Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF September 13th, 2010

Mopanoltihtzino!  - we have films by Bela Tarr, Frantisek Vlacil, Abel Ferrara, David Fincher, Agnes Varda, Jia Zhang Ke, Roman Polanski, Werner Herzog and more... a few enticing calendar updates, Sight and Sound Poll, our essential Noir webpage HERE and another new contest with a sealed DVD package as the prize... Enjoy!

FOLLOW US on TWITTER! (where we post important reviews, contests - prizes, calendar updates - plus much more...)

Sight and Sound Poll UPDATE HERE

Sad news - Claude Chabrol passes away at 80 - HERE

FEATURE DVD and Blu-ray for September now listed!

TOOLBAR THE 'DVDBeaver Toolbar'! Give it a test drive! I've created a very simple toolbar for Film-Fans/DVD-o-philes/cinephiles. It embeds effortlessly within Internet Explorer 5.0+ (Windows Vista/XP/2000) and Firefox 1.0.1+ (Windows, Mac, Linux). It offers quick links to Searching both the Net (via Google) and DVDBeaver directly, Amazons, Asian etailors, Forums (Criterion, Home Theater, AVS, Rotten Tomatoes, Film Noir), IMDb, DVDBasen, Beaver links, Blu-ray information, Cinephile Blogs/Journals (Rosenbaum, Kehr, Acquarello etc.). What do you think? FOR MORE INFORMATION / AVAILABLE HERE *** (We can adjust this to suit popular opinion - on-the-fly - no re-install required!)

September 13th CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win Sealed Blu-rays of 2:22 and 14 Blades

If there are DVD titles you'd like us to cover - please feel free to recommend!

Gary at 2ze dot com

*

Vigilante BD - A knockoff of Michael Winner's 1974 box-office smash Death Wish (which showcased Charles Bronson in his career-defining role as vengeful architect Paul Kersey), Vigilante is a crude, obvious piece of exploitation that's about as subtle as a wet-T-shirt contest yet just as acceptable. With the villains portrayed as one-dimensional cretins and the heroes as do-gooder knights, the film isn't exactly teeming with emotional and social complexities; it merely fastens upon basic human responses and beliefs to serve as a clinched fist of celluloid that holds in contempt an American justice system perceived as favoring the rights of the accused over the victim's. No matter how many times we've seen variations of this, the topic remains irresistible enough because it's both an ever-timely one and one that's easily identifiable -- you don't have to have been a victim nor related to one to be outraged by violent crime. Blu-ray Release date: September 21st, 2010

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush BD - Of all of the films to emerge from the "Swinging London" film phenomenon of the sixties, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) has remained one of the more difficult films to see due to its unavailability on any format. Though not as well known as some of its contemporaries such as A Hard Day's Night [1964], Blow-up [1966] or Performance [1970], the movie, based on Hunter Davies' first novel (he also adapted the screenplay) is a giddy, high-spirited time capsule of its era, popping with day-glo colors, groovy fashions, British slang and playful cinematic techniques influenced by Richard Lester's Beatles films such as speeded up motion, still frames, and the breaking of the fourth wall; the protagonist, Jamie McGregor (Barry Evans), constantly addresses the viewer in the manner of a confessional. Blu-ray Release date: September 13th, 2010

La Horde - ... The group run around the decrepit apartment building, separate intentionally and unintentionally, fight off zombies who pop out of nowhere, betray one another, and dwindle in their numbers. The plot is peopled with the usual characters: the wounded coward who only thinks about his own survival (although the source of his demise was unexpected), the vulnerable-yet-strong female, characters who leave the others high and dry and get their karmic comeuppance, the bitten guy who runs towards the horde with guns blazing and machete swinging, and another self-sacrificing worn-out guy who busts out a grenade as the zombies close in. DVD Release Date: September 20th, 2010

Five on a Treasure Island - The holidays have finally arrived and Julian, Dick and Ann are looking forward to spending a long hot summer with their feisty tomboy cousin Georgina - or George as she prefers to be known. But picnics and bike rides are put on hold when George and her new pal Timmy the dog share the secret of a mysterious shipwreck with the others. An exciting discovery is in store for the intrepid Five - but they are not alone. DVD Release Date: September 13th, 2010

