THIS WEEK's RELEASES: Melville 4K UHD X 2, Kira Muratova double feature, Karlson Noir, Bertolucci 4K UHD, Titans in 4K, Silent Lillian Gish and a no-talkie mystery, Depp 4K UHD, Three Stooges extravaganza, Dick Tracy, Clarence Brown, 80's Hong Kong, Gwyneth Paltrow's brother directs, 1990 supernatural horror in 4K UHD, Ronny Yu, Roger Donaldson directs Sissy Spacek, Sergio Corbucci, 1940 Dickens, King Vidor, Michael Reeves, Space: 1999, Swedish Boarding School...
NEW CALENDAR UPDATES (LINKED HERE!) Kurosawa GOLD in 4K UHD, Val Lewton double feature in 4K UHD, Bava Vampiri finally comes to Blu-ray, part documentary / part fiction; silent gem on witchcraft, demonology and Satanism..., three Japanese Ghost Stories, six vintage Columbia Horrors, Bloodsucking Tales from Mexico, Columbia Classics 4K UHD #5, De Palma 'rear window' 4K UHD, Harmony Korine 4K UHD, Fincher Zodiac to 4K UHD, Luchino Visconti, four films by Lee Chang-Dong, World Noir singles, Damiani singles, Alexander Mackendrick, more Dark Side Noir, William Dieterle, Ladd / Liz Scott, John Farrow, Basil Dearden, Norman Z. McLeod / Hope, Robert Rossen - Burn, Witch, Burn - Terence Fisher / Cushing, semi-autobiographical Asia A., Laura Citarella, Liz Montgomery TV, Maniac Forbidden Fruit, Polanski - Nicholson 4K UHD, Jack as director 4K UHD, 60's creature-feature 4K UHD...
THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS: a big calendar updates always takes it out of me; rare Muratova double feature, a hectic night with New York taxi driver, and ex-boxer, Ernie Driscoll in a noir nightmare, Karloff hypnotizes, Dickensian greedy uncle...
Enjoy,
Gary

RELEASES the WEEK of August 12th, 2024 (Recommended titles have "**")

**Phil Karlson's "99 River Street"** Blu-ray - John Payne, Peggie Castle, Evelyn Keyes @KinoLorber
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Phil Karlson's "99 River Street" spends a hectic night with New York taxi driver, and ex-boxer, Ernie Driscoll (John Payne - The Boss, Hidden Fear, Larceny etc.) who has troubles with his dissatisfied wife Pauline (Peggie Castle - Back from the Dead, The Long Wait, I, The Jury) and she is having an affair with a sociopathic criminal. Ernie navigates the evening with help from his friends Linda James (Evelyn Keyes - The Prowler, The Killer that Stalked New York) and buddy Stan Hogan (Frank Faylen - The Lost Weekend) avoiding cops and diamond heist thieves while clearing himself of murder charges. It is quintessential and lovable Noir. Both the audio and video have improved plus the additional option of English subtitles, the excellent commentary stays... this new Kino Blu-ray is a welcome upgrade and must have for aficionados of the dark cinema cycle.
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**Annie Laurie** [Blu-ray] (John S. Robertson, 1927) Kino
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COMMENTS: Produced at the creative apex of the silent era, Annie Laurie (1927) was MGM’s grand-scale dramatization of the conflicts between warring clans in the 17th-century Scottish highlands. Lillian Gish (The Wind, Broken Blossoms) stars as the daughter of a diplomat who seeks to negotiate peace between the haughty and politically-connected Campbells, and the more rough-hewn MacDonalds, led by the dashing Norman Kerry (The Phantom of the Opera). When Annie discovers that the Campbells’ chieftain is plotting to derail a treaty and justify a brutal attack upon the MacDonalds (in what would become known as the Massacre of Glencoe), she must sprint to a snowy mountaintop to light a warning signal — a thrilling sequence reminiscent of Gish’s legendary ice floe scene from D.W. Griffith’s Way Down East. This 4K restoration by the Library of Congress features an extraordinary orchestral score by Robert Israel (in 5.1 Stereo Surround), and climaxes with a beautifully preserved Technicolor sequence.
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The Bat Whispers [Blu-ray] (Roland West, 1930) VCI
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COMMENTS: An infamous burglar and jewel thief known as The Bat plays cat and mouse with the police and terrorizes the occupants of a mansion, leased from a bank president who is in Europe. After the town bank is robbed, the Bat and a cashier named, Brook, who disappeared afterwards, are the main suspects. Strange things begin to occur in the mansion, such as mysterious noises, lights being turned on and off and an ominous shadow is seen by the occupants. When a rock is thrown through a window with a threatening note telling the occupants to leave 'or else', the renter, Cornelia Van Gorder, and her guests, suspect the money from the robbery might be hidden there. They begin a search for a hidden room, hoping to find the stolen money but when Ms. Gorder's guests begin turning up dead, she fears The Bat is trying to keep them from finding his 'Stash.
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Black Mass [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Scott Cooper, 2015) Warner Bros.
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COMMENTS: In 1970s SOUTH BOSTON, FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp) to collaborate with the FBI in order to eliminate their common enemy, the Italian mob. Black Mass tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Bulger to evade law-enforcement, while escalating his power to become one of the most notorious gangsters in US history.
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**Bob le flambeur [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956) Kino
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BEAVER Blu-ray REVIEW
COMMENTS: From Jean-Pierre Melville, the legendary director of Le Doulos, Le Samouraï, Army of Shadows and Un Flic, comes this classic heist film noir, in the tradition of Rififi. Suffused with wry humor, Bob Le Flambeur melds the toughness of American gangster films with Gallic sophistication to lay the roadmap for the French New Wave. As the neon is extinguished for another dawn, an aging gambler (Roger Duchesne) navigates the treacherous world of pimps, moneymen and naïve associates while plotting one last score—the heist of the Deauville casino. This underworld comedy of manners possesses all the formal beauty, finesse and treacherous allure of green baize. Boasting a beautifully written screenplay by Melville and Auguste Le Breton (Razzia Sur la Chnouf) and stunning black-and-white cinematography by Henri Decaë (The 400 Blows, Purple Noon).
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Dick Tracy RKO Classic Collection [Blu-ray] (1945) VCI
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COMMENTS: The comic-strip crime-fighter Dick Tracy, created by Chester Gould, was part of the Saturday matinee serials, starring Ralph Byrd. In 1945, RKO revived the Tracy series, and Morgan Conway was chosen to portray Tracy in a pair of feature films: Dick Tracy Detective (1945) and Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946). RKO's earliest publicity photos posed Conway in profile, hoping to imitate Gould's square-jawed caricatures. Although Conway's' screen Tracy didn't resemble the print Tracy in the flesh, Conway's dramatic interpretation was faithful; he gave the role a humble, businesslike quality while keeping with police procedure and is considered by many to be the best on screen Dick Tracy. Although Conway's Tracy was praised by critics as the closest to Gould's original concept, the public seemed to prefer Byrd, who returned in the role for the final two RKO features, Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947) (with screen legend Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) spicing up the final RKO feature as the fearsome "Gruesome").
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**Le Doulos [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962) Kino
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BEAVER Blu-ray REVIEW
COMMENTS: From Jean-Pierre Melville, the legendary director of Bob Le Flambeur, Le Deuxième Souffle, Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic, comes this highly influential film noir classic. The backstabbing criminals in the shadowy underworld of Le Doulos have only one guiding principle: “Lie or die.” A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo (Classe Tous Risques) stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani, Army of Shadows), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisty, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust? Shot and edited with Melville’s trademark cool and featuring masterfully stylized dialogue and performances, Le Doulos (slang for an informant) is one of the filmmaker’s most gripping crime films. Co-starring Jean Desailly (Un Flic) and Michel Piccoli (Max and the Junkmen), written by Melville, from the best-selling novel by Pierre Lesou (The Cop) and beautifully shot in glorious black-and-white by Nicolas Hayer (Le Corbeau).
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Harum Scarum [Blu-ray] (Gene Nelson, 1965) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Go East, Young Man sings showbiz star and martial arts wizard, Johnny Tyrone. To hear is to obey. A clandestine group of called the Assassins kidnaps Johnny and whisks him to a remote Arabian realm isolated from the world for 2,000 years. Sheik meets desert chic when Elvis Presley plays Johnny and teams with former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley (Presley's Girl Happy co-star) in this tuneful frolic, partially shot on the original set built for Cecil B. DeMille's 1927 epic King of Kings and directed by music movie musical veteran Gene Nelson. The kidnappers want Johnny to use his fighting finesse to kill a desert king. Johnny a hitman? No, he's a hit, man, a top singer of songs like Kismet, Harum Holiday and nine more, all part of the jammin', scamming, swashbuckling fun of Harum Scarum.
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Idiot's Delight [Blu-ray] (Clarence Brown, 1939) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: They first meet in Omaha. They meet again years later at the Swiss border and at the edge of World War II. Clark Gable as smalltime hoofer Harry Van and Norma Shearer as his one-time honey Irene, now passing herself off as a Russian aristocrat and clinging to the arm of a munitions baron, strike sparks in this witty, cogent clash of love and war based on Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Idiot's Delight, released in the same year as Gone with the Wind, shows Gable at his rakish, manly, movie-star best. The most memorable scene: Gable's Puttin' on the Ritz, a wise-guy song-and-dance routine that ends with the King leaping gracefully into the arms of a chorus line of peroxide cuties. Lucky girls!
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In the Line of Duty III [Blu-ray] (Arthur Wong, Brandy Yuen, 1988) 88 Films US
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COMMENTS: Inspector Otaka (Hiroshi Fujioka) vows revenge after an armed couple (Stuart Ong and Michiko Nishiwaki) stage a shocking jewelry heist, ending in bloodshed and the death of Okata's assistant. Meanwhile, Rachel Yeung (Cynthia Khan), a rookie cop in Hong Kong, ends up entangled in the same mess with the detective when the Japanese thieves make their way to Hong Kong. Together, Otaka and Yeung are on a mission to bring the cold-blooded and desperate thieves to justice.
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In the Line of Duty IV [Blu-ray] (Woo-Ping Yuen, 1989) 88 Films US
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COMMENTS: Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan play two cops from both sides of the Pacific on the trail of a drug trafficking syndicate. Khan and Yen discover to their dismay that the syndicate has more than one insider working in the law enforcement agencies. As they break the rules to save a witness, the two find themselves pursued by American assassins, Hong Kong gangs and the law.
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**June Zero** [Blu-ray] (Jake Paltrow, 2022) Cohen Media
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COMMENTS: The 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, a principal architect of the Holocaust, is revisited in a gripping and surprising new vision from American filmmaker Jake Paltrow. Based on true accounts, June Zero is told from the unique perspectives of three distinct figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard; an Israeli police investigator who also happens to be a Holocaust survivor and a precocious and clever 13-year-old Libyan immigrant. Entirely shot on 16mm film, Paltrow’s vividly textured work brings to life the varied experiences of these characters, emphasizing that the same historical events are often perceived differently by people around the world. June Zero underscores the notion that shared traumas have the power to forge the strongest bonds and give rise to unexpected moments of triumph and connection. As the film delves into the complexities of the human experience during this pivotal trial, it serves as a poignant reminder that history's impact can be both diverse and unifying.
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The Last Emperor [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987) Criterion
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BEAVER Blu-ray REVIEW
COMMENTS: Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, unexpectedly sweeping every category in which it was nominated—quite a feat for a challenging, multilayered epic directed by an Italian and starring an international cast. Yet the scope of the film was, and remains, undeniably powerful—the life of Emperor Puyi, who took the throne in 1908, at age three, before witnessing decades of cultural and political upheaval within and without the walls of the Forbidden City. Recreating Qing-dynasty China with astonishing detail and unparalleled craftsmanship by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti, The Last Emperor is also an intimate character study of one man reconciling personal responsibility and political legacy.
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**Marie: A True Story** [Blu-ray] (Roger Donaldson, 1985) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Pay the man, get out of prison. It's a sweet deal for the Tennessee officials who let killers and rapists go free for a price. And who would have the guts to defy the state's power elite? No one, except a courageous single mom named Marie Ragghianti. This gripping film tells the true story of a woman who became head of the Tennessee parole board, then stood up to lies, threats and murder to blow the whistle on her bosses -- and send many of them, including the governor, to the pen. Sissy Spacek brings luminous intelligence to the role of Marie, and the remarkable supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman, Jeff Daniels and screen-debuting Fred Thompson (later a Tennessee senator) playing himself, Marie's real-life attorney.
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Mirror, Mirror [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Marina Sargenti, Dark Force Entertainment
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COMMENTS: A flashback opening shows us the bloody murder of a woman by her identical twin sister. This has something to do w/ the odd, whispering mirror in the room! Fast forward to recent days, and MIRROR MIRROR begins. A woman named Emelin (Yvonne De Carlo) runs across the dreaded mirror, while cleaning out the house for sale. She has it moved to her antique shop. Enter Susan Gordon (Karen Black- TRILOGY OF TERROR) and her daughter Megan (Rainbow Harvest), the new owners of the house, and the mirror, which has mysteriously returned! Megan attends her new high school, where her goth / Boy George look gains... attention. Alas, she just doesn't fit in. Luckily, student Nikki Chandler (Kristin Datillo) befriends Megan. Meanwhile, Emelin reads up on the mirror's strange history in an old diary. When their dog is found dead in front of the mirror, Susan and Megan have no idea what lies ahead for them! Back at school, poor Megan feels the cruel bite of exclusion and humiliation. Oh my stars! The mirror starts oozing blood, causing icky problems for Megan's tormentors! When one of her teachers drops dead, Megan returns home to seal her pact w/ the demonic looking-glass. Horror and death ensue, and Megan's high school experience improves by attrition. Can anything stop her vengeful rampage?
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Navajo Joe [Blu-ray] (Sergio Corbucci, 1966) Kino
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BEAVER REVIEW
COMMENTS: Screen legend Burt Reynolds (White Lightning, The Longest Yard) stars in this classic western about a fearless Native American with a relentless vendetta. A band of outlaws, headed by a sullen leader Duncan (Aldo Sambrell, For a Few Dollars More), sweeps across the country like the plague, destroying everything in its path including a Navajo village. The outlaws arrive in the town of Esperanza, where they are hired by a crooked doctor to hijack a bank train and share in the wealth. But the sole survivor from the Indian village, a renegade Navajo named Joe (Reynolds), foils the plan by relocating the money. An irate Duncan holds Joe’s beautiful sweetheart (Nicoletta Machiavelli, The Hills Run Red) hostage until Joe surrenders… Joe once again must take on Duncan and his ruthless comrades with unforgettable vengeance. Featuring the great Fernando Rey (The French Connection) with top-notch direction by spaghetti western legend Sergio Corbucci (Django, The Hellbenders, The Great Silence) with a rousing and now classic score by the legendary Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).
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**Alberto Cavalcanti's "Nicholas Nickleby"** Blu-ray - Derek Bond / Cedric Hardwicke / Sally Ann Howes @KinoLorber
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Alberto Cavalcanti's Nicholas Nickleby is the first talkie film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel that followed 'silents' released in 1903 and 1912. Like many, I'm a big fan of the author's Great Expectations where there was the David Lean film version made one year before Nicholas Nickleby but I was especially enamoured with Alfonso Cuarón's 1998 modern adaptation with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro. It still hasn't reached Blu-ray to my knowledge - we've compared DVDs HERE and I even wrote an article about it HERE. Anyway, Nicholas Nickleby is not at the stratospheric level of GE, but has all the tropes you might expect; a Victorian workhouse atmosphere filled with Dickensian, mistreated, urchins, a money-grubbing relative, flawed but kind secondary characters, and the titular, noble, protagonist - protector to his struggling mother and sister. Bottom line is that it is great storytelling, sets, costumes and acting. Fans of 'Boz' should indulge. The Kino Blu-ray has the film in 1080P, no usual commentary, but a couple of relevant extras. Certainly a film worth revisiting and package worth a place in your digital library
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**Northwest Passage** [Blu-ray] (King Vidor, 1940) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Spencer Tracy and a stellar supporting cast grab muskets , gun powder and knives, and head out for adventure in Northwest Passage, a lavish Technicolor retelling of French and Indian War heroics, based on Kenneth Roberts' best seller. Tracy plays a true-life explorer Major Robert Rogers, the intrepid leader of the celebrated Roberts' Rangers fighting force that took on one of the most challenging expeditions in military history. Tracy's portrayal brilliantly captures the American pioneering spirit, but he had to muster up his own will to carry it off. It isn't exactly fun to work in bitter cold and be sloshing through mud all day he said. For twelve grueling weeks of location shooting, he endured trapsing through swamps, crossing rapids, and climbing mountains. Of this rousing epic (released shortly after Gone With the Wind), The New York Times wrote, Now that the 'Wind' has stopped ruffling your hair, you can have it lifted, scalp and all in Northwest Passage.
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Pictures of Ghosts [Blu-ray] (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2023) Grasshopper Film
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COMMENTS: Brazil's official selection for the 2024 Academy Awards, PICTURES OF GHOSTS, from acclaimed director Kleber Mendonça Filho (BACURAU, AQUARIUS and NEIGHBORING SOUNDS), is a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, set in the urban landscape of Recife, Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco: a historical and human territory, examined through the great movie theatres that served as spaces of conviviality during the 20th century. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied a major transformation on social practices. Combining archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, PICTURES OF GHOSTS is a map of a city through the lens of cinema.
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The Sorcerers [Blu-ray] (Michael Reeves, 1967) RB UK 88 Films
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Space: 1999: Super Space Theater - RB UK Spirit Entertainment
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Capitalising on the success of the first two Space:1999 movies (episodes edited together as cinema features in the wake of Star Wars) ITC created what would ultimately become thirteen full-length movies for cable and home video under the banner Super Space Theater. Four of these were made from episodes of Space:1999, though they included new music in places and (for Alien Attack) additional scenes.
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**Space: 1999: The Ultimate** [Blu-ray] - RB UK Spirit Entertainment
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: September 13th, 1999… A nuclear waste dump on the Moon unexpectedly detonates, blasting it out of orbit and taking the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha on a fantastic voyage of discovery to the stars, fraught with danger at every turn! Gerry Anderson’s massively popular sci-fi series is presented here as stunning restorations from original film elements, giving an exceptional level of picture quality –Space: 1999 has never looked better!
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**The Stars Fell on Henrietta** [Blu-ray] (James Keach, 1995) Warner Archive
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COMMENTS: Texas, 1935. It's a time of boomtowns or bust for oil wildcatters and, repeatedly, derby-topped Mr. Cox has come out flat busted. Not to worry. Mr. Cox has a mule -- headed optimism. He's sure as the sunrise that near the town of Henrietta on a cotton farm that raises more dust than bolls, there's black gold beneath the barren sod. From Clint Eastwood's production company, The Stars Fell on Henrietta is a sweet -- natured tail of hope and redemption. As Mr. Cox, Robert Duvall has another acclaimed performance to his gallery of great roles. And Aiden Quinn, Francis Fisher and Brian Dennehy shine as Lone Star denizens, not so much swayed, as gradually infected by Cox's unflagging will. That optimism, you'll discover, is catching. Are a doodlebug rod, tasting the soil, or even tossing the cat and marking where it lands unusual way to find oil? Yes. Are they hopeless? Never. Or, as Mr. Cox might say, You've got to hitch your wagon to a star, sweetheart.
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Swedish Boarding School Girls [Blu-ray] (Erwin C. Dietrich, 1979) Full Moon Pictures
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COMMENTS: From the leering, lusty and lascivious mind of Swiss sexploitation film Sultan Erwin C. Dietrich comes one of the most delightfully dirty movies of his career: SWEDISH BOARDING SCHOOL GIRLS! Directing here under his often-used pseudonym Michael Thomas, Dietrich goes the distance with this ribald and raunchy opus (also known as UNTAMED SEX and 6 SWEDES ON CAMPUS) that serves as a companion film to his almost as filthy SWEDISH GAS PUMP GIRLS. Dietrich casts French erotica superstar Brigitte Lahaie (AMOROUS SISTERS, FASCINATION) along with France Lomay (EMMANUELLE 3, OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES) and Nadine Pascal (WOMEN OF INFERNO ISLAND) as uninhibited stunners causing all manner of mayhem at their exclusive Swiss boarding school. Cheekily shaking the system and subjecting the faculty to endless pranks and assorted hijinks, the gals also make plenty of time to freely explore their desires with male and female coeds before jumping on their bikes and peddling out to the picturesque countryside in search of new conquests. Like the best of the Dietrich/Lahaie collaborations, SWEDISH BOARDING SCHOOL GIRLS forgoes pedestrian plot contrivances and instead loosely focuses on the curious girls themselves, illustrating their immoral exploits in a series of cheeky, amusing and arousing vignettes whose design is to titillate. Full Moon is delighted to be bringing this lovely Lahaie film to Blu-ray for the first time in North America, in a totally uncut edition struck from Dietrich's own 35mm negative.
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**The Three Stooges Collection** [Blu-ray] - Sony
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COMMENTS: The Three Stooges come to high definition! Limited edition 20-disc Blu-ray gift set includes 100 treasured Stooges shorts, celebrating 100 years of Columbia Pictures! The set also includes over 20 additional shorts with Shemp Howard, Joe Besser and Joe DeRita, plus cartoons and The Three Stooges Scrapbook! Includes 8 full-length features in high definition: Time Out For Rhythm, Rockin' in the Rockies, Have Rocket – Will Travel, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, The Three Stooges in Orbit, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, The Outlaws Is Coming and The Three Stooges (2000) Gift set packaging features button-activated sound chip with classic Stooges noises!
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Top Line [Blu-ray] (Nello Rossati, 1988) Cauldron Films
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COMMENTS: Down and out author Ted Angelo (Franco Nero - Django) finds a U.F.O. while searching a cave for treasure. When he tries to warn the media, he soon becomes hunted by various clandestine organizations, but with the help of his new friend, June (Deborah Moore - Warriors of the Apocalypse), they search for the truth while evading certain death. Have the Aliens taken over the world? I want to believe! Co-starring George Kennedy (Creepshow 2), William Berger (Keoma), and Mary Stavin (Howling V), Directed by Nello Rossati (Django Strikes Again), with gooey practical effects by Francesco and Gaetano Paolocci (Silver Bullet), Top Line is a late '80s, mind melting sci-fi adventure! With all new special features including an interview with the legend himself, Franco Nero, and sourced from a 2K scan of the camera negative, Cauldron Films is out-of-this-world pleased to present this future classic for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Top Line is here to win hearts and take over minds!
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**Two Films by Kira Muratova** Blu-ray - Nina Ruslanova / Zinaida Sharko / Oleg Vladimirsky @Criterion
Brief Encounters (1967) The Long Farewell (1971)
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BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Kira Muratova's debut feature film, Brief Encounters, was banned by Soviet censors for 20 years before getting an official premiere during the increased government transparency in the USSR (glasnost) and her The Long Farewell, completed in 1971, was shelved for 16 years later till perestroika (political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.) Muratova's films came under constant criticism of the Soviet officials due to her idiosyncratic film language that lacked complying with the norms of socialist realism - the official cultural doctrine of the Soviet Union. Aside from Aleksandr Sokurov (Russian Ark, Mother and Son), Muratova was considered the most idiosyncratic contemporary Russian-language film director. The Criterion 'Two Films by Kira Muratova' Blu-ray package has two Russian dramas with romance, humor, happenstance, jealousy, alienation, etc. from a fascinating and unconventional director. I'm so pleased to have seen these films and hope more of her more unusual stylistic work will be coming to Blu-ray soon. Certainly recommended.
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**When Titans Ruled The Earth [4K UHD Blu-ray]** Clash Of The Titans (2010) & Wrath Of The Titans (2012) Arrow US
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CANADIAN 4K UHD PURCHASE LINK
US Blu-ray PURCHASE LINK
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COMMENTS: In Clash of the Titans, Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of a god but raised as a man, is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson), king of the gods, and unleash hell on earth. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, can Perseus accept his power and defy fate to create his own destiny?
Wrath of the Titans picks up ten years on from his heroic battle with the monstrous Kraken, with Perseus now living a quiet life by the sea with his young son. But war is raging between the gods and the Titans, and Perseus learns of a treacherous plan for world domination by his power-hungry uncle Hades and godly half-brother Ares (Édgar Ramírez). No longer able to ignore his calling, Perseus joins forces with warrior queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son Agenor (Toby Kebbell) and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) to enter the underworld, rescue the banished Zeus and overthrow the Titans once and for all.
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REVIEWS / COMPARISONS:

**Two Films by Kira Muratova** Blu-ray - Nina Ruslanova / Zinaida Sharko / Oleg Vladimirsky @Criterion
Brief Encounters (1967) The Long Farewell (1971)
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Kira Muratova's debut feature film, Brief Encounters, was banned by Soviet censors for 20 years before getting an official premiere during the increased government transparency in the USSR (glasnost) and her The Long Farewell, completed in 1971, was shelved for 16 years later till perestroika (political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.) Muratova's films came under constant criticism of the Soviet officials due to her idiosyncratic film language that lacked complying with the norms of socialist realism - the official cultural doctrine of the Soviet Union. Aside from Aleksandr Sokurov (Russian Ark, Mother and Son), Muratova was considered the most idiosyncratic contemporary Russian-language film director. The Criterion 'Two Films by Kira Muratova' Blu-ray package has two Russian dramas with romance, humor, happenstance, jealousy, alienation, etc. from a fascinating and unconventional director. I'm so pleased to have seen these films and hope more of her more unusual stylistic work will be coming to Blu-ray soon. Certainly recommended.
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**Alberto Cavalcanti's "Nicholas Nickleby"** Blu-ray - Derek Bond / Cedric Hardwicke / Sally Ann Howes @KinoLorber
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Alberto Cavalcanti's Nicholas Nickleby is the first talkie film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel that followed 'silents' released in 1903 and 1912. Like many, I'm a big fan of the author's Great Expectations where there was the David Lean film version made one year before Nicholas Nickleby but I was especially enamoured with Alfonso Cuarón's 1998 modern adaptation with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro. It still hasn't reached Blu-ray to my knowledge - we've compared DVDs HERE and I even wrote an article about it HERE. Anyway, Nicholas Nickleby is not at the stratospheric level of GE, but has all the tropes you might expect; a Victorian workhouse atmosphere filled with Dickensian, mistreated, urchins, a money-grubbing relative, flawed but kind secondary characters, and the titular, noble, protagonist - protector to his struggling mother and sister. Bottom line is that it is great storytelling, sets, costumes and acting. Fans of 'Boz' should indulge. The Kino Blu-ray has the film in 1080P, no usual commentary, but a couple of relevant extras. Certainly a film worth revisiting and package worth a place in your digital library.
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**Phil Karlson's "99 River Street"** Blu-ray - John Payne, Peggie Castle, Evelyn Keyes @KinoLorber
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Phil Karlson's "99 River Street" spends a hectic night with New York taxi driver, and ex-boxer, Ernie Driscoll (John Payne - The Boss, Hidden Fear, Larceny etc.) who has troubles with his dissatisfied wife Pauline (Peggie Castle - Back from the Dead, The Long Wait, I, The Jury) and she is having an affair with a sociopathic criminal. Ernie navigates the evening with help from his friends Linda James (Evelyn Keyes - The Prowler, The Killer that Stalked New York) and buddy Stan Hogan (Frank Faylen - The Lost Weekend) avoiding cops and diamond heist thieves while clearing himself of murder charges. It is quintessential and lovable Noir. Both the audio and video have improved plus the additional option of English subtitles, the excellent commentary stays... this new Kino Blu-ray is a welcome upgrade and must have for aficionados of the dark cinema cycle.
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**Michael Reeves' 1967 "The Sorcerers"** Blu-ray - Boris Karloff / Elizabeth Ercy / Susan George @88_Films
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Michael Reeves' The Sorcerers was credited as 'based on an idea' by John Burke (eventual a same-titled book) who also novelized Dr Terror s House of Horrors and many more. Burke's original screenplay ended up being markedly different from the finished film. I liked the concept with the power of hypnosis / suggestion, generational existence and a ravenous desire for 'experience' - Karloff and Catherine Lacey are excellent and we get some of 17-year old Susan George in her first adult role. It was a pleasant surprise despite her limited screen-time. The Sorcerers was released by Tigon (titles like Witchfinder General, The Body Stealers, The Haunted House of Horror, The Blood on Satan's Claw, The Beast in the Cellar, Virgin Witch) and 88 Films are bringing a few of the studios efforts to new Blu-ray editions, and some in 4K UHD, with Sean Longmore 's superlative cover artwork. 88 Films are knocking it out of the park and this Blu-ray edition with the best a/v, two commentaries and three interviews is absolutely recommended to genre fans.
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DVDBeaver Newsletter for the Week of August 12th, 2024