Buyers Guide: 16/4/2012

Each week in the buyer's guide I'll be suggesting a few new Blu Ray and DVD releases that movie fans should give serious consideration to purchasing. At the bottom of the post you find links where you can buy the films from Amazon, so if you DO wish to buy a film I've recommended, please do it through that link, it won't cost you anything, but you'll get the film AND get to help out 24FPS at the same time. Cheers.

These are UK releases, out next Monday, April 16th

BLU RAY

The Legend of Drunken Master
The long delayed sequel to the film that really cemented Jackie Chan as a big star in martial arts cinema (following the success of his previous collaboration with director Yuen Woo-ping; Snake in the Eagle's Shadow), The Legend of Drunken Master had a great deal to live up to on its 1994 release. It seems to have had a difficult birth: Jackie and director Lau Kar-leung disagreed on the direction of the film, leading to Jackie taking (uncredited) responsibility for much of what ended up on screen. However, this difficult shoot is not reflected in the final product, which is a relentlessly entertaining kung-fu comedy, with Jackie clowning and fighting as brilliantly as he had sixteen years previously.

Particular highlights are the early scene in which Wong Fei-hung's Mother (played by Anita Mui) throws him bottles of wine during a fight, so he can get drunk and best his opponents, and the epic fight at the end of the film between Jackie and Ken Lo (his bodyguard at the time) which took FOUR MONTHS to shoot. I'm really looking forward to revisiting this on Blu Ray, though it's far from my favourite Jackie Chan film, any martial arts fan needs to own this.


DVD

Romantics Anonymous
This delicious little romantic comedy (and by God do I hate myself for word usage that obvious) was one of the great surprises of last year for me, ending up just outside my Top 10. Isabelle Carre and Benoit Poelvoorde play two people who are afraid of social situations, and when Carre begins working at his struggling chocolate factory, Poelvoorde's therapist suggests that he ask her on a date.

It's a romantic comedy in the truest sense, because the romance is engaging - both characters are likeable and genuine, and as they struggle to get together we can see how right they are as a pair - and the jokes are often very, very funny. Poelvoorde and Carre, neither renowned as comedians, both play farce beautifully, especially in the hilarious first date scene, but their dramatic grounding gives romance some unexpected weight (look at Carre's face when Poelvoorde gets up and sings to her, largely so he can avoid talking). It's lovely looking, recalling Umbrellas of Cherbourg at times, and has visual wit as well as great written jokes (the final shot is just great). Even if - especially if - like me you've been disappointed in the genre of late, give this romantic comedy a try.


Purchase Links

News: Visions of Ecstasy release details

I've never made a secret of my interest in controversial film, the cut, the banned, the frowned upon and the forbidden. Well, on March 26th one of the more notable (and one of the more effectively suppressed) examples comes to UK DVD, 23 years after it was banned for blasphemy. Nigel Wingrove's Visions of Ecstasy was rejected by the BBFC, the Video Appeals Committee and eventually the European Court of Human Rights, but the blasphemy law which sealed its fate was repealed in 2008, and the film has now been passed uncut by the BBFC. Here are the release details and cover art (just an aside here; I LOVE that Graham Bright is quoted, that should annoy him):

One of the most controversial films ever to be released in the UK

The only film in the UK to ever been banned for blasphemy

Visions of Ecstasy, a short, experimental art film made in 1989, is the only film ever to have been banned outright in the UK solely on the grounds of blasphemy. Further its depiction and interpretation of the erotic imaginings of the 16th Century Carmelite nun, St. Teresa,were such that the films banning was upheld in an historic judgement at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in a case that took seven years to reach its conclusion. Now, due to the abolition of the UK's blasphemy laws in 2008, Visions of Ecstasy is finally being released.

Included with this historic film is also a 40 page, booklet written by the films director, Nigel Wingrove, in which he explains how the film came to be made, the effect its banning had on his life and future work, and how his continuing battles against film censorship led eventually to the resignation of the BBFC's then director, James Ferman, the legalisation of pornography and a general relaxations of film classification overall.

