Random DVD and Blu-ray announcements

[eward]

Ooh lovely cover.

[wilder]

July 29, 2020

Phil Goldstone’s The Sin of Nora Moran (1933) on blu-ray from Film Detective, restored from the original camera negative. A lower resolution version is available to watch on youtube



The Poverty Row, Pre-Code marvel that stunned audiences when released in 1933 stars Zita Johann as Nora Moran, a young woman sentenced to death for a murder she did not commit. Awaiting her sentence, Nora explores the patterns of her life in a dream-like haze, including the dark secret that could change not only her own fate, but the fate of those she holds most dear.

Directed by Phil Goldstone, The Sin of Nora Moran masterfully utilizes flashbacks, dreams and hallucinations to tell the tale of fateful doom, true to the thematic style of the Pre-Code era.

A star of stage and screen, Johann was fresh from performances in Boris Karloff's The Mummy (1932) and Edward G. Robinson's Tiger Shark (1932) before delivering a haunting performance as Nora Moran. Also starring John Miljan, Alan Dinehart and Paul Cavanagh, as the many surrounding Nora Moran who play a part in sealing her fate.



September 15, 2020

Jack Nicholson's The Two Jakes (1990) on blu-ray from Paramount



The sequel to Chinatown finds Jake Gittes investigating adultery and murder... and the money that comes from oil.




September 1, 2020

Amos Poe's Alphabet City (1984) on blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome



Johnny (Vincent Spano, Baby It's You and Over the Edge) controls the drug trade in New York's rough Alphabet City neighborhood—as long as his mob bosses let him. But, when he refuses to follow orders to torch the tenement building he grew up in, Johnny puts himself and his loved ones in their unforgiving crosshairs. No Wave filmmaker Amos Poe's (The Blank Generation and Subway Riders) neo-noir cult favorite oozes '80s neon-lit, punk-tinged style.

The innovative and vividly colorful visuals spring from the lens of cinematographer Oliver Wood (TV's Miami Vice, The Honeymoon Killers and Face/Off). Chic co-founder and dance music legend Nile Rodgers' supremely catchy synth-pop score propels the action.

Fun City Editions is a new boutique label focused on creating deluxe home video editions of maverick repertory cinema that can best be described as works that exist "outside of their time." Spanning an array of genres and countries, but with a unifying focus on forgotten and overlooked treasures, the initial wave of titles will come from the New American Cinema. Each Fun City release will present stunning new restorations produced and overseen by Vinegar Syndrome and comprehensive extras which contextualize and illuminate the film's artistic and historic value. Vinegar Syndrome's sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!

September 22, 2020

Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) on pressed blu-ray from Sony. The previously issued blu-ray was a BD-R



Set in war-torn Shanghai, this visually stunning melodrama opens as Megan, the fiancée of a missionary, arrives in China for their marriage. Their plans are interrupted by civil war and Megan finds herself caught in a riot after visiting an orphanage. General Yen, a ruthless Chinese warlord, rescues and whisks her away to safety in his palace. Megan soon suspects she is not his guest but his prisoner yet she begins to feel a strange attraction to her captor. The once controversial topic of interracial romance between a Caucasian woman and a Chinese man earned this film some notoriety upon its release but Capra considered it a "strangely poetic romance" which was a risky art film for its era.



September 22, 2020

Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger (1975) on blu-ray from Sony. Also available from Indicator in the UK



A melancholy, depressed and jaded television reporter assumes the identity of a dead man while at a hotel in a north African country, not knowing that the man was a renowned arms smuggler. The newsman sees this switch as a last desperate chance to escape his old life and start anew. However, as he begins to take on the characteristics of his new persona and understand his shady involvements, the decision becomes a risky one, which leads to an inevitable showdown.



September 1, 2020

William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953) on blu-ray from Paramount



A runaway princess in Rome finds love with a reporter who knows her true identity.



