Another Quick DVD Update

I didn't notice anything worth mentioning on the Blu-ray horizon (as usual), so here are some newly announced titles, three noir box sets and a couple of new titles in the Warner Archive.

- The Films of Amos Gitai [ Kadosh / Kippur / Kedma / Alila / Devarim / Yom Yom], 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 1995, 1998, d. Amos Gitai, Kino, 23 February
- The Informant!, 2009, d. Steven Soderbergh, also on Blu-ray, Warner, 23 February
- Soo, 2007, d. Sai Yoichi, Virgil Films, 23 February
- The Baby Formula, 2008, d. Alison Reid, Wolfe, 9 March
- Breaking Bad, Season 2, 2009, also on Blu-ray, Sony, 9 March
- Wonderful World, 2009, d. Joshua Goldin, also on Blu-ray, Magnolia, 16 March, w. Matthew Broderick, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Kenneth Williams, Philip Baker Hall
- Heinrich Himmler: Anatomy of a Mass Murderer [Heinrich Himmler: Aus dem Leben eines Massenmörders], 2008, d. Michael Kloft, First Run, 23 March
- The Statue, 1971, d. Rodney Amateau, Code Red, 23 March
- Ex Drummer, 2007, d. Koen Mortier, Palisades Tartan, 20 April
- Disgrace, 2008, d. Steve Jacobs, also on Blu-ray, Image, 27 April
- Veronica Decides to Die, 2009, d. Emily Young, First Look, 27 April, w. Sarah Michelle Gellar

Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. 1, Sony, 9 February

- The Killer That Stalked New York [aka Frightened City], 1950, d. Earl McEvoy
- Two of a Kind, 1951, d. Henry Levin
- Bad for Each Other, 1953, d. Irving Rapper, w. Charlton Heston
- The Glass Wall, 1953, d. Maxwell Shane, w. Vittorio Gassman

Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. 2, Sony, 9 February

- Night Editor, 1946, d. Henry Levin
- One Girl's Confession, 1953, d. Hugo Haas
- Women's Prison, 1955, d. Lewis Seiler, w. Ida Lupino
- Over-Exposed, 1956, d. Lewis Seiler, w. Richard Crenna

British Film Noir Double Feature, VCI, 23 February

- Twilight Women [aka Women of Twilight], 1952, d. Gordon Parry
- The Slasher [aka Cosh Boy], 1953, d. Lewis Gilbert, w. Joan Collins

New Additions to the Warner Archive

- The Boy with Green Hair, 1948, d. Joseph Losey
- The Canterville Ghost, 1944, d. Jules Dassin, Norman Z. McLeod, w. Charles Laughton
- The Enchanted Cottage, 1945, d. John Cromwell
- The Happy Years, 1950, d. William A. Wellman, w. Dean Stockwell
- Hard, Fast and Beautiful, 1951, d. Ida Lupino
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929, 1929, d. Charles Reisner, w. Buster Keaton, Joan Crawford, John Gilbert, Marion Davies, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
- Sally, 1929, d. John Francis Dillon
- Show Girl in Hollywood, 1930, d. Mervyn LeRoy
- The Strange Love of Molly Louvain, 1932, d. Michael Curtiz
- Untamed Youth, 1957, d. Howard W. Koch, w. Mamie Van Doren

Import/Export, You, the Living in the US; More Studio Canal Blu-rays in the UK; Plus Acquisition Update

Palisades Tartan has announced the DVDs of Roy Andersson's You, the Living and Ulrich Seidl's Import/Export for 12 and 26 January respectively. HBO re-announced the first season of the first season of The Life and Times of Tim, perhaps in preparation for a second season (though I haven't heard anything of the like, so who knows...). We can all utter a sigh of relief that IFC announced Joe Swanberg's Alexander the Last through their MPI deal; had it appeared on the Criterion label, I'd be whining for years to come. And finally, Unearthed Films, now back from the dead, will release John Albo's Flexing with Monty, apparently quite an oddity that's premiering on DVD after fourteen years of production; its star Trevor Goddard died six years ago, but I don't know that his death was the hold-up. As usual, the releases are in descending order of release.

