DVD Release Update, 2 February

As it dawned on me that the season premiere of Lost was tonight an hour too late, I decided to avoid the social networking sites and put together a DVD Release Update; speaking of Lost, the final season (as well as a series box set) will become available on DVD and Blu-ray on 24 August.

For the first time in 2010, there are a bunch of exciting Blu-rays lined up, which includes some of the best (The Maltese Falcon, Happy Together, Battleship Potemkin) and worst (Armageddon, Lost in Space) films of all time. Warner provided something of a blueprint (I'm resisting that stupid pun) for their 2010 High-Def releases. The DVDs are in descending order of release and the ones in italics are for date changes.

- Harlem Aria, 1999, d. William Jennings, Magnolia, 6 April
- Comrades in Dreams, 2006, d. Uli Gaulke, Pathfinder, 13 April
- Defendor, 2009, d. Peter Stebbings, Sony Pictures, 13 April, w. Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings, Elias Koteas, Sandra Oh
- 35 Shots of Rum [35 rhums], 2008, d. Claire Denis, Cinema Guild, 20 April
- Cloud 9 [Wolke Neun], 2008, d. Andreas Dresen, Music Box Films, 20 April
- K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces, 2008, d. Shimako Sato, Viz Media, 20 April, w. Takeshi Kaneshiro
- The Young Victoria, 2009, d. Jean-Marc Vallée, also on Blu-ray, Sony Pictures, 20 April
- Dinah East, 1970, d. Gene Nash, VCI, 27 April
- District 13 Ultimatum [Banlieue 13: Ultimatum], 2009, d. Patrick Alessandrin, also on Blu-ray, Magnet Releasing/Magnolia, 27 April
- Homecoming, 2009, d. Morgan J. Freeman, Paramount, 27 April, w. Mischa Barton
- Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, 1969, d. Chang Cheh, Dragon Dynasty, 4 May
- The Blind Menace, 1960, d. Kazuo Mori, AnimEigo, 11 May
- Tell-Tale, 2009, d. Michael Cuesta, Weinstein Company, 18 May, w. Josh Lucas, Lena Headey, Brian Cox, Dallas Roberts, Ulrich Thomsen, Pablo Schreiber, Jamie Harrold, Michael K. Williams
- Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, 2006, d. Mary Jordan, New Video, 25 May
- Joy, 1983, d. Sergio Bergonzelli, Severin, 25 May
- Joy & Joan, 1985, d. Jacques Saurel, Severin, 25 May, w. Brigitte Lahaie
- The Messenger, 2009, d. Oren Moverman, Oscilloscope, 25 May
- Obscene, 2007, d. Daniel O'Connor, Neil Ortenberg, Arthouse Films, 25 May
- Owl and the Sparrow, 2007, d. Stephane Gauger, Image, 25 May
- Submission of a Woman [Al calar della sera], 1992, d. Alessandro Lucidi, MYA Communications, 25 May
- Mary and Max, 2009, d. Adam Elliot, IFC Films, 15 June
- Starcrash [Scontri stellari oltre la terza dimensione], 1979, d. Luigi Cozzi, Shout! Factory, 10 August

Blu-ray

- The Protector, 2005, d. Prachya Pinkaew, Dragon Dynasty, 5 April
- Battleship Potemkin, 1925, d. Sergei Eisenstein, Kino, 20 April
- Tombstone, 1993, d. George P. Cosmatos, Buena Vista, 27 April
- Armageddon, 1998, d. Michael Bay, Buena Vista, 4 May
- Happy Together, 1997, d. Wong Kar-wai, Kino, 4 May
- Seven Swords, 2005, d. Tsui Hark, Dragon Dynasty, 4 May
- 9 Songs, 2004, d. Michael Winterbottom, Palisades Tartan, 18 May
- Outlander, 2008, d. Howard McCain, Weinstein Company, 18 May
- City of the Living Dead [Paura nella città dei morti viventi], 1980, d. Lucio Fulci, Blue Underground, 25 May
- Django, 1966, d. Sergio Corbucci, Blue Underground, 25 May
- Deep Blue Sea, 1999, d. Renny Harlin, Warner, 3 August
- National Lampoon's Vacation, 1985, d. Amy Heckerling, Warner, 10 August
- Forbidden Planet, 1956, d. Fred M. Wilcox, Warner, 7 September
- Lost in Space, 1998, d. Stephen Hopkins, New Line/Warner, 7 September
- Mars Attacks!, 1996, d. Tim Burton, Warner, 7 September
- THX 1138, 1971, d. George Lucas, Warner, 7 September
- The Maltese Falcon, 1941, d. John Huston, Warner, 5 October
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948, d. John Huston, Warner, 5 October
- Three Kings, 1999, d. David O. Russell, Warner, 12 October
- The Goonies, 1985, d. Richard Donner, Warner, 2 November
- Ben-Hur, 1959, d. William Wyler, Warner, 16 November

Announcing the Universal Vault Series, Part 1: Schrader, Huston, Leisen, Schumacher