Fall TBD

George Stevens' A Place in the Sun (1951) on blu-ray from Paramount



In this classic version of Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy," George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), the nephew of a wealthy industrialist, is excluded from high society and given a blue-collar job at his uncle's factory. While ascending the ranks of the company, George becomes romantically involved with co-worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). However, when he is introduced to socialite Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor), he quickly falls for her, leading to a tragic love triangle.



February 23, 2021

Noah Baumbach's Mr. Jealousy (1997) on blu-ray from Moonstone Entertainment



After his first date at age 15 ended with the girl making out with another man at a party, aspiring writer Lester Grimm has treated all his girlfriends with jealousy and suspicion. While dating Ramona Ray, paranoia gets the best of him when he discovers that her most recent ex is successful novelist Dashiell Frank. Lester begins attending the same group therapy sessions as Dashiell to learn about Ramona’s past with him.

September 7, 2020

Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley (1947) on blu-ray from Signal One (UK)



Stanton Carlisle is a lowlife working in a carnival. Knowing a good con when he sees one, he learns the tricks of a mind-reading act from Zeena, then tosses her aside. In time, he becomes "The Great Stanton," star attraction of swanky nightclubs and the darling of society. But with all his notoriety built on lies, it's only a matter of time before exposure brings Stanton's world crashing down around him.



July 27, 2020

Michelangelo Antonioni's Story of a Love Affair (1950) on blu-ray from Cult Films (UK)



Paola is a young, beautiful woman married to a wealthy entrepreneur. She meets her former lover Guido after seven years, but their relationship is marked by tragic events.

[wilder]

Film Aficionado is shutting down for real this time on July 30, 2020.

The server is shutting down July 30th and not coming back (we assume).

We recommend exporting or saving your collections now.

Samuel Scott, who generously came to the rescue of FilmAF when it was recently set to expire, before, died earlier this month:

RIP - SITE OWNER SAMUEL SCOTT (1984-2020)
Monday 13th July 2020 - posted by Eric_Cotenas

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we have to inform you our site owner Samuel Scott suddenly passed at the young age of 36. His passing was far too early and he will be missed.

Sam had a profound love for movies and it showed in his collection and his devotion to keeping this website alive. If you've met Sam in person or through this site you would have met a wonderful human. Sam has been a good friend to a lot of us.

As it stands, we will be keeping DVDcompare going, since this is what Sam would have wanted. For the time being, operations as usual. But do expect certain changes to occur in the near future.

Rest in peace Sam, you will be missed dearly.

[wilder]

September 22, 2020

Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Warner Bros., also coming in a box set along with 2001 and The Shining



The story of an 18-year-old marine recruit named Private Joker - from his carnage-and-machismo boot camp to his climactic involvement in the heavy fighting in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

August 19, 2020

Nicolas Roeg’s Cold Heaven (1991) on blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing



From Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, Performance, Don't Look Now), comes this haunting, wild and chilling psychological thriller. Seduction, deception and death all lead to the ultimate test of an unfaithful woman's love and fate when her deceased husband comes back to life.

November 10, 2020

Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me (1971) on blu-ray from Kino, from a new 2K restoration



Popular radio show host Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) becomes restless in his relationship with his girlfriend (Donna Mills). Impulsively, he goes out and sleeps with a woman (Jessica Walter) he meets at a nightclub. After the fact, he finds out she was not an anonymous hookup, but an obsessive fan who has called in repeatedly to request he play the song "Misty." Garver soon discovers extricating himself from the woman will be no easy feat as she becomes increasingly psychotic.



November 10, 2020

Don Siegel’s The Beguiled (1971) on blu-ray from Kino, remastered



During the civil war, injured Yankee soldier, John McBurney is rescued on the verge of death by a teenage girl from a southern boarding school. She manages to get him back to the school, and at first the all-female staff and pupils are scared. As he starts to recover, one by one he charms them and the atmosphere becomes filled with jealousy and deceit.



Fall 2020 TBD

John Carpenter’s They Live (1988) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Shout Factory



Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued, and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.



