Saturday, September 27, 2008
New DVD releases round up 29th / 30th September.
Sifting through this weeks crop of contemporary DVD releases, we've come up with some recommendations for you.
In the UK, our pick of the DVD releases on 29th September 2008 are:
Leolo tells the story of a young boy (Leolo), who is being brought up in squalid conditions in a shabby tenement in Montreal that he shares with his family - most of whom seem plagued by madness. To escape these conditions, he increasingly retreats into a world of his own imagination where he looks to find some path to happiness, whether it be falling in love with his beautiful neighbour, or by killing his Grandfather whom Leolo blames for the genetic failure of the entire family. When Leolo's two worlds start to merge, the escape he longs for him pushes him into increasingly desperate actions.
Leolo A quite remarkable piece of work that we have made DVD release of the month for September 2008, see elsewhere in the blog for details and the trailer. The Network label is renowned for its classic TV releases (everything from Emmerdale Farm 1st series to Budgie to The Owl Service to Michael Bentines Potty Time through to 3 volumes of Pipkins - all firm favourites with us), and is also building up an impressive roster of films in its catalogue. Only last week it released the classic The Red Balloon, and Leolo is the latest in a long line of films released by Network that, but for them, otherwise might not have been released on DVD. These include many films we have recommended in the past to you such as Billy The Kid And The Green Baize Vampire, The Chain, Bloody Kids, The Fruit Machine and The Buster Keaton Chronicles.
Caligula (Imperial edition). Not a film for the faint hearted. The notorious Caligula holds a unique position in cinematic history. Commissioned by Penthouse publishing magnate Bob Guccione with a very impressive budget and some considerable talent both in front (Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole) and behind the camera (director Tinto Brass writer Gore Vidal), the film was envisaged as being a legitimate attempt at making an epic film of the life of the insane Roman emperor. As filming progressed over a protracted period however, Guccione increasingly the wished to interfere in its making and insited on inserting some pretty much hardcore sequences into Brass' original cut. When Brass left the project Guccione took over the editing of the film with the expected results. The film itself was never truly going to be a masterpiece (check out I Claudius for that), however it is still a pretty good film despite some of the botching done to it. This 4 disc release includes 3 different cuts of the film but equally as important some truly superb extras including great commentaries, and some fascinating documentaries too.
Irina Palm. This one slipped out almost unseen last year. Starring the ever wonderful Marianne Faithfull and ever gorgeous Jenny Agutter. The film follows the exploits a middle-aged widow who, in order to raise money to pay for her grandson`s medical bills, takes a hostess job in a sex club. She soon finds she can turn her hand to almost anything. Sorry for the cheesy write up - the film is much better than our blurb. Marianne Faithfull is superbly convincing in this unnacustomed and slightly unexpected role as a shy widow, and the film hangs together very well as one of the best brit coms of recent times.
In the USA, the pick of the DVD releases on 30th September 2008 are:
Taxi To The Dark Side. The film that quite correctly won the 2007 Oscar for best documentary feature. This film makes for extremely uncomfortable viewing. The film centers around the death of a completely innocent young taxi driver in Afghanistan, who is subjected to horrifying torture / interrogation in prison at the hands of the American forces. His death, from the injuries sustained in his interrogation is not unique, either in Afghanistan Guantanomo etc, and the film goes onto explore how the US administration appeared to ("unofficially") condone the tactics of torture in the name of democracy.
An Autumn Afternoon aka Sanma no aji . This final film by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu was originally released in 1962, and it tells the story of a widower who has to encourage his daughter to lead her on life rather than look after him in his old age. The film is something of a masterpiece, deceptively paced, acutely observed and meaningfully powerful, Ozu's trademarks are all also apparent here. Yet another classic Criterion release.
The Hairdresser's Husband aka Le Mari de la coiffeuse. The story of Antoine, a little boy who falls in love with the local hairdresser, and in his obsession he gets his hair cut as often as he can. When he grows up, his obsession with hair cutting is undiminished, and one day meets a hairdresser, Mathilde, and for both of them it is love at first sight, but not necessarily all happy endings. Another superb offering from Patrice Leconte and ranks alongside L'Homme du train and Monsieur Hire as some of his finest work to date.
