Author: Ambrose Heron

Editor of FILMdetail

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

DVD Pick: Star Trek

Star Trek DVDThe re-boot of the Star Trek franchise by director J.J. Abrams featured a new cast and a twist which cleverly incorporated old characters whilst paving the way for new stories.

Essentially this is a prequel exploring the back story of the Enterprise crew with Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones and Simon Pegg as Scotty.

After the opening section, which explores how they came to be at Starfleet, they get involved in a conflict with the Romulans, led by the enigmatic Nero (Eric Bana), who is after revenge.

The production design and visual effects are excellent, but it is the script and performances which really engage, in particular the storyline which allows for the return of an old character and the beginning of a new era for the USS Enterprise.

It is available on 1-Disc and 2-Disc DVD versions and Blu-ray Disc.

The extras on each version break down like this:

1-Disc DVD

  • English DD5.1 Surround
  • Commentary by director J.J. Abrams, writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Bryan Burk
  • A New Vision – J.J. Abrams’ vision was not only to create a Star Trek that was a bigger, more action-packed spectacle, but also to make the spectacle feel real. Every aspect of production-from unique locations to the use of classic Hollywood camera tricks-was guided by this overall objective.
  • Gag Reel – Bloopers featuring the entire principal cast.

2-Disc DVD – As above, plus the following additional extras:

  • Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
  • To Boldly Go – Taking on the world’s most beloved science fiction franchise was no small mission. Director J.J. Abrams, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof, and executive producer Bryan Burk talk about the many challenges they faced and their strategy for success.
  • Casting – The producers knew their greatest task was finding the right cast to reprise these epic roles. The cast, for their part, talk about the experience of trying to capture the essence of these mythic characters. The piece concludes with a moving tribute to Leonard Nimoy.
  • Aliens – Designers Neville Page and Joel Harlow talk about the hurdles they faced creating new alien species, recreating the Romulans and Vulcans, and designing the terrifying creatures on Delta Vega for the new Star Trek.
  • Score – As a fan of the original series, composer Michael Giacchino embraced the challenge of creating new music for Star Trek while preserving the spirit of Alexander Courage’s celebrated theme.

The Blu-ray Disc version is a three-disc set (2xBD, 1xDigital Copy) in which you get all of the DVD extras plus several exclusives:

  • English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
  • Commentary by director J.J. Abrams, writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Bryan Burk
  • A New Vision (HD) – See description above
  • Gag Reel
  • To Boldly Go (HD) – See description above
  • Casting (HD) – See description above
  • Aliens (HD) – See description above
  • Score (HD) – See description above
  • Starships (HD) – This chapter focuses on the unique stories behind the creation of the film’s starships.
  • Planets (HD) – The art department had a number of radically different planets to create. Abrams’ desire to shoot on real locations whenever possible led the production team to a number of strange and surprising locations.
  • Props and Costumes (HD) – Russell Bobbitt had the unique challenge of designing props that were both true to the original series and pertinent to today. Likewise, costume designer Michael Kaplan talks about how he designed costumes that paid homage to a classic.
  • Ben Burtt and the Sounds of Star Trek (HD) – When famed sound designer Ben Burtt was hired to create sounds for the first Star Wars film, he took his inspiration from the original “Star Trek” series.
  • Gene Roddenberry’s Vision (HD) – J.J. Abrams, Leonard Nimoy, previous Star Trek writers and producers, and scientific consultant Carolyn Porco describe and commend the optimistic and enduring vision of Gene Roddenberry.
  • Starfleet Vessel Simulator (HD) – Explore extensive data on the U.S.S. Enterprise and the Romulan ship, the Narada. Submerse yourself in breathtaking 360° views and close-ups and review detailed tech information.
  • Trailers

Star Trek is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Paramount

> Buy Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon UK
> Star Trek at the IMDb
> Explore more about the Star Trek franchise at Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray dvd pick

DVD Pick: Fanny and Alexander

Fanny and Alexander DVD
Click on the image to buy the DVD from Amazon UK

Fanny and Alexander is widely regarded as director Ingmar Bergman‘s swansong, even though he went on to write several scripts and direct TV films.

Originally conceived as TV mini-series, it is the story of 10-year-old Alexander Ekdahl (Bertil Guve), his younger sister, Fanny (Pernilla Alwin) and and their well-to-do family in Uppsala, Sweden.

In some ways it was a love letter to Bergman’s own childhood with several set pieces paying homage to his youth: a joyous Christmas gathering of relatives and servants; the emotional wrench when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries an austere minister; their warm relationship with a grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) who ‘kidnaps’ Fanny and Alexander in order to show them love and affection; and many others.

It still ranks as one of his finest films (which is no mean feat given his body of work) and one of the best of the 1980s. One of the most striking aspects is the way in which it goes against the grain of his work in the 1970s with its celebration of the joys amidst the hardships of family life.

A marvellous evocation of childhood, it is still an exquisite film to watch and was deservedly rewarded with Oscars for best foreign film, cinematography (by the incomparable Sven Nykvist), costumes and art direction/set decoration.

This is the 3-hour theatrical cut, which has been digitally restored from the original negative and soundtrack.

For that reason alone it is worth buying but true Bergman fans should also get the 5 hour TV version which is available on Artificial Eye and Criterion, which have more extras.

Fanny and Alexander is out now from Palisades Tartan

> Buy Fanny and Alexander at Amazon UK
> Fanny and Alexander at the IMDb
> Find out more about Ingmar Bergman at Wikipedia

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD Releases: Monday 16th November 2009

DVD Picks 16-11-09

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DVD PICKS

Fanny and Alexander (Palisades Tartan): A re-release for Ingmar Bergman’s classic 1982 film about a young boy named Alexander, his sister Fanny, and their well-to-do family in Uppsala, Sweden. Digitally restored from the original negative and soundtrack this is the three hour theatrical cut. [Read the full review here]

Star Trek (Paramount): The re-boot of the Star Trek franchise by director J.J. Abrams was a big critical and commercial success with a new cast (Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura) and a twist which cleverly incorporated old characters whilst paving the way for new stories. [Read the full review here]

ALSO OUT

Collision (4DVD)
Film Noir Classics (BFI)
For All Mankind (Eureka/Masters of Cinema) [See Blu-ray Picks here]
Four Christmases (EIV)
Love the Beast (Metrodome)
Moon (Sony) [See Blu-ray Picks here]
Soul Power (Eureka/Masters of Cinema)
The Terence Davies Collection (BFI)
Sunshine Cleaning (Anchor Bay)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 (Warner)
The Complete Lone Wolf & Cub Boxset (Eureka)
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Disney)

> Check out all the DVD & Blu-ray releases for November 2009
> Browse more Blu-ray releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check out the latest UK cinema releases including 2012, Taking Woodstock and The White Ribbon (W/C Friday 13th November 2009)

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Clash of the Titans

The trailer for the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans.

Categories
Cinema Interviews Podcast

Interview: James Schamus on Taking Woodstock

James Schamus Taking Woodstock

Taking Woodstock is the latest film from director Ang Lee and is based on the memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte.

James Schamus is a screenwriter and producer who has made many films with Lee including The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain.

He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Focus Features, the arthouse division of Universal Pictures which is one few remaining of its kind in Hollywood.

I spoke with James recently when Taking Woodstock screened at the London film festival last month and you can listen to the interview here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/James_Schamus_on_Taking_Woodstock.mp3]

You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here

Taking Woodstock is out now at UK cinemas

> Download the interview as an MP3 file
> Official UK site for Taking Woodstock
> James Schamus at the IMDb
>Find out more about the 1969 Woodstock festival at Wikipedia

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 13th November 2009

2012 / Taking Woodstock / Harry Brown

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NATIONAL RELEASES

2012 (Sony): The latest CGI disaster-porn blockbuster from director Roland Emmerich is based on the idea that the world will end in 2012 due to an ancient Mayan prophecy.

A large group of people have to deal with the apocalypse: alarmed scientists (Chiwetel Ojiofor and Jimi Mistry) discover the disaster; an everyday guy (John Cusack) struggles to protect his family amidst the chaos; the US president (Danny Glover) tries to be stoic; the chief of staff (Oliver Platt) enacts a secret plan for survivors and lots of people die. Although it is a ludicrous, overblown roller coaster of a film, Sony can expect a huge box office haul for what is essentially a delayed Summer blockbuster. Read my more considered thoughts on the film here. [Nationwide / 12]

Taking Woodstock (Universal): A comedy-drama based on the memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life by Elliot Tiber, it explores a story related to the famous music festival in 1969.

Directed by Ang Lee from a script by James Schamus, it stars Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Liev Schreiber, Emile Hirsch and Paul Dano. Despite premiering at the Cannes film festival earlier this year a combination of moderate reviews and tepid word of mouth means it probably won’t make too much of an impact here. [Apollo Picc Circus, Curzon Soho, Empire, Odeon Covent Gdn. & Nationwide / 15]

Harry Brown (Lionsgate UK): An elderly ex-serviceman and widower (Michael Caine) looks to avenge his best friend’s murder by doling out his own form of justice on a contemporary South London estate.

Although Caine has been doing the rounds promoting this film, it could struggle against the juggernaut of 2012, its restrictive 18 certificate and the fact that it looks like a poor man’s Gran Torino. [Nationwide / 18]

Amelia (20th Century Fox): A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

Although once touted as a possible Oscar contender, some brutal US reviews and distinct lack of buzz mean this will be a short flight at cinemas for this biopic directed by Mira Nair. [Nationwide / PG]

IN LIMITED RELEASE

The White Ribbon poster

The White Ribbon (Artificial Eye): Director Michael Haneke returns with this sparse and chilling tale of strange goings on in a German village during 1913-14.

When one of the villagers begins to suspect that the blonde, blue-eyed children may have something to do with dark atmosphere engulfing the community, the film becomes a meditation on how their generation would embrace the Nazis and Hitler.

It premièred to huge acclaim at this year’s Cannes film festival, winning the Palme D’Or and is also a refreshing change of pace for Haneke after the US remake of Funny Games.

Shot in stark black and white without any score (reminiscent of Peter Brook’s film version of King Lear), it is a disturbing and unsettling experience, which will linger with audiences prepared to give their full attention. A brilliant portrait of the subtle roots of social evil and one that should do healthy arthouse business. [BFI Southbank, Curzons Mayfair, Richmond & Nationwide / 15] * Find out where it is showing here *

Cold Souls (The Works): A quirky indie film with Paul Giamatti playing a man in search of his soul.

The lack of buzz would suggest a Charlie Kaufman-style experiment gone wrong and a minor dent in the UK box office this week. [Curzon Soho & Key Cities / 12A]

We Live in Public (Dogwoof Pictures): A documentary focusing on the life of dot-com entrepreneur Josh Harris, and his exploits over the last decade.

Something of a hit at Sundance earlier this year, it will get a limited release at UK cinemas but positive online buzz will perhaps lead to greater success on DVD. [Greenwich Picturehouse, Odeon Panton St., Ritzy & Key Cities / 15]

The Magic Hour (104 Films): The story of a hustler who gets in trouble with a gang boss in the port town of Sukago agrees to make good with the don by putting him in contact with a mysterious hitman. [Curzon Soho & selected Key Cities / 15]

Tulpan (New Wave Films): Set in Kazakhstan, the film follows the journey of a recently discharged Russian sailor who visits his sister along with her older husband and their three children. [New Wave Films / 12A]

> UK cinema releases for November 2009
> Get local showtimes via Google Movies UK
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Bruno, Gone With The Wind, Heat and Snow White & The Seven Dwarves (W/C Monday 9th November 2009)

Categories
Cinema Thoughts

2012

2012

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The latest CGI disaster-porn blockbuster from director Roland Emmerich is an insane roller coaster ride in the mould of his previous films.

When Sony Pictures hired Emmerich to make 2012 they clearly weren’t doing so in the hope that he would make an intimate examination of how governments respond to a global crisis.

Armed with a huge budget he has constructed an overblown cocktail of his greatest hits: Independence Day (in which the world is devastated by aliens); Godzilla (in which a city is devastated by a lizard);  The Day After Tomorrow (in which the world is devastated by global warming).

Now with 2012 he has crafted a film in which the world is devastated by an ancient Mayan prophecy which sees Earth’s techtonic plates going crazy after a solar flare.

The story has a similar template: alarmed scientists (Chiwetel Ojiofor and Jimi Mistry) discover the disaster; an everyday guy (John Cusack) struggles to protect his family amidst the chaos; the US president (Danny Glover) tries to be stoic; the chief of staff (Oliver Platt) enacts a secret plan and various other characters all respond differently to the coming apocalypse.

In essence, this is a modern day remake of 1970s disaster movies like Earthquake with advanced CGI and production values. It is very cheesy and workmanlike, although the sheer scale of destruction was beguilingly impressive.

Going in I had a fair idea of what to expect (clichés, perfunctory performances, clunky dialogue, overblown set pieces, absurd scenes where characters cheer and clap in unison) and it all came true, but a few things stuck out.

Firstly, it is very long for a mainstream film at 158 minutes but actually passes quite quickly, mainly because the action sequences come thick and fast and have a bizarre, rapid absurdity to them.

Secondly, the CGI is impressive on one level in its reconstruction of a global apocalypse but the use of it is often flawed as the tension is frequently undercut by the ludicrous just-in-time escapes, worthy of Indiana Jones at his luckiest.

Thirdly, the product placement is so ubiquitous it becomes vaguely humorous. There are lots of Sony Vaio laptops. There are lots of Sony TVs. Everyone uses a Sony phone.

The only thing missing were PS3s but it’s handy to know if the world ends, Sony have got the consumer electrical goods sorted.

The fact that the three most noteworthy aspects of the film are the length, the visual effects and branded electrical products tells you a great deal.

The acting? Well, it’s pay cheque performances all around with everyone trying to make the clunky dialogue sound OK.

Cusack and Ejiofor have been shrewdly cast though, as they are likeable actors who lend the production a sheen of credibility it doesn’t really have.

But seeing the likes of George Segal, Danny Glover and Thomas McCarthy in wafer thin roles is alarming. Is this really the best major studios can offer talent like this?

Despite the critical mauling this film will undoubtedly take (deservedly for the most part), the gnashing of teeth over it is not just about the film. It is partly because this is film is going to make a lot of money.

As I came out of it, the reasons for its impending success became clearer:

  • The concept is simple to understand around the globe (“The world ends in 2012. Or does it…?”).
  • Given that the world’s economic infrastructure actually appears to be dissolving gives it an added topicality in the current climate.
  • Disaster movies by Roland Emmerich tend to do well.
  • The mystical Mayan crap is actually going to be taken as fact in the same way The Da Vinci Code was.
  • Lots of nationalities are (clunkily) represented in the form of token Americans, Russians and Asians.
  • It is carefully designed to appeal to certain countries as there are shots which look like they could be specific for certain territories. (For instance, in one scene Cusack finds a London tube map (!) but I reckon in different countries he finds something relevant to where the movie is shown. Ditto for a similar scene involving famous world figures in which I (and UK audiences) saw a famous lady and her dogs. I’m sure in other countries it will be another relevant figure.

But the final fact worth bearing in mind in mind is that this is essentially a summer blockbuster which just happens to be opening in November.

Sony’s original plan was to open this last July but back in January they opted to shift it to November. A smart move because there’s not a huge amount of blockbuster competition that there is in the summer.

My guess is that the bad critical buzz and word of mouth will dent the grosses a bit, but watch out for how many people see this in cinemas, on DVD/Blu-ry and on TV.

Sometimes I’m asked why films like this and Transformers 2 do so well and part of the reason is that they are so heavily marketed with tantalising eye candy (“Ooh, look at the CGI destruction!”) that it is the cinematic equivalent of class A drugs. People know it’s bad, but still go anyway because they want a bit of escape.

I could be wrong. People might be put off by the lack of a decent script and stay at home, but this feels like a Hollywood fairground ride many will be queuing up for.

Categories
Amusing Interesting Viral Video

When Titles Are Said in Movies

A friend of mine once told me that he always likes it in a film when the title is used as a line of dialogue.

He’s going to love the above compilation.

[Link via Thompson on Hollywood]

Categories
Competitions DVD & Blu-ray

Competition: Love the Beast

Love the BeastWe have 3 copies of Love The Beast to give away on DVD courtesy of Metrodome.

Aussie actor Eric Bana makes his directorial debut with this documentary about his 25-year love affair with his first car – a Ford XB Falcon Coupe aka “The Beast”.

Bana is best known for his roles in Chopper (2000), Hulk (2003) and Munich (2005) but here he explores his love of the classic sports car, with contributions from Dr. Phil McGraw, Jay Leno and Jeremy Clarkson.

Available on DVD, the extra features are:

  • Extended interview between Jeremy Clarkson and Eric Bana
  • Theatrical trailer

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To stand a chance of winning a copy just answer this question:

Who directed Eric Bana in Black Hawk Down?

Love the Beast is out on DVD from Metrodome on November 16th and has a short theatrical release from Friday 13th

N.B. We never pass on any contact details to other companies or organisations as we know just how annoying unsolicited spam is.

> Love the Beast at the IMDb
> Find out more about Eric Bana at Wikipedia

Categories
Amusing

David Hasselhoff at the Berlin Wall in 1989

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The moment the Soviet Union really knew that capitalism had triumphed was when the star of Knight Rider and Baywatch sung on the ruins of the Berlin Wall in December 1989.

(Look out for the firecracker that almost hits him at 3.22]

Categories
Documentaries Interesting

The Road to the Wall (1962)

The Road to the Wall was 1962 short documentary film about the construction of The Berlin Wall produced by Robert Saudek and narrated by James Cagney.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and like a lot of US government films of the era, has a distinct reds-under-the-bed tone.

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK Blu-ray Releases: Monday 9th November 2009

UK Blu-ray Releases 09-11-09

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BLU-RAY PICKS

Brüno (Universal): After the success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen returns with another mock-documentary comedy, this time playing the flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno, who wreaks havoc at a fashion show and then travels to America, where the fun continues.

Directed by Larry Charles, stand out sequences involve Bruno upsetting orthodox Jews and Palestinian terrorists; an uncomfortable appearance on a TV chat show with an adopted African child; an extended attempt to ‘become straight’ with the help of religion, martial arts and the US military; and a truly riotous climax involving a cage wrestling match in Arkansas. [Buy the Blu-ray at Amazon UK]

Extras on the Blu-ray include:

  • 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen
  • English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Latin American Spanish and Canadian French 5.1 DTS Surround
  • English SDH, Latin American Spanish and Canadian French subtitles
  • Alternative Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes (includes 1 extra scene not found on the DVD)
  • Extended Scenes (includes 1 extra scene not found on the DVD)
  • An Interview with Lloyd Robinson
  • Enhanced Commentary – Go behind the cameras and hear the true stories of how Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles pulled off their unscripted stunts with celebrities, politicians and other unsuspecting people

The extras on Blu-ray are all 1080P and have a listed running time of 1hr 15mins approx (not including the commentary).

Gone with the Wind: 70th Anniversary Edition (Warner): The classic 1939 romantic drama based on the Margaret Mitchell novel has gotten the full re-release treatment by Warner Bros.

Set in the South during the American Civil War and Reconstruction, it follows the life of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the daughter of a plantation owner and her relationship with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Featuring supporting performances by Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell and Hattie McDaniel, it is still a beloved classic of cinema despite lasting nearly 4 hours.

Famous set pieces include the burning of Atlanta (which used a piece of scenery left over from King Kong) and one of the most famous closing lines of any film. In a year littered with classic films (1939 also included The Wizard of Oz, Mr Smith Goes To Washington, Stagecoach and Ninotchka), Gone With the Wind won ten Oscars, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African-American to win the award). [Buy the Blu-ray at Amazon UK]

Heat (Warner): The classic 1995 crime film directed by Michael Mann and starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro gets its debut on Blu-ray.

Set in Los Angeles, it explores the lives of Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), a methodical professional thief and Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) an impulsive LAPD homicide detective and those around them as they come into conflict with one another.

The supporting cast includes Val Kilmer as Chris, one of McCauley’s partners; Ashley Judd as his wife Charlene; Amy Brenneman; Jon Voight; Natalie Portman; Diane Venora; Hank Azaria; William Fichtner and (in a cameo) Henry Rollins.

One of the best crime films of the 1990s, the big selling point at the time was the pairing of De Niro and Pacino, but there is much more to the film than just the cast. Mann creates a rich atmosphere and shoots the action set-pieces brilliantly, plus Elliot Goldenthal’s moody score and Dante Spinotti’s cinematography all add to the mix.

The general vibe with the HD transfer appears to be that it is good but not great. Gary Tooze of DVD Beaver has posted some comparisons of the DVD and Blu-ray versions here and says:

This Blu-ray presentation is significantly ahead of the DVD counterparts but doesn’t exhibit the demonstrative depth and detail that many have come to expect from this new format.

If you are a fan of the film, it is likely you purchased the excellent 2-disc DVD which came out a few years ago. However, if you have made the jump to Blu-ray then this is still definitely worth purchasing as it is still one of Michael Mann’s best films and a reach audio and visual feast. [Buy the Blu-ray at Amazon UK]

ALSO OUT

Night at the Museum 2 (Fox) [Buy it at Amazon UK]
The Informers (EIV) [Buy it at Amazon UK]
The Negotiator (Warner) [Buy it at Amazon UK]

> UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases for November 2009
> Browse more Blu-ray releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check out the latest UK cinema releases including A Christmas Carol, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Bright Star, Jennifer’s Body and Paper Heart (W/C Friday 6th November 2009)

Categories
Documentaries Interesting

The Wall (1962)

An short film made in 1962 by the United States Information Agency about the erection of the Berlin Wall.

It clearly bears the hallmarks of the era (notice how it has the pace and feel of a horror film), but it is an interesting snapshot of the time.

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD Releases: Monday 9th November 2009

UK DVD Releases 09-11-09

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N.B. For the foreseeable future I’m going to separate DVDs and Blu-rays into different posts. Part of the reason is that quite a few older films are being released on Blu-ray and I don’t want there to be any confusion.

I’m also going to put Amazon affiliate links alongside each release to make it easier to buy them.

DVD PICKS

Brüno (Universal): After the success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen returns with another mock-documentary comedy, this time playing the flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno, who wreaks havoc at a fashion show and then travels to America, where the fun continues.

Directed by Larry Charles, stand out sequences involve Bruno debating the Middle East conflict with orthodox Jews and Palestinian terrorists; an uncomfortable appearance on a TV chat show with an adopted African child; an extended attempt to ‘become straight’ with the help of religion, martial arts and the US military; and a truly riotous climax involving a cage wrestling match in Arkansas. [Buy the DVD at Amazon UK]

Extras include:

  • Alternative Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Extended Scenes
  • An Interview with Lloyd Robinson
  • Enhanced Commentary – The true stories of how Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles pulled off their unscripted stunts with celebrities, politicians and other unsuspecting people.

Gone with the Wind: 70th Anniversary Edition (Warner): The classic 1939 romantic drama based on the Margaret Mitchell novel has gotten the full re-release treatment by Warner Bros.

Set in the South during the American Civil War and Reconstruction, it follows the life of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the daughter of a plantation owner and her relationship with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Featuring supporting performances by Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell and Hattie McDaniel, it is still a beloved classic of cinema despite lasting nearly 4 hours.

Famous set pieces include the burning of Atlanta (which used a piece of scenery left over from King Kong) and one of the most famous closing lines of any film. In a year littered with classic films (1939 also included The Wizard of Oz, Mr Smith Goes To Washington, Stagecoach and Ninotchka), Gone With the Wind won ten Oscars, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African-American to win the award). [Buy the DVD at Amazon UK]

Extras on the DVD include:

Disc 1 The Movie, Part 1

  • Remastered feature with Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
  • Commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer

Disc 2 The Movie, Part 2
Remastered feature
Commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer
Offer for a numbered Limited Edition copy of the Original 1939 Poster

Extras on the 5-disc version include:

Disc 3

  • About The Movie
  • The Making of a Legend documentary (1989 TV Special) (Narrated by Christopher Plummer)
  • Restoring a Legend – Chronicles the film/video restoration process
  • Dixie Hails Gone with the Wind -1939 Premiere newsreel
  • 1940 MGM historical short – The Old South
  • Atlanta Civil War Centennial 1961 premiere newsreel
  • International prologue
  • Foreign language version sample scenes
  • Theatrical Trailers

Disc 4

  • About The Cast
  • Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland – Exclusive 2004 Documentary
  • Cast profile – Gable: The King Remembered
  • Cast profile – Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
  • The Supporting Players – Cameo portraits of an unforgettable ensemble
  • At Tara
  • The O’Hara Plantation in Georgia
  • Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O’Hara
  • Barbara O’Neill as Ellen, his wife
  • Their Daughters
  • Evelyn Keyes as Suellen
  • Ann Rutherford as Carreen
  • The house servants
  • Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
  • Oscar Polk as Pork
  • Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
  • At Twelve Oaks
  • Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
  • Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton, her brother
  • Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy, a guest
  • In Atlanta
  • Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
  • Eddie Anderson as Uncle Peter, her coachman
  • Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
  • Jane Darwell as Mrs. Merriwether
  • Ona Munson as Belle Watling
  • Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler

Disc 5

  • New Bonus Disc
  • Warner Bros. Home Entertainment presents 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year – New documentary about Hollywood’s watershed year narrated by Kenneth Branagh
  • Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On — Exploring the legacy of the most beloved film through illuminating interviews, footage and visits to historical sites, events and museums
  • Moviola: The Scarlett O’Hara Wars 1980 WBTV Special never before on home video

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney): One of the greatest Disney films ever made is being re-released on DVD and Blu-ray. Made in 1937, the concept of reviving a well-known Grimm’s Fairy Tale was initially greeted with scepticism. But Walt Disney invested three years, $1,500,000, and the combined talents of 570 artists into the film.

The result was a film that was acknowledged a classic and also earned an incredible $8,500,000 dollars in gross rentals during the Great Depression. The story, characters and animation are all of the highest quality and notice the clever contrast between Snow White and Prince Charming (drawn realistically) and the Seven Dwarfs (rendered in the rounded, caricatured manner of Disney’s short-subject characters). [Buy the DVD from Amazon UK]

The extras on the DVD include:

  • Audio Commentary with Walt Disney
  • Snow White Returns
  • The One That Started It All
  • The Princess and the Frog Sneak Peek
  • Someday My Prince Will Come by Tiffany Thornton
  • Dylan & Cole Sprouse Blu-ray is Suite!
  • Learn How To Take Your Favourite Movies on the Go (Disneyfile)
  • Dopey’s Wild Mine Ride
  • Animation Voice Talent
  • Disney Through the Decades
  • ”Heigh-Ho” Karaoke Sing-Along

[ad]

ALSO OUT

Desperate Housewives Season 5 (Disney) [Buy from Amazon UK]
Ghost Story (1974) (Nucleus Films) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Tales of the Gold Monkey: The Complete Series (Fabulous Films) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
The Informers (EIV) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Trinity (Fremantle) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Lisbon Story (Axiom Films) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Night at the Museum 2 (Fox) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Russell Brand – Scandalous (4DVD) [Buy it from Amazon UK]
Russell Howard – Dingledodies (4DVD) [Buy it from Amazon UK]

> UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases for November 2009
> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Check out the latest UK cinema releases including A Christmas Carol, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Bright Star, Jennifer’s Body and Paper Heart (W/C Friday 6th November 2009)

Categories
Amusing Posters

Chaotic Mr Fox Poster

Fantastic Mr Fox Antichrist

A clever poster mash-up of Fantastic Mr Fox and Antichrist by Sam Smyth.

And let’s not forget that YouTube mashup:

Categories
Cinema Festivals Interviews

Interview: Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi on Paper Heart

Charlyne Yi and Nicholas Jasenovec

Paper Heart is a new film starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera as fictionalized versions of themselves in a “hybrid documentary” about love.

Directed by Nicholas Jasenovec, it also features Yi travelling across America asking various people about their experiences of love.

I spoke with Charlyne and Nicholas recently when the film screened at the London film festival last month and you can listen to the interview here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Nicholas_Jasenovec_and_Charlyne_Yi_on_Paper_Heart.mp3]

You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here

Paper Heart is out at selected UK cinemas now

> Download the interview as an MP3 file
> Official site for Paper Heart
> Charlyne Yi and Nicholas Jasenovec at the IMDb
> Follow the movie on Twitter (@PaperHeartMovie)
> Find out more about Paper Heart at Wikipedia

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 6th November 2009

UK Cinema Releases 06-11-09

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NATIONAL RELEASES

A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney): An animated retelling of the Charles Dickens novel about a Victorian-era miser (Jim Carrey) taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions. Written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Carrey in a variety of roles, including Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts who haunt him.

It was filmed using the performance capture techniques Zemeckis previously used in The Polar Express (2004) and Beowulf (2007). Disney will be expecting healthy box office after a big marketing push and audience familiarity with the story. [BFI IMAX, Empire Leicester Sq., Trocadero Picc Circus & Nationwide / PG]

The Men Who Stare At Goats (Momentum Pictures): Loosely adapted from Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book about a secret Army unit founded in 1979 called the ‘First Earth Battalion’ who conducted paranormal experiments, which included staring at goats in order to kill them.

The film uses a fictional framing narrative of an Ann Arbor journalist (Ewan McGregor) who hears about these strange practices when he covers the Iraq war in 2003 and encounters a former member of the unit (George Clooney).

An excellent supporting cast includes Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang. Although director Grant Heslov doesn’t always get the mix right between comedy and drama, there are enough funny set pieces here to chew on. Read my full thoughts on the film here.

Momentum will be hoping the starry cast will boost ticket sales but the oddness of the story and heavy competition might dent its grosses. [Coronet Notting Hill, Screen On The Green, Vue West End & Nationwide / 12A]

Bright Star (Warner Bros./Pathe): Director Jane Campion returns with this lush period drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats (Ben Wishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25.

It has screened to some acclaim on the festival circuit since premièring at Cannes back in May and many are tipping it for Oscar recognition. Critical buzz and word of mouth amongst discerning audiences could help it achieve decent art house business, with multiplex crossover in some areas. [Nationwide / PG]

Jennifer’s Body (20th Century Fox): A comedy horror about a newly possessed cheerleader (Megan Fox) who turns into a killer who specializes in offing her male classmates, much to the dismay of her best friend (Amanda Seyfried).

A massive creative misfire all-round, despite the talents of screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno) and director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight). Fox will be hoping to snare gullible teens but audiences will be disappointed when they see what a bad film it is. [Nationwide / 15]

The Fourth Kind (Entertainment): ‘Fact’ based thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up [Nationwide / 18]

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ALSO OUT

UK Cinema Limited Releases 06-11-09

Paper Heart (Anchor Bay UK): Charlyne Yi embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about love.

Directed by Nicholas Jasenovec, it is a drama/documentary hybrid starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera as themselves. Sort of. [Odeon Panton Street & Key Cities / PG]

1 Day (Vertigo Films): The first ever British hip hop musical about a hustler named Flash set amongst young rappers in Birmingham. It should be noted that it is directed by Penny Woolcock who has made two of the worst films of all time (The Principles of Lust and Mischief Night). [Nationwide / 15]

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Park Circus): A part documentary and part reconstruction of the 1964 film Henri-Georges Clouzot never made. [Cine Lumiere, ICA Cinema & Key Cities / 15]

Welcome (Cinefile): Drama about a Kurdish boy from Iraq who sets off on a journey across Europe. [Curzon Renoir & selected Key Cities/ 15]

> UK cinema releases for November 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Wallace and Gromit: The Complete Collection, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Proposition and The Wizard of Oz (W/C Monday 2nd November 2009)

Categories
Interesting Technology

Ken Auletta speaks to C-SPAN about Google

Above is a lengthy and highly informative C-SPAN interview with Ken Auletta of The New Yorker about his new book on Google, which is called Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.

Here are some quotes and facts raised that particularly struck me:

  • “Google is a surrogate (in many ways) for the Internet”
  • “Google is a miraculous service for consumers but the problem is that it hurts businesses, especially media companies”
  • “The Google founders start from the assumption that most things are inefficient”
  • “The engineer is the content creator at Google”
  • Every minute 15 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube (which includes the above interview)
  • Google’s initial funding was $25 million from 7 key investors
  • Adsense is essentially a Vickrey auction system and made Google $21 billion last year
  • A Google data center looks like this
  • Part of the reason Google are so secretive is because co-founder Larry Page once read a book about Nikolai Tesla (one of the pioneers of electricity and radio) and felt he died poor and bitter because he was too open about his inventions and secrets.
  • Jeff Bezos of Amazon was an early investor in Google but this wasn’t widely known for quite a long time. His GOOG stock (if he held on to it) would be worth a $1 billion today.
  • Sergey Brin suggested to Auletta that he put his book up for ‘free on the Internet’ because more people would read it that way.
  • Auletta uses DropBox, which came in handy last week when his computer died.

Anyway, the whole thing is worth watching.

Categories
Cinema Thoughts

Jennifer’s Body

Jennifer's Body

The new comedy horror Jennifer’s Body is out in the UK today and as it is generally my policy not waste to many words on bad films, here are some quick thoughts:

  • It is really bad.
  • Diablo Cody‘s script shows none of the wit and feeling present in Juno
  • Karyn Kusama‘s direction is shocking (was this really the same person who made Girlfight?)
  • Nearly all the characters are repellent and annoying, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if done in a way that was witty or clever.
  • Some of the CGI is just flat out poor
  • It isn’t funny or scary

Erm… that’s it.

Categories
Amusing Animation Random

Wallace and Gromit Google logo

Wallace and Gromit Google logo

This Google logo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wallace and Gromit is rather clever.

Categories
Interesting TV

Jon Krakauer on Meet The Press

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Author Jon Krakauer is the US author who wrote the book Into the Wild, which was adapted into the 2007 film directed by Sean Penn.

In the above interview on Meet The Press he discusses his new book Where Men Win Glory, which examines the extraordinary story of Pat Tillman.

He was the US football player who gave up a highly lucrative career in order to join the US army after 9/11 and was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan during 2004.

The circumstances surrounding his death have been controversial to say the least and the current commander of US troops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, also has an interesting role in the whole affair which raises uncomfortable questions for him and President Obama.

I wonder if Sean Penn is interested in making this book into a film?

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 2nd November 2009

UK DVD Releases 02-11-09

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection (2 Entertain): The most famous characters produced by Aardman Animations get the DVD & Blu-ray treatment with a box set release of A Grand Day Out (1989) which saw Wallace and Gromit fly to the moon in search of cheese; The Wrong Trousers (1993), the Oscar winning short which featured a sinister penguin lodger; and A Close Shave (1995) which involved a sheep rustling scheme.

It should be noted that the 2005 feature The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit is not on this set (presumably for rights reasons as it was co-produced with DreamWorks) but it does feature a decent selection of extras and the brand-new short A Matter Of Loaf And Death, in which the pair run a bakery but come across a mysterious plot when all the bakers in the town go missing.

For those unfamiliar with the famous characters, Gromit is the faithful canine companion of the cheese-obsessed inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and they are the brainchild of Nick Park, who won Oscars for the first three films. All the characters were made from moulded plasticine modelling clay on metal armatures, and filmed with stop motion clay animation.

Information about extras is a bit thin on the ground but apparently it includes:

  • Audio commentaries
  • Behind the scenes featurette
  • Various shorts with Wallace and Gromit that were created for the internet
  • A spin-off episode of Shaun the Sheep
  • A scrapbook with blueprints and a photo gallery of some of the inventions

This isn’t the first time the first three shorts have been released on DVD but the big deal here is that it’s their debut on Blu-ray. [Buy it from Amazon on DVD or Blu-ray]

It’s A Wonderful Life (Universal): The perennial Christmas favourite directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart comes to Blu-ray and is worth getting if you don’t already own it.

The following specs for the Blu-ray are:

  • Black & White Original and Colour versions
  • 1080P 1.33:1 Full Screen
  • English DD2.0 Mono
  • English SDH subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Trivia Tracker
  • Picture Comparison

There will also be a new DVD release that also includes both the original and colour versions of the film, although why anyone would want to colourise a film like this is beyond me. There are reportedly no extras on the DVD, which frankly is a bit poor. [Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray]

The Proposition (Palisades Tartan): This 2005 Australian western directed by John Hillcoat and written by Nick Cave (yes, the musician) stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt and Danny Huston.

Set in the Australian outback in the 1880s, the story follows the series of events following the horrific rape and murder of the Hopkins family, allegedly committed by the infamous Burns brothers gang.

Grimy but compelling, this is a timely release on Blu-ray as Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road will soon be seen in UK cinemas.

The Blu-ray Disc features the following extras:

  • Making Of
  • Trailer
  • Dolby TrueHD 5.1
  • DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Edition (Warner): The classic musical fantasy gets the full re-release treatment on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Bros in its 70th anniversary year.

Directed by Victor Fleming, it was based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and starred Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Frank Morgan, with Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Grapewin, Clara Blandick and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins.

Originally released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it follows the story of a Kansas farmgirl Dorothy (Garland) who gets transported to the magical land of Oz where she encounters all manner of characters including the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) and the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).

Although successful when it was originally released the songs from the film became huge, with “Over the Rainbow” nabbing the Oscar for Best Original Song and the film itself garnering several nominations, including Best Picture.

However, the film became permanently embedded in popular culture when it was screened every year on US television from 1959 to 1991, becoming one of the most watched films of all time.

The UK DVD and Blu-ray Disc release is a newly remastered version with a raft of new extrasand a sing-along feature.

* For a great rundown of the picture quality and technical details of this Blu-ray transfer check out the review of the US disc on DVD Beaver *

It is available on 1-Disc DVD (£12.99 RRP), 4-Disc DVD (£19.99 RRP, HMV Exclusive) and 3-Disc Blu-ray (£22.99 RRP).

The extras on the different versions are outlined below:

Collector’s Edition Sing-Along Version – 3 Discs BLU-RAY Release (2 BDs, 1 DVD Sing-Along)

  • Blu-ray Disc 1: Main Feature
  • Remastered feature with 5.1 Audio
  • 1080P 1.33:1
  • English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
  • English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese DD1.0 Mono
  • English HOH, French, German HOH, Italian, Italian HOH, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles (Film & Extras except commentary)
  • Commentary by Historian John Fricke including archival interviews of the film’s cast and crew
  • Music and Effects Track
  • Original mono Track
  • Sing-Along Audio Feature
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic [1990 TV special]
  • Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
  • Memories of Oz [2001 TCM documentary]
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
  • Prettier than ever: The Restoration of Oz
  • We Haven’t Really Met Properly”” Supporting Cast Profiles
  • Audio Jukebox Selection
  • Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo
  • Good News of 1939 Radio Show
  • 12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
  • Another Romance of Celluloid: Electrical Power
  • Calvacade of the Academy Awards Excerpt
  • Texas Contest Winners
  • Off to See the Wizard Excerpts
  • Stills Galleries
  • 6 Trailers
  • Harold Arlen’s Home Movies
  • Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
  • It’s a Twister! It’s a Twister! The Tornado Tests

Blu-ray Disc 2: Extra Features

  • Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian (+ 3 others my player reports as numbers)
  • Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman (NEW)
  • L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
  • Celebrating Hollywood’s Biggest Little Stars (NEW)
  • The Dreamer of Oz [1990 TV special] (NEW)
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 short)
  • His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz [1914 feature]
  • The Magic Cloak of Oz [1914 short] (NEW)
  • The Patchwork Girl of Oz [1914] (NEW)
  • The Wizard of Oz [1925 feature]
  • The Wizard of Oz [1933 animated short]

Disc 3: DVD Main Feature & Sing-along

  • Sing-Along Version – 1 DVD Disc Release
  • Re-mastered feature with Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
  • Commentary by Historian John Fricke including archival interviews of the film’s cast and crew
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
  • Prettier than ever: The Restoration of Oz
  • We Haven’t Really Met Properly – Supporting Cast Profiles
  • Music and Effects Track
  • Original mono Track
  • Sing-Along Tracks
  • Trailers

Collector’s Edition Sing-Along Version – 4 Discs DVD Release

  • Remastered feature with Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
  • Commentary by Historian John Fricke including archival interviews of the film’s cast and crew
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
  • Prettier than ever: The Restoration of Oz
  • We Haven’t Really Met Properly”” Supporting Cast Profiles
  • Music and Effects Track
  • Original mono Track
  • Sing-Along Audio Feature
  • Trailers
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic [1990 TV special]
  • Memories of Oz [2001 TCM documentary]
  • The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
  • Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
  • Harold Arlen’s Home Movies
  • Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
  • It’s a Twister! It’s a Twister! The Tornado Tests
  • Off to See the Wizard
  • 3 Vault Shorts
  • Audio Jukebox Selections
  • Still Galleries
  • 6 Theatrical Trailers
  • L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [1910 short]
  • The Magic Cloak of Oz [1914 short] RT 53:10
  • His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz [1914 feature]
  • The Wizard of Oz [1925 feature]
  • The Wizard of Oz [1933 animated short]
  • Hollywood Celebrates its Biggest Little Stars!
  • The Dreamer of Oz 1990 TV Special
  • Victor Flemming: Master Craftsman
  • DVD Sing Along version

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ALSO OUT

‘Allo ‘Allo: The Complete Collection (Universal Playback)
All Creatures Great and Small: The Complete Collection (Universal Playback)
Blood: The Last Vampire (Pathe)
Boogie (Dogwoof)
Family Guy Season 8 (Fox)
Frank Borzage Volume 1 (BFI)
Frank Borzage Volume 2 (BFI)
Hi-De-Hi: The Complete Collection (Universal Playback)
Last Chance Harvey (Momentum)
Peep Show Series 6 (4DVD)
Public Enemies (Universal)
Samurai Princess (4Digital Asia)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 (Warner)
Supernatural Season 4 (Warner)
Year One (Sony)
36 (Palisades Tartan)
A Tale of Two Sisters (Palisades Tartan)
Black Book (Palisades Tartan)
Braveheart (Fox)
Godzilla (Sony)
I Sell The Dead (Anchor Bay)
It’s A Wonderful Life (Universal)
Lady Vengeance (Palisades Tartan)
Santa Claus: The Movie (Optimum)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Palisades Tartan)
The Grinch (Universal)
The Polar Express 3-D (Warner)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Warner)

> UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases for November 2009
> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 30th October)

Categories
Festivals Images London Film Festival

LFF 2009: Photos

A Flickr slideshow of photos I took during this year’s London Film Festival.

Categories
Interesting TV

Alex Cox introduces The Wicker Man on Moviedrome

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s director Alex Cox presented a series of cult films on BBC2 called Moviedrome.

It started in 1988 with The Wicker Man and the above video is his introduction to the film.

Categories
Interesting

The Coen Brothers discuss how they edit

Video of The Coen Brothers from 2007 discussing how they edit their movies with none other than their former DP Barry Sonnenfeld.

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: November 2009

DVD and Bluray Releases November 2009

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* To buy any of the DVD or Blu-ray Discs from Amazon UK just click on the title *

MONDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY

BLU-RAY ONLY

MONDAY 9th NOVEMBER 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY

BLU-RAY ONLY

MONDAY 16th NOVEMBER 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY

BLU-RAY ONLY

MONDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY

BLU-RAY ONLY

MONDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY

> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 30th October)

Categories
Amusing TV

Christopher Walken performs Lady Gaga’s Pokerface

Christopher Walken was on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross where he performed a spoken word version of Pokerface by Lady Gaga.

It reminded me a little bit of his rendition of the Three Little Pigs on Ross’s Channel 4 show a few years ago.

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: November 2009

UK Cinema Releases November 2009

FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER

1 Day (15) / Vertigo Films
Bright Star (PG) / Warner Bros/Pathe
A Christmas Carol (PG) (3D & Imax) / Walt Disney
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (15) / Park Circus
Taking Woodstock (15) / Universal
Welcome (15) / Cinefile

FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER

2012 (12A) / Sony Pictures
Amelia (PG) / 20th Century Fox
Cold Souls (12A) / The Works
Lala Pipo / Third Window Films
The Magic Hour / 104 Films
Paper Heart (PG) / Anchor Bay / UK Key Cities
The White Ribbon (15) / Artificial Eye
We Live In Public (15) / Dogwoof

FRIDAY 20th NOVEMBER

A Serious Man (15) / Universal
The Girlfriend Experience () / Revolver Entertainment
Glorious 39 (12A) / Momentum Pictures
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (15) / Metrodome
The Informant! (15) / Warner Bros.
The Sea Wall / Axiom Films
The Twilight Saga: New Moon / E1 Entertainment

FRIDAY 27th NOVEMBER

Bunny And The Bull (15)/ Optimum Releasing
Paranormal Activity (15) / Icon
Seraphine (PG) / Metrodome
Nativity (U) / E1
Law Abiding Citizen (18) / Momentum Pictures

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.

> Get local showtimes via Google Movies (just enter your postcode)
> Find out about films showing near you at MyFilms

Categories
Trailers

New Avatar Trailer

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Slightly more narrative in this new trailer for the James Cameron sci-fi epic that opens worldwide on December 18th

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 30th October 2009

UK Cinema Releases 30-10-09

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NATIONAL RELEASES

An Education (E1 Entertainment): A coming-of-age story based on Lynn Barber’s memoir about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.

Superbly made and acted it is a likely contender for BAFTAs and Oscars. Read my more considered thoughts on the film here. [Curzon Mayfair, Odeon West End & Nationwide / 12A]

9 (Universal): An animated fantasy about a mechanical humanoid rag doll (9) which explains how humanity, in its blind pursuit of science and technology, went to his doom.

Directed by Shane Acker from his own short film, it features the voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, and John.C Reilly. [Prince Charles Cinema & Nationwide / 12A] (Opened on Weds 28th)

Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Sony Pictures): The film of the 02 concerts that never were from the late popstar, culled from rehearsal footage.

Directed by Kenny Ortega and featuring Michael Jackson. [Nationwide / PG] (Opened Weds 28th)

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IN LIMITED RELEASE

An American Werewolf In London (Universal): A Halloween re-issue for the 1981 horror film directed by John Landis about two American tourists (David Naughton and Griffin Dunne) who get attacked by a werewolf. [Vue West End & Nationwide]

Citizen Kane (bfi Distribution): A re-issue for the 1941 masterpiece about a media mogul (Orson Welles) and the attempts to explain his dying words. [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / U]

Love Exposure (Third Window Films): Running almost four hours, the new film from cult Japanese director Sion Sono is a tour through any number of genres, styles, plot turns, perversions and emotional states. [ICA Cinema]

Philip Pullman’s The Butterfly Tattoo (Philm Company): A project based on Philip Pullman’s novel of the same name (originally published as The White Mercedes) directed by Phil Hawkins. It used a novel method of financing its production, by selling shares to members of the public. [Selected Key Cities / 12A]

Starsuckers (S2S Distribution): A British documentary exposing the “shams and deceit involved in creating a pernicious celebrity culture”. Directed by Chris Atkins, who made Taking Liberties, it shows the production team planting a variety of celebrity-related stories in the UK media, which some papers reprinted without verification. [Curzon Soho & Key Cities / 12A]

Tales From The Golden Age (Trinity Filmed Ent) : A film composed of 5 unconventional short stories, each one dealing with the late communist period in Romania, told through its urban myths from the perspective of ordinary people. The title refers to the alluded “Golden Age” of the last 15 years of Ceauşescu’s regime. [Apollo Picc Circus, Barbican, Curzon Renoir, Rio Dalston & Key Cities / 12A]

Dead Man Running (Revolver): Another crime film with Tamer Hassan and Danny Dyer with a guest appearance from Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson. [Nationwide / 15]

The Horseman (Kaleidoscope Entertainment): A drama about a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the outback roads of Australia. [C’World Shaftesbury Ave., Odeon Panton St., S’Case Newham & Key Cities / 18]

Aladin (Eros): A bollywood version of Aladin, which seems to be spelt differently. [C’Worlds Feltham, Ilford, Shaftesbury Ave., Vue Acton & Key Cities]

> UK cinema releases for October 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Drag Me to Hell and True Blood Season 1 (W/C Monday 26th October 2009)

Categories
Cinema Festivals London Film Festival

LFF 2009: Nowhere Boy

Aaron Johnson in Nowhere Boy

Despite a plethora of potential pitfalls this drama about the early
years of John Lennon is a stylish and engaging biopic.

Nowhere Boy explores the teenage years of Lennon (Aaron Johnson) and the two important women in his youth: his aunt Mimi Smith (Kristin Scott Thomas) who raised him and his mother Julia (Anne Marie Duff). It also charts his early forays into music as he forms The Quarrymen with a younger guitarist named Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster).

Bringing a cultural icon like John Lennon to the big screen was always going to be a tricky affair but director Sam Taylor Wood (making her feature debut) has wisely focused on the intriguing family dynamics of Lennon’s childhood and how they fed into his career.

But perhaps most importantly there is a craft and intelligence here that pays tribute to Lennon’s art without indulging in histrionics or clichés.

The opening of a film can nearly always reveal something about its quality and the nice use of a famous Beatles chord to kick everything off indicated to me that things were going to be OK.

It is inevitable that most of the attention and focus of the film would fall on Aaron Johnson, as filling the role of Lennon is perhaps one of the more daunting tasks faced by an actor in recent times.

But he does a good job at capturing the youthful intensity of the young songwriter and although it is a little rough around the edges, that feels appropriate given the emotional tumult of his home life.

Part of the strong bedrock of the film is an admirably tight script by Matt Greenhalgh (who wrote the 2007 Ian Curtis biopic Control) which treats Mimi and Julia as central characters rather than just peripheral support.

Based on the memoir ‘Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon‘ by Lennon’s half sister Julia Baird, it focuses quite tightly on their influence on Lennon’s formative years and his burgeoning friendship with McCartney.

Scott Thomas nicely captures the stern but ultimately loving adoptive parent whilst Duff is excellent as the energetic and erratic soul mate Beatles fans have long read about in various biographies.

Wisely the film – unlike some British efforts – looks properly cinematic by being shot in 2:35 widescreen and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (who has a considerable experience of music vidoes) shoots with taste, tact and intelligence.

The locations have a richness and vibrancy to them that is similar in some ways to Control and the recreation of 1950s Liverpool is entirely convincing. It is also a relief to see parts of the UK (specifically the North West) presented with a touch of class.

Taylor-Wood might have seemed an odd choice to direct a film like this
but if Steve McQueen’s Hunger proved anything last year, it is that artists from different disciplines (she came to prominence in the 1990s as a conceptual artist) can give cinema something of a creative kick up the arse.

Her artistic background doesn’t always leap at you from the screen, apart from one time-lapse sequence of Lennon learning the banjo, and in general this shows admirable restraint as the style rarely overpowers the emotional content.

In any musical biopic, be it The Buddy Holly Story, The Doors or Walk The Line, there is usually that moment where the principal characters play ‘that song you know’.

Here the equivalent moments are when John first meets Paul and when they first play together with The Quarrymen at a local fete (Shea Stadium was still a while off).

Although this could have been cheesy, but it says a lot about the strengths of the film that it feels natural and convincing. My first reaction on seeing Paul was ‘doesn’t he look young?’ but given that he was 15 at this point, he probably did look young.

There is one moment towards the end when a certain character is about to say the phrase ‘The Beatles’ and doesn’t, which was the moment when it occurred to me that it hadn’t been said at all.

It’s a shrewd move and emblematic of the film, which fills in the emotional gaps whilst not retreading the well worn images of the early Fab Four.

The audience I saw it with was an early morning press and industry crowd and it would be fair to say they didn’t applaud or go for it in the way they did for last year’s LFF closing film Slumdog Millionaire.

Whilst there will always be doses of cynicism and schadenfreude amongst these kind of crowds I was surprised they didn’t go for it a bit more. (I overheard one person sitting in front of me profess dislike for Sam Taylor-Wood’s 2008 short film Love You More despite being “very well made”.)

Maybe this is me being optimistic but if this is marketed well then I can see some very healthy box office ahead for Icon (the UK distributors) and The Weinstein Company (who have the US rights).

After all it is a film about the adolescent pain which fuelled some of the most popular songs of the 20th century.

Nowhere Boy closes the London Film Festival tonight and opens in the UK on December 26th

Categories
Interviews

Stanley Kubrick in The New Yorker

Kubrick New Yorker profile

Audio recently surfaced online of Stanley Kubrick being interviewed by Jeremy Bernstein of The New Yorker in 1966 (listen to it here).

Sliated has some interesting PDF files which shed more light on the famous director who was then in the midst of filming 2001: A Space Odyssey.

One of them is a PDF of the final profile which ended up in the November 1966 issue.

But they also have an auction entry which shows the proofs of the profile with descriptions of the edits and annotations Kubrick wanted.

Last, but not least, there is a piece by Bernstein recalling the interview which include the following nuggets of information about the legendary director:

  • Kubrick had taken flying lessons but by the mid sixties never flew again as he considered it “too dangerous”.
  • For his move to England he transported his possessions in 140 Boy Scout foot lockers.
  • He considered leaving the USA during the Cuban missile crisis and booked a boat trip to Australia with his family – but cancelled when he discovered he would have to share a bathroom with a neighbouring cabin.
  • Before moving to St Albans Kubrick lived in a large apartment on Central Park West.
  • 2001 was shot at Elstree and during the filming Kubrick lived in a suite at the Dorchester Hotel.
  • Physics was the only course in high school in which he had gotten a decent grade.
  • Kubrick toyed with the idea of casting Jackie Mason (!) as the voice of HAL, although he may have been joking.
  • During one take of a scene when Keir Dullea (who played astronaut Dave Bowman) was talking to HAL he farted so loudly, it sounded like “a stupendous burst of machine gun fire”.
  • The interview was recorded on one of Kubrick’s tape recorders, upon which he did most of his screen writing.
  • When the film was first shown to the press and invited guests in New York Kubrick ran the projector himself and decided to cut around 17 minutes from this version.
Categories
Interesting

Robert Elswit interviewed at Principia College

Robert Elswit is one of the finest cinematographers working today who has shot films such as Good Night and Good Luck, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton.

This 30 minute video is an interview he did at Principia College with his wife Helen, a visual effects producer who has worked on films such as The Perfect Storm and Master and Commander.

Categories
Cinema Festivals London Film Festival

LFF 2009: A Serious Man

Michael Stuhlbarg and Adam Arkin in A Serious Man Image courtesy of Universal and Focus Features

A Serious Man is a personal and exquisitely crafted black comedy that explores the pointless nature of suffering in 1960s Minnesota.

One of the handy things about winning a clutch of Oscars is the collateral it gives you to make a personal and defiantly anti-Hollywood film with no name stars.

After the critical, commercial and Oscar success of No Country for Old Men, this is precisely what Joel and Ethan Coen have done with their latest project.

Beginning with a bizarre extended prologue set in an Eastern European shtetl, it moves on to explore the hellish suburban existence of a Jewish maths professor named Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) in Minnesota, during 1967.

With a hectoring wife (Sari Lennick) who wants a divorce, her annoying widower lover (Fred Melamed), a leeching brother (Richard Kind), a pothead son (Aaron Wolff ) into Jefferson Airplane, dithering academic colleagues, an awkward Korean student and a succession of perpetually useless rabbis, he appears to living in a modern day version of The Book of Job.

All of this is filmed with a precision and defiant, dark wit that is a hallmark of the Coens at their very best.

If you enjoyed the pointless, bumbling criminality in Fargo and the satire of Bush-era stupidity in Burn After Reading then you will probably love this. If not, then you probably won’t.

But even those put off by the tone of the film would be hard pressed not to admire the sheer class on display behind and in front of the camera.

A Serious Man posterThe performances are mostly note perfect, with Stuhlbarg especially outstanding in the lead role and a supporting cast filled with fine contributions, although keep a special eye out for George Wyner and Simon Helberg as two contrasting rabbis.

On a technical level, it is up to the very highest standards of modern cinema.

Regular collaborator Roger Deakins shoots with his customary artful precision whilst the production design, art direction and costumes are flawless.

Watching it on a beautiful digital projection, I was already thinking how great this is going to look on Blu-ray.

As usual the editing (by the Coens under their regular pseudonym Roderick Jaynes) is splendid and listen out for how they way they’ve mixed the sound, be it Jefferson Airplane on a portable radio or the way a family slurp their soup.

Part of the richness of the film lies in its uncompromising take on suburban angst. There is no let up, no cheesy uplift and the characters are mostly a succession of grotesques there to torment the protagonist. But really, it is funny.

For some this will merely be a pointless exercise in misanthropy but there is something deeper here that the Coens are targeting, namely the false comforts and rules in which many place their trust.

Religion, family, career advancement, philosophy and consumerism are all subjects which get thoroughly skewered over the course of the story. The comedy that comes out of this, is one rooted in recognition and pain rather than goofy, slapstick relief. The laughs here are muffled but highly acute.

In the hands of lesser filmmakers this could easily be a mess, but with the Coens it feels just right. In fact it feels so authentic that one can only presume that much of it is rooted in their personal experience of growing up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Back in 1998 I remember reading an interview where they talked about signing up for a record club as teenagers and anyone who watches the film with this in mind will feel a twinge of recognition at one of the sub-plots.

Bob Graf, the Coens’ longtime producer said to the Star Tribune last year that:

“It’s a story inspired by where they grew up, things that they remembered from their childhood”

Whilst assistant art director Jeff Schein has also commented on the time period:

“It’s a mental travelogue of 1967, and for me, since I grew up near the Coens in St. Louis Park, it’s a childhood story.”

Aside from the autobiographical aspects, it will be interesting to see how Jewish audiences react to the film, with its richly detailed observations about Jewish life.

Not only do we have an startling prologue spoken entirely in Yiddish, but there are sequences involving a large gallery of Jewish characters: waddling secretaries, puzzled dentists, shouting wives and cryptic rabbis are all going to evoke twinges of recognition, laughter and – amongst some – disquiet.

But although it is drenched in Jewish culture – specifically that of the Midwest – it isn’t exclusively about Jews or Jewishness.

Ultimately one could put forward a compelling case for saying that the film is about throwing the enigma of religious teaching back on itself. This is effectively a non-parable made up of parables, that highlights how the ‘answers’ of Judaism (and organised religion) merely lead to more confusion and chaos.

My guess is that this will not be the awards slam dunk that Fargo or No Country For Old Men turned out to be and some will be put off by the slow pace and darkly poetic humour.

But this is the Coen Brothers operating at their very best, a heartfelt and beautifully constructed piece of cinema that is likely to reward future viewings.

A Serious Man is out at UK cinemas on Friday 20th November

Categories
Competitions DVD & Blu-ray

Competition: Win Drag Me to Hell on DVD

Drag Me To Hell DVD coverWe have 2 copies of Drag Me To Hell to give away on DVD courtesy of Lionsgate.

A return to the horror genre for director Sam Raimi it is the tale of a real estate agent (Alison Lohman) who falls under an ancient curse when she is forced to evict an elderly woman (Lorna Raver) from her house.

She then has three days to dissuade a dark spirit from stealing her soul before she is dragged to hell for an eternity of unthinkable torment.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, the extra features on the DVD are as follows:

  • Theatrical Cut
  • 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
  • English DD5.1 Surround
  • English HOH subtitles
  • Production Diaries:
  • The Bloody Nose
  • Inside the Psychic World
  • Makeup Effects
  • Alison in the Mud
  • Wirework
  • Nightmare
  • Justin Long Profile
  • The Parking Lot Fight
  • The Goat
  • Set Tour: The Great Room, Puzzle Car, Dragging Her To Hell

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To stand a chance of winning a copy just answer this question:

Which 1981 horror film did Sam Raimi direct?

Drag Me To Hell is out on DVD & Blu-ray now  from Lionsgate

N.B. We never pass on any contact details to other companies or organisations as we know just how annoying unsolicited spam is.

> Drag Me To Hell at the IMDb
> Find out more about Sam Raimi at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Green Zone

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The first trailer for Green Zone has arrived, which is the new Iraq war drama starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass.

It would appear that Universal want to sell this as a Bourne-style thriller rather than the heavy political drama it sounded like when it was greenlit back in 2007.

We posted some photos of the set in London back in April 2008.

It is released in March 2010.

Categories
Amusing

Paranormal Saw

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Funny or Die have posted an amusing spoof of Paranormal Activity and the Saw franchise called Paranormal Saw.

(My favourite line: “he [Jigsaw] looks like John Lithgow with makeup on”)

Categories
Random

William Shatner and the Halloween Mask

Shatner Myers Mask

The Michael Myers mask in the Halloween films is actually a reused one based on William Shatner.

A few years ago – back when Wikipedia and Google weren’t available on people’s mobile phones – I remember telling this to someone and they didn’t believe it.

However, aside from being on the IMDb and Wikipedia, Shatner himself has confirmed it in this video with his daughter. He even admits to once going out trick or treating in one.

Tommy Lee Wallace, the production designer and co-editor on Halloween, said that he was charged with finding a mask for Myers in the original film.

Aiming for a mask with a creepy ‘blank face’ he went shopping for one in Hollywood and found a Captain Kirk Halloween mask that seemed to fit the bill.

Wallace cut out larger eyeholes, removed the eyebrows and sideburns, and made the hair look weirder and painted it white.

Halloween mask on set

For most of the film Myers, or ‘The Shape’ as he’s referred to in the credits, is played by actor Nick Castle (above).

In the DVD extras on the Halloween DVD box set John Carpenter claimed that the mask didn’t really look like Shatner, but joked:

“I guess I owe the success of Halloween to William Shatner.”

The inspiration for the ‘faceless’ style was the creepy French film Eyes Without a Face, directed in 1960 by Georges Franju.

Categories
Interesting Technology Useful Links

What the Trend

What the Trend

What the Trend is a useful website that tracks what’s trending on Twitter and why.

For each trend, it gives you a quick explanation of why a #tag is trending (the blurbs are edited by users) and you can see the latest tweets and related Flickr photos and news stories.

* You can follow me on Twitter here (@filmdetail) *

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 26th October 2009

DVD & Blu-ray Releases 25-10-09

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DVD PICKS

Drag Me To Hell (Lionsgate): A back to basics horror film for director Sam Raimi which is the tale of a woman (Alison Lohman) who falls under an ancient curse when she is forced to evict an elderly woman (Lorna Raver) from her house. She then has only three days to dissuade a dark spirit from stealing her soul before she is dragged to hell for an eternity of unthinkable torment.

Although maybe not quite matching up to the early reviews and buzz, this is still an effective and pleasingly old fashioned horror which relies on old-school creepy suspense rather than the sadistic butchery that has become all too prevalent in the genre.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, the following features on each format are as follows:

DVD

  • Theatrical Cut
  • 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
  • English DD5.1 Surround
  • English HOH subtitles
  • Production Diaries:
  • The Bloody Nose
  • Inside the Psychic World
  • Makeup Effects
  • Alison in the Mud
  • Wirework
  • Nightmare
  • Justin Long Profile
  • The Parking Lot Fight
  • The Goat
  • Set Tour: The Great Room, Puzzle Car, Dragging Her To Hell

Blu-ray Disc

  • Theatrical Cut & Version you couldn’t see in cinemas
  • 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
  • English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • English HOH subtitles
  • Production Diaries
  • Interviews with Sam Raimi, Alison Lohman and Justin Long (BD Exclusive)

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True Blood Season 1 (HBO): The first season of HBO’s acclaimed vampire series from creator and executive producer Alan Ball (writer of American Beauty and Six Feet Under). Set in rural Louisiana it explores the lives of vampires who have emerged from their coffins and no longer need humans for their fix of blood.

Based on The Southern Vampire Mystery Series books by Charlaine Harris, it focuses on Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress who comes across the 173-year old Bill Compton (Steven Moyer) – a vampire with whom she forms an immediate connection.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, the features on each format are outlined below.

DVD Extras

  • Audio commentary on the episode “Strange Love” by executive producer/series creator Alan Ball
  • Audio commentary on the episode “The First Taste” by cast member Anna Paquin and director Scott Winant
  • Audio commentary on the episode “Escape from Dragon House” by writer Brian Buckner and director Michael Lehmann
  • Audio commentary on the episode “Sparks Fly Out” by cast member Stephen Moyer and director Dan Minahan
  • Audio commentary on the episode “Burning House of Love” by director Marcos Siega

Blu-ray Extras – All of the above plus:

  • Enhanced Viewing Mode – BD-J Feature including PiP, text-based facts and maps
  • Season Index
  • Episodic Previews
  • Episodic Recaps

ALSO OUT

Asian Horror – Essential Collection (Palisades Tartan)
Bleach Series 4 Part 1 (Manga)
Blood Rain (Palisades Tartan)
Bones Season 4 (Fox)
Clive Barker’s Book of Blood (Lionsgate)
Cyborg She (4Digital Asia)
District 13: Ultimatum (Momentum)
Fired Up! (Sony)
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (Manga)
Ip Man (Showbox)
Korean Horror – Essential Collection (Palisades Tartan)
Last of the Summer Wine Series 15 & 16 (Universal Playback)
Lost Season 5 (Disney)
Monsters Vs. Aliens (Paramount)
Most Haunted Series 11 (Universal Playback)
Naruto Unleashed Series 6 (Manga)
Naruto Unleashed Series 7 Part 2 (Manga)
Obsessed (Sony)
Playing Away (BFI)
Shirin (BFI)
The Hills Run Red (Warner)
Trick ‘R Treat (Warner)
Young Rebel Souls (BFI)

> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 23rd October)