After releasing Mitchell Leisen's Remember the Night and a couple of B horror flicks through the Turner Classic Movie Vault, Universal has taken a cue from Warner and their Archive Collection by partnering with Amazon.com to release DVD-R's of catalogue titles. The Universal Vault Series unveiled the first 25 titles, all available for $19.95, which include Paul Schrader's directorial debut Blue Collar, John Huston's star-studded mystery The List of Adrian Messenger, Bruce Beresford's A Good Man in Africa and Mitchell Leisen's Death Takes a Holiday, which was made available previously on Universal's "Ultimate Edition" of the epic bore Meet Joe Black. I've highlighted the titles making their Region 1 debut in bold. I'll try to keep you updated on the newly available Vault titles as I hear of them.

- 40 Pounds of Trouble, 1962, d. Norman Jewison, w. Tony Curtis
- The Black Shield of Falworth, 1954, d. Rudolph Maté, w. Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh
- Blue Collar, 1978, d. Paul Schrader, w. Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley Jr.
- The Brass Bottle, 1964, d. Harry Keller, w. Tony Randall, Burl Ives, Barbara Eden
- A Bronx Tale, 1993, d. Robert De Niro, w. De Niro, Chazz Palminteri
- The Chalk Garden, 1964, d. Ronald Neame, w. Deborah Kerr, John Mills, Hayley Mills
- Death Takes a Holiday, 1934, d. Mitchell Leisen
- Dragnet, 1954, d. Jack Webb
- Gambit, 1966, d. Ronald Neame, w. Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Herbert Lom
- Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain, 1995, d. Kevin James Dobson, w. Anna Chlumsky, Christina Ricci, Diana Scarwid, David Keith
- A Good Man in Africa, 1994, d. Bruce Beresford, w. Sean Connery, John Lithgow, Diana Rigg, Louis Gossett Jr., Joanne Whalley-Kilmer
- The House of the Seven Gables, 1940, d. Joe May, w. Vincent Price
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman, 1981, d. Joel Schumacher, w. Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty
- Kitten with a Whip, 1964, d. Douglas Heyes, w. Ann-Margret
- The Last Remake of Beau Geste, 1977, d. Marty Feldman, w. Ann-Margret, Michael York, Peter Ustinov, James Earl Jones, Trevor Howard
- The List of Adrian Messenger, 1963, d. John Huston, w. Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, George C. Scott
- The Perfect Furlough, 1958, d. Blake Edwards, w. Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh
- Pure Luck, 1991, d. Nadia Tess, w. Danny Glover, Martin Short
- Resurrection, 1980, d. Daniel Petrie, w. Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth
- Ruggles of Red Gap, 1935, d. Leo McCarey, w. Charles Laughton, Mary Boland
- Shoot Out, 1971, d. Henry Hathaway, w. Gregory Peck, Susan Tyrrell
- Shout, 1991, d. Jeffrey Hornaday, w. John Travolta, Heather Graham, Linda Fiorentino, Gwyneth Paltrow
- Spawn of the North, 1938, d. Henry Hathaway, w. Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, John Barrymore
- Stick, 1985, d. Burt Reynolds, w. Reynolds, Candice Bergen, George Segal
- Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, 1969, d. Abraham Polonsky, w. Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Robert Blake

Doctor Zhivago, African Queen, Bergman in Spain: DVD Update 12 January

New DVDs. Another African Queen date change (but... cover art has surfaced, so things are looking more and more official). Scarcely few Blu-ray announcements. However, good news for Bergman fans: the Spanish studio Cameo has announced a Blu-ray release of Fanny & Alexander the mini-series (the UK BR from Palisades Tartan is only the theatrical version), as well as a Collector's Edition DVD of its sequel The Best Intentions [Den goda viljan], which is still MIA on DVD in the US, for 23 February. Written by Bergman, directed by Bille August, winner of the Palme d'Or in 1992, the Collector's Edition will contain both the theatrical version and the little-seen (outside of Sweden) 323-minute television version. This is, as far as I'm aware, the first release of the television version of Fanny & Alexander on Blu-ray, as well as the television version of The Best Intentions on DVD. Sadly, the discs only come with Spanish subtitles, but again, perhaps this is a good sign for an upcoming release in the US. The DVD and Blu-ray announcements below are in descending order of release, and the italicized ones are for date changes.

- The Box, 2009, d. Richard Kelly, also on Blu-ray, Warner, 23 February
- Easier with Practice, 2009, d. Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Breaking Glass Pictures, 2 March
- Where the Wild Things Are, 2009, d. Spike Jonze, also on Blu-ray, Warner, 2 March
- Pirate Radio [The Boat That Rocked], 2009, d. Richard Curtis, also on Blu-ray, Focus Features, 9 March
- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, 2009, d. Lee Daniels, also on Blu-ray, Lionsgate, 9 March
- The African Queen, 1951, d. John Huston, also on Blu-ray, Paramount, 23 March
- Son of Man, 2006, d. Mark Dornford-May, Lorber Films/Kino, 23 March
- Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield, 2003, d. Lee Jun-ik, CJ Entertainment/Virgil Films, 30 March
- Separation, 1968, d. Jack Bond, Microcinema, 30 March
- Voice of a Murderer, 2007, d. Park Jin-pyo, CJ Entertainment/Virgil Films, 30 March
- Fighter in the Wind [Baramui Fighter], 2004, d. Yang Yun-ho, Cinema Epoch, 6 April
- Strictly Ballroom, 1992, d. Baz Luhrmann, Special Edition, Buena Vista, 6 April
- The Missing Person, 2009, d. Noah Buschel, Strand Releasing, 13 April
- The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, 2008, d. Olaf de Fleur Johannsesson, Here! Films, 20 April
- Big Heart City, 2008, d. Ben Rodkin, Vanguard, 20 April, w. Seymour Cassel, Shawn Andrews
- The Blue Tooth Virgin, 2008, d. Russell Brown, Here! Films, 20 April
- Crime of Passion [Delitto passionale], 1994, d. Flavio Mogherini, MYA, 27 April
- Dogora [Dogora: Ouvrons les yeux], 2004, d. Patrice Leconte, also on Blu-ray, Severin, 27 April
- Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight, 2009, d. Wendy Keys, New Video, 27 April
- Oresama, 2004, d. Marumo, Eastern Star, 27 April
- Pornô!, 1981, d. David Cardoso, Luiz Castellini, John Doo, Impulse Pictures, 27 April
- Sweet Teen [Frittata all'italiana], 1976, d. Alfonso Brescia, MYA, 27 April
- Without Trace [...a tutte le auto della polizia], 1975, d. Mario Caiano, MYA, 27 April
- Chelsea on the Rocks, 2008, d. Abel Ferrara, Empire/Hannover House, 4 May
- College Boys Live, 2009, d. George O'Donnell, Water Bearer, 4 May
- Doctor Zhivago, 1965, d. David Lean, 45th Anniversary Edition, also on Blu-ray, Warner, 4 May
- No Orchids for Miss Blandish, 1948, d. St. John Legh Clowes, VCI, 1 June

Blu-ray

- Versus, 2000, d. Ryuhei Kitamura, Tokyo Shock, 30 March
- A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984, d. Wes Craven, New Line/Warner, 6 April
- Class of Nuke 'Em High, 1986, d. Richard W. Haines, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz, Troma, 27 April

The African Queen per chance? DVD Update 10 December

Looks like a brand new date has been given to John Huston's The African Queen by Paramount to either get delayed again or finally see the light of day on, now, both DVD and Blu-ray: 23 February. I would quit mentioning the thing until I had a copy of it in my hand, but it's kinda fun keeping track of all the false starts it's gotten.

The Blu-ray schedule for the US is seriously disappointing, when I hear about all sorts of exciting films getting put out in Europe. The Precious phenomenon has thankfully brought us one good thing in the announcement that Lee Daniels' glorious/awful Shadowboxer is going to come out on Blu-ray on 16 March, so I can see all its absurdity in the highest quality possible. I can't wait. The only other Blu release I found is Dragon Dynasty's release of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin on 2 March.

Magnolia announced John Woo's Red Cliff for 30 March in two different versions: the U.S. theatrical cut, which edited both films together into a two-and-a-half-hour package, and a 2-disc international version, which contains both of the Red Cliff films uncut. And, thanks a lot, Lionsgate for once again tapping into Republic's library to release two films that have been released previously (Frances and Plenty). More exciting than the Casper Van Dien/James Dean made-for-television flick coming to DVD is a Kurt Russell-as-Elvis TV movie directed by John Carpenter! Shout! Factory will release the film, which also stars Shelley Winters, Ed Begley Jr., Pat Hingle and Joe Mantegna, on 2 March. And finally, it would appear as though here! Films release of Brillante Mendoza's Service [Serbis] will be the uncut version as the box cover lists it as the "unrated version." The DVDs below are in descending order of release.

- Cold Souls, 2009, d. Sophie Barthes, 20th Century Fox, 2 February
- The African Queen, 1951, d. John Huston, Paramount, Centennial Collection, also on Blu-ray, 23 February
- Shall We Kiss? [Un baiser s'il vous plaît], 2007, d. Emmanuel Mouret, Music Box Films, 23 February
- Castle in the Sky, 1986, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Special Edition, Studio Ghibli/Disney, 2 March
- Elvis, 1979, d. John Carpenter, Shout! Factory, 2 March
- Frances, 1982, d. Graeme Clifford, Republic/Lionsgate, 2 March
- My Neighbor Totoro, 1988, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli/Disney, 2 March
- Plenty, 1985, d. Fred Schepisi, Republic/Lionsgate, 2 March
- The Wraith, 1986, d. Mike Marvin, Lionsgate, Special Edition, 2 March
- The Art of Being Straight, 2008, d. Jesse Rosen, here! Films, 9 March
- Bulletproof Salesman, 2008, d. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker, First Run Features, 23 March
- Red Cliff, 2008/2009, d. John Woo, Magnet/Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 30 March
- The Yes Men Fix the World, 2009, d. Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr, New Video, 1 April
- Alice Neel, 2007, d. Andrew Neel, New Video, 27 April

Great Moments in Bad Cover Artwork

Inspired by the hideousness that is Lionsgate's cover for John Huston's The Dead, I've been tempted to possibly start a new feature on the blog which will highlight some of the worst DVD covers to surface in the twelve or so years the format has existed. Anyone who has ever worked at a video store or a movie theatre (as I have) could probably spot off at least five awful clichés that plague the world of poster and DVD artwork ("Floating Heads" being the most pervasive, irritating offender). If this does turn into a regular thing on my blog, expect themed posts, such as "Good Films, Bad Covers," "Did you hire your brother to put this together on Microsoft Paint?," "Ethnic Girl Shrugging Her Shoulders," "Offensive Photoshopping," "From Asia, With Love," "Just Because Julia Roberts' Head on a Model's Body Worked on the Poster for Pretty Woman Doesn't Mean It Does Here," as well as a few tributes to the studios who've consistently released ugly covers (Lionsgate, Sony, Koch Lorber, The Weinstein Company/Miramax) and to the gay direct-to-DVD market, who've never ceased to amaze me with their contributions to bad package art. So here are 10 dreadful examples of DVD cover "magic."

1. Repulsion, d. Roman Polanski, Koch Vision, as part of their "Cinema Sirens" Collection, 2001

Probably the most notorious of Koch's "Cinema Sirens" series, which also includes some former public domain flicks starring Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Ava Gardner, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot. With a simple cut and paste, Koch rendered Roman Polanski's terrifying, claustrophobic nightmare into a bargain-bin clunker. One of the worst parts about this cover is that they obviously recognized that what they were releasing was a quality motion picture ("Roman Polanski's psychological masterpiece"), but unfortunately the best way to sell it was with Catherine Deneuve's head on a blurry, purple with polka-dot bikini with matching towel(?) and high heels. Remember that great scene on the beach in Repulsion? Neither do I, but as any fashionable woman knows, never break out the bathing suit without your matching heels.

2. Beatific Vision, d. Sountru, Ariztical Entertainment, 2009

Oh boy! Keep in mind that Ariztical, who specialize in no-budget, nudity-filled gay flicks with the exception of the unfortunately popular Eating Out series and a pair of exceptional films from Tennessee-based filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox, has released Beatific Vision with two different covers: "Mainstream Art" (for Blockbuster, I'd assume) and "Alternative Art" (for the online buyers). What you see above is the "Mainstream Art" (the "Alternative Art" has a pair of male lovers locked in embrace with a sliver of an ass crack), and it is certainly the preferable of the two. The floating image is featured on both covers, but this version really caters to a tamer crowd, who enjoy wearing scarves that match Catherine Deneuve's bathing suit and dressing their pug in leather harnesses. If you were wondering what sort of people were still keeping Blockbuster in business, look no further.

3. Don Juan, d. Jacques Weber, Koch Lorber, 2005

It would seem a difficult task to make an aesthetically displeasing cover when you have Penélope Cruz and Emmanuelle Béart in period attire to work with, but leave it to Koch Lorber to prove me wrong. There's a storm brewing on the beach as Don Juan, played by the director, rides his horse across the tide, but as we all know, Ms. Cruz's beauty can part the most treacherous of cloud formations for the sun to shine upon her. Sadly, Ms. Béart's looks do not have the same powers. Both actresses' eyes are drawn outside of the frame, which would make sense as there's nothing striking going on inside of it, but I get the feeling Cruz's disheveled dress is revealing a little more than just her bare shoulders. Just look at the way Béart gazes downward, lips pouted and hair tussled. As if we needed any indication that what we want to be looking at can't be found in this cover.

4. Federal Protection, d. Anthony Hickox, Lions Gate, 2002

Hello, sexy! Glamourous girls with guns has always been an eye-catcher, but none have gotten my attention as strikingly as the headless, diamond-neckless-wearing lady in Federal Protection. Was this cocktail dress a part of Alexander McQueen's fall collection? I would die and go to fashion heaven if I ever saw Victoria Beckham in this number. With his lips puckered just a little bit and his hair slicked back, Armand Assante's face will be the wave of haute couture fashion, mark my words.

5. Poker in Bed [La signora gioca bene a scopa?], d. Giuliano Carnimeo, Televista, 2009

While one can find plenty of reasons to bitch about Televista, a company who issues unauthorized, VHS-to-bootleg-quality versions of Euro flicks, their cover artwork is especially noteworthy. While I typically wouldn't be the person to ask about which of Edwige Fenech's erotic farces are the best, I'd be silly not to at least mention Poker in Bed, which, if we're going by the cover, features a naughty scene in which Fenech wins the game with her Royal-Flush-from-between-the-legs trick. I also had no idea the Algerian-born actress was blessed with upside-down heart-shaped nipples, and that alone makes Poker in Bed a must-have!

6. Spooky House, d. William Sachs, Studio Works, 2003

Another possible theme for bad covers: Slumming Actors. Featuring not one, but two Oscar winners (Ben Kingsley and Mercedes Ruehl), Spooky House could never be mistaken for simply a bad DVD cover; it is refreshingly honest about everything you need to know about the film. Check out VideoDetective to see the official trailer and marvel at the accuracy in which the cover flaunts its state-of-the-art visual effects. If The Pagemaster was too animated for all you Ben Kingsley fans, Spooky House is the film for you. Side note: Someone needs to teach me how to rip scenes from movies off DVDs, because I searched far and wide, with no avail, for a clip of the theme song that was composed for this gem's title sequence.

7. Partner(s), d. Dave Diamond, Lions Gate, 2005

There's not much more to say about the cover for Partner(s). Just look at that photoshopping! Do you think Michael Ian Black is playing a homosexual? If a picture tells a thousand words, this one lays out the entire screenplay. Why would you even need to rent it? Is it just a coincidence that the film sort of shares a title with one of Hollywood's most notoriously homophobic ventures, which also has winning package art?

8. The Lost Steps [Los pasos perdidos], d. Manane Rodríguez, Agua Verde Audio Visual/TLA Releasing

This might be acceptable for the cover for a slideshow your cousin made for his parents' 50th anniversary, but not for anything else. In fact, I may even compliment your cousin if his skills had advanced to this level, but for a movie studio of any level, this shouldn't even suffice for the cover sheet of a press kit.

9. Five, d. Arch Oboler, Sony Pictures, as part of their Martini Movies, 2009

Thanks a lot Seven for making every film with a number that could maybe pass as a letter in the title the standard. While every single one of Sony's "Martini Movies" are the victims of heinous packaging, 5ive is my favorite offender. You've got a Mount Rushmore line-up of the actors, a screaming baby in one corner and a skeleton's face appearing in some sort of mushroom cloud explosion in the other. Mad props!

10. Thunderpants, d. Peter Hewitt, The Weinstein Company, 2007

Speechless.

Cut Dead

John Huston's final film The Dead, based on a story by James Joyce, will be making its overdue DVD premiere in the US from Lionsgate on 3 November. It's one of the very few notable releases the studio has made all year. They'll also be re-releasing Fred Zinnemann's The Men with Marlon Brando on the same day.

DVD Update, 1 July, Plus Maybe The African Queen After All?

Some DVD release updates, ordered by release date:

- Sin nombre, 2009, d. Cary Fukunaga, Sony, 1 September
- Camille, 2007, d. Gregory Mackenzie, National Entertainment/E1, also on Blu-ray, 15 September, w. Sienna Miller, James Franco, David Carradine
- Easy Virtue, 2008, d. Stephan Elliott, Sony, also on Blu-ray, 15 September, w. Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jessica Biel
- Grace, 2009, d. Paul Solet, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 15 September, w. Jordan Ladd
- Lymelife, 2008, d. Derick Martini, Screen Media, also on Blu-ray, 22 September, w. Alec Baldwin, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon
- O' Horten, 2007, d. Bent Hamer, Sony, 22 September
- Nightmare, 2005, d. Dylan Bank, IFC Films, 29 September
- The Skeptic, 2009, d. Tennyson Bardwell, IFC Films, 6 October, w. Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Zoe Saldana
- American Violet, 2008, d. Tim Disney, Image, also on Blu-ray, 13 October, w. Will Patton, Alfre Woodard, Tim Blake Nelson
- Chinatown, 1974, d. Roman Polanski, Paramount, Centennial Collection, 13 October
- Gnaw, 2008, d. Gregory Mandry, Dark Sky Films, 13 October
- Sorry, Wrong Number, 1948, d. Anatole Litvak, Paramount, Centennial Collection, 13 October, w. Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster
- The Stepfather, 1987, d. Joseph Ruben, Shout! Factory, 13 October, w. Terry O'Quinn
- The Butcher, 2007, d. Kim Jin-Won, Palisades Tartan, 27 October
- Night of Death! [La nuit de la mort], 1980, d. Raphaël Delpard, Synapse, 27 October, w. Charlotte de Turckheim

Also look for Stop Making Sense on Blu-ray from Palm on 13 October and the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol on Blu-ray on 3 November. And, maybe, The African Queen will really come out on 13 October as part of Paramount's Centennial Collection.

Nevermind, The African Queen ain't coming this fall

Via Eric, just as quickly as Paramount announced the long-fucking-overdue release of John Huston's Oscar-winning The African Queen, they've taken that announcement back. Sorry for the confusion, though I think Paramount should be the ones apologizing.

Wait, last year where...?

Again, Criterion has teased me with that Last Year at Marienbad release only to not follow through again for the month of May. Instead, I can already cross off Wise Blood from my 28 M.I.A. on DVD list I made earlier this week (everyone knew it was coming sooner or later). In addition to Wise Blood, they'll have Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle, with Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle, and a box of three films from Shohei Imamura: The Insect Woman, Pigs and Battleships and Intentions of Murder. No Eclipse. Another mildly disappointing month from Criterion.

Update: Nevermind about the no Eclipse. Four films from Alexander Korda.

Spring (And By Summer Fall)

I'm going to be experimenting with a few changes on this blog in the coming weeks, including devising a better way to list DVD announcements. For now, there's no real need, as the holidays kept the studios busy with their Oscar baiters with very few new, noteworthy DVDs announced for spring 09. For starters, Plexifilm's release of 13 Most Beautiful... Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests has been moved to 9 March. The Weinstein Company's release of Martyrs in March looks shaky, so don't be surprised if it doesn't show up then. Actually, be weary of any of the Weinstein Company's films that have been mentioned here; their deal with Blockbuster seems to be screwing up their DVDs' retail.

As for new titles, Sony announced 3 for March: Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (17th), Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married (17th) and Isabel Coixet's Elegy (10th). Facets is releasing Rafi Pitts' It's Winter, from Iran, on 24 March. Warner announced their third box-set of pre-code baddies called Forbidden Hollywood. The titles, all six features directed by William A. Wellman, are Other Men's Women (with Mary Astor and James Cagney), The Purchase Price (with Barbara Stanwyck), Frisco Jenny, Midnight Mary, Heroes for Sale and Wild Boys of the Road. A number of shorts accompany the features, which streets on 24 March. And finally, the band Xiu Xiu will have a music DVD entitled You Can't Hear Me on 24 February.

As for the rest of the releases, here's a rundown of some of the notable UK releases that have already been announced for the upcoming months. Of course, all are subject to change. They are listed in order of release date. Titles unavailable or as of yet unannounced in the US are in sexy red.

Alexandra [Aleksandra] - dir. Alexandr Sokurov - Artificial Eye - 12 January
Eichmann - dir. Robert Young - High Fliers - 12 January [with Thomas Kretschmann, Troy Garity, Franka Potente, Stephen Fry]
The Handmaid's Tale - dir. Volker Schlöndorff - Optimum - 12 January [with Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway]
The Honey Pot - dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - Optimum - 12 January [with Susan Hayward, Maggie Smith, Rex Harrison]
The Living End - dir. Gregg Araki - Verve - 12 January
Red Sorghum - dir. Zhang Yimou - Drakes Avenue - 12 January [with Gong Li]
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon [Les amours d'Astrée et de Céladon] - dir. Eric Rohmer - Artificial Eye - 12 January
Rosebud - dir. Otto Preminger - Optimum - 12 January [with Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough]
Somerstown - dir. Shane Meadows - Optimum - 12 January
Sunday Bloody Sunday - dir. John Schlesinger - Optimum - 12 January [with Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch]
The Wave [Die Wielle] - dir. Dennis Gansel - Momentum - 12 January [with Jürgen Vogel]

This Happy Breed - dir. David Lean - Network - 16 January [
Partner - dir. Bernardo Bertolucci - BFI - 19 January [with Pierre Clémenti, Tina Aumont]
The Chaser - dir. Na Hong-jin - Metrodome - 26 January
The Dardenne Brothers Collection (La Promesse; Rosetta; The Son; L'Enfant) - Artificial Eye - 26 January
Divorce Iranian Style; Runaway - dir. Kim Longinotto, Ziba Mir-Hosseini - Second Run - 26 January
The Fan - dir. Otto Preminger - BFI - 26 January
Import/Export - dir. Ulrich Seidl - Trinity - 26 January
Jar City [Mýrin] - dir. Baltasar Kormákur - Universal - 26 January
The Wong Kar-wai Collection (Ashes of Time Redux; Chungking Express; Happy Together) - Artificial Eye - 26 January
Puffball - dir. Nicolas Roeg - Yume - 1 February [with Donald Sutherland, Miranda Richardson]

The Accidental Husband - dir. Griffin Dunne - Momentum - 2 February [with Uma Thurman, Colin Firth]
Fear(s) of the Dark [Peur(s) du noir] - dir. Various - Metrodome - 2 February
JCVD - dir. Mabroul El Mechri - Revolver - 2 February [with Jean-Claude Van Damme]
A Man Called Adam - dir. Leo Penn - Optimum - 2 February [with Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Cicely Tyson, Ossie Davis, Frank Sinatra Jr.]
Paris - dir. Cédric Klapisch - Optimum - 2 February [with Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini]
Unrelated - dir. Joanna Hogg - Drakes Avenue - 2 February
Gomorrah [Gomorra] - dir. Matteo Garrone - Optimum - 9 February
Laurent Cantet Collection (Human Resources; Time Out; Heading South) - Artificial Eye - 9 February
The Wong Kar-wai Jet Tone Collection (Christopher Doyle's Away with Words; Jeffrey Lau's Eagle Shooting Heroes; Eric Kot's First Love: Litter on the Breeze) - Artificial Eye - 9 February
Alice et Martin - dir. André Téchiné - Optimum - 23 February [with Juliette Binoche, Mathieu
Amalric, Carmen Maura]

Alone Across the Pacific - dir. Kon Ichikawa - Masters of Cinema - 23 February
The Devil and Daniel Webster - dir. William Dieterle - 23 February
Exterminating Angels [Les Anges exterminateurs] - dir. Jean-Claude Brisseau - Axiom - 23 February
Kokoro [The Heart] - dir. Kon Ichikawa - Masters of Cinema - 23 February
Lola Montès - dir. Max Ophüls - Second Sight - 23 February
To Get to Heaven First You Have to Die - dir. Jamshed Usmonov - Trinity - 23 February
Wise Blood - dir. John Huston - Second Sight - 23 February [with Brad Dourif, Harry Dean Stanton]
Federico Fellini Collection (Nights of Cabiria; La Strada; White Shiek) - Optimum - 2 March
Jean-Pierre Melville Collection (Army of Shadows; Le Doulos; Léon Morin, prête; Bob le flambeur, Un flic) - Optimum - 2 March
My Dinner with Andre - dir. Louis Malle - Optimum - 2 March [with Wallace Shawn]

Quiet Chaos [Caos calmo] - dir. Antonio Luigi Grimaldi - 2 March [with Nanni Moretti, Valeria Golino, Alessandro Gassman]
Linha de Passe - dir. Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas - Pathe - 3 March [with Sandra Corveloni]
The Baader-Meinhof Complex [Der Baader Meinhof Komplex] - dir. Uli Edel - Momentum - 9 March [with Moritz Bleibtreu, Alexandra Maria Lara]
Obscene - dir. Daniel O'Conner, Neil Ortenberg - Revolver - 9 March
L'air de Paris - dir. Marcel Carné - Optimum - 16 March [with Jean Gabin]
Les amants criminels [Criminal Lovers] - dir. François Ozon - Optimum - 16 March [with Natascha Régnier, Jérémie Renier, Miki Manojlovic]
'night Mother - dir. Tom Moore - Anchor Bay - 16 March [with Sissy Spacek, Anne Bancroft]
Taxi 4 - dir. Gérard Krawczyk - Optimium - 16 March
À l'aventure - dir. Jean-Claude Brisseau - Axiom - 23 March
Let's Talk About the Rain [Parlez-moi de la pluie; Let It Rain] - dir. Agnès Jaoui - Artificial Eye - 23 March [with Jaoui]

Muriel [Muriel ou Le temps d'un retour] - dir. Alain Resnais - Masters of Cinema - 23 March [with Delphine Seyrig]
A Time to Love and Die - dir. Douglas Sirk - Masters of Cinema - 23 March
The Wind Will Carry Us - dir. Abbas Kiarostami - Artificial Eye - 23 March
Of Time and the City - dir. Terence Davies - BFI - 30 March
Patti Smith: Dream of Life - dir. Steven Sebring - Drakes Avenue - 30 March
Tyson - dir. James Toback - Revolver - 30 March
Waltz with Bashir - dir. Ari Folman - Artificial Eye - 30 March
La gueule ouverte [The Mouth Agape] - dir. Maurice Pialat - Masters of Cinema - 20 April [with Nathalie Baye]
Il grido - dir. Michelangelo Antonioni - Masters of Cinema - 25 May
Une femme mariée - dir. Jean-Luc Godard - Masters of Cinema - 25 May

Criterion in October

As promised, Criterion will officially be releasing Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless in October. Also bowing that month will be Gus Van Sant's Mala Noche, which is in small rotation from Janus Films theatrically right now, and Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven. John Huston's Under the Volcano, with Albert Finney and Jacqueline Bisset, will round out the titles for the exciting month.

I Should Know Better

Chinatown - dir. Roman Polanski - 1974 - USA

Please, if you haven’t seen Chinatown, don’t read this and run to your video store now (and to Josh, who rated the film 1 star on Netflix, try to win back my respect).

I really should know better. Instead of watching pieces of shit like Art School Confidential, I need to just revisit films that actually matter. No matter what your stance is on film versus video, one can’t deny the sizable appeal of home video. How else can one visit and revisit films like Chinatown whenever they want? You don’t have to pay to see the film repeatedly, nor do you have to wait for it to screen in your city. Chinatown, and other masterpieces, can be at your disposal whenever you want. I suppose everyone has films that can continuously amaze, astonish, and eventually break your heart. More than just a litmus test for whether I will like someone or not based on their opinion of Chinatown, Chinatown, for me, is the reason why I adore the cinema. The film, Polanski’s third film after the death of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and his final American feature, works for me in a way other film noirs (especially the neo-noirs) do not. While I hold films like The Maltese Falcon, Pickup on South Street, and Double Indemnity in an extremely high regard, Chinatown has something that these films do not, and it’s something that’s difficult to pick up on a single viewing. Chinatown is, no doubt, a richly textured and layered film; in fact I find myself stumbling over words trying to explain the plot. Thankfully, plot details seldom matter in film noir (look at The Big Sleep if you really want to get lost). One can applaud L.A. Confidential or Brick on the grounds of cleverness and faithfulness, but can we give them praise for their dramatic achievements? I’d say no, though I would accept an argument for the Joseph Gordon-Levitt character as being a bit like Polanski himself. To prefer Chinatown to L.A. Confidential is not to declare one’s self a pessimist or an optimist; it runs deeper than that.