Also included on this DVD are the director s first erotic short film, Axel (1986) and his nunsploitation feature, Sacred Flesh (2000), in which a Mother Superior struggles with her sexual desires in a series of imagined dialogues with Mary Magdalene will her mind torments her with images of sexual perversion, lesbianism and sadomasochism.

Additional extras include extensive stills, press gallery and interviews.

I've written a pretty extensive article on Visions of Ecstasy and the history of blasphemy in UK film censorship over at The New Journalist, so if you're interested in the film, check that article out HERE

If you'd like to pre-order the DVD, please use this link and help out 24FPS, at no extra cost to you. Cheers.

Blu Ray News: Master of Cinema and Arrow Video announcements

I don't do very much news on the site, but for a while I have been thinking that it would be wise to cover some releases and other news that I think would interest you. Note: This does NOT mean I'll be reporting every scrap of mundane movie news like some sites out there, as I consider that one of the great contributors to why movies struggle so much to surprise us anymore. However, some things are worth writing about...

Masters of Cinema announce April, May and June releases.
On April 23rd, Eureka Video's brilliant Masters of Cinema series will release the following titles on Dual Format Blu Ray and DVD.

LIFEBOAT(Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT (STEELBOOK EDITION ALSO AVAILABLE)
Alfred Hitchcock's only film for Fox, made at the height of WW2, stars a first-rate ensemble cast, led by grande dame of the stage Tallulah Bankhead, as the survivors of a Nazi attack set adrift on a lifeboat in the Atlantic Ocean, pitted against interpersonal animosities, creeping paranoia, and the captain of the Nazi sub that placed them in their current predicament...

UGETSU MONOGATARI (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT
Mizoguchi's intensely poetic tragedy consistently features on polls of the best films ever made. This new HD restoration is the film's first appearance on Blu-ray anywhere in the world, and is accompanied by an HD presentation of Mizouguchi's 1951 classic OYÛ-SAMA.

SANSHO DAYU (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT
One of the most critically revered films in Japanese cinema history, Mizoguchi's deeply affecting classic has been newly restored in HD and appears here on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world, and is accompanied by an HD presentation of Mizoguchi's 1953 classic GION BAYASHI.


On May 28th, MOC release a Charles Laughton double bill.

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT (STEELBOOK EDITION ALSO AVAILABLE)
For the first time in the UK, one of the most imaginative and nightmarish fantasies from Hollywood's golden age of horror - starring the legendary Charles Laughton. Originally rejected by the BBFC, this first and best screen adaptation of H. G. Wells' THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU, is one of Hollywood's wildest pre-Code pictures.

RUGGLES OF RED GAP (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT
The UK home viewing premiere of one of the finest films of Leo McCarey (MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER) finds Charles Laughton in one of his greatest roles as a personal valet shipped off to America in the service of the brash and wealthy Egbert Floud (played, coincidentally enough, by Charlie Ruggles); a sophisticated comedy of rude manners ensues.


and on June 23rd, two Billy Wilder classics arrive in the Masters of Cinema collection.

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Masters of Cinema) BLU-RAY (STEELBOOK EDITION ALSO AVAILABLE)
Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler team up to create one of the greatest, and quintessential, films noirs of the studio era, a classic of the hard-boiled genre nominated for seven Oscars, and whose performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson have been leaving audiences breathless for almost 70 years. Now, exclusively restored by The Masters of Cinema Series for its first ever release on Blu-ray anywhere in the world.

THE LOST WEEKEND (Masters of Cinema) BLU-RAY (STEELBOOK EDITION ALSO AVAILABLE)
An Academy-Award-winning (including Best Picture) triumph from the great Billy Wilder, with Ray Milland as a writer's-block-ridden and booze-sodden author spiralling into a days'-long rock-bottom binge crafted by Wilder with expressionist fervour. This gorgeous Blu-ray edition is the first available anywhere in the world.


Arrow Video announce Unlimited Editions

I LOVE Arrow Video's line of horror and exploitation Blu Rays, but they are hugely expensive, so here's some good news... Beginning with Caligula on February 20th Arrow will start releasing all their Blu Rays in 'Unlimited' editions. These will replace the initial print runs, boast 2, rather than 4, artwork choices and come in a standard BR case rather than the windowboxed slipcase of their current releases (editions like that will still be released for future titles, but will be limited). It appears that, aside from the poster, all the extras will be retained, and for the reduced RRP of £19.99, maaking these editions much more affordable.

World War Z: Eyewitness Report

Our new horror correspondent (horrorspondent?) Steve Chandler has had an interesting week. Just outside his workplace in Glasgow the new zombie movie World War Z has been shooting key scenes. Here are some of Steve's impressions of what he's seen, and some EXCLUSIVE behind the scenes images (which you'll find at the end of this article).



Hollywood came to Glasgow this week with the arrival of Brad Pitt, Marc Forster and the entire World War Z crew to shoot the $80m adaptation of Max Brooks’ acclaimed zombie novel. Matters kicked off on Monday as Glasgow’s George Square and some of the surrounding streets were transformed into the streets of Philadelphia. It seems that Philadelphia proved to be a prohibitively expensive city to shoot in. So when money talks with the powers that be in the US fell apart a decision was made to approach Glasgow City Council to seek permission to shoot the movie around the streets that some area of Philadelphia was apparently modelled on. George Square became a hive of activity as up went US style traffic lights and the streets were populated by dozens of US vehicles (cars, ambulances, military vehicles, huge garbage trucks etc.) With filming due to start the next day I started to get very excited indeed, but I could not have envisaged how close I was going to get to the action.

Hilarity ensued on the Tuesday when, late in the day, a Brad Pitt lookalike was spotted just outside my office window and mistaken for the real thing, cue much wetting of knickers amongst my female colleagues. I was briefly convinced that I was in fact looking at the a-list Hollywood star but after heading outside for a closer look I soon realised that, hair aside, fakeBrad looked nothing like the real deal.

A similar scene ensued on Wednesday morning with my colleagues debating whether or not fakeBrad was really realBrad. This debate was suddenly abandoned when we realised that the real deal had been standing less than ten feet away with his back to us. He turned around and prompted much screaming and squeaking from the females in the room and more knicker wetting, the latter in earnest this time. The effect that realBrad has on women is markedly more intense than that of fakeBrad (who shall henceforth not be mentioned allowing me to drop the “real” from realBrad before it gets annoying).

Soon the filming began and it suddenly became practically impossible to concentrate on work. They spent much of Wednesday shooting scenes involving a lot of extras running along the street in a state of panic in the face of what is presumably some kind of zombie related threat. Brad spent most of the day in the car with his wife and kids (not Angelina and their semi-adopted brood but his movie family). Inhabiting the role of Brad’s character’s wife is Mireille Enos who has had a significant role in US series Big Love and more recently the lead female role in AMC’s adaptation of the hit Danish crime drama The Killing.

Things got a lot more exciting on the Thursday with them repeatedly shooting a scene where Brad gets out of his car after a motorcycle cop knocks off his side mirror. He strolls in a very Brad Pittlike manner a little way down the street, picks up the broken side mirror, has a brief conversation with another driver then gets back in his vehicle before being yelled at to “Remain in your vehicle!!!” by the very same cop who damaged his car. They must have shot this scene about dozen or more times in stops and starts but being that I live in Glasgow and have never been anywhere near a big Hollywood set as they shoot a movie the entire event was very absorbing. They also kept firing a double barrel shotgun loaded with blanks about two maybe three feet away from my office window and every time I came damn close to either making a mess in my pants or dropping dead of a heart attack.

Next day there was no sign of Brad or Marc Forster as the second unit film crew set about preparing a major shot involving an enormous garbage vehicle, which had a massive metal plough attached to the front, tearing down the middle of the street knocking vehicles out of the way and causing extras and stunt people to scatter. After a short while filming the cop yelling at Brad Pitt’s character (who had been replaced by a dummy) and a few dry runs where they drove the garbage truck fairly slowly down the street until it stopped about five yards behind the motorcycle they replaced the real cop with a dummy and got down to shooting the money shot. My colleagues and I were asked to step well back from the windows, possibly for health and safety reasons, but more likely because we were in shot. I had set a camera up just inside the window to record the scene but someone in the production crew spotted it and I was asked to remove it because the flash would be visible in the shot. I didn’t honestly think it was worth trying to argue that I wasn’t intending to take a photograph but was actually planning to record the scene in hi-definition. I really didn’t think that would fly. So I smiled, kept my mouth shut, and removed the camera.

Even though I kind of knew what to expect from the crash scene they were about to shoot NOTHING could possibly have prepared me for how cool it actually was. Travelling at speed the garbage truck came racing down the street, hit the motorcycle sending the dummy flying through the air to come to rest on the roof of a car then proceeded down the street knocking cars out of the way as it went. When I say it knocked cars out of the way that doesn’t really paint a vivid enough picture of what in actuality happened. Cars went flying into the air. Stunt people were diving for cover. The sound of metal being ripped and crushed was enormous. One of the cars ended up lying on it’s roof. It was amazing. I didn’t have as good a view as I would have liked owing to us having been asked to stand back from the windows, nonetheless I was left with my mouth hanging open in complete awe of what I had just witnessed.

It seems that come Monday the filming will have moved to another street so it’s unlikely I’ll see much more of the production. But this has been a very exciting week. When I read that they would be shooting the movie in Glasgow around George Square I never anticipated having a window seat. Being that I’m such a huge fan of horror cinema and the zombie genre in particular I can only hope that I am afforded an opportunity to see some undead related mayhem. That would be very cool indeed.

News: A Serbian Film PULLED from Frightfest

I was wanting to wait to watch A SERBIAN FILM when it was released in the UK, but now it seems that I'll have to see it online if I am ever to see the whole film. The BBFC apparently demanded almost 50 seperate cuts to the film (about four minutes of footage) for an 18 certificate. Without a certificate, the folks at UK horror festival Frightfest sought the permission of Westminster Council (final power over film exhibition in the UK lies not with BBFC but with individual councils) to screen the film uncut. They were refused.

Frightfest's Alan Jones said

"FrightFest has decided not to show A Serbian Film in a heavily cut version because, as a festival with a global integrity, we think a film of this nature should be shown in its entirety as per the director's intention."

If a festival can't show it uncut, then we will likely never see this film released uncut here. It's a real shame, because I imagine that A SERBIAN FILM was a big draw for this year's Frightfest (and it's not as if that audience wouldn't know what it was in for).

I'll have more on the BBFC in coming days, because there are signs they are beginning to come down harder on horror again, after 15 years of liberalisation.

Satoshi Kon 1963 - 2010

The number of true visionaries making films can just about be counted on the fingers of one hand. Tragically, one of them died on Monday, taken by pancreatic cancer just under two months before his 47th birthday.

After beginning his career as a Manga artist, Kon branched into film in the 90's, first as a screenwriter, and then as a director. His first film, 1997's PERFECT BLUE established many of the themes that would run through his work; dream worlds blending with reality, characters with multiple personalities, celebrity and technology all helped form the backbone of his cinema. What was also notable was Kon's pursuit of a thoughtful adult aduience; much of the adult anime seen in the West is notable purely for its violent and sexual content, Kon brought rounded characters (especially his women) to the fore and put them in genres seldom seen in anime; such as Hitchcockian thriller PERFECT BLUE, Christmas set comedy TOKYO GODFATHERS and the beautiful, elegaic, romantic fantasy MILLENNIUM ACTRESS. His final completed film, PAPRIKA, seemed almost a summation of his themes and interests to date, and with its espoinage story and exploration of multiple levels of dreamstate seems to have been a key influence on Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION.

As much as anything, Satoshi Kon was an artist. His films are genuinely stunning to look at, and often quite unlike other anime, employing techniques and shots more often seen in live action, but also using the possibilites that animation offers to their full potential. He was an especially masterful character designer (look at the way he subtly ages Chiyoko Fugiwara, the lead character in MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, from scene to scene), but each of his films also boasted exquisite, explosive, diplays of animation technique (see some clips below).

Every time a new Satoshi Kon film appeared you could be sure that he would take you to another world. It might be thrilling, it might be touching, it might be confusing, it might be scary, but all of Kon's films are genuinely transporting. Happily we still have one more journey to look forward to, at the time of his death Kon's latest; a children's film called THE DREAM MACHINE was nearing completion, and it will be completed and released.

On Monday cinema became a duller and less inventive place. Other filmmakers will follow in his footsteps, but, sadly, there was only one Satoshi Kon and he's gone now. Let's enjoy the films he's left behind, and try to make sure that others do too.

Note: PAPRIKA appears on my Top 100 films, click the title for the article. PERFECT BLUE will appear further up the list.

TRAILERS

LFF 2010: Opening Film Announced

This year's London Film Festival (at which I'm hoping to get to at least 12 films) opens on October 13th, and in advance of the announcement of the full programme on September 8th (full coverage here at 24FPS) the opening film has now been confirmed. Unsurprisingly it is something of a British affair, toplining new Spider-Man Andrew Garfield, rising star Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, Mark Romanek's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go will open the festival as a European premiere, in advance of a UK opening in January.

Stay tuned for MUCH more LFF coverage

Cool new poster

I've been intrigued, since it was announced, by the very existence of the I Spit on Your Grave remake. It's a perfect choice for a remake; a film that could have been great, but wasn't. I liked the trashy grindhouse vibe of the first poster, but I LOVE this new one. It's an affectionate nod to the original film, both in design and in the tagline "Day of the Woman" (Director Mier Zarchi's preferred title for the original) and the black and white gives the image a stark impact. Here's the poster.



You can get a bigger version below

US Poster for Dogtooth

Yrgos Lanthimos' stunning Dogtooth (my number 2 film of 2009) is finally going to be shocking and surprising US audiences on June 25th. One of my few problems with the UK release was the rubbish one sheet that was provided. No such problem with the US release. Check THIS out...



You can also get a (much) bigger version below


And if you're in the US, PLEASE go and see Dogtooth, it's a masterpiece, plain and simple

News

Of all the things I would NEVER have thought would get tapped for a remake, Mier Zarchi's infamous video nasty I Spit on Your Grave (a film which, 30 years after its release, remains a genuinely distressing experience) is near the top of the list. Here's the poster for the remake.



You know what? I'm intrigued. Just approaching this film is a hugely ballsy move, and if the people behind this new version can combine the ultra disturbing tone of the original with better performances, especially from the actors playing the men who attack Jennifer Hills, we really could have something here. The poster gives me hope, as it suggests that this movie isn't going to be some watered down PG-13 item. Could this be that rare thing... a worthwhile horror remake?

I Love Paul Verhoeven

A lot of actors and directors have, shall we say, interesting hobbies, but few more so than Paul Verhoeven. I've seldom been more surprised than I was when I discovered that Verhoeven, the provocateur behind the likes of Robocop, Basic Instinct and The Fourth Man, is an internationally recognised scholar on the subject of the historical Jesus. Yes, really. He's the only lay member of the Jesus Seminar. He's also just published (in English, it came out in his native Holland a while back) a biography of Jesus, simply called Jesus of Nazareth. And he wants to make it into a film.

If no other film is made in the next year, that one HAS to go before cameras, it will probably be greeted with controversy that makes The Last Temptation of Christ seem like Toy Story 3, I can't wait to hear the sound of the heads of groups like Mediawatch and Christian Voice exploding with rage.

Another reason I love Paul Verhoeven, aside from the sheer entertainment value of his movies? Try this quote, about Mel Gibson's torture porn take on the New Testament; The Passion of the Christ

“If that’s God, then we are really fucked.”

.
Yeah, I love Paul Verhoeven.

News

Cannes gets a cool poster for 2010
The line up isn't out yet (I'll have a detailed preview when it is) but here's the poster for this year's Cannes Film Festival. For me, this just bleeds cool.



The festival opens on May 12th, with the world premiere of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood