Criterion in August

Criterion's newly announced titles for August range from "well, finally" to "thanks, but..." The most obvious "finally" is a three-film set of Josef von Sternberg silents–Underworld, The Last Command and The Docks of New York–which had been speculated to be on their way for years. Still under the "finally" category is Maurice Pialat's L'enfance nue. After Criterion released Pialat's amazing À nos amours in 2006, we might have expected a number of the director's other films to surface, but so far only a crummy disc of Loulou and an out-of-print one for Van Gogh are the only other Pialat's on home video in the US (Masters of Cinema in the UK have been putting out most of his oeuvre on DVD over the past couple years). While I wouldn't necessarily throw Terry Zwigoff's Crumb or his first film, a documentary called Louie Bluie, into the "no thanks" category, as long as these releases don't lead to Criterion putting out any of his fiction features. And, well, as there's only one other title left (on the main line), you can guess my feelings toward Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus [Orfeu Negro], which will get a remastered reissue DVD release as well as a Blu-ray on the 17th. The Eclipse set will be the First Films of Akira Kurosawa–Sanshiro Sugata, Sanshiro Sugata 2, The Most Beautiful and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail–all four of which were first issued last December in the AK 100 box set. Aside from Black Orpheus, Crumb will be the only other Blu-ray release in August. I have a non-Criterion DVD update coming up soon.

Colossal Month for Criterion, har har

It's going to be hard for Criterion to deliver a more exciting month in 2010 following their March releases. Firstly, we have a Pedro Costa box-set, entitled Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa, which includes the features Ossos, In Vanda's Room [No Quarto da Vanda] and Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha], set for the 30th. The fourth disc contains a feature-length doc, All Blossoms Again [Tout refleurit: Pedro Costa, cinéaste] by Aurélien Gerbault, as well as two shorts from Costa, Tarrafal and The Rabbit Hunters, both taken from the omnibus features O Estado do Mundo and Memories, respectively. Then we have Nicholas Ray's classic Bigger Than Life, on DVD and Blu-ray, on the 23rd. Then, Marco Ferreri's Dillinger Is Dead [Dillinger è morto], with Michel Piccoli and Anita Pallenberg, on DVD on the 16th.

And... perfectly timed to celebrate Akira Kurosawa's 100th birthday on the 23rd (and, coincidentally, my 26th), Sanjuro and Yojimbo will debut on Blu-ray, available either together in a cheaper set or separately. And, perhaps best of all (depending on who you ask), Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven will get the Blu-ray treatment on the same date. If June was Criterion's exemplary month in 2009, March is certainly it for 2010.

Ran and Contempt on Blu-ray in February

After both Criterion Blu-ray editions of Akira Kurosawa's Ran and Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt [Le mépris] were canceled, many (myself) included suspected that it was the evil doings of The Weinstein Company, who own, presumably, the Wellspring catalogue... but in fact, it looks as it if was Studio Canal, who already released the Blu-rays in the UK, France and Germany. Well through Lionsgate, Studio Canal has announced both films on Blu-ray in the US for 16 February, in addition to Alexander Mackenrick's The Ladykillers. We'll see if any of the other films Studio Canal has released overseas, including Joseph Losey's The Go-Between, Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour and David Lynch's The Elephant Man will show up as well. I'd imagine that if Studio Canal owned the worldwide rights to some of their other releases in Europe (Breathless, Pierrot le fou, Last Year at Marienbad and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum), their US discs would have gone out-of-print like Criterion's releases of Contempt and Ran already did.

30 September DVD/Blu-ray Update

In foreign DVD news, Artificial Eye has announced Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank for 25 January. After a May delay, M6 Vidéo in France has set 12 November as the new date for their Édition Prestige of Marcel Carné's Les visiteurs du soir, which is set to include a documentary by Marc Caro on "le cinéma fantastique français." As expected, no English subtitles will be included on the disc. For those of you who can read German, Alive has announced a three-disc Jean Cocteau set, which will include Orphée, as well as the unavailable-in-the-US The Eagle with Two Heads [L'aigle à deux têtes] and Les parents terribles. The set will be available on 31 December.

And, just as all of Akira Kurosawa's films are finally becoming available on DVD in the US, Japan is one-upping us by putting all of them on Blu-ray. Jesnet released Madadayo, Ran, Rashômon and The Quiet Duel on Blu-ray earlier this year. Toho will unleash several more starting in October. Set for 23 October: Kagemusha, Seven Samurai, Sanshiro Sugata, Sanshiro Sugata 2, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Sanjuro and The Bad Sleep Well. 18 December: The Lower Depths, The Most Beautiful, I Live in Fear, Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, Stray Dog and Yojimbo. And for 19 February 2010: Red Beard, Dodes'ka-den, Throne of Blood, One Wonderful Sunday, High and Low, No Regrets for My Youth and Drunken Angel. Most Japanese Blu-rays are Region A, which is also the US code, so you might want to check 'em out (assuming English subtitles are present).

Anyway, on with the US DVD announcements. I suppose there's a chance that the dates could change, but it looks as though Anchor Bay has made a quick turn-around on a trio of their titles before the end of the year. Both Pandorum, a space horror directed by Christian Alvart (Antibodies) and starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster, and Peter Hyams' remake of Fritz Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, with Michael Douglas and Amber Tamblyn, will bow on DVD and Blu-ray 22 December; and Michael Moore's latest, Capitalism: A Love Story, with hit both formats the following week.

- The Mighty Boosh, 2004-2007, BBC/Warner, 13 October
- Psycho Love Story [Cennet], 2008, d. Biray Dalkiran, Pathfinder, 13 October
- P, 2005, d. Paul Spurrier, Palisades Tartan, 20 October
- Criminal Justice, 2008, d. Otto Bathurst, Luke Watson, BFS, 3 November, w. Ben Wishaw, Pete Postlethwaite
- The Band, 2009, d. Anna Brownfield, Breaking Glass Pictures, 17 November
- Kobe Doin' Work, 2009, d. Spike Lee, ESPN/Buena Vista, 24 November
- The Hangover, 2009, d. Todd Phillips, Warner, also on Blu-ray, 15 December
- Let Them Chirp Awhile, 2007, d. Jonathan Blitstein, Cinevolve, also on Blu-ray, 15 December, w. Justin Rice, Brendan Sexton III
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, 2009, d. Peter Hyams, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Kartemquin Films: The Early Years, Volume 1 (Parents / Thumbs Down), 1968, d. Gerald Temaner, Gordon Quinn, Kartemquin/Facets, 22 December
- Pandorum, 2009, d. Christian Alvart, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Capitalism: A Love Story, 2009, d. Michael Moore, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 29 December
- Blade of the Ripper [Lo strain vizio della Signora Wardh, aka The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh], 1971, d. Sergio Martino, MYA, 26 January, w. Edwige Fenech
- Desirable Teacher [Pierino contro tutti], 1981, d. Marino Girolami, MYA, 26 January
- Goodbye Gemini, 1970, d. Alan Gibson, Scorpion Releasing, 26 January, w. Michael Redgrave
- Hello Goodbye, 2008, d. Graham Guit, Liberation, 26 January, w. Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu
- Not Now Darling, 1973, d. Ray Cooney, David Croft, Jezebel/Alternative Distribution Alliance, 26 January
- Sex Advice [Sesso in confessionale], 1974, d. Vittorio De Sisti, MYA, 26 January
- Troma's War, 1988, d. Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman, Troma, 26 January

Blu-ray

- The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue [Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti, aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie], 1974, d. Jorge Grau, Blue Underground, 27 October
- Stargate, 1994, d. Roland Emmerich, Lionsgate, 27 October
- Logan's Run, 1976, d. Michael Anderson, Warner, 10 November
- Monsters, Inc., 2001, d. Peter Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, Disney, 10 November
- The Mask of Zorro, 1998, d. Martin Campbell, Sony, 1 December
- The Mel Brooks Collection [Blazing Saddles / Spaceballs / Young Frankenstein / High Anxiety / History of the World: Part 1 / Robin Hood: Men in Tights / Silent Movie / To Be or Not to Be / The Twelve Chairs], 1970-1993, d. Mel Brooks, Alan Johnson, Fox, 15 December
- Versus, 2000, d. Ryuhei Kitamura, Tokyo Shock, 29 December
- The Green Berets, 1968, d. Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, Mervyn LeRoy, Warner, 5 January
- Magnolia, 1999, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, New Line, 19 January
- The Toolbox Murders, 1978, d. Dennis Donnelly, Blue Underground, 26 January

Date Changes/Delays

- Rage, 2009, d. Sally Potter, Liberation [available now, as opposed to in November]
- Made in France [Origine contrôlée], 2001, d. Ahmed Bouchaala, Zakia Tahri, Synkronized USA, now 10 November
- The House of the Devil, 2009, d. Ti West, MPI, now 8 December [moved up]
- Hansel & Gretel, 2007, d. Yim Pil-Sung, Tokyo Shock, now 29 December
- The Brothers Bloom, 2009, d. Rian Johnson, Summit [according to a friend, available for rental everywhere, but won't be for purchase until a later date]
- Tennessee, 2008, d. Aaron Woodley, Vivendi [sorry, Mariah fans, delayed until further notice]
- Casualties of War, 1989, d. Brian De Palma, Sony, Blu-ray [postponed indefinitely]
- Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, Sony, Blu-ray [postponed indefinitely]

AK 100

As promised, Criterion will be releasing a box-set to coincide close with what would have been Akira Kurosawa's 100th birthday (which happens to be on the same day as my 26th anniversaire). The set, which retails for about $400, contains 25 films, some of which will be making their R1 DVD premiere, and does not include Ran, as Eric pointed out to me. The included titles are listed below (bold for DVD premiere):

- Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
- Sanshiro Sugata 2 (1945)
- Most Beautiful, The (1944)
- The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
- No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
- One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
- Drunken Angel (1948)
- Stray Dog (1949)
- Scandal (1950)
- Rashômon (1950)
- Idiot, The (1951)
- Ikiru (1952)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- I Live in Fear (1955)
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- Lower Depths, The (1957)
- Hidden Fortress, The (1958)
- Bad Sleep Well, The (1960)
- Yojimbo (1961)
- Sanjuro (1962)
- High and Low (1963)
- Red Beard (1965)
- Dodes'ka-den (1970)
- Kagemusha (1980)
- Madadayo (1993)

Madadayo was previously released by Fox Lorber/Wellspring whose library was (supposedly) owned by The Weinstein Company. I have no idea what that means in terms of other Fox Lorber/Wellspring titles. AK 100 will be available on 8 December.

In other DVD news, Kino has announced Loren Cass for 24 November. Lionsgate will be releasing a number of Blu-rays on the same date: Air America, Angel Heart, Frailty, The Monster Squad and New Police Story, as well as Cujo, My Bloody Valentine and The Way of the Gun which I already mentioned.

September Criterions and Other Upcoming DVD Releases

On the surface, September would seem to be a disappointing month for Criterion, with only two official releases, David Mamet's Homicide and Alexander Korda's That Hamilton Woman (on a side note, I think Criterion should really give Korda a rest, as their staff must include the world's only Korda fanboys). However, they also announced a Blu-ray of Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le fou, in addition to The Complete Monterey Pop Festival. And, similar to their release of Henry Cass' Last Holiday this past Tuesday, they're releasing Réné Clément's Gervaise, Marcel Carné's Le jour se lève and Anatole Litvak's Mayerling, with Danielle Darrieux and Charles Boyer, for the first time on DVD in the US as part of their Essential Art House Collection. Volume 4 of this set also includes Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Tales of Hoffman; all six are available separately as well. I thought a prominent New York newspaper said Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire was coming in September as well, but if it is, they haven't announced it officially.

Sony will be releasing Gregor Jordan's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers on DVD and Blu-ray on 25 August. The film's box office failure may have been one of the contributing factors to its distribution company Senator's shutting down, which came about last week; it's also worth noting that The Informers was first (and last) release from them, leaving a number of other films like the two Mesrine films in limbo. Season 3 of 30 Rock, in my opinion the best yet, will be out on 22 September from Universal; Salma Hayek, Jon Hamm, Oprah Winfrey and Alan Alda make memorable guest appearances throughout the season.

Sony announced Carlos Cuarón's Rudo & Cursi on DVD and Blu-ray for 25 August. Strand will be releasing Veiko Õunpuu's Sügisball on 22 September and Yôji Yamada's Kabei: Our Mother on the 8th. And finally, Sony will also release Steven Sodebergh's sex, lies and videotape on Blu-ray on 25 August. More catch-up soon!

Le mépris, Ran and Others on Blu-ray in the UK This Fall

Despite the bad news that Criterion's planned Blu-rays of Jean-Luc Godard' Contempt [Le mépris] and Akira Kurosawa's Ran were scrapped due to the loss of rights, Optimum Releasing in the UK has both, plus a bunch of other exciting titles, set for a Blu-ray release in September. The other titles include: David Lynch's The Elephant Man, Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad [L'année dernière à Marienbad], Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour, Joseph Losey's The Go-Between (which isn't even out on DVD in the US), Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum [Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann], Luc Besson's Le dernier combat, Angel-A, Léon: The Professional, Le grand bleu [The Big Blue], Atlantis, Subway and Nikita [La femme Nikita].

In August, Optimum will be releasing Blu-rays of Mathieu Kassovitz's La haine, Alan Parker's Angel Heart and Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark; in July, Alexandre Aja's Haute tension (which is called Switchblade Romance in the UK), Roman Polanski's The Pianist, Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs, Rian Johnson's Brick, Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Stephen Frears' The Grifters. Apparently, the UK is the place for great international cinema in high def.

Also, thanks to Eric for the heads up, Artificial Eye in the UK is releasing a Jacques Rivette box-set, which includes La belle noiseuse, Secret défense and Jeanne la Pucelle I and II. This may be the first official release of the uncut version of Jeanne, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Some Re-Releases in July, Bad News for Ran, Plus 2 of the Best Music Videos You'll See All Year

Ryko's release schedule for July features two exciting re-issues and a new-to-DVD title from Italy. Elio Petri's The 10th Victim [La decima vittima], with Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress, and Marco Bellocchio's Devil in the Flesh [Il diavolo in corpo], with Maruschka Detmers, are returning to circulation from Blue Underground and MYA respectively, while Cult Epics brings us Tinto Brass' experimental The Howl [L'Urlo], with Tina Aumont, makes its DVD debut in the US. For Aumont fans, Blue Underground is also re-issuing Sergio Matino's giallo Torso [I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale]. Rounding out the rest of Ryko's July DVD titles are:

Sergio Bizzio's Animalada from Synapse
Sergio Matino's spaghetti western Arizona Colt Returns from MYA
Robert Hatford-Davis' Black Torment [aka Estate of Insanity] from Redemption
Buddy Giovinazzo's Combat Shock [aka American Nightmare] from Troma
Enzo G. Castellari's Eagles over London [La battaglia d'Inghilterra] on DVD and Blu-ray from Severin
Frank: Diary of an Assassin from S'more
In Search of the Great Beast 666 from Disinformation
Anna Terean's Kevorkian: Right to Exit from Indie-Pictures
Fred Burnley's Neither the Sea Nor the Sand [aka The Exorcism of Hugh] from Redemption
Roger A. Scheck's Nobody Loves Alice from Indie-Pictures
Naoki Kudo and Terry Ito's Oh! My Zombie Mermaid from Eastern Star
Rodrigo Grande's Rosarigasinos from Synapse
Milan Cieslar's Spring of Life [Pramen zivota] from Redemption

Also look for Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby and Enzo G. Castellari's Inglorious Bastards [Quel maledetto treno blindato], just in time for Quentin Tarantino's remake, on Blu-ray from Blue Underground and Severin. All discs street on 28 July.

Magnolia has three titles lined up for June: Sean McGinley's The Great Buck Howard, with Tom Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt, Colin Hanks, Steve Zahn and Adam Scott, on 21 July; Hitoshi Matsumoto's Big Man Japan on 28 July; and Tony Stone's Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America on 28 July.

Lionsgate will release Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son, based on the work of Denis Johnson, on 23 June. Universal previously released the film on DVD in 2001; it stars Samantha Morton, Billy Crudup, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper, Denis Leary, Jack Black, Michael Shannon, Mark Webber, Ben Shenkman and Will Patton, as well as author Johnson and Miranda July in small roles. Oscilloscope has Stephen Kijak's Scott Walker: 30 Century Man for 16 June, and ThinkFilm/Image has John Maybury's The Edge of Love, with Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, on 14 July.

As for box-sets, Sony has packaged five previously unavailable Jack Lemmon films together for 9 June. The set includes Mark Robson's Phffft!, with Judy Holliday and Kim Novak; Richard Quine's Operation Mad Ball, with Ernie Kovacs, Mickey Rooney and Kathryn Grant; Quine's The Notorious Landlady, with Novak, Fred Astaire and Lionel Jeffries; David Swift's Under the Yum Yum Tree; and Swift's Good Neighbor Sam, with Romy Schneider. Kino also has a box coming of John Barrymore films from the 20s on 7 July. The box includes Albert Parker's Sherlock Holmes; Alan Crosland's The Beloved Rogue, with Conrad Veidt; Sam Taylor, Lewis Milestone and Viktor Tourjansky's Tempest; John S. Robertson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; and the shorts Vagabonding on the Pacific and Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride, as well as an except from an earlier version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by J. Charles Haydon. As far as I know, Sherlock Holmes will be the only title available separately.

And bad news for Blu-ray collectors: Criterion's release of Ran has been "withdrawn from the schedule due to a rights issue." The 2-disc DVD set of the film has also gone out-of-print now. And, I'm sure you know who's responsible for the rights issue. Yes, it's the Weinsteins, who hold the rights to a number of Fox Lorber/Wellspring's catalogue, though of course they haven't done much with it.

And finally, might I direct your attention to two amazing music videos from Fever Ray, the solo project of The Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson. "If I Had a Heart," directed by Andreas Nilsson who did many of The Knife's videos, is the opening track off the self-titled album, and the video manages to out-creep even Chris Cunningham's Aphex Twin videos. "When I Grow Up," directed by Martin de Thurrah, is the album's second track, and focuses its attention on a girl who looks like the lovechild of Carrie White and the scary disfigured girl in the basement from Martyrs. Both represent the best music videos of 2009 so far, and if you haven't picked up the album, it comes highly recommended.

Aujord'hui

I have what could be the hottest collection of famous people to share a birthday with: Akira Kurosawa, Michael Haneke, Amanda Plummer, Damon Albarn, Catherine Keener, Chaka Khan, John Bobbitt, Hope Davis, Richard Grieco, Keri Russell and Ric Ocasek [Correction: AND Joan Crawford. Holy shit.]

