK Argent Films

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) UK Network

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection [Blu-ray] - Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Rope (1948) Rear Window (1954) -The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Vertigo (1958) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976) - Universal

Ed Wood [Blu-ray] (Tim Burton, 1994) Touchstone / Disney

Strangers On A Train [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) Warner

Macbeth [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1948) Olive Films

A Double Life [Blu-ray] (George Cukor, 1947) Olive Films

Cyrano de Bergerac [Blu-ray] (Michael Gordon, 1950) Olive Films

Love Exposure [Blu-ray] (Shion Sono, 2008) Olive Films

The Devil, Probably (Robert Bresson, 1977) Olive Films

Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945) Criterion Collection

Children of Paradise [Blu-ray] (Marcel Carné, 1945) Criterion Collection

Umberto D. [Blu-ray] (Vittorio De Sica, 1952) Criterion Collection

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

Les visiteurs du soir (Marcel Carné, 1942) Criterion Collection

Les visiteurs du soir [Blu-ray] (Marcel Carné, 1942) Criterion Collection

Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel, 1982) Criterion Collection

Eating Raoul [Blu-ray] (Paul Bartel, 1982) Criterion Collection

The Game (David Fincher, 1997) Criterion Collection

The Game [Blu-ray] (David Fincher, 1997) Criterion Collection

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): I liked Spawn the most this week <just joking>. Although it's not as horrible as some make out. Actually Chabrol's La Ceremonie remains a highly impacting film and improves immensely via Blu-ray. It's hard to deny Chariots of Fire's place being such an impressively realized production and wonderful Blu-ray package. Without turning my nose up at the decayed sources The Devil's Needle and Other Tales of Vice And Redemption resonates well with more than Silent Era aficionados. I saw some value in Michael Winterbottom's beautiful effort Trishna. On DVD I reviewed Jacques Tourneur's Way of a Gaucho with the mesmerizing Gene Tierney - and it rates a spin or two. Eric covered two new Pasolini DVDs from The Masters of Cinema group with Pigsty (Porcile) and the less caustic Hawks and Sparrows. Eric also found time to review Eureka's Giorgio Moroder Presents: METROPOLIS for a tinted and uniquely scored take on the masterpiece. Have a courageous week!


	THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
	Chariots of Fire BD - 'Chariots of Fire'' was conceived by David Puttnam, its producer, who commissioned the excellent original screenplay by Colin Welland and then assigned a man new to feature films, Hugh Hudson, to direct it. The film, virtually a succession of smashing debuts, is the story of the 1924 Olympics, particularly of two British track stars who helped win glory for God, King and country - one furiously competitive young English Jew, a Cambridge student named Harold Abrahams, and one dedicated young Church of Scotland preacher, Eric Liddell, who says at one point to explain why he runs, ''God made me devout and - He made me fast.'' Blu-ray Release date: July 17th, 2012 Spawn BD - "Spawn'' is best seen as an experimental art film. It walks and talks like a big budget horror film, heavy on special effects and pitched at the teenage audience, and maybe that's how it will be received. But it's more impressive if you ignore the genre and just look at what's on the screen. What we have here are creators in several different areas doing their best to push the envelope. The subject is simply an excuse for their art--just as it always is with serious artists. Blu-ray Release date: July 10th, 2012 Pigsty - Decades on from its release, and featuring an all-star cast that includes Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anne Wiazemsky, Franco Citti, Pierre Clémenti, and Marco Ferreri, Pigsty [Porcile] remains one of Pier Paolo Pasolini's most controversial and wilfully provocative works - a deranged parody of cinema as revolutionary act. It comprises parallel stories: (1) Clémenti and Citti as cannibalistic savages who rampage a world outside of any distinct time or place, and who push against the boundaries of human morality; (2) Godard-regulars Léaud and Wiazemsky as a romantically engaged couple in a contemporary Germany painted as a morass of industrialisation, fascist impulse, and bestial instincts. DVD Release Date: July 23rd 2012 Hawks and Sparrows - One of the handful of films that found Pier Paolo Pasolini sustaining a merrier mode of cultural assault, Hawks and Sparrows [Uccellacci e uccellini] features Italy's popular comic actor Totò (known to cinephiles as the star of Roberto Rossellini's Dov'è la liberta…?) and Pasolini regular Ninetto Davoli in a picaresque fable that lampoons politics, religion, and the legacy of neorealism. A crow gifted with the power of speech accompanies wandering duo Totò and Ninetto on a trail that leads to their roles as Franciscan friars who preach to the literal "hawks and sparrows", before returning in time to gaze upon slum-dwellers, Danteist dentists, itinerant actor-hippies, and, ultimately, the state of the modern world. DVD Release Date: July 23rd 2012 Way of a Gaucho - Producer/writer Philip Dunne adapted the screenplay of Way of a Gaucho from the novel by Herbert Childs. Largely filmed... on location in Argentina, this is the story of Martin (Rory Calhoun), a freewheeling gaucho of the 1870s. Resenting the incursions of civilization, Martin accidentally kills a man while asserting his independence. To avoid a prison sentence, he signs up with the army, but soon deserts to form an outlaw band. Salinas (Richard Boone), Martin's former commanding officer, makes it his mission in life to bring Martin to justice. Gene Tierney co-stars as socialite Teresa, who stands by Martin through thick and thin. DVD Release Date: June 20th, 2012 Giorgio Moroder Presents: METROPOLIS - In the era when one could still but only dream of a comprehensive restoration of Fritz Lang's silent sci-fi epic Metropolis, esteemed pop artist/producer and pioneering electronic composer Giorgio Moroder followed his work on Brian De Palma's cult-classic Al Pacino vehicle Scarface by assembling his own version of Lang's 1920s classic. The result was a zeitgeist-infused, high-kitsch/high-art amalgam of some of the quintessential cinema images and then-contemporary 1980s pop-chart melodrama. For millions around the world, it is this version of Metropolis - featuring music by Moroder himself and artistes such as Adam Ant, Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, and Jon Anderson which first comes to mind whenever mention is made of the Lang original or, indeed, the iconic imagery and power of silent cinema. DVD Release Date: July 23rd 2012 La Ceremonie BD - In La Ceremonie, Claude Chabrol, known as the "French Hitchcock," creates one of his most shocking and unforgettable thrillers. Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) hires the illiterate Sophie as her maid. But Sophie soon falls under the influence of the mysterious Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert, *The Piano Teacher, Merci Pour Le Chocolate), and the stage is set for a tale of murder, violence, and betrayal. One of Chabrol's most acclaimed films, and winner of numerous international awards, La Ceremonie is a masterpiece of suspense. Blu-ray Release Date: July 23rd 2012* Trishna BD - Trishna (Freida Pinto) meets a wealthy young British businessman, Jay Singh (Riz Ahmed), who has come to India to work in his father's hotel business. After an accident destroys her father's Jeep, Trishna goes to work for Jay, and they fall in love. But despite their feelings for each other, their relationship must remain a secret due to the conflicting pressures of a rural society which is changing rapidly through industrialisation, urbanisation and, above all, education. Blu-ray Release date: July 9th, 2012 The Devil's Needle and Other Tales of Vice And Redemption BD - Comprised of three feature films that dared to address incendiary subject matter: drug abuse, prostitution, and the exploitation of labor. By folding these explosive issues within layers of melodramatic storytelling, the filmmakers were able to dodge public criticism while making their political views even more compelling. These films were among the first to demonstrate the cinema's potential as a persuasive cultural force. Blu-ray Release date: July 3rd, 2012

Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

July 9th, 2012

Altered States [Blu-ray] (Ken Russell, 1980) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Battle of Algiers [Blu-ray] (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) RB UK Argent Films

Brainstorm [Blu-ray] (Douglas Trumbull, 1983) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Chariots of Fire [Blu-ray] (Hugh Hudson, 1981) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Coma [Blu-ray] (Michael Crichton, 1978) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Devil's Needle and Other Tales of Vice And Redemption [Blu-ray] - Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Flowers of War [Blu-ray] (Yimou Zhang, 2011) Lions Gate

John Carter [Blu-ray] (Andrew Stanton, 2012) RB FR Disney

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia [Blu-ray] (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011) RB UK New Wave Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Outland [Blu-ray] (Peter Hyams , 1981) Image Entertainment

Querelle [Blu-ray] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982) RB FR Gaumont

The Saphead [Blu-ray] (Herbert Blaché, Winchell Smith, 1920) Kino

Senna [Blu-ray] (Asif Kapadia, 2011) Arc Entertainment

Seven Minutes in Heaven (Omri Givon, 2009) Film Movement

Spawn [Blu-ray] (Mark A.Z. Dippé, 1997) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Straight Story [Blu-ray] (David Lynch, 1999) RA JP

Trishna [Blu-ray] (Michael Winterbottom, 2011) Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