Five Have a Mystery to Solve - When the Famous Five are asked to look after Wilfred, a lonely orphan with a magical ability to communicate with animals, they have no idea of what exciting adventures lie in store. Wilfred is determined to investigate rumours of dastardly deeds at a supposed animal 'sanctuary' on the mysterious Whispering Island with four-footed Famous Five member, Timmy the Dog. The rest of the gang are not far behind, but will they be in time to save the day? DVD Release Date: September 13th, 2010

Bronco Bullfrog BD - Del Quant is a 17-year-old welder's apprentice who lives in London's East End. He and his friends have little money, nothing to do and nowhere to go. They get their kicks robbing from the local café, bragging of their friend 'Bronco Bullfrog' who is on the run from Borstal, dreaming of girls and criminal adventures which are unlikely ever to be. One day Del achieves a degree of independence when his father wins a newspaper competition and gives his son the money he needs to buy a bike. Blu-ray Release Date: September 13th, 2010

The Man From London - Maloin leads a simple life without prospects at the edge of the infinite sea; he barely notices the world around him, has already accepted the slow and inevitable deterioration of life around him and his all but complete loneliness. When he becomes a witness to a murder, his life takes a sudden turn. He comes face to face with issues of morality, sin, punishment, the line between innocence and complicity in a crime, and this state of scepsis leads him to the ontological question of the meaning and worth of existence. Paradox DVD Release Date: August 24th, 2010

The Frantisek Vlacil Collection - A 4-disc set comprising three haunting epics from the godfather of the Czech New Wave along with Tomá Hejtmánek's acclaimed 2003 documentary portrait of Vlácil. A fantastic opportunity to discover this great visionary master of world cinema. Set includes: Marketa Lazarová (1967): Voted the greatest Czech film ever made, a dark and passionate medieval epic that chronicles the doomed love affair of two young lovers set against the rivalry between two warring clans. The Valley of the Bees (1967): Set in 13th century Europe - a raw and powerful moral fable of corruption and fundamentalism. Adelheid (1969): Vlácil's first color film - an emotional tale of two lovers caught up in the bitter political and emotional aftermath of WWII. Sentiment (2003): The acclaimed documentary portrait of Vlácil - EXCLUSIVE TO THIS BOX SET. DVD Release Date: September 13th, 2010

Invasion of the Body Snatchers BD - Though it lacks the awesome allegorical ambiguousness of the 1956 classic of sci-fi/political paranoia (here paid homage in cameo appearances by Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel), Kaufman and screenwriter WD Richter's update and San Francisco transposition of Jack Finney's novel is a far from redundant remake. The extraterrestrial pod people now erupt into a world where seemingly everyone is already 'into' changing their lives or lifestyles, and into a cinematic landscape already criss-crossed by an endless series of conspiracies, while the movie has as much fun toying with modern thought systems (psychology, ecology) as with elaborate variations on its predecessor. Blu-ray Release Date: August 3rd, 2010

Bad Lieutenant BD - In inventing the corrupt police officer of the title, this director is not thinking of the sort who fixes parking tickets. He's imagining a crack addict who'll yell "Police business!" to empty a tenement hallway so he can make his drug buy. Mr. Ferrara is inventing a law officer who, confronted with the sight of a robbery in progress, runs to a pay phone to call his bookie with a bet on a Mets game. Blu-ray Release Date: October 5th, 2010

Secretary BD - Sadomasochism provides the backdrop for a very unusual employer/employee relationship in this very offbeat romantic drama from filmmaker Steven Shainberg. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a shy young woman, who, after a brief spell in a mental institution, is released in the care of her overprotective mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and hard-drinking father (Stephen McHattie). Hoping to make good on her own, Lee begins looking for a job, and in her free time indulges in her odd habit of inflicting pain upon herself in various ways. Lee is hired as a secretary by E. Edward Grey (James Spader), a grim and ruthlessly efficient attorney who warns her that her work will be both dull and demanding. Lee takes to the job with genuine enthusiasm, and while she's recently acquired a new boyfriend, Peter (Jeremy Davies), she's far more intrigued by Grey's coldly patrician demeanor. Blu-ray Release Date: October 5th, 2010

