DVDBeaver Newsletter - August 4th, 2008
Salut! - An even-paced 17 new DVD reviews this week - more on the Blu-rays front - plus more of the usual... Calendar updates (hold on - is that Antonioni to Blu-ray?), contest etc.
BIG THANKS!: DVDBeaver would not exist without the support of many patrons - those who generously donate, and especially those who use our Amazon and YesAsia links. That's it. When you go to Amazon - PLEASE use one of our links to get there (they are on every page - top and bottom - and we have 5000 webpages). It costs you absolutely nothing and we get a small commission on items you purchase. This helps pay our bills - in fact it's the only thing that pays our bills.
STRATEGIES: The best way to take full advantage of Amazon is to use PRE-ORDERs - lock in at the discount price by ORDERING - if perchance you decide against the purchase you have until the release date to cancel - at no charge.
AND if you will purchase more than 35 DVDs (or anything) in a 365 day period (and live in the Continental US) it makes excellent financial sense to subscribe to Amazon Prime! You will get Free 2-day shipping on your purchases!
BLU-RAY STORE HIGH DEFINITION DVD STORE ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS
Easiest way to catch up is simply read the new Newsletter Archive HERE.
- AUGUST 4th CONTEST - identify this CLIP to win a brand new sealed Blu-ray of Patriot Games - Best of luck all!
- STILL A SUBSTANTIAL SAVING: The Ingmar Bergman Archives - Hardcover + DVD 16.2 x 11.8 in., 592 pages. Contains previously unseen images from Bergman's films, and selected unpublished images from the personal archives of many photographers, plus written a narrative that, for the first time, will combine all of Bergman's working life in film and theater. It's $74 cheaper than the Taschen website at Pre-Order at Amazon HERE or at Amazon.UK HERE includes a DVD full of rare and previously unseen material, and a film strip from Fanny and Alexander.
FEATURE DVD(s) OF THE MONTH chosen for August... a tie!
LATEST Additions to the Release Calendar (PRE-ORDER and save!):
Flight of the Red Balloon
(Hsiao-hsien Hou, 2007) IFC
The Incredible Hulk
(Louis Leterrier, 2008) Universal
Arch Of Triumph
(Lewis Milestone, 1948) LionsGate
Bashing
(Masahiro Kobayashi, 2005) Facets
Beaufort
(Joseph Cedar, 2007) Kino
Beat the Devil
[Blu-ray]
(John Huston, 1953) ABC
Ultraman Complete Collection Box Set
- Navarre Corporation
The Flintstones: The Complete Series
- Turner Home Ent
Little Rascals: The Complete Collection
– Weinstein
The Red Desert
(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964) R2
The Red Desert
[Blu-ray]
(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964) RB UK BFI
Killer of Sheep
(Charles Burnett, 1977) R2
The Homefront Collection (Irving Berlin's This Is the Army (1943), Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Hollywood Canteen (1944) ) - Warner Home Video
Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray] (Mel Brooks, 1974) 20th Century Fox
The Stendhal Syndrome [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1996) Blue Underground
Star Trek: The Original Series Season Three Remastered - Paramount
Becket [Blu-ray] (Peter Glenville, 1964) Mpi Home Video
Three Stooges Collection 4: 1943-1945 - Sony
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad - Anniversary Edition (Nathan Juran, 1958) Sony
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad [Blu-ray] (Nathan Juran, 1958) Sony
Fist of Legend (Gordon Chan, 1994) Dragon Dynasty (Weinstein)
Quo Vadis (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Mervyn LeRoy, Anthony Mann, 1951) Warner Home Video
Affair in Trinidad
(Vincent Sherman, 1952) Sony Pictures
The New Centurions
(Richard Fleischer, 1972) Sony Pictures
The Garment Jungle
(Vincent Sherman, 1957) Sony Pictures
Babes in Toyland
(Gus Meins + Charley Rogers, 1934) Fox/MGM
The Notebook
(Nick Cassavetes, 2004) New Line Home Video
The Rebel
(Truc 'Charlie' Nguyen, 2006) Weinstein
The Visitor
[Blu-ray]
(Tom McCarthy, 2007) Anchor Bay
$
(Richard Brooks, 1971) Sony Pictures
Miami Vice
[Blu-ray]
(Michael Mann, 2006) Universal Studios
Puffball
(Nicolas Roeg, 2007) R2
"Thunderbirds"
[Blu-ray]
(1965) RB ITV DVD
Carry On - The Ultimate
Collection
[all 30 films] R2 UK ITV DVD
This Happy Breed
(David Lean, 1944) R2
Madeleine
(David Lean, 1950) R2
The Passionate Friends
(David Lean, 1949) R2
The Michael Caine Collection
(The Fourth Protocol, Educating Rita, The Ipcress File, The Eagle Has Landed and
Without A Clue) R2
ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): Briefly:
OHHH YEAH: Eclipse 11 - Larisa Shepitko, Chronicle of an Escape , Twenty-Four Eyes, Tropical Malady and Brand Upon the Brain!
FEELING BLU?: We feel the SD is adequate for The Counterfeiters BR but The Proposition BR is miles ahead of the old DVD we compared it to. For reasons noted in the reviews we give collective thumbs down to Nim's Island BR, Perhaps Love BR, Terminator 2: Judgment Day BR and Mad Detective BR - with the latter we simply suggest waiting for the MoC in October (we'll compare!).
NOSTALGIA: Widmark? Jane Greer? Trevor Howard as a hiding Nazi? - what more can you want? - Run For The Sun
CLASSIC TV: Get Smart Season One - 'Watching Get Smart at my leisure .... and... loving it!'
DISAPPOINTMENT: Joy House - shockingly inadequate.
New Reviews:
Mad Men Season One BR - Nominated for a staggering 16 Emmys, and priced the same as the SD DVD, this 3-disc Blu-ray edition should become a real winner for Lionsgate. It took me a while to put my finger on what Mad Men reminded me of, but when I nailed it, I was frankly surprised: it wasn't The Sopranos, which involved Mad Men creator, Matthew Weiner, and key people from his crew, it was Twin Peaks... The Blu-ray release date: July 1st, 2008
Joy House - A small-time con man on the run
from the gangster husband of his girlfriend hides out in a strange brooding
mansion run by two mysterious women. There he finds himself trapped in deception
between the two women. A lush decadent thriller featuring beautiful French
Riviera settings. DVD Release Date: August 8th, 2000
Chronicle of an Escape - The filmed version
of a real life horror tale, "Buenos Aires, 1977" turns the chilling story of
Argentina's military regime and its large scale political murders into a tense,
exciting escape thriller. Though functional on its own terms, this fourth
feature by Israel Adrian Caetano feels hollow at the core, leaving a feeling of
lingering disappointment over a missed opportunity to probe recent history.
DVD Release Date: August 19th, 2008
Perhaps Love BR
- Peter Chan Ho-sun finally returns with Perhaps Love, the closing film for the
Venice Film Festival 2005 and a nominee for Oscar Best Foreign Language Film.
The film features a star-studded cast, including top Mainland actress Zhou Xun,
Hong Kong super singer Jacky Cheung, Takeshi Kaneshiro who has been on the rise
in Japan, and also Korean actor Ji Jin Hee who is best-known for his role in Dae
Jang Geum. The Blu-ray release date: July 29th,
2008
One Fine Day - Korean soap opera is
seriously devoted to the notion of "First Love." [My personal opinion is that
this and other themes current in K-dramas are given a shot in the arm by the
effects of the separation of the two Koreas, but that's another story.] First
Love is heavily romanticized in TV fictions and can be seen in the expectations
of behavior for what remains, in many ways, a reserved society.
Twenty-Four Eyes - Keisuke Kinoshita’s
Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijushi no hitomi) is an elegant, emotional chronicle of a
teacher’s unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense
of morality. Set in a remote, rural island community and spanning decades of
Japanese history, from 1928 through World War II and beyond, Kinoshita’s film
takes a simultaneously sober and sentimental look at the epic themes of aging,
war, and death, all from the lovingly intimate perspective of Hisako Oshi
(Hideko Takamine), as she watches her pupils grow and deal with life’s harsh
realities. Though little known in the United States, Twenty-Four Eyes is one of
Japan’s most popular and enduring classics. DVD Release Date: August 19th,
2008
The Counterfeiters
BR - Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,
The Counterfeiters tells the true story of Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics),
a swindler who made a name for himself as Berlin's "King of the Counterfeiters."
However, his life of women and easy money is cut short when he's arrested and
placed in a Nazi concentration camp. With the German army on the verge of
bankruptcy, Sorowitsch makes a sobering deal with his captors: in exchange for a
comfortable bed, good food and fair treatment, Sorowitsch, along with the other
hand-picked specialists, must counterfeit bank notes to fund the Nazi War
effort. Both Blu-ray and SD DVD Release Date:
August 5th, 2008
Mad Detective BR
- Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai direct and produce, with a script by Wai and Au Kin-yee.
They barrel straight ahead, not wasting a moment of time and keeping the
audience on their toes. The mystery story makes sense, and the pacing is such
that we never really worry whether Bun has incredible powers of observation,
some sort of supernatural ability, or anything else; we just go with him. The
action scenes are well done, fast-paced but still clear.
Blu-ray Released: July 24th, 2008
Tropical Malady - Keng (Banlop Lomnoi) is a
soldier who has been assigned duty as a forest ranger in the woodlands of the
country. While on duty, he meets a young man named Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee) ;
Keng becomes deeply infatuated with Tong, but while Tong is friendly with Keng,
he is obviously unwilling to respond to his romantic overtures. As Keng deals
with his disappointment, he learns that a number of animals and villagers have
fallen victim to a vicious predator who may be a tiger or a shape-shifting
shaman. Keng gathers his courage and begins tracking the beast, which
alternately resembles a jungle cat and his friend Tong. Second Run DVD
Release Date: August 11th, 2008
Brand Upon the Brain! - In the weird and
wonderful supercinematic world of Canadian cult filmmaker Guy Maddin, personal
memory collides with movie lore for a radical sensory overload. This eerie
excursion into the Gothic recesses of Maddin’s mad, imaginary childhood is a
silent, black-and-white comic science-fiction nightmare set in a lighthouse on
grim Black Notch Island, where fictional protagonist Guy Maddin was raised by an
ironfisted, puritanical mother. Originally mounted as a theatrical event
(accompanied by live orchestra, Foley artists, and assorted narrators), Brand
upon the Brain! is an irreverent, delirious trip into the mind of one of current
cinema’s true eccentrics. DVD Release Date: August 12th, 2008
Nim's Island BR
- Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's
imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary
character, Alex Rover - the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the
author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's
father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with
Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and
find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island...
Blu-ray Released: August 5th, 2008
Tai Chi Master - Portraying legendary tai
chi chuan founder Zhang San-feng in this wire-enhanced kung fu extravaganza from
screen fighting master Yuen Woo-ping is Jet Li who joins Michelle Yeoh in a
vicious fight against a eunuch overlord (Sun Jian-kui) and his ruthless
lieutenant as played by
MR. VAMPIRE star Chin Siu-ho. Through a sometimes uneasy
mixture of the Yuen Clan’s nonsense humor and endlessly creative and intense
high-wire action emerges an entertaining yet lightweight martial arts actioner
that serves as a warm up to the matured Yuen-Li collaboration in Ronnie Yu’s
superior FEARLESS. DVD Release Date: July 29th, 2008
Run For The Sun - Run for the Sun is a 1956
film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on
Richard Connell's classic suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after RKO's
The Most Dangerous Game (1932), which starred Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, and
their (1945) remake, A Game of Death, which was directed by Robert Wise. This
version stars Trevor Howard as the hunter and Richard Widmark as the prey, and
was directed by Ray Boulting from a script written by Boulting and Dudley
Nichols. DVD Release Date: July 14th, 2008
Eclipse 11 - Larisa Shepitko - The career
of Larisa Shepitko, an icon of sixties and seventies Soviet cinema, was
tragically cut short when she was killed in a car crash at age forty, just as
she was emerging on the international scene. The body of work she left behind,
though small, is masterful, and her genius for visually evoking characters'
interior worlds is never more striking than in her two greatest works: Wings, an
intimate yet exhilarating portrait of a female fighter pilot turned provincial
headmistress, and The Ascent, a gripping, tragic wartime parable of betrayal and
martyrdom. A true artist who had deftly used the Soviet film industry to make
statements both personal and universal, Shepitko remains one of the greatest
unsung filmmakers of all time. DVD Release Date: August 12th, 2008
Get Smart Season One - Consistently
incompetent, often lucky and always endearing is the character of secret agent
Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) in the classic and hilarious sitcom/spy spoof "Get
Smart" that debuted in 1965 and ran, eventually bouncing around to all three
major networks in its short 5 year history. The show's often brilliant humor,
certainly unique for 60's television, escalated its devout following to have
many judge it as one of the best shows ever put on the tube. It runs popularly
in syndication to this day. Season One is coming to DVD August 5th, 2008
The Proposition BR
- While The Proposition is Australian in any way possible, it is one of the most
valuable contributions to the western genre since Eastwood’s Unforgiven. It is
in one way unique, given both the Australian context, yet universal in the way
it addresses the conflict of letters of the law versus justice and in doing the
right thing. As such, it portraits the human psyche facing justice and revenge,
showing us both sides of the coin and the consequences.
Blu-ray Release Date: August 19th, 2008
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
BR - The Terminator is back, and he's almost
human. His mission is protect the now adolescent John Connor from an even more
indestructible Terminator - played by Robert Patrick with relentless intensity,
though little of Arnold's menace. If it weren't for the bodies he
indiscriminately leaves in his wake, Patrick's T-1000 would have more in common
with Malkovich's Mitch Leary from
In the Line of Fire than with Schwarzenegger's
Terminator. But that's just one of the many ways Cameron made sure the audience
would not come to feel that the sequel was merely a warmed over version of the
original.
Next
2 weeks on the Calendar:
Week of August 4th, 2008
Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre
(Jean-Paul Salomé, 2001) - Lions Gate (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007) Sony Pictures [Blu-ray] (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007) Sony Pictures (1965) - HBO (Les Felins) (René Clément, 1964) Koch/Lorber [Blu-ray] (2-Disc Collector's Edition) (Simon Wincer, 1989) - Genius Products - El Cochecito (1960)The Seed of Man (1969), La Grande Bouffe (1973), Don't Touch the White Woman (1974), Bye Bye Monkey (1978), Seeking Aylum (1979), Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981), The House of Smiles (1988) - Koch/Lorber (Mark Levin, 2008) 20th Century Fox [Blu-ray] (Mark Levin, 2008) 20th Century FoxStar Trek The Original Series - The Complete Second Season - Paramount (Ryu Murakami, 1991) Cinema Epoch
Week of August 11th, 2008
(Guy Maddin, 2006) Criterion (Stephen Chow, 2008) - SonyEclipse Series 11: Larisa Shepitko
- The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko, 1976), Wings (Larisa Shepitko, 1966) Criterion (Mike Binder, 2001) Starz / Anchor Bay (David Lean, 1944) R2 UK ITV DVD (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) - R2 UK Second Run
"Education is the best provision for the journey to old age."
- Aristotle
Get outdoors when you can!
Gary