THIS WEEK's RELEASES: Despite a few title dates being pushed back - still a good week; Noboru Nakamura brilliance, Ye Lou magnificence, cheesecake Jane in space standard 4K UHD, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fernando Di Leo, Claire Denis, Milius-Arnold 4K UHD, Nicholas Meyer, Nancy Savoca, Freddie Francis in 4K UHD, more Titiliation Brass in 4K UHD, Luigi Comencini, John Dahl neo-noir Gold, 2X Lee Frost sex westerns, David Fincher 4K UHD, Canuck Animation, Anthony Mann westerns gemstone....
NEW CALENDAR UPDATES (LINKED HERE!) Aki Kaurismäki, Sergio Martino, Roger Vadim, Alex Proyas, León Klimovsky, Sidney Lumet, Philo Vance, Republic Pictures Horror Collection, Clint Eastwood, Peter Bogdanovich, Sidney J. Furie, David O. Russell, Abel Ferrara, Woody Allen, Guillermo del Toro, John McTiernan, Christopher Nolan, John Frankenheimer, Sci-Fi Chillers Collection, Arthur Dong, John Waters, John Waters, Lucio Fulci, Terry Gilliam, Peter Collinson, the Taviani Brothers, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Wachowskis, Ethan Coen, Edward Dmytryk, George King, John Guillermin, David Lynch, Francois Ozon, Kinji Fukasaku, King Vidor, Tetsuya Nakashima...
THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS: FULL WEEK - Top vintage western in 4K UHD, Jacques Rivette seminal French New Wave, Mario Bava space vampires ultimate Blu-ray, Claire Denis's directorial debut, Nancy Savoca Criterion treatment, Ye Lou does Vertigo, hypnotic Peter Weir 4K UHD, delirious polemical poem in Criterion 4K UHD...
Enjoy,
Gary

RELEASES the WEEK of April 29th, 2024 (Recommended titles have "**")

Animation Night In Canada, Vol. 1 [Blu-ray] - Canadian International Pictures
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Long celebrated for its groundbreaking achievements in animation, the National Film Board of Canada has earned international acclaim and dozens of Oscar® nominations for its animated shorts. During a particularly fertile period between 1965 and 1985, the NFB played an instrumental role in the medium’s rapid evolution, breaking new ground with a wildly varied and inventive run of films that are alternately abstract, eerie, entertaining, poetic, poignant, and psychedelic. An eye-opening overview of this seminal period in animated film history, ANIMATION NIGHT IN CANADA, VOL. 1 features 14 Oscar®-nominated classics with style and personality to spare.
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**Roger Vadim's "Barbarella" 4K UHD** - Jane Fonda @ArrowFilmsVideo
US 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
US BD PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Roger Vadim's "Barbarella" is overflowing with style. The design is wonderful -packed with psychedelic plastic, golden shag rugs, funky spaceships, glimpses of impressionist paintings and extravagant costuming. It's been called "the perfect film to watch when you are high". The 60's nostalgia factor of Fonda's cheesecake and Little Annie Fanny-style innocence is immensely appealing. The, over 11-years old, Paramount Blu-ray was bare-bones with only a trailer. Arrow's 4K UHD release knocks it out of the park with outstanding a/v (stunning 2160P video and added Atmos option), King Lucas commentary, appreciations, visual essay, interviews, a 2-hour discussion of the impact and legacy of Barbarella, booklet and accoutrements. This will get plenty of attention in our year-end poll. What an incredible package. Arrow perfection again. Our highest recommendation.
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Basket Case [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Frank Henenlotter, 1982) Arrow US
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COMMENTS: Duane Bradley seems like a pretty ordinary guy. His formerly conjoined twin Belial, on the other hand, is a deformed creature who lives in a wicker basket. Arriving in the Big Apple and taking up a room at a seedy hotel, the pair set about hunting down and butchering the surgeons responsible for their separation. Filmed on a shoestring budget against the backdrop of 1980s New York (where it played on the midnight movie circuit for over two-and-a-half years), Basket Case has clawed its way from its humble origins to become one of the most celebrated cult movies of all time.
