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The Wicker Man | A Better Tomorrow
II | Hapkido | Withnail
and I | Tartan Directors'
Collections | Last Exit to
Brooklyn
Wicker
Man 3 Disc Special Edition in September
12 August 2006, updated
22 August 2006
In
terms to absolute favourite movies here at Outsider,
The Wicker Man scores highly
not just because it's a bloody marvellous film,
but because it inspires pretty much an equal degree
of passion in all of us, not least a certain reviewer
whose pen name is based on one of the film's main
characters. The film has been well served on DVD,
first with the US release in a rather splendid
wooden box (with a crappy plastic inset) and then
in the UK with a Christopher Lee and Mark Kermode
commentary. Both of these releases featured both
the theatrical cut (84 mins) and the restored
director's cut (99 mins), or at least as restored
as it can be given the continued absence of some
of the original footage.
Now
Optimum Home Entertainment are to release another
edition, timed to coincide with the release of
the pointless remake, that builds on the previous
release by adding the very fine Mark Kermode presented
documentary Burnt Offering and a soundtrack
CD, so that you'll have something to play as you
dance around the May pole, leap naked over the
purifying flame and slap the walls of your bedroom
to give the chap in the next room the horn. Once
again the set will include the theatrical cut,
with a 5.1 soundtrack and anamorphic 1.85:1 picture,
and the director's cut, with anamorphic picture,
video inserts and mono soundtrack. In addition
we will have:
Of
course we'll all mourn the lack of a Bey Logan
commentary, but to see the film restored to its
former glory should bring pleasure enough. And
by the way, you might want to keep an eye on the
lower end of the cast least, where you'll find
the names Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan.
Release
date is 28th August 2006 at the RRP of £16.99.
Expect a full review soon.
Withnail
and I 20th Anniversary Edition in October
9 August 2006, updated
24 August 2006
One
of THE cult movies of the modern age (and British,
too!), Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I
is one of those films that fills everyone here
with joy and rings a fair number of bells of familiarity,
at least for this grubby, once unemployed ex-student
with unrealistic hopes for the future. It made
a star of Richard E Grant in a role to die for
but also showcased a more quietly impressive turn
from Paul McGann as the unnamed-in-the-film Marwood,
the 'I' of the title. Already available with an
OK tranfer and a rather good commentary by McGann
and Ralph Brown, it is set to be re-released in
the UK in October by Anchor Bay UK as a 3-dic
20th Anniversary Edition, with a digitally remastered
print, Dolby 2.0, Dolby 5.1 and DTS sound options.
The following special features have been updated
from our original story and are confirmed as accurate:
Disc
1
Release
date is 2 October 2006 and the RRP is £15.99.
Tartan
Directors' Collections in November/December
5
August 2006,
updated 5 September 2006
Tartan
have announced a series of 3-film box sets based
around well known non-mainstream directors for
a November and December releases, plus the absolute
mother of all director's box sets for the wealthier
collector. We'll get to that later. The films
within the sets appear to be a mixture of existing
Tartan releases and newcomers to UK DVD - who
knows, maybe the familiar ones will get a deserved
makeover. All are of very considerable Outsider
interest, and are as follows.
The
Wong Kar-Wai Collection
Poor old Wong's films have seen a variety of iffy
transfers over the years, so let's hope these
are good ones. The set consists of In
the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin
wa, 2000), already one of Tartan's better
releases, and the Cantonese versions of As
Tears Go By (Wong gok ka moon,
1988) and Days of Being Wild
(A Fei jing juen, 1991). Commentaries
by Richard Johnson and cinematographer Christopher
Doyle are promised - it that's for all three,
then In the Mood for Love is
getting a minor upgrade too. Release date is 13th
November 2006 at the RRP of £34.99.
The Wong Kar-Wai Collection will now consist
of As Tears Go By, Days
of Being Wild and 2046. |
The Jim Jarmush Collection
Another 3 disc set, consisting of the little seen
1981 Permenant Vacation, the
only slightly more widely seen 1984 Stranger
Than Paradise, and everbody's favourite
Down By Law (1986). Further jarmush
films have been slated for later release, including,
Mystery Train (1989), Night
on Earth (1991) nd the wonderful Dead
Man (1995). the first of these sets is
also out on 13th November 2006 at £34.99.
|
The Jim Jarmush Collection has been postponed
until 2007. We will confirm a release date
when we have it. |
The Julio Medem Collection
One of Spain's most fascinating filmmakers really
does deserve to see his films packaged as a collection,
giving newcomers a chance to really immerse themselves
in his very particular style. Early stuff again,
which we like, consisting this time of Vacas
(Cows, 1992), Red Squirrel
(La Ardilla roja, 1993) and my
favourite, Tierra (Earth,
1996). Julio Medem scholar and biographer Robert
Stone is set to supply commentaries and background
notes. Again more is due to follow in the shape
of Lovers of the Arctic Circle
(Los Amantes del Círculo Polar,
1998), Sex and Lucia (Lucía
y el sexo, 2001) and the 2004 documentary
Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone
(La Pelota vasca. La piel contra la piedra).