DVD

- Flexing with Monty, 2010, d. John Albo, Unearthed Films/Breaking Glass Films, 5 January
- Big Fan, 2009, d. Robert D. Siegel, First Independent, 12 January
- Love + Hate, 2005, d. Dominic Savage, Cinema Guild, 12 January
- You, the Living [Du levande], 2007, d. Roy Andersson, Palisades Tartan, 12 January
- The Butch Factor, 2009, d. Christopher Hines, Wolfe, 19 January
- Import/Export, 2007, d. Ulrich Seidl, Palisades Tartan, 26 January
- Whip It, 2009, d. Drew Barrymore, Fox, also on Blu-ray, 26 January
- As It Is in Heaven [Så som i himmelen], 2004, d. Kay Pollak, Kino, 2 February
- No Boundaries, 2009, d. Violet Mendoza, Jake Willing, Breaking Glass Pictures, 2 February
- The Vanished Empire, 2008, d. Karen Shakhnazarov, Kino, 2 February
- The Life and Times of Tim, 2008, d. Steve Dildarian, HBO, 9 February
- Alexander the Last, 2009, d. Joe Swanberg, IFC, 23 February
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, 2009, d. John Krasinski, IFC, 23 February
- Colour from the Dark, 2008, d. Ivan Zuccon, Vanguard, 23 February
- Dead Snow [Død snø], 2009, d. Tommy Wirkola, IFC, also on Blu-ray, 23 February
- An Englishman in New York, 2009, d. Richard Laxton, Breaking Glass Films, 23 February
- Paris, 2008, d. Cédric Klapisch, IFC, 23 February
- Swedish Auto, 2006, d. Derek Sieg, IFC, 23 February
- Three Blind Mice, 2008, d. Matthew Newton, IFC, 23 February
- The Vicious Kind, 2009, d. Lee Toland Krieger, Image, 23 February
- Old Enough, 1984, d. Marisa Silver, Scorpion Releasing, 27 April

Date Changes

I wonder if Ichi the Killer will ever come out on Blu-ray; it's been moved more than Billy Jack.

The House on Sorority Row, 12 January
No Impact Man: The Documentary, 19 January
Ichi the Killer Blu-ray, 23 February

Blu-ray

Paramount is releasing the first two Godfather films (and laughably not the third) on Blu-ray separately on 2 February. In foreign Blu-ray news, Studio Canal has announced another batch of releases in the UK: Joseph Losey's The Go-Between (previously announced with the last group, still shockingly MIA on even DVD in the US); Alexander Mackendrick's The Ladykillers; Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless [À bout de souffle] and Pierrot le fou; Just Jaeckin's Emmanuelle; and Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf [Le pacte des loups]. Though Pierrot is already on Blu in the US from Criterion, I guess we'll find out around 15 February whether the discs are region locked or not.

- Atonement, 2007, d. Joe Wright, Focus Features, 26 January
- Pride & Prejudice, 2005, d. Joe Wright, Focus Features, 26 January
- The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration, 1972, d. Francis Ford Coppola, Paramoint, 2 February
- The Godfather, Part 2 - The Coppola Restoration, 1974, d. Francis Ford Coppola, Paramoint, 2 February

Coming Soon from IFC

After their success with the director's Summer Hours [L'heure d'été], IFC Films has already nabbed the latest project from Olivier Assayas, Carlos the Jackal. Carlos focuses on Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, played by Édgar Ramírez (The Bourne Ultimatum, Che), and will premiere as a television mini-series, airing on The Sundance Channel next spring. IFC will be releasing an abridged version of the mini for a fall 2010 release. In another IFC pre-sale, the studio has picked up Julio Medem's Room in Rome [Habitación en Roma], which will likely make its premiere at next year's Berlinale. Room in Rome is the director's first English-language film as well as a remake of the Chilean film En la cama by Matías Bize, though the remake substitutes the original's heterosexual lovers with a hot lesbian duo in Elena Anaya and Natasha Yarovenko. Room in Rome also stars Enrico Lo Verso and Medem regular Najwa Nimri.

