DVD News

Ken Loach wins the Palme D'Or [27 May 2006]

Not DVD news, exactly, but worthy of report nonetheless is the news that Ken Loach, one of the UK's most consistently impressive and politically committed filmmakers, has today won the prestigious top prize, the Palme D'Or, at the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival for his new film The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Written by Loach regular Paul Laverty (who has supplied the screenplay for all of Loach's films from Carla's Song onwards) and shot by Barry Akroyd, the film focusses on the gradual transformation of a group of young County Cork men to IRA guerilla fighters in 1920s Ireland in reaction to the brutality of the British soldiers sent to suppress IRA activities, known as the Black and Tans, which ultimately led to the civil war of 1922-23.

Loach is a regular at Cannes and has previously been previously nominated for the Palme D'Or on seven occasions - for Looks and Smiles (1981), Hidden Agenda (1990), Raining Stones (1993), Land and Freedom (1995), My Name is Joe (1998), Bread and Roses (2000) and Sweet Sixteen (2002), but this is his first win. Has has, however, won the Jury Prize twice for Hidden Agenda and Raining Stones and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for Land and Freedom, securing a Special Mention for Looks and Smiles and Hidden Agenda. In 2004 he also won the 30th Anniversary Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for his entire body of work.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is released in UK cinemas on 23 June 2006.

Fantastic Planet from Masters of Cinema in August [26 May 2006]

One of the most uniquely styled animated features of all time, René Laloux's cult 1973 science fiction story Fantastic Planet (La Planete sauvage) has been seen as a surrealist, psychedelic take take on Gulliver's Travels crossed with Planet of the Apes, and more recently has been likened to the work of Hatao Miyazaki in its socio-political overtones. Set on the planet Ygam, where the human-like 'Oms' are kept as pets by a race of giant blue aliens known as 'Traags', the film follows the fortunes of an Om named Terr, as he escapes from Traag control and sets out to organise an Om revolt. The principal attraction of Fantastic Planet is its extraordinary design, courtesy of Ronald Topor, and the much-sampled score by Alain Gorauger. A unique and sometimes mind-bending film, it is set to be released on DVD in the UK in July as part of Eureka's Masters of Cinema series with the following listed features:

Anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer
New and improved optional English subtitles
René Laloux's short film Les Escargots
René Laloux's short film Comment Wang-Fo Fut Sauvé
40-page booklet featuring essays about Laloux, Topor, and Alain Gorauger.

Some sites are listing this as an NTSC disc, which we have yet to confirm. This is not without prcedence (Tartan's first Battle Royale re-release) and could be to avoid NTSC to PAL transfer issues. We will update this information when we have it.

Release date is being listed at various on-line vendors as 21 August 2006, while Masters of Cinema are suggesting a July release. Again this will be confirmed when we know for sure.

Song for a Raggy Boy from Metrodome in July [22 May 2006]

Following in the footsteps of Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters (and his own TV drama on the Magdelene laundries, Sinners, which pre-dated Mullan's film) with a little Nicholas Nickleby thrown in for good measure, Aisling Walsh's adaptation of the true story of a new teacher at a Reformatory School in 1939 Ireland and his open opposition to the violent methods of discipline practiced by the Christian Brothers who run the establishment. A mixture of character cliché and righteous anger, anything that exposes the wrongdoing of those acting in the name of religion scores points with us, and Song for a Raggy Boy pulls no punches in this department.

Metrodome have announced a UK region 2 DVD release of the film for 17th July 2006 at the retail price of £15.99. As with Adam & Paul below, we have no details on picture, sound or extras as yet, but will update the news when we do.

Adam & Paul from Metrodome in July [22 May 2006]

Things have been a little quiet on the Irish cinema front, but Metrodome are set to put that straight with the release of two recent and acclaimed Irish films in July. The first is first time feature director Leonard Abrahamson's Adam & Paul, the story of two junkies who have hit rock bottom that manages to be tender, touching and funny amidst the gloom, and connects us with the lead characters to a surprising degree. Made on a tiny budget and described by director Abrahamson as "Laurel and Hardy on smack and Waiting For Godot," the film has received its share of award nominations, including 8 IFTA awards, winning the Best Director gong for Abrahamson.

Metrodome are to release trhe film on UK region 2 DVD on July 10th 2006 at the retail price of £15.99. No news on aspect ratio, anamorphic status, sound or extras yet, but these will be updated when we have more news.

L'Enfant from Artificial Eye in July [20 May 2006]

The latest work from the belgium's premiere directing team Dardenne Brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, has attracted widespread praise and won the brothers their second Palm D'Or at Cannes, the first being for the 1999 Rosetta, and although three years later they just missed out on the top prize for Le Fils (The Son), they still landed Best Actor and the Ecumenical Jury prize.

The story of a petty criminal who cares little for the consequences of his actions until he sells his new born child, L'Enfant is set for a July release on UK region 2 DVD by Artificial Eye, and should be set (we are waiting for confirmation on this) for an anamorphic 16:9 transfer and a 5.1 soundtrack, plus the following extra features:

'Making Of' featurette;
Interview with the Dardenne Brothers;
Trailer.

Release date is at present 24th July 2006 at the retail price of £19.99.

Funeral Parade of Roses from Masters of Cinema in July [17 May 2006]

Too little seen outside of Japan is Toshio Matsumoto's 1969 Funeral Parade of Roses (Bara no soretsu), an extraordinary work of Japanese gay cinema in which melodrama, character study, socumentary, surrealism and farce collide with the techniques of underground film-making and the avant garde to often striking effect. The story of popular transvestite and gay bar hostess Eddie (played by real-life female impersonator known simple as Peter, who played Kyoami the Fool in Kurosawa's Ran) and his rivalries with the bar's madam (Osamu Ogasawara) for the attentions of drug-dealing cabaret manager Gonda (Yoshio Tsuchiya - Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Red Beard) is a film quite unlike any other and apparently a favourite of Stanley Kubrick's and a direct influence on the look of A Clockwork Orange.

Not previously available outside of Japan on hiome video, the film is to be released in July by Eureka under the prestigious Masters of Cinema label with the following features:

New transfer from the director's personal print;
Full length audio commentary by the director Toshio Matsumoto:
23 minutes video interview with director Toshio Matsumoto;
Promotional material gallery;
Original trailer;
New and improved optional English subtitles
36-page booklet featuring a new essay by Jim O'Rourke.

Release date is set for 24th July 2006 at the retail price of £19.99

Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier in August [15 May 2006 - updated 5 June]

It was an entry in our short but heartfelt Dream Special Editions article of some time ago, and now it's set to happen. Well, in part. Francis Coppola's extraordinary Vietnam war movie (or nightmare drug trip, depending on your viewpoint) Apocalypse Now is to be re-released on region 1 in August by Paramount as a fancily packaged box set titled Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier. This will include the original 1979 cut, which we prefer, and the 2001 Redux version, both of which fans of the film will already own, of course, especially as you can pick them up for a song at the moment. the hope is, though, that the 1979 cut will be remastered to the quality of the Redux release, which really does look and sound rather wonderful. And yes, there are plenty of extra features, over two hours' worth we are informed, but Paramaount are being a bit cagey at the moment on specifics, suggesting there are 'commentaries', but not by who or how many, 'lost scenes', which if they are on the disc are not lost at all, the vaguely titled 'rare and unseen footage', whatever that means, and some 'then and now retrospectives', which is also unclear. No doubt all will be revealed in detail nearer the release date, but what stops it from being the ultimate edition is the failure to include Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola's magnificent documentary on the making of the film, Hearts of Darkness. Which leaves the way open, of course, for an 'Ultimate Edition' some time in the future... The full details of the disc contents are as follows:

Watch the films with Francis Coppola, an introduction by the director to both the 1979 and 2001 editions of the film;
Audio commentary by Francis Coppola on both versions;
Marlon Brando's complete reading of T.S Elliot's The Hollow Men (17 mins);
The 'lost' Monkey Sampan scene;
Additional scenes - 12 never seen before sequences (26 mins);
A/V Club featurettes on The Birth of 5.1 Sound (5 mins), The Ghost Helicopter Flyover (4 mins), The Synyhesiser Soundtrack (text article), and Technical FAQ;
Redux Marker - an on-screen icon that identifies additional footage used in the Redux version of the film;
The Post-Production of Apocalypse Now, 4 featurettes covering the editing, music and sound, namely A Million Feet of Film - The Editing of Apocalypse Now (18 mins), The Music of Apocalypse Now (15 mins); Heard Any Good Movies Lately? - The Sound Design of Apocalypse Now (15 mins), and The Final Mix (3 mins);
Apocalypse Then and Now retrospective (4 mins);
PBR Streetgang cast members' reunion (4 mins);
The Color Palette of Apocalypse Now cinematography featurette (4 mins).

Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier will be unleashed on 15th August 2006 for SRP of $19.99 (which is actually pretty reasonable).

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