Random DVD and Blu-ray announcements

Started by wilder, November 01, 2011, 01:54:56 AM

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wilder

February 20, 2017

Woody Allen: Seven Films - 1986-1991 on blu-ray from Arrow (UK)



-Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
-Radio Days (1987)
-September (1987)
-Another Woman (1988)
-Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
-Alice (1990)
-Shadows and Fog (1991)

Woody Allen: Seven Films - 1986-1991 - Amazon UK


Favorite Woody Allen:


wilder

Quote from: wilder on September 09, 2016, 05:59:49 PM
December 12, 2016

Donnie Darko (2001) limited edition blu-ray from Arrow (UK), with 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and Director's Cut from the original camera negatives



Donnie Darko (2001) - Limited Edition - Amazon UK


Screencap comparisons at caps-a-holic (scroll up for more / click 'Fullscreen Comparison' in the upper-right of each image). Non-limited edition coming from Arrow UK on January 9, 2017

wilder

Available Now

Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense (1984) on blu-ray from Second Sight (UK), from a new 2015 restoration. Region free.



Concert film featuring a live performance by Talking Heads. It was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues.

Stop Making Sense (1984) - Amazon UK








wilder

2017 TBD

Dario Argento's Opera (1987) from Scorpion Releasing, from a new 2K scan of the original camera negative



When a young opera singer takes over the leading role in an avant-garde presentation of Verdi's Macbeth, she triggers the madness of a crazed fan who repeatedly the diva to watch the brutal murders of her friends. Will the woman's recurring nightmare hold the key to the identity of this psychopath or does an even more horrific evil lay waiting in the wings?

wilder

#619
March 6, 2017

Alien Nation (1988) on blu-ray from 88 Films (UK), also coming from Twilight Time sometime next year



Alien Nation (1988) - Amazon UK

In Los Angeles circa 1991, humans live alongside extraterrestrial humanoid beings whose spaceship crash landed three years earlier. This coexistence is not always harmonious, as exemplified by segregated slums and the uneasy partnership of police detective Matthew Sykes (James Caan) with new humanoid partner Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin). However, the pair begin to overcome their differences as they investigate a slum drug ring led by the slippery William Harcourt (Terence Stamp).



wilder

March 28, 2017

Aria (1987) on blu-ray from eOne/Sony

Directed by Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Charles Sturridge, and Julien Temple



Aria (1987) - Amazon

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound (Vivaldi, Bach, Wagner), and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Aria Trailer - Vimeo

wilder

#621
August 22, 2017

Sean Penn's The Indian Runner (1991) on blu-ray from Kino



A Vietnam vet comes home to his small town and finds himself in conflict with rules that his brother has vowed to uphold.

The Indian Runner (1991) - Amazon






October 16, 2017

Takeshi Kitano's Getting Any? (1994) on blu-ray from Third Window Films (UK) from a new restoration





A slapstick comedy, about a goofy middle-aged man who is obsessed with the idea of having car sex. While pursuing his 'dream', he makes all the wrong moves possible, and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.

Geting Any (1994) - Amazon UK



wilder

Quote from: wilder on December 16, 2016, 06:40:19 PM
Quote from: wilder on September 09, 2016, 05:59:49 PM
December 12, 2016

Donnie Darko (2001) limited edition blu-ray from Arrow (UK), with 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and Director's Cut from the original camera negatives



Donnie Darko (2001) - Limited Edition - Amazon UK


Screencap comparisons at caps-a-holic (scroll up for more / click 'Fullscreen Comparison' in the upper-right of each image). Non-limited edition coming from Arrow UK on January 9, 2017


US release of the LE Box Set from Arrow on April 18, 2017. Assuming a non-LE will follow later in the US as well.

wilder

February 2017 TBD

Ken Russell's The Boy Friend (1971) from Warner Archive



The star has injured an ankle, but the show – and inexperienced stage assistant Polly Browne – must go on. Break a leg, kid. And don't let the presence of Hollywood director and talent scout Mr. De Thrill add any pressure. And so begins this colorful tale of theater hopefuls with stars in their eyes and greasepaint in their veins, a work that, under the guidance of director Ken Russell, is not just an affectionate filmization of Sandy Wilson's London/Broadway stage hit but also an homage to the movie stagings of Busby Berkeley – complete with imaginative use of kaleidoscopic top shots and rows of leggy chorines. Fashion icon Twiggy makes her screen debut as sweet-natured Polly, a role played earlier by Julie Andrews in her Broadway debut. Curtain up. Maybe someone will be discovered tonight.






Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon (1957) from Warner Archive



An aging American tycoon overcomes his inhibitions to court a young Parisian.



wilder

March 14, 2017

Leos Carax's The Lovers on the Bridge (1991) on blu-ray from Kino



Alex, who's homeless and addicted to alcohol, and Michèle, who's losing her sight, form a relationship while sleeping rough on Paris's Pont-Neuf bridge.

The Lovers on the Bridge (1991) - Amazon





wilder

Available Now

Wolfgang Staudte's The Murderers Are Among Us aka Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946) on DVD, recently restored by the DEFA Film Library

This is one of the films that had an influence on Christian Petzold's recent movies Barbara and Phoenix



In 1945, the artist Susanne Wallner (Hildegard Knef) returns to Berlin after spending three years in a concentration camp. Yet amid the ruins, she is filled with a renewed energy for life. When she arrives at her old apartment, she finds that Dr. Hans Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert) has taken up residence there. A physician and former German officer, Mertens is haunted by the wartime execution of Polish civilians, which he did nothing to prevent. Under Susanne's care, the broken man gathers new strength. Then, by chance, Mertens meets his former captain (Arno Paulsen) and decides to take the law into his own hands.

The Murderers Are among Us was the first film made in Germany after WWII and has since become a classic. It was supported by the Soviet Allies and produced by the newly-founded DEFA Studio. Its film noir style successfully blends German expressionism with a striking affinity to Italian neorealism.


The Murderers Are Among Us (1946) - DEFA Film Library










wilder

2017 TBD

Josef von Sternberg's Anatahan (1953) on blu-ray from Kino, from a new 2K restoration



In the waning days of WWII, a dozen Japanese sailors are stranded on a remote island inhabited only by the foreman of an abandoned plantation and a beautiful young woman, Keiko (Akemi Negishi). As the days turn into months and then into years, the castaways lose their grip on any semblance of societal norms and descend into a daily struggle for dominance and power.

Anatahan (1953) - Amazon



wilder

February 21, 2017

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol from Cohen Media Group



3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol - Amazon


Quote from: wilder on February 17, 2016, 03:07:26 PM
-Betty (1992)



Alone and drunk, Betty, is led to a Paris restaurant by a stranger. Here, she meets an older woman, Laure, with whom she strikes up an instant rapport. The two women seem to have suffered the same lot in their lives. Laure takes Betty back to her hotel and helps to cure the young woman of her depression and alcoholism. Little by little, Betty pieces together her recent history and realizes that perhaps her life is not worth living. The she meets Mario, Laure's lover... Starring Stephane Audran, Jean-Francoise Garreaud and Marie Trintignant. 2K RESTORATION.


-L'Enfer (1994)



Paul (François Cluzet) has just bought a charming waterfront hotel in the heart of France. In debt for the next ten years, he sets to work with his beautiful new wife, Nelly (Emmanuelle Béart). The life of the young couple resembles a dream come true until Paul's suspicions and jealousy get the best of him. His increasing obsession turns into madness that ends in a tragedy. Starring Emmanuelle Béart and Francois Cluzet. 2K RESTORATION.


-The Swindle (1997)



Betty and Victor tour quietly around France in their motor home living safely on part-time swindles...until they become involved in a scam with high stakes and international implications. Chabrol's 50th film is a deft and entertaining thriller. Starring François Cluzet, Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault. 2K RESTORATION.








wilder

March 7, 2017

Samuel Beckett's Film (1965) on blu-ray from Milestone



Film by Samuel Beckett, the great playwright's only venture into the medium of the cinema, was written in 1963 and filmed in New York City in the summer of 1964. The project brought together an illustrious group of collaborators: screenwriter (and future Nobel laureate) Beckett traveled from Paris at the behest of the producer, publisher, and First Amendment champion Barney Rosset joining forces with theater director Alan Schneider, Oscar-winning cinematographer Boris Kaufman, and silent-comedy genius, Buster Keaton. Acclaimed film editor Sidney Meyers added his talents to the film in post-production. The product of their efforts, Film by Samuel Beckett, has no dialogue and takes as its basis philosopher George Berkeley s theory Esse est percipi to be is to be perceived. In essence, after all outside perception be it animal, human, or divine is suppressed, self-perception remains.

Film by Samuel Beckett premiered at the 1965 New York Film Festival and went on to win many international awards. Critics, literary scholars, and audiences have continued to be dazzled and intrigued by the film. Mark Nixon of the Beckett International Foundation calls Film by Samuel Beckett an intriguing and vital document in Samuel Beckett s life-long engagement and fascination with perception, and the image.

Restorationist Ross Lipman worked with Rosset to preserve and digitize Film by Samuel Beckett on behalf of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and was inspired to make a documentary Notfilm (2015), exploring the creation and meaning of this fascinating cinema treasure.


Film (1965) - Amazon



Notfilm (2015) on blu-ray from Milestone



Notfilm is Ross Lipman s acclaimed kino-essay on the making and meaning of Film by Samuel Beckett. Unlike any other film for its in-depth, mesmerizing analysis of one short film, it has been acclaimed by critics and audiences everywhere. Lipman s obsession with Film began when, as a teenaged cinephile, he first learned that Irish Nobel Prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett had written a short that starred silent film genius Buster Keaton. Decades later, Lipman, now an accomplished film restorationist, jumped at the chance to preserve Film and to meet and talk with the extraordinary man who produced it, maverick publisher and First Amendment champion Barney Rosset. During a visit to Rosset s NYC loft, Lipman asked if there was any extra footage from the 1964 shoot. The reels that he discovered under the sink in the publisher s kitchen started Lipman on the long road from Film to Notfilm.

For more than seven years he traveled the world interviewing friends, family, and collaborators including Beckett s biographer James Knowlson, film historian Kevin Brownlow, actress Billie Whitelaw, Keaton s friend (and actor in Film) James Karen, and writer Leonard Maltin who visited the set as a star-struck 14-year-old Buster fan. Lipman s long fascination and tireless efforts have resulted in Notfilm, a film exploration that is mesmerizing, entertaining and timeless.


Notfilm (2015) - Amazon


Notfilm (2015) trailer - Vimeo



April 24, 2017

Frank Clarke & Chris Bernard's Letter to Brezhnev (1985) on blu-ray from BFI (UK)



Two Merseyside girls escape their humdrum lives for a night on the town, where they meet two Russian sailors on shore leave. For Teresa (Margi Clarke), it's a welcome bit of fun, but for Elaine (Alexander Pigg) it turns into much more.

One of the key British films of the 1980's Letter to Brezhnev is set against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Liverpool's club scene, one-night stands and a Europe still in the grip of the Cold War. Written by Frank Clarke and directed by Chris Bernard (both whom worked on Brookside) and starring a fresh and young cast it remains a hilarious and uplifting tale of how love and idealism can help ordinary people realise their dreams.


Letter to Brezhnev (1985) - Amazon



wilder

2017 TBD

Michele Soavi's The Church (1989) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing



A church is built during medieval times on top of a pile of dead bodies that were considered possessed. Hundreds of years later a young librarian unleashes the evil within, by removing a rock in the catacombs. Series of events occur meanwhile, everybody just does not seem to be the same. Father Gus is the only one not possessed, he must save the city from becoming a pandemonium, he must find the ancient secret of the church so it can crumble to pieces... Starring Tomas Arana, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Hugh Quarshie, Barbara Cupisti, and Antonella Vitale.






Michele Soavi's The Sect (1991) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing



A spree of grisly murders is perpetrated in Frankfurt by a group of Satan worshippers. A school teacher almost runs over an old man with a box and takes him in. It's no accident that the old man has come into her life, and it quickly becomes apparent that he has plans for her, plans that involve a permanent future with the Satanic cult. Starring Kelly Curtis, Herbert Lom, and Mariangela Giordano.