DVDBeaver Newsletter - September 10th, 2007

Ya'at'eeh! - Solid week with 15 new reviews - 5 of which sport comparisons... an extensive 51 Calendar Updates with films from Schlöndorff, Kaurismaki, Boetticher, Lean and more. Our 4th of 5 'Quote Clips' to win an HD player!

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Easiest way to catch up is simply read the new Newsletter Archive HERE.

LATEST Additions to the Release Calendar (PRE-ORDER!)

NOTEWORTHY... or how to make a cineophile broke (more broke?): I've had a TV bootleg of Decision at Sundown for years - nice to see it 'officially released' - I'll also give another Boetticher film; Seminole a buy. I don't often indulge in these type of documentaries but I'll be buying Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann. I don't know much about it but there are lots of raves for Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea. Closure didn't impress the critics but I'm in the mood for the premise. La Vie en Rose sounds interesting. Colorizing It's A Wonderful Life ??? sick. I grew up with tales of Norin Rad so Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer is a must. My, my there sure is a lot to choose from....

Here are the rest:

New Reviews:

Wall Street - Say what you will about the film but Stone can definitely direct and Wall Street has certainly punched itself into modern culture making the name Gekko as synonymous as 'Boesky' to encapsulate the 'money money' 80's and its turbulent financial depths. The new Anniversary edition exceeds its 200 counterpart in all areas. DVD Release Date: Sept. 18th, 2007
The Transporter BR - Let's hear it for the new action hero: Jason Statham! Steven Seagal never looked or sounded this good, Jean-Claude Van Damme wasn't as cool. Jackie Chan was funnier and perhaps quicker. Arnold was bigger, but rarely meaner when called upon. Still, Statham is more action than hero, more Seagal than Willis. None of these guys can drive a BMW or Mercedes like Jason Statham, the 30 year old Londoner who first made his mark ten years earlier in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. We caught him a little later on in The Italian Job and Cellular, and two years ago in Transporter 2.
Rocky BR - The idea for Rocky must have been kicking around in Stallone's mind since he was old enough to walk, having grown up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a neighborhood not unlike that of Rocky Balboa's Philadelphia. He tried selling his screenplay to this studio and that for years before it was finally made, and with sufficient backing and production to make it the winner it was.
The City of Violence - The City of Violence is a vigorous revenge saga by Korean director Ryoo Seung-wan. Ryoo also worked as a producer, writer, and actor for this production. While Ryoo’s singular unifying vision is in strong evidence, one wonders if he took on too many things by himself. As revealed in some of the DVD’s bonus features, Ryoo exhausted himself to the point where he couldn’t give the production his full mental acumen towards the end of the shooting schedule. Thus, his options were limited in post-production. What we have is a technically accomplished, stylish, and energetic action movie that is not quite as eloquent as the efforts from Jackie Chan or Jet Li. However, the movie is well worth watching for several reasons. DVD Release Date: September 4th, 2007
Babel (2-disc CE) - Babel is one of those misguided “tourist” movies that tries to pretend otherwise. It is painfully apparent that Gonzalez does not even have an incipient understanding of Japan, Japanese culture, and Japanese people, but he tries to make it seem like his movie is “authentic”. This is in contrast to the approach that Sofia Coppola took with Lost in Translation; Coppola made the movie from the perspective of an outsider, which she is, instead of pretending that she knew exactly what it was that makes the Japanese tick. 2-disc CE DVD Release Date: September 25th, 2007
Next - Next is yet another loud, stupid action movie with poorly-conceived ideas about being able to see the future. It also has the misfortune of featuring one of Cage’s worst haircuts ever. Like Minority Report and Paycheck, Next is based on a Philip K. Dick story, and like Paycheck, Next is so inept and unoriginal that it simply rips off Minority Report for its better ideas and visuals (such as the eyeball brace placed on Cage’s head). Fans of Jessica Biel will be disappointed to see that there’s no fan service at all. “Next!” is exactly what you’ll be saying after seeing this movie. DVD Release Date: September 25th, 2007
Robocop - Called by Ken Russell “the greatest science-fiction film since Metropolis,” controversial director Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop is a special effects-laden cult phenomenon. The film features a resurrected and roboticized hero (Peter Weller) in a new, supercharged cyborg body, struggling to reclaim his memory and avenge his own death. Writtern by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, this film is a grown-up superhero fantasy come to vivid, bloody life. Anniversary Edition DVD Release Date: August 21st, 2007
The Fly Collection - The new Fly Collection with The Fly (1958), Return Of The Fly (1959) and The Curse Of The Fly (1965) sport new transfers, packaging and supplements compared to the original Fox releases (Curse getting its debut in NTSC - already available in PAL in Australia). There are 4 discs - one for each film and a 4th Bonus disc of supplements. DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007
Private Property - A typical shot in the subtle, tightly controlled family drama Private Property finds a single mother, played by the great Isabelle Huppert, sitting at the dinner table with her grown-up twin sons, Jérémie Renier and Yannick Renier, flanking her. Writer-director Joachim Lafosse holds this static shot for the scene's entirety, as the two boys, in their own way, level abuse on their mother, who has long lacked the assertiveness to put them in their place. This simple setup is key to the film's surprising dramatic tension, because the frame binds them in dysfunction and forces viewers to sit tight during extremely uncomfortable situations. DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007
Blueprint For Murder / Man In the Attic - Marquee of this Double Feature is the quasi-noir Blueprint - A decent, if occasionally unrealistic, yarn about a woman. Polly and Doug are 2 orphans who live with their stepmother Lynne (Jean Peters). Polly is hospitalized with the same mystery symptoms that killed her father. Visiting uncle Whitney Sargent (Joseph Cotten) becomes suspicious as friends suggest it may be strychnine poisoning. Hence the battle of uncovering deceptive behavior begins. DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007
The Green Room - The Green Room is a thoughtful, reverent adaptation of Henry James' The Altar of the Dead. Julien Davenne (François Truffaut) is a lonely, disillusioned widower who writes for The Globe, an obsolete, nearly defunct newspaper (with a target audience of elderly people, its subscription base is literally dying). From his methodical, dispassionate demeanor, it is obvious that he is sleepwalking through life. DVD Release Date: July 8th, 2007
The Graduate - A social force of cinema that influenced the generation gap, THE GRADUATE was a tour de force for newcomer Hoffman and made him an overnight sensation. Hoffman plays Ben Braddock, a pensive and somewhat shy youth of wealthy Southern California suburbia. Upon completion of his college studies, he's pressured by family and friends to "get going" with his life, encouraged at every turn to find a job, marry, and become a clone of his parents. Anniversary Edition DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007
A Few Good Men - The role doesn't have to be big, but if it's good, and if the actor playing it is great, the results can be magically transforming. Witness Jack Nicholson's vicious, funny, superbly reptilian turn in Rob Reiner's entertaining "A Few Good Men," adapted by Aaron Sorkin from his hit Broadway courtroom drama.
Remember the Titans BR - An apt title, I thought, since what I remember most about this movie are the players, not the coaches. Considering that the coaches are played by Denzel Washington, in a performance he could have done in his sleep, and his opposite number in many ways, played by the typically reserved Will Patton, this statement might come as a surprise. For it's Wood Harris and Ryan Hurst as the lead black and white football players, Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier, who are the heart and soul of this story. Blu-ray DVD Release Date: September 4th, 2007
The Warriors BR - It's hard to believe that just less than 30 years ago, this film caused such a ruckus: Communities all over the country were frightened that their streets would become the playground for gangs, and that their children would want to join in on the mayhem. Yet today, gang violence is taken almost for granted. Such was the power of The Warriors. My thought at the time was that The Warriors was a ballet on film, a not-so-comic cinematic comic book. Interestingly The Warriors debuted the same year as Superman. But I don't recall anyone making the connection. Blu-ray DVD Release Date: July 3rd, 2007