October 6, 2020

Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Paramount



In 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.



November 17, 2020

The Rita Hayworth Collection (19490-1959) on blu-ray from Mill Creek



Rita Hayworth is the epitome of Hollywood glamour with an unparalleled on-screen presence whose talent was only surpassed by her beauty. Her rise from a Spanish dancer and vaudeville performer to one of the world's greatest movie goddesses is chronicled in this song, dance, drama, and suspense-filled film collection.

Music in My Heart (1940)
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
Tonight and Every Night (1945)
Down To Earth (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
The Loves of Carmen (1948)
Affair in Trinidad (1952)
Salome (1953)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1954)
Fire Down Below (1957)
Pal Joey (1957)
They Came to Cordura (1959)

November 3, 2002

Paul Leni’s Waxworks (1924) on blu-ray from Flicker Alley, from a 2K restoration, also coming to blu-ray in the UK from Masters of Cinema



Waxworks (Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) was the final film Paul Leni directed in Germany before striking out for Hollywood, where he made such classic genre films as The Cat and the Canary, The Man Who Laughs, and The Last Warning. Its sophisticated medley of genres was in fact what inspired Universal's Carl Laemmle to invite Leni to come to Hollywood, as Laemmle was hoping to capitalize on the emerging comedy-horror craze of the 1920s. Stylistically, Waxworks was celebrated as a late example of German Expressionism. Its stylized sets (designed by Leni), fantastical costumes, chiaroscuro lighting, and startlingly bold performances are characteristic of that cinematic movement and contribute to the film's lasting appeal.

The three episodes of Waxworks are united by the character of a young poet (William Dieterle), who is hired by the owner of a wax museum to create backstories for a trio of the museum's figures: Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt), and Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss). The stories with leading actors of Weimar cinema are depicted successively, the poet casting himself together with the daughter of the wax museum's owner at the center of each tale. Though the poet and the daughter play different characters every time, they are always lovers threatened by an animated wax figure tyrant.

As the original German version of Waxworks has not survived, this newly restored English edition—a joint effort by the Deutsche Kinemathek and Cineteca di Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata (with funding from the German Commission for Culture and the Media)—is composed of vintage export prints and additional film materials from archives around the world. The elements, including English intertitles, were scanned in 4K resolution and then restored in 2K.

November 16, 2020

Abel Ferrara’s King of New York (1990) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Arrow (UK)



In New York, crime gets done Frank's way - or it doesn't get done at all. Recently freed from prison, Frank White hooks up with his old crew to challenge his fellow drug lords. Each bloody battle aims at a piece of the high-priced action where being at the top of the chain can mean the difference between life and death. Unable to keep him behind bars, the cops declare war on him. Frank's answer-put a contract out on the cops.



November 2, 2020

Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky (1990) on blu-ray from Arrow (UK)



In the hopes of rekindling their marriage, sophisticated American couple Port and Kit Moresby (John Malkovich and Debra Winger) set off for North Africa intending to travel through Algeria – uncertain of exactly where they are heading but determined to leave the modern world behind. They are instead tested to their limits by the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert.



November 16, 2020

Columbia Noir #1 on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



Six tough, no-nonsense noirs from six of the genre's toughest, no-nonsense directors: Budd Boetticher's Escape in the Fog, in which a nurse and a war veteran take on Nazi spies in San Francisco; Joseph H Lewis' The Undercover Man, inspired by the real-life case against Al Capone; Richard Quine's Drive a Crooked Road, which finds Mickey Rooney moving away from comedies and musicals to a tougher persona; Phil Karlson's 5 Against the House, starring Kim Novak as a nightclub singer embroiled in a casino heist; Vincent Sherman's The Garment Jungle, from which Kiss Me Deadly director Robert Aldrich was famously fired; and Don Siegel's police procedural The Lineup, based on the radio and television series, and as brutal a film as he ever made.

ESCAPE IN THE FOG  (Budd Boetticher, 1945)

Veteran nurse Eilene Carr (Nina Foch) experiences disturbing nightmares and wakes up screaming in a hotel in San Francisco. To her amazement the man she was dreaming about, Barry Malcolm (William Wright), is at her hotel. Relating her dream of three men attempting to kill him, Eilene then agrees to accompany Barry to a meeting, unaware that he's involved in an espionage plot relating to Japanese agents. In spite of her continued dreams and blackouts, Eilene proves invaluable to Barry's mission.

THE UNDERCOVER MAN  (Joseph H Lewis, 1949)

Determined Treasury Department investigator Frank Warren (Glenn Ford) goes after a ruthless mobster known as The Big Fellow. When a key informant is murdered, Warren pursues the gangster on charges of tax evasion. But, with a slick mob lawyer hampering him at every turn, and threats being lobbed toward Warren's wife (Nina Foch), the lawman's chances of achieving a conviction are slim to none. His only hope is that one syndicate bookkeeper will have the courage to turn state's evidence.

DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD  (Richard Quine, 1954)

Eddie Shannon (Mickey Rooney) is a guileless Los Angeles auto mechanic with dreams of one day racing in European car meets. Eddie encounters fetching Barbara Mathews (Dianne Foster) and, much to his surprise and delight, she agrees to date him. But Barbara's true intentions are revealed when she introduces Eddie to her associates -- Steve Norris (Kevin McCarthy) and Harold Baker (Jack Kelly) -- who, as it turns out, need a getaway driver for a planned bank heist.

5 AGAINST THE HOUSE[  (Phil Karlson, 1955)

When college buddies Ronnie (Kerwin Mathews) and Roy (Alvy Moore) are briefly detained by the Reno police in association with a casino robbery, Ronnie becomes obsessed with figuring out how to plan the perfect heist. At first it is a strictly intellectual exercise, but when the emotionally disturbed Korean War vet Brick (Brian Keith) gets involved, the friends -- including straitlaced Al (Guy Madison) and his nightclub-singer girlfriend, Kaye (Kim Novak) -- have to pull the job for real.

THE GARMENT JUNGLE  (Vincent Sherman and Robert Aldrich, 1957)

New York garment factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb) goes the extra, deceitful mile in battling his employees' efforts to unionize. He hires gangster Artie Ravage (Richard Boone) to interfere with the grassroots efforts. After Mitchell's son, Alan (Kerwin Matthews), returns from Europe and befriends one of the union organizers (Robert Loggia), Mitchell eventually tries to mend his unethical ways. Unfortunately, this does not sit well with the violent, vengeful Ravage.

THE LINEUP (Don Siegel, 1958)

From legendary director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) comes this compelling crime thriller based on a popular television series. Dancer (Eli Wallach, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) is a psychopathic San Francisco gangster who uses unwitting tourists to bring in heroin from the Orient. When one of the deliveries goes awry, a cop gets killed, bringing the police into action. But Dancer and his associate, Julian (Robert Keith, Guys and Dolls), have three new unsuspecting carriers, including a little girl with a Japanese doll. It is up to the police to solve the case before Dancer kills innocent people.

September 21, 2020

Tony Richardson’s Mademoiselle (1966) on blu-ray from BFI (UK)



In a French village, Manou is an Italian logger, virile, with a broad laugh. He can't say no to women's sexual invitations, and jealous villagers blame him for recent fires and a flood. He is innocent; the culprit is "Mademoiselle," town schoolmarm, a recent arrival admired by all, but sexually repressed and obsessed with Manou.

[wilder]

February 21, 2021

Paul Leni’s The Last Warning (1928) on blu-ray from Masters of Cinema (UK), also available from Flicker Alley in the US



Adapted from Thomas F. Fallon’s 1922 Broadway play of the same name, THE LAST WARNING is based on the story THE HOUSE OF FEAR by Wadsworth Camp and centres on an unsolved murder that occurs during a live Broadway performance. When the victim’s body goes missing, the death remains unsolved and the theatre is condemned. That is, until years later when a suspicious new “producer” arrives to restage the play with the original cast and crew.
 
