|
ONE VOICE
(not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey):
Martin Scorsese's documentary
The Last Waltz on
Blu-ray from The Masters
of Cinema gets top nod this week - "the greatest rock
concert movie ever made - and maybe the best rock movie,
period". A Noir essential,
The Blue Dahlia, gets a
Shout! Factory Blu-ray
release to compete with the existing Arrow. But the US one
offers a commentary. Robert Altman's
The Gingerbread Man
comes to Blu-ray from
Kino with a director commentary. I have always liked the
film. Hirokazu Koreeda's
The Third Murder - a
complex death-sentence drama which tells of one man s hunt
for the truth whilst investigating the murky events of a
gruesome murder. - gets a Blu-ray
release in Region 'A'. There are two Gialli on
Blu-ray reviewed this
week - Twilight Time's
Short Night of the Glass Dolls
and Arrow's
Torso - both a keen
part of the genre. The definitive
Blu-ray of the Ozploitation classic
Long Weekend gets a
complete Blu-ray release
from Second Sight. The iconic 60's Christmas tale,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
about uniqueness, conformity and acceptance - gets a notable
Blu-ray upgrade in a
reasonable, Region FREE, Universal
Blu-ray 5 X-mas set. Must own. Flicker Alley
bring us two Mary Pickford Silent Era film on separate
Blu-rays;
Fanchon the Cricket and
Little Annie Rooney in
beautiful, labor-of-love, packages. Interesting viewing is
VCI's
Television's Lost Classics Volume 2: Rare
Pilots including work by Jacques Tourneur and
a rare role from a young William Shatner. Max Allan Collins'
Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life
with insight from the prohibition era from the man who Dick
Tracy was patterned after. Vinegar Syndrome released two
horrors-to-Blu-ray
surprises on Black Friday; 1980's
The Children and 1983's
Mausoleum. Our
Blu-ray of the Year Poll
is approaching and I was wondering what everyone thought of
having a separate category for Boxsets?, a small category
(say Top 5) for 4K UHD? and maybe shrinking of eliminating
the DVD category? as they get so few votes. Your thoughts
are appreciated!
"I do not
always know what I want, but I do know what I don't want." -
Stanley Kubrick
Buy a friend a
coffee this month. Make DVDBeaver the friend, and do it
monthly. Please?
|
| |
Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life
BD - Eliot Ness - the real-life gangbuster who brought down Al
Capone tells his thrilling story as never before! From Robert
Stack to Kevin Costner, Hollywood's glamorization doesn't
compare. Max Allan Collins, whose graphic novel ROAD TO
PERDITION became the Academy Award-winning Tom Hanks film,
has brought his Edgar-nominated one-man show to the screen in a
stylistic fashion. Star Michael Cornelison presents a riveting
portrait of a heroic yet human Ness. From the prohibition era of
crashing stills and bringing down crooked cops, to taking on
racketeering rings and nabbing the nation's first serial killer,
it's all here, thrilling and true. Blu-ray Release Date:
October 23rd, 2018
The Children
BD - Something
is terrifyingly wrong with the children of Ravenback. After
their school bus passes through a mysterious cloud of yellow
smoke, the children are are transformed into bloodthirsty
zombies with black fingernails which burn anything they touch.
As parents and unwitting townspeople are burned to a crisp, the
local police force frantically searches for the missing kids,
unaware of their new and deadly powers…
Blu-ray Release Date:
November 23rd, 2018
Mausoleum
BD - The Nomed
Family has been the victim of an ancient curse in which the
first born daughter of each generation has gone violently mad
and then suspiciously dies. No one can explain the Nomed
madness, but some say it’s because of the possession of a
terrible demonic force. By way of an unnatural urge during her
Mother’s funeral, Susan entered her family’s mausoleum, and ever
since an evil presence has been lurking inside of her, waiting
for a chance to come out. Now an adult, something is hiding
inside Susan’s body, coming out to grotesquely murder anyone who
comes too close to uncovering her terrifying secret.
Blu-ray
Release Date: November 13th, 2018
The Gingerbread Man
BD -
Robert Altman directed this John Grisham tale that begins at a
party where Savannah attorney Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh)
celebrates his successful defense of a man who shot a local cop.
The partygoers include his ex-wife Leeanne (Famke Janssen), the
mother of his two children; his law partner Lois Harlan (Daryl
Hannah); and caterer Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz). After
Mallory finds her car stolen, Rick gives her a ride home where
things turn sexual. Attracted to Mallory, he learns that her
crazed father Dixon Doss (Robert Duvall) has been threatening
her. Getting too closely involved with this woman he hardly
knows, Rick has the police round up her unstable father, and he
next subpoenas her ex-husband Pete (Tom Berenger) to testify
against Dixon, who is institutionalized.
Blu-ray Release
Date: November 13th, 2018
The Blue Dahlia
BD - Ladd
stars as Johnny Morrison, a disillusioned ex-servicemen who
discovers the infidelities of his wife (Dowling) - he catches
her kissing Eddie Harwood (De Silva), owner of the Blue Dahlia
club - on the same night that she is murdered with his gun.
Naturally he becomes prime suspect in the killing, not least
because he'd pulled his gun on her before walking away.
Unexpected help comes in the shape of Joyce Harwood (a sultry
Lake), a woman with a surprising connection to the murder -
she's Eddie's ex for starters. She lends a spot of glamour to
what is otherwise a very dark tale. The Blue Dahlia is smartly
plotted and unpredictable enough to keep the killer's identity a
secret. Classy stuff. Shout! Factory Blu-ray Release Date:
November 13th, 2018
The Last Waltz
BD - Martin Scorsese's documentary of the 1976 final performance of the
legendary Sixties rock group The Band is at once a show
featuring some of the greatest rock performers of their
generation and a bittersweet look back at an era that was just
beginning to fade. As Scorsese guides the group through
interview segments discussing their 15 years together, these
relatively young men sound like battle-weary survivors. But The
Band were in splendid form for this show, and their multiple
guest stars pulled out all the stops, especially Muddy Waters,
whose "Mannish Boy" is so powerful it nearly burns a hole
in the screen; Van Morrison, with a rousing performance of "Caravan;"
and Bob Dylan, whose "Baby Let Me Follow You Down"
displays the brilliant cockiness of his barnstorming days with
this band. Blu-ray Release Date: November 12th, 2018
The Third Murder
BD -
Leading attorney Shigemori takes on the defense of
murder-robbery suspect Misumi who served jail time for another
murder 30 years ago. Shigemori's chances of winning the case
seem low - his client freely admits his guilt, despite facing
the death penalty if he is convicted. As he digs deeper into the
case, as he hears the testimonies of the victim s family and
Misumi himself, the once confident Shigemori begins to doubt
whether his client is the murderer after all.
Blu-ray Release
Date: November 13th, 2018
Short Night of the Glass Dolls
BD - Short Night of Glass Dolls (La Corta Notte delle Bambole di
Vetro, 1971) is a mystery-heavy Giallo film, the début of
director Aldo Lado. It stars Jean Sorel as an American reporter,
trapped inside his apparently dead body, but still trying to
decipher the disappearance of his beautiful girlfriend (Barbara
Bach). Set in a Prague depicted as remarkably depraved, the film
also stars the great Ingrid Thulin, and is highlighted by a
stunning score from the one and only Ennio Morricone.
Blu-ray
Release Date: November, 2018
Fanchon the Cricket
BD - Fanchon the Cricket, based on an adult fairy tale by George
Sand, stars Mary Pickford as the title character, a
strong-willed waif ostracized by acceptable society until she
shows them the power of love and understanding. Directed by
James Kirkwood and boasting exquisite cinematography by Edward Wynard, Fanchon the Cricket was filmed on location in Delaware
Gap, Pennsylvania. A natural, sensual and uninhibited Pickford
breaks through today s stereotype of her as the girl with the
curls. It is also the only surviving film in which both siblings
Jack Pickford and Lottie Pickford are featured alongside their
sister. Blu-ray Release Date: November 20th, 2018
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
BD - Burl Ives narrates and sings
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- an iconic 60's Christmas tale about uniqueness, conformity and
acceptance. Rudolph and his electric proboscis team-up with
show-stealing Hermey (a wannabe Dentist) and larger-than-life,
protective Yukon Cornelius. They battle the 'Abominable snowman'
(called a 'Bumble' by our friend Yukon) in a search for a place
to live without rejection... but instead we, the audience, find
some real spirit and meaning in Holiday season. 'Magnificent' is
an understatement. Blu-ray Release Date: October 16th, 2018
Long Weekend
BD -
Attempting to resurrect their failing marriage, Peter (John
Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) set out on a camping trip
to a deserted stretch of the Australian coastline hoping a long
weekend in the sunshine will help them patch their differences.
They are a careless couple, littering the countryside with
garbage, shooting guns and even driving away after wounding a
kangaroo with their automobile. Their callous disregard for the
environment soon becomes apparent when the animals start to seek
vengeance. Marcia and Peter have proven themselves to be
destroyers of nature. Will the animals allow them to leave or
will they too be destroyed? Blu-ray Release date: November
5th, 2018
Little Annie Rooney
BD -
Mary Pickford plays a tomboy of the tenements in this comedy
drama, which she also wrote. Filmed over ten weeks, Little Annie
Rooney was shot entirely on a set created by art director John
D. Schulze at the Pickford Fairbanks Studio. Co-starring William
Haines and a wide-ranging, multi-ethnic cast, Little Annie
Rooney met with huge critical and commercial success upon its
original release, proving fans and critics alike wanted the then
33-year old Mary to stay a child forever.
Blu-ray Release
Date: November 20th, 2018
Television's Lost Classics Volume 2: Rare
Pilots BD - This is a special series of lost
classic programs from the Golden Age of TV. The series has been
restored by SabuCat Productions from the best archival film
elements available in high definition, some of the programs have
not been seen since they were originally broadcast. Volume Two
features 4 half-hour lost pilots with one directed by Jacques
Tourneur, others starring Lon Chaney Jr., William Shatner etc.
Blu-ray Release Date: September 11th, 2018
Torso
BD - A talented and
versatile journeyman, director Sergio Martino (The Case of the
Scorpion's Tail, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the
Key) has lent his talents to multiple genres across his long and
varied career, but it is undoubtedly his giallo thrillers from
the early 70s for which he is best known. Among the most highly
acclaimed of these, 1973's Torso revels in the genre's
time-honored traditions while simultaneously laying the
groundwork for the modern slasher movie. A sex maniac is
prowling the streets of Perugia, targeting picturesque
university town's female students. Alarmed at plummeting life
expectancy of the student body, Jane (Suzy Kendall, The Bird
with the Crystal Plumage) and her three friends elope to a
secluded country villa only to discover that, far from having
left the terror behind, they've brought it with them!
Blu-ray
Release Date: October 30th, 2018
|
