THIS WEEK's RELEASES: David Lynch 4K UHD, Barry Jenkins Gold!, Bong Joon-ho 4K UHD, Joe Dante 4K UHD, Gordon Chan 4K UHD, Alfred Hitchcock, Ken Russell, Fred Zinnemann, Arthur Dong, Vittorio De Seta, Sonny Chiba, Basil Dearden, Giuliano Carnimeo, Víctor Erice, Susan Seidelman, David Gregory, William Cameron Menzies, Val Guest, Orson Welles does Shakespeare, Raoul Walsh, Joe Dante, Woo-Ping Yuen, Carlos Hugo Christensen, Frank Borzage, Kinji Fukasaku, and Andrzej Zulawski...
NEW CALENDAR UPDATES (LINKED HERE!) Don Siegel classic to 4K UHD, World Noir 2.0, Criterion Albert Brooks 4K UHD X 2, more Tai Katō, Kinji Fukasaku, Kira Muratova double feature, , Laurel & Hardy, Jane Campion, Susan George in 4K UHD, Arch Oboler 3-D , Jim Jarmusch, The Three Stooges to Blu-ray!, Howard Hawks, multiple Patrice Leconte, Barbet Schroeder, David Mamet, Columbo returns, Reese's Tracy Flick in 4K UHD, Terry Zwigoff to the UK, Giant Leeches, Terence Fisher / Cushing X 2, Daniel Mann / Lancaster X 2, Forbidden Fruit Exploitation, Ernst Lubitsch, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Borzage, Raoul Walsh, Fred Zinnemann, Basil Dearden, Andrzej Zulawski, Nicolas Winding Refn, Ang Lee 4K UHD, another strong Film Noir triple-pack, Nico Mastorakis box...
THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS: Mini-series excellence with African-Americans and an actual subterranean train, "Asian American Stories" documentary brilliance, unfettered Ken Russell excessiveness, Schrader's Gere as a paid for neo noir stud in 4K UHD, jungle pre-code horror, Lewis Allen double-feature with hypnotic Gail Russell, Mamet play realized with a dream cast, essential noir with Robert Cummings, Lake / Ladd in Asia, and Lake again as a Nazi spy...
Enjoy,
Gary

RELEASES the WEEK of June 24th, 2024 (Recommended titles have "**")

**Act of Violence** [Blu-ray] (Fred Zinnemann, 1948) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: When two World War II veterans meet again--one a decorated war hero and successful, married businessman; the other permanently crippled and mentally deranged--the encounter will lead to a shocking Act of Violence. Frank Enly (Academy Award winner Van Heflin) survived a German concentration camp to return home a hero and build a good life for himself. But when Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) comes to town, Enly flees. Now, as his life and sanity rapidly unravel, is Enly really a lying traitor who sold the lives of fellow concentration camp inmates for his own survival as the mentally unstable Parkson claims, or is he a victim of survivor's guilt that has suddenly resurfaced with Parkson's return? And will the enmity between the two lead to murder in this film noir thriller, from masterful director Fred Zinnemann.
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Amsterdamned [Blu-ray] (Dick Maas, 1988) Blue Underground
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COMMENTS: Down in the murky depths of Amsterdam's famous canals lurks a murderous predator. Surfacing at night, he kills at random and disappears without a trace. As the bodies begin to pile up and mass hysteria envelopes the city, Detective Eric Visser is assigned to head the investigation. With only the escalating number of victims to go on, Visser pursues his quarry with a vengeance, unaware that his beautiful new girlfriend may be the mysterious killer's next victim.
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Arthur Dong's Asian American Stories [Blu-ray] Hollywood Chinese / Sewing Woman / Forbidden City / The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor - Kino
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**Bandits of Orgosolo** [Blu-ray] (Vittorio De Seta, 1961) Radiance
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COMMENTS: A Sardinian peasant is suspected of murder following an encounter with bandits. In order to survive, he has no option but to turn to banditry himself. Winning multiple awards at the Venice Film Festival, Bandits of Orgosolo continues the traditions of Visconti and De Sica, yet with his own style and rhythms, Vittorio De Seta musters just as much power as the earlier masters. Despite awards and plaudits on release this incredible film only now makes its debut on home video. Upon release, Bandits moved Martin Scorsese to observe: "It was as if De Seta were an anthropologist who spoke with the voice of a poet."
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**Beast Fighter: Karate Bullfighter & Karate Bearfighter** [Blu-ray] - Eureka Classics US
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COMMENTS: In Karate Bullfighter (or Champion of Death), a karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Ōyama (Chiba), who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Ōyama's entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences, and soon he is fighting for far more than sporting victory. Then, in Karate Bearfighter, Ōyama is expelled from the karate community for refusing to pull his punches. With no where else to turn, he takes a job with the yakuza after running into Kimura (Hideo Murota), who Ōyama once knew as a fellow member of the Imperial Japanese Air Service before he turned to a life of crime. Ultimately, though, Ōyama has no more respect for his superiors on the streets than he did in the dojo...