THE LAST WARNING was Paul Leni’s final film before his untimely death, and a prime showcase for Universal’s leading lady of the era, Laura La Plante (THE CAT AND THE CANARY, SKINNER’S DRESS SUIT). A visual artist at the peak of his career, Leni’s camera never stops shifting, offering cutaways and trick shots involving nervous could-be culprits, a highly suspicious sleuth, and cast members who suddenly disappear in the darkened theatre. The result is a cinematic funhouse that restlessly cross-examines the suspense of the story’s stage play against the “real” murder mystery saga, all unfolding amid the outstanding production design of Charles D. Hall.

March 29, 2021

Tales From the Urban Jungle: Brute Force and The Naked City on blu-ray from Arrow (UK)



Writer, director, producer and actor Jules Dassin was one of Hollywoods most remarkable talents. Between 1947 and 1955 he directed a string of stylish, gritty, and hard-hitting Film Noir classics including Thieves Highway and Night And The City. Blacklisted in the communist witch hunts of the House Un-American Activities, he would continue that run with Rififi, directed in France. Each film is a diamond hard classic, weathering the test of time with sharp edges intact.

Tales from The Urban Jungle brings together the two films which started that extraordinary streak of hits. In Brute Force, Burt Lancaster is Joe Collins, one of a number of convicts squeezed into cell R17 and intent on breaking out. Desperate to return to his cancer-ridden wife (Ann Blyth), and to escape the clutches of sadistic warden Captain Munsey (an unforgettable performance from Hume Cronyn) who enjoys a reign of terror over the inmates.

Meanwhile, in The Naked City, a blonde ex-model is murdered in her bathtub and detectives Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Halloran (Don Taylor) are assigned to the case. Their investigation leads them all over New York City, from Park Avenue to the Lower East Side, reaching its thrilling climax atop the Williamsburg Bridge. Inspired by the work of infamous tabloid photographer Weegee, The Naked City was the first major Hollywood production to be shot entirely on the streets of New York, making use of more than a hundred authentic locations. Both films feature stark cinematography and taut writing to land an incredible one-two punch that remains impactful to this day.

Sourced from new 4K restorations, and complemented by a wealth of bonus features, this Special Edition Blu-Ray set is both the perfect entry point for newcomers to the work of a great director, and a must have for die-hard fans of Film Noir and Jules Dassin.



December 1, 2020

Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980) on blu-ray from Paramount



The sailor-man travels to a town called Sweet Haven, falls in love with Olive Oyl, adopts Swee' Pea, and makes an enemy with Bluto.



February 9, 2021

Bert Stern's Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1959) on blu-ray from Kino



Filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and directed by world-renowned photographer, Bert Stern. JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends including Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a beautiful rendition or The Lord's Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning.

The 1959 classic is considered one of the most extraordinary and possibly the first concert film ever made. Its sparkling new 4K restoration by IndieCollect, recently premiered at the 57th New York Film Festival. The film was named to the National Film Registry in 1999, and its restoration was funded by the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress in time to celebrate the film's 60th Anniversary.

April 2021 TBD

Douglas Sirk’s Battle Hymn (1957) on blu-ray from Kino



A remorseful bomber pilot-turned-minister rejoins for the Korean War.



March 9, 2021

Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) on blu-ray from Kino, from a 4K restoration completed in 2017



An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.



February 16, 2021

Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera (1929) on blu-ray from Kino



One of the most innovative and influential films of the silent era, Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera utilizes rapid editing and innumerable other cinematic effects to create a work of amazing modernity and power. This dawn-to-dusk view of urban Soviet life shows people at work, at play, and at the machines that endlessly whirl to keep the metropolis alive. It was Vertov's first full-length film, and it employs all the cinematic techniques at the director's disposal—dissolves, split-screens, slow-motion, and freeze-frames—to produce a work that is as exhilarating as it is intellectually brilliant. Restored by the British Film Institute, this edition features an orchestral score composed and conducted by Michael Nyman (The Piano), first performed on May 17, 2002 at London's Royal Festival Hall.



February 16, 2021

Film Worker (2018) on blu-ray from Kino



It's a rare person who would give up fame and fortune to toil in obscurity for someone else's creative vision. Yet, that's exactly what Leon Vitali did after his acclaimed performance as Lord Bullingdon in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon.

February 16, 2021

The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002) on blu-ray from Kino



Robert Evans' rise from second-string actor to head of one of Hollywood's biggest movie studios to legendary producer is told from the viewpoint of Evans himself.



December 15, 2020

Frank Perry’s Ladybug Ladybug (1963) on blu-ray from Kino



Staff and students at a rural school react to a warning of an imminent nuclear attack, not knowing whether it is real or a mistake.



March 23, 2021

Frank Perry’s Doc (1971) on blu-ray from Kino



Revisionist retelling of the familiar Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday story in Tombstone with fascinating character development, stressing such details as Wyatt's campaign for the Sheriff's seat, the romance between Doc Holliday and Kate Elder, their addiction to gambling, the conflict with local cowboys and concluding with a blistering depiction of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.



Q1 2021 TBD

Dennis Hopper’s The Hot Spot (1990) on blu-ray from Kino, from a new 2K restoration



Harry Madox (Don Johnson) is a drifter who settles into a small Texas town, taking a job at a used car dealership. He proceeds to have affairs with the sultry Dolly Harshaw (Virginia Madsen), the wife of the dealership's owner, and pretty accountant, Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly), all while plotting to rob the local bank. When Harry is arrested for the robbery, Dolly provides him with an alibi, but when he plans on leaving town with Gloria, Dolly is understandably upset.



Q1 2021 TBD

Francesco Rosi’s Illustrious Corpses (1976) on blu-ray from Kino, from a 4K restoration



A detective (inspector Rogas) is assigned to investigate the mysterious murders of some Supreme Court judges. During the investigation he discovers a complot that involves the Italian Communist Party.



November 24, 2020

Vincente Minelli’s The Pirate (1948) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



On a Caribbean isle in the early 19th century, sheltered young Garland comes to believe that travelling troubadour Kelly is in reality "Mack the Black," a notorious pirate. Kelly realizes that the surest way to win Garland's heart is to impersonate the romantic buccaneer, and this is what he does--nearly getting himself hanged in the process.



December 22, 2020

Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner (1940) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



A Budapest store clerk finds himself feuding with his pretty co-worker, who, unbeknownst to him, is the secret pen pal with whom he is falling in love.



November 3, 2020

Frank Borzage’s The Mortal Storm (1940) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



The Roth family lead a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930's. When the Nazis come to power, the family is divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend, is caught up in the turmoil.



December 15, 2020

Michael Curtiz’s Young Man with a Horn (1950) on blu-ray from Warner Archive



Stars Kirk Douglas as a driven trumpet player who devotes his life to music, to the exclusion of almost everything else. Doris Day and Lauren Bacall are the women in his life; Harry James performed Douglas' tunes.



December 14, 2020

Richard Franklin’s Road Games (1981) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



A truck driver plays a cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious serial killer who uses a young female hitchhiker as bait to lure victims on a desolate Australian highway.



January 18, 2021

Paul Schrader’s Light Sleeper (1992) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



Light Sleeper tells of John LeTour (Willem Dafoe, Auto Focus), a drug dealer servicing a high-society clientele of Manhattan professionals. When his boss (Susan Sarandon, The Hunger) announces she is going straight and John encounters an old flame he still loves, his life is thrown into crisis. As he becomes involved in a police investigation surrounding a mysterious drug death, John prowls the night-time streets in search of redemption.