The Blair Witch Project BD - Out in the woods and away from their parked car (and civilization), what starts as a school exercise turns into a nightmare when the three kids lose their map. Forced to spend extra days finding their way out, the kids then start to hear horrific sounds outside their tents in the pitch-black middle of night. They also find strange artifacts from (what can only be) the Blair Witch, still living in the woods. Frightened, they desperately try to find their way out of the woods, with no luck. Slowly these students start to unravel, knowing they have no way of getting out, no food, and it's getting cold. Each night they are confronted with shrieking and sounds so haunting that they are convinced someone is following them, and they quickly begin to fear for their lives. The film premiered in the midnight movie section at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Blu-ray Release Date: October 5th, 2010

Se7en BD - Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Wrath. Pride. Lust. Envy. Two cops (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) track a brilliant and elusive killer who orchestrates a string of horrific murders, each kill targeting a practitioner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Gwyneth Paltrow also stars in this acclaimed thriller set in a dour, drizzly city sick with pain and blight. David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) guides the action – physical, mental and spiritual – with a sure understanding of what terrifies us, right up to a stunning denouement that will rip the scar tissue off the most hardened soul. New Line Blu-ray Release Date: September 14th, 2010

Twilight Zone Season One BD - "The Twilight Zone" is unquestionably one of the greatest science fiction television shows of all time. Generally speaking, most every episode had strong elements of deeply thought out science, imagination, suspense and thought-provoking intrigue. Creator Serling had a unique and distinctive approach to the central themes of the show(s)... and it was a hit, right from its onset. A virtual spring board for many young and talented actors/actresses the original Twilight Zone has run successfully in syndication ever since. Most everyone has a favorite episode. For me The Twilight Zone original series represents pioneering television with a strong nostalgic and noirish-ly dark feel to it. Blu-ray Release Date: September 14th, 2010

Knock on Wood - The film casts Danny Kaye as a neurotic American ventriloquist performing in Europe. In a parody of the 1946 thriller Dead of Night, Kaye is unable to control the words coming out of his dummy, resulting in a near-nervous breakdown. His manager and best friend (David Burns) orders him to see a famous psychiatrist in Zurich. What follows is a zany adventure involving secret weapons, international spies and the beautiful Mai Zetterling. This classic Danny Kaye comedy was written, produced and directed by the great team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank (The Court Jester). DVD Release Date: September 28th, 2010

My Favorite Spy - While on his way to Tangier to purchase a microfilm containing important war secrets, foreign spy Eric Augustine (Bob Hope) is wounded and captured by the authorities. Burlesque comedian Peanuts White (Also, Bob Hope); a dead ringer for Augustine is recruited by the government to take over Augustine’s mission. He’s briefed in the role of the suave and romantic Augustine, dressed to look exactly like him and is thrust into the world of espionage and international intrigue. In Tangiers, he meets Lily Dalbray (Hedy Lamarr), Augustine’s sweetheart, a beautiful spy working with Karl Brubaker (Francis L. Sullivan) mastermind of the spy ring. All of Bob Hope’s “My Favorite” films (My Favorite Blonde, My Favorite Brunette, My Favorite Spy) were parodies of classic genre films. Directed by Norman Z. McLeod (Topper, Secret Life of Walter Mitty). DVD Release Date: September 28th, 2010

Agnes Varda Volume 2 - Agnes Varda used the skills she honed early in her career as a photographer to create some of the most nuanced, thought-provoking films of the past fifty years. Second volume of classics from Agnes Varda - the ancestor of the French new wave. Features The Beaches of Agnes (2008) Jacquot De Nantes (1991) Vagabond (1985) L'Une Chante, L'Autre Pas (1977).  DVD Release Date: February 22nd, 2010

The World BD - Tao (Tao Zhao) is a young woman who works at an improbable theme park in the Beijing suburbs called The Beijing World Park. That this place actually exists is bizarre enough, but to concoct such a desperate yet engaging largely drama within its confines is extraordinary. The Beijing World Park, which, according to a website I found, covers roughly 117 acres of land 16 kilometers from Beijing proper, contains replicas at roughly 1/3 scale, of all the world's great buildings, from the Taj Mahal and the great pyramids to Big Ben and the entire New York City skyline. In other words, an interesting visual backdrop which creates a startling juxtaposition to the humdrum, barely-scraping-by existence of Tao and her boyfriend Taisheng (Taisheng Chen), who works along side his little brother as a security guard for the park. Their lives are the stuff of melodrama - Taisheng wants sex but not necessarily commitment, while Tao is holding out for commitment before sex enters the relationship. Blu-ray Release Date: August 30th, 2010

