Eyes Without a Face and Short Cuts -- Nick Broomfield Collection -- Picnic at Hanging Rock 2-disk set -- The Yakuza Papers Box Set -- La Haine Update -- The Shall We Dansu? DVD saga continues -- Alan Clarke Collection -- John Carpenter Special Editions

Eyes Without a Face and Short Cuts from Criterion [28 August 2004]

Criterion continue with their policy of releasing cult classics in rather lovely special editions in October and November with Georges Franju's extraordinary Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Robert Altman's epic adptation of Raymond Carver stories, Short Cuts (1993). Altman's film in particular is long overdue for a DVD release - some time ago on a site far, far away I reviewed Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and noted then the large debt that film owed to Short Cuts, in structure, in plot mechanics and even in length. Eyes Without a Face arrives with an anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, mono sound and the following extra features:Le Sang des bêtes, Franju's 1949 short documentary on the Paris slaughterhouses; theatrical trailers; a stills gallery of rare production photos; new film essays by accalimed novelist Patrick McGrath (author of Spider) and writer and film historian David Kalat; and, we are promised, more. Short Cuts is one of an increasing number of Criterion 2-disk sets, and features an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, a 5.1 soundtrack and this bucketload of extras: an isolated music track; Luck, Trust and Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country, John Dorr and Mike E. Kaplan's fascinating feature-length (well, not this feature) documentary on the making of the film; Reflections on Short Cuts, a new 25-minute interview with Altman and star Tim Robbins; the Moving Pictures segment on the development of the 'Jerry and Molly and Sam' section of the story; a 50 minutes audio interview with Raymond Carver; deleted scenes; marketing the film, with trailers and artwork; a special reprint of Short Cuts, the Vintage Books companion collection of Carver short stories; an essay by critic Michael Wilmington and a music guide; and more. Having got the film, the documentary and the Moving Pictures extract on tape, I would rate those alone as a most reasonable special edition, so this lot has me drooling.

Nick Broomfield Collection on Region 4 in September [22 August 2004]

One of the most successful - and occasionally controversial - of modern documentary film-makers, Nick Broomfield, has developed a very particular style during his years in the business that makes even a two-minute extract from most of his films instantly recognisable as his work. Though some of his recent films have met with criticism - in particular 1998's Kurt and Courtney - others have really delivered the goods; in particular Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer knock the recent dramatisation of the same story, Monster, out of the ball park. But it's his early work, when his style was taking form, that remains the most fascinating, and thus the news that Kaleidoscope Films and 20th Century pictures are to release four of them as part of a six-film, two volumes DVD set on region 4 is terrific news for documentary enthusiasts. Volume 1, subtitled Adventures in the Sex Trade, features his compelling 1983 study of a legal Navada brothel, codirected with sandy Sissel, Chicken Ranch, and the later Heidi Fleiss, Hollwood Madame (1995) and Fetishes (1996). Volume 2, The Chase, contains the 1981 Soldier Girls, co-directed with long-term collaborator Joan Churchill, the extraordinary 1991 look at South African white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche, The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife, and his funny, frustrating and unexpectedly revealing attempt to secure an interview with post-prime-ministerial Margaret Thatcher during a book tour, Tracking Down Maggie: The Unofficial Biography of Margaret Thatcher (1994). All are in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and with Dolby stereo soundtracks, and a variety of extras are promised, including a commentary on selected films, a stills gallery, introductions to each of the films and a pastiche of Broomfield's career. Release date is 20th September, the retail price is $AU59.99, or about £24, per volume.

Picnic at Hanging Rock 2-Disk Special Edition [16 August 2004]

Released next week on region 4 is a 2-disk special edition of Peter Weir's masterful early feature Picnic at Hanging Rock. The film is already available on region 2, but with a slightly cropped (anamorphic) picture and no extras, and in the US from Criterion, an edition also short on extras but with a very nice, better framed 1.66:1 transfer, albeit a non-anamorphic one. It seems appropriate that this welcome special edition is to be released in Australia, the film's country of origin. This director's cut will be presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer and Dolby 2.0 soundtrack (a shame that the 5.1 track from the Criterion disk is not included), this 2-disk release also includes the following extras: an all-new feature-length documentary on the making of the film, A Dream Within a Dream, which features interviews with cast and crew members, including Peter Weir; A Recollection - Hanging Rock 1900, a 1975 on-set documentary presented and produced by Patricia Lovell; a 1974 interview with author of the original novel, Joan Lindsay; phone interviews conducted with actors Dominic Guard and Karen Robson; Hanging Rock and Martindale Hall - Then and Now, a tour of two of the film's key locations; trailers; a poster and stills gallery; deleted scenes. The release date is 23 August and it can be picked up for about $AU33, or about £13. Bargain!

The Yakuza Papers box set [15 August 2004]

Following on from previous releases of Yakuza thrillers form the 60s and 70s from genre master Kinji Fukusawa, Home Vision are to release the famed and influential Yakuza Papers films individually and as a six disk box set. The films are: Hiroshima shito ten (Deadly Fight in Hiroshima 1973), Dairo senso (Proxy War 1973), Jingi nakai tatakai (Battles Without Honour and Humanity 1973), Chojo sakusen (Police Tactics 1974) and Kanketsu-en (Final Episode 1974). All were directed by Fukasawa and three feature Yakuza acting icon Bunta Sugawara. Available seperately, they will all feature anamorphic 2.35:1 anamorphic transfers and mono sound, but true fans will want the box set, which includes a bonus disk that includes a tribute by director William Friedkin, an interview with the woman responsible for providing the translation subtitles for this edition, Linda Hoagland, a group discussion on the director, a 30 minute featurette Jitsuroku: Reinventing the Yakuza Genre, archive interviews and a Yakuza Papers family tree. This is a limited edition release so should be snapped up by fans, and is due to hit the streets on October 19 on region 1 only.

La Haine 10th Anniversary Edition from Optimum [9 August 2004]

Following on from our earlier story on an upcoming special edition of Mathieu Kassovitz's five-star study of three friends and one gun on a post-riot Paris housing estate, we have further information on this and it's all good news. Coming from Optimum in September (exact release date to be confirmed), the 10th Anniversary Special Edition will feature the hoped-for commentary track from director Kassovitz and star Vincent Cassel, and early short film by Kassovitz, deleted scenes, the original colour takes of certain sequences and an as-yet unspecified selection of featurettes. Once again, more when we have it.

The Shall We Dansu? DVD saga continues [9 August 2004]

After a number of delays, the region 2 release of Masayuki Suo's wonderful 1996 Shall We Dansu? has now been bounced back until the end of the year, and possibly as late as February 2005. This is, as we earlier speculated in our article on the film, to tie in with the cinema release of the horrible-looking American remake starring post-Chicago Richard Gere and post-whatever Jennifer Lopez. It is with the American release of this all-too-typical example of Hollywood creative plundering in mind that Buena Vista have officially announced the region 1 verson of the very same disk promised for the UK some months ago for a 12 October release. But guess what? As if remaking the original was not enough, the DVD will feature not Masayuki Suo's original 136 minute cut, but Mirimax's own 119 minute re-edit, removing 17 minutes from the film that its American distributer clear decided it did not need. With no other DVD version of the film available, this effectively blocks the way for a proper release of the film in the west for the forseeable future. We can only hope one of the increasingly adventurous Korean labels picks it up for a region 3 release - I'd happily put up with the odd subtitling error to get the full print of this extraordinarily entertaining film.