The first set will be released on 4th December
2006 at, you've guessed it, £34.99.
The
Michael Haneke Collection
About
time too, as Tartan box together three films recently
released over in France (where English subtitles
were not necessary or present). The 1994 The
7th Continent, the 1994 71 Fragments
of a Chronology of Chance and the splendidly
disturbing Benny's Video are
all making their UK DVD debut, giving affictionados
the chance to replace those VHS recording from
the old days of Film Four. No extras listed yet,
and a slightly higher price quoted of £39.99.
Release date is 4th December 2006.
And
finally for all you Ingmar Berman devotees with
gobs of cash to spend, you DVD dream is about
to come true< assuming this is not Tartan's
idea of a gag. On 13th November they are set to
release The Complete Ingmar Bergman Collection,
and they do not use that title casually - this
extraordinary box set will contain 30 discs (you
heard) and feature almost every film in bergman's
considerable canon, including the previously unreleased
Dreams (1955) and Farodokument
'79 (1979, as you may have suspected).
The only down side, of course, is that most of
the titles in the set have been available from
tartan for some time, and will already be in the
collections of serious Bergman fans, so you have
to weigh up whether the - wait for it - £299.99
price tag is worth it for the films you don't
have.
Last
Exit to Brooklyn Special Edition in October
31
August 2006
The
sort of tough, hard-edged American movie we see
to rarely nowadays, Christiane F director
Ull Edel's film version of Henry Selby Jnr. controversial
but brilliant 1964 novel devided opinion on its
release, some of the book's most dedicated fans
annoyed at changes made for the film version.
It's still a damned impressive piece of work,
set in a in an ashen landscape of derelict storefronts
and putrid drunk-holes, of striking unions, vamping
calls girls and brutal streetlaw, Selby’s
tale is a kaleidoscopic look at the lives of a
group Brooklynites, forging a sliver of hope in
a relentlessly changing world.
Local
union leader, Harry, corrals his labourers by
day while sheltering a fearful secret at night.
His new acquaintances, transvestites Georgette
and Regina threaten to drive Harry’s ordered
life into disarray, courting grave danger on these
masculine mean streets as the strike threatens
to erupt into a full scale riot.
Street-wise
hooker Tralala falls for a young soldier on shore
leave only to find that his departure unexpectedly
crushes her spirit in most devastating fashion
imaginable. And Big Joe, notorious in the neighbourhood,
upon discovering his daughter is pregnant, sets
out to welcome the prospective father to the family
in a brutally unorthodox fashion.
Metrodome
have announced the film for an October release
as a 2-disc special edition, with a 1.85:1 anamorphic
picture and Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and the following
special features:
- Commentary
by Director Uli Edel and Screenwriter Desmond
Nakano;
- The
Making Of ‘Last Exit To Brooklyn’
(42 mins);
- Deleted
Scenes (6 mins);
- Promo
Reel (10 mins);
- Photo
Gallery.
But
wait, there's more. On disc 2 there's a second
film in the shape of Hubert Selby Jr:
It/ll Be Better Tomorrow (typographhy
here is correct). Narrated by Robert Downey Jr.,
this is a harrowing and engaging exploration of
the life and art of Hubert Selby Jr. overcame
incredible odds to become one of the 20th century’s
most celebrated and controversial authors. With
"Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem
for a Dream" Selby's works went on to stun
film audiences around the world ensuring Selby's
canon of work some of the most remarkable and
distinctly American books ever written.
Featuring
archival footage and new interviews from the legion
of artists and friends that shared his passion
for literature and love of life, this sharp, penetrating
documentary includes contributions from: Lou Reed,
Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Darren Aronofsky, Uli
Edel, Nicolas Winding Refn, Henry Rollins, Jerry
Stahl, Richard Price, Anthony Kiedis and others
and rare footage of Selby himself reflecting on
his life and work.
The
disc also includes interviews with Hubert Selby
Jnr (his last ever interview), Uli Edel and Michael
Silverblatt.
Release
date is 2nd October at the RRP of £19.99.
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