Good Night and Good Luck on region 2 in June
[5 May 2006]
Still
doing the independent cinema rounds in the UK (Slarek
is screening it on June 6th) but already available
on DVD in the US, George Clooney's second, very
impressive stab at directing, Good
Night and Good Luck, is to be released
on UK region 2 DVD in June by the very company responsible
for the US release, Lionsgate Films.
The story of broadcaster Ed Murrow and his wonderfully
named producer Fred Friendly and their stand against
the notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy has helped
to confirm Clooney as Hollywood's unlikely but persuasive
voice of political conscience, and is is nicely
timed given the recent virtual deification of McCarthy
and his destructive activities by the American right.
The
disc looks set to be identical to that release,
featuring an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer and 5.1
sound, plus the following extras:
- Audio
commentary by director George Clooney and co-writer
and co-actor Grant Heslov;
- Behind-the-scenes
featurette;
- Photo
Gallery;
- Trailer.
Release
date is set for 26 June 2006 at the retail price
of £19.99. You can read Camus's review of
the film here.
A
Canterbury Tale from Criterion in July
[26 April 2006]
Perhaps
not everybody's idea of a great movie (see Camus's
review of the UK r
elease),
but for many the 1944 A Canterbury Tale
is one of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's
most spellbinding works. Made and set during WW2,
it follows three modern day incarnations of Chaucer's
pilgrims whose journey to Canterbury is delayed
in a country town when they become involved in the
solving of a bizarre crime, before heading off to
their various memorable destinies.
Available
in the UK as part of the Powell
and Pressburger Collection, the film has now
been picked up for release by Criterion in July
in what looks to be a very fine package. The announced
features are:
- New,
restored high-definition digital transfer (1.33:1);
- Audio
commentary by Ian Christie, film historian and
former professor at the University of Kent in
Canterbury;
- Excerpts
from the American Version with Kim Hunter;
- New
video interview with actress Sheila Sim;
- A
Pilgrim’s Return, a documentary about
John Sweet by Nick Burton and Eddie McMillan;
- A
Canterbury Walk, new documentary by David
Thompson visiting the film locations;
- Listen
to Britain, a 2001 video installation piece
by artist Victor Burgin, inspired by A
Canterbury Tale;
- Listen
to Britain, 1942 documentary by Humphrey Jennings.
The
exact release date is awaiting confirmation, although
the SRP has been set at $39.95.
Yi
Yi from Criterion in July [26 April 2006]
Edward
Yang's 2000 Yi Yi, released in
the UK as A One and a Two is widely
regarded as one of the great works of modern Taiwanese
cinema and has already accrued the status as a modern
classic. Starting with a wedding and ending with
a funeral, the film follows the fortunes of a single
Taipei family over the course of a year, the film
is a wonderful, involving and humane drama of the
trails of family life that involves you completely
in the lives of its characters, leading to it being
appropriately described as an 'intimate epic'.
Already
available on DVD in the UK courtesy of ICA, the
disc suffered a bit from a weak transfer but had
an excellent extra in the shape of a commentary
track by director Yang and Asian cinema expert Tony
Rayns, while a better picture but no extras could
be found on the Korean release from Starmax. Now
Criterion are set to provide us with the best of
both worlds with a remastered picture and
the commentary track from the ICA disc. The full
listed features are:
- New,
restored high-definition anamorphic digital transfer;
- Audio
commentary by writer-director Edward Yang and
noted Asian-cinema critic Tony Rayns;
- New
video interview with Rayns about the "New
Taiwanese Cinema" movement;
- U.S.
theatrical trailer;
- A
new essay by Kent Jones.
The
SRP is $39.95, exactly release date to be confirmed.
