Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF November 4th, 2019

  This Week's Highlights
 
 

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Tervist! Barnes and Noble's 50% OFF SALE is ON for Criterion, Cohen and Arrow! This has been a strong week of Blu-ray reviews in this newsletter of packages from Indicator, Kino, Warner Archive, Second Sight Films, Elephant Films, Arrow Films, of films directed by Martin Scorsese, Douglas Sirk, Anthony Mann, Joseph Losey, Terence Fisher, Victor Fleming, Seth Holt etc. .Our Calendar has NEW updates of Blu-rays including by directors Richard Fleischer, Luis Buñuel, Sergio Corbucci, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kramer, Clint Eastwood, Lewis Gilbert, Fritz Lang, Arthur Penn, John Schlesinger, John Huston... and more. We also have our Feature Blu-ray and 4K UHD posted for NOVEMBER Enjoy!!

LISTING AND LARGE REVIEW PAGES:

Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 (on Blu-ray), Cinema of Japan, Discs of the Year for 2018,  The TOP 100 DISCS Ingmar Bergman's Cinema HAGSPloitation, BLAXPloitation, OZPloitation, 'WOMEN IN PRISON' CINEMACREATURE-FEATURES (on Blu-ray!), PRE-CODE FILMs (on Blu-ray!), SILENT ERA FILMs (on Blu-ray!), HAMMER Studios (on Blu-ray!) The 100 BEST Neo-Noirs (on Blu-ray!), The GREATEST 100 Westerns (on Blu-ray!), Giallo on Blu-ray!, ESSENTIAL NOIR on Blu-ray!, Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.FR (France), Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.DE (Germany) and our LATEST ARTICLES: Movies From... the End of the World The Beauties of Star Trek (TOS)

Feature Blu-ray and 4K UHD chosen for the Month of NOVEMBER!

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Gary at 2ze dot com

LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE RELEASE CALENDAR:

Trapped [Blu-ray] (Richard Fleischer, 1949) Flicker Alley

El bruto [Blu-ray] (Luis Buñuel, 1953) VCI

Chained for Life [Blu-ray] (Aaron Schimberg, 2018) Kino Lorber

The Specialists [Blu-ray] (Sergio Corbucci, 1969) Kino Lorber

Black Angel [Blu-ray] (Roy William Neill, 1946) Arrow US

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [Blu-ray] (Terry Gilliam, 1998) Arrow UK (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

The Holly and the Ivy [Blu-ray] (George More O'Ferrall, 1952) RB UK Studiocanal

Judgment at Nuremberg [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kramer, 1961) RB UK BFI (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Clint Eastwood The Signature Film Collection (54 Movies) [Blu-ray + DVD] (Various) Region Free UK Warner Bros.

Cosh Boy (aka The Slasher) [Blu-ray] (Lewis Gilbert, 1953) RB UK BFI

Cloak and Dagger [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1946) RB UK Eureka (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

The Miracle Worker [Blu-ray] (Arthur Penn, 1962) RB UK Eureka (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Sunday Bloody Sunday [Blu-ray] (John Schlesinger, 1971) RB UK BFI (ALT Blu-ray REVIEW)

Beat the Devil [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1953) RB UK BFI (ALT Blu-ray REVIEW)

The Bad and the Beautiful [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1952) Warner Archive

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic [Blu-ray] (Tiger of Bengal, The Indian Tomb)(Fritz Lang, 1959) Film Movement

Great Day in the Morning [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1956) Warner Archive

Black Angel [Blu-ray] (Roy William Neill, 1946) Arrow Academy UK

The World, The Flesh and The Devil [Blu-ray] (Ranald MacDougall, 1959) Warner Archive

