Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF October 8th, 2012

  This Week's Highlights
Murani takwenya - Criterion, John Sturges, Robert Aldrich, Vincent Gallo on Blu-ray, and we continue with our CONTEST clips with a brand new Criterion Blu-ray prize!

NOTE: Universal has pulled their Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection and issued a new release date of Oct. 30th in the US and November 5th in the UK. Speculation and early reviews state that the set has some errors - which we, presume, will be 'fixed'.

FEATURE DVD and Blu-ray of the MONTH chosen for SEPTEMBER! HERE

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October 8th CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a brand new Criterion Blu-ray of Les Visiteurs du Soir

 

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Mrs. Miniver [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1942) Warner

The Well Digger's Daughter [Blu-ray] (Daniel Auteuil, 2011) Alive Mind

The Poseidon Adventure [Blu-ray] (Ronald Neame, 1972) 20th Century Fox

Total Recall [Blu-ray] (Len Wiseman, 2012) Sony

The Dark Knight Rises [Blu-ray] (Christopher Nolan, 2012) Warner

Men in Black 3 [Blu-ray] (Barry Sonnenfeld, 2012) Sony Pictures

Prometheus [Blu-ray] (Ridley Scott, 2012) 20th Century Fox

Simpsons: Season 15 [Blu-ray] - 20th Century Fox

Futurama: Volume 7 [Blu-ray] - 20th Century Fox

Magical Mystery Tour [Blu-ray] (George Harrison, Bernard Knowles, 1967) Capitol

The Portrait of a Lady [Blu-ray] (Jane Campion, 1996) Shout! Factory

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry [Blu-ray] (Alison Klayman, 2012) MPI

The Joy Luck Club [Blu-ray] (Wayne Wang, 1993) Hollywood Pictures

Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection [Blu-ray] (Apocalypse Now/Apocalypse Now Redux/One From the Heart/Tetro/The Conversation) - LionsGate

Babes in Toyland [Blu-ray] (Jack Donohue, 1961) Walt Disney

Bedevilled [Blu-ray] (Chul-soo Jang, 2010) Well Go USA

The Thompsons [Blu-ray] (Mitchell Altieri, Phil Flores, 2012) Anderson Merchandisers

Tell No One [Blu-ray] (Guillaume Canet, 2006) Music Box Films

The Man in the White Suit [Blu-ray] (Alexander Mackendrick, 1951) RB UK Studio Canal

Opening Night [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1977) RB UK BFI

21 Days: The Heineken Kidnapping [Blu-ray] (Maarten Treurniet, 2011) RB UK Spirit Entertainment

Castle Freak [Blu-ray] (Stuart Gordon, 1995) RB UK 88 Films

The Double [Blu-ray] (Michael Brandt, 2011) RB UK High Fliers Films

In Your Hands [Blu-ray] (Lola Doillon, 2010) Artificial Eye

Southern Comfort [Blu-ray] (Walter Hill, 1981) RB UK Second Sight Films

Holy Motors [Blu-ray] (Leos Carax, 2012) RB UK Artificial Eye

The Colditz Story [Blu-ray] (Guy Hamilton, 1955) RB UK Studio Canal

Grand Hotel [Blu-ray] (Edmund Goulding, 1932) MGM

Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998) Criterion

Following [Blu-ray] (Christopher Nolan, 1998) Criterion

The Blue Angel [Blu-ray] (Josef von Sternberg, 1930) Kino

Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960) Criterion

Purple Noon [Blu-ray] (René Clément, 1960) Criterion

The Thief of Bagdad [Blu-ray] (Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, 1940) RB DE Sony Pictures

Baron Blood [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1972) Kino

Rabid Dogs [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1974) Kino

The Qatsi Trilogy - Koyaanisqatsi, 1983 - Powaqqatsi, 1988 - Naqoyqatsi, 2002 - Criterion Collection

The Qatsi Trilogy [Blu-ray] - Koyaanisqatsi, 1983 - Powaqqatsi, 1988 - Naqoyqatsi, 2002 - Criterion Collection

