Nick Broomfield on region 2 in March -- The Corproration in March -- Godard's Week-End in February -- Oldboy special edition -- Metallica: Some Kind of Monster in January -- The Motorcycle Diaries in February -- My Own Private Idaho from Criterion

Nick Broomfield: Documenting Icons on region 2 in March [26 December 2004]

Having already been released as two seperate box sets on region 4 last September, six of the key earlier films by British documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield, creator of Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, are to be released as a 6-disk box set by Metrodome on March 7 2005. The set will include the following titles: Chicken Ranch, Broomfield's revealing 1983 look at thee inside workings of a legal brothel in Nevada, co-directed with Sandi Sissel; Soldier Girls, which he made in 1991 with regular collaborator Joan Churchill and which follows a group of female army recruits as they are put through gruelling Basic Training; The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife, a disturbing and occasionally hilarious study of South African white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche; Tracking Down Maggie, a 1994 film in which Broomfield is repeatedly outfoxed in his attempt to secure an interview with Margaret Thatcher during her bworld book tour; Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam, his 1995 look at a side of Hollywood that is rarely publicised; and Fetishes, his 1996 wandering into Louis Theroux territory which looks at an up-market bondage house on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Though actual extras have yet to be confirmed, it looks reasonably certain that the disks will feature the same extras as on the Australian sets, which should include commentaries on selected films, an introduction to each by Broomfield, a stills gallery and a Broomfield filmography. In addition, Fetishes is to be released as a stand-alone special edition, though the included extras have yet to be confirmed.

The Corporation on region 2 in March [26 December 2004]

Jennifer Abbot and Mark Achbar's fascinating, documentary dissection of the modern entity of the global corporation, their unethical business practices and their shoddy attitude to the environment in pursuit of the almighty dollar is packed with information and interviews, and is a most enlightening and sobering look at the increasing dominance of the conglomerate over the small business. Set for a 7 March release as a 2-disk set on region 2 from Metrodome, the set will feature a commentary by the directorsAbbot and Achbar, a commentary by writer Joel Bakan, deleted scenes, a Q&A with the directors and writer, an interview with Bakan on 'Air America', a featurette with creative director Katherine Dodds on grass roots film-making, trailers and a stills gallery. Sound and picture details will be supplied when we have them.

Godard's Week-End in February [26 December 2004]

Jean-Luc Godard's confrontational, revolutionary satire Week-End has managed to piss of film students all over the UK who signed up in the mistaken belief that cinema begins and ends with Tarantino (who, incidentally, adores Godard's work), but is widely recognised as the director's masterpiece. A brilliantly realised study of civilisation in self-destruction, it contains one of the most memorable and ambitious tracking shots in cinema history, a slow drift alongside a traffic jam that goes on way longer than you'd ever believe possible, terrorists who use classic films as code names, and a bizarre encounter with Emily Bronte. One of the most essential, dangerous and brilliant films of the 1960s. About bloody time, the film is set for a region 2 DVD release (under its US promotional title of the one-word Weekend) from Artificial Eye on 21 February 2005. The sound looks set to be Dolby 2.0, the picture an unspecified widescreen format (details will be updated when we have them), and extras will include an interview with the film's cinematographer Raoul Coutard, filmograhies, and thoughts on the film from director and Godard fan Mike Figgis.

Oldboy special edition on region 2 in February [23 December 2004]

Having made the extraordinary Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Boksuneun naui geot) in 2002, Korean director Park Chan-wook, has again attracted considerable acclaim with his latest work Oldboy, which has already collected a share of awards, including the Best Foreign Film (a nasty and disparaging term) at the British independent film awards, the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and five gongs in South Korea's Grand Bell Awards, including one for Best Director. The story tells of a man who is inexplicably held captive for fifteen years, during which time his only contact with the outside world is by watching TV, which is how he learns not only that his wife has been brutally murdered, but that he is the chief suspect. The film received a very limited release in the UK, and though available on a very decent region 3 disk, Tartan's upcoming region 2 release looks to be just what the cine-doctor ordered. With a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and Dolby Digital EX 6.1 and DTS-ES 6.1 soundtracks, this 2-disk set features an extraordinary four commentary tracks - one from director Park Chan-wook, a second from Park and cinematographer Jeong Jeong-hun, a third featuring Park and key cast members and a fourth again with Park (one hopes a talkative fellow) and film critic Kim Yoong-jin - an interview with the director by UK film writer Mark Salisbury, two trailers, deleted scenes with optional commentary, two making-of featurettes, interviews with the director and the cast and crew, footage from the Gala Premiere at Cannes, and a short film entitled 'Memory of Oldboy'. Release date is set for 21 February 2005.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster on region 2 in January [15 December 2004]

Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger's insightful, sometimes very funny (though it's hard to be certain if this is intentional at times) documentary following the band Metallica over a difficult two-year period has come to be regarded as the real-life This is Spinal Tap, and in many ways is as entertaining. Coming out as a two disk special edition from paramount that is loaded with extra features (well, in particular, as it happens, but we'll get to that), the film itself will have a 4:3 transfer, which is true to the original shooting aspect ratio if not the projection in many cinemas, and a 5.1 soundtrack, and will boast two commentary tracks, one by the directors, one by the band themselves. God only knows what that will be like. There are also a couple of trailers on disk 1, but it's disk 2 where the meat of the extra features lie, and a staggering 22 additional scenes - 5 with optional commentary - totalling 75 minutes. Given that some have complained that the film is already a little overlong at 145 minutes, this is probably for the real devotees rather than the casual viewer, though it has to be said there are enough of them to make this worthwhile. On top of that there 5 featurettes on the film premiere and festivals totalling 46 minutes, a 13 part documentary The Monster Lives, running for 61 minutes with optional commentary oln 5 scenes, a music video and biographies. It has to be said that, given the recent trend for spreading features unnecessarily over three disks to bump up the price, the decision to cram all this onto two disks and keep the retail price at £19.99 is bloody admirable. Street date is 31 January.

The Motorcycle Diaries hits region 1 and 2 in February [12 December 2004]

One of this year's finest films was the film adaptation of 23-year-old Ernesto 'Che' Guevara's record of his incident-riddled but revelatory 8,000 km trip from Argentina to Venezuela with his close friend Alberto Granado in the early 1950s. A hugely entertaining melding of character comedy, documentary realism and political insight, it proved another showcase for the excellent Gael García Bernal and provided further proof of the considerable talent of Central Station and Behind the Sun director Walter Salles before he gets swallowed by nthe Hollywood remake machine with his version of Hideo Nakata's Dark Water. The region 1 release from Universal will sport a widescreen transfer (anamorphic status awaiting confirmation) and 5.1 sound, there is also a rather tasty set of extras: a commentary by director Walter Salles (to be confirmed); The Making of The Motorcycle Diaries documentary; A Moment with Alberto Granado, in which the real Alberto Granado remembers this life-changing journey; A Moment with Gael Garcia Bernal, a conversation with the versatile lead actor (also now at work in Hollywood); Tomo Uno with Gael Garcia Bernal featurette; Music of the Road, and interview with composer Gustavo Santaolalla; and a selection of deleted scenes. Street date is 15 February 2005. The region 2 disk from Studio Collection Int is set for for release a week earlier on 7 February, but extras for this release, if there are any, have yet to be confirmed. Read our review of the film here.

My Own Private Idaho from Criterion in February [5 December 2004]

After his success at Cannes with Elephant. Criterion have announced that they will be taking a trip back through director Gus Van Sant's back catalogue to release his 1991 film My Own Private Idaho in February. This tale of two street hustlers, one of the a sensitive narcoleptic, in a modern urban update of Shakespeare's Henry IV, stars Keanu Reeves before his Matrix 'cool dude' overhaul and the late River Phoenix and remains one of the director's strongest, most offbeat works. The 2 disk DVD will feature a new high definition transfer and 5.1 soundtrack, an audio conversation between Gus Van Sant and Far From Heaven director Todd Haynes, a new documentary on the making of the film, a new interview with critic Paul Arthur on the adaptation of Shakespeare's play, a video conversation between producer laurie Parker and Rain Phoenix, outtakes, trailer and more. Conspicuous by its absence, at present, is a commentary by Van Sant, a shame considering the informative one he provided for the region 1 release of Drugstore Cowboy.

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