Rivers
and Tides on UK region 2 in July
 |
Thomas
Riedelscheimer's spellbinding documentary portrait
of British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who works almost
exclusively in nature using found objects, has been
a long time coming on UK release DVD. The film was
made in 2000 but not released in UK cinemas until
October 2003. The only DVD version for some time
was released in Germany by Absolut Median in December
of the same year (which we reviewed
the following March), though nine months later a
US release appeared courtesy of Docurama. The non-anamorphic
1.66:1 print was superior to that on the German
disc, and was accompanied by seven short films,
biographies of the director and the artist and a
photo gallery. Now Artificial Eye are to release
the film on UK DVD in a version that looks set to
be the best yet, combining the extras of Docurama's
disc with an anamorphic print, although whether
the 16:9 transfer on this and the German discs or
the 1.66:1 on the Docurama is the correct one is
something we will examine when the disc is in our
eager little hands. Anyway, the announced extras
are:
- Short
films:
- Garlic
Leaves;
- Ice
Arch;
- Black
Stone;
- The
Old Studio;
- Leaf
Works;
- Andy
Goldsworthy biography;
- Thomas
Riedelscheimer biography.
Street
date is set for 24th July 2006 at the retail price
of £19.99. We will be comparing all three
releases to see which comes out on top.
Read
our review of the Absolut Median German region 2
release.
posted
10 June 2006
Tell
Them Who You Are in July
 |
Back
in film school days, for those of us training as
film would-be cinematographers there were a few
cinematic gods beyond and, dare I say, above the
usual collection of revered directors. These were
the directors of photography, those whose style
we stood in awe of and tried unsuccesswfully to
emulate, whose work we studied and feverishly discussed.
Few (then) contemporary practitioners of the craft
excited us more than Haskell Wexler, the man responsible
for the look of such films as Tony Richardson's
The Loved One (1965), Mike Nicols'
Who's Afrai of Virginia Woolf?
(1966), Norman Jewison's In the Heat of
the Night (1967), Milos Foreman's One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and
Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory (1976)
and Coming Home (1978). He also
directed one of the most electrifying films of the
1960s in the shape of 1969's Medium Cool.
He still working today at the ripe age of 80, but
two years ago became the subject of a documentary
shot my his own son Mark Wexler, which turned out
to be a fascinating and revealing portrait of both
Haskell Wexler the great cinematographer and Haskel
Wexler the father, and his relationship, both professional
and personal, to his son. Featuring interviews with
and footage of such luminaries as Michael Douglas,
Jane Fonda, Milos Foreman, Dennis Hopper, Ron Howard,
Norman jewison (who describes Wexler, despite having
worked with him three times, as "a pain in
the ass"), Elia kazan, George Lucas, and...oh
this could go on for half the page. It is a remarkable
and revealing work and an essential film for anyone
interested in the man behind the images.
Metrodome
have announced a UK DVD release of the film for
July 17th 2006 at the retail price of £17.99.
Not much in the way of extras - a theatrical trailer
- but then it's hard to imagine just what would
accompany a film that is already a commentary and
certainly needs no 'making of' featurette.
posted
7 June 2006
Funny
Games 'The Collector's Edition'
Well
we've known it was on the way for some time, but
have been anxiously waiting for Tartan to release
full details of what the "Collector's Edition'
of Michael Haneke's brilliant Funny Games,
a tale of home invasion, torture and murder that
directly confronts the audience regarding their
attitude to screen violence, would contain. And
now we know. A trailer and an interview with the
director. Hmmm. I'm sorry, what, exactly, is 'collectable'
about that? This is actually, like Tartan's re-issue
of Audition and Hard Boiled
(to name but two), an attempt to put right what
was wrong with the original release, replacing a
crappy transfer with a decent one (we hope) and
improved sound, the ubiquitous 5.1 and DTS track,
although the original stereo still there. We have
to admit to being glad to see the picture and sound
being upgraded, but still get really pissed off
when a virtually extras-free disc is announced not
just A collector's edition, but THE
collector's edition, as if this is the ultimate
imaginable version. Of course the re-issue to should
help to revive all those anti-Haneke tirades from
those who were upset by the film but try to hide
it under a blather of critical misreading. That
said, the problem with any DVD release of Funny
Games is that it was designed to be seen
- and only really work's its terrifying spell -
in the cinema.
Release
date is set for 26 June 2006 at the retail price
of £19.99.
posted
3 June 2006
Metropolitan
on UK region 2 in July
Metropolitan
(1990) is the sort of debut feature that both launches
the career of an exciting new film talent but also
ends up being repeatedly referred back to when their
subsequent films are discussed. Not that Whit Stillman's
later work has lacked inventiveness, wit and spark
- both Barcelona (1994) and The
Last Days of Disco (1998) were fine films
in their own right - but Metropolitan
is so damned good, all the more remarkable
when you consider that it's completely dialogue
and character driven.
Recently
released in the US by the mighty Criterion, the
film is now to get a UK DVD release, courtesy of
Metrodome. Details of the aspect ratio and anamorphic
status have yet to be confirmed, but the main extra
feature will be a UK exclusive audio commentary
by writer/director Whit Stillman (the Criterion
disc has a commentary by Stillman, editor Christopher
Tellefsen, and actors Chris Eigeman and Taylor Nichols).
Hopefully he'll enlighten us over why he appears
to have abandoned film-making, not having made a
film since The Last Days of Disco.
Release
date is set for 17th July 2006 at the retail price
of £17.99.
posted
31 May 2006
Shooting
Dogs in July
I
have to admit that we're not exactly big fans of
the work of British director Michael Caton-Jones,
at least after his nifty debut Scandal.
Responsible for the horrible Memphis Belle,
he also helmed The Jackal, the
stinky remake of Fred Zinnemann's masterful Day
of the Jackal, and let's not even mention
the wretchedly received and completely unnecessary
Basic Instinct 2. But in 2005 he also make
Shooting Dogs, which achieved some
considerable acclaim, despite standing in the shadow
of Terry George's Hotel
Rwanda. Based on a true story, the
film stars John Hurt as Catholic priest Christopher
and Hugh Dancy as English teacher Joe Connor, both
of whom find themselves caught up in the 1994 Rwandan
genocide, and have to make the decision to stay
and help or run for their lives.
Now
Metrodome have announced a UK DVD release for the
film for 31st July in a rather well specified DVD
package that will sport the following special features:
- Audio
Commentary with Director Michael Caton-Jones;
- Audio
Commentary with Writer David Wolstencroft and
Producer David Belton;
- 'The
Making Of Shooting Dogs' (40 mins);
- Michael
Caton Jones and David Belton's research visit
to the ETO (29 mins);
- Filmmaker's
Diaries;
- Film
Education CDRom Material on Rwanda and the genocide.
Onformation
on sound and picture will be added when we have
it. Retail price will be £19.99.
posted
31 May 2006
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