July 16th, 2012

The Blood Beast Terror [Blu-ray] (Vernon Sewell, 1968) Redemption

Burke & Hare [Blu-ray] (Vernon Sewell, 1972) Redemption

Camelot [Blu-ray] (Joshua Logan, 1968) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Cellular [Blu-ray] (David R. Ellis, 2004) New Line

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

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

Down by Law [Blu-ray] (Jim Jarmusch, 1986) Criterion

The Fairy [Blu-ray] (Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, 2011) Lorber

Here (Braden King, 2011) Strand Releasing

High Noon [Blu-ray] (60th Anniversary Edition) (Fred Zinnemann, 1952) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1956) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Just Cause [Blu-ray] (Arne Glimcher, 1995) Warner

Mean Streets [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1973) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Murder In The First [Blu-ray] (Marc Rocco, 1995) Warner

A Perfect Murder [Blu-ray] (Andrew Davis, 1998) Warner

The Shakespeare Collection - Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, King Lear - R2 UK Fremantle (BEAVER REVIEW)

Singin' in the Rain [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952) - Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)
Singin' In The Rain: 60th Anniversary Collector's Edition [Blu-ray] - Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

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

The Turin Horse [Blu-ray] (Bela Tarr, 2011) Cinema Guild

July 23rd, 2012

La Cérémonie [Blu-ray] (Claude Chabrol, 1995) RB UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Deep Blue Sea [Blu-ray] (Terence Davies, 2011) Music Box Films

Endeavour [Blu-ray] (Colm McCarthy, 2012) PBS

Eclipse Series 34: Jean Grémillon During the Occupation - (Remorques - 1941, Lumière d'été - 1943, Le ciel est à vous - 1944) - Criterion

Forever Marilyn Collection [Blu-ray] (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, How To Marry A Millionaire, Some Like It Hot) RB UK Fox Home Entertainment

Hawks and Sparrows (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1966) R2 UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Island of Dr Moreau [Blu-ray] (John Frankenheimer, 1996) New Line

The Kid with a Bike [Blu-ray] (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 2011) RB UK Artificial Eye

The Last Days of Disco [Blu-ray] (Whit Stillman, 1998) Criterion

The Last of England [Blu-ray] (Derek Jarman, 1988) Lorber

Man of the Story (Kathapurushan) (Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1996) R2 UK Second Run

Metropolitan [Blu-ray] (Whit Stillman, 1990) Criterion

Mystery Men [Blu-ray] (Kinka Usher, 1999) Universal

Pigsty (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969) R2 UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

La ardilla roja (The Red Squirrel) (Julio Medem, 1993) Bayview

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season One [Blu-ray] - Paramount

They Made Me a Fugitive [Blu-ray] (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1947) - Kino

July 30th, 2012

Barbarella [Blu-ray] (Roger Vadim, 1968) UK Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Beach [Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 2000) RB UK 20th Century Fox

Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel - The Complete 1955 Series - R2 UK Network

Body and Soul [Blu-ray] (Robert Rossen, 1947) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fela Kuti: Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense & Berliner Jazztage '78 (Double Feature) - Lorber

Fire with Fire [Blu-ray] (Duncan Gibbins, 1986) Olive Films

Firstborn [Blu-ray] (Michael Apted, 1984) Olive Films

Forever Marilyn Collection [Blu-ray] (There's No Business Like Show Business, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, River Of No Return, The Seven Year Itch, How To Marry A Millionaire) Fox Home Entertainment

Force of Evil [Blu-ray] (Abraham Polonsky, 1948) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [Blu-ray] (Howard Hawks, 1953) Fox

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

Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2011) Criterion

Le Havre [Blu-ray] (Aki Kaurismäki, 2011) Criterion

How to Marry a Millionaire [Blu-ray] (Jean Negulesco, 1953) Fox

London Boulevard [Blu-ray] (William Monahan, 2010) Region Free DE Universal

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

River of No Return [Blu-ray] (Otto Preminger, 1954) Fox

The Seven Year Itch [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1955) Fox

There's No Business Like Show Business [Blu-ray] (Walter Lang, 1954) Fox

Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition) [Blu-ray] (Paul Verhoeven, 1990) Lions Gate

The Whisperer in Darkness [Blu-ray] (Sean Branney, 2011) Microcinema

Who Dares Wins [Blu-ray] (Ian Sharp, 1982) RB Arrow Video

The Wild Geese [Blu-ray] (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1978) RB Arrow Video

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