In Bruges (Universal): The tale of two Irish hit men (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who have been ordered to lie low in the Belgian city of Bruges is one of the funniest films to come out this year. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar for his short film Six Shooter, this is features some glorious sequences, as well as some fine acting by the two leads with Ralph Fiennes in a key supporting role. [Read our full review here]
My Brother is an Only Child (Revolver): Adapted from the best-selling novel ‘Il Fasciocomunista’, this story of two feuding brothers, set amidst the politically charged Italy of the 60s and 70s, is a highly accomplished and involving film. Written and directed by Danielle Luchetti it stars Elio Germano and Riccardo Scamarcio as the two brothers.
[REC] (Contender): A contemporary Spanish horror in which a TV crew cover the night shift of a Barcelona fire station and follow a team as they respond to an event in mysterious apartment building. It plays like a Spanish version of The Blair Witch Project but also has it’s own sense of claustrophobia and tension. Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.
Tropical Malady (Second Run): Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, this award winning film from Thailand explores themes of love and desire and comes in a new digital transfer approved by the director.
If you have any questions about this week’s DVD releases or any upcoming titles then just email me
(To buy any of the DVDs above just click on the title and you will be redirected to our Amazon affiliate)
Made in 1981 it imagines a futuristic New York where crime has spiralled out of control to the point where Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison.
The major snag is that he has less than 24 hours to complete his mission and must survive in a completely lawless and hostile environment.
Although the premise stems from anxieties about New York that now seem dated, the film holds up remarkably well with the visuals, acting and a pulsating electronic score all adding to the mix.
The extras on both releases include:
Return to Escape from New York: A 23 minute featurette on the making of the film with interviews and insight from cast and crew.
John Carpenter Interview: A new and exclusive 30 minute interview with the writer-director about the film.
Snakes Crime: The deleted opening scene where Snake robs a federal bank.
Commentary: John Carpenter and Kurt Russell, which is highly engaging and informative.
There are also three theatrical trailers including this one:
When he visits a company who can offer him a virtual holiday by implanting memories it inadvertently unlocks his ‘real’ past as a secret agent and he then has to escape to the red planet for real.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven (after the success of RoboCop in 1987) it is definitely the best of Schwarzenegger’s films between the two Terminators and contains some interesting ideas, even if the emphasis is skewed towards action.
The production design is still impressive and the visual effects by Rob Bottin still stand up very well – in many ways they foreshadow how SFX as a whole would develop in the 90s with films like T2 and The Matrix.
One of the highlights on the extras is an excellent commentary with Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger recorded for the previous Special Edition, as they complement each other very well.
Arnold seems especially amused at some of the more gruesome scenes whilst Verhoeven has many thoughtful riffs and views on the plot twists and themes of the story.
The director also frequently reveals that he wanted the film to be even more violent (one scene in particular sent the MPAA crazy) which is saying something, as it is probably one of the most brutal mainstream action films of its era.
That said it is still a solidly entertaining and at times surprisingly clever slice of sci-fi.
The other extras include:
Imagining Total Recall: A fine 30 minute featurette exploring the original Philip K Dick story and how it came to the screen. Paul Verhoeven, screenwriter Ron Shussett (who also write Alien) and Schwarzenegger all give solid contributions.
Making of Total Recall: A more modest 8 minute on set making of feature from 1990 that was presumably a TV promo from 1990.
Vision of Mars: Another short piece (5 mins) on how Mars was visualised for the film.
There are also storyboard comparisons and the requisite trailers and TV Spots.
However, it doesn’t feature any of the extras on the regular DVD disc, so unless you are desperate for the HD version of the film I think the regular DVD with the extras is much better value.
I realise it may be a space issue on the discs but if Blu-ray is going to take off as a format, extras are an essential part of any DVD package.
The DVD highlight of the week is this special edition re-release of The Elephant Man – the superb 1980 period drama about the life of Joseph Merrick.
Based on the real story of a man so disfigured he was dubbed ‘the Elephant Man’, it explores how he was taken in by a doctor and his struggle to be recognised as a dignified human being in Victorian London.
However, in the lead role John Hurt is mesmerising, despite being buried under a lot of (quite brilliant) make-up which took hours each day to apply.
Although he would go on to have considerable success as an actor – often in supporting roles – this perhaps remains his greatest screen performance.
It is also a moving study of an individual struggling to come to terms with deformity and being a social outcast.
Another interesting aspect of the film is that it was produced by Mel Brooks, who became instrumental in getting the film made after his wife Anne Bancroft gave him the script to read.
When viewed in the context of Lynch’s career it has may seem different to his darker films such as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart or Mulholland Drive but it demonstrates his early skills as a filmmaker and his taste for the fringes of society.
The extras include the following:
Joseph Merrick – The Real Elephant Man: An highly informative 20 minute featurette on the real life of Merrick introduced by Jonathan Evans, an archivist of Royal London Hospital Museum. He describes the historical context but also explores the differences between the film and Merrick’s actual life. One of the most interesting snippets is that Merrick sought out his career in a freak show as a way to make money and that he was not such a victim as the film presents. It also speculates what disease Merrick was actually suffering from, a question that continues to baffle medical historians.
Interview with John Hurt: In a 20 minute interview, the actor describes various aspects of his experience playing the role: how he based his physical movements on a corkscrew; the unlikely success of the film in Japan; working with fellow actors Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud, Michael Elphick and Hannah Gordon; the difficulty of the shoot, how he completed all of his work in between making Heaven’s Gate in two parts (he notes that the whole of The Elephant Man cost less than the prologue of Heaven’s Gate!); the studio exec who didn’t know how to sell the film and how he kept some of the props from the film.
