DVD News

The Complete Mr. Arkadin in April [27 January 2006]

If ever there was a bona fide genius whose films repeatedly suffered at the hands of others then it was Orson Welles. His 1955 Mr. Arkadin (aka Confidential Report) is an all-too typical example, a tale of small-time American smiggler Guy van Stratten who is hired by elusive billionaire Gregory Arkadin to investigate his past, the film develops into what the publicty temptingly describes as "a dizzying descent into the Cold War landscape of a Europe trying to erase its history." Orson Welles directed, but was ultimately banned from the editing room by producer Louis Dolivet, and over the course of time a number of different edits of the film have appeared, though none of them can be regarded as definitive.

Well in April Criterion are to release a three-disc DVD set, which will not only feature three different cuts of the film, including an all-new 'comprehensive version', but other artistic manisfestations of Mr. Arkadin, including the story's radio beginningsand the novel published under Welles' name. The Complete Mr. Arkadin will include:

New, restored high-definition digital transfers of three versions of the film: the Corinth Verion, Confidential Report, and a new Comprehensive Version;
Audio commentary by scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore;
Interviews with Welles biographer Simon Callow, star Robert Arden, radio producer Harry Alan Towers, director Peter Bogdanovich, and film archivists Stephan Droessler and Claude Bertemes;
Three half-hour episodes of the radio program The Lives of Harry Lime, upon which the film is based;
On the Comprehensive Version, a new documentary featuring Droessler, Bertemes, and Bogdanovich;
Outtakes, rushes, and alternate scenes from the film;
Extensive stills gallery;
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The 3-disc set is due for release on April 19 2006 at the retail price of $49.95.

Tintin et Moi in March [26 January 2006]

Created by Belgian writer and illustrator Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, Tintin became one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, appearing in more that 120 million books, which have been published in 45 languages and 50 countries. let's not forget, however, the more recent charges of racism and rampant colonialism to be found in the strips, elements that have not dated so well, and that two of the characters also inspired that horrible Thompson Twins group in the 1980s. But I digress.

Anders Østergaard's award-winning documentary Tintin et Moi examines the man behind the comic, built around a number of conversations Hergé had with actor, writer and director Numa Sadoul in 1971, all of which were recorded on audio tape only, presenting a structural and visual challenge for the film-maker that Østergaard responds to with aplomb, creating a fascinating portrait of Remi that won the Best Documentary Award at Denmark's prestigious Bodil Awards in 2005 and has attracted praise wherever it has been shown.

Now UK viewers will get the chance to see the film, courtesy of Anchor Bay UK, who will be releasing it on 13 March 2005 at the retail price of £16.99. At this point, no extra features have been listed, but we'll keep you posted.

Crying Fist in March [25 January 2006]

Korean director Ryoo Seung-wan, responsible for both the 2000 Die Bad (Jukgeona hokeun nabbeugeona) and the 2002 No Blood No Tears (Pido nunmuldo eobshi), but has also done the odd acting role in prestige projects like Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, as well as Lee Chang-dong's 2002 Oasis. Ryoo's latest film as director is Crying Fist, a tale of two boxers, one of whom fights in prison, the a former Olympic champion reduced to street fighting, both looking to regain their self respect.

Featuring another study performance from Choi Min Sik, the mesmerising lead of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, this visually arresting, impressively crafted drama is to be released on UK region 2 DVD by Premiere Asia as a 2-disk collector's edition, and will feature:

digitally remastered and restored 16:9 anamorphic picture;
feature commentary by Asian cinema expert Bey Logan;
The Making of Crying Fist documentary;
cast and crew interviews;
Boxing is My Life featurette;
deleted scenes;
trailer;
gallery.

Release date is set for 3 March at the retail price of £19.99.