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**Bluebeard** [Blu-ray] (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1944) Kino
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COMMENTS: Scream great John Carradine (The Black Sleep, House of the Long Shadows) stars in this eerie film noir version of the oft-told Bluebeard legend. Carradine is masterful as the dastardly Gaston, an artist and puppeteer in 19th-century Paris with a ghastly penchant for strangling lovely young models and surreptitiously slipping their bodies into the Seine. Gaston’s latest model, Lucille (Jean Parker, Black Tuesday), learns of his shocking secret and bravely vows to bring him to justice. Directed by the master of the strange and the spellbinding, Edgar G. Ulmer (The Black Cat, The Man from Planet X), who sustains a steady level of suspense throughout this most sinister of love stories. A dread-soaked dream for connoisseurs of classic horror and noir! Co-starring “the male Garbo” Nils Asther (By Candlelight).
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The Boss [Blu-ray] (Fernando Di Leo, 1973) Raro Video UK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BEAVER REVIEW
COMMENTS: In the 1970s the crime film flourished in Italy as the country went through years of political and social unrest, the so-called ‘Years of Lead’. Italian movie producers would capitalise on these times by producing cheap, violent movies about the country’s organised crime and corruption, establishing the genre of the poliziotteschi. One of the most celebrated poliziottesco directors was Fernando Di Leo, a director as concerned with telling entertaining stories as he was with creating socially relevant backdrops. In Di Leo’s The Boss, Henry Silva plays mob enforcer Nick Lanzetta, who assassinates key members of a rival gang in order to put his boss in a position to seize power. However, one surviving member of the gang, Cocchi (Pier Paolo Capponi, The Cat o' Nine Tails) plots his revenge involving corrupt cop Torri (Gianni Garko, If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death), leading to a bloody series of double-crosses and power plays to find who will ultimately become the boss.
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China O'Brien I + II [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Robert Clouse, 1990) Eureka UK
UK 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
UK BLU-RAY PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: In China O’Brien, city cop and formidable martial artist Lori “China” O’Brien (Rothrock) is forced to resign from the force and return home to a small Utah town after her involvement in an accidental death. But upon arrival in Beaver Creek, she finds that her lawman father – Sheriff John O’Brien (David Blackwell) – is desperately trying to bring down local crime boss Edwin Sommers (Steven Kerby), and it isn’t long before she steps into the fray. Then, in China O’Brien II, Lori must once again protect her hometown when it becomes a hideout for a dangerous fugitive: the escaped drug lord Charlie Baskin (Harlow Marks).
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**Claire Denis' "Chocolat"** Blu-ray - Giulia Boschi / Isaach De Bankolé @BFI
US PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Claire Denis's Chocolat was her directorial debut. It's a remarkable film and has stunning Italian film and television actress Giulia Boschi (The Sicilian) as Aimée, Isaach de Bankolé (Lars von Trier's Manderlay, a villain in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale and as River Tribe Elder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe among other roles) as Protée - and, as Marc Dalens played by François Cluzet - who has worked with Claude Chabrol (in L'Enfer), Bertrand Tavernier ('Round Midnight), Agnieszka Holland (Olivier, Olivier), Robert Altman (Prêt-à-Porter) and Olivier Assayas (Late August, Early September.) Denis makes the distinction, subtly through barren visuals, between wealthy and impoverished, male and female, servant and employer, with the glaring colonization themes utilizing semi-autobiographical memories and minimal dialogue against the prosaic, Cameroonian desert vistas. Brilliant. The BFI Blu-ray is a superb upgrade of an important film - which they augment with a commentary, and over an hour's worth of director included content, booklet and more. Absolutely recommended!