Other IFC Films in the pipeline include Ruba Nadda's Cairo Time with Patricia Clarkson; Bahman Ghobadi's No One Knows About the Persian Cats; Claude Chabrol's Bellamy; the Red Riding Trilogy; Josiane Belasko's A French Gigolo [Cliente] with Nathalie Baye and Eric Caravaca (which actually opened over the weekend); Marco Bechis' Birdwatchers; Hong Sang-soo's Night and Day; Nanda Anand's Return to Rajapur; Marco Bellocchio's Vincere; François Ozon's Ricky; Bruno Podalydès' Park Benches [Bancs publics (Versaille rive droite)]; Bruno Dumont's Hadewijch; Marina de Van's Don't Look Back [Ne te retourne pas]; Ryosuke Hashiguchi's All Around Us; Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher's La horde; Alexis Dos Santos' Unmade Beds; Safy Nebbou's Mark of an Angel [L'empriente de l'ange]; Nicholas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising; and more.

More Acquisitions

- I Am Love [Io sono l'amore], d. Luca Guadagnino, Magnolia [w. Tilda Swinton]
- The Exploding Girl, d. Bradley Rust Gray, Oscilloscope
- The Good Heart, d. Dagur Kári, Magnolia [w. Brian Cox, Paul Dano]
- Mother and Child, d. Rodrigo García, Sony Pictures Classics [w. Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, David Morse, Kerry Washington, Amy Brenneman, Marc Blucas, Tatyana Ali, Jimmy Smits]
- The Misfortunates [De helaashied der dingen], d. Felix Van Groeningen, NeoClassics Films
- The Joneses, d. Derrick Borte, Roadside Attractions [w. Amber Heard, David Duchovony, Demi Moore, Gary Cole, Lauren Hutton]
- L'amour caché, d. Alessandro Capone, Cinema Epoch [w. Isabelle Huppert, Greta Scacchi, Mélanie Laurent, Olivier Gourmet]
- Accidents Happen, d. Andrew Lancaster, Image [w. Geena Davis]
- The Wind Journeys [Los viajes del viento], d. Ciro Guerra, Film Movement, available in February for members of Film Movement's monthly program

Brief DVD Update

Palisades Tartan announced a DVD and Blu-ray release on 8 December of Olivier Marchal's 36 [36 Quai des Orfèvres], a crime thriller starring Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, André Dussollier, Valeria Golino, Roschdy Zem, Francis Renaud, Daniel Duval and Anne Consigny. 36 is currently slated for an American remake directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, the 2 Antonio Banderas Zorro films) from Paramount. Palisades Tartan also announced Blu-ray releases for Kim Jin-Won's The Butcher and Paul Spurrier's P for 15 December. I didn't find any other notable Blu-ray releases for this update. It does seem to be a shame that Focus will release Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock on Blu-ray and not Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control or Park Chan-wook's Thirst.

- 36 [36 Quai des Orfèvres], 2004, d. Olivier Marchal, Palisades Tartan, also on Blu-ray, 8 December
- Run! Bitch Run!, 2009, d. Joseph Guzman, Vicious Circle/Breaking Glass Pictures, 8 December
- Taking Woodstock, d. Ang Lee, Focus Features, also on Blu-ray, 15 December
- It Might Get Loud, 2008, d. Davis Guggenheim, Sony, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Half-Life, 2008, d. Jennifer Phang, Wolfe Video, 29 December
- Laila's Birthday, 2008, d. Rashid Masharawi, Kino, 5 January
- No Impact Man: The Documentary, 2009, d. Laura Gabbert, Justin Schein, Oscilloscope, 5 January
- The Burning Plain, 2008, d. Guillermo Arriaga, Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 12 January
- Nurse Jackie, Season 1, 2009, Lionsgate, also on Blu-ray, 23 February

Palisades Tartan Makes Their First Acquisition in Lourdes

Jessica Hausner's third feature Loudres, which screened at both Venice and Toronto this month, was acquired by Palisades Tartan, marking their first new title outside of the Tartan film library. The Austrian film, which Daniel Kasman reviewed at The Auteurs, stars Sylvie Testud, Bruno Todeschini, Léa Deydoux, Elina Löwensohn and Orsolya Tóth.