A couple of the more savvy studios have already announced a handful of titles for the early-2008 DVD schedule. I always wonder why the beginning of the year isn’t a bigger landing ground for interesting DVD releases, as the studios “drop the kids off at the pool” with their theatrical releases around this point. Granted, there’s always those “we opened in NY and LA for one day for Oscar consideration” films that trickle down during these months, but theatre-going in January blows.
Here’s a few of the announced DVDs for January and February of 2008:
Adrift in Manhattan - Available in an “unrated” edition, the film follows a couple of Yanks as they go about their daily subway transit in the Big Apple. Stars William Baldwin and Heather Graham.
Affair to Remember, An - 50th Anniversary Edition
Amateurs, The [aka
The Moguls] - A film about a bunch of old farts that decide to make a porn flick with a huge (and weird) cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Tim Blake Nelson, Joe Pantoliano (or Joey Pants, as we like to call him), Ted Danson, Lauren Graham, that beast Jeanne Tripplehorn (I hope she is the lead actress in the porn), Judy Greer, Steven Weber, and that stupid, deep-voiced guy who played Ray Romano’s older brother on that stupid TV show.
Big Bang Love: Juvenile A - Apparently, this is Takashi Miike’s personal favorite of all of his films, even better than it’s a boys-in-love-in-prison film. For Miike to say this is his favorite is a bold statement as I think he releases at least five films a year.
Breaker Morant
Death Sentence - I like Kevin Bacon. I’ll see it. It’s bound to be better than
The Brave One.
Eagle vs. SharkEugénie de Sade - Jess Franco’s erotic adaptation of the Marquis de Sade, starring the luscious Soledad Miranda.
Golden Door - Seriously, this film is really good; rent it when it comes out. The combination of Agnès Godard’s cinematography and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s presence should be reason alone.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - 40th Anniversary Edition - Not me.
Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The - Alan Arkin is a deaf-mute, sentimentality follows.
In the Shadow of the MoonJoshua - 20th Century Fox buried this film deep, canceling numerous of its releases, all for no good reason, it’s excellent.
King of California - Why do I have to see Evan Rachel Wood in every other film out these days?
Kingdom, The - Series 2
Klimt - I won’t see this… John Malkovich is in it.
Lake Placid 2 - The SciFi channel makes a lot of shit, but here’s hoping that Cloris Leachman belts out the lines like Betty White did in the original: “If I had a dick, this is where I’d tell you to suck it.”
Not for or Against [
Ni pour, ni contre] - From the director of that horrid
L’Auberge espagnol, with Diane Kruger, Vincent Elbaz.
Personal Best - First time on DVD, see Mariel Hemingway lez it out while running track.
Ritz, The - Terrence McNally’s play is supposed to be much better than this film adaptation, but I love the fact that the main character mistakes Rita Moreno for a drag queen. Also starring Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham, and Treat Williams.
Scenes of a Sexual Nature - A British sex comedy with Hugh Bonneville, Adrian Lester, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Eileen Atkins, Sophie Okonedo, and Polly Walker.
See How They Fall [
Regarde les hommes tomber] - From the director of
The Beat That My Heart Skipped and
Read My Lips, with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Yanne, Bulle Ogier, Mathieu Kassovitz.
Sex & Breakfast - Ew, an American sex comedy with Macaulay Culkin, Eliza Dushku, Kuno Becker, Tracie Thoms.
Smiley Face - Gregg Araki’s stoner comedy (yeah, I know) with Anna Faris, Jane Lynch, Adam Brody, John Krasinski, John Cho, Marion Ross, Danny Trejo. The cast is appealing, but I guess Araki didn’t know how to follow up
Mysterious Skin.
Sunshine - Danny Boyle’s ode to the beauty of sun and Cillian Murphy.
Tell Me a Riddle - Oscar-winning actress Lee Grant (
Shampoo,
Valley of the Dolls) directs this road film about old people and death.
Twister - Special Edition - Could you really pair anyone worse than Bill Paxton (I actually typed Bill Pullman, because I really don’t know the difference) and Helen Hunt as a lame couple chasing tornados? Oh, and if you want to barf, check
this link to see what Helen Hunt was wearing at the premiere. [I couldn't resist posting the photo above that I found in my google image search for Twister; it's better than the movie]
Yes, but… [
Oui, mais…] - French girl comes of age. Count me in.
Zodiac - Director’s Cut - If you haven’t read, it’s only five or so minutes longer. Here’s hoping that certain shit was cut or reedited, because I already sold away my theatrical version DVD.
Cinema Libre announced the first two DVD releases of their Jean-Jacques Beineix collection, Roselyne and the Lions [Roselyne et les lions] on 14 July and IP5: The Island of Pachyderms [IP5: L'île aux pachydermes] on 18 August. As Eric pointed out, the studio is re-releasing Beineix's most famous film Betty Blue, with Béatrice Dalle and Jean-Hughes Anglade, in theatres before a DVD release next year.
As for other DVD announcements, PeaceArch will release Marianna Palka's Good Dick on 1 September, as well as Valentino: The Last Emperor, on DVD and Blu-ray, 15 September. MPI is releasing Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel's Deadgirl on both formats 15 September. James Cotton's La linea, with Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta, will be out through Maya on 10 November. Facets is set to re-release Wojciech Has' trippy Saragossa Manuscript on 28 July. Oscilloscope will add Treeless Mountain to the already crowded 15 September street date. And sometime in October, Water Bearer Films will be releasing Philippe Vallois' We Were One Man [Nous étions un seul homme] for the first time on DVD in the US.
On the Blu-ray horizon, a couple of noteworthy titles have been announced. Shout! Factory will have Takashi Miike's Audition on 7 October; from Sony, The Craft on 13 October; and from Dark Sky, John McNaughton's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer on 29 September... all in time for Halloween. That's all for now. I'll resume the Decade List soon. I've taken a needed break from it by revisiting Six Feet Under.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jeremy at, of course, The Moon in the Gutter for finding this. Cinema Libre has the dates set for all of their Beineix releases, including a box-set with all of them on 1 December. According to their site, a DVD of Beineix's Locked-In Syndrome [Assigné à résidence], a documentary about Jean-Dominique Bauby who was the subject of Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Otaku and his first short Mr. Michel's Dog [Le chien de Monsieur Michel] was released today, but I didn't find it on Amazon.com. Mortal Tranfer [Mortel transfert], also with Jean-Hughes Anglade, will hit shelves on 22 September, and The Moon in the Gutter [La lune dans le caniveau], with Nastassja Kinski, Gérard Depardieu and Victoria Abril, will be out 20 October. It also didn't dawn on me that the studio's theatrical release of Betty Blue would be the first time it's officially been shown in its full version in the US. Betty Blue will be on DVD on 17 November.