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**John Milius' "Conan the Barbarian" 4K UHD** - Arnold Schwarzenegger @ArrowFilmsVideo
US 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
US Conan Chronicles 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN Conan Chronicles 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: John Milius' "Conan the Barbarian" is set somewhere beyond 10,000 BC and is about the sword and sorcery adventures of a powerful 'giant of a man' battling mystical foes - including an undead evil wizard and giant snake - set in savage landscapes, bedding strong survivalist Amazonian babes, while adhering to his own code of morals which rationalize the prime directives of survival, revenge and theft. It does not get any better - although the film only does an admirable job of portraying the larger-than-life character of Conan as penned by the great Robert Ervin Howard. When Conan flees from Gladiatorial slavery he runs from wild dogs seeking refuge in the Stygian darkness of an Atlantean warrior's tomb, where he liberates an ancient sword. So the story advances... By Crom! Arrow's 4K UHD release of "Conan the Barbarian" is 80's nostalgia gold. This is a 'year-end' package stacked with massive value from the three 4K restored versions, commentaries, hours of interviews - many of which are new - poster, art cards, booklet etc. etc. Our highest recommendation.
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**The Deceivers** [Blu-ray] (Nicholas Meyer, 1988) RB UK Screenbound Pictures
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Nicholas Meyer's historical drama, loosely based on fact, stars Pierce Brosnan as an agent of the East India Company. One night, he witnesses a murderous assault on a woman and, on investigation, finds the attackers were Thugees, a bizarre cult of killers. Determined to destroy them, he infiltrates their ranks but to gain acceptance, he must adopt their murderous ways.
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**Nancy Savoca's "Dogfight"** Blu-ray - River Phoenix / Lili Taylor @Criterion
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UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Nancy Savoca's Dogfight is very honest with plenty of politically incorrect dialogue and situations including less-comfortable cruelty. The romance evolution is fairly subtle and doesn't go 'full cloying'. I also liked the 60's milieu - confident but oblivious teenagers going to war, kudos to Lili Taylor's 'Rose' character's self esteem. Taylor is considered one of the key figures of 1990s independent cinema and I feel as if Dogfight has been forgotten and never was a part of the conversation when it actually developed a cult-following and they also made a musical of it! So a cool, if odd, choice for Criterion to bring to their Blu-ray catalogue. Definitely a 'rewatchable'. You will be surprised how much you like Dogfight.
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**Dr. Terror's House of Horrors [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Freddie Francis, 1965) Vinegar Syndrome
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BEAVER Blu-ray REVIEW
COMMENTS: Five men, all strangers, board a carriage on a train from London to the town of Bradley, where they're joined at the last minute by a sixth - a mysterious, black-clad older gentleman who introduces himself as Doctor Schreck (German for “terror,” as he informs them). Bearing a stack of Tarot cards, Doctor Schreck claims to have the ability to read fortunes, and although some of the group are initially skeptical, it’s not long before his fellow passengers are asking him each in turn to relate what the future holds in store. What follows is five fiendish tales of terror, as the doctor reveals the various dreadful fates that are to befall his traveling companions - which include bone-chilling encounters with werewolves, killer plants, voracious vampires and all other manner of horrors!
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Frivolous Lola [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Tinto Brass, 1998) Cult Epics
US 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
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US BLU-RAY PURCHASE LINK
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COMMENTS: Join the Joie de Vivre club with the maddeningly charming Lola, as she plots to loosen up her fiancé in this exuberant sexy comedy. Everyone is wild about Lola - even, some suspect, her own stepfather. Frivolous Lola is Tinto Brass' most likable film, Cult Epics presents the Uncut & Uncensored Director's Cut with new and vintage bonus features.
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Hot Spur [Blu-ray] (Lee Frost, 1968) Severin Films
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COMMENTS: Having struck gold with shockumentaries like ECCO and MONDO BIZARRO, producer Bob Cresse and writer/director Lee Frost applied their distinctive sleaze aesthetic to a revenge western they advertised as "91 minutes of Freudian fury!" It would soon redefine the 'roughie,' be named one of the Top Ten Movies of 1969 by conservative publication National Review and become one of the most notorious exploitation films in history. Joseph Mascolo (Days Of Our Lives), Virginia Gordon (THE ANIMAL) and John Alderman (TRADER HORNEE) star in this infamous Olympic International hit now scanned uncut in 4K from the recently rediscovered negative, with Special Features from the Something Weird archive that include the 1963 Frost/Cresse stripper epic HOLLYWOOD'S WORLD OF FLESH and the 1968 nudie-cutie short THE CASTING DIRECTOR starring Bob Cresse and directed by David F. Friedman.
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Lola [Blu-ray] (Andrew Legge, 2022) Severin Films US
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COMMENTS: It wowed audiences at Locarno, Edinburgh and FrightFest, and won top prizes at Trieste and Sitges. It's been hailed as "magnetic" (Los Angeles Times), "masterful" (Indiewire) and "deeply disturbing" (Horror Cult Films). Now this "one-of-a-kind gem" (Cinemacy) can be discovered by genre fans everywhere: The year is 1941, and brilliant UK sisters Thomasina (Emma Appleton of THE KILLING KIND) and Martha (Stefanie Martini of PRIME SUSPECT 1973) have created a device that intercepts broadcasts from the future. Besides revealing the coming glories of rock & roll, the invention - which they call 'Lola' - also allows them to alter the course of World War II. But will their unmaking of history provoke a lifetime of shocking consequences? Rory Fleck Byrne (THIS IS GOING TO HURT) co-stars in the ingenious debut feature from director/co-writer Andrew Legge that Horror Buzz calls "a bracing sci-fi mind-bender that reminds you why you like movies."
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**Luigi Comencini's "Misunderstood"** Blu-ray - Anthony Quayle / Stefano Colagrande @FilmsRadiance
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CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Luigi Comencini made films from the 1940's through to 1991 and his Bread, Love and Dreams featured Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida which was regarded as a quintessential example of neorealismo rosa ('pink neorealism' or a "sweet comedy / romance") a sub-genre of already popular Commedia all'italiana. I think I have only seen one of the director's films; The Sunday Woman with Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Louis Trintignant - which I found unique and I enjoyed. Misunderstood is a heart-breaking portrait of maternal loss and absentee parenting by a career-dominated father. The film focuses almost entirely on the two sons who don't carry any awareness of the trappings of an adult existence, although the eldest Andrea (Stefano Colagrande) comes across as quite mature with inscrutable eyes. He always shows patience for his younger brother. Andrea is seeking his father's approval - a connection. Without it - he is becoming rebellious. Yes... melodrama - but impacting-ly effective with childhood innocence involved. There was a lackluster 1984 remake of Misunderstood with Gene Hackman. I was surprised by my strong reaction to Luigi Comencini's Misunderstood - an extremely touching and artfully made film. We strongly recommend the Radiance Blu-ray and hope they can bring more of this director's work to the format. Absolutely recommended.
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**The Promised Land** [Blu-ray] (Nikolaj Arcel, 2023) Magnolia Home Ent
US PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Seeking wealth and respect, a proud war hero sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land. A vicious nobleman is determined to stop him, and the confrontation between the two men promises to be as violent and intense as the land itself.
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**John Dahl's "Red Rock West"** Blu-ray - Nicholas Cage / Lara Flynn Boyle @cine_matographe @VinegarSyndrome
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CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: John Dahl's Red Rock West is the best Neo-Noir of the 90s. It has great characters; portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle - as the femme fatale, buff Cage as the decent everyman mistaken for a hitman (one of his best performances), Dennis Hopper as said mercenary assassin, and J.T. Walsh as the corrupt Sheriff. It is totally deserved of the two large Blu-ray packages by Umbrella and, the exciting new label, Cinématographe. After his remarkable experiences, steeped in corruption, Cage's Michael states from the train he is hopping out of town - "Adios, Red Rock". Perfection. I am thrilled to own both packages and it seems a film that is a must own Blu-ray - pick up the Cinématographe while it is still available! Strongly recommended.
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The Scavengers [Blu-ray] (Lee Frost, 1969) Severin Films
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COMMENTS: One year after HOT SPUR forever changed exploitation cinema, writer/producer Bob Cresse and director Lee Frost fused their sex and violence template with the cultural chaos of 1969, then defiled it all in a raw orgy of nihilistic brutality: When a renegade Confederate detachment invades a frontier town, they'll spark a rampage of sadism, racism, violation and vengeance that still has the power to shock audiences more than half a century later. John Bliss (THE THING WITH TWO HEADS), Maria Lease (LOVE CAMP 7), Bruce Kimball (DRIVE-IN MASSACRE) and Uschi Digard (SUPERVIXENS) star in the final unforgettable Cresse/Frost collaboration, now scanned in 4K from the original camera negative recently discovered in a Paris lab and presented in both its Unrated and R-Rated Release Versions.
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**Se7en Deluxe [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Se7en, David Fincher, 1995) - Wea Int'L
US 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
US 4K UHD STEELBOOK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Two cops (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) track a brilliant and elusive killer who orchestrates a string of horrific murders, each kill targeting a practitioner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Gwyneth Paltrow also stars in this acclaimed thriller set in a dour, drizzly city sick with pain and blight. David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) guides the action - physical, mental and spiritual - with a sure understanding of what terrifies us, right up to a stunning denouement that will rip the scar tissue off the most hardened soul.
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**Noboru Nakamura's "The Shape of Night"** Blu-ray - Miyuki Kuwano / Keisuke Sonoi @FilmsRadiance
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UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: I had never seen a film by Noboru Nakamura before watching The Shape of Night - even though two; Twin Sisters of Kyoto and Portrait of Chieko, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Shape of Night is magnificent. I would compare my very positive reaction to another 60's Japanese film on Radiance Blu-ray released this year; Yoshishige Yoshida's A Story Written With Water, which also blew me away. Miyuki Kuwano (non-starring roles in Hideo Gosha's 1964 Three Outlaw Samurai, Yasujirô Ozu's 1960 Late Autumn and Kurosawa's 1965 Red Beard) was so impressive in the role of Yoshie Nomoto trapped in a life of Tokyo prostitution. There are strong echoes of Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and, yes, I occasionally thought of Wong Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love with the color, editing etc. It's very satisfying to see the director and this film getting more cinephile exposure with The Shape of Night screened at the Venice Film Festival a few years ago. Giant kudos to Radiance for bringing this exceptional work to Blu-ray. I openly admit to enjoying this way out of proportion. I hope you do as well. Strongly recommended!
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Story of a Junkie [Blu-ray] (Lech Kowalski, 1985) Vinegar Syndrome Labs
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COMMENTS: John Spacely, known on the streets as Gringo, has spent much of his life selling - and using - drugs, mostly heroin. Since relocating from his native California to the Lower East Side of New York, Gringo has gained a group of steady customers for the dope he sells, amongst them musicians and actors and, in the process, has also developed a reputation as a colorful street character; hanging out amongst the dilapidated environs of Lower Manhattan. But with his own drug habit starting to get the better of him, Gringo must challenge himself not to end up on an even darker path, from which there may be no way back.
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**Ye Lou's "Suzhou River"** Blu-ray - Xun Zhou @FilmsRadiance
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Ye Lou's Suzhou River has major themes and homage that echo Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Obsessive love, ineffectual undisclosed identity swap, Herrmann-esque score and, although Zhang Ming Fong plays the videographer and narrator, he watches Moudan / Meimei (Zhou Xun) voyeuristically like "Scottie" spying on Madeleine Elster and then Judy Barton. There is also some Rear Window in there and film noir also evoking Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express visual style and In the Mood For Love's fatefully unrequited romance. Ye Lou was lauded as a major voice in the sixth-generation movement and critically praised for the atmospheric visuals in Suzhou River. I loved this as much as other Radiance Asian films released this year on Blu-ray; Noboru Nakamura's The Shape of Night, Yoshishige Yoshida's A Story Written With Water and Tai Katô's I, the Executioner. Radiance are kicking butt as they did last year. This film experience has our highest recommendation.
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**Anthony Mann's "The Tin Star"** Blu-ray - Henry Fonda / Anthony Perkins @ArrowFilmsVideo
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Anthony Mann's The Tin Star was shot in VistaVision by Loyal Griggs (Shane, White Christmas, The Ten Commandments) and has some impressive deep-focus and delightful western trope compositions. With Mann's simple, direct, style he helmed many of the iconic western-genre films of the 50's including Man of the West (1958), The Man from Laramie (1955), The Far Country (1954), The Naked Spur (1953), Bend of the River (1952), The Furies (1950), and Winchester '73 (1950.) The Tin Star would be the only time Mann and Fonda would work together. The film became one of the only modestly-budgeted westerns to receive an Academy award nomination for 'Best Writing, Story or Screenplay' (by Joel Kane, Dudley Nichols - who both did mostly TV work and, Barney Slater who wrote Stagecoach and Bringing Up Baby). Some of the stunts in The Tin Star were credited to Richard Farnsworth (David Lynch's The Straight Story). It's a classic, pure, western with elements of The Gunfighter / Shane while a gentle message denouncing racism. The Tin Star isn't a perfect film - it's just darn close to being a perfect western. The Arrow Blu-ray is a great package of a film that sorely deserved 1080P status. Commentary, new featurettes, accoutrements including poster and booklet. Highly anticipated by the genre's fans this is strongly recommended - and an essential for western fans. Buy with confidence, 'pardner'.
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REVIEWS / COMPARISONS:

**Jacques Rivette's "L'amour fou"** Blu-ray - Bulle Ogier / Jean-Pierre Kalfon @FilmsRadiance
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Jacques Rivette's L'amour fou is a seminal part of the French New Wave - made two years before his 12+ hour opus Out 1 - also with Bulle Ogier (Celine and Julie Go Boating.) The art-reality relationship in Rivette's L'amour fou comes across organically with the hand-held theater sequences appearing informal, improvised and vérité. This mirrors the marital disintegration - and, no doubt, the shots with mirrors are intentional - sometimes imbuing self reflection, other times spying / distrust. DVDBeaver hosted Order of the Exile - a website about Jacques Rivette and you can read Peter Lloyd's article "Jacques Rivette and L'amour fou", HERE. I am thrilled to have such a pure example of auteur cinema on Radiance Blu-ray - looking gorgeous - recovered from the original celluloid elements damaged by fire. The package includes a feature length documentary, visual essay, interviews, booklet etc. A cinephile must-own.
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**Mario Bava's "Planet of the Vampires"** Blu-ray - Evi Marandi / Norma Bengell @FilmsRadiance
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW / COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires was co-financed by AIP (wanting to co-produce rather then simply obtain distribution rights) and Italy's Fulvio Lucisano for Italian International Film. The English-language script was written by Danish-American Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet, Reptilicus, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Journey to the Seventh Planet). The Planet of the Vampires story involves two space vessels, the Galliott and the Argos, trying to land on a mist-shrouded planet. The crew eventually become hypnotically possessed driving them into a murderous state by an undetermined alien force. There are many influential comparisons to Ridley Scott's Alien. Bava's remarkable use of color, lighting and effects (utilizing miniatures, mirrors etc.) are miraculous for the budget constraints. It seems as if he could make an effective genre film with a broken lava-lamp. Planet of the Vampires has a desirable pulpy feel that may be hard to intentionally duplicate. It's quite a thrill to own the Radiance Blu-ray with its upgraded 1080P image, both versions, essential Lucas commentary, new documentary, booklet and exceptional packaging. For many a must-own treasure of physical media.
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**Fred Zinnemann's "High Noon" 4K UHD** - Gary Cooper / Grace Kelly @KinoLorber
US 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
US BLU-RAY PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN BLU-RAY PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Fred Zinnemann's "High Noon" is one of the most influential westerns ever made. It has a strong theme of man's conflict of conscience - mercenary attitudes than lean close to cowardice. Many famous actors, regretfully, declined the role of Will Kane - John Wayne thinking Foreman's story was an obvious allegory against blacklisting - rejected it. Stanley Kramer offered it to Gregory Peck, who thought it was too similar to his role of aging gunfighter Jimmy Ringo in 1950's The Gunfighter. Also Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Charlton Heston also declined playing Will Kane. I loved economic pace... and so many of the supporting cast; Katy Jurado (Broken Lance,) Lloyd Bridges (perhaps the opposite of his last role of Izzy Mandelbaum on Seinfeld,) Otto Kruger as the feeling Judge, Lon Chaney Jr. as the town's former marshal, Harry Morgan as Sam Fuller, Lee Van Cleef as silent Jack Colby, Sheb Wooley etc. and of course Grace Kelly as devout Quaker and pacifist Amy Fowler. "High Noon" exports the idea of what a man should be - fearlessly going against the crowd - when they are making self serving, short term, decisions. Unassisted by the town, after facing the consequences of his noble decision, Will throws his Marshal's star in the dirt and speechlessly leaves with his brave bride. God Damn. Kino's 4K UHD with the video upgrade and two new commentaries gets our highest recommendation.
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**Claire Denis' "Chocolat"** Blu-ray - Giulia Boschi / Isaach De Bankolé @BFI
US PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Claire Denis's Chocolat was her directorial debut. It's a remarkable film and has stunning Italian film and television actress Giulia Boschi (The Sicilian) as Aimée, Isaach de Bankolé (Lars von Trier's Manderlay, a villain in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale and as River Tribe Elder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe among other roles) as Protée - and, as Marc Dalens played by François Cluzet - who has worked with Claude Chabrol (in L'Enfer), Bertrand Tavernier ('Round Midnight), Agnieszka Holland (Olivier, Olivier), Robert Altman (Prêt-à-Porter) and Olivier Assayas (Late August, Early September.) Denis makes the distinction, subtly through barren visuals, between wealthy and impoverished, male and female, servant and employer, with the glaring colonization themes utilizing semi-autobiographical memories and minimal dialogue against the prosaic, Cameroonian desert vistas. Brilliant. The BFI Blu-ray is a superb upgrade of an important film - which they augment with a commentary, and over an hour's worth of director included content, booklet and more. Absolutely recommended!
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**Nancy Savoca's "Dogfight"** Blu-ray - River Phoenix / Lili Taylor @Criterion
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Nancy Savoca's Dogfight is very honest with plenty of politically incorrect dialogue and situations including less-comfortable cruelty. The romance evolution is fairly subtle and doesn't go 'full cloying'. I also liked the 60's milieu - confident but oblivious teenagers going to war, kudos to Lili Taylor's 'Rose' character's self esteem. Taylor is considered one of the key figures of 1990s independent cinema and I feel as if Dogfight has been forgotten and never was a part of the conversation when it actually developed a cult-following and they also made a musical of it! So a cool, if odd, choice for Criterion to bring to their Blu-ray catalogue. Definitely a 'rewatchable'. You will be surprised how much you like Dogfight.
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**Ye Lou's "Suzhou River"** Blu-ray - Xun Zhou @FilmsRadiance
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Ye Lou's Suzhou River has major themes and homage that echo Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Obsessive love, ineffectual undisclosed identity swap, Herrmann-esque score and, although Zhang Ming Fong plays the videographer and narrator, he watches Moudan / Meimei (Zhou Xun) voyeuristically like "Scottie" spying on Madeleine Elster and then Judy Barton. There is also some Rear Window in there and film noir also evoking Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express visual style and In the Mood For Love's fatefully unrequited romance. Ye Lou was lauded as a major voice in the sixth-generation movement and critically praised for the atmospheric visuals in Suzhou River. I loved this as much as other Radiance Asian films released this year on Blu-ray; Noboru Nakamura's The Shape of Night, Yoshishige Yoshida's A Story Written With Water and Tai Katô's I, the Executioner. Radiance are kicking butt as they did last year. This film experience has our highest recommendation.
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**Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock" 4K UHD** - Anne-Louise Lambert @Criterion
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Peter Weir's hypnotic "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is a remarkable cinema achievement. The film is pure cinema establishing a distinctive character of a unique geological formation created over 6 million years ago - a former volcano - in central Victoria, Australia. It imbues powerful spiritual connection forces that hauntingly transcend time. "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is a unsettling mystery, a hypnotic dream that eerily lulls the viewer into a suggestive state to embrace the ambiguous fiction of the story of what happened that Valentine's Day in 1900... at that 'exact right time and place'. Like a painting, 'En plein air', in front of our eyes. In communicating with the natural world - sometimes we are only provided with vague answers... or none at all. Mood embracing Romanian Gheorghe Zamfir's panflute, Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C from The Well-Tempered Clavier performed by Hungarian pianist Jenő Jandó, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven... with the camera exploring the stone outcropping edifice and its labyrinth of mysterious alcoves, recesses and trails - puts the viewer in such a calm mesmerized state that we fatalistically accept the unresolved picnic disappearances - wanting answers but subconsciously aware that we will get none. There isn't even other cinema that I can compare to "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and its impressionistic impact. It is wrapped in themes of mysticism, death, adolescent femininity, innocence, secrecy, scandal, privilege, the unknown, nature's retributive power, time... The Criterion advances in terms of the video presentation - which may be enough for fans to double-dip - who already own the duplicated Blu-ray of extras.
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**Mikhail Kalatozov's "I Am Cuba" - (Soy Cuba) 4K UHD** - Luz María Collazo @Criterion
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: The, now OOP (out of print), Milestone Cinematheque, 3-DVD Ultimate Edition in its own cigar box, described the film as a  "...hybrid offspring of Soviet orthodoxy and Cuban tropicalismo is a film of dazzling contrasts. In four intertwining stories of the revolution, Urusevsky's acrobatic camera takes the viewer on a dizzying ride through smoky nightclubs and rooftop pool parties, rickety shantytowns and rustling sugarcane fields, student protest rallies and remote guerilla outposts. "I am Cuba" culminates in the most gorgeously filmed funeral procession of all time, as the camera floats through a cigar factory and hovers high above the narrow streets of Havana. A whirling dance through the sensuous decadence of Batista's Cuba..." I Am Cuba was totally out of the cinema conversation until the USSR collapsed in the early 1990 where it has since seen a revival championed by Scorsese and Coppola. It is an epic of commie propaganda. The mise-en-scène is so unique although does somewhat evoke Mikhail Kalatozov's ‘The Cranes are Flying. I Am Cuba circles four distinct short stories of suffering Cubans - victims of the corporatization of the country from gambling resorts to sugar cane fields - passive acceptance to angered protesting. Criterion's 4K UHD release takes the viewing experience to another level of appreciation of this distinctly odd historical artifact. It always lingers - hard to find a comparison. Absolutely recommended! 
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DVDBeaver Newsletter for the Week of April 29th, 2024