Peter Greenaway double -- The Osterman Weekend -- David Lynch 2-disk Double -- Targets -- Mommie Dearest

Peter Greenaway double from BFI [2 Feb 2004]

Peter Greenaway is a director with a distinctly individualistic approach to cinema that de vides opinion violently, including here at Outsider. His supporters are passionate about his films, but his detractors often hate them with a passion. Stephen Fry - a man we think should be President of the World - considered putting him in Room 101 and Alan Parker once described Greenaway's A Zed and Two Noughts (1985) as "A P and Two Noughts." I myself had major issues with The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) on its release and ended up in a furious, two-week long debate with one of its most fervent supporters. I tried hard to connect with The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1991) and Prospero's Books (1991), but it was 1996's The Pillow Book before I really connected with his work in any meaningful way. But if any British director deserves the Outsider status then Greenaway is it, and if you are a fan of his work then the BFI have treat for you later this month, with two of the director's early features released in what might be classed as minor special editions. The Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed and Two Noughts are both to receive widescreen transfers (anamorphic status and aspect ratio to be confirmed), a Dolby 2.0 sound mix and, most crucial of all, a Peter Greenaway commentary and introduction for both films. Both disks also feature trailers for both features and behind the scenes footage, plus some promised hidden features (if you tell people they are there, what's the point of hiding them?); The Draughtsman's Contract will also feature some deleted scenes and an interview with composer Michael Nyman. Both disks are scheduled for release on 23 February.

The Osterman Weekend 2-disc special from Anchor Bay [29 Jan 2004]

The late, great Sam Peckinpah's final film may have been a long way from his best, but it still has enough neat ideas and bravura sequences to be of interest, espcially to fans of the director. It's also nice to see Rutger Hauer in the days when he was turning in some very nice performances. Anchor Bay's upcoming 2-disk set will contain the theatrical cut and the Preview Cut of the film, both of which will be anamorphically enhanced. The theatrical cut has a commentary by Peckinpah historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle and Nick Redman, while the Preview Cut on disk 2 will be accompanied by a new 78 minute documentary, Alpha to Omega, the theatrical trailer, biographies and a stills gallery. Release date is 23 March on region 1 only at present.

David Lynch 2-Disk Double from Sanctuary [26 Jan 2004]

Known mainly for their music releases, Sanctuary Visual Entertainment have released details of two upcoming 2-disk sets to be released for the UK market of key films by one of DVD Outsider's favourite directors, David Lynch. Both Blue Velvet and Dune are to be re-released with new anamorphic transfers and both Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 sound remixes, plus a second disk loaded with extras. Well, not exactly loaded...

The prospect of 2-disk special editions of either of these films, let alone both, is somewhat mouth-watering, but though hopeful, we remain a little cautious. The picture quality on the existing region 2 release of Blue Velvet is pretty shabby, but the region 1 special edition is rather nice, and that disk includes the first rate documentary The Mysteries of Love, which runs for 71 minutes. This will not be included on Sanctuary's disk, which will instead feature a 35-minute documentary Strange Desires, and an article from BBC2's Moving Pictures in which J.G. Ballard put forward the case for calling this the best film of the decade. Now if the full article is included it will also feature Gavin Millar's contribution, which might prompt a few comments from Camus, who has some inside information on this particular interview. So all in all, 46 minutes of material on that second disk. The region 1 special edition has the film and a 71 minute documentary and more on a single disk. Maybe the bit rate on the new region 2 will be much higher. For those without multi-region players this is nevertheless excellent news.

Dune is also already available on region 2 and is something of a mixed blessing, transfer-wise. Brightly lit interiors look terrific, but darker scenes are grubby and artefact-riddled, and matte work is sometimes appallingly obvious, something that was not true of the cinema print. The sound, however, is terrific, with some of the beefiest bass around. The region 1 MGM disk has a better transfer, but lacks the region 2's anamorphic enhancement and 5.1 sound. So a first class print would be welcomed with open arms, and with no real extras on the existing releases, sanctuary has a clear road to soar ahead. The second disk will feature a new documentary, Impressions of Dune, a 2 minute interview with Dune author Frank Herbert (2 minutes? How many questions will that be?) and a 6 minute promotional film.

Both disks are set for a 5 April release and are coded region 0, so will be available to PAL-enabled viewers across the Atlantic as well. You can read Sanctuary's own press releases on these disks by clicking here.

Targets set for region 2 [24 Jan 2004]

Some months after the region 1 release of Peter Bogdanovich's electrifying first film Targets, Paramount have promised a region 2 release for 1 March, though Amazon have the release down for 5 April, so we shall see. Targets was made by Bogdanovich for Roger Corman, a project that came about in part because Boris Karloff owed Corman a couple of days of filming and Bogdanovich was asked to build any film he liked around it and footage from Corman's The Terror, also featuring Karloff. The young director chose to make a film about an ageing horror star - Karloff, pretty much playing himself - who wants to retire, as he no longer believes that his on-screen horror antics can compete with what is happening in the real world. Meanwhile, as if to prove Karloff's point, all-American boy Bobby slaughters his entire family and goes on a killing spree. With American mainstream movies demonising villains to such a degree that you can spot them from the first frame even with your eyes closed, and refusing to cast ordinary Americans in anything but a golden light, Bogdanovich's movie looks as fresh and crucial as ever, and really is essential cinema.

Details are a bit sparse at the moment, but Paramount's own press release confirms an anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer and 5.1 sound, and if the picture on the region 1 release is anything to go by this should look very good indeed. What is curious is that there is no mention in the press release of the fine commentary track from director Bogdanovich that adorns the region 1 release. Hopefully this is a press release omission, not a DVD one.

"No more wire hangers....EVER!" [24 Jan 2004]

Paramount have announced the region 2 release of a film that has managed to not only make a few Worst Film Ever lists, but also establish itself as a genuine cult favourite. Mommie Dearest was adapted from Christina Crawford's account of her childhood under the abusive hand of her domineering mother, actress Joan Crawford, but the serious drama of difficult childhood that may have been intended was realised as a lurid, spectacularly camp melodrama featuring an eye-poppingly wild performance from Faye Dunaway as mother Joan. A huge cult hit, initially championed by New York's gay community, its infamy surrounds a notorious scene in which Crawford beats her daughter with a wire coathanger to the maniacally bellowed accompaniment of the line, "No more wire hangers....EVER!" An anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer and a 5.1 sound remix are both good news, but a commentary or documentary would have been welcome here. Release date is 1 March.