Random DVD and Blu-ray announcements

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

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Alethia

First I've heard of it! Very intriguing.

jenkins

it played at The New Beverly during the Frank Perry retrospective. his Play It As It Lays sucks but that's fine. I adore his Diary of a Mad Housewife although I consistently misattribute it to Jerry Schatzberg, who also had a New Beverly retrospective

I guess maybe there are other reasons it's too bad the plague happened this year but it is too bad you missed out on a year of the New Beverly, eward. obvious shit would sell out but everything unknown would play to small crowds and of course they always rip. it's silly to think QT doesn't have good taste in movies. about the craziest scenario I can remember is when I sat behind QT (I actually sat down first, so he sat in front of me, but not like directly in front of me, respectfully off to the side, not blocking the screen) during a screening of Hi Diddle Diddle, and the theater was less than half full, maybe a third full, which just, you know, it's almost hard to believe, based on how good that movies is, and QT put it on his fucking 2002 Sight and Sound list, but honestly if not's well known people don't think to see it lmao that is how it goes

Alethia

Ugh I'm so desperate for it to re-open !! I hear so many conflicting things about the New Bev from my LA movie friends. Some describe its programming similarly to what you said above, others say it's non-stop Quentin deep-dive exploitation stuff that frequently fails to engage and quickly grows tiresome (particularly those that have gotten a taste of NYC programming a la Metrograph). I'm going to take your word for it, Jenkins, and when the world rights itself again, I shall follow your lead.

WorldForgot

Quote from: eward on December 17, 2020, 11:42:42 AM
Some describe its programming similarly to what you said above, others say it's non-stop Quentin deep-dive exploitation stuff that frequently fails to engage and quickly grows tiresome (particularly those that have gotten a taste of NYC programming a la Metrograph).

Considering you mentioned the Metrograph, that doesn't sound conflicting at all lmfao

jenkins

well the calendars are right here

https://thenewbev.com/print-calendars/

oh i forgot that it was just in january i sat behind josh safdie during little women. and as i've said before i was there the last night it closed during the plague, at the bitter tea of general yen

jenkins

I joined the Vinegar Syndrome Collectors page on Facebook and it's such a whole thing. it's really quite hilarious. so many people saying "I can't help myself" and it's the juice you know the addiction it's a movie hunger. anyway they released Rad and that was a huge hit and I didn't buy it because I have my own unusual interests but so they received a limited license which resulted in a limited release yet fear not for it's on its way from Mill Creek, in a steel case

March 16, 2021

QuoteCollectible SteelBook packaging with artwork from Mondo artist JJ Harrison
Directed by Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run) who was also known for being
the highest paid stuntman in the world and revolutionized the art of stunts in the film industry
Scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original camera negative
Bonus features include: "Rad" Q&A Session featuring cast members Bill Allen, Talia Shire, Bart Conner,
screenwriter Sam Bernard, and hosted by Jorma Taccone, Archival video interviews with cast and crew, Original
Behind-the-Scenes Featurette and "Break the Ice" music video

wilder

May 18, 2021

Jérôme Boivin's Baxter (1989) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing. Written by Jacques Audiard.



A white Bull Terrier named Baxter is given to an elderly woman by her daughter. As time passes, the dog develops aggressive and murderous behavior in order to be adopted by another family.





Q1 2021 TBD

Frank Perry's Rancho Deluxe (1975) on blu-ray from Fun City Editions



Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.



Q1 2021 TBD

Michael Ritchie's Smile (1975) on blu-ray from Fun City Editions



The time has come for the annual Young American Miss Pageant in California. Executive producer Brenda (Barbara Feldon) focuses maniacally on the event, ignoring any complaints. While her husband, Andy (Nicholas Pryor), sulks, choreographer Tommy French (Michael Kidd) looks after the safety of the contestants. With all the girls trying to outdo each other, tension increases as the pageant drags on and the skeptical contestant, Robin (Joan Prather), takes the lead despite her reservations.





Q1 2021 TBD

Josef von Sternberg's Thunderbolt (1929) on blu-ray from Kino



A condemned criminal (George Bancroft) plots revenge on the young man (Richard Arlen) who stole his gal (Fay Wray) and landed next to him on death row.



March 23, 2021

Luis Trenker's Der Kaiser von Kalifornien aka The Kaiser of California (1936) on blu-ray from Kino



On the surface, The Kaiser of California appears to be a cinematic anomaly: an epic Western produced under the state-controlled cinema of the Third Reich. But the film's novelty value is quickly eclipsed by its dazzling visual artistry: striking compositions and stunning location photography worthy of John Ford (who was still three years away from making his signature Western, Stagecoach). In telling the story of German-born pioneer John Sutter, actor/director Luis Trenker returned to the awe-inspiring vistas and daring feats of rock-climbing that had made his "mountain films" such a sensation. The result is a film whose style is deeply Germanic and spectacularly American at the same time, virtually unseen in the United States, prior to this 2K restoration by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung.





February 23, 2021

Helmut Käutner's Große Freiheit Nr. 7 aka Port of Freedom (1944) on blu-ray from Kino, from a 4K restoration



Under the direction of Helmut Käutner (Black Gravel), German heartthrob Hans Albers stars as Hannes, a former sailor who now works as an entertainer, playing his accordion in the streets and cabarets of the garish red light district of Hamburg. When he meets a headstrong young farmgirl (Ilse Werner), Hannes's passions are reawakened, and he is torn between his love for Gisa and the beckoning call of the sea. Produced in Germany in the final years of World War II, Port of Freedom (Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7) demonstrates how independent-minded artists were able to circumvent the demands of state-run film industry under the Third Reich. Rather than a propagandistic celebration of German might, it is a melancholy ode to lost love and happier times, lavishly photographed by Werner Krien in the rich warmth of Agfacolor.





July 6, 2021

Georges Lautner's La route de Salina aka The Road to Salina (1970) on blu-ray from Kino, from a 4K restoration. See via Trailers from Hell.



Jonas (Walker Jr) is on the road to Salina. He stops at a gas station/restaurant and its owner, Mara (Hayworth), is struck by his resemblance to her dead son, Rocky (Porel). He decides to stay on and meets Mara's friend Warren (Begley) and Rocky's sister Billie (Famer), but dark facts are to be revealed about the death of Rocky.



March 9, 2021

Little Fugitive: The Collected Films of Morris Engel & Ruth Orkin on blu-ray from Kino



Shooting on location in New York City and capturing intimate moments in the lives of the common person, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin have come to be recognized as pioneers of the American independent cinema. François Truffaut remarked, "Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production." Kino Lorber now presents the most comprehensive collection of Engel and Orkin's work on three Blu-ray discs: all four feature films (including the home video premiere of the 1960s counter-culture film I Need a Ride to California, newly restored by the Museum of Modern Art), short films, commercials, and two documentaries by their daughter Mary Engel.



March 23, 2021

Andrew Niccol's Gattaca (1997) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Sony, from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative



Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin and Jude Law star in this engrossing sci-fi thriller about an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. Hawke stars as Vincent, an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveling into space with the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. However, a week before his mission, a murder marks Vincent as a suspect. With a relentless investigator in pursuit and the colleague he has fallen in love with beginning to suspect his deception, Vincent's dreams steadily unravel.



January 26, 2021

Frank Perry's The Swimmer (1968) is being re-released on blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing in a new edition that includes a soundtrack CD



Well-off ad man Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) is visiting a friend when he notices the abundance of backyard pools that populate their upscale suburb. Ned suddenly decides that he'd like to travel the eight miles back to his own home by simply swimming across every pool in town. Soon, Ned's journey becomes harrowing; at each house, he is somehow confronted with a reminder of his romantic, domestic and economic failures, until a final visit with an old flame (Janice Rule) leaves him devastated. Based on a story by John Cheever.





March 3, 2021

Frank Perry's Mommie Dearest (1981) on blu-ray from Shock (Australia)



Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother...screen queen Joan Crawford.



2021 TBD

Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing



Friends George Hansen (Robert Duvall) and Mike Locken (James Caan) are hit men who do contract jobs for a company called Com-Teg, associated with the CIA. Bu, when George gets a better offer from the competition, he turns on Mike, breaking his elbow and shoulder. It takes Mike a long time and a lot of physical therapy to get back on the job, but he does -- and coincidentally finds himself protecting a client whom Hansen and his gang are simultaneously being paid to assassinate.



2021 TBD

Karel Reisz's Who'll Stop the Rain? (1978) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing, to be sold exclusively through Ronin Flix



Vietnam veteran Ray Hicks gets conned into helping his buddy John Converse smuggle some heroin, only to wind up on the lam with John's wife when the deal goes sour.



April 27, 2021

Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Kino



A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.



November 23, 2020

Tsai Ming-Liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) on blu-ray from Second Sight (UK)



In a cavernous movie palace, King Hu's classic 1968 film Dragon Inn plays for a sparse crowd. As the movie progresses, the ticket-taker makes dinner, cleans the bathroom, and checks in on the projectionist. Audience members wander in and out, occasionally interacting in the restroom or the vast hallways that surround the theater proper. Minimally plotted, Tsai Ming-Liang's film is a poetic, dryly humorous portrait of a place and its denizens, and an homage to a director who influenced his career.





jenkins

Quote from: wilder on January 10, 2021, 08:06:47 PM
Q1 2021 TBD

Josef von Sternberg's Thunderbolt (1929) on blu-ray from Kino



A condemned criminal (George Bancroft) plots revenge on the young man (Richard Arlen) who stole his gal (Fay Wray) and landed next to him on death row.

that's between The Docks of New York and Blue Angel so it's a pretty big deal. his first sound film. he's missing Ben Hecht and Marlene Dietrich but he has Mank

jenkins

i wanted to buy what author Toni Bentley considered the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn but so at amazon it pops up for 75, thankfully thought fuck that, can tell you it comes from Distribpix and I bought it at Diabolik for 24.99

WorldForgot



jenkins

thought i'd written about one of those but i wrote about The Day the Pig Fell into the Well. not disappointed because i love how I love Sangsoo there

wilder

February 16, 2021

Elia Kazan's Baby Doll (1956) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



Times are tough for cotton miller Archie (Karl Malden), but at least he has his child bride (Carroll Baker), who'll soon be his wife in title and truth. The one-year agreement keeping them under the same roof – yet never in the same bed – is about to end. But a game with a sly business rival (Eli Wallach) is about to begin. In Baby Doll, as in A Streetcar Named Desire, director Elia Kazan and writer Tennessee Williams broke new ground in depicting sexual situations – earning condemnation from the then-powerful Legion of Decency.







February 23, 2021

Allan Moyle's Pump Up the Volume (1990) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a painfully shy new kid in a small Arizona town. But by night, he's Hard Harry, the cynical, uncensored DJ of a pirate radio station. Idolized by his high school classmates (who are unaware of his real identity), Harry becomes a hero with his fiercely funny monologues on sex, love, and rock and roll. But when he exposes the corrupt school principal, she calls in the FCC to shut Harry down. An outrageous rebel with a cause, Slater gives a brilliant performance as the reluctant hero who inspires his classmates to find their own voices of rebellion and individuality. A movie with a message, Pump Up the Volume is a raw and witty celebration of free speech that will make you laugh, make you cheer and make you think.







March 9, 2021

Val Lewton & Mark Robson's Isle of the Dead (1945) on blu-ray from Warner Archive, from a 4K restoration of the original nitrate camera negative



On a lonely Greek island, a disparate group of people are in fear. Plague has come to the island making them virtual prisoners and then there is talk of the vorvolakas, a vampire-like creature that preys on the living. Among those trapped there is General Nikolas Pherides (Boris Karloff), nicknamed the Watchdog, who is taken aback when he is visits his wife's mausoleum only to find her grave empty. As several of those quarantined die from the plague, paranoia sets in creating a tense, fear-filled atmosphere...



March 22, 2021

Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire (1947) on blu-ray from Warner Archive, from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative



One of the first Hollywood films to explore bigotry follows the story of three World War II soldiers who become suspects in the murder of a Jewish hotel guest.



April 27, 2021

Lewis Gilbert's Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) & Lawrence Huntington's Wanted for Murder (1946) on blu-ray from Cohen Media Group



Cast a Dark Shadow

In this taut thriller, Dirk Bogarde plays a scheming young man who uses his charm to wed an older wealthy woman. He stages her death to look accidental, but when he finds out that he will not be reaping financial reward from the death, he seeks out another victim.

Wanted for Murder

As the son of a Victorian hangman is driven insane by thoughts of his father's profession, the young man emulates his father by strangling young women. He then meets and falls in love with a woman, but can he suppress his urge to kill her?







May 17, 2021

Columbia Noir #3 (1947-1959) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



QuoteJohnny O'Clock (1947)

When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy (Evelyn Keyes), looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell), a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.

The Dark Past (1948)

Synopsis: Taken hostage along with his family and friends, psychologist Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb) is held by the murderous fugitive Al Walker (William Holden) and his gang. While Walker's crew, which includes his lover, Betty (Nina Foch), tends to the other hostages, the desperate mastermind talks to Collins about his troubled past. As the night progresses, Collins gets Walker to focus on a disturbing dream, resulting in a psychological breakthrough that may help avoid a violent conflict.[/I]

Convicted (1950)

During a barroom brawl, Joe Hufford (Glenn Ford) accidentally kills the son of a powerful, prominent man. The district attorney, George Knowland (Broderick Crawford), wins a manslaughter conviction, despite having doubts about the defendant's guilt. Joe is sent to prison, and George, who eventually becomes the warden there, hopes to get him released. But Joe gets so immersed in the culture and codes of the jailhouse that he finds it difficult to believe in his own innocence.

Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)

Dan Purvis (Edmond O'Brien) and Rocky Barnes (Mark Stevens) are lifelong pals who survived WWII and continue their armed service as uniformed prowl car boys on the night shift in L.A. But their friendship is tested by their ongoing battle with a ruthless racketeer (Donald Buka), and the love they share for a beautiful radio announcer (Gale Storm). Often seen as the first example of the now common buddy cop movie, this film shows the genre has always been rife with tension.

The Sniper (1952)

In San Francisco, Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz) is a severely disturbed professional driver who fantasizes about killing beautiful women. He sends out several warning signs about his deteriorating mental state, but they're ignored by those around him. When he begins killing beautiful women and leaving clues for the authorities, the hardened Lt. Kafka (Adolphe Menjou) and police psychiatrist Dr. James G. Kent (Richard Kiley) must help track him down.

City of Fear (1959)

Irving Lerner directs Vince Edwards as a convict who breaks out of prison with a canister of what he thinks is pure heroin, hoping to make a big score. The white powder, however, turns out to be a deadly radioactive substance. As Vince tries to deal away his treasure, he works through his sleazy contacts — all of whom are doomed by their greed and stupidity — as the police desperately try to find him before he contaminates the entire city.





May 17, 2021

Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



After exploring the science-fiction and fantasy worlds of Alien, Blade Runner and Legend, famed British director Ridley Scott turned to modern-day New York for Someone to Watch Over Me, one of a number of adult-orientated erotic thrillers, including Fatal Attraction, Black Widow and Jagged Edge, to appear in the late eighties.

Tom Berenger (Platoon, Inception) plays a blue-collar NYPD detective assigned to protect a wealthy murder witness (Mimi Rogers, The Rapture). Soon, the relationship becomes an affair, threatening Berenger's marriage to Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas, The Sopranos), and the killer is still on the loose...

Stylishly shot by Steven Poster (Donnie Darko), Someone to Watch Over Me is glossy, high-concept filmmaking from start to finish.




April 19, 2021

Karloff at Columbia (1935-1942) on blu-ray from Masters of Cinema (UK)



QuoteOne of the most recognisable faces in horror, Boris Karloff (or simply 'KARLOFF', as he was often billed) has been described as "to the horror movie what Fred Astaire was to the musical". Presented here are the six films he made for Columbia Pictures, a collaboration which produced some of Karloff's finest acting roles.

In THE BLACK ROOM, Karloff takes on a dual role as twin brothers in 19th century Europe. One of the twins inherits the family castle and suddenly the local women start disappearing...

THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG, THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES, BEFORE I HANG, and THE DEVIL COMMANDS form the "Mad Doctor" cycle, a thematically linked series of films where Karloff always plays a doctor whose obsessions inevitably lead them to murder!

And finally, THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU is a delightful parody of the "Mad Doctor" films, starring both Karloff and Peter Lorre.





March 22, 2021

Two Films by Lois Weber (1923-1927) on blu-ray from Kino, from 2K restorations



Among the most exciting rediscoveries of silent cinema are the films of Lois Weber, who produced and directed a series of popular and provocative films at Universal Studios, often depicting women's struggles for independence within the ever-shifting moral landscape of 1920s modernity.

Sensation Seekers stars Billie Dove (The Black Pirate) as the free-spirited Egypt, a small-town girl who dreams of escape and adventure, and resists the efforts of a pious minister (Raymond Bloomer) to tame her thirst for excitement. Egypt's progress is highlighted by moments of cinematic spectacle, including a lavish masquerade ball and a stunning shipwreck sequence.

A Chapter in Her Life explores the efforts of a young girl (Jane Mercer) whose childish innocence exposes the hypocrisy and weakness that threaten the happiness of an aristocratic family.




May 11, 2021

Marvin J. Chomsky's Tank (1984) on blu-ray from Kino



Sergeant-Major Zack Carey is completing his final stint of duty at a post in a small southern town. After defending a prostitute, he finds himself doing battle with the town's maniacal sheriff. When the sheriff jails Zack's son Billy on a phony drug charge, the sergeant takes justice into his own hands—with help from his personal World War II Sherman tank!

Quote from: Letterboxd user KrautsalatFirst Blood on a tank, directed by Noam Chomsky's cousin. Unlike First Blood this picture forgoes any moral ambivalence by making redneck Sheriff G. D. Spradlin completely loathsome, he's just 100% a dick. James Garner uses this PG rated film's single fuck to praise some apple cobbler. This is just as awesome as the poster suggests.





May 11, 2021

Harry Keller's Quantez (1957) on blu-ray from Kino



Screen legend Fred MacMurray (Gun for a Coward, Double Indemnity) stars as John Coventry, the leader of a gang of robbers trying to escape across the Mexican border. The outlaws manage to elude the law and navigate the rough terrain, but the flight comes to a dangerous halt in the mysterious abandoned town of Quantez. As their enemies get closer, tempers flare, betrayals set in and lines are drawn between the men. Ruthless criminals end up as heroes and villains plunge further into despair in this suspenseful, action-packed western. 

Quote from: Letterboxd userImagine The Thing without any actual monster and just a group of really well-defined character types trapped in an isolated location on the Mexican border slowly turning on one another.





Quote from: wilder on January 10, 2021, 08:06:47 PMFebruary 23, 2021

Helmut Käutner's Große Freiheit Nr. 7 aka Port of Freedom (1944) on blu-ray from Kino, from a 4K restoration



Under the direction of Helmut Käutner (Black Gravel), German heartthrob Hans Albers stars as Hannes, a former sailor who now works as an entertainer, playing his accordion in the streets and cabarets of the garish red light district of Hamburg. When he meets a headstrong young farmgirl (Ilse Werner), Hannes's passions are reawakened, and he is torn between his love for Gisa and the beckoning call of the sea. Produced in Germany in the final years of World War II, Port of Freedom (Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7) demonstrates how independent-minded artists were able to circumvent the demands of state-run film industry under the Third Reich. Rather than a propagandistic celebration of German might, it is a melancholy ode to lost love and happier times, lavishly photographed by Werner Krien in the rich warmth of Agfacolor.


DVDBeaver review here







Quote from: wilder on June 22, 2020, 12:48:50 PM
September 22, 2020

Roger Corman's The Masque of Red Death (1964) on blu-ray from Shout Factory



Satan-worshiper Prince Prospero invites several dozen of the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the "Red Death". Prospero orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst a general atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a mysterious hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing the figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero is horrified at the revelation of his true identity...


WorldForgot

Pump Up the Volume has great energy!
This'll be my first time watching that Ridley Scott.

jenkins



VS they're so hardwired into the minds of nerds, okay, in this situation you're looking at hand numbered limited editions this person owns, and this person has put each one in a case. activating that level nerdy is genius marketing. oh the person is one case short for The House of Usher, may they get on that asap