US DVD Update, 16 January

In taking time off from film writing for the past few weeks, I've been surprised how much I don't particularly miss doing it. At least, not yet. So, I apologize for the only updates on here being DVD announcements, but I'll be returning to actual writing soon. So for now, here's probably the most exciting release update so far this year, with dates announced for Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Serge Bozon's La France (one of my favorite films of the past decade), Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata, Jennifer M. Kroot's It Came from Kuchar and Ondi Timoner's We Live in Public. Also, Blu-rays for Death Race 2000 and William Friedkin's hilariously awful Jade (in its unavailable-on-DVD director's cut, as far as I've heard), as well as Michael Mann's Collateral. And Sony has also announced a Hammer box-set, including Joseph Losey's These Are the Damned (also known as The Damned) with Oliver Reed, which is posted below the Blu-rays.

DVDs

- Bitch Slap, 2009, d. Rick Jacobson, 20th Century Fox, 2 March
- We Live in Public, 2009, d. Ondi Timoner, Indiepix, 2 March
- Gentlemen Broncos, 2009, d. Jared Hess, also on Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox, 2 March
- Dread, 2009, d. Anthony DiBlasi, Lionsgate, 23 March
- Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009, d. Wes Anderson, also on Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox, 23 March
- Hidden [Skjult], 2009, d. Pål Øie, Lionsgate, 23 March
- An Education, 2009, d. Lone Scherfig, also on Blu-ray, Sony Pictures, 30 March
- Focus/Refocus: When Porn Kills, 2009, d. Tony DiMarco, Breaking Glass Pictures, 30 April [A "softcore" edit of the most expensive gay porn film of 2009]
- AIR: The Musical, 2009, d. Jeremy Osbern, Cinema Epoch, 6 April
- Five Minutes of Heaven, 2009, d. Oliver Hirschbiegel, also on Blu-ray, IFC Films, 6 April
- La France, 2008, d. Serge Bozon, Lorber Films/Kino, 6 April
- All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, 2010, d. Tim Rutili, Indiepix, 13 April
- Evening Primrose, 1966, d. Paul Bogart, Koch Vision, 20 April, w. Anthony Perkins
- The Horse Boy, 2009, d. Michel O. Scott, Zeitgeist, 20 April
- Mammoth, 2009, d. Lukas Moodysson, IFC Films, 20 April
- Uncertainty, 2008, d. Scott McGehee, David Siegel, IFC Films, 20 April
- Dark Nature, 2009, d. Marc de Launay, also on Blu-ray, Troma, 27 April
- Raging Sun, Raging Sky [Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo], 2009, d. Julián Hernández, TLA Releasing, 27 April
- Matinee, 1993, d. Joe Dante, Universal, 4 May
- No Time for Sergeants, 1958, d. Mervyn LeRoy, Warner, 4 May, w. Andy Griffith
- Tokyo Sonata, 2008, d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, here! Films, 4 May
- The World Unseen, 2007, d. Shamim Sarif, here! Films, 4 May
- Misconceptions, 2008, d. Ron Satlof, here! Films, 18 May
- Murder in Fashion [aka Fashion Victim], 2008, d. Ben Waller, here! Films, 18 May
- It Came from Kuchar, 2009, d. Jennifer M. Kroot, Indiepix, 15 June


Blu-ray

- Collateral, 2004, d. Michael Mann, DreamWorks/Paramount, 30 March
- Jade, 1995, d. William Friedkin, Lionsgate, 6 April
- Lords of Dogtown, 2005, d. Catherine Hardwicke, Sony Pictures, 6 April
- The Natural, 1984, d. Barry Levinson, Sony Pictures, 6 April
- The Relic, 1997, d. Peter Hyams, Lionsgate, 6 April
- Rock 'n' Roll High School, 1979, d. Allan Arkush, Joe Dante, Jerry Zucker, Shout! Factory, 4 May
- Death Race 2000, 1975, d. Paul Bartel, Shout! Factory, 22 June


Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films, Sony Pictures, 6 April

- Stop Me Before I Kill! [aka The Full Treatment], 1960, d. Val Guest
- Cash on Demand, 1961, d. Quentin Lawrence, w. Peter Cushing
- Never Take Candy from a Stranger [aka Never Take Sweets from a Stranger], 1960, d. Cyril Frankel
- Maniac, 1963, d. Michael Carreras
- The Snorkel, 1958, d. Guy Green
- These Are the Damned [The Damned], 1963, d. Joseph Losey, w. Oliver Reed

Bardot and some other DVDs I forgot to mention...

I must have somehow overlooked a box-set Image is releasing of 3 Brigitte Bardot flicks, under the name The Brigitte Bardot Classic Collection. The set includes three previously released Home Vision titles (are more to come? I sure hope so since HVE stopped putting out DVDs around the time Criterion introduced their Eclipse series): Roger Vadim's The Night Heaven Fell [Les bijoutiers du clair de lune], Marc Allégret's Plucking the Daisy [En effeuillant la marguerite] and Vadim's Don Juan; or If Don Juan Were a Woman [Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme...], Bardot's final film.

A few other DVD announcements that rolled by since my last post: the complete series of The Shield from Fox on 3 November; Michael Mann's Public Enemies on 10 November from Universal; and Blu-rays of Cujo and My Bloody Valentine, the original film in its director's cut, from Lionsgate on 24 November.

DVD Update, 13 July

Not a totally exciting list, but here's what's been announced recently, in descending order of release.

DVD

- Sleep Dealer, 2008, d. Alex Rivera, Maya Releasing, also on Blu-ray, 8 September
- Marelene, 1984, d. Maximilian Schell, Kino, 6 October
- Made in France [Origine contrôlée], 2001, d. Ahmed Bouchaala, Zakia Tahri, Synkronized USA, 13 October, w. Ronit Elkabetz
- Black Rain, 1989, d. Shohei Imamura, AnimEigo, 20 October
- Fados, 2007, d. Carlos Saura, Zeitgeist, 20 October
- Born of Fire, 1983, d. Jamil Dehlavi, Mondo Macabro, 27 October, w. Peter Firth
- Graveyard Disturbance [Una notte al cimitero], 1987, d. Lamberto Bava, MYA Communication, 27 October

Blu-ray

- The Exorcist, 1973, d. William Friedkin, Warner, 8 September
- Easy Rider, 1969, d. Dennis Hopper, Sony, 13 October
- Heat, 1995, d. Michael Mann, Warner, 10 November

Some Changes

The Blu-rays of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead have been upped to 22 September. Jeremiah Zagar's In a Dream will now be out 29 September. The Blu-ray of sex, lies and videotape has been pushed to 15 September. The news about a release of the theatrical version of Grindhouse on DVD and Blu-ray was bogus. Shout! Factory will also release a 2-disc Collector's Edition of Audition on DVD in addition to the Blu-ray on 7 October. And finally, Kino's I Can See You and The Viewer will now be out 27 October instead of in September.

Countdown to the Oscars (bleh), Part 2

I was inspired by someone else's blog (I don't remember who it was) to make a rundown of the decade at the Academy Awards. In this post, I'll list the ten best and worst Best Picture nominees, and after tabulating my list, I realize how pathetic it really is. I only really like the top four, and the remaining six I can only give faint praise (and, yes, Erin Brockovich really is better than Traffic). In the middle of posting this, I realized how stupid this whole list is, since I was cluelessly going by the year of the ceremonies instead of the year of the film's release. Double bleh. I suppose I'll keep going anyway. The Best Picture nominees I didn't see (and probably won't except for Master and Commander) are: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Seabiscuit (well, more than ten minutes); Good Night, and Good Luck.; Munich; Letters from Iwo Jima.

The Ten Best "Best Picture" Nominees

1. No Country for Old Men (2008, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
2. There Will Be Blood (2008, Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001, Ang Lee)
4. Milk (2009, Gus Van Sant)
5. The Insider (Michael Mann, 2000)
6. In the Bedroom (2002, Todd Field)
7. The Departed (2007, Martin Scorsese)
8. Brokeback Mountain (2006, Ang Lee)
9. Capote (2006, Bennett Miller)
10. Erin Brockovich (2001, Steven Soderbergh)

The Ten Worst "Best Picture" Nominees

1. Crash (2006, Paul Haggis)
2. The Reader (2009, Stephen Daldry)
3. Ray (2005, Taylor Hackford)
4. The Cider House Rules (2000, Lasse Hallström)
5. Moulin Rouge (2002, Baz Luhrmann)
6. Chocolat (2001, Lasse Hallström)
7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009, David Fincher)
8. A Beautiful Mind (2002, Ron Howard)
9. Babel (2007, Alejandro González Iñarritu)
10. Gangs of New York (2003, Martin Scorsese)

Presque... encore...

After much hesitation, I have finally completed my best of the year list, even without seeing The Queen. Sorry, Helen Mirren. I have crammed 20 films into the list, though of course all you care about is the 10, so I'll refrain from commenting on the latter 20 and focus on the tops. Even though I've compiled a list of 20, I still am feeling the need to mention a few other films (making this list really surprised me with the number of exceptional films I saw this year). Those other films include Jean-Marc Vallée's C.R.A.Z.Y., Caveh Zahedi's I Am a Sex Addict, Todd Field's Little Children, Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, James Marsh's The King, Lars von Trier's Manderlay, and Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly. Just to get you prepared: here are the eleventh through twentieth best films of 2006.

11. Heading South (Vers le sud) - dir. Laurent Cantet - France/Canada - Shadow Distribution

12. Shadowboxer - dir. Lee Daniels - USA - Code Black Entertainment

13. Jackass Number Two - dir. Jeff Tremaine - USA - Paramount

14. Clean - dir. Olivier Assayas - France/Canada/UK - Palm Pictures

15. Dave Chappelle's Block Party - dir. Michel Gondry - USA - Rogue Pictures

16. 20 Centimeters (20 centímetros) - dir. Ramón Salazar - Spain/France - TLA Releasing

17. The Intruder (L'intrus) - dir. Claire Denis - France - Wellspring

18. Miami Vice - dir. Michael Mann - USA - Universal

19. Somersault - dir. Cate Shortland - Australia - Magnolia

20. Next Door (Naboer) - dir. Pål Sletaunen - Norway/Denmark/Sweden - TLA Releasing

Short Cuts 8 December 2007

Idlewild - dir. Bryan Barber - 2006 - USA

Here’s the bad news first. Macy Gray, as (surprise) a boozy lounge singer, does not come near matching her brilliant performance in Shadowboxer here. The good news? No chance for another Oscar nomination to cancel her out (though, really, who wouldn’t vote for her in Shadowboxer?) Actually, the real bad news about Idlewild has nothing to do with Macy Gray, but that the film is a total dud. The musical numbers may be snappy, but they’re also really run-of-the-mill. André Benjamin and Antwon “Big Boi” Patton might have made for charismatic leads in a far better production. I can’t tell you how many people would have much rather seen a film adaptation of Outkast’s Speakerboxxx and The Love Below than this undercooked Prohibition-era musical.

Cote d'Azur (Crustacés et coquillages) - dir. Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau - 2005 - France

Why does the term French sex romp flow from the tongue so easily? Perhaps because all three words are synonymous with one another (though we could probably attach a whole different set of words with “French”). From the boys who brought us The Adventures of Félix (Drôle de Félix), My Life on Ice (Ma vraie vie à Rouen), and Jeanne and the Perfect Guy (Jeanne et le garçcon formidable), Cote d’Azur (or, literally, Seafood and Shellfish - with this and Le temps qui reste, Strand Releasing has a tendency to fuck up translations) finds an affluent family vacationing in the south of France. Béatrix (the lovely Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) is the free-spirited young mother, terribly “tolerant” due to her Dutch family lineage as she constantly reassures her husband throughout the film. Her husband Marc (Gilbert Melki) is alternately tightly-wound, always keeping himself busy with Mr. Fix It projects. Their teenage son Charly (Romain Torres) has created a jerk-off chamber in the shower, frequently causing the hot water tank to run dry. There’s a teenage daughter as well, but she disappears in the first twenty minutes to fuck a dreamy motorcyclist in Portugal. Charly invites his gay friend Martin (Edouard Collin) to stay with the family, raising suspicions from his mother and father about his sexuality. As he’s coldly androgynous and closed off from his parents, Béatrix and Marc suspect he might be a little light in the loafers, which appears to affect them little. Ducastel and Martineau create such a wonderfully whimsical and refreshing world with Cote d’Azur, just as they did in their gentle and moving Félix; the world of Cote d’Azur is one without real consequences as the characters, especially Béatrix, seem to enjoy one another’s company so much that their fuck-ups really don’t matter. Bruni-Tedeschi, an Italian/French actress/director, really steals the film here, though the rest of the cast is quite good. Once her other lover shows up, Bruni-Tedeschi, sensuous and youthful, revel in her teenage-like affair. Sexual liaisons in Cote d’Azur are never depicted as dirty or wrong, even in the instance of extramarital affairs and gay cruising; instead, they blossom onscreen like fresh, exotic flowers. It may come as a surprise that the film has a striking depth about human and familial relations, but it certainly won’t surprise you when the entire cast breaks out in song and dance before the credits roll.

Miami Vice - dir. Michael Mann - 2006 - USA

Your reservations in seeing a film adaptation of the now-silly Don Johnson television series, starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, are duly noted. But in the hands of Michael Mann, who co-wrote some episodes of the show, Miami Vice is actually one of the better films of the year. That Miami Vice isn’t as good as Mann’s Heat isn’t so much a criticism as an observation, as Heat was truly one of the finest films of the 1990s (and perhaps the last great film Pacino or De Niro will ever make). Foxx and Farrell play undercover cops, named the same from the television show but baring little resemblance to them in terms of character and even race. Really, you can forget that this film has anything to do with that TV show, because the similarities end there. The two cops, with the aid of the undercover team (28 Days Later’s Naomie Harris, Justin Theroux, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Domenick Lombardozzi), try to find out what went wrong with a police sting that resulted in the death of two cops. The pair successfully make their way “in” with a Columbian drug trade, headed in part by the stunning and mysterious Isabella (Gong Li, impressive despite learning her lines phonetically). Mann has a way of crafting some of the most tense and raw sequences you’ll ever see in a film of this type; one in which the agents have to rescue one of their own is especially nail-biting. Though his strength lies there, he also balances the action with a surprisingly effective doomed love tale between Farrell and Li, an act that should have slowed the film down but somehow ripened it. Miami Vice had disaster written all over it, so you can now note that your reservations really don’t hold up anymore.

20 Centimeters (20 centímetros) - dir. Ramón Salazar - 2005 - Spain/France

As the third musical that I‘ve reviewed in this post (though don‘t you think Miami Vice might have been a little better had the drug lords greeted Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell in a lush Busby Berkeley number?), 20 Centimeters is one of the liveliest, most entertaining films I‘ve seen in a long while. Marietta (Mónice Cervera) is a narcoleptic transvestite who turns tricks to pay for her sex change. More Björk in Dancer in the Dark (if Lars von Trier had actually cared about her) than Hedwig, Marietta dreams up elaborate Rogers & Hammerstein musical numbers when she passes out, singing to the tunes of Queen and Madonna, to name a few. Her narcolepsy is both a curse and blessing, keeping her from holding respectable jobs, yet permitting her to act out her high ambitions in dream state. Her penis, too, comes as both a blessing and a curse, as she’s equipped with roughly eight inches (this is where the title comes from) of manhood, holding her back from becoming the true woman she is, but attracting the attention of dreamboat Raul (Pablo Puyol). Marietta lives her life despite such daunting contradictions, eventually hoping to move to Brazil with her neighbor Berta (Concha Galá) and moving away from her tiny apartment she shared with swindling dwarf Tomás (Miguel O’Dogherty). Salazar, writing and directing his second feature, manages to create a sincere depth to his characters through their flaws. From obese, unwed mothers to hyper-critical midgets to well-endowed tranny hookers, these characters find solace in one another and their grand ambitions. Salazar also peppers the film with delightful cameos from the likes of supermodel and Almodóvar favorite Rossy de Palma as a post-op hooker, Lola Dueñas (Volver) as a bitter fruit and vegetable saleswoman, and pop star Najwa Nimri (Sex and Lucía, Open Your Eyes) as a matter-of-fact prostitute with bunny ears and a bun in the oven. There’s always a looming harshness to what goes on in 20 Centimeters, but Salazar never presents this world as bleak; it’s a place where people’s dreams keep them alive just as much as their beating hearts.