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Return of the Bastard Swordsman
- Just when you think you’ve had enough, the Shaw Brothers turn
the brutality up another notch in Return of Bastard Swordsman.
Hsu Sha-chiang (Bastard Swordsman, Hong Kong Godfather) reaches
new levels of violent intensity. You’ll grip your chest and
check your pulse when you witness one of the most over-the-top
Kung Fu moves ever caught on film: the Phantom technique, a
harrowing attack with the power to burst the human heart. Make
no mistake—the Bastard is back. DVD Release Date: December 7th,
2010
A Long Ride From Hell -
When his cattle are rustled, Mike Sturgess (Steve Reeves,
HERCULES) and his brother Roy take chase. Unfortunately, they
wind up in the wrong place and are beaten and left for dead by
Mike's old friend Martin (Wayde Preston, TV's COLT .45) who has
robbed a nearby train. Mike and Roy are wrongfully imprisoned at
Yuma where the weaker Roy dies at the hands of sadistic guards.
Mike takes part in a massive prison break but finds his ranch
now in ruin. With nothing left to live for, Mike goes after
Martin and his cohorts, including corrupt sheriff Freeman (Mimmo
Palmara, billed as Dick Hunter). DVD Release Date: January 11th,
2011
Disciples of the 36th Chamber
- Fong Sai Yuk's uninhibited arrogance toward a Manchu lord
forces him to seek refuge in a Shaolin temple. Although
abundantly trained in the martial arts, he is no match for
Master San Te, the creator of the
36th Chamber of Shaolin.
Exhausted by his frequent defeats, Fong seeks to escape his
prison and crosses paths with a governor, who rewards him with a
yellow robe granting immunity from any Manchu. But what are the
governor's true intentions? Will Fong feed his foolish ego and
betray the Shaolin Temple? DVD Release Date: December 7th, 2010
Bastard Swordsman - True
devotees of martial arts cinema have long lived in fear of the
Bastard Swordsman! Unleashed on audiences by the blockbuster
combination of Shaw Brothers Studios and legendary director
Chang Cheh (Five Deadly Venoms,
The Blood Brothers), this kung
fu classic flawlessly blends phantasmagorical action sequences
with staples of the wuxia genre. Starring Norman Chui (Hong Kong
Godfather, 36th Chamber) as the most lethal bastard this side of
Shaolin, this twisted tale of betrayal and bloodshed showcases a
revolutionary style of wire-work and action choreography that
inspired today’s most revered filmmakers. So sit back, dim the
lights, and prepare to be schooled in the art of the kill as you
experience the bastard’s signature move: the mind-meltingly
lethal Silkworm Technique! DVD Release Date: December 7th, 2010
Swamp Water - This is
commonly known as Jean Renoir's first American film (1941),
although Renoir scholar Alexander Sesonske has established that
Renoir's creative role in the project was severely hampered by
producer Darryl F. Zanuck and that he didn't regard much of the
film as his own. (The ending, for instance, was written by
Zanuck and directed by Irving Pichel.) Nevertheless, the film
has certain beauties and pleasures. Part of it was shot in
Georgia's Okefenokee swamp, and the treatment of the small
community living nearby is often pungent and distinctive. DVD
Release Date: August 18th, 2006
Daughters of Darkness - In
The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick makes a small visual homage
to
Last Year at Marienbad, (1961) when he references the garden
maze that Jack is about to go into in search of his son. It's
fitting that Kubrick should be thinking of Last Year at
Marienbad, since that classic film by Alain Resnais deals with
ghostly memories trapped in a large, luxury hotel. Belgian
director Harry Kumel actually does Kubrick's homage one better
in his acclaimed art-house, lesbian-vampire film Daughters of
Darkness (1971) - he actually got Marienbad's lead, Delphine
Seyrig, to once again play a major role that competes for
attention with an enigmatic and cavernous hotel. It's a heck of
a battle because Seyrig puts on a mesmerizing show that has
often been compared to an over-the-top Marlene Dietrich
impersonation, and the imposing hotel locations include the
Grand Hotel des Thermes in Ostend and the Hotel Astoria in
Brussels. DVD Release Date: August 30th, 2010
Shiver of the Vampires -
Newlyweds Isle (Sandra Julien, I AM A NYMPHOMANIAC) and Antoine
(Jean-Marie Durand) arrive at her ancestral castle only to
discover that her cousins (Jacques Robiolles and Michel Delahaye)
are dead and being mourned by their communal bride Isabelle
(Nicole Nancel). They find the castle being looked after by two
maids (Rollin fixture Marie-Pierre Castel and Kuelan Herce) and
are even more shocked when the dead cousins turn up for dinner
(after the sun has set, of course). DVD Release Date: December
7th 2010
The Fugitive
BD - Catch him if you can.
The Fugitive is on the run! Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones
race through the breathless manhunt movie based on the classic
TV series. Ford is prison escapee Dr. Richard Kimble, a Chicago
surgeon falsely convicted of killing his wife and determined to
prove his innocence by leading his pursuers to the one-armed man
who actually committed the crime. Jones (1993 Academy Award and
Golden Globe winner as Best Supporting Actor) is Sam Gerard, an
unrelenting bloodhound of a U.S. Marshal. They are hunted and
hunter. And as directed by Andrew Davis (Under Siege), their nonstop chase has one exhilarating speed: all-out. So catch him
if you can. And catch an 11-on-a-scale-of-10 train wreck (yes,
the train is real), a plunge down a waterfall, a cat-and-mouse
jaunt through a Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade and much more.
Better hurry. Kimble doesn't stay in one place very long!
Blu-ray Release date:
September 26th, 2006
Resonnances - A perfect
getaway for a group of friends turns into a nightmare in this
amazing French micro-budget horror/sci-fi film! Thomas, Yann,
Vincent and three female friends hop into their cars and travel
to the French mountains for a relaxing weekend trip. On their
way, a dangerous psychopath escapes from prison and there’s even
talk of a ghostly female apparition haunting the area. After
picking up a suspicious hitchhiker, a thick fog envelops their
cars and sends them all over a steep cliff! Barely surviving the
fall, they soon discover something even more horrifying. An
ancient creature lives under the ground… listening and waiting.
It’s ready to devour anyone and anything in its path and this
group of friends is very much on tonight’s menu! DVD Release
Date: December 14th, 2010
Death of a Snowman - Master
criminals meet violent death in Johannesburg, South Africa, a
city wrought with organized crime. Steve Chaka (Ken Gampu), an
ambitious news reporter, learns that these deaths are from the
hands of an all-black vigilante group known only as War on
Crime. Teaming up with Lt. Ben Deel (Nigel Davenport, CHARIOTS
OF FIRE,
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) of the local police department,
Chaka investigates anonymous tips regarding future hits and ends
up fighting for his life to uncover the truth about the
vigilante killings! DEATH OF A SNOWMAN is an action-filled South
African grindhouse gem. Exploitation fans will enjoy the
outrageous violence, erratic editing, funky disco soundtrack and
jaw dropping dubbing. DVD Release Date: November 9th, 2010
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt -
Crusading publisher Austin Spenser (Sidney Blackmer) wants to
prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial
evidence. Spencer talks his prospective son-in-law Tom Garrett
(Dana Andrews) into participating in a hoax, the better to
expose the alleged ineptitude of conviction-happy DA (Philip
Bourneuf). Tom will plant clues indicating that he is the
murderer of a nightclub dancer, then stand trial for murder;
just as the jury reaches its inevitable guilty verdict, Spencer
will step forth to reveal the set-up and humiliate the DA.
Somewhat surprisingly, Tom eagerly agrees to this subterfuge.
Unfortunately, an unforeseen event renders their perfectly
formed scheme useless. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was the last
American film of director Fritz Lang. DVD Release Date: July
13th, 2010
A Bay of Blood
BD - Countess Federica (Isa
Miranda,
THE NIGHT PORTER) is murdered for profit by her husband Filippo (Giovanni Nuvoletti). Seconds later, however, Filippo
too is murdered by an unseen assailant and his body hidden. Upon
news of the Countess' mysterious death (and her husband's
disappearance), a number of victim-fodder characters converge
upon the bay. There's Simon (Claudio Camaso, brother of Gian
Maria Volante), the countess' illegitimate son who lives as a
squid fisherman in a shack on the bay...
Blu-ray Release Date: December 20th, 2010
The Mission
BD - Winner of the 1986
Cannes Film Festival Best Picture Award, the film earned seven
Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and won a
Best Cinematography Oscar. Robert Bolt's thoughtful screenplay
and Ennio Morricone's rich score won Golden Globe Awards. The
Mission is screen storytelling that weaves a haunting spell.
Blu-ray Release date:
October 5th, 2010
Plymouth Adventure - In
1620, a group of religious outcasts boarded the Mayflower in
England and set sail for the New World, where they founded a
tiny wilderness outpost that was the genesis for what would
become the United States of America. This is their thrilling
story, a tale of hardship and devotion, of storms, hunger and
disease faced and defied. Screen great Spencer Tracy portrays
the Mayflower’s skipper, whose clenched heart is opened by his
love for a gentle passenger (Gene Tierney) and the unfaltering
courage of the pilgrims. Clarence Brown’s forthright direction,
Miklos Rozsa’s hymn-tinged score and Academy Award®-winning*
special effects that thrust the viewer into twisting, towering
seas await all who experience this memorable Plymouth Adventure.
DVD Release Date: November 9th, 2010
Deep Red - English jazz
pianist Marcus Daly (David Hemmings,
BLOW-UP) is living and
teaching music in Turin. When he witnesses the brutal murder of
his psychic neighbor Helga (Macha Meril,
BELLE DE JOUR,
UN FEMME MARIEE, and
NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS), he - along with nosy reporter Gianna (Daria Nicolodi,
INFERNO) - begins to investigate the
murder and its ties to the murderous recollections Helga picked
out from an anonymous audience member and the story of "The
House of the Screaming Child." The killer always seems to be on
step ahead of Marcus and those who might provide him clues end
up brutally murdered and he may be the next victim. DVD Release
Date: December 13th, 2010
The Gangster - The gangster
grew up tough, got tougher with the years. But now slicker,
smarter criminals are moving in on his rackets. The man who
prided himself on his control of any situation realizes he may
not be tough enough. And what once was self-confidence becomes
the unfamiliar but overwhelming emotion of fear. The treacherous
world of film noir combines with psychological suspense in a
probing, surprising tale rumored to be an uncredited work by
blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. Barry Sullivan stars,
powerfully capturing the flailing crimelord’s passage from
defiance to craven desperation. And the cast – including Sheldon
Leonard, Akim Tamiroff, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Charles McGraw – is
a noir fan’s dark dream. DVD Release Date: September 7th, 2010
Betrayed - Before he made
Betrayed, Robert Mitchum was picking up occasional paychecks as
a villain in Hopalong Cassidy flicks. Afterward, he was headed
to stardom. In this chilling, iconic film noir, Mitchum plays a
new bride’s (Kim Hunter) former beau, who provides a strong
shoulder to lean on when his ex suspects the mysterious man she
married (Dean Jagger) may be a killer. Future horror innovator
William Castle’s inventive direction drenches the action in
claustrophobic tension: the sequence with Hunter lit by flashing
neon is a classic. And the scene where Mitchum loses his
trademark cool in an eruption of emotion foreshadows his
audience-jolting performances in The Night of the Hunter and
Cape Fear. DVD Release Date: September 14th, 2010
Wah Do Dem - Slacker Max
(Sean Bones, who also wrote and sung some of the soundtrack
music) is dumped by his girlfriend Willow (singer Norah Jones,
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS) just before they are to set sail on a
two-day Jamaican cruise. When his friends (bizarrely) cannot
join him either (only one seems to have a regular job), Max
takes the trip on his own. On-board, he finds himself adrift in
a sea of senior citizens (most of the people his age are members
of the staff or entertainment) so he makes only fleeting contact
with his shipmates. DVD Release Date: October 25th, 2010
Altamont Now -
Self-indulgent pirate TV broadcasts. Painfully lame
interpersonal arguments. Angsty whining about The Man. The
completely unnecessary use of fire arms. Welcome to the Indie
Rockalypse. Now. Altamont Now is a biting satire of how the
"alternative" youth culture of America lifts its rebellion from
the past. Borrowing the form of the Maysles' Gimme Shelter that
documented the Rolling Stones' tragic Altamont concert, Altamont
Now presents a unique revisioning of 1960s rock-sploitation
films. DVD Release Date: July 27th, 2010
Sonny Chiba Double Feature
BD - Killing Machine (Shorinji
Kempo) Sonny Chiba stars as Doshin So, a martial arts master who
returns from the second World War after serving as an undercover
spy. Upon his return, he finds that his family's land has been
stolen. Doshin must take back the town from a group of black
marketers and rebuild his life. Shogun's Ninja (Ninja Bugeicho
Momochi Sandayu) Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord, sends his
war commander to the Momochi fort to destroy its clan and to
obtain its hidden gold. Two daggers tell where the hidden gold
is located. One is in the possession of the head of the Momochi
family, but who has the other. Wild fight choreography and
action ensue. Blu-ray
Release date: January 8th, 2008 |
