Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF August 16th, 2010
  This Week's Highlights
Ya jalikurtijuyi!  - A slower week ahead but there are some 'essential' gems covered in this newsletter from iconic Hitchcock on Blu-ray to a von Sternberg tri-fecta on DVD..... There are a handful of new calendar updates, a new Second Run webpage and another new contest with a brand new Blu-ray prize... Enjoy!

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

 

Toy Story 3 [Blu-ray] (2-disc) (Lee Unkrich, 2010) Disney*Pixar
Toy Story 3 [Blu-ray] (3-disc) (Lee Unkrich, 2010) Disney*Pixar

Salon Kitty [Blu-ray] (Tinto Brass, 1976) E1

Psychomania [Blu-ray] (Don Sharp, 1973) MPI

Superman/Shazam: Return of the Black Adam [Blu-ray] - Warner Home Video

The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray] (David Lean, 1957) Sony

The Hunting Party [Blu-ray] (Richard Shepard, 2007) Weinstein

The Endless Summer Re-Mastered- Director's Special Edition 2 Disc Set (Bruce Brown, 1966) - Monterey Video

Highlander II [Blu-ray] (Russell Mulcahy, 1991) Lions Gate

The Girl Who Played With Fire [Blu-ray] (Daniel Alfredson, 2010) Music Box Films

Highlander [Blu-ray] (Russell Mulcahy, 1986) Lionsgate

The Karate Kid [Blu-ray] (Harald Zwart, 2010) Sony Pictures

The Last Rites of Ransom Pride [Blu-ray] (Tiller Russell, 2009) Screen Media

All White in Barking / Men of the City: Two Films by Marc Isaacs - R2 UK Second Run

Pillars of the Earth [Blu-ray] (Sergio Mimica Gezzan, 2010) - Sony Pictures

The Refuge (François Ozon, 2009) R2 UK Artificial Eye

A Blonde in Love (Milos Forman, 1965) R2 UK Second Run DVD

The Third Man [Blu-ray] (Carol Reed, 1949) LionsGate

Mandingo [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1975) Legend Films

Winter's Bone [Blu-ray] (Debra Granik, 2010) Roadside Attractions

Arn: The Knight Templar [Blu-ray] (Peter Flinth, 2007) Koch Entertainment

March of the Wooden Soldiers [Blu-ray] (Gus Meins + Charley Rogers, 1934) Legend Films

The Experiment [Blu-ray] (Paul Scheuring, 2010) - Sony Pictures

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse [Blu-ray] - Warner

The String (Mehdi Ben Attia, 2009) TLA Releasing

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ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): Despite reviewing only a few disc packages this week there are some definite recommendations. The most important Blu-ray release will be the region FREE UK disc of Hitchcock's Psycho. This will, no doubt, be the same transfer for the October US release and Universal appear to have done a solid job. The new lossless surround audio track with Herrmann's score is immersive. Shifting to DVD - we have an exceptional boxset this week from Criterion in their 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg. It comes with two great visual essays and a hefty booklet. Seeing these films represents a fabulous opportunity for serious film fans. I was left weak after the 2.5 hour viewing of Playing For Time with Vanessa Redgrave. It's a brilliant and impacting concentration camp film experience - initially shown on television. Don't miss it. I similarly have many positives about Tze Chun's debut feature "Children of Invention". A poignant and relevant exploration of modern immigrants struggling in the US. This is a very worthwhile DVD - loaded with commentaries and extras. I was less enthusiastic on the four Image Entertainment Blu-rays we compared this week - dismissing the interlaced Time Bandits outright but the others, if not image, have a few other positives over their UK counterparts including audio. Example - The Long Good Friday may suit the bill for many unfamiliar with the cockney slang - while it doesn't offer the Americanize DUB it does have optional English subtitles to 'translate' the heavy accent. The transfer limitations on the US Withnail and I didn't seem to be as bothersome but it's a shame Mona Lisa couldn't look better. Machine Gun McCain with Cassavetes, Falk and Rowlands was entertaining if, as we are told, colors on the Blue Underground 1080P edition are not as significant as they were theatrically.

BIG releases coming in the next few weeks... stay tuned.

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Machine Gun McCain BD - Lean, mean and paranoid, convict Hank McCain (John Cassavetes) is sprung from prison by West Coast mobster Charlie Adamo (Peter Falk) to rob a Las Vegas casino that is owned by an East Coast Mafia boss in the same syndicate. Adamo's underhanded attempt to muscle in on his fellow gangster's territory ignites a gangland war between factions with McCain caught in the middle and running for his life after he successfully pulls off a $2 million dollar heist. Along the way, McCain is double-crossed by his own son, hooks up with a bar hostess (Britt Ekland), is briefly reunited with his former mistress (Gena Rowlands) and goes down fighting in a genuine noir finale. Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Playing For Time - Vanessa Redgrave (Julia) stars as Fania Fenelon, a Jewish cabaret singer in Paris during the Nazi invasion. Fania and thousands of other Jewish and political prisoners are sent to the Auschwitz death camp. She and a group of other classical musicians are spared from death in exchange for performing music for their captors, headed by SS camp matron Shirley Knight (The Rain People). They are also ordered to play for the thousands being herded to the gas chambers - a "humane" means of easing the condemned into the next world. PLAYING FOR TIME was adapted for television by Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) and directed by Daniel Mann (The Rose Tattoo). The stellar cast also includes Jane Alexander (Testament), Maud Adams (Octopussy), Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon), Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), Verna Bloom (The Hired Hand), and Viveca Lindfors (Dark City). Winner of 4 Emmy Awards including Best Drama, Best Actress (Redgrave), Best Supporting Actress (Alexander), Best Teleplay (Miller), and winner of the 1981 Christopher and Peabody Awards. DVD Release Date: September 7th, 2010

The Long Good Friday BD - Bob Hoskins, in his breakthrough film role, stars as a London racketeer fast losing control of his gangland empire; Helen Mirren shines as his classy moll. John Mackenzie’s stylish thriller is a marriage of gangsterflicks from both sides of the Atlantic. Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Withnail and I BD - Bruce Robinson's semi-autobiographical account of his early years as an actor has become a cult hit of massive proportions, inspiring countless numbers of young men and women to quote stars Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant and their booze-soaked dialogue. The story follows these two unemployed actors in 1969 London, as they take a holiday in the country. Trapped inside a dank, empty cabin with each other, an endless downpour of heavy rain battering their roof, the two men form a complicated bond fuelled by booze, disaster, and nihilism. Though not much happens in terms of plot, WITHNAIL AND I is one of the most subtly hilarious films to come out of 1980s. Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Mona Lisa BD - Writer-director Neil Jordan’s breakthrough film is a brilliant, noir-infused love story. Bob Hoskins (who snagged an Oscar nomination for his performance) plays George, a small-time loser employed as a chauffeur to an enigmatic, high-class call girl. His fascination with her leads him on a dangerous quest through the sordid underbelly of London, where love is a weakness to be exploited and betrayed. Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Time Bandits BD - In Terry Gilliam’s fantastic voyage through time and space, a young boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarves. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)—but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move! Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and costar Michael Palin, Time Bandits is all at once giddy fairy tale, revisionist history lesson, and satire on technology gone awry. Blu-ray Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Children of Invention - Urgent, artful and even austerely poetic, writer-director Tze Chun's "Children of Invention" has taken some time hitting theaters after a much-lauded tour of the fest circuit. But in that time, its issues have ripened to a point where the movie seems ripped from the headlines: foreclosures, Ponzi schemes, children facing an uncertain economic future. This domestic drama seems very much of the moment -- maybe the next moment -- and could ignite a passion among some indie auds via its delicate treatment of a small family in the jaws of financial ruin. DVD Release Date: August 10th, 2010

Psycho BD - Credited with inventing the genre of the modern horror film, PSYCHO has had its share of sequels and imitators, none of which diminishes the achievement of this shocking and complex horror thriller. Alfred Hitchcock's choreography of elements in PSYCHO is considered so perfect it inspired a shot-by-shot remake by Gus Van Sant in 1998. However, Hitchcock's black-and-white original, featuring Anthony Perkins's haunting characterization of lonely motel keeper Norman Bates, has never been equaled. Bates presides over an out-of-the-way motel under the domineering specter of his mother. The young, well-intentioned Bates is introduced to the audience when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a blonde on the run with stolen money, checks in for the night. But Momma doesn't like loose women, so the stage is set for this classic tale of horror--and one of the most famous scenes in film history. PSYCHO was initially received by audiences with shock and amazement, and it still terrifies today. Blu-ray Release Date: August 9th, 2010

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg - Vienna-born, New York–raised Josef von Sternberg directed some of the most influential, stylish dramas ever to come out of Hollywood. Though best known for his star-making collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, von Sternberg began his career during the final years of the silent era, dazzling audiences and critics with his films’ dark visions and innovative cinematography. The titles in this collection, made on the cusp of the sound age, are three of von Sternberg’s greatest works, gritty evocations of gangster life (Underworld), the Russian Revolution (The Last Command), and working-class desperation (The Docks of New York) made into shadowy movie spectacle. Criterion is proud to present these long unavailable classics of American cinema, each with two musical scores. DVD Release Date: August 24th, 2010
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

August 16th, 2010

 

The Battle of the River Plate [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1956) RB DE KSM GmbH

The Bergman Faith Trilogy - R2 UK Palisades Tartan

Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus, 1959) Criterion
Black Orpheus [Blu-ray] (Marcel Camus, 1959) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Casshern Sins: Part 1 [Blu-ray] (Shigeyasu Yamauchi, 2008) Funimation
Casshern Sins: Part 2 [Blu-ray] (Shigeyasu Yamauchi, 2008) Funimation

Cemetery Junction [Blu-ray] (Ricky Gervais, 2010) Sony Pictures

Centurion [Blu-ray] (Neil Marshall, 2010) RB UK 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

The City of Your Final Destination [Blu-ray] (James Ivory, 2009) Screen Media

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) Lions Gate

Dexter: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray] - Paramount (BEAVER REVIEW)

Elvis [Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1979) RegionFREE UK Fremantle

L'enfance nue (Maurice Pialat, 1968) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Five K One [Blu-ray] (Dionciel Armstrong, 2010) Royalty Records

French Cancan w/Eng subs [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1954) RB FR Gaumont

Good Bad & the Weird [Blu-ray] (Ji-woon Kim, 2008) Mpi Home Video

Hamlet (Blu-ray Book) (Kenneth Branagh, 1996) - Warner Home Video

Lola (Jacques Demy, 1961) R2 UK Mr Bongo Films

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (Larry Blamire, 2009) Shout! Factory

Off and Running (Nicole Opper, 2009) First Run Features

The One That Got Away [Blu-ray] (Roy Ward Baker, 1957) RB DE KSM GmbH

Perrier's Bounty [Blu-ray] (Ian Fitzgibbon, 2009) RB UK Elevation Sales

 

 

August 23rd, 2010

 

A Zed & Two Noughts [Blu-ray] (Peter Greenaway, 1985) RB UK

Abandoned [Blu-ray] (Michael Feifer, 2010) Anchor Bay/Starz

Adelheid (Frantisek Vlácil, 1970) R2 UK Second Run

Ajami [Blu-ray] (Scandar Copti + Yaron Shani, 2009) Kino

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves [Blu-ray] (Arthur Lubin, 1944) RB UK Eureka

The Burmese Harp [Blu-ray] (Kon Ichikawa, 1956) RB UK Masters of Cinema

Comeback (Max Plettau, 2007) Pathfinder

Dark Arc (Dan Zukovic, 2005) Vanguard Cinema

Dogtooth [Blu-ray] (Giorgos Lanthimos, 2009) R'B' UK - Verve Pictures

Dorian Gray [Blu-ray] (Oliver Parker, 2009) NEM

The Edge Of The World [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, 1937) RB UK

The Ghost Writer [Blu-ray] (Roman Polanski, 2010) RB UK Optimum

The Gold Rush [Blu-ray] (Charles Chaplin, 1925) RB UK Park Circus

Goodbye Baby [Blu-ray] (Daniel Schechter, 2007) Cinevolve Studios

Human Desire (Fritz Lang, 1954) R2 UK Cornerstone Media

I Think We're Alone Now (Sean Donnelly, 2008) A+M

The Innocents [Blu-ray] (Jack Clayton, 1961) - R2 UK - BFI

Lebanon (Samuel Maoz, 2009) R2 UK Metrodome Group

Lebanon [Blu-ray] (Samuel Maoz, 2009) RB UK Metrodome Group

The Long Good Friday [Blu-ray] (John MacKenzie, 1980) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season [Blu-ray] - ABC Studios

Lost: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray] - ABC Studios

Loving Memory [Blu-ray] (Tony Scott, 1969) RB UK BFI Video

Machine Gun McCain [Blu-ray] (Giuliano Montaldo, 1969) Blue Underground (BEAVER REVIEW)

Metamorphosis (Jenö Hodi, 2007) MTI Home Video (BEAVER REVIEW)

Modern Times [Blu-ray] (Charles Chaplin, 1936) RB UK  Park Circus

Mona Lisa [Blu-ray] (Neil Jordan, 1986) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Satyajit Ray Collection Vol.3 (Deliverance, The Home and the World and The Public Enemy) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Seven Days (Shin-yeon Won, 2007) Virgil Films

Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami, 2009) Cinema Guild

Shogun Assassin [Blu-ray] (Robert Houston, 1980) Animeigo

Simpsons: Season 13 [Blu-ray] - 20th Century Fox

The Square [Blu-ray] (Nash Edgerton, 2008) Apparition

Survival of the Dead Ultimate Undead Edition [Blu-ray] (George A. Romero, 2009) Magnolia

Three Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg (Underworld, 1927 - The Last Command, 1928 - The Docks of New York, 1928) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Time Bandits [Blu-ray] (Terry Gilliam, 1981) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Who Killed Nancy? (Alan G. Parker, 2009) Koch Entertainment

Withnail and I [Blu-ray] (Bruce Robinson, 1987) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

The World [Blu-ray] (Zhang Ke Jia, 2004) RB UK - Masters of Cinema

 

 