Criterion + Others

Criterion announced their slate for March, which includes Akira Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den which I thought was the last Kurosawa film to become available in the US (I don't know where I got that information as I know neither The Most Beautiful nor Sanshiro Sugata are available). The other titles include Andrzej Wajda's Danton, starring Gérard Depardieu and Patrice Chéreau, Roberto Rossellini's Il generale della Rovereand with Vittorio De Sica and a new disc for François Truffaut's The Last Metro [Le dernier métro], also starring Depardieu as well as Catherine Deneuve and Andréa Ferréol. The latter will include a short film entitled Une histoire d'eau, "co-directed" by Truffaut and Godard.

Universal has set 17 February for Changeling. Choke will be out from 20th Century Fox on the same day. Hunter Hill and Perry Moore's Lake City is hitting DVD shelves on 3 March from Screen Media Films. The film, which premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, stars Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, Rebecca Romijn and Drea de Matteo.

Strand Releasing announced Claude Miller's Un secret for 10 March. And finally, Water Bearer Films will have Lior Shamriz's Japan Japan (from Israel) and Rémi Lange's Devotee (from France) on 24 February. I have a much bigger list of UK and French DVDs coming in early 2009, but I'll post that later this week.

MIA List Update

It's officially 2008, and of the surplus of titles I listed for MIA in 2008 on Region 1 disc, only nine have so far been announced. I also noticed that I included the films Mother Joan of the Angels and Amos Gitai's Promised Land on the list even though they had already been released in the US (albeit by lousy studios, Polart and Sisu, respectively). The titles you can cross off the list are as follows:

I Live in Fear - dir. Akira Kurosawa - Eclipse/Criterion
Le bonheur - dir. Agnès Varda - Criterion
She's Gotta Have It - dir. Spike Lee - MGM
Détective - dir. Jean-Luc Godard - Lionsgate
Passion - dir. Godard - Lionsgate
Hélas pour moi - dir. Godard - Lionsgate
Fiorile - dir. the Taviani brothers - Koch Lorber
The Kingdom 2 - dir. Lars von Trier, Morten Arnfred - Koch Lorber
Lost Highway - dir. David Lynch - Universal

If you have a region-free player, a couple other titles have been announced for Region 2, including Alain Resnais' Je t'aime, je t'aime (08/01), Jacques Rivette's L'amour par terre (25/02), Victor Sjostrom's The Phantom Carriage (11/02), and Nagisa Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth, retitled Naked Youth in the UK (25/02)

Cuatro / cinq / et, je t'emmerde, FFC!

Paramount has officially announced the long-overdue documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse for the 20th of November. The film serves as a wonderful companion piece to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, a lot like Burden of Dreams to Fitzcarraldo (though I don't think Apocalypse Now is shitty, as I do about Fitzcarraldo).

UPDATE: And, Eclipse has announced Akira Kurosawa's I Live in Fear as part of January's Eclipse series, which will include Postwar Kurosawa films.

UPDATE 2: Shut the fuck up Francis Ford Coppola. You've probably heard about him bitching about Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro... and, as I'm sure many people have noted, this reeks of hypocrisy. Sure, any and all cinephiles are probably less-than-pleased with any of the work those three have done in the past decade or so... but, you!? Wasn't your last movie an adaptation of a John Grisham novel? And before that, a shitty comedy with Robin Williams? Wasn't Fran Drescher and Jennifer Lopez in that too? Also, thanks for re-editing and bringing that piece of ass The Legend of Suriyothai to the US. It was groundbreaking... oh wait, no, it just sucked. Stay in your vineyard and shut up, Francis; you're actually making me defend Jack "Anger Management" Nicholson, Al "Simone" Pacino, and Robert "Hide and Seek" De Niro. Thanks a lot.

Mi cumpleaños

In addition to today being my golden birthday (23 on the 23rd), don't forget to wish Amanda Plummer, Chaka Khan, Catherine Keener, porno stars Octapussy and Champagne, Felicity's Keri Russell, musician Poe, John Wayne Bobbitt, Damon Albarn, Richard Grieco, Hope Davis, Michael Haneke, Ric Ocasek, and the late Akira Kurosawa a happy birthday as well. I think I'm in good company.