DVDBeaver Newsletter - August 18th, 2006
Dagot'ee! - 15 new reviews (or comparisons) - we continue to be all over the board - A Cannes winner, classic noir, sci-fi 50's camp gold, Criterion, Kieslowski, Fritz Lang and a worthy TV effort... calendar addition news, Jonathan Rosenbaum... - you are at the right place.
Easiest way to catch up is simply read the new Newsletter Archive HERE.
UPCOMING - We are in possession of the upcoming Criterion DVDs of Seven Samurai - 3-disc and Amarcord 2-disc, as well as Fox noirs - Shock (Alfred L. Werker, 1946) and Vicki (Harry Horner, 1953) 20th Century Fox. We'll post them in time to capitalize on Pre-Orders discounts (if you choose to purchase)!
November Criterions...
Krzysztof Kieslowski's: The Double Life of Veronique
: Jonathan Rosenbaum tells us of Ten Neglected Science Fiction Movies
NEW Additions to the Release Calendar (PRE-ORDER!) (Béla Tarr, 1994) R2 UK Artificial Eye (Vittorio de Sica, 1946) R2 UK Masters of Cinema (Garson Kanin, 1939) R2 France Editions Montparnasse (Norman Foster, 1948) R2 France Editions Montparnasse (Ted Tetzlaff, 1949) R2 France Editions Montparnasse
Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
(Fred M. Wilcox, 1956) Warner Home VideoAmazon.com Exclusive Astaire & Rogers Partial Ultimate Collector's Edition
- Note: This edition is designed for customers who already purchased Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1. It contains all the content of Astaire & Rogers Ultimate Collection except the actual DVDs of Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time, Shall We Dance, and The Barkleys of Broadway. However, the Thinpak cases for those discs are included in this set. - Warner Home Video (Claude Chabrol, 1997) New Yorker Video (Michel Deville, 1980) New Yorker Video (Robert Guédiguian, 1997) New Yorker Video (Yolande Moreau, 2004) New Yorker Video
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!
RECOMMENDATIONS: The new SE DVD of Double Indemnity has such good supplements that I watched them (and listened) twice already. It will definitely be there for 2006 DVD of the Year balloting. The Criterion DVD of Pietro Germi's Seduced and Abandoned is as marvelous as the film - filled with olde world Italian charm/joy and pain. lf I had to take 10 films to a desert island I might, foolishly, chose This Island Earth - my passion for it runs that sophomorically deep. Henning Carlsen's Hunger is another must-own from Project X DVD - an exacting fit for our eclectic community. If you found ordering in French a bit daunting - you now have an option for The Double Life of Veronique with the UK DVD - but if you can wait till November Criterion is on the way. The addictive drug known as film noir filled the void briefly with Fourteen Hours - you won't be disappointed! Speaking of decent noir - tack on The Amazing Mr. X, Hangmen Also Die, and Lured. (but wait for 5-disc Film Noir - The Dark Side of Hollywood boxset for Hangmen Also Die.
New Reviews:
Fourteen Hours
- Notable for the screen debut of Grace Kelly, this is
a gripping little number from Hathaway, with Basehart as the despondent young man who
threatens to jump from a New York skyscraper. He
proceeds to change the lives of all around him
as a result of his actions, from the policeman
who spends the aforesaid 14 hours trying to talk
him down, to Kelly as the young wife who is
forced to reconsider her divorce as a result of
the would-be suicide. It's a simple formula, but
one that works, thanks to Basehart's tormented
performance, and direction that maintains the
suspense throughout. DVD Release Date: August
29th, 2006
This Island Earth
- Let us start with a plot that rarely gets more
appealing for a young adventure-seeking lad of
any era: Dr. Cal Meacham (played by tall, dark
and absurdly deep-voiced actor Rex Reason) is a
handsome scientist, able to dabble in nuclear
energy and expertly pilot jet planes. Cal and
his Jimmy Olson-like sidekick Joe, played by
Robert Nichols, have received a strange
metal-paged instruction manual on how to build
an "interocitor". It is very hard to rationalize
and rate such a campy film, but I will do it
regardless with a very enthusiastic 5 out of 5
Let your guard down and enjoy yourself! DVD
Release Date: August 22, 2006
L'Enfant -
(compared French, UK and US releases) Twice
garlanded by the Cannes Film Festival, the
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
have a style and set of interests that are as
instantly recognizable as those of any
filmmakers in the world. Cine Dardenne is
characterized by its hectic, rough-and-ready
camerawork, impeccable performances, a concern
with the urban dispossessed (specifically those
living in the small industrial city of Seraing),
and an unlikely affinity for Robert Bresson; the
mode might be described as spiritually infused
social realism. Sony
DVD
Release Date: August 15th, 2006
Loulou -
Sex with Loulou (Depardieu) is great, life is
never boring in his extended demi-monde of
drinkers, idlers and petty criminals, and at
first Nelly (Huppert) does not mind being the
one who pays all the bills while her work-shy
partner stays at home. But when she falls
pregnant, all the tensions in their relationship
rise to the surface, as it becomes unclear
whether Loulou will ever be more than Nelly's
bit of rough, or indeed whether she wants him to
be more. Artificial Eye DVD Release Date: 26
Jun 2006
Double Indemnity
- Regarded by many as the epitome of the
film-noir stylistic norm. All at once cynical,
sly, dark... a 'hard-boiled' suspense involving
adulterous behavior, graft and murder. The plot
was taken from James Cain's 1943 short story
'Three of a Kind' first published in a pulp
magazine. With the help of legendary novelist
Raymond Chandler, director Wilder adapted it to
the screen. The new Special edition DVD
Release Date is August 22nd, 2006
Seduced and Abandoned
- Pietro Germi's maliciously funny examination
(1964) of the marriage rites of Sicily, done up
in a crowded, cartoonish style that suggests the
work of Preston Sturges. The wit may be closer
to Evelyn Waugh--the jokes are cruel and
corrosive, and why not when the subject is
sexual hypocrisy? Stefania Sandrelli, as the
girl in desperate need of a husband, maintains a
beatific calm in the midst of the manic
goings-on. DVD Release Date: August 29th,
2006
Kicking and Screaming
- Paralyzed by postgraduation ennui, a group of
college friends remain on campus, patching
together a community for themselves in order to
deny the real-world futures awaiting them.