August 30th, 2010

 

9th Company (Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray] (Fyodor Bondarchuk, 2005) Well Go USA

A Quiet Little Marriage (Mo Perkins, 2008) MPI

Black Blood Brothers [Blu-ray] (Hiroaki Yoshikawa, 2006) Funimation

Cinévardaphoto (Agnès Varda, 2004) Cinema Guild

Dick Barton Special Agent (British TV Series) - VCI

The Evil Dead [Blu-ray] (Sam Raimi, 1981) Anchor Bay/Starz

The Final Girl (Todd Verow, 2010) Breaking Glass Pictures

Flesh Eater [Blu-ray] (Chang Cheh, 1973) Shriek Show

Forbidden Dreams (Emanuele Di Cola, 1973) Mya Communication

Four Lions [Blu-ray (Christopher Morris, 2010) RB UK Elevation Sales

Harry Brown [Blu-ray] (Daniel Barber, 2009) Sony Pictures

Hell Is Sold Out (Michael Anderson, 1951) VCI

Legong - Dance of the Virgins (Henri de la Falaise, 1935) Milestone

Monamour (Tinto Brass, 2005) Cult Epics

The Name of the Rose [Blu-ray] (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986) RB DE Kinowelt GmbH

Nanny McPhee [Blu-ray] (Kirk Jones, 2005) Universal Studios

Point of Terror (Alex Nicol, 1971) Scorpion

The Red Riding Trilogy [Blu-ray] (In the Year of Our Lord 1974, 1980, and 1983) Mpi Home Video

Sons of Anarchy: Season Two [Blu-ray] - Twentieth Century Fox

"Thriller" (1960 - 62) - Complete TV series - Image Entertainment

 

 

September 6th, 2010

 

8 Diagram Pole Fighter (Chia-Liang Liu, 1984) Weinstein

A Call Girl (Damjan Kozole, 2009) Film Movement

After.Life [Blu-ray] (Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, 2009) RB UK

Bent [Blu-ray] (Sean Mathias, 1997) RB UK Park Circus

The Black Dahlia [Blu-ray] (Brian De Palma, 2006) Universal

Blood Into Wine [Blu-ray] (Ryan Page + Christopher Pomerenke, 2010) Channel Resources

Criminal Minds: Fifth Season - Paramount

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet [Blu-ray] (Frederick Wiseman, 2009) RB FR Editions Montparnasse

The Eisenstein Collection Vol.2 - Bezhin Meadow (1937); Alexander Nevsky (1938); Ivan The Terrible Part 1 (1944); Ivan The Terrible Part 2: The Boyars Plot (1958) - R2 UK Palisades Tartan

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, Banksy) R2 UK Revolver Entertainment

Exit Through the Gift Shop [Blu-ray] (2010, Banksy) R2 UK Revolver Entertainment

Forbidden Planet [Blu-ray] (Fred M. Wilcox, 1956) Warner

Four Lions [Blu-ray] (Christopher Morris, 2010) - RB UK Elevation Sales

TCM Greatest Classic Films: Hammer Horror (Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed, Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein) - Warner Home Video

In Cold Blood [Blu-ray] (Richard Brooks, 1967) Sony

Kind Hearts and Coronets [Blu-ray] (Robert Hamer, 1949) RB UK Elevation Sales

The Magnificent Seven [Blu-ray] (John Sturges, 1960) RB UK

Mars Attacks! [Blu-ray] (Tim Burton, 1996) Warner

Peter Greenaway Boxset (8-disc) - BABY OF MACÔN (1993), THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT (1982), DROWNING BY NUMBERS (1988), 8 1/2 WOMEN (1999), PETER GREENAWAY: A DOCUMENTARY (1992), THE PILLOW BOOK (1996), PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991), A ZED & TWO NOUGHTS (1985) - R2 Aus Umbrella Entertainment

The Phantom [Blu-ray] (Paolo Barzman, 2009) Rhi Entertainment

The Player [Blu-ray] (Robert Altman, 1992) Turner Home Entertainment

Playing for Time (Daniel Mann, 1980) Olive Films

Robert Kramer : Millestones - Ice - R2 FR Arcades Video

The Skeleton Key [Blu-ray] (Iain Softley, 2005) Universal

Solitary Man [Blu-ray] (David Levien, Brian Koppelman - 2010) Anchor Bay

Starcrash [Blu-ray] (Luigi Cozzi, 1978) Shout! Factory

That Evening Sun [Blu-ray] (Scott Teems, 2009) Image Entertainment

That Evening Sun (Night Cover) [Blu-ray] (Scott Teems, 2009) Image Entertainment

THX 1138 (The George Lucas Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] (George Lucas,1971) Warner

Tommy [Blu-ray] (Ken Russell, 1975) Sony Pictures

While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956) R2 UK Exposure

 
     
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