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**The Bells Go Down** [Blu-ray] (Basil Dearden, 1943) RB UK Studiocanal
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COMMENTS: Set in the heart of wartime London, this 1943 masterpiece from Ealing Studios vividly captures the urgency of the era, epitomized by the alarm bells that pierce the air with each call to action. Under the visionary production of Michael Balcon and the deft direction of Basil Dearden, this ensemble piece starring Tommy Trinder and James Mason vividly chronicles the trials and triumphs of the ordinary heroes of the British Auxiliary Fire Service from the eve of the war to the relentless aerial bombardment of the Blitz. Seamlessly blending fictional settings with authentic wartime footage, the film portrays the camaraderie and rivalry between the part-time AFS and the full-time London Fire Brigade. With a profound exploration of character motivations and harrowing experiences, The Bells Go Down delivers a poignant testament to sacrifice and solidarity and the indomitable spirit of an entire nation.
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**Blue Velvet [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (David Lynch, 1986) Criterion
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COMMENTS: Home from college, Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) makes an unsettling discovery: a severed human ear, lying in a field. In the mystery that follows, by turns terrifying and darkly funny, writer-director David Lynch burrows deep beneath the picturesque surfaces of small-town life. Driven to investigate, Jeffrey finds himself drawing closer to his fellow amateur sleuth, Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), as well as their person of interest, lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini)—and facing the fury of Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), a psychopath who will stop at nothing to keep Dorothy in his grasp. With intense performances and hauntingly powerful scenes and images, Blue Velvet is an unforgettable vision of innocence lost, and one of the most influential American films of the late twentieth century.
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**The Case of the Bloody Iris [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Giuliano Carnimeo, 1972) Celluloid Dreams
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COMMENTS: The gruesome murders of two young women send a shockwave of fear through the tenants of a high-rise apartment building. For photo models Jennifer and Marylin, it presents a welcome opportunity to move in together in one of the emptied flats. But the aura of terror catches up with everyone and soon, Jennifer feels like prey, stalked and targeted by the gloved killer. As her paranoia grows, Jennifer suspects everyone--her fanatic ex-husband, her spinster neighbor, the lesbian from down the hall, and even her boyfriend. But she is determined to stay one step ahead of the depraved killer!
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**Close Your Eyes** [Blu-ray] (Víctor Erice, 2023) RB UK New Wave Films
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COMMENTS: After his masterpieces 'The Spirit of the Beehive' and 'El Sur', and 30 years after his Cannes prize-winning 'The Quince Tree Sun', legendary filmmaker Víctor Erice comes back with CLOSE YOUR EYES, a compelling reflection about identity, memory, and filmmaking. Starring Manolo Solo and José Coronado, CLOSE YOUR EYES also reunites Erice with Ana Torrent 50 years after The Spirit of the Beehive. Considered by many as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Erice is back to mesmerize audiences with his fourth feature film.
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Common Law Wife (1963) And Jennie, Wife / Child (1968) [Blu-ray] Backwoods Double Feature - Film Masters
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COMMENTS: Wealthy old coot Shugfoot Rainey wants to trade in his over-the-hill mistress for his young niece, "Baby Doll" Jonelle, a pouty-faced stripper from New Orleans. But Rainey's mistress, Linda, has a surprise for both: according to Texas law, she's Shugfoot's COMMON LAW WIFE and has no intention of leaving quietly. Jonelle, however, is so eager to get her greedy mitts on Uncle Rainey's loot that she ups the ante by having a moronic moonshiner put cyanide in Shugfoot's whiskey!
Also included is the feature, "Jennie, Wife/Child," a twenty-year-old is unhappily married to the way-too-old-for-her, Albert Peckingpaw. Jennie is so unhappy she puts the moves on Mario, the hunky hired hand. But when Albert realizes Jennie and Mario have been making' bacon in the barn, he drugs them, chains them in the cellar, and digs their graves.
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**Desperately Seeking Susan** [Blu-ray] (Susan Seidelman, 1985) RB UK Final Cut Entertainment
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COMMENTS: If you know what to look for, you can find almost anything in the personal ads...including the love of your life! Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) is irresistible and, in her first starring role, pop star Madonna (Evita) gives a marvellously comic performance in this delightfully mad-cap comedy about mistaken identity. Bored New Jersey housewife Roberta (Arquette) fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between "Jim" (Robert Joy) and "Susan" (Madonna), a mysterious drifter who appears to lead the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream. And dream she does, until the day she actually shows up at the couple's pre-arrange rendezvous in New York City...and after a bump on the head, a bout of amnesia turns Roberta into Susan and opens the door to intrigue, laughter and love!
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Enter the Clones of Bruce [Blu-ray] (David Gregory, 2023) Severin Films
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COMMENTS: Within hours of his funeral, Hong Kong movie studios began to produce hundreds of unauthorized biopics, spin-offs and rip-offs starring a competing roster of Bruce Lee lookalikes. Over the next decade, 'Bruceploitation' would become a staple of global cinema. Director David Gregory - whose award-winning documentaries include LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY'S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON - now examines this fascinating phenomenon via interviews with Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Liang and Dragon Lee; martial arts legends like Angela Mao, David Chiang, Phillip Ko and Sammo Hung; and the producers, directors, distributors and experts - along with copious clips from the films themselves - that for the first time reveal the history, controversy and legacy behind one of the most bizarre genres in movie history.