Interview with David Lynch: Another revealing 20 minute interview, this time with director David Lynch. He reveals several things about working on the film such as: his struggles after Eraserhead when he couldn’t find financing for his own script called ‘Ronnie Rocket’; how the pitch for The Elephant Man immediately appealed to him; the initial resistance to the project from studios; how Anne Bancroft loved the script and gave it to her husband (and producer) Mel Brooks; how Brooks loved Eraserhead and supported Lynch throughout the production; the origins of the script; the ‘beyond-the-beyond great’ cast who Brooks helped recruit; the importance of veteran cinematographer Freddie Francis in shooting the film in black and white; the makeup for Merrick, which Lynch actually worked on in a garage Wembley for a time before makeup artist Chris Tucker took over; how Hurt underwent 6-8 hours of makeup every day to become Merrick; the importance of visiting an old Victorian hospital and how only wants to work on digital film.
It also contains the original theatrical trailer:
Overall the extras are very good without being spectacular but this remains an excellent film, well worth checking out if you don’t already own it.
Here are the UK DVD releases for this week, along with our picks.
DVD PICKS
The Elephant Man – Special Edition(Optimum): The DVD highlight of the week is this special edition re-release of David Lynch’s superb 1980 period drama about the life of Joseph Merrick (he is named John on the film). Based on the real story of a man so disfigured he was dubbed ‘the Elephant Man’, it explores how he was taken in by a doctor and his struggle to be recognised as a dignified human being in Victorian London. [Read our full review here]
Escape From New York (Optimum): John Carpenter’s smart, dystopian thriller from 1981 gets re-released on regular DVD and Blu-ray. It imagines a futuristic New York where crime has spiralled out of control to the point where Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. When Air Force One crashes over the island, the prison governor (Lee Van Cleef) recruits a notorious criminal named “Snake” Plissken (Kurt Russell) to go in and rescue the leader of the free world. The major snag is that he has less than 24 hours to complete his mission and must survive in a completely lawless and hostile environment. [Read our full review here]
Total Recall (Optimum): Optimum have released a selection of Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies from the 80s and 90s on regular DVD and Blu-ray. The best of these is this 1990 sci-fi adaptation of Philip K Dick‘s story ‘We Can Remember It For You Wholesale‘ directed by Paul Verhoeven, which stars the Teutonic Austrian as a blue collar worker who dreams of Mars. When he visits a company offering him a virtual holiday by implanting memories, it inadvertently unlocks his ‘real’ past as a secret agent and all hell breaks loose as he escapes to the red planet for real. [Read our full review here]
ALSO OUT
Aces: Iron Eagle III (Optimum): The third part of the series of films about a young fighter pilot that came out in the same year as the more successful of Top Gun.
Cliffhanger (Optimum): A Blu-Ray release for this surprisingly satisfying 1993 action film with Slyvester Stallone battling it out with a bunch of crooks on a mountain.
First Blood (Optimum): A Blu-Ray release for the first of the Rambo series – probably the best of the lot as it has a darker and more serious vibe, exploring a drifting Vietnam veteran (Sylvester Stallone) who is hunted by the police in Washington State.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (Optimum): A Blu-ray release for the 2nd of the Rambo films, which despite it’s confusing title was the most successful. A balls-to-the-wall 80s action film with Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) going back to Asia to get POWs missing in action from Vietnam. Efficiently done, even if the climactic speech is unintentionally hilarious.
Rambo III (Optimum): The 3rd Rambo film also gets the Blu-ray treatment and this is perhaps the most fascinating as the plot – set in 1988 – involves Rambo allying with freedom fighters in Afghanistan against the Russian invaders. These allies would of course go on to destroy the World Trade Centre spark global warfare, but as Stallone told me earlier this year ‘who knew?’.
Flash Gordon (Optimum): Mike Hodges’ 1980 film version of the famous comic book character gets a DVD release and although its just too campy and dated it does have its moments notably Brian Blessed‘s immortal cry of ‘Gordon’s Alive!’.
Hell’s Ground (TLA Releasing): A release for this ‘Danger After Dark’ title which is notable for being Pakistan’s “first-ever splatter flick” about zombies attacking teenagers in a remote location.
How She Move (Paramount): The current craze for dance themed movies continues with the release of this film about a young woman’s battle to escape her crime-filled neighbourhood through step-dancing.
Iron Eagle II (Optimum): The 1989 sequel to Iron Eagle, which saw a Perestroika-style team-up between US and Soviet forces in order to combat an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Lupin the Third: Secret of Mamo (Manga): A release for this Manga film – the first of five animated features based on the popular Lupin the Third manga character created by ‘Monkey Punch’ (aka manga writer and illustrator Kazuhiko Kato).
Raw Deal (Optimum): A pedestrian Schwarzenegger vehicle from 1986 in which he plays a cop taking on the mob. The highlights were probably the tag line “NOBODY gives him a raw deal….” and the scene where he shoots someone and then pours sweets over them – indications that this probably wasn’t Arnold’s finest hour.
Red Heat(Optimum): One indication that the Cold War was coming to an end was that Russians started becoming allies in movies rather than villains. This 1988 action film saw Arnold Schwarzenegger play a Russian cop who comes to Chicago to hunt down a vicious fellow countryman (Ed O’Ross). James Belushi starred as the mismatched cop he must team up with, whilst Walter Hill directed.
Red Sonja (Optimum): A re-release for for this sword and sorcery action film in which Arnold Schwarzenegger took on more of a supporting role (despite the then recent success of the Conan films) and Bridgitte Nielsen took centre stage as a mystical warrior. Rose McGowan will soon star in a remake.
Space Adventure Cobra (Manga): Based on the comic books by Buichi Terasawa, this feature has been described as ‘an animated space opera packed with unfeasibly pneumatic heroines, psychedelic drug-inspired imagery, cracking cosmic combat sequences, a Darth Vader-like villain and a retro-styled, wise-cracking hero for whom saving the universe is about as taxing as a walk in the park’. Well that’s alright then.
Stargate- Special Edition(Optimum): The 1994 action film from director Roland Emmerich gets a regular DVD and Blu-ray re-release. Despite spawning a seemingly never-ending TV spin off, the action and effects hold up reasonably well in this tale of marines and a scientist finding a portal to another world.