Academy Award–nominated screenwriter Noah
Baumbach’s hilarious and touching directorial
debut was one of the highlights of the American
independent film scene of the nineties, speaking
directly to a generation of adults-to-be unable
to reconcile their hermetic educational
experience with workaday responsibility, and
posing the eternal question, where do we go from
here? Stingingly funny and incisive, Baumbach’s
breakthrough features endlessly quotable
dialogue, delivered by a stellar ensemble cast.
DVD Release Date: August 22nd, 2006
Hunger -
Knut Hamsun's remarkable book
Hunger
was written in 1890 and it remains one of the
freshest books I've ever read. This 1966 film
adaptation, SULT [Hunger],
was the first ever Swedish/Danish/Norwegian film
co-production and it is a masterpiece of
cooperation, subtlety and respect for its source
material. It was director Henning Carlsen's
fourth feature film (after fifteen years making
documentaries) and he talks eloquently in the
DVD extras interview about the problems of
adapting an entirely first person perspective
book to the screen. In another filmed extra,
author Paul Auster talks of his love for the
film with Hamsun's grand-daughter Regine, who
both agree that it is one of the best film
adaptations of a novel ever. Auster compares the
intensity of the film to Bresson's
Diary of a Country Priest,
another of his favourites. The New Yorker
DVD Release Date is August 22nd, 2006
The Amazing Mr. X
- a very misleading title for one of the most
haunting and original film noirs ever released.
It gives the impression of a diabolical criminal
genius on the rampage or perhaps a comedy about
a milquetoast with fantastic powers. The movie
is neither of these. It's a stunningly beautiful
and unpredictable look at the phoney
spiritualism racket as well as ghosts both real
and imagined. An immediate favorable comparison
can be made to the works of Val Lewton. The
Amazing Mr. X straddles the line between
Lewton's gothic but plausible horrors and great
film noir works like
Murder My Sweet and
Out of
the Past. Is it a ghost story? A romance? A
crime tale? The answer is, it is all of these
things and more. DVD Release Date: July 18th,
2006
The Double Life of
Veronique (MK2 release compared
to Artificial Eye)- Krzysztof Kieslowski
focuses on identity using naturalistic and
sultry actress Irene Jacobs in the dual role of
French music teacher Veronique and Polish
soprano Weronika - both born on the same day.
Metaphysically they are aware of each other's
counterpart and it harkens back to the
director's penchant for fate, chance and
circumstance and we envision a possible meeting
of the intertwined souls. Both mysterious and
spiritual, Kieslowski touches us with the
universally hopeful destiny of a parallel
kindred spirit. Our unspoken desire for a
mirrored being - who can non-verbally share our
most intimate loves and joys - is the ultimate
expression of personal support. The director's
use of music and atmosphere again appears
unmatched in the modern era of film. Overall, an
ambiguous and enigmatic offering, this is a film
that clings to you for years after viewing. A
true masterpiece of cinema.
Hangmen Also Die
- Lang's marvellously dark adaptation of Bertolt
Brecht's fictionalized take on the assassination
of notorious Nazi leader and Czech 'protector'
Reinhard Heydrich by the resistance movement,
killed in Prague in 1942. Donlevy plays the
assassin hiding in the city as the Gestapo
promise retribution. There's plenty of tense
Langian suspense and the story fits his noir
disposition perfectly. Brecht was apparently
none too pleased with the result, feeling his
contribution had been undermined, but the film
manages to pull off the tough double of making
an anti-Nazi political statement and being
thrilling entertainment as well.
Lured -
Early Sirk serial killer thriller set in London,
with a brassy Ball as an American gal enlisted
by Scotland Yard to trap the culprit. As they
frequently do in the movies, the serial killer
meets his victims through the personal columns
and sends gloating announcements to the police
in verse form, just before he commits a murder.
Nice of him to meet them half way and provide a
tangible paper trail. As this is a studio-bound
London somewhere in California, there are no
prizes for guessing who plays the supporting
Brits: Karloff, Hardwicke, Napier and Zucco - a
nice brace of red herrings.
Prison Break Season One
- The success of the television series “24”
(2001), which features kinetic pacing and
“real-time” action, clearly paved the way for
today’s outlandish television premises. “24”
proved that television audiences would ignore
plausibility and logic given intense
performances and plenty of pulse-pounding
action. The series also conveyed to audiences
that a series could have staying power without
necessarily having an extensive concept. “Lost”
(2004) and “Prison Break” (2005)--two shows that
have seemingly brief premises--are evidently the
spawn of “24”. “Lost” begins with an aircraft
accident on a deserted island, and “Prison
Break” follows the attempted rescue of a
wrongly-convicted murderer. Both shows have a
presumably obvious ending in sight but place an
exhaustive focus on the journey to get there.
DVD Release Date: August 8th, 2006
Left Turn Right Turn The
Sun - Turn Left Turn Right the
movie is a successful, enjoyable adaptation of
its source. One key advantage that the movie has
over the book is the sound dimension. The main
male character is a violinist, and unless the
reader is a connoisseur of classical music, it’s
not easy to “understand” why certain pieces of
music are so important to the characters. On the
other hand, a movie’s soundtrack can reproduce
Edward Elgar’s violin solos for viewers, thereby
deepening the audience’s emotional connection
with the story. The music score is so spot-on
that it was nominated for a Golden Horse
(Taiwan’s equivalent of the Oscar). Also, Gigi
sang several sweet and aching love songs, and
“At the Carousel” won a Golden Horse for Best
Original Song.
Next 2 weeks on the Calendar:
Week of August 21st, 2006
Angel Heart - Special Edition (Alan Parker, 1987) R2 UK Momentum Pictures
Clean (Assayas, Olivier / 2004) R2 UK Momentum Pictures
Do You Remember Dolly Bell? [Emir Kusturica, 1981] Artificial Eye R2 UK
Dunkirk (Leslie Norman, 1958) Warner Home Video
Elizabeth I (Tom Hooper, 2005) (TV) Hbo Home Video
Fantastic Planet (René Laloux, 1973) R2 UK Eureka - Masters of Cinema
Fateless (Lajos Koltai, 2005) R2 UK - Vital Distribution
Funeral Parade Of Roses (Toshio Matsumoto, 1969) R2 UK Eureka Masters of Cinema
Hunger (Henning Carlsen, 1968) New Yorker Video
Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach ,1995) Criterion Collection
Lemming (Dominik Moll, 2005) R2 UK Artificial Eye
Red Angel (Yasuzo Masumura , 1966) Fantoma
State of the Union (Frank Capra, 1948) Universal Studios
When Father Was Away On Business [Emir Kusturica, 1985] Artificial Eye R2 UK
Week of August 28th, 2006
The Black Swan (Henry King,1942) Cinema Club R2 UK
Double Indemnity (Special Edition) (Billy Wilder, 1944) Universal Studios
Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962) Fremantle Home Entertainment
Fourteen Hours (Henry Hathaway, 1951) 20th Century Fox
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, 1971) Paramount Home Video
Lonesome Jim (Steve Buscemi, 2005) Genius Products Inc
Rien ne va plus - aka The Swindle (Claude Chabrol, 1997) New Yorker Video
Seduced & Abandoned (Pietro Germi, 1964) Criterion Collection
Shock (Alfred L. Werker, 1946) 20th Century Fox
The Sun Also Rises (Henry King , 1957) Cinema Club R2 UK
The Swindle (Claude Chabrol, 1997) New Yorker Video
The Tall Men (Raoul Walsh, 1955) Cinema Club R2 UK
This Island Earth (Joseph M. Newman, 1955) Universal Studios
Vicki (Harry Horner, 1953) 20th Century Fox
Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961) Fremantle Home Entertainment
Le Voyage en douce (Michel Deville, 1980) New Yorker Video
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER SAVINGS
Criterion's October lineup
Sólo con tu pareja
FASTER? - No patience for the Beaver homepage? - try the streamlined http://www.dvdbeaver-lite.com/ (a text version with all the same intrepid info!)
DON'T FORGET: Craving the stuff you can't seem to get anywhere else? Beavers TOP YesAsia picks are listed HERE
PRE-ORDERS and discounts (30% off or more)
Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach ,1995), Seduced & Abandoned, Six Moral Tales By Eric Rohmer (The Bakery Girl of Monceau, Suzanne's Career, My Night at Maud's, La collectionneuse, Claire's Knee, and Love in the Afternoon), Seven Samurai - 3-disc, Amarcord 2-disc, Brazil 3-disc, Brazil 1-disc, and Playtime. Plus October's lineup - Sólo con tu pareja (Alfonso Cuarón, 1991), Clean, Shaven (Lodge H. Kerrigan, 1994), Hands Over the City (Francesco Rosi, 1963), Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989)
Have a safe weekend!
Gary