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): I was very pleased to see Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66 now on Blu-ray out of Japan. A wonderful film experience in 1080P. Robert Aldrich's classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane gets the Blu-ray treatment to a more pleasing film-like rendition. A captivating film. Criterion's Blu-ray of The Forgiveness of Blood focuses on a story of interfamilial blood feuds in Albania. It is well worth watching. Bedevilled has an interesting premise - a wholly unique film that benefits from the Blu-ray transfer. Ice Station Zebra is a solid late 60's Cold War thriller that looks impressive in the new format. Bette Davis plays the dual-role in Dead Ringer - a well-thought out crime/murder drama. Artificial Eye out of the UK brings us the Alison Klayman documentary Ai Weiwei Never Sorry on Blu-ray. It chronicles the conflicts of artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Olive films have bumped the The Milk of Sorrow - an odd Peruvian Festival favorite, along with more of the Three Mesquiteers westerns with a young Duke; Three Texas Steers and Red River Range. On DVD Eric covered the Hammer House of Horror boxset, compared disc for the horror Apartment 143 and the intriguingly titled Night of the Bloody Apes. Buy a heart-shaped cookie today for your significant other.....

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

Ai Weiwei Never Sorry BD - Over three years celebrated documentary filmmaker Alison Klayman followed leading contemporary artist Ai Weiwei as he prepared for exhibitions, spent time with his family and came to blows with the Chinese government. What resulted would create the documentary event of the year. Blu-ray Release date: October 8th, 2012

The Forgiveness of Blood BD - American director Joshua Marston emerged in 2004 with the jolting, Oscar-nominated Maria Full of Grace, about a young Colombian woman working as a drug mule. In his remarkable follow-up, The Forgiveness of Blood, he turns his camera on another corner of the world: contemporary northern Albania, a place still troubled by the ancient custom of interfamilial blood feuds. From this reality, Marston sculpts a fictional narrative about a teenage brother and sister physically and emotionally trapped in a cycle of violence, a result of their father’s entanglement with a rival clan over a piece of land. The Forgiveness of Blood is a tense and perceptive depiction of a place where tradition and progress coexist uneasily, as well as a dynamic coming-of-age drama. Blu-ray Release date: October 16th, 2012

Buffalo 66 BD - I finally saw this movie, and I was so very impressed... and genuinely moved. The first half of the film is so completely oppressive, so utterly unnerving, that it felt as though someone was rubbing brillo against my raw, exposed nerves. I can certainly understand how this extremely heightened level of anguish and violent potential could really put off someone simply looking for a bit of escapism. I love the look of the reversal stock and I never found the camera angles disturbing. It's an extraordinarily constructed film, but it doesn't allow it's expressionistic techniques to overshadow its true emotion. Blu-ray Release Date: September 5th, 2012

The Milk of Sorrow BD - Fausta (Magaly Solier) suffers from “The Milk of Sorrow”, an illness transmitted through mother’s milk by women who’ve been raped during Peru’s Civil Wars. Stricken with the fear that she’s contracted the illness from her mother's breast milk -- Fausta goes to extreme lengths to protect her own sexuality and safety. After her mother’s sudden death, she finds herself compelled to embark on a frightening journey for re-awakening, freedom and wholeness. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, “Gorgeously shot with a plethora of haunting images”. Claudia Llosa directs this Academy Award® Nominee for Best Foreign Film. Winner of the Golden Berlin Bear Award (Best Film) and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 59th Annual Berlin Film Festival. Blu-ray Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

Red River Range BD - The Cattlemen's Association has called in the Mesquiteers to find cattle rustlers. They get Tex Riley to pose as Stony so Stony can arrive posing as a wanted outlaw. This gets Stony into the gang of rustlers and he alerts Tucson and Lullaby as to the next raid. But Hartley is on hand and unknown to anyone is the rustler's boss and he joins the posse with a plan that will do away with the Mesquiteers. Blu-ray Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

Three Texas Steers BD - The Three Mesquiteers was the umbrella title for a series of fifty-one B-westerns released between 1936 and 1943. The films featured the characters Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin or Rusty Joslin as the threesome; played by many B-western stars of that era. In 1938, John Wayne took over for Robert Livingston as Stony Brooke and starred in eight Mesquiteers films between 1938 and 1939, he was joined by Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith and Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin for the first six and Raymond Hatton as Rusty Joslin for the last two... all eight films were directed by George Sherman (Big Jake). Blu-ray Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

Ice Station Zebra BD - The U.S. nuclear sub Tigerfish churns toward the North Pole. Its mission: rescue the imperiled members of weather outpost Ice Station Zebra. On board are Cmdr. Ferraday and his crew, several unexpected arrivals with secret orders - and enough suspicions, suspense and twists to make Ice Station Zebra an engrossing espionage thriller. The Cold War heats up as John Sturges (The Great Escape) directs Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown and more in this epic adventure nominated for two Academy Awards and featuring taut action set pieces above and below the ice. All hands to stations for excitement! Blu-ray Release date: October 9th, 2012

Bedevilled BD - Hae-won (Seong-won Ji) is a woman on the edge: a series of incidents at work earn her a forced vacation, but when she travels to a remote island from a childhood visit, at the urgent request of her friend Kim Bok-nam (Yeong-hie Seo), she has no idea what devils of the past are waiting. Moo-do Island is an unpleasant place to visit, and you definitely don t want to live there. Bok-nam is crumbling under a weight of violence, sexual menace, and fear with no means of escaping her tormentors. The vengeful rage that waits inside her is growing, and her sanity shredding. If Hae-won can t help her escape, she may have to take matters into her own hands, once and for all. Blu-ray Release date: October 9th, 2012

Dead Ringer BD - Great timeless film story of the "good sister" obtaining revenge on the "evil sister" by murdering her and switching places. I found the film very evenly paced and very well thought out. It becomes human nature to envision yourself as the "protagonist liar" reconsidering what you might do in their shoes to insure the successful cover-up. An aged Bette Davis thrived in the dual role and Karl Malden was 'stand-pat' as the detective boyfriend. Perhaps just outside the nebulous definition of Film Noir, it still has some familiar elements. More of a thinker than a thriller, but its entertainment value is very high, even with some melodramatic moments. Blu-ray Release date: October 9th, 2012

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane BD - A coup of ironic casting, Aldrich's film is one of the great movies about the movies. Enticing legendary enemies Crawford and Davis on-screen together, Aldrich cooks up some brilliant chemistry between them. Davis becomes 'Baby Jane', a vaudeville child star while Crawford stars as her movie star sister, Blanche. After a car accident leaves Blanche housebound in a wheelchair, Jane begins to crack up, tormenting her sister with beatings, imprisonment and rat suppers. Blu-ray Release date: October 9th, 2012

Apartment 143 - A team of parapsychologists set out to investigate a series of strange phenomena taking place in a newly occupied apartment. With the residents plagued by telephone calls with no caller, mysterious shadows, flying objects, and exploding light bulbs, the team attempt to contact the “other side” in order to bring peace to the apartment. However, the investigation grows increasingly dangerous as the team delve further into the apartments mysteries and they near the point of no return… DVD Release Date: October 15th, 2012

Hammer House of Horror - Each generation creates tales of horror… stories that seep through the very heart of our collective fears. The legendary Hammer Studios is recognized as the high watermark of the gothic macabre, creating some of the most chilling and recognizable horror films of all time. In 1980, Hammer took over the old Hampden Manor House in the heartland of England and produced a series of thirteen horror stories to air on British television. With a host of Hammer regulars, including Peter Cushing (Twins of Evil, Star Wars) and Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark), along with early appearances by actors like Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye), each episode provides a completely new and individual tale of terror and suspense. Synapse Films is proud to present the complete series of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR in its original airdate order, with all-new introductions and supplemental features. This five disc Collector's Edition presents each episode with all nudity and violence intact! DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2012

Night of the Bloody Apes - Featured on the Director of Public Prosecution s original 39-title video nasties list, at last you can see what all the fuss is about in this gore-geous new 16:9 transfer. René Cardona Sr - patriarch of Mexico s number one genre film-making dynasty - delivers this wonderfully silly tale of a dying young man given the heart of a gorilla to keep him alive. Unfortunately the man transforms into a murderous ape-like monster and goes on a girly hunt. Not one to be put-off, the surgeon (his father) tries again - this time with the heart of a female wrestler. This medical-horror-sci-fi masterpiece was written by René and his son René (who, incidentally, had a son called René), neither of whom had even a cursory knowledge of either medicine or science. This makes it w-a-a-y-yy more enjoyable.... No surprise then that this was filmed in just three weeks (in May 1968), largely in Mexico City s Chapultepec Park. While already chock full of gratuitous nudity and femmes-in-peril, US film-maker Jerald Intrator ( Orgy at Lil s Place , Satan in High Heels ) decided to improve on things by adding close-up, super-gory footage of open-heart surgery. He even filmed some new material to spice up the monster s attacks with sanguinary make-up effects and even more nudity. DVD Release Date: October 8th, 2012

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

October 8th, 2012

 

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry [Blu-ray] (Alison Klayman, 2012) RB UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

Bedevilled [Blu-ray] (Chul-soo Jang, 2010) Well Go USA (BEAVER REVIEW)

A Cat in Paris [Blu-ray] (Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol, 2010) New Video Group

Cosmopolis [Blu-ray] (David Cronenberg, 2012) RB UK Entertainment One

Dead Ringer [Blu-ray] (Paul Henreid, 1964) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Dial M for Murder [Blu-ray] 2D + 3D (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Eclipse Series 36: Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures - Criterion

E.T The Extra-Terrestrial Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] (Steven Spielberg, 1982) Universal

The Giant Mechanical Man (Lee Kirk, 2012) New Video Group

Ice Station Zebra [Blu-ray] (John Sturges, 1968) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Kino Classics Lina Wertmuller Collection [Blu-ray] (Love & Anarchy, The Seduction of Mimi, All Screwed Up) (3-Disc Set) - Lorber

Kotoko [Blu-ray] (Shin'ya Tsukamoto, 2011) RB UK Third Window Films

Little Shop of Horrors: Director's Cut [Blu-ray] (Frank Oz, 2006) Warner

Magical Mystery Tour [Blu-ray] (George Harrison, Bernard Knowles, 1967) Capitol

Polisse (Maïwenn, 2011) R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Poseidon Adventure [Blu-ray] (Ronald Neame, 1972) 20th Century Fox

Prometheus [Blu-ray] (Ridley Scott, 2012) 20th Century Fox

The Raven [Blu-ray] (James McTeigue, 2012) 20th Century Fox

Strangers On A Train [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

Tetsuo: The Iron Man / Tetsuo 2: Body Hammer [Blu-ray] - RB UK Third Window Films

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 50th Anniversary [Blu-ray] (Robert Aldrich, 1962) Warner (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

 

October 15th, 2012

 

Female Vampire [Blu-ray] (Jesus Franco, 1973) Redemption

The Curse of Frankenstein [Blu-ray] (Terence Fisher, 1957) RB UK Lions Gate

The Forgiveness of Blood (Joshua Marston, 2011) - Criterion
The Forgiveness of Blood [
Blu-ray] (Joshua Marston, 2011) - Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Funhouse [Blu-ray] (Tobe Hooper, 1981) Shout! Factory

King of Devil's Island [Blu-ray] (Marius Hols, 2011) RB UK Entertainment One / Arrow

Letter from an Unknown Woman [Blu-ray] (Max Ophüls, 1948) Olive Films

Mad Men: Season Five [Blu-ray] - Lionsgate

Many Wars Ago (Francesco Rossi, 1970) Raro Video

Nobody Else But You (Poupoupidou) (Gerald Hustache-Mathieu, 2011) First Run Features

Orlok The Vampire in 3D & 2D (F.W. Murnau, 1922) Apprehensive Films

The Slender Thread [Blu-ray] (Sydney Pollack, 1965) Olive Films

The Sterile Cuckoo [Blu-ray] (Alan J. Pakula, 1969) Olive Films

Terror Train [Blu-ray] (Roger Spottiswoode, 1980) Shout! Factory

Three Secrets [Blu-ray] (Robert Wise, 1950) Olive Films

Up Tight! [Blu-ray] (Jules Dassin, 1968) Olive Films

Woody Allen: A Documentary [Blu-ray] RB UK Soda Pictures

 

 

October 22nd, 2012

 

The Alexander Sokurov Collection - 3 Disc Set R2 UK Artificial Eye

Beauty aka Skoonheid (Oliver Hermanus, 2011) TLA Releasing

Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition [Blu-ray] (Ridley Scott, 1982) Warner

The Devil Rides Out [Blu-ray] (Terence Fisher, 1968) RB UK Studio Canal

The Ernie Kovacs Collection, Vol. 2 - Shout! Factory

Fear and Desire [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, 1953) Kino

Glengarry Glen Ross [Blu-ray] Steelbook (James Foley, 1992) RB UK ITV Studios

Jour de fête [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tati, 1949) RB UK BFI

Killer Joe [Blu-ray] (William Friedkin, 2011) RB UK Entertainment One

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1976) RB UK BFI

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Special Restoration Edition) [Blu-ray] (Powell and Pressburger, 1943) RB UK ITV

Majikoi - Oh Samurai Girl: Complete Collection [Blu-ray] - Section 23

The Man Who Never Was [Blu-ray] (Ronald Neame, 1956) RB UK Odeon Entertainment

Mon Oncle [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tati, 1958) RB UK BFI

The Mummy's Shroud [Blu-ray] (John Gilling, 1967) RB UK Studio Canal

Natural Selection [Blu-ray] (Robbie Pickering, 2011) Cinema Guild

Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

Die Nibelungen [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1924) RB UK Masters of Cinema

Opening Night [Blu-ray] (John Cassavetes, 1977) RB UK BFI

Park Row (Samuel Fuller, 1952) R2 UK Masters of Cinema

The Penalty [Blu-ray] (Wallace Worsley, 1920) Kino

Perry Mason: The Seventh Season 2 - Paramount

Peter Gunn: The Complete Series - Gaiam Entertainment

Rasputin: The Mad Monk [Blu-ray] (Don Sharp, 1966) RB UK Studio Canal

The Slut (Hagar Ben-Asher, 2011) Strand Releasing

Sunday Bloody Sunday (John Schlesinger, 1971) - Criterion
Sunday Bloody Sunday [
Blu-ray] (John Schlesinger, 1971) - Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

 

October 29th, 2012

 

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection [Blu-ray] - Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Rope (1948) Rear Window (1954) -The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976) - Universal

Americano [Blu-ray] (Mathieu Demy, 2011) MPI

The Brain (Le Cerveau) [Blu-ray] (Gérard Oury, 1969) Olive Films

Être et avoir [Blu-ray] (Nicolas Philibert, 2002) RB UK Artificial Eye

Greed in the Sun [Blu-ray] (Henri Verneuil, 1964) Olive Films

The Hunter [Blu-ray] (Daniel Nettheim, 2011) RB UK Artificial Eye

Long Day's Journey Into Night [Blu-ray] (Sidney Lumet, 1962) Olive Films

Max Fleischers Superman: Collector's Edition [Blu-ray] - Gaiam

The Night Child (Massimo Dallamano, 1975) R2 UK Arrow Films

Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968) Criterion
Rosemary’s Baby [
Blu-ray] (Roman Polanski, 1968) Criterion

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians [Blu-ray] (Nicholas Webster, 1964) Kino

Super Bitch (Massimo Dallamano, 1973) R2 UK Arrow Films

Taxi for Tobruk [Blu-ray] (Denys de La Patellière, 1960) Olive Films

Twilight's Last Gleaming [Blu-ray] (Robert Aldrich, 1977) Olive Films

 

     
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