The Ghost Writer BD - When a gifted ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), he quickly finds himself trapped in a web of political and sexual intrigue. Lang is implicated in a scandal over his administration's harsh tactics, and as the ghostwriter digs into the politician's past, he discovers secrets that threaten to jeopardize international relations forever. Co-starring Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, it is a taut and shocking thriller from acclaimed director Roman Polanski (The Pianist). Optimum Blu-ray release date: September 20th, 2010

Agnes Varda Volume 1 - Agnes Varda used the skills she honed early in her career as a photographer to create some of the most nuanced, thought-provoking films of the past fifty years. She is widely believed to have presaged the French new wave with her first film, La Pointe Courte, which is featured here in this collection of her most prestigious work. Featured in this collection are La Pointe Courte (1954) Cleo 5 to 7 (1962) Le Bonheur (1964) La Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (2002). DVD Release Date: October 5th, 2009

Starcrash BD - A trash-addict sci-fi spectacular from AIP in which Stella Star (Munro) and sundry buddies leap millions of light years around the universe, with enviable nonchalance and a distinct lack of consideration for the laws of nature. Their mission: to save Imperialism from Something Far Worse, and along the way to provide for Stella's future by convincing Plummer's heir apparent that, despite her bizarre style of dress, she'd make a neat Empress one day. Blu-ray Release date: September 14th, 2010

Babies BD - Experience joy and happiness at its purest in this life-affirming universal celebration of the magic and innocence of Babies. Proving that if you surround your baby with love it doesn't matter what culture you're from or what child-rearing practices you follow. Babies travels the globe following four children from vastly different corners of the world-Ponijao from Namibia Bayarjargal from Mongolia Mari from Tokyo and Hattie from San Francisco. Sure to put a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart it's the film that critics and audiences agree could be the feel-good movie of the decade! Blu-ray Release date: September 28th, 2010

Revanche BD - A gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar-nominated international breakthrough of Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. In a ragged section of Vienna, hardened ex-con Alex (the mesmerizing Johannes Krisch) works in a brothel, where he falls for Ukrainian hooker Tamara. Their desperate plans for escape unexpectedly intersect with the lives of a rural cop and his seemingly content wife. With meticulous, elegant direction, Spielmann creates a tense, existential, and surprising portrait of vengeance and redemption, and a journey into the darkest forest of human nature, in which violence and beauty exist side by side. Artificial Eye DVD Release Date: August 9th, 2010

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done - Michael Shannon plays Brad McCullum, a man, not so young that his girlfriend can’t help but remark that he still lives with his mother (Grace Zabriskie) after thirty-odd years and caters to her every whim. While this might contain the seed to explain his murderous act, Herzog wants to tie in two other events: a kayaking adventure in Peru that left five of his friends dead, and the classic Greek play he had been rehearsing, “Orestes” where the title character, played by Brad, kills his mother in order to put an end to a larger cycle of generational killing. DVD Release Date: September 14th, 2001

None But the Lonely Heart - Down-and-out Londoner Ernie Mott makes the best of things – finding love here, dabbling in crime there. Still, there’s a core of decency in Ernie. But a world of poverty and despair has little use for decency. Cary Grant plays Ernie in a milestone work set just before World War II. Gone is the usual Grant elegance. Instead, wistful Cockney Ernie is closer to the star’s ’umble roots and Grant took great pride in his performance, which earned him an Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor. He also helped lure Ethel Barrymore back to Hollywood, and she responded vibrantly with 1944’s Oscar®-winning Best Supporting Actress portrayal of Ernie’s dying mother. Let the moods of this masterwork wash over you. In its ebb and flow you’ll find a moving eloquence close to the heart of the film’s leading man. DVD Release Date: August 24, 2010

Women Without Men - With its intense chiaroscuro and meticulous manipulation of color that ranges from stark black and white to richer, shifting hues in scenes set in a metaphorical orchard, the film surpasses even Michael Haneke’s “White Ribbon” in the fierce beauty and precision of its cinematography (by Martin Gschlacht). Two of the film’s recurrent images are of a long dirt road extending to the horizon on which the characters walk, and a brook that suggests a deep current of feminine resilience below an impassive exterior. DVD Release Date: August 9th, 2010
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar