Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF November 22nd, 2010
  This Week's Highlights
Ia ora na 'outou!  - Tati, Claire Denis, Ridley Scott, Cronenberg, Sly - yes, we are also redoing some of our past Blu-ray coverage with new screen grabs. There are plenty intriguing calendar updates and another new contest with an important Blu-ray prize!!... Still more than a month away - no need to panic!

Warner Gangsters Collections are all 75% OFF!, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, + Vol.4!

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Large Scan of Human Desire with Glen Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford! added to Essential Film Noir resource HERE

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November 22nd CONTEST - identify the clip on the CONTEST PAGE to win a Brand NEW Arrow Region-FREE Blu-ray of Spirits of the Dead!

 

13 NEW ADDITIONS to our Desert Island Discs page!

 
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LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Senso (Luchino Visconti, 1954) Criterion Collection
Senso [Blu-ray] (Luchino Visconti, 1954) Criterion Collection

Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) Criterion Collection
Sweet Smell of Success [Blu-ray] (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) Criterion Collection

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) Criterion Collection
Fish Tank [Blu-ray] (Andrea Arnold, 2009) Criterion Collection

Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008) Criterion Collection

The Double Life of Véronique [Blu-ray] (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991) Criterion Collection

Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975) RB UK Arrow Video

Deep Red [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1975) RB UK Arrow Video

Alligator (Sergio Martino, 1979) Mya Communication

TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Jean Harlow (Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / China Seas / Wife vs. Secretary) - TCM

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) R2 UK New Wave Films

Les diaboliques [Blu-ray] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) RB UK Arrow Academy

Rififi [Blu-ray] (Jules Dassin, 1955) RB FR Paramount

Ashes & Diamonds [Blu-ray] (Andrzej Wajda, 1958) RB UK Arrow Academy

The Bicycle Thieves [Blu-ray] (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) RB UK Arrow Films

The Hunter (Rafi Pitts, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Island of Death (Nico Mastorakis, 1977) R2 UK Arrow Video

Police, Adjective (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009) R2 UK Artificial Eye

Ronald Reagan Centennial Collection (8-film collection) - Warner

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (Sophie Fiennes, 2010) R2 UK Artificial Eye

The Lady Hermit (Meng Hua Ho, 1971) Funimation

Up From The Depths / Demon Of Paradise (Roger Corman's Cult Classics) - Shout! Factory

Shinobi - Heart Under Blade [Blu-ray] (Ten Shimoyama, 2005) - Funimation

Hideaway (Le Refuge) (Francois Ozon, 2009) - Strand Releasing

Monsters [Blu-ray] (Gareth Edwards, 2010) - Magnolia

Elena Undone (Nicole Conn, 2010) Wolfe Video

Bad Boys [Blu-ray] (Rick Rosenthal, 1983) Lions Gate

Greaser's Palace (Robert Downey Sr., 1972) Scorpion Entertainment

 

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): Well, there was no way we were going to be able to match last week's selections but Claire Denis' powerful White Material, covered on both Blu-ray and DVD, is certainly another Isabelle Huppert film you will want to see. BFI have done a great job with their dual format packages - in this case - two Jacques Tati masterpieces. Mr. Hulot's Holiday and Playtime are definitely worth owning in 1080P resolution. Android-infused sci-fi detective yarns don't get any more addictive than Blade Runner which continues to prove its re-watchability - it's a must own. Shogun Assassin - the most popular samurai film of the 80's - takes big strides on Blu-ray from Eureka - Bravo!. I'm a big fan of Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan - Jackson and Ricci are... perfect. Ditto for the unforgettable In the Valley of Elah where Lee Jones offers one of his usual, highly impressive, portrayals. I really enjoyed Chicken Little - great for kids and adults. Ditto for The Wild. The Expendables, however, doesn't appear to be sitting well with me - a few days later... to each his own. Cronenberg's Eastern Promises is a solid Blu-ray and Baron Munchausen looks even better than I remember.

  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

The Expendables BD - We first meet them as they mow down a pack of hostage-taking Somali pirates in a scene that sets a high standard for gore and noise — one that will quickly be surpassed. It also acquaints us with the leathery, thick-tongued humor that is one of the film’s signatures, as the fellows kid one another about who has the biggest gun or the fastest knife. And, most important, this prelude to the main action introduces an all-star line-up of action heroes, some in their prime, some up-and-coming, some (like Mr. Stallone) on the grizzled side. Blu-ray Release date: November 23rd, 2010

Black Snake Moan BD - Writer/director, Craig Brewer, followed his 2004 debut, Hustle & Flow, with this story of redemption and resurrection. The three principal characters are seriously damaged: Lazarus, by way of a marital betrayal of biblical proportions; Rae, the town nymphomaniac, is the victim of familial sexual abuse; and Ronnie, Rae's boyfriend, is bound up with something that suspiciously resembles homosexual panic. Blu-ray Release date: June 3rd, 2008

Blade Runner BD - One of the most visually influential science fiction films ever made, Blade Runner has a history as labyrinthine as any of its futuristic film noir sets. A fascinatingly contemplative detective story about a world-weary android-killer and his renegade prey, it has attracted a sizeable cult audience and retains a unique place in cinema. Blu-ray Release Date: December 18th, 2007

In the Valley of Elah BD - Mike Deerfield returns to the U.S. after his tour of duty in Iraq and abruptly goes missing. His father Hank, a spit-and-polish ex-MP from the Vietnam era, goes looking for him. What he finds goes to the heart of American combat experiences in the Iraqi conflict. Academy Award®-winning* Crash filmmaker Paul Haggis teams with Oscar®- winning* actors Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon in a probing, powerful, fact-based look at fathers and sons…and at a nation and the young soldiers it sends into battle. Jones plays Hank, whose quest lays bare a tangled web of cover-up, murder, mystery and profound revelation about the personal costs of war. Blu-ray Release date: February 19th, 2008

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen BD - The tall tales of the legendary 18th-century Baron Munchausen would seem perfect subject matter for Gilliam's fertile imagination; indeed, despite production problems, the film is an engaging and dottily fantastic spectacular. The Baron (Neville) and his superhuman colleagues are rather colourless creations, but the characters they encounter during their odyssey - mafioso-like King of the Moon (Williams), love-lorn Vulcan (Reed) - are vivid and funny. Still more bizarre is the look of the film: an island transformed into a monstrous fish, a balloon sewn from underwear sailing over a war-torn city, a ship rippling through a desert strewn with statuary. Blu-ray Release date: April 8th, 2008

White Material BD - In this drama directed and co-written by Claire Denis, Isabelle Huppert plays Maria, a white woman living in an African nation that has been falling into political chaos. Maria owns a coffee plantation, and regards her property as her personal domain; she would rather fight that give up her land, though her stubborn attitude prevents her from admitting that she's putting those close to her in danger. Blu-ray Release date: December 6th, 2010

Eastern Promises BD - The setting is the Russian mafia as it exists in current day London, specifically as regards prostitution of teenage girls and young women. Naomi Watts plays Anna, the daughter of a Russian emigrant and a midwife at a local hospital. A teenage girl is brought in to her hospital, strung out on heroin and in labor. The girl does not survive the delivery, but she leaves behind a baby girl in surprisingly good health and her diary, written in Russian. Blu-ray Release date: October 14th, 2008

Shogun Assassin BD - After being framed for disloyalty to his clan lord, disgraced ronin Itto Ogami (with three-year-old son Daigoro in tow) travels medieval Japan as the most skilled samurai-for-hire bar none. But as the treachery and obstacles in his latest mission quickly pile up, Ogami is forced to handle it the only way he knows how. A re-scored, re-dubbed reassembly of the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, the result has become an ageless cult sensation in its own right: a crazed thrill-ride in a booby-trapped baby cart, propelled on arterial spray, hurtling gleefully to nowhere. Blu-ray Release Date: November 29th, 2010

White Material - The film is beautifully shot throughout, with impressive cinematography by Yves Cape and several striking images, such as the scene where the soldiers slowly emerge from the greenery or the shots of Maria standing alone on the dusty road, her white dress billowing around her in the wind. Denis also orchestrates several quietly powerful scenes that unfold differently to the way you might expect from a more traditional version of the same story (such as Hotel Rwanda) but are genuinely haunting and all the more effective for being understated. DVD Release Date: December 6th, 2010

Playtime BD - Jacques Tati, the choreographer of the charming, comical ballet that is Playtime, casts the endearingly clumsy Monsieur Hulot as the principal character wandering through modernist Paris. Amid the babble of English, French and German tourists, Hulot tries to reconcile the old-fashioned ways with the confusion of the encroaching age of technology. Blu-ray Release Date: November 29th, 2010

Mr. Hulot's Holiday BD - The film that brought Jacques Tati international acclaim also launched his on-screen alter ego: the courteous, well-meaning, eternally accident prone Monsieur Hulot with whom Tati would from now on be inseparably associated. As with Jour de fête, the film is set in a sleepy French coastal resort which is seasonally disrupted by holidaymakers in energetic pursuit of fun. At the centre of the chaos is the eccentric Hulot, struggling at all times to maintain appearances, but somehow entirely divorced from his immediate surroundings. There is little plot in Tati s beautifully orchestrated ballet of comic action: it s a series of incidents, a seamless succession of gently mocking studies of human absurdity. Blu-ray Release Date: November 29th, 2010

Chicken Little BD - Disney's first venture into the realm of CGI animation (without Pixar) tells the tale of all-animal town Oakey Oaks's most infamous resident, Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff), who causes town-wide panic when he claims the sky is falling. A year later he's still shunned by everyone, including his dad (Gary Marshall), a single rooster with an incredibly wide tie. Determined to end his losing streak, the bespectacled Little joins the baseball team, even though he can barely lift the bat. Luckily his three equally outcast friends have faith in him: a pig with a yen for '70s disco (Steve Zahn); a Harpo Marx-esque goldfish in a diving helmet; and Abby, a buck-toothed female duckling (Joan Cusak). Blu-ray Release date: March 20th, 2007

The Wild BD - The plot is at once familiar and unexpectedly original as Samson (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland,) along with a gaggle of noisy friends, escapes from the fictitious New York Zoo in pursuit of his cub, who has stowed away on a ship bound for Africa. The rescue mission allows a domesticated Samson to finally get his beast on; it also allows for inspired voice work from Eddie Izzard as a snooty koala bear and William Shatner as a menacing wildebeest with plans to reverse the predator- prey dynamic. Some of the film's images, in fact — like a pair of sewer-dwelling alligators with hideously pockmarked hides — are shivery enough to inspire night terrors in all but the most precocious toddlers. Blu-ray Release date: November 21st, 2006

Dinosaur BD - The breathtaking opening of Disney's computer-generated family entertainment - a swooping bird's eye view of Earth's fauna and flora 65 million years ago - knocks spots off earlier CGI movies, but must have eaten so much of the budget that the rest looks strangely pedestrian. That's a shame, because aurally and visually this creature feature is a treat, no matter that it's a palaeontological / climatalogical / geological pick 'n' mix. Blu-ray Release date: September 19th, 2006
 

 Next 4 weeks on the Calendar

November 22nd, 2010

 

America Lost & Found-BBS Story Collection [Blu-ray] (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, The King of Marvin Gardens, Head; Drive, He Said; A Safe Place) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Countdown to Zero [Blu-ray] (Lucy Walker, 2010) - Magnolia

Deep Red [Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1975) RB UK Arrow Video

The Disappearance of Alice Creed [Blu-ray] (J Blakeson, 2009) Anchor Bay/Starz

The Expendables [Blu-ray] (Sylvester Stallone, 2010) Lions Gate (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Fall (John Krueger , 2010) Osiris Entertainment

Greaser's Palace (Robert Downey Sr., 1972) Scorpion Entertainment

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

The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1927) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Metropolis Reconstructed & Restored [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1927) Region 'B' Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Metropolis Reconstructed & Restored STEELBOOK [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1927) Region 'B' Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Peeping Tom Special Edition [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, 1960) RB UK Optimum

Phantom from Space (W. Lee Wilder, 1953) Music Video Dist

The Phantom Planet (William Marshall, 1961) Music Video Dist

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

Planet Outlaws (Norman S. Hall, 1953) Music Video Dist

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

 

 

November 29th, 2010

 

Bee Movie [Blu-ray] (Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith, 2007) Dreamworks Animated (BEAVER REVIEW)

Best of British Classics - Double Feature Vol 1: (Tomorrow We Live & Inquest) - VCI
 Best of British Classics - Double Feature Vol 2: (Naked Fury & Cover Girl Killer) - VCI

Cairo Time [Blu-ray] (Ruba Nadda, 2009) IFC

Enter the Void [Blu-ray] (Gaspar Noé , 2009) RB FR Wild side Video

Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 [Blu-ray] (James Algar, Samuel Armstrong etc.1940/2000) Walt Disney (BEAVER REVIEW)

Kill Zone [Blu-ray] (Wilson Yip, 2005) Dragon Dynasty

Knight and Day [Blu-ray] (James Mangold, 2010) 20th Century Fox

Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso, 2008) Kino

Make-Out with Violence [Blu-ray] (The Deagol Brothers, 2008) Factory 25

Meet John Doe - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition (Frank Capra, 1941) VCI Entertainment

Meet the Parents [Blu-ray] (Jay Roach, 2000) Universal

Monsters vs Aliens [Blu-ray] (Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon, 2009) Dreamworks Animated (BEAVER REVIEW)

Playtime [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tati, 1967) RB UK BFI (BEAVER REVIEW)

Roger Corman Collection 3 Escape from Prison - Hollywood Select

Shogun Assassin (Dual Format) Limited Edition Steelbook [Blu-ray] (Robert Houston, 1980) - RB UK Eureka Entertainment

The Sicilian Girl (Marco Amenta, 2010) - Music Box Films

La signora di tutti (Max Ophüls, 1934) Masters of Cinema

The Sorcerer's Apprentice [Blu-ray] (Jon Turteltaub, 2010) Walt Disney

Space: 1999: The Complete Season One [Blu-ray] (1975) - A&E Home Video

The Special Relationship (Richard Loncraine, 2010) HBO

Splice [Blu-ray] (Vincenzo Natali, 2009) RB UK Optimum

Les Vacances de M. Hulot [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tati, 1953) RB UK BFI (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

 

December 6th, 2010

 

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

Ayaka Is Your Angel [Blu-ray] - Studio Happy Chicken

Bach: Well Tempered Clavier (complete) [Blu-ray] [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] - MediaInVision

Bastard Swordsman (Chin-Ku Lu, 1983) Funimation

A Bay of Blood [Blu-ray] (Mario Bava, 1971) RB UK Arrow Video

Big River Man (John Maringouin, 2009) IndiePix Films

The Bob Hope Collection - The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), Road to Bali (1952), Road to Rio (1947), My Favorite Brunette (1947), The Seven Little Foys (1955) - Shout! Factory

Cronos (Guillermo del Toro, 1993) Criterion Collection

Cronos [Blu-ray] (Guillermo del Toro, 1993) Criterion Collection

The Deep [Blu-ray] (Peter Yates, 1977) Image Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Disciples of the 36th Chamber (Chia-Liang Liu, 1985) Weinstein

Escape From Zahrain (Ronald Neame, 1962) - Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fox 75th Anniversary Collection (75-film Collection 1935-2010) - 20th Century Fox

Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor and other Fantastic Films by Koji Yamamura - Zeitgeist

Les Gamins [Blu-ray] - Studio Happy Chicken

The General Died at Dawn (Lewis Milestone, 1936) R2 DE Koch Media

Inception [Blu-ray] (Christopher Nolan, 2010) Warner

Inception [Blu-ray] (Christopher Nolan, 2010) Region FREE UK Warner Home Video

Jaffa (Keren Yedaya, 2009) Film Movement

Jess Franco's Cravings Of The Depraved - SRS Cinema
 Jess Franco's Erotic Rites Of A Virgin - SRS Cinema
 Jess Franco's Naked & Dead Dolls - SRS Cinema
 Jess Franco's Stripped Dead - SRS Cinema

Lost in Translation [Blu-ray] (Sofia Coppola, 2003) Universal Studios

Mademoiselle Chambon [Blu-ray] (Stéphane Brizé, 2009) Lorber Films

Milk of Sorrow (Claudia Llosa, 2009) Olive Films (BEAVER REVIEW)

Mutum (Sandra Kogut, 2007) Global Film Initiative

Restrepo [Blu-ray] (Tim Hetherington + Sebastian Junger, 2010) - Virgil Films

Return of Bastard Swordsman (Chin-Ku Lu, 1984) - Funimation Productions

Shrek Forever After [Blu-ray] (Mike Mitchell, 2010) Paramount Pictures

Videodrome [Blu-ray] (DavidCronenberg, 1983) Criterion

The Wasp Woman DVD/Tee (Large) (Roger Corman, 1959) Synergy

White Material [Blu-ray] (Claire Denis, 2009) RB UK Artificial Eye (BEAVER REVIEW)

You and Me (Fritz Lang, 1938) R2 DE Koch Media

 

 

December 13th, 2010

 

America Lost & Found-BBS Story Collection (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, The King of Marvin Gardens, Head; Drive, He Said; A Safe Place) Criterion

Altiplano (Brosens & Woodworth, 2009) - First Run Features

Battle Royale - Special Edition [Blu-ray] (Kinji Fukasaku, 2000) - RB UK Arrow Video

The Black Pirate [Blu-ray] (Albert Parker, 1926) Kino

Chabrol: Two Classic Thrillers from the Legendary Director - The Bridesmaid (2004), Merci pour le chocolat (2000) - First Run Features

Dear Mr. Gacy [Blu-ray] (Svetozar Ristovski, 2010) Anchor Bay

Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975) RB UK Arrow Video

Double Take (Johan Grimonprez, 2010) Kino

The Quintessential Guy Maddin! 5 Films from the Heart of Winnipeg (Four-Disc Set) - Zeitgesit Films

The Expendables [Blu-ray] (Sylvester Stallone, 2010) RB UK Lions Gate

GasLand (Josh Fox, 2010) New Video Group

Hard-Boiled [Blu-ray] (John Woo, 1992) Weinstein

Harsh Times [Blu-ray] (David Ayer, 2005) Weinstein

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole [Blu-ray] (Zack Snyder, 2010) Warner

Micmacs [Blu-ray] (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2009) Sony Pictures

Mother and Child [Blu-ray] (Rodrigo García, 2010) Sony

Resonnances (Philippe Robert, 2006) Synapse Films

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade, Russian Eastern festival overture [Blu-ray] - MediaInVision/Surround Records

Salt [Blu-ray] (Phillip Noyce, 2010) RB UK Sony Pictures

The Town [Blu-ray] (Ben Affleck, 2010) - Warner

Trouble in Mind (Special Edition) (Alan Rudolph, 1985) Shout! Factory

True Grit [Blu-ray] (Henry Hathaway, 1969) Paramount

Vampire Circus [Blu-ray] (Robert Young, 1972) Synapse Films

 
     
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