DVD/Acquisition Update, 5 December

Here's a quick DVD update, as I haven't posted one in a little while... there's not a lot of surprises to speak of, unless you consider the re-release of a made-for-television movie starring Casper Van Dien as James Dean (and Diane Ladd as his mother!) a serendipitous blessing. Only two Blu-ray releases seemed worthy of mentioning, both from Warner on 2 March: Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans and, one of my childhood favorites, Wolfgang Petersen's The NeverEnding Story. As I told my friend Mike, I bet Limahl's theme song will sound truly breathtaking in high-definition sound (fingers crossed that the music video is included!).

It appears as though Kino will be the official DVD studio for Lorber Films, with the first title being Kay Pollak's As It Is in Heaven [Så som i himmelen], a 2005 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film from Sweden.

In (exciting) acquisition news, Cinema Guild picked up two films in the past week: Maren Ade's Everyone Else [Alle Anderen] and Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's Sweetgrass. Both films screened at this year's New York Film Festival to some really positive notices. Look for them sometime in 2010.

Though I already posted about Strand picking up Catherine Breillat's Blue Beard [Barbe bleue], they informed me that the film, which also screened at the NYFF, will begin its limited run in NYC on 12 March, followed by a DVD release in June. And finally, the DVD release update is below, in descending order of release.

- The Invention of Lying, 2009, d. Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson, Warner, also on Blu-ray, 19 January
- Good Hair, 2009, d. Jeff Stilson, Lionsgate, 9 February
- The Sarah Silverman Program, Season 2, Volume 2, 2008, Comedy Central/Paramount, 9 February
- The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, 2009, d. Rebecca Miller, Screen Media, also on Blu-ray, 16 February
- The Damned United, 2009, d. Tom Hooper, Sony, also on Blu-ray, 23 February
- James Dean: Race with Destiny, 1997, d. Mardi Rustam, MPI, 23 February, w. Casper Van Dien, Diane Ladd
- The Last Hurrah, 2009, d. Jonathan W. Stokes, Cinema Libre, 23 February
- Mr. Right, 2006, d. David Morris, Jacqui Morris, Wolfe, 23 February
- The September Issue, 2009, d. R.J. Cutler, Lionsgate, 23 February
- Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Disney, Special Edition, 2 March
- Ponyo, 2008, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Disney, also on Blu-ray, 2 March
- The Wedding Song [Le chant des mariées], 2008, d. Karin Albou, Strand Releasing, 9 March
- Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, 2009, d. Ti West, Lionsgate, 16 February
- Coco Before Chanel [Coco avant Chanel], 2009, d. Anne Fontaine, Sony, 16 February
- The Beaches of Agnès [Les plages d'Agnès], 2008, d. Agnès Varda, Cinema Guild, 23 February
- Drool, 2009, d. Nancy Kissam, Strand Releasing, 23 March, w. Laura Harring, Jill Marie Jones
- The Lark Farm [La masseria delle allodole], 2007, d. Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Image Entertainment, 23 March, w. Paz Vega, Mortiz Bleibtreu, Ángela Molina, Arsinée Khanjian, Tchéky Karyo

Looks Like There'll Be More Nominees Than Ever at Next Year's Oscars: UPDATED

The Academy's decision to up the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten has already been well documented and discussed, but according to Variety, it looks as if the Best Animated Feature category will be movin' on up as well. As per the rules, if there are 8 to 15 eligible animated features released in a year, the category will appear in the ceremony, with three nominees. However, if 16 or more happen to screen, the nominees move from 3 to 5... and 2009 looks to be that year. With the Spanish-produced, English-language Missing Lynx [El lince perdido] making an Oscar qualifying run despite having no US distributor at the time being and GKIDS picking up the French/British/Belgian co-production The Secret of Kells after Empire Pictures fell through for a qualifying run in December, it looks as if that landmark might be crossed this year. I couldn't find a list of all the eligible titles anywhere online, but by my count, we have: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Pete Docter's Up, Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo, Henry Selick's Coraline, Shane Acker's 9, Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol (maybe), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Adam Elliot's Mary and Max, Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar's A Town Called Panic [Panique au village], The Princess and the Frog, Battle for Terra, Astro Boy, Planet 51, some Disney Tinker Bell movie which played for a week before its DVD release and a Japanese anime Evangerion. I've read that Evangerion, Mary and Max (which IFC will be releasing officially next year) and A Town Called Panic (which Zeitgeist has) have made their qualifying runs already and that another GKIDS release, Mia and the Migoo [Mia et le Migou], may do the same. It looks to have been quite a year for animated films... even if I haven't seen a single one of 'em.

UPDATE: It looks like 20 animated films are in line for the Animated category, according to Screen Daily. Mia and the Migoo will not make a qualifying run after all, and Evangerion was not listed among the 20. Of that 20, the ones I didn't mention above are: Alvin and the Chipmuks: The Squeakquel (ugh) and The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer. According to the source though:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Planet 51, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, and A Town Called Panic have not had their required Los Angeles qualifying run."

Five nominees it is for next year's Oscars.