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**Fist of Legend [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Gordon Chan, 1994) 88 Films UK
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COMMENTS: A stunning reinvention of Bruce Lees timeless 1972 classic, Fist of Fury, Fist of Legend delivers scene upon scene of intense and magnificently composed martial arts action, and is now considered by many to be the greatest Kung Fu movie of all time! In the most electrifying performance of his celebrated career, international superstar, Jet Li, plays Chen Zhen - the matchless number-one student of Chinas preeminent Kung Fu master, Fok Yun-gap. Upon returning home to Shanghai after a period of study abroad, he discovers that his homeland has been devastated by a brutal Japanese occupation, and that his once proud martial arts academy has fallen into disarray following the untimely demise of his beloved Master - allegedly in a challenge match with a member of the Japanese Black Dragon Clan. Disgusted by the official verdict on his teachers death, Chen embarks on a heroic and uncompromising one-man quest to uncover the true killer and restore dignity to his fallen people-a journey that will bring him into deadly confrontation with Japans most formidable fighters. Fist of Legend is a brilliant martial arts masterpiece that has been awarded iconic status by fans and critics worldwide.
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The Flash: The Original Series [Blu-ray] (1990-1991) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Who-o-o-o-osh! The origins and exploits of the crimefighting DC Comics superhero come your way in this 22-episode live-action series. John Wesley Shipp portrays Barry Allen, a police crime technologist endowed with sudden talents after a fluke lab accident. He pledges to use his new powers for good, powers that include ultra-speed reflexes and the ability to vibrate his molecules so rapidly he can pass through solid walls. Amanda Pays is medical researcher Tina McGee, who monitors Allen's accelerated metabolism and guards his secret identity. The Tricksters, Captain Cold, the Ghost, mad inventors: Central City is rife with criminals. Now there's a hero to keep pace with them. He's called The Flash. And in our era of instant communications, he's more in step with the times than ever.
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Game of Pleasure [Blu-ray] (Dale Frantz, 19 98) VHSHitfest
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COMMENTS: The largest computer gaming firm in the country has just completed its latest and possibly greatest virtual reality game, "Pleasure." But the erotic program has a deadly computer virus that meshes the realms of reality and fantasy when its host, Vixen (Tammy Parks, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds), takes the player into a journey through the senses. Play at your own risk!
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**The Green Cockatoo** [Blu-ray] (William Cameron Menzies, 1937) RB UK Screenbound Pictures
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COMMENTS: In London seeking employment, Eileen (René Ray) gets framed for knifing a man who got on the bad side of a gang of crooks. Escaping capture, Eileen feverishly hunts for the victim’s brother, to whom she must deliver an important message
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Homework [Blu-ray] (James Beshears, 1982) Unearthed Classics
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COMMENTS: Homework follows Tommy (Michael Morgan), a young "rock star" who is also a virgin. As he tries to lose his virginity to local high school girls, a classmate's mother (Joan Collins) decides to make a man of him. The story unfolds through the promiscuous, funny, and sometimes touching life of the young high schooler. By the end of Tommy's senior year, he's ready to take on the world.
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In Her Name [Blu-ray] (Sarah Carter, 2022) Allied Vaughn
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COMMENTS: An art house dramedy; about estranged sisters bonding as thirty-somethings forced to confront reality. While dealing with their egomaniacal formerly-important artist father's decent they experience a somewhat psychedelic liberation from the pain of their past and find themselves in a vortex of awareness of what matters most. Love.
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**Jigsaw** [Blu-ray] (Val Guest, 1962) RB UK Screenbound Pictures
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COMMENTS: Based on Hillary Waugh’s novel “Sleep Long, My Love” (and the real murder that was it’s influence), this noir-flavoured British crime drama follows two police detectives (Jack Warner and Ronald Lewis) as they take on a particularly perplexing case involving the brutal killing of an unidentified woman in the coastal town of Brighton.
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**Macbeth** [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1948) Kino
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COMMENTS: Something wicked this way comes in Orson Welles’s cinematic retelling of William Shakespeare’s immortal classic. The larger-than-life Welles (Citizen Kane, The Lady from Shanghai, Othello, Touch of Evil) adapts, produces, directs and stars as the titular Scottish lord who is tragically undone by his own vaulting ambition. Welles’s noir-tinged interpretation bubbles over with supernatural prophecy and murderous intrigue, effectively mixing the use of shadow and oblique camera angles (courtesy of cinematographer John L. Russell, Psycho) to achieve an ominous sense of a land in peril. Co-starring Dan O’Herlihy (Robinson Crusoe), Roddy McDowall (Planet of the Apes), Alan Napier (TV’s Batman) and Jeanette Nolan (The Big Heat) in her stunning film debut as Lady Macbeth, this iconic Mercury Production of The Scottish Play is an altogether stark and singular vision.
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**The Man I Love** [Blu-ray] (Raoul Walsh, 1946) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Torch singer Petey Brown is beautiful and smart. The beautiful gets her in trouble. She'll need all of the smarts to get out of it in this bluesy, boozy noir salute to tough dames in tough times. On a holiday visit to her family in the waning days of World War II, Petey expects a merry Christmas. Instead she gets a tangled web of mobsters, cheating wives, war-traumatized vets and the kind of love that grabs hold fast and goes wrong faster. Ida Lupino portrays Petey, scoring a triumph under the direction of Raoul Walsh, who helped put her on the road to stardom in the Bogart classic High Sierra. The Man I Love is also notable for its songbook of sophisticated standards and as one of the inspirations for Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. This new Blu-ray presentation restores 6 minutes cut from the film and unseen for nearly seven decades. Newly remastered, the film can finally be experienced as first shown in its original theatrical release.