Nick
Broomfield: The
Early Works in May [20 April 2006]
British
documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield appears to
be very much back in vogue, with the release of
Nick Broomfield: Documentary Icons
box set and the recent screening of His
Great White Self, so the timing is perfect
for Metrodome to release a box set containing nine
of the director's other films, most of which fit
the chosen title Nick Broomfield: The Early
Works, in May, although a couple of key
later films are also included. The films are:
- Who
Cares (18 mins, 1970);
- Poud
to Be British (30 mins, 1973);
- Behind
the Rent Strike (50 mins, 1979);
- Juvenile
Liaison (97 mins, 1975);
- Juvenile
Liaison II (87 mins, 1990);
- Tattooed
Tears (85 mins, 1978);
- History
Reel (70 mins);
- Driving
Me Crazy (85 mins, 1988) - the film that established
what has become known as 'The Broomfield Style';
- Monster
in a Box (88 mins, 1992) - Broomfield's least
auteurist work, a record of a Spalding Grey performance
in the mode of Jonathan Demme's Swimming
to Cambodia.
Each
of the films will feature and introduction by Broomfield.
The retail price is set for £34.99.
Equinox
from Criterion in June [16 April 2006]
And
yet another not widely seen cult movie surface on
DVD, this time in the shape of Equinox,
the result of a collaboration between one-time director
Jack Woods, future eight times Oscar winning visual
effects artist Dennis Muren and B-movie producer
Jack H. Harris. A homage to earlier Creature Features,
it follows the misfortunes of four teenagers who
stumble on an ancient book in the deep Californian
woodlands that tells of a strange and malevolent
world that co-exists with that of mankind. Made
in 1967 for a ludicrous $6,500 and expanded once
Jack H. Harris picked up the film for distribution
in 1970 (four years later he did the same thing
with John Carpenter's Dark Star),
the film has built a small but devoted cult following
in the years that followed.
In
June the film will be set loose on DVD by Criterion,
who are promising a new, high definition transfer
and the following extra features:
- Two
audio commentaries: writer-director Jack Woods
and producer Jack H. Harris on the 1970 release,
and effects photographer and producer–director
Dennis Muren, writer/co-director Mark Thomas McGee,
and matte artist/cel animator/effects technician
Jim Danforth on the 1967 version;
- Video
introduction by Forrest J Ackerman;
- Interviews
with co-director Dennis Muren and actors Frank
Bonner, Barbara Hewitt, and James Duron;
- Deleted
scenes and outtakes from the 1967 version;
- Archival
stop-motion test footage;
- The
Magic Treasure, a rare animated fairy tale by
David Allen Acclaimed “Kong” Volkswagen
commercial by Allen, including test footage;
- Zorgon:
The H-Bomb Beast from Hell (1972), a short
film featuring Equinox cast and crew;
- Extensive
gallery featuring rare stills and promotional
material;
- Trailer
and radio spots for the 1970 theatrical release;
- A
booklet featuring tributes from George Lucas and
Ray Harryhausen and a new essay by Brock DeShane.
Release
date is set for 20th June 2006 at the retail price
of $39.95.
Freak
Out in May [11 April 2006]
It's
a fine line between parody and downright stupid,
as the never ending Scary Movie
series seem determined to hammer home ad nauseum.
The 2004 Freak Out, a parody of
the slasher genre, may not have found as big an
audience as yet but has proved a big hit on the
independent festival circuit and attracted its share
of enthusiastic reviews from horror fans, getting
the thumbs up from the influential Ain't
it Cool site. Soon you'll be able to judge for
yourself when Anchor Bay release the film on UK
region 2 as a 2-disc Special Edition with the following
special features:
Disc
1:
- Audio
commentary by director Christian James, actor/writer
Dan Palmer and actor/producer Yazz Fetto;
- Audio
commentary by director Christian James, actor/writer
Dan Palmer and cast members James Heathcote, Nicola
Connell and Chilli Gold moderated by BBC Radio
1 movie critic James King.
Disc
2:
- Making
Out – behind the scenes of the four-year
shoot of the film;
- Bum
Feeling 101;
- Geek
Out – internet movie critics express their
opinions;
- Zaniac
music video;
- 5
Minute Film School – tips for wannabe filmmakers;
- Honey
I Blew Up The Looney;
- Deleted
scenes;
- The
Video Store.
Release
date is set for 29th May 2006 at the retail price
of £16.99.
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