Random DVD and Blu-ray announcements

[wilder]

Q1 2017 TBD

James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) on bu-ray from a 4K scan of the original negative



A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

[wilder]

2016 TBD

Tom DeSimone's The Concrete Jungle (1982) on blu-ray from Code Red



When her slimy boyfriend Danny (Peter Brown) uses his unsuspecting girlfriend Elizabeth (Tracy Bregman) to carry a stash of cocaine in her skis, she is nabbed by airport security. After a speedy trial, she is sent to the Correctional Institution for Women in California. There she learns quickly that she must toughen up if she hopes to leave there in one piece. She also eventually finds that the warden (Jill St John) is not only cruel and unsympathetic, but in cahoots with an inmate Cat (Barbara Luna) the prison's Queen Bee, who is her partner in a prison drug and prostitution racket. When Elizabeth witnesses a murder committed by Cat and her henchwomen, she spurns her attentions and becomes her enemy. Meanwhile, Deputy Director Shelly Meyers (Nita Talbot), aware of the drug and prostitution business run by the warden and Cat, also suspects that Elizabeth has knowledge that could help her convict the villains, and she begins to press her for information.

[wilder]

September 19, 2016

The Almodóvar Collection on blu-ray from Studio Canal (UK)



The Almodóvar Collection - Amazon UK


Contains:

Dark Habits (1983)

In a convent in Madrid a band of nuns called the Humble Redeemers practice their particular brand of the Catholic Religion under their motto, 'Sin Is Our Chosen Path'. Yolanda, a nightclub singer, witnesses her boyfriend die from an overdose, and with the police out to question her, she decides to take refuge with the nuns. The convent specializes in the salvation of murderesses, but their benefactor has stopped coming up with the money, and, fearful that they may have to sell the place, the nuns welcome Yolanda. Yolanda encounters an unusual religious life: a heroin-addicted lesbian Mother Superior, a soft porn writing nun, another into acid and one who wrestles tigers. Starring Carmen Maura, Christina S. Pascual, Julieta Serrano, and Chus Lampreave.


What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)

Early Almodovar black comedy, less farcical and melodramatic than his later works and much more of a social critique. Carmen Maura is Gloria, the embattled Spanish housewife trying to cope with her family in a tiny apartment. Her two sons have become drug addicts and taken to dealing, her taxi-driver husband is totally indifferent to her plight, her grouchy mother-in-law keeps a pet lizard and her friend and neighbour wants her to help in her prostitution service. Starring Carmen Maura, Gonzalo Suárez, Luis Hostalot, Ryo Hiruma, and Ángel de Andrés López.


Law of Desire (1987)

Set against the backdrop of mad, mad Madrid, this film swirls around an outrageous cast of characters. Our hero is absorbed in a cat-and-mouse game of obsessive love which before long entangles his trans-sexual brother/sister, a father/son detective team and a mother who makes the Spider Woman look tame. Almodovar brilliantly examines the idea and the attractions of absolute desire in this hilarious film. Starring Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Miguel Molina, and Manuela Velasco.


Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

Pedro Almodovar directs this fast-moving, surreal farce of obsessive love. When Ivan jilts his long-time lover Pepa, she considers suicide, laces her gazpacho soup with barbituates and lets her flat. However, the tenants turn out to be Ivan's son and his girlfriend. Revelations pile up, weirder and weirder characters appear and meanwhile Ivan is flying off to Stockholm with yet another young girl. Starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Fernando Guillén, Julieta Serrano, and Maria Barranco.


Kika (1993)

Black comedy from Pedro Almodovar about a make-up artist and her relationship with a philandering American writer living in Madrid. Features the usual roster of Almodovar comic stalwarts such as a rapist-thief, a narcoleptic son, a roving camerawoman voyeur, a lesbian housemaid and various transexuals, serial killers, porn stars and drug addicts - all whisked up into a gloriously immoral frothy sex comedy. Starring Peter Coyote, Verónica Forqué, Victoria Abril, Àlex Casanovas, and Rossy de Palma.


The Flower of My Secret (1995)

A woman who lives a double life finds that being a successful romantic novelist does not necessarily bring happiness. Her husband does not love her, her best friend seems distracted and her mother and sister are too busy bickering to notice that anything is wrong. She stops writing and finds solace in the bottle but finds an unlikely rescuer putting her on a collision course to a new emotional entanglement. Starring Marissa Paredes, Juan Echanove, Carmen Elias, Rossy De Palma, and Chus Lampreave.



Supposedly all coming from Criterion at some point, along with most of the rest of his filmography.

[wilder]

October 11, 2016

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) from Lionsgate



An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - Amazon

[wilder]

October 11, 2016

Takeshi Kitano's Boiling Point (1990) on blu-ray from Film Movement



Two disquieted junior baseball players seek revenge on the local yakuza for attacking their coach.

Boiling Point (1990) - Amazon

[wilder]

September 7, 2016

Sidney Lumet's Fail-Safe (1964) from Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)



American planes are sent to deliver a nuclear attack on Moscow, but it's a mistake due to an electrical malfunction. Can all-out war be averted?

[wilder]

September 27, 2016

Two Films By Douglas Sirk on blu-ray from Cohen Media Group



Lured (1947)



A serial killer in London is murdering young women whom he meets through the personal columns of newspapers; he announces each of his murders to the police by sending them a cryptic poem. After a dancer disappears, the police enlist an American friend of hers, Sandra Carpenter, to answer advertisements in the personal columns and so lure the killer.

Two Films by Douglas Sirk - Amazon

A Scandal in Paris (1946)



Before the dazzling colors, forbidden romances, and unavoidably tragic ends of Douglas Sirk's better-known melodramas, there was A Scandal in Paris . Taking place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this period piece recalls the life of actual con man and womanizer Eugène François Vidocq from his birth in a dingy prison cell to his rise as France's Chief of Police and his life as a criminal in between. After escaping yet another stint in jail, Vidocq and his right-hand man, Emile, make it to Paris, where they end up lodging with a friendly (and wealthy) family whose patriarchal head happens to be the Minister of Police. With dollar signs in their eyes, Vidocq and Emile see plenty of thievish opportunity. But what Vidocq doesn't see is the moral battle he'll have to engage in when he falls in love with the Minister's daughter.

Two Films By Douglas Sirk - Amazon

[wilder]

October 24, 2016

Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) from Studio Canal (UK), from a new 4K restoration



Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. He starts a high technology company to get the billions of dollars he needs to build a return spacecraft, and meets Mary-Lou, a girl who falls in love with him. He does not count on the greed and ruthlessness of business here on Earth, however.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) - Amazon UK


[ Invalid YouTube link ]

[wilder]

December 7, 2016

Claude Berri's Tchao Pantin (1983) on blu-ray from Pathe (France), from a new 2K restoration



An alcoholic ex-policeman (Coluche) roams the Paris underworld with a punk girl (Agnès Soral) to avenge a vile Arab drug dealer (Richard Anconina). Cinematography by Bruno Nuytten (Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, Camille Claudel)

Tchao Pantin (1983) - Amazon France

[wilder]

November 14, 2016

Woody Allen's Interiors (1978) from Arrow Academy (UK)



When Eve (Geraldine Page), an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur (E.G. Marshall), the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata (Diane Keaton), a successful writer; Flyn (Kristin Griffith), a woman crippled by indecision; and Joey (Marybeth Hurt), a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman (Maureen Stapleton), his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate…

Regarded as a startling departure at the time (although it now clearly anticipates later work), Interiors was Woody Allen's first entirely serious drama, an intimate family chamber-piece strongly influenced by his beloved Ingmar Bergman and performed by a pitch-perfect ensemble cast.

Interiors (1978) - Amazon UK

[Ravi]

Arrow is releasing a Woody Allen box set (more sets to come)

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=844

[wilder]

October 6, 2016

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) on MOD blu-ray from Sony



The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 15 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen and ultimately the fall of Versailles.

Marie Antoinette (2006) - Amazon

October 4, 2016

Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984) on MOD blu-ray from Sony



A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.

Body Double (1984) - Amazon

[wilder]

November 15, 2016

Robert Wise's I Want to Live! (1958) on blu-ray from Twilight Time



A prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.

John Huston's Moby Dick (1956) on blu-ray from Twilight Time



The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.

Pretty Poison (1968) on blu-ray from Twilight Time



When a mentally disturbed young man tells a pretty girl that he's a secret agent, she believes him, and murder and mayhem ensue.

December 13, 2016

Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) on blu-ray from Twilight Time



While attending a retrospective of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954) on blu-ray from Twilight Time



Has-been director Harry Dawes gets a new lease on his career when independently wealthy Kirk Edwards hires him to write and direct a film. They go to Madrid to find Maria Vargas, a dancer who will star in the film. Millionaire Alberto Bravano takes Maria from Kirk. Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini takes Maria from Alberto.

[03]

pretty poison and i want to live are amazing. highly recommended

[wilder]

Q4 2016 TBD

Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) on blu-ray from Kino



Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.