Alan Clarke Collection from Blue Underground [3 August 2004]

For some years now we, amonst others, have been singing the praises of Alan Clarke, who we all at Outsider regard as one of the greatest directors in British TV history, and it's been something of a bone of contention that he seems to have gone unrecognised as such by UK DVD distributors. Most recently, Clarke's brilliant final film, The Firm, was given a bare bones release with only passable picture quality, and stuck in the shops for £5, which though fine value speaks volumes over just how much distributor Second Sight thought it was worth. So the announcement that a collection of Clarke's best work, complete with commentaries and extras, is to be released at the end of this month sent us scurrying around the room hooting with glee. The only slightly depressing aspect is that it's not being released in the UK, but in in the US, where Clarke's work is almost unknown. This glorious-looking box set from Blue Underground will consist of five disks and contain both the original 1977 TV version of Scum, which was banned by the BBC, the 1979 theatrical remake of the same, the extraordinary Made in Britain (1982), featuring a devastating debut performance from Tim Roth, the aforementioned The Firm (1988) and Clarke's stunning penultimate film, Elephant (1988). Also included is the 1991 documentary, Director: Alan Clarke. The TV version of Scum will feature a commentary by stars Phil Daniels and Davie Threfall and producer Margaret Matheson, plus a commentary by star Ray Winstone on selected scenes; teh theatrical version of Scum has a commentary by Ray Winstone, interviews with producer Clive Parsons and writer Roy Minton, a poster and stills gallery and a theatrical trailer; Made in Britain has a commentary by Tim Roth and a second commentary by writer David Leland and producer Margaret Matheson, and archive interview with Tim Roth and a poster and stills gallery; The Firm is the lightest on extras with only a stills gallery to accompany it; Elephant (oh joy!) has a commentary with producer and Trainspotting director Danny Boyle and a featurett, Memories of Elephant with Gary Oldman, David Hare and Molly Clarke; Director: Alan Clarke has a Clarke biography. Screen formats vary from 1.33:1 to anamorphic 1.66:1. Sound is mono or Dolby surround. List price is $99 but you can find it considerably cheaper at on-line stores. Release date is 31 August. Get your orders in!

John Carpenter Special Editions [30 July 2004]

Two special editions of older John Carpenter faves are on the way, both of which re-awken the old argument about what really makes a Special edition. First up is Christine, arriving on region 1 in September from Columbia Tristar. An adaptation of Stephen King's novel, this was made before attaching King's name to your project was the kiss of death, this is hardly classic Carpenter, but is a whole lot better than his remake of Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A. and Ghosts of Mars, features a neat performance from Keith Gordon and some interesting mechanical effects, but suffers from banal casting elsewhere and a clunky climax. The release will certainly please the audience member who asked about such a release in one of the extra features on the Assault on Precinct 13 region 1 re-release, his specific enquiry being about a Carpenter commentary track, to which JC replied, "If they ask me to do one, I'll do it." They did and he did, teaming up with star and director in his own right, Keith Gordon, and this has to be prime extra feature of this region 1 release. The only other serious feature are 20 deleted or alternate scenes, again begging the question of just how many extras you have to have to count as a Special Edition. It does feature an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, but Dolby surround rather than a 5.1 mix.

Meanwhile over on region 2 in October Momentum have promised us a 2 disk special edition of The Fog, complete with a commentary from carpenter and producer Debra Hill, an "all new" documentary Tales From the Mist: Inside The Fog, a1980 documentary Fear on Film: Inside The Fog, a storyboard to film comparison, a trailer, a photo gallery and some out-takes. Picture will be anamorphic 2.35:1 and sound a 5.1 remix. All of which is well and fine, but this is the same release, with exactly the same special features as the already available region 1 Special Edition, yet MGM managed to get all of this on a single disk, with some room to spare, i would imagine, given the film's 90 minute running time. Spreading a small number of extra features over two disks has become something of a fad with distributors of late (it really kicked off with the 'Special Edition' re-release of The Sixth Sense, which spread over two disks exactly the same features as had been included in the previous single-disk release), and of course does on face value seem to justify the £20 price tag that has been slapped on it. If you are a fan of the film and have a multi-region player then you can pick up the region 1 version of this very same special edition on-line for £7.