Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF July 18th, 2011
  This Week's Highlights
Uzalauáká!  - Criterion Blu-rays for films of Jean-Pierre Melville, Kurosawa and Todd Solondz plus an entertaining modern sci-fi hybrid, a classic Brit Noir and a few others in the new format. DVD has F. W. Murnau from the Masters of Cinema series, a multi-award winning documentary, an essential noir with Jane Russell and Mitchum - and more. Our calendar updates include films-to-Blu-ray by Manoel de Oliveira, Fellini and others - we have a great Criterion Blu-ray prize for this week's contest clip! Au Ag! Enjoy the Summer!

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Feature DVD and Blu-ray chosen for July 2011 HERE

Leonard has reviewed the new Oppo BDP-95 Universal audiophile Blu-ray player HERE!

 

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

The Strange Case of Angelica [Blu-ray] (Manoel de Oliveira, 2010) Cinema Guild

I Clowns [Blu-ray] (Federico Fellini, 1970) Raro Video

Horror Express [Blu-ray] (Eugenio Martín, 1972) Severin

I Want to See (Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, 2008) Typecast Releasing

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Blu-ray] (Rob Marshall, 2011) Disney

Batman: Year One [Blu-ray] (Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery, 2011) Warner

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (Chan-wook Park, 2006) Pathfinder

Viva Riva! [Blu-ray] (Djo Munga, 2010) Music Box Films

Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption [Blu-ray] (Ryan Thompson, 2011) Pacific Ent

The Others [Blu-ray] (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001) Lionsgate (BEAVER REVIEW)

Nude for Satan (Luigi Batzella, 1974) Raro Video USA Ltd.

Harakiri [Blu-ray] (Masaki Kobayashi, 1962) Masters of Cinema

The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) Masters of Cinema

Maniac Cop [Blu-ray] (William Lustig, 1988) RB UK Arrow Video

The Panic in Needle Park (Jerry Schatzberg, 1971) R2 UK Second Sight

The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1968) R2 UK Second Sight

Cannibal Holocaust: Ruggero Deodato's New Edit [Blu-ray] (Ruggero Deodato, 1980) Shameless

Baarìa [Blu-ray] (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2009) Image Entertainment

Dark Days (Marc Singer, 2000) Oscilloscope Laboratories

A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011) R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Big Picture (Eric Lartigau, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Tree (Julie Bertuccelli, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Mildred Pierce [Blu-ray] (Todd Haynes , 2011) Region FREE UK HBO

The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz, 1950) Warner Archive

Trainspotting [Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 1996) - Lionsgate Miramax

Me and Orson Welles (Richard Linklater, 2008) Warner Home Video

Assignment to Kill (Warner Shop LINK) (Sheldon Reynolds, 1968) Warner Archive

The Double Man (Warner Shop LINK) (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1967) Warner Archive

24 Hours to Kill (Warner Shop LINK)(Peter Bezencenet, 1965) Warner Archive

Avalanche Express (Warner Shop Link) (Mark Robson, 1979) Warner Archive

Once Before I Die (Warner Shop Link) (John Derek, 1966) Warner Archive

Kona Coast (Warner Shop LINK) (Lamont Johnson, 1968) Warner Archive

Tortilla Flat (Warner Shop LINK) (Victor Fleming, 1942) Warner Archive

Dressed to Kill [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma,1980) MGM

The Lookout [Blu-ray] (Scott Frank, 2007) Miramax

Tom & Jerry Golden Collection: Volume One [Blu-ray] - Warner

Bach: Well Tempered Clavier (complete) - [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] - MediaInVision/ Surround Records

Under Suspicion [Blu-ray] (Simon Moore, 1991) Image Entertainment

Hostage [Blu-ray] (Florent Emilio Siri, 2005) Miramax Lionsgate

Good Will Hunting [Blu-ray] (Gus Van Sant, 1997) Lionsgate Miramax

Scream Trilogy [Blu-ray] - Lionsgate Miramax

Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975) R2 UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Ivan's Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Le Bonheur (Agnes Varda, 1964) R2 UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

La Pointe Courte (Agnes Varda, 1954) R2 UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

L'Une Chante, L'Autre Pas (Agnes Varda, 1977) R2 UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy [Blu-ray] - Universal

Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Gift Set [Blu-ray] - Universal

Schloss Vogelöd (aka The Haunted Castle - F.W. Murnau, 1921) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, 2006) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

Agent 8 3/4 [Blu-ray] (Ralph Thomas, 1964) VCI Entertainment

Campbell's Kingdom [Blu-ray] (Ralph Thomas, 1957) VCI Entertainment

Little Sparrows (Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen, 2010) FilmMovement

Red Psalm (Miklós Jancsó, 1972) R2 UK Second Run

Our Beloved Month of August (Miguel Gomes, 2008) R2 UK Second Run

The Inspector General (Henry Koster, 1949) Shout! Factory

Vampires, Mummies And Monsters Collection [Roger Corman Cult Classics] (Lady Frankenstein, Time Walker, The Velvet Vampire & Grotesque) Shout! Factory

The Exterminator [Blu-ray] (James Glickenhaus, 1980) Synapse Films

Hellraiser [Blu-ray] (Clive Barker, 1987) Image Entertainment

The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2 - Cult of the Cobra (1955), Dr. Cyclops (1940), The Land Unknown (1957), The Deadly Mantis (1957) and The Leech Woman (1960) - Universal (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): A little under-the-weather - comments will return next week!

