Some classy, some sleazy; here's the DVD and Blu-ray announcements for 6 October. Why has Brittany Murphy been reduced to direct-to-DVD thrillers these days? No good. Good though: Jia Zhang-ke's 24 City bows on DVD in January from Cinema Guild. Oh, and sorry for the lousy pick of Blu-ray titles, but those were the only newly announced ones I could find.
- Paraiso Travel, 2008, d. Simon Brand, Phase 4 Films, 13 October, w. John Leguizamo- Watch Out, 2008, d. Steve Balderson, Breaking Glass Pictures, 17 November
- Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, 2006, d. Lucifer Valentine, Unearthed Films/Breaking Glass Pictures, 24 November
- The Jazz Singer, 1980, d. Richard Fleischer, Anchor Bay, 30th Anniversary, 1 December
- Paper Heart, 2009, d. Nicholas Jasenovec, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 1 December
- Chai-Lai Angels, 2006, d. Poj Arnon, Magnet/Magnolia, 15 December
- District 9, 2009, d. Neill Blomkamp, Sony Pictures, also on Blu-ray, 15 December
- Herb & Dorothy, 2008, d. Megumi Sasaki, New Video, 15 December
- Lucky Bastard, 2009, d. Everett Lewis, Breaking Glass Pictures, 15 December
- Extract, 2009, d. Mike Judge, Miramax, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Ghost Machine, 2009, d. Chris Hartwill, Anchor Bay, 22 December
- To Take a Wife [Prendre femme], 2004, d. Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz, Sisu, 22 December
- 24 City, 2008, d. Jia Zhang-ke, Cinema Guild, 12 January
- Across the Hall, 2009, d. Alex Merkin, Image Entertainment, also on Blu-ray, 19 January, w. Brittany Murphy
- $5 a Day, 2008, d. Nigel Cole, Image Entertainment, also on Blu-ray, 26 January, w. Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone, Alessandro Nivola, Amanda Peet, Peter Coyote, Dean Cain
- Doctor Death, 1973, d. Eddie Saeta, Scorpion Releasing, 26 January
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, 1985, d. Sam Jaimes, Warner, 26 January
Blu-ray
- Alphabet Killer, 2008, d. Rob Schmidt, Anchor Bay, 8 December- Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006, d. Scott Glosserman, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- Lower Learning, 2008, d. Mark Lafferty, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- Walled In, 2008, d. Gilles Paquet-Brenner, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- While She Was Out, 2008, d. Susan Montford, Anchor Bay, 8 December
- 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999, d. Gil Junger, Touchstone, 31 January
Date Changes/Delays/Rumors
- Public Enemies, 2009, d. Michael Mann, Universal, now 8 December- Big Love, Season 3, 2009, HBO, now 5 January
- House of the Devil, 2009, d. Ti West, MPI [postponed indefinitely]
- Grindhouse on Blu-ray on 15 December (I should quit with this shit)??
- 8½ on Blu-ray early 2010??
6 comments:
Brittany Murphy thriller...not direct-to-dvd big guy. Do your research. The film hits theaters in limited release on October 30th and expands December 4th. Nice reporting...
Thanks, "big guy." But in double-checking all of the sites I use for theatrical releases, Across the Hall doesn't appear on any of them. Not to mention the fact that it's already on DVD in Germany, which would therefore qualify it as direct-to-DVD, no?
You piece of shit. Don't GET the release specifics of a little-known Brittany Murphy thriller WRONG. It's probably a masterpiece that the studios are afraid to release widely because it's just TOO groundbreaking. Nice "reporting" indeed, you didn't even tell me how groundbreaking it is!???!!
Also, House of the Devil can currently be found on demand through Magnet/Magnolia, and in limited release at the end of this month if you're lcky to live somewhere that gets that kind of thing.
Motherfucker. Stick to baby raping, not misinforming me about things...
_ANONYMOUS_
Sucks about house of the devil, I am hearing good things. The trailer looks, well, practically classical for that genre.
I've also heard good things about House of the Devil.
RE: ATH release, no offense Joe, love the site, but you're not right on this one. Indie films are often not announced as early as studio films, some are never announced at all...so not being on those sites you use to check for theatrical release doesn't indicate anything about the film or its release. Furthermore, there are tons of films that are released overseas first and even hit dvd there before making their theatrical debut in the US (yes, even US produced films). Being on DVD in Germany does not mean the film will not be released in the US in theaters. Indie films don't have any release guidelines or patterns, and in this horrible economy, which has made Indie releasing the toughest its been in years, you can't classify any film as being dumped (or "reduced to direct-to-dvd") UNLESS its a studio film that has had tons of money pumped into it and still won't see a theatrical release. And even then, that doesn't always indicate a lousy film. Trick R Treat was just dumped to dvd and its supposedly an awesome studio film with lots of money pumped into it, including toys and books, etc, and even a cult following already. Its tough times in the industry. Anyway, FYI, the facebook page for that Murphy movie does indicate a theatrical release, as does some other pages online I've found. Just letting you know. Either way, I still love the site.
TV Pilot, I'm not trying to suggest that a Direct-to-DVD film is an indication of quality. I like to think, once DVD replaced VHS, that the stigma of "direct-to-video" has changed. Many difficult-to-market or just plain difficult films have skipped theatrical releases and gone straight to DVD (like Philippe Grandrieux's Sombre). Even a number of genre films that make their first appearance in the US on DVD have been of significantly high quality (À l'intérieur, Vinyan, Martyrs).
These complaints just seem to be about semantics. While Across the Hall may have a theatrical release lined up in the US before it comes to DVD in January, the fact that it is on DVD in Germany and was not released theatrically there would make the label "direct-to-DVD" accurate, even if it's not exactly true for the US. Either way, all I meant to suggest was that, with Clueless, The Dead Girl and Freeway, I've got a soft spot for Brittany Murphy, and maybe Across the Hall is better than it sounds on paper (likely, it is better than some of the other shit she's put out, like Uptown Girls or Little Black Book)... I just want to see her talents used in ways they often are not.
As for House of the Devil, as Mike said, it is available On Demand currently, and the fact that MPI took it off the release schedule for 8 December doesn't mean it won't be coming out any time soon...
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