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DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 9th May 2011

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

The King’s Speech (Momentum): Oscar winning drama about the unlikely relationship between King George (Colin Firth) and his unconventional speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush). Directed by Tom Hooper, it wowed festival circuit and went on to win Best Picture, becoming one of the highest grossing British films of all time. [Full review] [Buy it on Blu-ray and DVD]

The Way Back (E1 Entertainment): Drama about a group of prisoners who break out of a Russian gulag in the early 1940s and venture across Asia in their escape. Directed by Peter Weir, it stars Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell and Saiorse Ronan. [Full review] [Buy it on Blu-ray and DVD]

I Saw The Devil (Optimum Home Releasing): Dark and violent Korean thriller about a twisted serial killer (Choi Min-sik) and the man who pursues him (Lee Byung-hun). Directed Kim Ji-woon, it has attracted acclaim but also a degree of controversy for its more extreme scenes. [Buy it on Blu-ray and DVD]

Blue Valentine (Optimum Home Releasing): Powerful US indie drama depicting how a couple (Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) fall in (and out of) love over the course of several years. Directed by Derek Cianfrance, it reaped critical acclaim and Oscar nominations. [Full review] [Buy it on Blu-ray and DVD]

Upside Down – The Story of Creation Records (Revolver Entertainment): British documentary about influential UK indie label Creation Records and their maeverick founder Alan McGhee, who signed acts such as Ride, Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine and Oasis. Directed by Danny O’Connor, it features interview with McGee and the bands he signed. [Full review] [Buy it on Blu-ray and DVD]

Client 9 (Dogwoof): Documentary about the rise and fall of disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who was caught up in a prostitution scandal which triggered his resignation just a few months before the financial crisis in 2008. Directed by Alex Gibney. [Buy it on DVD]

ALSO OUT

Casshern Sins: Part 1 (Manga Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Chico and Rita (Cinema NX Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Civilisation: The Complete Series (2 Entertain) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Laputa – Castle in the Sky (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
My Neighbours the Yamadas (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
The Pillow Book (Park Circus) [Blu-ray / DVD]

> UK Cinema Releases for Friday 6th May 2011
> The Best DVD & Blu-ray releases of 2010

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 14th January 2011

NATIONAL RELEASES

The Green Hornet (Sony Pictures): This story featuring the masked vigilante, who previously appeared in radio serials, comic books and a TV series, updates the action to modern day Los Angeles. When Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), inherits his father’s media empire, he decides to turn his life around and become a crime fighter with the help of a mysterious employee named Kato (Jay Chou).

After recruiting a new secretary (Cameron Diaz), Britt (aka The Green Hornet) takes on a Russian crime boss (Christoph Waltz) who is controlling the city’s underworld operations.

Unlike more recent superhero adaptations, the tone here is closer to an irreverent 1980s action-comedy, with the script by Rogen and Evan Goldberg showing glimpses of their work on Superbad (2007) and Pineapple Express (2008). There are some amusing moments, mainly between Rogen and Chou as they get to know each other, but mostly this is formulaic stuff.

One dimensional characters, explosions, Matrix-style fight sequences and a general feel of creative auto-pilot make you wonder if Michel Gondry actually directed this.

This is getting a major release, so it will be very interesting to see how it fares against The King’s Speech and 127 Hours as they enter their second weeks. Bad word of mouth could be a problem for a comedy like this but the action could be a pull for undemanding audiences. [Read the full review here] [Nationwide / 12A]

Conviction (20th Century Fox): A legal drama based on the real life case of Betty Anne Waters (HIlary Swank), an unemployed single mother who exonerated her wrongfully convicted brother (Sam Rockwell) of murder over the course of two decades.

Directed by Tony Goldwyn, the case makes for a potentially gripping film which is never quite realised. Although the performances are solid (especially Swank and Rockwell), it is hampered by too many cliches and the pedestrian direction which gives it a TV-movie vibe. [Nationwide / 15]

Henry’s Crime (Entertainment Film Distributors): This offbeat romantic comedy is an unambitious man named Henry (Keanu Reeves), who has his dull routine change when he stumbles across an armed robbery crime scene and is mistaken by police for one of the robbers and thrown into jail.

There he shares a cell with career criminal Max (James Caan), who becomes a mentor of sorts and on his release, Henry joins forces with Max to commit the crime for which he figures he has already done the time, and becomes romantically entangled with local TV presenter (Vera Farmiga), who literally runs into him at the crime scene. [Nationwide / 15]

ALSO OUT

Blue Valentine (Optimum Releasing): The changes in a long-term relationship are examined with rare intimacy in this second feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance. Over the course of several years we see how a young couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), fall in and out of love over a number of years.

Juxtaposing their initial, youthful courtship (shot on super 16mm) with their marital struggles (filmed on the Red One digital camera), it employs clever framing along side the contrasting visual palettes to convey how their lives have changed.

The narrative and visual design is impressive, conveying the passage of time and providing a highly effective counterpoint for the two stages of their relationship.

Already acclaimed after a buzz-fuelled run on the festival circuit, it looks likely to snag Oscar nominations for Gosling and Williams. Although a tough watch in places, it feels like a breath of fresh air in the current climate for movies. Highly recommended. [Selected cinemas nationwide / 15]

Brotherhood (Kaleidoscope): Directed by Will Canon, this US thriller uses college initiation ceremonies as the backdrop to explore who a group of students spiral out of control. [/ 15]

Travellers (High Fliers): A Deliverance-style British thriller about a group of guys from the city who venture into the countryside only to be terrorised by Irish travellers. Directed by Kris McManus. [Selected cinemas / 18]

Yamla Pagla Deewana (Eros International): Bollywood comedy-drama film directed by Samir Karnik, starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol in the lead roles. [Acton Vue, Feltham Cineworld, Harrow Vue, Trocadero & Key Cities]

> Get local cinema showtimes at Google Movies or FindAnyFilm
> UK DVD & Blu-ray releases for Monday 10th January 2011, including Catfish and I’m Still Here

Categories
Cinema Reviews

Blue Valentine

The changes in a long-term relationship are examined with rare intimacy in this second feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance.

Over the course of several years we see how a young couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), fall in and out of love over a number of years.

Juxtaposing their initial, youthful courtship (shot on super 16mm) with their marital struggles (filmed on the Red One digital camera), it employs clever framing along side the contrasting visual palettes to convey how their lives have changed.

The narrative and visual design is impressive, conveying the passage of time and providing a highly effective counterpoint for the two stages of their relationship.

Co-written by Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis, the script manages to avoid the clunking clichés that can haunt mainstream relationship movies.

Not only does it contain telling details that reveal much about the characters, it also significantly leaves room for speculation as to what happened in the intervening years.

Cianfrance and DP Andrij Parekh also shoot scenes with a vivid sense of being in the room with these characters. At times the effect can be claustrophobic, but it heightens the drama without resorting to cheap theatrics.

But what really gives Blue Valentine added kick is the two lead performances: Gosling is a convincing as a genuinely decent man, whose lack of ambition and devotion to his young daughter (Faith Wladyka), make him a bad husband but a good father.

Williams in some ways has the harder role, as a frustrated wife pushing for change but finding herself increasingly isolated in her wants and desires. Together, they form a completely believable couple in both sections of the film.

The almost total lack of false beats in their scenes together seems like a product of Cianfrance giving his actors room to improvise and feel like awkward, real people instead of puppets controlled by a screenwriter.

One of the most astute elements of the film is the way in which it depicts the snowballing conflicts in a crumbling relationship, when innocent words and actions quickly become weapons seized upon by the frustrated parties.

There are other aspects to admire: an atmospheric score from Grizzly Bear, solid – if fleeting – supporting performances from John Doman, Mike Vogel and Ben Shenkman; and an exploration of class, which is rare in most American movies.

The considered pace and often raw emotions might prevent Blue Valentine from breaking out of the indie realm, but it has already garnered deserved praise on the festival circuit at Sundance and Cannes.

Coupled with strong awards season buzz, it marks a remarkable turnaround for Derek Cianfrance, who has persevered for years to follow up his first feature Brother Tied (1998).

The independent film world is currently in a state of crisis, with many films outside the studio ecosystem struggling to be financed or distributed, but the existence of this film is a heartening reminder that the indie flame can still burn brightly.

Blue Valentine opens in the UK on January 14th and is currently on limited release in the US.

> Official site
> Blue Valentine reviews at Metacritic
> Derek Cianfrance at the IMDb