The First Werner Schroeter DVD Release in the US? DVD Update 17 November

By my research, Facets' upcoming release of Werner Schroeter's Palermo or Wolfsburg [Palermo oder Wolfsburg] through Filmgalerie 451 will be the first Schroeter film to see a DVD release in the US. Schroeter's three-hour epic won the Golden Bear at the 1980 Berlin International Film Festival. In addition to Palermo or Wolfsburg, Facets will release through Polart Tadeusz Konwicki's Salto, which stars Zbigniew Cybulski (Ashes and Diamonds), and reannounced Ning Ying's For Fun, all for 23 February.

here! Films will finally be releasing Brillante Mendoza's Serbis and György Pálfi's Taxidermia in March, on the 9th and 23rd respectively. No word yet on whether the DVD of Serbis will be uncut, as here!/Regent cut some of the explicit sex from the film for its US theatrical run. Also, for those of you with Sundance Channel OnDemand, Steven Soderbergh's Che and Steve McQueen's Hunger are both available for free right now before Criterion releases them both on DVD and Blu-ray next year.

- Paranormal Activity, 2007, d. Oren Peli, Paramount, also on Blu-ray, 29 December
- The Brothers Bloom, 2008, d. Rian Johnson, Summit, also on Blu-ray, 12 January
- Bright Star, 2009, d. Jane Campion, Apparation/Sony, 26 January
- On the Line [Río abajo], 1984, d. José Luis Borau, Vanguard, 26 January, w. Victoria Abril, David Carradine
- Soul Power, 2008, d. Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Sony, also on Blu-ray, 26 January
- St. Trinian's, 2007, d. Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson, Sony, 26 January
- Black Dynamite, 2009, d. Scott Sanders, Apparation/Sony, also on Blu-ray, 2 February
- New York, I Love You, 2009, d. Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Randall Balsmeyer, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Jiang Wen, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, Vivendi, also on Blu-ray, 2 February
- Palermo or Wolfsburg [Palermo oder Wolfsburg], 1980, d. Werner Schroeter, Filmgalerie 451/Facets, 23 February
- Salto, 1965, d. Tadeusz Konwicki, Polart/Facets, 23 February
- Serbis, 2008, d. Brillante Mendoza, here! Films, 9 March
- Ciao, 2008, d. Yen Tan, here! Films, 23 March
- Taxidermia, 2006, d. György Pálfi, here! Films, 23 march

Avant que je...

Aside from the fact that I'm already sick and motherfucking tired of hearing about people's orgasms while watching the new Batman movie (I'm thoroughly convinced that most people can't really separate Heath Ledger's performance from the film itself, which isn't all that good without him), I really have had nothing noteworthy to say in the past few weeks, and I apologize. This blog has fallen by the wayside of my own existential crisis, and even my film viewing has taken the hit. I would say, "Inspire me to get back into it," but I don't think that'd work. I also wish I could tell you that Jacques Nolot's Avant que j'oublie was worth your time, but simply beginning and ending your film well don't add up to a good movie, even if you are trying your hardest to make a Claire Denis film. I could make a list of all the DVDs sitting next to me that I should be watching instead of listening to music online, but just looking at them is daunting enough.

On a brighter note, for those few remaining Peter Greenaway fans, the Sundance Channel will be airing all three parts of The Tulse Luper Suitcases on Saturday the 26th, beginning at 11 pm CT. They will also be airing Tony Gatlif's Transylvania, with Asia Argento, on Wednesday the 30th at 1:45 P.M. CT. None of these four films are available on DVD in the US (the second and third parts of Tulse Luper totally unavailable on DVD), so jump at your chance.