Other recommended new DVD releases can be found on our site at alt-flix.co.uk DVD releases.
In the UK, our pick of the DVD releases on 29th September 2008 are:
Leolo tells the story of a young boy (Leolo), who is being brought up in squalid conditions in a shabby tenement in Montreal that he shares with his family - most of whom seem plagued by madness. To escape these conditions, he increasingly retreats into a world of his own imagination where he looks to find some path to happiness, whether it be falling in love with his beautiful neighbour, or by killing his Grandfather whom Leolo blames for the genetic failure of the entire family. When Leolo's two worlds start to merge, the escape he longs for him pushes him into increasingly desperate actions.
Leolo A quite remarkable piece of work that we have made DVD release of the month for September 2008, see elsewhere in the blog for details and the trailer. The Network label is renowned for its classic TV releases (everything from Emmerdale Farm 1st series to Budgie to The Owl Service to Michael Bentines Potty Time through to 3 volumes of Pipkins - all firm favourites with us), and is also building up an impressive roster of films in its catalogue. Only last week it released the classic The Red Balloon, and Leolo is the latest in a long line of films released by Network that, but for them, otherwise might not have been released on DVD. These include many films we have recommended in the past to you such as Billy The Kid And The Green Baize Vampire, The Chain, Bloody Kids, The Fruit Machine and The Buster Keaton Chronicles.
Caligula (Imperial edition). Not a film for the faint hearted. The notorious Caligula holds a unique position in cinematic history. Commissioned by Penthouse publishing magnate Bob Guccione with a very impressive budget and some considerable talent both in front (Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole) and behind the camera (director Tinto Brass writer Gore Vidal), the film was envisaged as being a legitimate attempt at making an epic film of the life of the insane Roman emperor. As filming progressed over a protracted period however, Guccione increasingly the wished to interfere in its making and insited on inserting some pretty much hardcore sequences into Brass' original cut. When Brass left the project Guccione took over the editing of the film with the expected results. The film itself was never truly going to be a masterpiece (check out I Claudius for that), however it is still a pretty good film despite some of the botching done to it. This 4 disc release includes 3 different cuts of the film but equally as important some truly superb extras including great commentaries, and some fascinating documentaries too.
Irina Palm. This one slipped out almost unseen last year. Starring the ever wonderful Marianne Faithfull and ever gorgeous Jenny Agutter. The film follows the exploits a middle-aged widow who, in order to raise money to pay for her grandson`s medical bills, takes a hostess job in a sex club. She soon finds she can turn her hand to almost anything. Sorry for the cheesy write up - the film is much better than our blurb. Marianne Faithfull is superbly convincing in this unnacustomed and slightly unexpected role as a shy widow, and the film hangs together very well as one of the best brit coms of recent times.
In the USA, the pick of the DVD releases on 30th September 2008 are:
Taxi To The Dark Side. The film that quite correctly won the 2007 Oscar for best documentary feature. This film makes for extremely uncomfortable viewing. The film centers around the death of a completely innocent young taxi driver in Afghanistan, who is subjected to horrifying torture / interrogation in prison at the hands of the American forces. His death, from the injuries sustained in his interrogation is not unique, either in Afghanistan Guantanomo etc, and the film goes onto explore how the US administration appeared to ("unofficially") condone the tactics of torture in the name of democracy.
An Autumn Afternoon aka Sanma no aji . This final film by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu was originally released in 1962, and it tells the story of a widower who has to encourage his daughter to lead her on life rather than look after him in his old age. The film is something of a masterpiece, deceptively paced, acutely observed and meaningfully powerful, Ozu's trademarks are all also apparent here. Yet another classic Criterion release.
The Hairdresser's Husband aka Le Mari de la coiffeuse. The story of Antoine, a little boy who falls in love with the local hairdresser, and in his obsession he gets his hair cut as often as he can. When he grows up, his obsession with hair cutting is undiminished, and one day meets a hairdresser, Mathilde, and for both of them it is love at first sight, but not necessarily all happy endings. Another superb offering from Patrice Leconte and ranks alongside L'Homme du train and Monsieur Hire as some of his finest work to date.
Other recommended new DVD releases can be found on our site at alt-flix.co.uk DVD releases.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]