As well as being one of the most respected actors of his generation, John Cassavetes was one of the greatest and most influential independent directors of the 60s and 70s, working with a regular company of actors - wife Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk and Seymour Cassel among them - to produce works of unique power and energy, fathering the American Vérité movement and proving a key influence on the modern, dogme directors. back in September 2004, Criterion released an impressive (but pricey) John Cassavetes Box Set, and now Optimum have announced a UK release of the very same collection of films but with a differing set of extras.

The films are the 1959 Shadows, the 1968 Faces, the emotionally stunning A Woman Under the Influence (1974), my personal favourite of his films The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and the 1977 Opening Night. The UK set will feature new, 'high definition' (this phrase is being bandied about a lot at the moment by distributors and can prove misleading for transfers on non-HD DVDs) transfers, and comes rather well specified with extra features, though at first glance is missing what many regard as the best extra on the Criterion set, the three-hour-plus documentary on Cassavetes called A Constant Forge, which may well prove the balance tipper for the Criterion disks. Optimum's set does score its own points, though.

Shadows has a commentary by actor Seymour Cassel and critic Tom Charity and some silent rehearsal footage. Criterion disk has interviews with actors Cassel and Lelia Goldini, a restoration featurette and the silent rehearsal footage. One up to Optimum for the commentary.

Faces features a 17-minute alternative opening sequence with optional commentary by filmmaker and writer Peter Bogdanovich and associate producer and cameraman Al Ruban and an interview with Seymour Cassel. The Alternative opening is on the Criterion disk, but that also has a 48 -minute episode of the French TV series Cineastes de notres temps on the director, a new, hour-long documentary Making Faces and director of photography Al Ruban discussing the lighting and shooting of the film. the Criterion disk seems to win out here and how.

Optimum's disk of A Woman Under the Influence has an audio interview with Cassavetes and an interview with Cassavetes' assistant Elaine Kagan. Ironically, this is the one Criterion disk that does feature a commentary track, by camera operator Mikes ferris and sound recordist and composer Bo Harwood. Criterion also have a video conversation between Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands, and a detailed audio interview with Cassavetes. Criterion win again.

Both Optimum and Criterion have included both the original 1976 135 minute and 1978 108 minute cuts of A Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Optimum's set will feature a commentary on selected scenes by Bogdanovich and Al Ruban and an audio interview with Cassavetes. Criterion had interviews with actor Ben Gazzara and DoP Ruban, very possibly the same audio interview with Cassavetes as on the Optimum disks and a stills gallery. A close call on the winner there.

Finally Opening Night will feature a commentary by Tom Charity, cameraman Mike Ferris and sound recordist Bo Harwood and an audio interview with Cassavetes. Criterion had a conversation with Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands, DoP Al Ruban discussion the lighting and filming, and an audio interview with Cassavetes. My fondness for commentaries tips this one to Optimum.

Whichever way you go, these films are essential outsider cinema, and Optimum's set will be available from 12 September at the retail price of £49.99.

Private on region 2 in September [11 Aug 2005]

Dennis Potter in September [5 Aug 2005]

Fellow reviewer Camus is one of several who have observed that the death of Dennis Potter marked a turning point in UK TV drama from the adventurous to the distinctly average. Not that we're picking on the writers themselves - it's just hard in the restrictive, audience-hungry and largely conservative world of modern television drama to imagine anyone actually commissioning the sort of work that made Potter such an important and respected figure in his field. There is a wealth of his earlier work sitting in archives just waiting for a DVD release, and slowly they are starting to emerge. Coming up in September are two disks from the BBC that showcase three of Potter's finest, Blue Remembered Hills gets a disk to itself, while sharing a disk are the companion works Stand Up, Nigel Barton! and Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton. Blue Remembered Hills (1979) explores the experience of childhood by having adult actors playing as children, and features superb performances from Helen Mirren, Colin Welland, Michael Elphick, John Bird, Colin Jeavons and Robin Ellis. The 1965 Nigel Barton duo focus on the young, ambitious title character as he rises from his working class roots through university and into politics, but at what price? Extras are to be confirmed, but both disks will be available to buy from 26 September.

Also available on 26 September from BBC is a Dennis Potter Box Set, an 11 disk set that will contain all of the BBC's Dennis Potter DVDs, namely The Singing Detective, pennies From Heaven, Casanova, Brimstone and Treacle, Stand Up, Nigel Barton, Vote, Vote Vote for Nigel Barton, Blue Remembered Hills and the Mayor of Casterbridge. Details on extras are thin on the ground at present, but it has to be presumed that extras from the individual releases will all be included. The set retails at £99.99, but can be found for less on-line.

Finally, Network are to release a 2-disk set called Dennis Potter at London Weekend television, which will feature three little-seen Potter works from the 1980s - Blade on the Feather (a spy story starring Donald Pleasance, Tom Conti and Denholm Elliot and directed by Richard Loncraine), Rain on the Roof (starring Cheryl Campbell and Malcolm Stoddard and directed by Alan Bridges) and Cream in My Coffee (starring Lionel Jeffries, Peggy Ashcroft, Martin Shaw and director-to-be Peter Chelsom and directed by Gavin Millar). Street date is 12 September, retail price £19.99 and no extras are listed.

The Mark Thomas Comedy Show [30 Jul 2005]

Politics and comedy make sound bedfellows, as the work of everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Bill Hicks can testify. In the UK we have a fine history of political comedy, but an almost equally depressing history of seeing it evaporate, as Ben Elton switches barbed attacks on the government for the Royal Variety Performance and (oh god) We Will Rock You! and political TV comedy disappears under the weight of Big Brother and the like. I mean, ten years ago would you have believed that Rory Bremner would be the voice of political comedy on British TV? Fortunately there are still a few out there fighting the good fight and inspiring others to do likewise, few (if any) more active than Mark Thomas, whose shows have cannily mixed politically led stand-up routines with film of him and his comrades taking direct political action in a way that more often than not spectacularly embarrasses his targets. Fans of Michael Moore who are unaware of Thomas should check him out, and now they can, courtesy of Undercurrents, who have released The Mark Thomas Comedy Show on UK DVD. The disk features a 60 minute stage performance by Thomas, and the bonus features include the award-winning documentary Globalisation and the Media (25 mins), a comic musical animation Cows With Guns (3 mins), an exploration of activism against UK aviation expansion called Reach for the Sky (40 mins), interviews with Noam Chomsky, Tony Benn, Howard Marks, and more!

The DVD is at present only available by ordering directly from Undercurrents (follow this link) or by ordering from Moviemail (follow this link). The price is £14.99, there is no regional coding and it's available now.

Audition: Uncut Special Edition [24 Jul 2005]

A film that remains one of the best films (and perhaps the best) in the ludicrously prolific Takashi Miike's canon, Audition has that rare quality of being both subtle and horrifically explicit, though admittedly not at the same time. It's notorious finale even had hardened horror critic Mark Kermode cowering behind the seat, if his own intro to the film's Film Four screening is to be believed. Now Lion's Gate have announced an "Uncut Special Edition" (was it cut before?), which will sport a remastered anamorphic picture and 5.1 sound, which puts it slightly behind Tartan's region 2 collector's edition. Where this one moves ahead is in the extras, which will include a director's commentary on selected scenes, an introduction by Miike, a Miike biography/filmography, a photo gallery, liner notes, a segment from Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and an interview with Ryu Marukama, writer of the original novel. Release date is 23 August.

Slaughterhouse Five on region 2 in August [24 Jul 2005]

One of Kurt Vonnegut Jr's most widely celebrated works was in 1972 made into that rare beast - a movie that does not disgrace a great science fiction novel. Directed by George Roy Hill (who is often best remembered for the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and the underrated The Great Waldo Pepper) and featuring a cast who fame has faded with time in a story of a man who becomes "unstuck in time" in a way that may prove familiar to the 12 Monkeys fans out there. It's a great book, its a very reasonable film, and to give you the chance to compare, Universal are releasing the film on DVD on 8 August in a package that contains both the film and the original novel, a trend set in part by Criterion, who have done the same with Altman's Short Cuts and the upcoming Man Who Fell to Earth. Unlike Criterion, however, there will be virtually no extras on the disk (well, a trailer), making it a bit of a disappointment for those of us who already have the book, dog-eared though it may be. The film will be presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 and mono sound.

The Fly Special Edition in October [23 Jul 2005]

For an outsider director, David Cronenberg has been well served on DVD, especially by Criterion, who have in the past year alone delivered superb special editions of both Naked Lunch and Videodrome, and in the past did a fine job on Dead Ringers. Elsewhere decent releases of Fast Company, eXistenZ and Spider, and reasonably good versions of Scanners, The Dead Zone and Rabid have been welcomed, while extras-light editions of Crash, The Brood and The Fly have been waiting for that special edition treatment. Well for the last of those, the time has come, at least on region 1, with the announcement from Fox of a 2-disk special edition for an October 4 release. the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and 5.1 and DTS sound will be joined by a Cronenberg commentary (always a treat), a four part Fear of the Flesh documentary, 'Branching Clips' (no explanation of what this means yet, especially as it's listed as an extra on the second disk rather than the movie one), five deleted scenes (including an alternative ending), test footage, George Langlaan's the original story, Charles Edward Pogue's original screenplay and Cronenberg's rewrite, 3 magazine articles, a range of promotional material (including trailers for the original The Fly and the tacky The Fly II) 8 stills galleries and - here we go again, 2 easter eggs. If you announce it as a special feature it's not an easter egg, guys! Nonetheless, a very impressive-looking DVD set that should do the film proud.

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