Nicholson detractors, be advised: this ranks with Antonioni’s The Passenger as one of the least “Here’s Jaaaaaack” Nicholson performances. This is likely because he was under the direction of respected foreign auteurs, but I might argue that this is one of Nicholson’s best performances, for the very reason stated above. Though this is not a criticism, watching Chinatown once doesn’t hold the impact of multiple viewings. The film is assuredly plot-heavy in its dealings with the water department and corruption; at times, one even forgets why Faye Dunaway’s Evelyn Mulwray is still in the picture. But without her, Chinatown wouldn’t work on the level that affects me the deepest. Chinatown is all about J.J. Gittes and Eveyln Mulwray. Upon initial viewing, we’re as distracted as Gittes is. What is Evelyn hiding and why? Is she stringing him along like Barbara Stanwyck? Is everything that comes out of her mouth a bold lie like Mary Astor? Our questioning eye, thanks to the incredible singular point-of-view of Gittes by Polanski and screenwriter Robert Townes, doesn’t give Evelyn the sympathy that she so deserves, and it allows us to stray. Since this is after the heyday of noir, Evelyn doesn’t need to function as the cold, conniving femme fatale. This may be her exterior, but beneath the front, she’s a tortured soul, far more sad than the label of “sick woman” her father, Noah Cross (John Huston), gives her. The passion in Chinatown is real, not a sexual guise to achieve the seedy greed and fortune these noir spiderwomen so desire, which is what separates it from the rest. One also cannot really appreciate Faye Dunaway’s brilliant performance on a single viewing. Her performance is wildly complex, and Polanski allows her no trickery. We might assume her to be calculating, but this is only because of our prior cinematic knowledge, and Polanski and Townes play off that. Her frightened shutters and glances scream of a woman damaged, a woman with a dreadful, nearly unspeakable secret. Dunaway allows for the misinterpretation of her nervousness, and this is why she works so amazingly. We see her as Jake does, a mysterious beauty with something to hide. Only upon knowing the secret (which most people know without even seeing the film) does our opinion change. Her “sister, daughter” scene is so ruthlessly powerful, most people find themselves laughing to cover up their violent discomfort. The “sister, daughter” scene ranks among some of the most famous scenes in film history, and it could have been a complete disaster in the hands of a lesser actress. You’re probably screaming something about wire hangers right now, but under the direction of Polanski, there’s nothing remotely amusing about Faye Dunaway here. In fact, I kind of look away every time I see that scene. I can’t imagine another actress pulling that off, even though both Ali MacGraw and Jane Fonda were rumored to have been sought for the role of Evelyn. It may be rather bold of me to say this, but I honestly don’t believe Chinatown would have worked without her.

To scrape away the plot is to find Chinatown, both the film and the place. For Gittes, Chinatown is a bad memory. Chinatown, the location, quite literally becomes a personification of his loss, his own personal damage, and a reminder of why he is the staunch, cold Sam Spade of the film. Chinatown also becomes a black abyss of confusion, lawlessness, and a loss of control. The famous final line, “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown,” sends chills down your spine. You’ve lost, just like Gittes has. Townes has always said that Roman changed the original ending from a happy one to the one that stands now: a bleak, miserable, wholly pessimistic explosion of a conclusion. Seldom do films elicit a physical reaction from me, but the sound of that damned car horn will always make my stomach sink… deep. So deep that just thinking about it has gotten my mind far off track in writing this. Chinatown, the film, is all about the doomed, tragic love affair between Gittes and Evelyn. More than that, it’s about the fucked up way things return to you; it’s a lot like Vertigo if you think about it, only Jack Nicholson has his guard up. He’s a tortured man who’s been rendered cold; James Stewart is a desperate man who’s been rendered obsessive. In a way, Vertigo ends happily. Order is restored, and James Stewart can continue with his life. It’s typical Hitchcock. The world of Chinatown is ruled by chaos and by the untouchable power of the wealthy. Order is certainly not restored; disorder has swooped around, like karma, to destroy Gittes again. I say this about Gittes because, as a viewer, we are him. We’re not Evelyn; she is our lost second chance. You can call Polanski an asshole if you so desire, but you can’t say his tragedy isn’t insanely beautiful and painfully haunting (for another example, see Macbeth).

The moral if this story, kids, is to respect your elders. Never turn down the opportunity for a revisit of the films that move you, even if it’s a Farrelly brothers comedy. True understanding of a film, even one less complex and wonderful as Chinatown, cannot come from one viewing (and, something, never comes at all). But it’s all in the attempt, isn’t it?