February 15, 2021

Columbia Noir #2 (1947-1958) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



Our second Columbia Noir box set takes a dive once more into the studio’s archives and the world of film noir – a world of undercover detectives (The Mob) and emotionless hitmen (Murder by Contract), a world where film is inspired by real-life criminal activities (Tight Spot, based loosely on Virginia Hill’s testimony against Bugsy Siegel) and real-life criminal activities are inspired by film (711 Ocean Drive, which attracted the unwanted attention of mobsters), and a world where Glenn Ford finds himself unwittingly embroiled in murder – twice (Framed, Affair in Trinidad).



March 22, 2021

David Mamet’s Things Change (1988) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



An elderly cobbler agrees to take the rap for a Mafia don and a low-level mobster is tasked with guarding him before he testifies.



March 22, 2021

Howard Hawks’ Twentieth Century (1934) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



A tempestuous theatrical director tries to win back the star he created and then drove away.



March 22, 2021

Howard Hawks' The Criminal Code (1931) on blu-ray from Indicator (UK)



Howard Hawks (Twentieth Century) made his first film for Columbia Pictures with this pre-Code prison movie. The great Walter Huston (Dragonwyck) stars as a district attorney-turned-prison warden who gets to witness first-hand the effects of his convictions, especially Phillip Holmes (An American Tragedy), imprisoned after killing a man in a drunken brawl. Co-starring Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), The Criminal Code is tough, no-nonsense, quintessential Hawks.



October 28, 2020

Essential Film Noir Collection Volume 1 (1947-1957) on blu-ray from Impulse (Australia).



Essential Film Noir Collection 1 includes four acclaimed and much sought after classics including Framed (1947), Alias Nick Beal (1949), Detective Story (1951) and The Garment Jungle (1957). Join Hollywood's legendary tough guys and femme fatale film noir icons such as Glenn Ford, William Bendix, Audrey Totter, Ray Milland & Eleanor Parker and Directing greats including William Wyler & John Farrow. Bonus material includes feature audio commentaries from Hollywood’s top film noir historians including Eddie Muller & Alan K. Rode. FRAMED (1947) Mike Lambert takes to driving a truck when he falls on hard times. When his rig breaks down in a small town, he is quickly drawn into a criminal plot. ALIAS NICK BEAL (1949) The mysterious Nick Beal materialises to offer honest politician, Joseph Foster, not only wealth but also the charms of Donna Allen. DETECTIVE STORY (1951) The personal conflict between a principled, rigid police detective and his tormented wife reaches an explosive, unforgettable climax. THE GARMENT JUNGLE (1957) Alan Mitchell must join forces with rebellious labour union leaders in order to save his family’s dress company from the mob.



Q1 2021 TBD

Ralph Bakshi’s Fire and Ice (1983) on 4K UHD blu-ray from Blue Underground



It began as a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two of the greatest icons of the fantasy genre: Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi (director of 'Fritz the Cat', 'Wizards' and the original 'The Lord of the Rings') and legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta (creator of the iconic Conan the Barbarian, Vampirella and Edgar Rice Burroughs book covers). It became – and remains – one of the most startling animation epics of all time. Now experience a world unlike any ever seen, where savage warriors, horrific monsters and luscious maidens battle for the soul of a civilization in a time of good and evil, pleasure and pain, and Fire and Ice.



August 21, 2020

Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin (2003) on blu-ray from Camera Obscura (Germany). See comparison to the US blu-ray here.



A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.



March 22, 2021 TBD

Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets (1968) on blu-ray from BFI (UK)



A quiet insurance agent/Vietnam veteran murders his young wife, his mother and a grocery delivery boy at home and then initiates an afternoon shooting rampage from atop a Los Angeles area oil refinery. When the police respond and start to close in on him, he flees and resumes his shootings at a Reseda drive-in theater where an aging horror film icon is making a final promotional appearance before retirement.

[Find Your Magali]

Really stoked for that Kino release of "Ladybug Ladybug"
Incredibly unsettling film

[eward]

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

[eward]

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]

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

Collectible 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]

Q1 2021 TBD

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.

2021 TBD

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

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