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**Matinee [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Joe Dante, 1993) Shout! Factory
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COMMENTS: John Goodman is at his uproarious best as the William Castle-inspired movie promoter Lawrence Woolsey, who brings his unique brand of flashy showmanship to the unsuspecting residents of Key West, Florida. It's 1962, and fifteen-year-old fan Gene Loomis (Simone Fenton) can't wait for the arrival of Woolsey, who is in town to promote his latest offering of atomic power gone berserk, Mant! But the absurd vision of Woolsey's tale takes on a sudden urgency as the Cuban Missile Crises places the real threat of atomic horror just 90 miles off the coast. With the help of Woolsey's leading lady, Ruth (Cathy Moriarty), the master showman gives Key West a premiere they'll never forget. Anything can happen in the movies, and everything does in this hilarious tribute to a more innocent (and outrageous) time in American cinema.
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**Memories of Murder [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Bong Joon-ho, 2003) UK Curzon Film
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COMMENTS: Curzon Film is proud to present this new 4K Ultra-HD of Memories of Murder, from triple Academy Award-winning director, Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Okja, Snowpiercer). Inspired by true events, this rain-drenched sophomore feature from Bong blends true-crime with social satire and comedy in his typically masterful fashion. In 1986 Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, after two women are found raped and murdered, Seoul detective Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) is brought in to help local detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho, Parasite) with the investigation. As more bodies are found, the pair realise they have a serial killer on their hands.
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**The Miracle Fighters** [Blu-ray] (Woo-Ping Yuen, 1982) Eureka Classics
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COMMENTS: During the Quing dynasty, marriage between Manchu and Han people is outlawed. When it is discovered that high-ranking official Kao Hsiung (Eddy Ko) has taken a Han wife, the Emperor informs him that he will be forgiven - but only if he kills his beloved before the court. When he refuses, Kao Hsiung is marked for death by the powerful Sorcerer Bat (Shun-yee Yuen) and forced to watch as his wife is slain before his eyes. Kao Hsiung flees, kidnapping the Crown Prince during his escape - but soon the prince is dead, and Kao Hsiung is forced to silently replace him with another young boy. In adulthood, that innocent child - Shu Gut (Yat-Chor Yuen) - finds himself relentlessly pursued by Sorcerer Bat, and turns to two quarrelling taoist priests in the hope of protecting himself with their magic.
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**Mr. & Mrs. Smith** [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1941) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: If you had it to do all over again, would you have married me? Yes, gentlemen, there is a right answer. That's something David Smith learns the hard way when his bubbly and beautiful wife Ann queries him over breakfast. Also right are radiant Carole Lombard and easygoing Robert Montgomery as the stars of this breezy Alfred Hitchcock comedy. For three years, the Smiths have been blissed but battling. When a technicality voids their union, Mr. misses Mrs., orbiting the tale into the delightful confection of the screwball genre. From a script by Academy Award winner* Norman Krasna, Hitchcock made his change-of-pace foray into all-out humor memorable. Here again are his unmistakable touches, Look Magazine declared. The net effect is the same, too: another Alfred Hitchcock hit.
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**Ken Russell's 1971 "The Music Lovers"** Blu-ray - Richard Chamberlain / Glenda Jackson @BFI
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OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Fearless Ken Russell's The Music Lovers encourages the filmmaker's typical divided audience. Pauline Kael said in an interview: "You really feel you should drive a stake through the heart of the man who made it. I mean it is so vile. It is so horrible." An excessive response for a filmmaker often lauded for his own excesses. There is a haunting fantasy element to The Music Lovers and it probably does not even remotely resemble Tchaikovsky life. Glenda Jackson said "I think people will love it or hate it but I doubt that anyone will go away feeling nothing." In The Music Lovers Tchaikovsky has anxiety issues dealing with his blossoming homosexuality and escalating desire for Count Anton Chiluvsky. This conflict transfers to his marriage to Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson), known as Nina, where it appears to encourage her own nymphomaniacal struggles. This may be one of my favorite Ken Russell films for the sheer brazenness of the story. Totally unfettered and spirited, it's wonderful to see BFI giving The Music Lovers a Blu-ray release. Fans of the flamboyant and controversial director will surely want to indulge. Highly entertaining and aurally superb.
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The New Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection (1977-1978) [Blu-ray] Warner
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COMMENTS: Holy Flashbacks, Batman! Featuring the voices of Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin (reprising their roles from the hit live-action TV series), these animated adventures of the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder originally produced by animation powerhouse Filmation in 1977, are revered by generations of cartoon fans. With heroine Batgirl and zany sidekick Batmite, these brave Bat-heroes match wits with clever criminals like the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze and the cosmic uber-villain Zarbor!
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**Never Open That Door** [Blu-ray] (Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1952) Flicker Alley
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COMMENTS: Preserved by the Film Noir Foundation in 2013 and now beautifully restored through UCLA Film & Television Archive, Never Open That Door (No abras nunca esa puerta) is a significant example of the cross-cultural cinematic legacy shared by the United States and Argentina during the post-WWII era. Based on two short stories by American master of suspense fiction Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window, Phantom Lady, The Bride Wore Black), the film is brilliantly directed by Argentine filmmaker Carlos Hugo Christensen with extraordinary cinematography by Pablo Tabernero. Says FNF founder Eddie Muller about this recent restoration, "It is a revelation to experience the work of an all-American author, in Spanish, and rendered as well - or perhaps better - than any Hollywood adaptation of his work." Never Open That Door is one of the most evocative realizations of Woolrich ever produced, featuring masterful sequences of sustained suspense. Said Buenos Aires film critic Horacio Bernades, "Rarely has an Argentine film been more purely cinematic than this." Originally a three-part anthology of Woolrich tales, Never Open That Door was released separately from the 73-minute film If I Should Die Before I Wake (Si muero antes de despertar) adapted by screenwriter Alejandro Casona and Christensen. An exceedingly rare archival conservation scan of If I Should Die Before I Wake is featured in this publication.
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**The North Star [Blu-ray] (Lewis Milestone, 1943) / Armored Attack!** (1957) Kino
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COMMENTS: The North Star (1943) - June, 1941. When the school year ends, five friends from a small Ukrainian village decide to travel to Kiev. Their trip is cut short when German aircraft attack and their town falls under occupation. While many escape to the hills to form an anti-Nazi resistance group, a German military doctor, Otto von Harden (Erich von Stroheim, Five Graves to Cairo), begins to use the children for medical experiments and as sources of blood transfusions for wounded German soldiers.
Armored Attack! (1957) - The North Star was re-edited and re-released in the midst of the Cold War as Armored Attack!, excising references to the allied Russian military and adding an overtly anti-Communist narration track.
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**Orlando, My Political Biography** [Blu-ray] (Paul B. Preciado, 2023) Janus Contemporaries
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COMMENTS: “Come, come! I’m sick to death of this particular self. I want another.” Taking Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando: A Biography as his starting point, academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado fashioned the documentary Orlando, My Political Biography—a personal essay, historical analysis, and social manifesto. For almost a century, Woolf’s eponymous hero(ine) has inspired readers with their gender fluidity as well as their physical and spiritual metamorphoses across a three-hundred-year span. In making his film, Preciado invited a diverse group of more than twenty trans and nonbinary people to play the role of Orlando and to participate in this shared biography. Together, they perform interpretations of the novel, weaving into Woolf’s narrative their own stories of transition and identity formation. Not content to simply update a groundbreaking work, Preciado interrogates the relevance of Orlando in the ongoing struggle to secure dignity for trans people worldwide.
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**Ozon's Transgressive Triple** [Blu-ray] Sitcom, Criminal Lovers, and Water Drops on Burning Rocks - Altered Innocence
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COMMENTS: A masterful chameleon of genre and style with more than 20 years of filmmaking under his belt, François Ozon has built a vast and versatile body of work and while he may have gained the spotlight after the critically acclaimed and elegantly subtle 'Under the Sand' (2000), this collection rediscovers Ozon's brash roots with a trilogy like no other.
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Riddle of Fire [Blu-ray] (Weston Razooli, 2023) Riddle
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COMMENTS: Brothers Hazel (Charlie Stover) and Jodie A'Dale (Skyler Peters), along with their good friend Alice (Phoebe Ferro), pull off a daring heist to steal the latest and greatest in video game technology. Upon arriving back at the A'Dale household, and assembling a bespoke buffet of carefully arranged snacks, they plug in their newly grifted entertainment hardware to discover something even more insidious than a controller-smashing boss battle: a TV that has been password protected by the A'Dale brothers’ mother Julie (Danielle Hoetmer), who is sick in bed. Intent on having her children spend the summer outdoors, she makes the motley crew a condition for the TV password: one blueberry pie. These words set the three leads out on a magical quest full of speckled eggs, nefarious villains (including the Enchanted Blade Gang), dance sequences and a precocious young girl named Petal (Lorelei Olivia Mote) who may or may not be a fairy.
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**The Shining Hour** [Blu-ray] (Frank Borzage, 1938) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: When Joan Crawford saw The Shining Hour on the Broadway stage, she pleaded with M-G-M executives to let her spread her acting wings in the film version. Ms. Crawford got her way, playing a New York siren who marries a prosperous farmer (Melvyn Douglas) and moves to Wisconsin. There she is drawn to his handsome brother (Robert Young), even as she befriends the brother’s selfless wife (Margaret Sullavan, Crawford’s choice for the role). The passionate triangle plays out in the best tradition of classic screen melodrama: glossy and chic, but resonant with honest emotion, all under the expert direction of the great Frank Borzage. The film’s heart-stopping climax with Crawford battling flames to rescue Sullavan from certain death is both literally and figuratively, incendiary filmmaking.
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**Strangers Kiss** [Blu-ray] (Matthew Chapman, 1983) Fun City Editions
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COMMENTS: Intrigued by Stanley Kubrick's early cinema career, particularly the creation of the low-budget crime drama Killer's Kiss, Novak and director Matthew Chapman (Heart of Midnight) crafted a fictional, behind-the-scenes look at the making of a similarly modest production. Called "a glowing homage to 1950s melodrama set in the film world" by Variety, Strangers Kiss achieves impressive period verisimilitude. Backing the main players are Dan Shor (Mike's Murder), Linda Kerridge (Fade to Black) and former World Welterweight Champion boxer Carlos Palomino. Famed saxophonist Gato Barbieri's jazzy score adds to the film's noirish mood. Out of circulation for decades, Strangers Kiss has now been restored in 4K from its original 35mm internegative for its worldwide Blu-ray premiere.
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**Kinji Fukasaku's "Sympathy for the Underdog"** Blu-ray - Kôji Tsuruta / Akiko Kudô @FilmsRadiance
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OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Kinji Fukasaku's Sympathy for the Underdog certainly has some noir-ish anti-hero leanings. Kôji Tsuruta plays Gunji an ex-con Yakuza who exits prison after a ten-year stint. The gangster world has changed - becoming more large-scale corporatized. Balance sheets and no loyalties. He's used to his crew (now separated and disconnected) shaking down casinos, nightclubs and brothels. As they reunite he realizes the only way to 'get back in' is to go 'big time'. Super cool Gunji decides on Okinawa, with its US influences shown sneakily by Fukasaku, to carve out some financially beneficial territory. His gang behind, in toe, has conflicts with a series of ne'er-do-well characters - the one-armed giant and plenty of scarred, loud flunkies with Mafia-like tendencies. Former love interest - now nameless prostitute, played by Akiko Kudô, provides some support. But 'Kamikaze'-style nihilism rules the day and we have the biggest gun-down, ala Peckinpah's Wild Bunch, doing a final battle with the previous unaffected bosses and their gunsel army. Sympathy for the Underdog remains one of my favorites of the genre. The Radiance Blu-ray is very welcome - deserved new commentary, interviews, visual essay, booklet, new art and more. A must-own for fans of Yakuza films and 70's Japanese cinema overall. Absolutely recommended!
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**That Most Important Thing: Love** [Blu-ray] (Andrzej Zulawski, 1975) Film Movement
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ALT-BEAVER REVIEW
COMMENTS: Forced to earn a living by accepting demeaning roles negotiated by her erratic husband, Nadine Chevalier (Schneider) encounters tabloid photographer Servais (Fabio Testi) on the set of her latest film. Desperate to win her affections, Servais secretly uses money borrowed from a shady associate to bankroll her next project, a production of Richard III with Nadine starring opposite the maniacal German thespian Karl-Heinz Zimmer (Klaus Kinski).
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**Barry Jenkins' "The Underground Railroad"** Blu-ray - Thuso Mbedu / Joel Edgerton @Criterion
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COMMENTS: Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad is both riveting and... fascinating. I 'binged' through it without pause and was blown away by the story and visuals. The more I watch the director's Medicine for Melancholy the more I appreciate it. I fully intend on indulging in his Moonlight in 4K UHD. The alt-history fantasy element (labeled as "magic realism") uses an actual subterranean train, with engineers, conductors, tracks etc. as a physical transport to freedom where the historical 'Underground Railroad', as we learned in school, was only a metaphor - it was actually a network of hidden routes, and safe houses with abolitionist's support to assist African-Americans escape North from slavery. The Underground Railroad series was based on Colson Whitehead's 2016 novel which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The series chapters shift to different character perspectives. It is brilliantly realized. The four disc Criterion Blu-ray package with commentary and extensive director participations gets our highest recommendation. I can see this being selected in our year-end poll.
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REVIEWS / COMPARISONS:

**Arthur Dong's "Asian American Stories"** Blu-ray - Dorothy Fong Toy @KinoLorber
Sewing Woman / Forbidden City, U.S.A. / Hollywood Chinese / The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor
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COMMENTS: Arthur Dong had written books of both Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films and Forbidden City, USA. His documentary film work is highly remarkable. I could not draw myself away from Sewing Woman - a fascinating 1/4 hour oral history of his mother, Zem Ping Dong, her arranged marriage in China, her rearing a family and her immigration to work in San Francisco's garment industry for over thirty years. Amazing. Forbidden City, U.S.A. runs an hour long and has interviews with Charlie Low, the owner of the Forbidden City club, Toy Yat Mar known as the 'Chinese Sophie Tucker', Dottie Sun, Dorothy Fong Toy; the 'Chinese Ginger Rogers', Noel Toy; the 'Chinese Sally Rand', Paul Wing, the 'Chinese Fred Astaire', Larry Ching; 'The 'Chinese Sinatra' plus many others. It shows an amazing historical perspective of these Asian performers lives (tap dancers, Jazz singers, bubble dancers etc.), with clips and stills, including the sailor patrons, marketing, the venues and this lesser shown niche of San Francisco night life and captivating slice of Americana in the 30s and 40s. I really enjoyed it. The potentially offence use of 'oriental' is used to describe some Asian identities. Hollywood Chinese uses clips of more than 100 films and has interviews of prominent Chinese Americans in the film industry including Turhan Bey, Joan Chen, James Hong, Nancy Kwan, Ang Lee, Amy Tan, Wayne Wang etc. It's an engrossing look at Chinese in American cinema history and beyond. Feature length The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor documents the survivor of the Cambodian genocide Dr. Haing S. Ngor and follows the remarkable life of Chinese-Cambodian from forced labor camps to winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his debut performance in The Killing Fields. In 1988, he wrote Haing Ngor: A Cambodian Odyssey and was murdered in Los Angeles Chinatown in 1996. This film also just blew me away. The Kino Blu-ray, despite lack of extras, gets out highest recommendation. I found every film incredibly absorbing. Wow. Watch these!
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**Ken Russell's 1971 "The Music Lovers"** Blu-ray - Richard Chamberlain / Glenda Jackson @BFI
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Fearless Ken Russell's The Music Lovers encourages the filmmaker's typical divided audience. Pauline Kael said in an interview: "You really feel you should drive a stake through the heart of the man who made it. I mean it is so vile. It is so horrible." An excessive response for a filmmaker often lauded for his own excesses. There is a haunting fantasy element to The Music Lovers and it probably does not even remotely resemble Tchaikovsky life. Glenda Jackson said "I think people will love it or hate it but I doubt that anyone will go away feeling nothing." In The Music Lovers Tchaikovsky has anxiety issues dealing with his blossoming homosexuality and escalating desire for Count Anton Chiluvsky. This conflict transfers to his marriage to Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson), known as Nina, where it appears to encourage her own nymphomaniacal struggles. This may be one of my favorite Ken Russell films for the sheer brazenness of the story. Totally unfettered and spirited, it's wonderful to see BFI giving The Music Lovers a Blu-ray release. Fans of the flamboyant and controversial director will surely want to indulge. Highly entertaining and aurally superb.
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**Barry Jenkins' "The Underground Railroad"** Blu-ray - Thuso Mbedu / Joel Edgerton @Criterion
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad is both riveting and... fascinating. I 'binged' through it without pause and was blown away by the story and visuals. The more I watch the director's Medicine for Melancholy the more I appreciate it. I fully intend on indulging in his Moonlight in 4K UHD. The alt-history fantasy element (labeled as "magic realism") uses an actual subterranean train, with engineers, conductors, tracks etc. as a physical transport to freedom where the historical 'Underground Railroad', as we learned in school, was only a metaphor - it was actually a network of hidden routes, and safe houses with abolitionist's support to assist African-Americans escape North from slavery. The Underground Railroad series was based on Colson Whitehead's 2016 novel which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The series chapters shift to different character perspectives. It is brilliantly realized. The four disc Criterion Blu-ray package with commentary and extensive director participations gets our highest recommendation. I can see this being selected in our year-end poll.
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**Paul Schrader's "American Gigolo" 4K UHD** - Richard Gere / Lauren Hutton @ArrowFilmsVideo
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Blu-ray:
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Paul Schrader considers "American Gigolo" to be bookended by his film The Walker, as he likewise considers Taxi Driver, bookended by his 1992 film Light Sleeper. Julian (Gere) provides sexual services in return for payment from his wealthy, upper-class, tier of often older clients. His materialistic lifestyle and desire to elevate himself socially dominate his restless existence. He doesn't want an exclusive "pimp" coordinating his 'tricks' and takes pride in his sex work. Julian finds that he is being framed for a murder and must channel his reluctant alibi resources to avoid being charged. His newly found girlfriend Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton) will destroy her marriage if she publicly supports him. "American Gigolo" is a curious neo-noir, existing in a world rarely addressed in cinema; the high-end male escort navigating his clients, meticulous attention to his appearance, and his self-improvement by learning languages and art. It's a film that seems to improve upon repeat viewings. Schrader wrote Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer and I enjoyed Adrian Martin's commentary where slow cinema, psychological realism etc. are discussed. Arrow 's 4K UHD has a a lot to offer; many new interviews, booklet, the invaluable commentary and a Paul Schrader piece of cinema that deserves reanalysis. Absolutely recommended!
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Roy William Neill's "Black Moon" Blu-ray - Jack Holt / Fay Wray @imprint_films
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COMMENTS: Roy William Neill's Black Moon is a pre-code horror film. I wish there was a commentary as there is not a lot written about the production. I recall a few vintage horrors using "voodoo" as a plot point; White Zombie, I Walked With A Zombie, and Valley of the Zombies. I only observed one prevalent example of pre-code naughtiness; Dorothy Burgess (as Juanita,) seemingly in trance, wears an invisible wisp of a see-thru top near the conclusion. Black Moon was based on a short story by Clements Ripley. At Yale, he was an editor of the campus humor magazine, 'The Yale Record', with James Ashmore Creelman, who was the writer of King Kong (famously with Fay Wray - who also plays Gail Hamilton in Black Moon) and The Most Dangerous Game (again with Miss Wray.) I actually don't mind that the film takes a while for any significant excitement. The era's decor and fashions are ravishing. What we have is a bare-bones Imprint Blu-ray of an interesting pre-code horror. The tinted version is an appealing inclusion. Serious fans only should consider.
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**Lewis Allen's "The Unseen"** Blu-ray - Joel McCrea / Gail Russell @imprint_films
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BONUS CAPTURES
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COMMENTS: Lewis Allen's The Unseen is not really a sequel to The Uninvited but a spooky murder-mystery with hypnotic Gail Russell as a new governess (evoking Jack Clayton's The Innocents) where the adjoining house and sinister shadows carry an unspoken secret. There is a sense of Raymond Chandler contributing to the script, and it is effective with a forbidding atmosphere - perhaps 'style circumventing substance'. Even a poor cousin to Henry James The Turn of the Screw makes for an entertaining film night. I'll have to consult with the DVDBeaver Board of Directors to determine its inclusion as Film Noir. Great idea for Imprint to create this Blu-ray package with The Uninvited and The Unseen and the film's Allen/Russell connection. This is the 'B' feature to 'The Uninvited's 'A'.
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**Lewis Allen's "The Uninvited"** Blu-ray - Ray Milland / Gail Russell @imprint_films
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Lewis Allen's The Uninvited was the director's debut. It centers on a haunted house and has a delightful séance, but it differs from other supernatural-themed horror genre films of the era taking the fear aspects less dramatically and dealing with the unwelcome paranormal entity more matter-of-factly. It is based on Dorothy Macardle's novel Uneasy Freehold. There are comparisons to Hitchcock with Allen's controlled direction. It's an exceptional film that holds up today and gets better with each viewing. An appropriate idea to pair it in a Blu-ray double feature with The Unseen. This particular package exceeds the Criterion with the same a/v but adds and expert commentary and has a Kat Ellinger video essay, video piece with our favorite Imogen Sara Smith and still includes the two radio plays with Milland. Strongly recommended - an absolute keeper for me.
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**James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross"** Blu-ray - Al Pacino / Jack Lemmon / Alec Baldwin @101FilmsUK
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COMMENTS: James Foley's Glengarry Glen Ross has becomes a cult classic. It actually failed at the box office but has been widely regarded since as one of the best films of the 90s. The lines by Blake (Alec Baldwin), sent to motivate the sales staff, have become the stuff of legend; "Put that coffee down! Coffee's for closers only" and "...we're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired." Baldwin's character was specifically written for the actor and the film, and is not in the Pulitzer Prize winning play. Glengarry Glen Ross is also famous for its unfettered swearing throughout and has Mamet's intentionally stilted language rhythms. The performances are so memorable with the cast playing such foulmouthed, duplicitous, mercenary characters. There are deeply masculine roots in the portrayals. It's a definitive masterpiece of cinema. I am very happy the 101 Films Blu-ray with a bump in a/v and the multitude of supplements including a new booklet. This is easily in the "must own" category for fans of the film.
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**Arthur Ripley's "The Chase"** Blu-ray - Robert Cummings / Michèle Morgan @KinoLorber
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Wonderful Arthur Ripley Noir adapted from Cornell Woolrich's The Black Path of Fear novel. Dreams, flashbacks, PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder,) gangsters, a kept woman, and a penniless drifter taking his shot. The Chase is in the public domain and this new 2024 Blu-ray, although based on the same 2012 restoration by UCLA Film and Television Archive, is quite easily the superior a/v. Still a few warts but I'd watch this unique 'Dark Cinema' cracker multiple times a year. It tends to improve upon repeat viewings. Double-dipping is your call but, personally, I prefer to have this one in the best home theater package available - this is it.
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Frank Tuttle's "The Hour Before the Dawn" Blu-ray - Franchot Tone / Veronica Lake @KinoLorber
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COMMENTS: Frank Tuttle's The Hour Before the Dawn has conscientious objector Jim Hertherton (Franchot Tone) deal with his well argued 'exempt' stance and the less forgiving neighboring farmers. He falls for Austrian Dora Bruckmann (Veronica Lake) who eventually reveals herself to be a Nazi spy. As a historical curiosity it culminates swiftly with our protagonist awakening to his idealistic stance and propagandized 'doing the right thing' almost directly after Churchill's famous radio speech. This plot point is fascinating. The Kino Blu-ray has the film in 1080P, and a valuable, meticulously researched, commentary. The Hour Before the Dawn has mixed reviews but I found it very interesting to say the least. Veronica Lake and vintage era war film fans will want to check this out. 
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**Leslie Fenton's "Saigon"** Blu-ray - Alan Ladd / Veronica Lake @KinoLorber
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OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Leslie Fenton's Saigon was Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake's fourth and final film together. It is heavy on Ladd's loyal machismo - not encouraging a relationship with smitten Lake so his friend, who is both in love with her and, unknowingly, terminally ill from a brain injury can enjoy his final days. Lake, with her career in decline, changed back to her famous "peek-a-boo" hairstyle. During the war the government requested she abandon it since imitating female factory workers kept getting their hair caught in machinery. While admittedly the least effective of the Ladd-Lake pairings - our hero shines with pure nobility as he also takes on a disreputable war-profiteer (Lake's boss.) Saigon is not Noir but seeing the iconic duo sparring together onscreen will be worth it for many. The chemistry is undeniable. I am happy the Kino Blu-ray presentation, will re-watch the film, and appreciate Lee's last commentary. Sure - recommended. The Blu-ray is 50% OFF at the writing of this review.
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DVDBeaver Newsletter for the Week of June 24th, 2024