Operation Crossbow [Blu-ray] (Michael Anderson, 1965) Warner Archive

Holiday [Blu-ray] (George Cukor, 1938) Criterion UK

Joan the Maid [Blu-ray] (Jacques Rivette, 1994) Cohen

Olivia [Blu-ray] (Jacqueline Audry, 1951) Distrib Films

The Bells of St. Mary's [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1945) Olive Signature (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On [Blu-ray] (aka Yuki yukite, shingun) (Kazuo Hara, 1987) Region Free UK Second Run

The Cotton Club [Blu-ray] (Francis Ford Coppola, 1984) Lionsgate

The Passenger [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975) Region Free Indicator US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Blue Collar [Blu-ray] (Paul Schrader, 1978) Region Free Indicator US (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Mummy's Shroud [Blu-ray] (John Gilling, 1967) Shout! Factory (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Demons of the Mind [Blu-ray] (Peter Sykes, 1972) Shout! Factory (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death [Blu-ray] (John D. Hancock, 1971) Shout! Factory

Being There [Blu-ray] (Hal Ashby, 1979) Criterion UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Sansho the Bailiff [Blu-ray] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954) Criterion UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Judy [Blu-ray] (Rupert Goold, 2019) RB UK 20th Century Fox

Holiday [Blu-ray] (George Cukor, 1938) Criterion

The Fugitive Kind [Blu-ray] (Sidney Lumet, 1960) Criterion

All About My Mother [Blu-ray] (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999) Criterion

Fail-Safe [Blu-ray] (Sidney Lumet , 1964) Criterion (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Le Petit Soldat [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) Criterion

Moby Dick [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1956) RB UK Studiocanal (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): With one of the most stacked Blu-ray boxsets of the year, Indicator's Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear Region FREE Blu-ray package with Joseph Losey's The Damned, Seth Holt's Taste of Fear, Terence Fisher's The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll has 5 commentaries, multiple documentaries, appreciations, interviews, a limited edition book and four desirable Hammer films in max'ed out a/v transfers - makes it our number one mention this week. It does take a lot to push The Wizard of Oz 4K UHD to second spot - an absolute must-own and our culture would be weaker without its existence and this is, quite handily, the best home theatre presentation of all time. Brilliant. Martin Scorsese's rich, mysterious epic on the life of the Dalai Lama, Kundun, is a sight to behold on Blu-ray. Kino have provide a two disc package that includes a commentary and hours of extras. Joseph Losey’s deeply probing Secret Ceremony is a tapestry of three damaged characters played by Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum. Indicator's Blu-ray is loaded with value to help unlock the film's inner meanings. Anthony Mann's The Far Country with Jimmy Stewart is one of the great westerns. The iconic pairing of director and star creates a true genre classic - now in a two Blu-ray package with Adrian Martin commentary. A must-own for western fans. I loved the Upgrade - a Tech-Noir modern cult-gem from 2018. Second Sight Films have delivered a loaded Limited Edition Blu-ray package. Strongly recommended! You now it was a strong week when Douglas Sirk's Thunder on the Hill, on Region FREE Blu-ray from Elephant Films gets the last shout. An intriguing mystery with many deft touches. See you next week!

 “The problem with the people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues....” ― Elizabeth Taylor

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  THIS WEEK's REVIEWS / COMPARISONS
 

The Far Country BD - One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Blu-ray Release Date: November 11th, 2019

The Damned BD - Joseph Losey's black-and-white SF thriller, made in 1962 during his pre-Pinter British period, begins as a sort of love story—MacDonald Carey is an American businessman who shows interest in Shirley Anne Field and as a consequence gets beaten up by teddy boys led by Oliver Reed—then gradually turns into an antinuclear parable about radioactive children sequestered from humanity in an underground cave. Originally titled The Damned, the film was mangled by distributors but later restored for TV; more than an interesting curiosity, it's one of Losey's best English efforts, and Viveca Lindfors contributes a striking part as an eccentric sculptress. Blu-ray Release Date: November 25th, 2019

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll BD - In Victorian London, Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with drugs in an attempt to separate the good and evil natures of man. One night he injects himself with his personality-changing serum, and the somber Jekyll is transformed into the debonair Mr. Hyde. He visits the Sphinx, a West End nightclub, where he encounters Jekyll's neglected wife, Kitty, dancing with his close friend, Paul Allen, an inveterate gambler. Though Jekyll tries to submerge the evil nature of Hyde, he cannot prevent himself from plotting Paul's death, and he lures his former friend into the dressing room of Maria, a snake dancer. Blu-ray Release Date: November 25th, 2019

The Revenge of Frankenstein BD - Death has never stopped anyone from crafting a sequel to a successful film, but Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster rather ingeniously twist the climactic execution of The Curse of Frankenstein into the opening of The Revenge of Frankenstein. With a cold-blooded flourish that would become his trademark, Frankenstein plots his escape and sends an innocent (a priest, no less) to take his place on the guillotine, leaving himself free to continue his experiments. As the new head of a hospital for the poor, he builds a body for his crippled assistant from parts amputated from his patients, but body battles mind for supremacy and turns the newly ambulatory man into a bloodthirsty cannibal. Once again Fisher makes the most of a constricted budget, turning his poorhouse hospital into a cramped, dank hole and splurging on another colorful laboratory of buzzing devices and a centerpiece tank for his suspended creature. Blu-ray Release Date: November 25th, 2019

Taste of Fear BD - Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) is a paralyzed young woman confined to a wheelchair. For the first time in ten years, she has returned to her father's home -- only to be told that he is away. Penny is suspicious of her stepmother's (Ann Todd) odd behavior, and is convinced that something is amiss. While searching around the house, Penny discovers her father's body, only to have it vanish before anyone else can see it. Is Penny's father really dead, or is she losing her mind. Blu-ray Release Date: November 25th, 2019

Thunder on the Hill BD - Charlotte Hastings' West End stage hit Bonaventure was adroitly translated to the American screen as Thunder on the Hill. The bulk of the action takes place at convent, presided over by Sister Mary (Claudette Colbert). Circumstances -- namely, a dangerous rainstorm and raging flood -- dictate that the convent become a stopover for Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), a convicted murderess who is being escorted to Death Row by a brace of guards. Slowly becoming convinced that Valerie is innocent, Sister Mary sets about to clear the girl and bring the genuine killer to justice. It goes without saying that said killer is also a reluctant guest of the convent. A superb shadow-laden climax in the convent's belltower caps this heart-pounding mystery meller. Blu-ray Release Date: September 1st, 2015

Secret Ceremony BD - Joseph Losey’s lurid and often misunderstood drama stars the great Elizabeth Taylor as an ageing London prostitute who befriends a young woman (Mia Farrow) that reminds her of her long-dead daughter. As the bizarre relationship between the two evolves, the appearance of Robert Mitchum, as Farrow’s abusive stepfather, ignites deep emotions and dark passions. Blu-ray Release Date: November 18th, 2019

Upgrade BD - In a near-future world, where technology controls everything, technophobe Grey Trace is the victim of a brutal mugging that leaves his wife dead and him paralyzed. A reclusive billionaire inventor offers him an experimental cure, an A.I. implant called STEM. Grey accepts and is immediately transformed into an unstoppable killing machine with enhanced strength and agility. Now it's payback time. Blu-ray Release Date: November 18th, 2019

The Wizard of Oz 4K UHD - The fantasy/musical plot needs no preface, but - Dorothy (Garland) is a schoolgirl living in Kansas with family and her little dog, Toto. One afternoon, a twister sucks up Dorothy's house and she and Toto are dropped beyond the rainbow into Munchkinland. With a pair of magical red slippers and some advice from Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke), Dorothy, Toto and three new friends--the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley), and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr)--follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, where they must ask the all-powerful Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) to get Dorothy and Toto back home. The Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton), however, is determined to get her hands on the slippers, and sends out her flying monkeys to capture the group of new friends.... 4K Ultra HD Release Date: October 29th, 2019

Kundun BD - Kundun (1997) is a portrait of the early life of the boy recognized as the fourteenth reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, from his discovery at the age of two by a Lama in the guise of a servant, through the invasion of Tibet by Communist China in 1950, to his flight to India and exile from his homeland in 1959 at the age of 24. The title of the film, which comes from the honorific title of the Dalai Lama, means The Presence, as in the presence of the Buddha. Kino Blu-ray Release date: October 28th, 2019

Next 2 weeks on the Calendar

November 4th, 2019

 

 

Ambition [Blu-ray] (Robert Shaye, 2019) Shout! Factory

Anna [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Luc Besson, 2019) Region Free Lionsgate UK

Apollo 11 [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Todd Douglas Miller, 2019) Region Free Dogwoof UK

Apollo 11 [Blu-ray] (Todd Douglas Miller, 2019) RB UK Dogwoof
Apprentice to Murder [Blu-ray] (Ralph L. Thomas, 1988) Arrow Video US

Badge 373 [Blu-ray] (Howard W. Koch, 1973) RB Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)

Birdy [Blu-ray] (Alan Parker, 1984) Indicator US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Byleth: The Demon of Incest (aka Il demone dell'incesto) [Blu-ray] (Leopoldo Savona, 1972) Severin

The Invitation [Blu-ray] (Karyn Kusama, 2015) RB UK Second Sight

It Always Rains on Sunday [Blu-ray] (Robert Hamer, 1947) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Kitchen [Blu-ray] (Andrea Berloff, 2019) Warner Bros.

The Man Between [Blu-ray] (Carol Reed, 1953) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)
Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Complete Series 1 [Blu-ray] (Various, 1969) Monty Python Pictures Ltd

Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries - Series 1 [Blu-ray] (Deb Cox, Fiona Eagger, 2019) Acorn Media

Naked Alibi [Blu-ray] (Jerry Hopper, 1954) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)

New Port South [Blu-ray] (Kyle Cooper, 2001) Kino

Pickup Alley (aka Interpol) [Blu-ray] (John Gilling, 1957) Arrow Academy UK (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Resurrection [Blu-ray] (Daniel Petrie, 1980) Universal

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark [4K UHD Blu-ray] (André Øvredal, 2019) Region Free Lionsgate
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark [Blu-ray] (André Øvredal, 2019) Lionsgate

Seven Days to Noon [Blu-ray] (John Boulting, Roy Boulting, 1950) Kino

The Souvenir [Blu-ray] (Joanna Hogg, 2019) RB UK Curzon Artificial Eye

Terror Train [Blu-ray] (Roger Spottiswoode, 1980) RB UK 88 Films

Time Without Pity [Blu-ray] (Joseph Losey, 1957) Region Free Indicator US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Woman in Hiding [Blu-ray] (Michael Gordon, 1950) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)

Yesterday [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 2019) Region Free Universal UK
Yesterday [Blu-ray] (Danny Boyle, 2019) Region Free Universal UK

The Young Girls of Rochefort [Blu-ray] (Jacques Demy, 1967) RB UK BFI

Young Winston [Blu-ray] (Richard Attenborough, 1972) Region Free Indicator US (BEAVER REVIEW)

 

November 11th, 2019

 

 

42nd Street Pete's 8mm Madness Volume 2 Number 1: The Rough and Raunchy Collection [Blu-ray] (17 8mm loops) - After Hours Cinema

47 Meters Down: Uncaged [Blu-ray] (Johannes Roberts, 2019) Lionsgate

007 The Daniel Craig Collection [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre) Sony UK

Aquarela [Blu-ray] (Viktor Kossakovsky, 2018) Sony

Bliss [Blu-ray] (Joe Begos, 2019) Dark Sky Films

Buffet Froid [Blu-ray] (Bertrand Blier, 1979) Kino

Charley Varrick [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1973) Kino Lorber (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

The Daytrippers [Blu-ray] (Greg Mottola, 1996) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

Diego Maradona [Blu-ray] (Asif Kapadia, 2019) RB UK Spirit

Emanuelle in America [Blu-ray] (Joe D'Amato, 1977) Mondo Macabro

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On [Blu-ray] (aka Yuki yukite, shingun) (Kazuo Hara, 1987) Region Free UK Second Run

The Far Country [Blu-ray] (Anthony Mann, 1954) Arrow Academy UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

The Far Country [Blu-ray] (Anthony Mann, 1954) Arrow US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Fuller at Fox - Five Films 1951-1957 [Blu-ray] (Fixed Bayonets!, Pickup on South Street, Hell and High Water, House of Bamboo, Forty Guns)  (Samuel Fuller, 1951-1957) Eureka

Gone Fishin' [Blu-ray] (Christopher Cain, 1997) Kino Lorber

The Gun Runners [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1958) Kino

Heathers - 30th Anniversary Steelbook [Blu-ray] (Michael Lehmann, 1988) Image

I, a Woman Part II / The Daughter: I, a Woman Part III Double Feature [Blu-ray] (Mac Ahlberg, 1968, 1970) Pop Cinema / Something Weird

The Italian Job 50th Anniversary - Deluxe Edition [Blu-ray] (Peter Collinson, 1969) Region FREE Paramount UK

Leon: Director's Cut (aka Léon: The Professional) [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Luc Besson, 1994) Region Free Studiocanal UK

Les liaisons dangereuses [Blu-ray] (1959, Roger Vadim) Kino

Madigan [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1968) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)

Moby Dick [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1956) RB UK Studiocanal (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Monty Python's Flying Circus - Complete Series [Blu-ray] (Various, 1969-1974) Region Free UK Network

The Mountain [Blu-ray] (Rick Alverson, 2018) Kino

Nutty Professor Collection (The Nutty Professor, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps) [Blu-ray] (Tom Shadyac, Peter Segal , 1996, 2000) Shout! Factory

Nuri Bilge Ceylan The Complete Films [Blu-ray] (Kasaba, Clouds of May, Uzak, Climates, Three Monkeys, Once upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep, The Wild Pear Tree, Koza) (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 1995-2019) RB UK Drakes Avenue

Operation Crossbow [Blu-ray] (Michael Anderson, 1965) Warner Archive

The Palm Beach Story [Blu-ray] (Preston Sturges, 1942) Criterion UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Picture of Beauty [Blu-ray] (Maxim Ford, 2017) Dark Side Releasing (ALT-BEAVER REVIEW)

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping [Blu-ray] (Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, 2016) Shout! Factory

Return to Macon County [Blu-ray] (Richard Compton, 1975) Kino Lorber

Road Games [Blu-ray] (Richard Franklin, 1981) Shout! Factory

The Roaring West [Blu-ray] (Ray Taylor, 1935) Vci

Slugs [Blu-ray] (Juan Piquer Simón, 1988) Arrow Video US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Spirited Away - Collector's Edition [Blu-ray] (Hayao Miyazaki, Kirk Wise, 2001) Studio Ghibli

Stanley Kubrick: Limited Edition Film Collection [4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, Various Years) Region Free / RB UK Warner Bros

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2 [Blu-ray] (Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman, 2019) Paramount

Street People [Blu-ray] (Maurizio Lucidi, Guglielmo Garroni, 1976) Kino Lorber

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot [Blu-ray] (Michael Cimino, 1974) Kino Lorber

Virgin Cheerleaders in Chains [Blu-ray] (Paulo Biscaia Filho, Gary McClain Gannaway, 2018) Dark Side Releasing

Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (aka Lycanthropus) [Blu-ray] (Paolo Heusch, 1961) Severin

Winter Kills [Blu-ray] (William Richert, 1979) Kino Lorber

The World, The Flesh and The Devil [Blu-ray] (Ranald MacDougall, 1959) Warner Archive