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Brighton Rock BD - Following vicious gang leader "Pinky" (Attenborough) as he tries to cover up the murder of his former best friend, "Brighton Rock" exposes the seedy underside of the resort. Forced into a corner by the trail of evidence he's left behind and by the machinations of rival mobster Colleoni (Charles Goldner), Pinky has to marry naïve waitress Rose (Marsh) in order to keep her from testifying against him. Blu-ray Release date: February 28th, 2011

 

Strigoi - One night, ex-Communist land owner Constantin Tirescu (Constantin Barbulescu, BLOODRAYNE) and his wife Ileana (Roxanna Guttmann) are sentenced to death without trial by the village priest Tudor (Dan Popa) for the death of elderly drunkard Florin Cojocaru (Nicolae Stanila). They are executed by shovel and buried, after which the villagers pillage Tirescu's home of its clothes and appliances. Meanwhile, young non-practicing doctor Vlad Cozma (Catalin Paraschiv, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN') had returned from Italy after a failed internship; having grown tired of frying chicken in a fast food joint. DVD Release Date: August 22nd, 2011

The Haunted Castle - If the traditional English-language title (The Haunted Palace) suggests the supernatural, the film itself eschews goblins or golems in favour of the hypnotic unfolding of a moral horror. Although the identity of the murderer can be predicted, what's unpredictable is the dream-like intensity that Murnau builds from the restrained acting and refined staging, where again and again characters move out of the depths toward the foreground, like profound upwellings from the subconscious. Masters of Cinema DVD Release Date: August 22nd, 2011

Life During Wartime BD - A group of people struggle to find a place for themselves in an unpredictable and volatile world. The past haunts the... present and imperils the future: ghosts circle and loom, trouble and console. The question of forgiveness and its limits threads throughout a series of intersecting love stories, offering clarity and possibly alternatives to the comforts of forgetting. Blu-ray Release date: July 26th, 2011

Desert Flower BD - Her story touched the hearts of millions: Waris Dirie's book DESERT FLOWER, which recounts her incredible journey from an African nomad to an international top model, became a worldwide bestseller with more than 11 million copies sold. This is the inspiring story of an extraordinary, proud and brave woman. Director and screenwriter Sherry Hormann (Father's Day) and producer and Oscar ® winner Peter Herrmann (Nowhere In Africa) have adapted Dirie's autobiography for the screen: a modern fairy tale of dazzling glamour and archaic rituals, full of vitality, emotional depth and enormous compassion. Top model and actress Liya Kebede shines in the main role alongside an ensemble of brilliant actors including Silver Bear and Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky). Blu-ray Release date: July 19th, 2011

Sands of the Kalahari BD - A chartered plane crashes in a remote African desert after colliding with a swarm of locusts. It’s not the harsh surroundings or the vicious baboons that the survivors have to worry about, but a fellow crazed passenger. The stellar cast includes Stuart Whitman as a businessman and big-game hunter, Stanley Baker as a chain-smoking and alcoholic mining engineer, Susannah York as a beautiful young divorcee, Nigel Davenport as the plane’s captain, Theodore Bikel as a doctor and Harry Andrews as an elderly German gentleman. This was the sixth and final teaming of Baker and his Zulu director Cy Endfield. Blu-ray Release date: August 2nd, 2011

The Secret Life of Jeffrey Dahmer - Carl Crew (BLOOD DINER) - who also scripted - plays serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who makes his first kill at eighteen before a dormant period of several years. When he resumes killing - luring young men to his apartment to pose for photographs - he starts keeping parts of them to be near them. Despite plenty of raised suspicions - including a few close calls that got away, yet apparently never told the police - and an arrest and five-year work release sentence, he continues killing, culminating in a prolific period in which he killed weekly before one of his victims escapes and alerts the cops. DVD Release Date: July 12th, 2011

Alice in Wonderland: An Adult Musical - Prim librarian Alice (Kristine DeBell, CHEERLEADERS WILD WEEKEND) isn't ready to go all the way with her gas jockey boyfriend William (Ron Nelson). After an argument with him, she comes across a copy of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which she has never read, and (after a musical number) follows a talking, bipedal White Rabbit (Larry Gelman, CHATTERBOX) through a mirror into a room whose only exit is a tiny door. She drinks from a bottle - helpfully marked "drink me" - and shrinks; however, her clothes do not shrink and she heads off into Wonderland in only a towel. DVD Release Date: March 15th, 2011

Léon Morin. Priest BD - Jean-Paul Belmondo delivers a subtly sensual performance in the hot-under-the-collar Léon Morin, Priest (Léon Morin, prêtre), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The French superstar plays a devoted man of the cloth who is desired by all the women of a small village in Nazi-occupied France. He finds himself most drawn to a sexually frustrated widow—played by Emmanuelle Riva—a religious skeptic whose relationship with her confessor turns into a confrontation with both God and her own repressed desire. A triumph of mood, setting, and innuendo, Léon Morin, Priest is an irreverent pleasure from one of French cinema’s towering virtuosos. Blu-ray Release Date: July 26th, 2011

High and Low BD - Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa’s highly influential High and Low (Tengoko to jigoku). Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a penetrating portrait of contemporary Japanese society. Blu-ray Release Date: July 26th, 2011

His Kind of Woman - Deported gangland boss Nick Ferraro (Raymond Burr) has hatched a scheme to re-enter the States and take charge of his crime racket. Dan Milner (Robert Mitchum) is a professional gambler who is roughed up by Ferraro s hoods and then offered $50,000 to leave America and head to the remote Mexican resort of Morros Lodge. En route, Milner bumps into the beautiful Lenore Brent (Jane Russell), a nightclub singer and mistress of Hollywood star Mark Cardigan (Vincent Price). As Milner settles into the rich playground of Morros Lodge, his every move is watched by Thompson (Charles McGraw), one of Ferraro s henchmen. Realising that he may be in over his head, Milner decides to make his own enquiries as to the identity of his paymaster. But Nick Ferraro is not the type of man to be investigated... DVD Release Date: May 9th, 2011

Limitless BD - Aspiring author Eddie Morra suffers from chronic writer's block, but his life changes instantly when an old friend introduces... him to NZT, a new pharmaceutical that allows him to tap his full potential. With every synapse crackling, Eddie can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in a day, comprehend complex equations and beguile anyone he meets. Soon Eddie takes Wall Street by storm, parlaying a small stake into millions. But, his accomplishments catch the attention of people willing to do anything to get their hands on his stash of NZT. With his life in jeopardy and the drug's brutal side effects taking their toll, Eddie attempts to hang on to his dwindling supply of NZT long enough to outwit his enemies. Blu-ray Release date: July 19th, 2011

Dark Days - "Dark Days" is the multi-award winning documentary from Marc Singer about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. The film depicts a way of life that is unimaginable to most of those who walk the streets above. In the pitch black of the tunnel, rats swarm through piles of garbage as high-speed trains leaving Penn Station tear through the darkness. For some of those who have gone underground, it has been home for as long as twenty-five years. The director abandoned life on the outside to spend all of his time in the tunnels, making it his home for two years. Surprisingly entertaining and deeply moving, "Dark Days" is an eye-opening experience that shatters the myths of homelessness with the strength and universality of the people the film represents. DVD Release Date: July 19th, 2011
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

July 18th, 2011

 

24 Hours to Kill (Warner Shop LINK)(Peter Bezencenet, 1965) Warner Archive

Amélie [Blu-ray] (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) Miramax Lionsgate

Assignment to Kill (Warner Shop LINK) (Sheldon Reynolds, 1968) Warner Archive

Avalanche Express (Warner Shop Link) (Mark Robson, 1979) Warner Archive

Beauty and the Beast [Blu-ray] (Jean Cocteau, 1946) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956) R2 UK Exposure Cinema

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas [Blu-ray] (Mark Herman, 2008) Miramax Lionsgate

Boyz n the Hood [Blu-ray] (John Singleton, 1991) Sony Pictures

Chocolat [Blu-ray] (Lasse Hallström, 2000) Miramax Lionsgate

Dark Days (Marc Singer, 2000) Oscilloscope Laboratories (BEAVER REVIEW)

Deep End [Blu-ray] (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970) RB UK BFI Video

Deep End (3-disc Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970) RB UK BFI Video

Desert Flower [Blu-ray] (Sherry Horman, 2009) Virgil Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Double Man (Warner Shop LINK) (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1967) Warner Archive

The Funhouse (Tobe Hooper, 1981) R2 UK Arrow Video

The Funhouse [Blu-ray] (Tobe Hooper, 1981) R2 UK Arrow Video

House of the Rising Sun [Blu-ray] (Brian Miller, 2011) Lions Gate

Kona Coast (Warner Shop LINK) (Lamont Johnson, 1968) Warner Archive

Limitless [Blu-ray] (Neil Burger, 2011) 20th Century Fox (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Music Room (Satyajit Ray, 1959) Criterion Collection
 The Music Room [Blu-ray] (Satyajit Ray, 1959) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Once Before I Die (Warner Shop Link) (John Derek, 1966) Warner Archive

Potiche [Blu-ray] (François Ozon, 2010) Music Box Films

Requiem for a Village [Blu-ray] (David Gladwell, 1975) RB UK BFI Video

Skidoo (Otto Preminger, 1968) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy (Peter Liechti, 2009) Lorber Films

 

July 25th, 2011

 

5th Ave Girl (Gregory La Cava, 1939) R2 UK Odeon Entertainment

American Grindhouse / Nightmares in Red, White & Blue: Double Feature - Lorber Films

National Lampoon's Animal House [Blu-ray] (John Landis, 1978) Region FREE Universal Pictures UK

Apa - The Father (István Szabó, 1966) R2 UK Second Run

The Blues Brothers [Blu-ray] (John Landis, 1980) Universal Studios

The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz, 1950) Warner Archive

The Call of the Wild [Blu-ray] (Ken Annakin, 1972) Universum Film

Dante's Peak [Blu-ray] (Roger Donaldson, 1997) Universal Studios

High and Low [Blu-ray] (Akira Kurosawa, 1963) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

A High Wind in Jamaica (Alexander Mackendrick, 1965) R2 UK Eureka (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Kremlin Letter (John Huston, 1970) R2 UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Lake Mungo (Joel Anderson, 2008) R2 UK Second Sight Films

The Last Man on Earth [Blu-ray] (Ubaldo Ragona, 1964) RB DE Savoy Film

Léon Morin, Priest (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961) Criterion Collection
 Léon Morin, Priest [Blu-ray] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Life During Wartime (Todd Solondz, 2009) Criterion Collection
 Life During Wartime [Blu-ray] (Todd Solondz, 2009) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

Love Like Poison (Katell Quillévéré, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Mao's Last Dancer [Blu-ray] (Bruce Beresford, 2009) 20th Century Fox

Monamour [Blu-ray] (Tinto Brass, 2006) Cult Epics

Source Code [Blu-ray] (Duncan Jones, 2011) Summit Entertainment

Taking Off [Blu-ray](Milos Forman, 1971) Koch Media

Tortilla Flat (Warner Shop LINK) (Victor Fleming, 1942) Warner Archive

Went the Day Well? [Blu-ray] (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1942) RB UK Optimum

 

August 1st, 2011

 

Better Off Dead... [Blu-ray] (Savage Steve Holland, 1985) Paramount

Copycat [Blu-ray] (Jon Amiel, 1995) Warner Home Video

Conan the Barbarian [Blu-ray] (John Milius, 1982) Universal Home Video

Conan the Destroyer [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1984) Universal Home Video

The Lavender Hill Mob (60th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] (Charles Crichton, 1951) RB UK Optimum

Limitless [Blu-ray] (Neil Burger, 2011) RB UK Momentum Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW)

Marvel Knights: Iron Man & Spider Woman [Blu-ray] - Shout! Factory

The Name of the Rose [Blu-ray] (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986) Warner

Outside the Law [Blu-ray] (Rachid Bouchareb, 2010) Palisades Tartan

Sands of the Kalahari (Cy Endfield, 1965) Olive Films

Sands of the Kalahari [Blu-ray] (Cy Endfield, 1965) Olive Films

A Screaming Man (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, 2010) Film Movement

The Silent House [Blu-ray] (Gustavo Hernández, 2010) RB UK Optimum

Sleepers [Blu-ray] (Barry Levinson, 1996) Warner Home Video

Submarine [Blu-ray] (Richard Ayoade, 2010) RB UK Optimum

 

August 8th, 2011

 

The Battle of Algiers [Blu-ray] (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966) - Criterion Collection

The Big Sky (Howard Hawks, 1952) R2 UK Odeon Entertainment

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff [Blu-ray] (Craig McCall, 2010) Strand Releasing

Dazed and Confused [Blu-ray] (Richard Linklater, 1993) Universal Studios

Dead Man [Blu-ray] (Jim Jarmusch, 1995) Miramax Echo Bridge

Evil Things (Dominic Perez, 2009) Inception Media Group (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High [Blu-ray] (Amy Heckerling, 1982) Universal Studios

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Vittorio De Sica, 1970) R2 UK Arrow

The Lookout [Blu-ray] (Scott Frank, 2007) Miramax

Mars Needs Moms [Blu-ray] (Simon Wells, 2011) Walt Disney Studios

Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979) R2 UK Artificial Eye

 

 
     
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