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blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

DVD & Blu-ray: Broken Embraces

Broken Embraces (Pathe) is the latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar and a ‘romantic noir’ spanning 16 years.

Set in 2008, with flashbacks to 1992 and 1994, it focuses on a film director (Lluis Homar) who’s lost the love of his life (Penelope Cruz) as well as his eyesight to a jealous lover.

The tricky structure is a dramatic device used to comment on and explain the events of the present and although this seems to have put some viewers off – judging by the  mixed reaction it got at Cannes – is still handled impressively.

It also explores guilt and how it can weigh heavily on human relationships, suggesting that the director was possibly drawing on his own life and art, and this is served by some convincing performances.

Homar convey’s a director’s restless desire for his life and art, even when he can’t see, whilst Cruz is as emotionally convincing as she is physically striking.

Her performance is almost a post-modern wink to the relationship between a director and a leading lady.

As you might expect, Almodóvar fills the frame with some captivating images, using primary colours (especially red) as a counterpoint to the heavy emotional situations and characters.

If there is a flaw with the film, it is that it exists almost too neatly within it’s cinema-drenched world: not only is the protagonist a director, but it even references numerous auteurs such as Powell, Hitchcock, Malle, Fellini and even his own 1988 film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Whilst this makes it a treat for cinephiles and an undoubtedly personal work for Almodóvar, it lacks the heart and feeling of his more recent works like Talk to Her and Volver.

The extras on the DVD and Blu-ray Disc include:

  • Short Film: The Anthropophagic Council Woman La Concejala Antropofaga (7 mins 32 secs)
  • 3 x Deleted Scenes (11 mins 50 secs)
  • Directing in Girls and Suitcases (5 mins 30 secs)
  • Original UK Theatrical Trailer (2 mins)
  • Photo Gallery

Broken Embraces is out now from Pathe

> Buy the DVD or Blu-ray Disc from Amazon UK
> IMDb entry

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 1st February 2010

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DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

Sin Nombre (Revolver): A deeply impressive drama about immigrants trying to reach the US (the title is Spanish for “without name”) directed by Cary Fukunaga. The story explores a young Honduran woman (Paulina Gaitan) who wants to start a new life with her father and uncle in New Jersey and a Mexican gang member (Edgar Flores) and his desire to escape his violent past. [Read the full review here]

Broken Embraces (Pathe): The latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is about an ill-fated love triangle lasting 16 years (set in 2008, with flashbacks to 1992 and 1994) focused on a film director (Lluis Homar) who’s lost the love of his life (Penelope Cruz), as well as his eyesight to a jealous lover. [Read the full review here]

ALSO OUT

Aliens in the Attic (Fox) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Away We Go (E1 Entertainment) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Halloween II (2009) (EIV) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
I Hate Valentine’s Day (EIV) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Naruto Unleashed Complete Series 7 (Manga) [Buy it on DVD]
Naruto Unleashed Series 8 Part 2 (Manga) [Buy it on DVD]
Sherlock Hound: The Complete Series (Manga)
Stan Helsing (Anchor Bay) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Army of Crime (Optimum) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Day of the Triffids (2009) (Showbox) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Firm (2009) (Warner) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Invention of Lying (Universal) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Soloist (Universal) [Buy it on DVD]
Waterworld (Universal) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]

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> The Best DVD and Blu-ray releases of 2009
> UK cinema releases for Friday 29th January including Edge of Darkness and Precious

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 28th August 2009

Friday 28 August 2009
Broken Embraces (15) Warner Bros/Pathe Nationwide
Final Destination (15), The (also in 3D) Entertainment Vue West End & Nationwide
Funny People (15) Universal Vue West End & Nationwide
Hurt Locker, The Optimum Releasing C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide
In The Realms Of The Senses (18) (R/I) bfi Distribution BFI Southbank & Key Cities
Jetsam (D) ICA Cinema ICA Cinema
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (15) Momentum Pictures Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities

UK Cinema Releases 28-08-09

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NATIONAL RELEASES

Funny People (Universal): The latest film from director/producer Judd Apatow stars Adam Sandler as a comedian who starts to reassess his life after being informed he has a terminal illness. Co-starring regular Apatow collaborators Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill, it also features supporting turns from Eric Bana and Jason Schwartzmann.

It was a film that divided opinion in the US, with some praising its mix of drama and comedy whilst others were less keen, but after a strong opening weekend at the end of July, business dropped off quickly in subsequent weeks.

Universal will be hoping that UK cinemagoers will be pulled in by the star power of Adam Sandler and the promise of more Apatow-styled hilarity. Given the reasonable marketing campaign it is likely to do solid business but faces a good deal of competition from other national releases this Bank Holiday weekend. [Vue West End & Nationwide / Cert 15]

The Hurt Locker (Optimum Releasing): One of the most critically acclaimed films of recent years (an astounding 94 score on Metacritic) is this war drama about a US bomb disposal unit in Baghdad during the Iraq War in 2004. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it was written by Mark Boal, based on his experiences as a embedded journalist in Iraq.

It stars Jeremy Renner as the team leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal(EOD) unit and Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty as the troops assigned to cover him whilst he defuses the bombs that litter the city. Ralph FiennesGuy Pearce and David Morse all feature in key supporting roles and the film was shot by cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, who also worked on United 93 and various Ken Loach films over the years.

After premièring at the Venice film festival last September the film wqas acquired by Summit in the US and after a deliberately slow roll out has grossed a respectable (for an indie) $11m.

Optimum are the UK distributor and are giving this a decent push at the multiplexes as well as the arthouses, hoping to surf the enormous wave of critical acclaim and buzz which is likely to see it nominated at the Oscars next year. [C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide / Cert 15]

* Listen to my interview with Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal *

Broken Embraces (Warner Bros/Pathe): The latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is a ‘romantic noir’ spanning over 16 years (set in 2008, with flashbacks to 1992 and 1994) that focuses on a film director (Lluis Homar) who’s lost the love of his life (Penelope Cruz) as well as his eyesight to a jealous lover.

Despite getting a relatively mixed reaction when it premièred at Cannes in May, the film does have its admirers and Pathe will be hoping that arthouse audiences will be keen to sample the latest film from one of Europe’s most famous and acclaimed directors. [Nationwide / Cert 15]

The Final Destination (Entertainment): The ‘final’ chapter of the Final Destination franchise starts with a NASCAR race gone horribly wrong and then sees each teenage character who ‘cheated’ death get gruesomely killed off later.

Although a profitable money spinner for New Line (now under the larger control of Warner Bros.) this franchise now seems a little tired but studio chiefs will be eager to see how it does in 3-D. My guess is that it could do rather well (for this kind of film), so maybe we should prepare ourselves for more of its type in the future. [Vue West End & Nationwide / Cert 15]

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IN LIMITED RELEASE

Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (Momentum Pictures): The second part of the diptych about French criminal Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassell) is set in the early 1970s, as the title character gets caught and becomes addicted to his own notoriety. [Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities / Cert 15]

Jetsam (ICA Cinema): A low budget British thriller from first-time British director Simon Welsford about a woman washed up on to beach with no idea how she got there.

In The Realms Of The Senses (bfi Distribution): A re-release from the BFI for this controversial 1976 Franco-Japanese film directed by Nagisa Oshima, which is a fictionalised treatment of an incident in 1930s Japan involving Sada Abe (the woman who cut over her lover’s genitals and carried them around in her handbag). It garnered huge controversy during its release, not only for its subject matter but also for the fact that it contains scenes of unsimulated sexual activity between the lead actors (Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda). [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / Cert 18]

UK cinema releases for August 2009

DVD & Blu-ray Picks for this week (including In the Loop and Shifty (W/C Monday 24th August)

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: August 2009

UK Cinema Releases August 2009

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FRIDAY 7th AUGUST 2009

  • Adam (12A) / 20th Century Fox / C’World Haymarket, Curzon Mayfair, Odeon Covent Gdn. & Nationwide
  • Beautiful Losers / Revolver Entertainment / Key Cities
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (12A) / Paramount / Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Home (15) / Soda Pictures / London & Key Cities
  • Meerkats (PG) / Momentum Pictures / Vues Greenwich, Finchley Road, Fulham & Key Cities
  • Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (15) / Metrodome Apollo Piccadilly Circus
  • Mesrine: Killer Instinct (15) / Momentum Pictures / C’Worlds Fulham Rd, Haymarket, Curzon Soho & Key Cities
  • Orphan (15) / Optimum Releasing / Odeon Covent Gdn., Vue West End & Nationwide
  • The Ugly Truth (15) / Sony Pictures / Vue West End & Nationwide (Previews 5 August)
  • The Yes Men Fix The World (12A) / Dogwoof / Screen-On-The-Green, Gate Notting Hill, Greenwich Picturehouse, Ritzy

WEDNESDAY 12th AUGUST 2009

  • Aliens In The Attic (PG) / 20th Century Fox / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • Bandslam (PG) / E1 Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide

FRIDAY 14th AUGUST 2009

  • A Perfect Getaway (15) / Momentum Pictures / C’Wlds Fulham Rd/Haymarket, Vues Finchley Rd/G’wich & N’wide (Pvws 12 Aug)
  • Imagine That (PG) / Paramount / Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (PG) / (R/I) bfi Distribution / BFI Southbank & Key Cities
  • Mid-August Lunch (U) / Artificial Eye Curzons Mayfair, Renoir, Richmond Filmhouse & Key Cities
  • Sin Nombre (15) Revolver Entertainment / Nationwide
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife (12A) Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide

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WEDNESDAY 19th AUGUST 2009

  • Inglourious Basterds (18) / Universal / Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide (Previews 15 & 16 Aug)

FRIDAY 21st AUGUST 2009

  • Afterschool (18) / Network Releasing / Odeon Panton Street & Key Cities
  • Chiko (18) / Vertigo Films / Odeon Panton Street & Key Cities
  • Dance Flick (15) / Paramount / Odeon West End & Nationwide
  • I Love You Beth Cooper (15) / 20th Century Fox / Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Shorts (PG) / Warner Bros. / Vue Leicester Square & Nationwide (Previews 15/16 Aug)

SUNDAY 23rd AUGUST 2009

  • Scarface (18) (R/I) (D) Universal Cineworld Shaftesbury Ave. & Nationwide

FRIDAY 28th AUGUST 2009

  • Broken Embraces (15) Warner Bros/Pathe Nationwide
  • The Final Destination (also in 3D) / Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • Funny People (15) / Universal / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • The Hurt Locker (15) / Optimum Releasing / C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide
  • In The Realms Of The Senses (18) / (R/I) bfi Distribution / BFI Southbank & Key Cities
  • Jetsam / ICA Cinema ICA Cinema
  • Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (15) / Momentum Pictures / Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities

Keep a look out every Friday for a breakdown of the weekly releases with more detail on each film.

If you have any questions about this month’s cinema releases or any upcoming titles then just email me or leave a comment below.

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