Masters of Horror in March [16 January 2006]

One of the TV horror events of 2005, the Masters of Horror series was the brainchild of Mick Garris, director of the TV mini-series of Stephen King's The Stand and The Shining (stay with us, it gets better), who gathered an impressive collection of established horror directors with the idea of having them direct one story each to create 13 (it had to be, didn't it) brand new one-hour horror films. Reaction in the horror community has been largely favourable - the standard may vary, it is said, but the good ones make it worth any horror fan's while.

The directors in question are Garris himself (of course), John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog), Don Coscarelli (the Phantasm series, Bubba Ho-Tep), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and, erm, Poltergeist), Dario Argento (tons of stuff, but let's go with Suspiria), Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Innocent Blood), Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), Larry Cohen (It's Alive!, Q: The Winged Serpent), John McNaughton (Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer), Takashi Miike (Audition), Lucky McKee (The Woods) and William Malone (FeardotCom). An intriguing collection, but enthusiasm should be tempered by the reminder that some of the more famous names here haven't had a good movie in a long time. Here's hoping for all of them.

Anyway, Anchor Bay are planning to release the entire collection as 2-disk DVDs on a one per month basis, each with two films from the series (well, given that there are 13 one of them is going to be a film short) and featuring a number of extra features, including interviews with the directors, audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes and more. The first 2-disk set, featuring John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns and Stuart Gordon's Dream in the Witch House, goes on sale on 13 March 2006 at the retail price of £19.99.

Seoul Raiders in February [11 January 2006]

Jingle Ma's newest film is described in the pre-release publicity as "Mission Impossible meets Charlie's Angels," not a outlined designed to win my heart, especially given the fluffiness of Ma's previous film, Silverhawk. But it has as its leading man the wonderful Tony Leung, whose eye-popping CV I should not have to reel out to any of you (oh alright, it includes Bullet in the Head, Hard Boiled, Chunking Express, Ashes of Time, Cyclo, In the Mood for Love, Hero, Infernal Affairs, 2046 and a ton of others), and is joined by Qi Shu from The Eye II (and over 50 others not widely seen in the West) and Richie Ren from, er, Silverhawk. The film allegedly showcases the martial arts skills of its three leads, and it has to be said that it would be good to Leung in action again. The region 2 DVD release from Hong Kong Legends has the following special features:

Promotional gallery (trailers and promo art);
Seoul Girls: A Travelogue (Hot & Steamy; Tasty Treats; Hitting The Town; Shop Till You Drop; The Body Beautiful);
The Making Of Seoul Raiders (Spotlights on Tony Leung, Shu Qi and Richie Ren; The Heart And Seoul Of Korea; Working Hard, Looking Good);
Director's Cut: An Interview With Jingle Ma;
Deleted scenes.

The disk will feature Cantonese 5.1 and DTS tracks and will be released on 27 February 2006 at the retail price of £16.99

Free Cinema collection in February [9 January 2006]

It all happened pretty much at once, the explosion of new, exciting documentary work that broke with the staid lectures of the past that discarded tripods, shot without scripts and on 16mm, and constructed the stories in the editing room. Known in France as Cinéma Vérité, in America as Direct Cinema, and in Canada as the Candid Eye, in England the movement was christened by its founders Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti as Free Cinema, a term first coined by Anderson when the four organised a programme of their short films at the National Film Theatre in London in 1956. this proved a turning point for British documentary, and many of the shorts remain exciting, vibrant documents of the people and the time.

In February the BFI are to release a 2-disk DVD containing all of the key works of this movement, namely:

O Dreamland
Momma Don't Allow
Together
Wakefield Express
Nice Time
The Singing Street
Everyday Except Tuesday
Refuge England
Enginemen
We Are The Lambeth Boys
Food For A Bush
One Potato, Two Potato
The Vanishing Street
Tomorrow's Saturday
Gala Day

In addition, the disks will contain interviews with Lorenza Mazzetti, Walter Lassally, Alain Tanner and Mike Grigsby, a stills gallery, an audio interview from the NFT Free Cinema commemorative event in March 2001 and an illustrated booklet on the Free Cinema movement.

Release date is set for 27 February 2006 at the retail price of £24.99.

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