The Fog (1979): A Blu-ray release for the John Carpenter original rather than the ropey 2005 remake. Be warned though that there are no extras on this disc, so only get it if you are dying to see it in HD.
Trouble in Mind (Nouveaux): A re-release for this 1985 neo-crime drama directed by Alan Rudolph and starring Kris Kristofferson, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer, Genevieve Bujold, Joe Morton and Divine.
Our picks for DVDs released on Monday 28th July are:
Funny Games US (Halcyon): A dark and often brutal shot-for-shot remake of the 1997 original made again by Austrian director Michael Haneke. Tim Roth and Naomi Watts plays a well-to-do couple terrorised at their holiday home by two mysterious young men (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet). Although parts of it are difficult to endure, it is fascinating to compare it to the original.
Paris, Texas (Axiom): One of the iconic art house movies of the 80s gets a re-release and it stars Harry Dean Stanton as a drifter taken in by his brother (Dean Stockwell), trying to put his life back together with his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski), and son Hunter (Hunter Carson). A fascinating slice of Americana seen through the eyes of German director Wim Wenders, it is notable for the fine performances, beautiful images of the Texan landscape and a truly memorable slide guitar score by Ry Cooder.
Wings of Desire (Axiom): Another iconic 80s art house movie by Wim Wenders also gets re-released, the story of a guardian angel (Bruno Ganz) who wants to be human. Made in 1987, before the collapse of the Berlin wall, it is a beautiful meditation on mortality, existence and the German capital. The extras include a feature-length commentary by Wim Wenders and Peter Falk, along with some deleted scenes and a featurette.
The Terence Davies Trilogy(BFI): A re-release of the early films of Terence Davies, presented as a trilogy. Children (1976) shows the central character Robert Tucker as a child bullied by his contemporaries, his Catholic schoolteachers, and his father. Madonna and Child (1980) explores Tucker’s middle-age as a Liverpool office worker struggling with his sexuality and his Catholic faith. Death and Transfiguration (1983) shows Tucker as an old man in hospital, haunted by his troubled life. All have been re-released in one box set by the BFI.
Also out are the following titles:
27 Dresses (Fox): A romantic comedy with Katherine Heigl going to a lot of weddings.
American Crude (Sony): A comedy with Rob Schneider, Ron Livingston and Jennifer Esposito about a group of strangers whose lives collide during one ‘crazy’ night.
Big Stan (Momentum): Rob Schneider stars in this comedy set inside a prison.
Black Five: The Last Days of Steam (BFI): Three films by Paul Barnes that explore the last days of steam trains with footage from the BFI National Archive.
Bloodbath at the House of Death (Nucleus Films): 1984 cult horror spoof gets released on DVD for the first time with a long list of UK actors and comedians including Kenny Everett, Pamela Stephenson, Gareth Hunt, Don Warrington, John Fortune and Vincent Price.
Death Note (4Digital Media): A live-action version of the hit manga film, directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
Death Note Volume 2 (Viz Media/Manga Entertainment): The second volume of the animated manga adaptation about the story of Light Yagami – a school kid who gets the power of life and death in his hands in the form of ‘the Death Note’.
Eden Log (Momentum): The debut film by director Franck Vestiel is a sci-fi thriller starring Clovis Cornillac in a tale of a man who wakes up in a dark and mysterious undergound world.
Four Minutes (Peccadillo Pictures): A German drama from directed by Chris Kraus about the relationship between a female prisoner and an older piano teacher.
Heroes – Season 2 (Universal Playback): The second season of the hit US show about a collection of different people with super powers.
Kings of the Road (Axiom): Another Wim Wenders re-release, this is the final film in his road movie trilogy (the first two being Alice in the Cities and Wrong Move).
Let’s Get Lost (Metrodome): A documentary by director Bruce Weber about life and music of legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker.
Reservation Road (Universal): A drama directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) about two fathers as their respective families as they converge after the events of one fateful night. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvinostar.
The Gerard Depardieu Collection (Optimum): A box set celebrating the famous French leading man, which includes Buffet Froid, Mon Pere Ce Hero, Le Colonel Chabert and Tous Les Matins du Monde.
The Kovak Box (DNC Entertainment): A thriller with Timothy Hutton as a bestselling author caught up in a series of deaths in Majorca.
The Long Day Closes (BFI): Another Terence Davies film gets a re-release with this 1992 film focusing on his own memories of growing up in a working-class Catholic family in Liverpool.
Under the Bombs (Artificial Eye): Drama exploring the 2006 Lebanese-Israeli conflict about mother’s frantic search for her lost child amongst Lebanon’s bombed out ruins.
Uniform (Axiom): Chinese thriller directed by Yinan Diao about the corrupting influence of poverty in contemporary China.
If you have any questions about this week’s DVD releases or any upcoming titles then just email me.
(To buy any of the DVDs above just click on the title and you will be redirected to our Amazon affiliate)
One of the most accomplished films of the last twelve months was The Orphanage, an intelligent and highly effective supernatural thriller from Spain.
I thought of describing it as a ‘horror’ film, but this is much closer in style on tone to Pan’s Labyrinth or The Others and a world away from the glut of remakes that have been clogging up multiplexes of late.
The story involves a woman named Laura (Belén Rueda) who returns to the orphanage where she grew up and buys the property with the intention to turn it into a home for disabled children.
Along with her husband (Fernando Cayo) and son Simón (Roger Príncep) things seem to settle down well, but things take a darker turn when their young boy says he has an imaginary friend.
To say much more about the plot would be to spoil a beautifully crafted script that not only satisfies connoisseurs of atmospheric ghost stories but also those in search of something more emotionally involving than the standard horror movie.
It is a highly impressive directorial debut for Juan Antonio Bayona and after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last year it went on to win considerable critical acclaim in limited release.
Guillermo del Toro helped bring it to the screen in his capacity as producer and the film bears some similarities to Pan’s Labyrinth with the exploration of parallel worlds and the importance of a child’s perspective on the cruelties of the adult world.
If you didn’t manage to catch it at cinemas then the DVD is well worth catching up with, especially as Optimum Home Entertainment have done a fine job with a very tasty 2-disc package.
Disc 1 includes:
The Main Feature: The transfer is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is anamorphically enhanced. There are two Spanish language tracks, in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.
Disc 2 contains all the extras, which feature the following:
UK Exclusive Q&A with Bayona at Curzon Mayfair in London: This is video footage from a Q&A session held after a screening around the UK theatrical release. Hosted by Mark Kermode, it features Juan Antonio Bayona, sound designer Oriol Tarrago and a translator (Corrina Poore). It lasts about 40 minutes and covers some interesting points, such as: the origins of the project; the role of Guillermo Del Toro in getting the film made; the sound design of the film (and how hearing horror movies on TV as a child influenced Bayona’s work); whether or not the story is especially Spanish, the importance of suggestion over showing horror and a few other things as well. My favourite bit is when they discuss the proposed Hollywood remake and Bayona asks why people in Hollywood don’t like subtitles, to which Kermode gives the simple but immortal reply: “Because they are thick.” Disappointingly though, the sound feed wasn’t taken from the mixing desk so it sounds a little echoey, but nonetheless it is a solid discussion of the film.
The Making of The Orphanage: A general 12 minute promo that covers the making of the film, featuring talking head EPK bites from the cast and crew.
The Set of The Orphanage: A short 2 minute featurette on the set, which shows how they built the set of the orphanage in an enormous set.
The Sound of The Orphanage: A 6 minute featurette with commentary by Oriol Tarrago, showing the scene with the parapsychologists, but adjusting the sound to demonstrate how vital it was to the film.
Interview with Bayona and Del Toro in Budapest: An 8 minute interview with director and and producer in Budapest (or as Guillermo calls it ‘the porn capital of Europe’). I guess Guillermo was shooting Hellboy 2 in Hungary and bayona joined him out there to film this discussion of the film. It focuses on the themes and issues deep within the film and is an interesting – if brief – conversation.
Lighting the Darkness: A 5 minute piece on how the film was lit and how atmosphere was created without resorting to obviously ‘big’ effects. The mix and match of shots is also quite interesting as all the interiors were shot on a set and had to blend with the exteriors, shot on location.
Roger Princep – The Casting: An interview with the young actor who plays a key role in the film and is surprisingly lucid for his age.
Alternative Beginning and Alternative Ending: The alternative ending is more of an extra scene that was cut, it doesn’t really replace the original end in any big way – however, the final shot is very nice. The alternative prologue is a different matter, as it is quite a detailed sequence that foreshadows a lot of key developments in the plot. Bayano explains that he wanted to keep things simpler and that it was ultimately too complicated a sequence for the opening of the film.
Deleted and Extended Scenes: The deleted scenes vary in interest but most of them are very intriguing, especially one involving a face-to-face meeting with two important characters.
Storyboards for 3 scenes: The storyboards for the seance, treasure hunt and appearance of Tomas offer the early visual conceptions of these scenes and are played parallel to the final cuts.
Shooting the Credits:A short piece on how the credit sequence was designed using footage of real children then mixed together with digital footage.
Animatics:More storyboards showing how they previsualised scertain sequences in the film.
Trailer: US theatrical trailer with the requisite deepthroated voice over.
Projections: Appears to be handheld test footage of characters from the film.
So all in all a highy impressive DVD package for what was one of the best films to come out in the last year.
Watch the trailer here:
The Orphanage is out now on DVD from Optimum Home Entertainment
Here are our DVD picks for the week beginning Monday 21st July 2008:
La Vie de Jesus (Eureka): Director Bruno Dumont’s debut film from 1997 about two teenage lovers, set in a Flemish town – available on UK DVD for the first time.
The Office – Season 3 (Universal): The third season of the surprisingly good US version of the series with Steve Carrell in the Ricky Gervais role.
The Orphanage (Optimum): Superb Spanish ghost story set in an orphanage, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo Del Toro.
The Patrice Leconte Collection (Second Sight): Box set featuring the films of the noted French director including: The Hairdresser’s Husband, Ridicule, Monsieur Hire, Le Parfum D’yvonne And Tango.
Also out are the following titles:
10,000 B.C. (Warner Bros): Prehistoric epic from director Roland Emmerich.
Redacted (Optimum):Brian De Palma’s drama about US troops committing rape and murder in Iraq.
Robbery (Optimum): A crime drama inspired by the great train robbery of 1963 directed by Peter Yates and starring Stanley Baker, Frank Finlay, Barry Foster and William Marlowe.
The Mechanik (DNC Entertainment): Dolph Lungdren stars in a revenge tale involving a Russian paratrooper.
The Mummy [1999](Universal): The 1999 action remake with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz is re-released on Blu-ray.
The Mummy Returns (Universal): The 2001 sequel – re-released on Blu-ray also.
WTC View (Peccadillo Pictures): Based on the stage play by Brian Sloan, exploring life in New York after 9/11 through the struggles of one man.
Zombies(Momentum): J.S. Cardone directs this tale of a group of young children zombies who come back from the dead looking for revenge, after their murder a century ago.
If you have any questions about this week’s DVD releases or any upcoming titles then just email me
(To buy any of the DVDs above just click on the title and you will be redirected to our Amazon affiliate)
Franklin is the young guitar player, Wishaw the budding poet, Bale the folk icon (and later the born again Christian), Blanchett the iconic 60s rock star, Gere the actor on a Western and Ledger the disillusioned 70s celebrity.
Although this approach might seem a little esoteric it has the effect of tapping right into the themes and brilliance of Dylan’s music, which is plastered all over the film.
The performances are excellent with Blanchett in particular standing out as arguably the most famous version of Dylan – the jaded, chain smoking iconoclast familiar to viewers of D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary Don’t Look Back.
Perhaps most poignant section, given his untimely death in January, is the section with Heath Ledger portraying the Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan. He again demonstrates what a fine actor he could be given the right role.
The soundtrack is also similarly inventive, with the likes of Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, The Hold Steady and Antony & The Johnsons all contributing cover versions of Dylan songs. It also features a previously unreleased Dylan recording of the title track ‘I’m Not There’.
The DVD includes over one hour of special features, including a tribute to the late Ledger, a conversation with the director and a look at the making of the soundtrack.
They include:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English DD5.1 Surround:
Introduction to the Film
Commentary by director/co-writer Todd Haynes
A Conversation with Todd Haynes (40:50mins)
Making the Soundtrack (20:15mins)
A Tribute to Heath Ledger (3:09mins)
Dylanography (Character galleries, discography, bibliography and chronology)
Check out the trailer here:
I’m Not There is out now on DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment
It focuses on the controversial death in custody of an Afghantaxi driver named Dilawar, who in 2002 was beaten to death by US soldiers at the Bagram Air Base.
Directed by Alex Gibney (who made the 2005 documentary Enron: The Samrtest Guys in the Room) it examines in clinical detail the events surrounding Dilawar’s death, featuring interviews with the troops who caused it and contributions from many figures involved in the story.
The film is meticulous in examining the evidence and explores how the court-martialed soldiers involved were acting upon ambiguous policies that tacitly encouraged torture.
It also makes the connection between the detention tactics used at Bagram and those at Abu Ghraib.
Revolver have done a fine job with the UK DVD, with over 70 minutes of extra footage including:
Commentary: Director Alex Gibney which goes into more detail about the film and the choices he made dring the production and edit.
Interview with Frank Gibney: The director’s father – who was himself a US Navy interrogator during World War 2 – speaks about his experiences questioning Japanese POW’s and his anger at the current US policies.
Outtakes: Some of the sequences which didn’t make the final cut are very interesting, including: a sequence about a SERE school (a US ‘survival’ boot camp) who supplied methods to the US army at Guantanamo Bay; a more detailed sequence involving Tony Lagouranis highlighting the absurdity of interrogating suspects in Iraq who were innocent and Carlotta Gaul talking about Dilawar’s family and village; a sequence about a website selling a restraint chair that was used to break a hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay; Clive Stafford Smith discussing his client Binyam Mohammed who was tortured in horrific ways; former US president Jimmy Carter discussing the ‘gross, unprecedented violation’ of US principles that the Bush adminstration has engaged in.
Dirty Harry is one of the most iconic cops in the history of cinema and Warner Bros have just released a DVD box set of all five movies entitled The Dirty Harry Collection.
It is a pretty lavish affair and if you are a fan of the character or Clint Eastwood then it is well worth purchasing.
WARNING: There are spoilers in this review, so if you haven’t seen any of the films then be warned.
The first and best of the series saw Clint Eastwood take on the role of Harry Callahan – a no-nonsense cop in San Francisco who has to deal with a rooftop sniper named Scorpio.
The success of the film took his career to another level, establishing him as one of the major box office stars of the 1970s.
It remains a landmark cop film that influenced a generation of filmmakers with films like Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and Speed all being inspired by it to some degree.
Revisiting the film is interesting experience – the craft of the film is quite striking and for director Don Siegel it was the high watermark of his long collaboration with Eastwood.
As a police procedural thriller it is is slick, absorbing and tightly plotted. There is very little narrative waste here but visually it is interesting too. Cinematographer Bruce Surtees and director Siegel make great use of the fabulous San Francisco locations.
The low lit night time sequences are also unusually dark – an interesting foretaste when you consider Eastwood’s fondness for low lighting as a director in later years.
As an actor Eastwood brings the same dry, distant quality that he brought to the Man With No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. The loner cop figure can be seen as an extension of the bounty hunter figure from those films – a violent avenger who understands the blurry differences between justice and the law.
As for the villain, Andy Robinson is remarkably creepy as Scorpio, with his childlike insults and temper tantrums. The clash between the cop and the sniper is interesting as it is Harry who behaves in a way that is deemed unacceptable in the eyes of the law.
It was this sense of moral ambiguity and the underlying rage at bureaucracy in the wake of the Miranda and Escbedo rulings in the 60s (the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney) that gave ammunition to the films’ critics.
Most notably, Pauline Kael of The New Yorker loathed the film, denouncing it as a:
“right-wing fantasy [that is] a remarkably simple-minded attack on liberal values”
Viewing the film now, these criticisms seem a little outlandish, but there is no doubt that the film does touch on the cultural conflicts of the times. Scorpio abuses Harry as a ‘pig’, wears a CND peace sign on his belt and also knows the rights that have been given to him by the liberal 60s.
But the film and the central character are more libertarian than right wing: Harry hates the complacency and opportunism of his bosses; is perturbed by the lack of concern towards the victim’s rights; plus, there also seems to be a lingering class resentment towards his superiors, especially in the scene where he argues with the District Attorney and a Judge.
Another aspect of the film that doesn’t often get talked about is the violence. Although by today’s standards the acts depicted on screen seem relatively tame, the sadistic behaviour of Scorpio is disturbing. He shoots a young black boy in the head, leaves a 14-year old girl to suffocate to death, hijacks a school bus and revels in his own cruelty.
Although based on the Zodiac killer, he seems to represent a new kind of murderer ushered in by Charles Manson – one who was concerned with their public notoriety as much as they were with brutalizing the innocent.
But interestingly the film points out parallels between cop and killer – they both loners who hate authority and they both break the law, albeit to very different ends. It is worth noting that Harry only brings Scorpio to justice when he is on leave and effectively outside the law.
It is also fascinating to view this film after Zodiac, the film which last year explored the killings that inspired Dirty Harry.
There are a number of intriguing parallels: Don Siegel’s film contracts to a vivid resolution whilst David Fincher’s keeps expanding to an inconclusive mystery; Harry and Scorpio represent two different sides of the same violent coin whilst Dave Toschi, Robert Graysmith and Paul Avery form a triangle of characters obsessed by a lone killer who is never truly revealed; and whilst Dirty Harry is a thriller with political overtones, Zodiac is a drama with existential vibes. Both are very different but still somehow connected.
Like a lot of first films in a series, it remains the best and none of the successive Harry films could match it.
As Harry foils the bank robbery near the beginning of the film, he walks past a theatre showing Play Misty for Me, which Eastwood directed and starred in.
Writer John Milius made a major contribution to the film (as well as Dirty Harry’s mystique). He wrote the lines Harry quotes to punks about “Did he fire six shots or five?” and the immortal “Do you feel lucky, punk?
The Smith & Wesson Model 29.44 Magnum revolver Harry uses is not actually considered a practical weapon for police officers due to the excessive recoil which makes re-aiming at the target difficult.
When director Don Siegel fell ill during the shoot, Clint Eastwood took over and directed the scene where Harry rescues a would-be suicide jumper and the encounter with a homosexual in Mt. Davidson Park.
Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood cast Andrew Robinson for the role of Scorpio after seeing him in a production of Fyodor Dostoevsky‘s The Idiot – Robinsonwas so convincing that he received death threats after the film was released.
The line where Scorpio says “My, that’s a big one” when Callahan removes his gun was an ad-lib by Andrew Robinson. The crew cracked up laughing at the double entendre but the line stayed.
Scorpio’s real name is never revealed through out the entire movie – the end credits simply list him as “killer”.
The gravel pit at the end of the film was a place Clint had gone to as a child with his parents.
The final scene where Harry throws his badge in the river is a homage to a similar scene from High Noon but Clint was uneasy about doing it until he was convinced otherwise by Siegel.
Albert Popwell who plays the ‘punk’ Harry taunts in the bank sequence would go on to appear in every “Dirty Harry” film except The Dead Pool – playing a different character in each movie.
In what seemed to be a reaction to the criticisms of Dirty Harry, the plot of Magnum Force saw Harry dealing with evil inside the police force as a group of vigilante traffic cops take the law into their own hands by killing criminals who seem beyond the law.
The film was directed by Ted Post, who also directed Clint in TV’s Rawhide and Hang ‘Em High. Although it isn’t as good as the first one, it is still of some interest.
Although it was probably a coincidence, in retrospect the plot seems to tap into the distrust of authority in the early 70s with the Watergate scandal about to end the Nixon presidency.
More interestingly, the screenplay was written by John Milius (who worked uncredited on the original film) and Michael Cimino – two writers who would go on to direct war movies that some found to be conservative (The Deer Hunter) or right wing (Red Dawn).
The vigilante officers or Magnum Force of the title also feature actors who would go on to greater fame such as Tim Matheson, David Soul and Robert Urich. Hal Holbrook also turns up in a memorable role as Harry’s boss Lt Briggs.
It moves along at a fair pace although the editing and direction are not in the same class as the first film.
Here are some facts:
At one point when Harry is in his apartment by himself, he looks at a photo of him and his wife: the only time the audience ever gets to see the late Mrs. Callahan who was mentioned in the previous film.
Harry’s tagline for this film was “A man’s got to know his limitations”, or variations on this phrase. This replaced the line from the first film “Do you feel lucky?”.
David Soul‘s performance as one of the vigilante cops, led to his being cast as Detective Ken Hutchinson in the classic cop series Starsky and Hutch (1975).
According to writer John Milius, the reason the sex scene with the Asian woman is in the script is because Clint Eastwood received many fan letters from Asian women that contained sexual propositions.
The final Dirty Harry film of the 1970s sees Callahan take on a group of left wing revolutionaries called The People’s Revolutionary Strike Force, who start to terrorise San Francisco.
It also sees Harry team up with a female partner, Insp. Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), so whilst the film was swinging back to the right politically, it also made concessions to feminism in the 70s.
Directed by James Fargo, it is a much more perfunctory film than it’s predecessors although it does have some memorable moments, especially the climax on Alcatraz prison.
Here are some facts:
Originally titled ‘Moving Target’, the script was left for Eastwood at his Carmel restaurant, The Hog’s Breath Inn, by two aspiring screenwriters, (Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr). Eastwood was interested enough to turn it over to two of his favorite script doctors, Sterling Silliphant and Dean Riesner
The two militant organizations depicted in the film – the People’s Revolutionary Strike Force and Uhuru – were modeled after two real-life militant groups, the Symbionese Liberation Army (which kidnapped Patty Hearst) and the Black Panthers.
In the 80s, Daly was cast as detective Mary Beth Lacey in the hit TV show Cagney and Lacey.
Father John Voss – the priest who shields the gang – is played by M.G. Kelly – in real life a noted DJ and radio personality.
3 years later Eastwood was back on Alcatraz for the prison drama Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Although the series was meant to end with The Enforcer, the popularity of the character was such that Warner Bros persuaded Clint to do a fourth film.
This one sees Harry forced to take a vacation after a run in with a local gangster. There he comes across a vigilante (Sondra Locke) who is trying to get revenge on the criminals who raped her and her sister.
Although it is a weak entry to the series it became famous for a catchphrase that people often (wrongly) attribute to the first Dirty Harry: “Go ahead , make my day“.
As for the film, it is watchable with the usual funny one liners but is fairly pedestrian as a thriller. The reason for it’s commercial success would appear to be the presence of Eastwood and the public’s nostalgia for a cop like Harry in the Regan era.
Here are some facts:
This was the highest-grossing of the Dirty Harry film series.
It is the only Dirty Harry film not primarily set in San Francisco.
The reason the film was made at all had to do with a survey Warner Bros did for the Sean Connery Bond remake Never Say Never Again (1983). They asked movie goers to name an actor and a famous part that actor played. Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” scored so high in the survey results, the studio told Eastwood it would be “open” to making another and Eastwood made this film as a result.
Although Clint Eastwood made the phrase “Go ahead, make my day” famous, it was originally used a year earlier by actor Gary Swanson in the movie Vice Squad (1982). Swanson, who played a Hollywood vice cop, said the line, “Go ahead scumbag, make my day,” to actor Wings Hauser, who played a pimp, during a bust.
Bradford Dillman is seen in the film as Captain Briggs; in the previous film, The Enforcer, he portrayed Captain Jerome McKay. It is unknown if McKay and Briggs are distant relatives. Hal Holbrook played Lieutenant Briggs in Magnum Force.
The fifth film in the series is almost a homage to the character – a film who’s enjoyable moments are guilty pleasures rather than anything especially substantial.
The plot sees Harry drawn into a murder plot as a serial killer bumps off several people connected with a death pool run by a film director (Liam Neeson).
The main motivation for this film being made would appear to be the fact that Warner Bros needed a reliable title for the summer of 1988.
It also coincided with a relative creative slump in Eastwood’s career when he was making too many average films (such as Pink Cadillac and The Rookie) before his renaissance in the 90s with Unforgiven.
The main pleasures here are seeing a 26 year old Jim Carrey play the obnoxious rocker who is the first victim and the presence of Guns N’ Roses on the soundtrack.
Welcome to the Jungle was chosen as the tie-in track for the film and by 1988 when the film was released they had become massive.
This was the only Dirty Harry movie not to feature Albert Popwell. He played a robber in “Dirty Harry”, a pimp in “Magnum Force”, a militant in “The Enforcer, and Horace King in “Sudden Impact”.
The extras on the DVD are extensive and are spread out on each of the discs.
Dirty Harry – Special Features:
A fine and informative commentary by longtime Eastwood associate/biographer Richard Schickel
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry: New featurette on the influence and legacy of Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry: The Original: with Clint Eastwood and the film’s creators looking back at the creation of the Dirty Harry character
Dirty Harry’s Way: A promotional short focusing on the toughness of the movie’s main character.
Interview gallery: With Patricia Clarkson, Joel Cox, Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Evan Kim, John Milius, Ted Post, Andy Robinson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert Urich
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso: A 1993 TV program on his life and career, including scenes from his work and interviews with friends, fellow actors and crew members
Trailer gallery: Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool
Magnum Force – Special Features:
New commentary by director and Magnum Force screenwriter John Milius (in which Milius – within the first 10 minutes – appears to call for the vigilante style execution of Enron executives – I assume he is joking!)
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry: Another featurette with filmmakers, social scientists and authors on the politics and ethics of the Dirty Harry films.
The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today: Another featurette
The Enforcer – Special Features:
New commentary by Enforcer director James Fargo
The Business End: Violence in Cinema: Featurette on the violence in the films
Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films: Another featurette on the character.
Sudden Impact – Special Features:
New commentary by filmmaker and Eastwood associate/biographer Richard Schickel
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood: Featurette on the film in the context of Eastwood’s career as a director
The Dead Pool – Special Features:
New commentary by Dead Pool producer David Valdes and Dead Pool cinematographer Jack N. Green
The Craft of Dirty Harry: Featurette on the cinematography, editing, music, and production design of the Dirty Harry films.
The box set also contains:
Clint Eastwood: Out Of The Shadows – On a separate DVD this is a fine feature length documentary from 2000 about Eastwood’s career, narrated by Morgan Freeman.
A 44 page hardcover book on the films.
A Dirty Harry wallet with metal badge and removable Inspect. Harry Callahan ID card
Five 5″ x 7″ lobby poster reproduction cards and an exclusive Ultimate Collector’s Edition card
A Scorpio Map: 19″ x 27″ map of San Francisco detailing Harry’s hunt for the killer in the first film
A one-page personal note from Clint
Reproductions of telegrams from Warner Bros to Clint (and vice versa) throughout the making of the series.
Overall this is a highly impressive box set, even if the films themselves do decline in quality somewhat.
That said, Warner Bros deserve great credit for the care and attention they have put into this set of films from one of their most consistent and legendary stars.
Plus, as a studio they deserve special praise for allowing you to skip straight to the menu instead of being forced to watch godawful piracy ads or trailers of upcoming films. Why can’t other major studios be like this?
Anyway, the Dirty Harry Collection is highly recommended as a package, especially at the reasonable price of under £30.
Will Eastwood ever return to the role? Let’s leave the last word to him:
Although the subject matter might put some viewers off it is a truly remarkable film from director Cristian Mungiu that deserves a wider audience than just the arthouse circuit.
The achievement here is that it takes what appears to be a simple situation (the difficulty of abortion in Communist Romania) and manages to wring out the intense human emotions and drama that lie below.
From the young woman who is pregnant (Laura Vasiliu), her loyal friend (Anamaria Marinca) who helps her and the abortionist (Vlad Ivanov) who performs the operation, all are complicit in a highly dangerous situation.
What elevates it above many contemporary dramas is raw power of the narrative, the terrific lead performances from Marinca and Vasiliu and the clever cinematography from Oleg Mutu that utilises long takes that draws us deeper into the characters lives.
Although it is only his second film, director Mungiu has scored a major achievement and created a film that explores the terrible dilemas facing people in a particularly dark corner of Europe’s recent past.
Artificial Eye have done an excellent job with the extras, most of them interesting and insightful.
They include:
Featurette – The Romanian Tour: A featurette that shows the filmmaker’s taking a mobile projection unit on a 30 day tour across Romania in order to give people the chance to see the film in a country with only 50 cinemas.
Cristian Mungiu Interview: In two informative interviews, the director discusses the development of the script and why his desire to achieve a sense of authenticity in every scene. Some of the shots are discussed alongside alternative takes in specific scenes, the social and historical context, the locations and the reactions to the film.
Interview with Anamaria Marinca: The lead actress discusses her background, how she got the part and the input she had into the script.
Interview with Oleg Mutu: The cinematographer talks about the lighting and the effects he was trying to achieve in the film.
Alternative / Deleted Scenes: Two alternative endings are included, each of them going beyond where the final cut of the film. Another deleted scene with Gabita is included and they are shown in a good quality, letterbox format.
This is one of the best films of the year and an essential purchase for any discerning viewer.
Here is the trailer:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is out now on DVD from Artificial Eye
One of his most notable earlier films is Alice in the Cities (1974), a thoughtful and poignant road movie about a journalist named Philip Winter (Rüdiger Vogler) who ends up trying to help a little girl (Yella Rottländer) find her grandmother.
The film starts with Winter on an assignment in the US but he finds the experience dispiriting and ends up with a bout of writer’s block, only finding solace in taking polaroid photos.
When he decides to go home to Germany, a plane strike delays his flight and he meets up with a German woman and her daughter Alice (Rottlander), who are also stuck until normal service is resumed.
When Alice’s mother misses the flight and fails to appear in Amsterdam as planned, Winter finds himself responsible for the young girl and they both travel across Europe, trying to find Alice’s grandmother.
Driven by the charming chemistry between Vogler and Rottlander, it has a pleasingly meandering narrative and is free of the twee life lessons and sentimentality that could have crept in.
Shot in grainy black and white on 16mm by Wenders’s regular cinematographer Robby Muller, it is a captivating work that establishes themes which would surface in Wenders’ later films: alienation, lonlieness and a fascination with America.
The DVD has some solid extras which include:
An exclusive interview with Wim Wenders by Mark Cousins
Rare interviews with stars Rüdiger Vogler and Yella Rottländer
A collectors booklet and photo galleries.
Alice and the Cities is out now on DVD from Axiom Films
My Kid Could Paint That is a documentary that follows a young girl named Marla Olmstead, who gains fame as a child prodigy who can seemingly paint abstract art.
By the age of four, critics were comparing Marla’s work with Jackson Pollock’s and sales of her paintings were reaching $300,000.
But after 2005 profile by ‘60 Minutes‘ suggested that Marla had help from her parents – in particular her father – the story became more complex. Was Marla a genuine child prodigy or the innocent victim of a hoax?
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev (who made 2000’s Fighter) it is a fascinating film that deals with a number of interlocking subjects such as childhood, the nature of art and the mystery of authorship.
The DVD has a number of extras that help flesh out the mysteries of this intriguing tale including:
Filmmaker Commentary
‘Back to Binghamton’ – a mini-doc with Director Amir Bar-Lev that includes follow-up interviews, Sundance Q & A, Binghamton Q & A, deleted scenes, etc.
‘Kimmelman on Art’ – a mini-doc with the New York Times art critic
The film is out now on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Warner Bros have finally got around to issuing a proper special edition of Bonnie and Clyde, the landmark gangster film that signalled the rise of New Hollywood.
A notable supporting cast includes Gene Hackman as Clyde’s brother Buck and Estelle Parsons as his wife Blanche.
Although only partly based on the historical truth, director Arthur Penn and screenwriter Robert Benton created a film that ushered in a new era of mainstream filmmaking with a groundbreaking approach to morality, sex and violence.
At the time the film was hugely controversial for its graphic violence – it was one of the first to make heavy use of squibs – but in time would be seen as a turning point for mainstream films that followed, such as The French Connection and The Godfather.
Penn and Benton were heavily influenced by French New Wave directors like Francois Truffaut, who strangely enough was offered the chance to direct it before passing on it.
The film stands up well today and now has a decent set of extras to cmplement it. They include:
Revolution! The Making of Bonnie and Clyde. A behind the secen doc consisting of three sections:
Bonnie and Clyde’s Gang (22 minutes)
The Reality and Myth of Bonnie and Clyde (24 minutes)
Releasing Bonnie and Clyde (18 minutes)
Love and Death: A History Channel documentary that explores the real life Bonnie and Clyde (43:13)
Warren Beatty Wardrobe Tests (07:39)
Two deleted scenes:
The Road To Mineola (2:06)
Outlaws (3:17)
Teaser and Theatrical Trailer
Check out the original trailer here:
Bonnie and Clyde is released today on DVD from Warner Home Video
Silent Light is a hypnotic and beautifully crafted tale of forbidden love, set amongst the Mennonite community in Northern Mexico.
When I was in Cannes last year – about to see a film involving Nazi Vampires, believe it or not – I met a publicist who was working on the ‘new film from Carlos Reygadas‘.
On the train back to the hotel that night I noticed the review in Variety and was intrigued, although I wasn’t a huge fan of his previous film, Battle in Heaven.
However, when I finally got round to seeing Silent Light in October I was hugely impressed by both the technique and mood Reygadas created.
The story involves a married man named Johan who defies the laws of his religious community by falling in love with another woman.
It then explores the impact this has on him, his family and the wider community.
Although, the slow pace and esoteric feel won’t be for everyone, there is a rich sense of mystery to the world of the film.
The phrase ‘dream-like’ is often used in the wrong context but here it genuinely applies as Reygadas shows us a world that exists but seems so strange and distant – like the Amish, the Mennonites live by a strict code that eschews many aspects of modern life.
Using a cast of non-actors adds to this effect and if you give yourself up to the film, which is the polar opposite of how many mainstream films work in terms of narrative and editing, then you may find yourself basking in it’s otherworldliness.
Perhaps in years to come it will be best remembered for its incredible opening and closing shots, which are a feast for the senses.
The extras on the DVD include:
A making of featurette about 30 minutes long
Interviews with some of the cast
Deleted scenes
Notes on the film by Jason Woods which help provide some insight into Reygadas and his methods
Sadly there is no commentary from the director by you can listen to an interview we did with him here back in October at the London Film Festival:
