Coming DVDs

Damien
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Post by Damien »

When I was 16, I went to El Topo at a theatre in Times Square. At this 11am showing, there were only two other people in the theatre, one of whom was a middle aged man who sat down two seats away from me. And promptly started masturbating. When I moved my seat, he followed me. So I left. Ahhhh, precious memories.

Having seen only about 15 minutes of the picture, I'm delighted that I'll be able to see it in its entirety.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Tartan Video have announced the UK DVD release of several key works by director Alejandro Jodorowsky. Arriving uncut and uncensored for the very first time on 14th May 2007 are three of the visionary director’s most celebrated yet rarely seen films - El Topo, Holy Mountain and Fando & Lis. All have been digitally restored and remastered, under the close supervision of the director himself, and presented along with an array of superb extra features, including a rare 1957 short, original trailers and deleted scenes.

Revered for his work as an underground filmmaker, Jodorowsky has also garnered a worldwide reputation as a prolific author, playwright, graphic novelist (in collaboration with high-profile artists such as Jean ‘Mœbius’ Giraud), and a learned Tarot reader. However, it is for his controversial and groundbreaking films that he is best known, and for which he is hailed, alongside other visionary auteurs such as Fellini, Buñuel and Lynch, as a cult director.

As challenging and unique now as when they were made, these previously “lost” masterpieces are certain to excite a new generation of film fans, whilst offering a welcome opportunity for others to rediscover these legendary films. EL Topo and The Holy Mountain are both available individually priced at £19.99 each, but are also include in a special 6-disc Jodorowsky Collection (£59.99 RRP), alongside his first feature, Fando & Lis, original soundtrack disc and a host of extras and documentaries.

El Topo (1970, 125 mins, Colour) (rrp £19.99)

This bizarre, mesmerising neo-Spaghetti Western, internationally regarded as his masterpiece, and credited as the original Midnight Movie, tells of a gunfighter taking revenge on a group of murderous bandits, and encountering cave-dwellers, dwarf women, and religious cults, in between disembowelments and cactus whippings.

Fully uncut and uncensored for the first time! First official UK release making its UK premiere on DVD.

Features include:
Original 1.33:1 format
Digitally remastered and restored from the original negatives
Optimum bitrate for outstanding playback quality
Original Spanish Audio (Dolby 2.0 / Dolby 5.1); English Audio Option (Dolby 1.0)
Newly created optional English subtitles
Feature-length Jodorowsky Audio Commentary
Jodorowsky on EL TOPO
Original theatrical trailer

Holy Mountain (1973, 115 mins, Colour) (rrp £19.99)

In this hallucinogenic journey full of exquisite imagery a thief bands together with a group of the most powerful people in society, made up of politicians, industrialists and financiers. Together they set out in search of immortality, lead by a charismatic guru, (played by Jodorowksy himself). John Lennon and Yoko Ono were huge fans of EL TOPO and ensured financial backing for this legendary film.

Fully uncut and uncensored for the first time! First official UK release receiving its UK premiere on DVD.

Features include:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Digitally remastered and restored from the original negatives
Optimum bitrate for outstanding playback quality
Original English Audio (Dolby 2.0 / Dolby 5.1)
Feature-length Jodorowsky Audio Commentary
Restoration featurette
‘The Tarot’ featurette
Deleted Scenes with Jodorowsky Audio Commentary
Original theatrical trailer

Jodorowsky Collection (£59.99 RRP)

Both El Topo and Holy Mountain are brought together in a specially designed 6-disc boxset which features an unbelievable collection of exciting exclusive extras, including his first feature, Fando & Lis, never previously released in the UK, and, for the first time on CD, original film soundtracks - all exclusively available in the boxset only.

Fando & Lis (1968, 95 mins, B&W) Fando and his partially paralyzed lover set off in search of the mythical city of Tar. Based on a play by Jodorowsky's fellow Panique! collaborator, Fernando Arabel, and sharing the surrealist qualities of Dalí, this bizarre but beautiful tale scandalised and shocked audiences upon release, causing a riot at its premiere at the Acapulco Film Festival.

Features include:
Letterboxed 1.66:1 Format
Digitally remastered and restored from the best available materials
Optimum bitrate for outstanding playback quality
Newly-created optional English subtitles
Feature-length Jodorowsky Audio Commentary
Jodorowsky’s rare 1957 short La Cravatte (21 mins, Colour, no dialogue)
Restoration featurettes for both Fando & Lis and La Cravatte

The boxset also contains:

- La Constellation Jodorowsky - 90 minute documentary by Louis Mouchet in which Jodorowsky talks at length about his life and his work as a film-maker, graphic novelist and renowned and celebrated Tarot reader. Includes extensive coverage from the famously unrealised DUNE project.

- El Topo / Holy Mountain Soundtrack CDs EL TOPO receives its first ever CD release, having originally been released on vinyl on the Beatles’ Apple label in 1971, whilst HOLY MOUNTAIN receives its first ever official soundtrack release on any format. Full track details to be announced.

DVD notes written by Ben Cobb, journalist and author, whose latest book, ‘Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky’ is published in the Persistence of Vision series from Creation Press - out in April.

All features are subject to change.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Post by Big Magilla »

The success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has succeeded in doing the almost impossible - getting Universal to release "Pirates of the Golden Age" on DVD, a colleciton of four films that might otherwise have stayed dead and buried. They are Agaisnt All Flags (Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn); Buccaneer's Girl (Yvonne de Carlo, Philip Friend, Elsa Lanchester); Yankee Buccaneer (Jeff Chandler, Suzan Ball) and Double Crossbones (Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, Rock Hudson). Release date is May 8th, list price is $26.98 for the two disc set.
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Tartan Video have announced the UK DVD release of Pasolini Volume 2 for 23rd April 2007 priced at £39.99. One of the most important filmmakers of world cinema, Piers Paolo Pasolini has made a reputation for himself as one of the main voices of post-war Italy. He was a renowned poet and author, writing screenplays for both Fellini and Bertolucci before turning to directing. He shared the same approach to film-making as the leaders of France's Nouvelle Vague, Truffaut and Godard. He frequently took the social outcasts and working class as his subjects, but also brought in his Marxist tendencies and homosexuality as themes to berate the controlling powers of the state. These films reveal his emerging talent as one of this cinematic poet and revolutionary, who has influenced directors such as Scorsese.

Tartan’s first boxset, released on 26th February, contains Accatone! RoGoPaG; and Love Meetings.

Hawks and Sparrows (1966)
Possibly his most unconventional movie,. A man and his son set out on life's journey, accompanied by a Marxist talking crow which comments on the passing landscape. Amongst their many encounters is St Francis, who's determined to convert them, including the crow. This is a surreal fable, with that touch of Don Quixote, which sets two innocents in a world that's dominated by the Church and Marxism. Having cast one of Italy's top clowns, Toto, in the lead role, the sense of tragi-comedy is enhanced.

Oedipus Rex (1967)
Based on the classical tale by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex is the tale of a young man who never knew his parents. An oracle foretells a tragic fate which comes to pass when he unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother. Filmed in Morocco, it's also a lavish costume drama complete with swordfights and powerful performances from two of his regular actors Franco Citti, (also renowned for The Godfather) and Silvana Mangano (Death In Venice).

Pigsty (1968)
Two unrelated tales that explore the darker side of the human condition. The first is set in medieval times as a wandering soldier descends into cannibalism, developing a loyal band of bloody-thirsty followers. It stars Pierre Clementi (The Leopard and The Conformist). The second focuses on a successful businessman, and son of a former Nazi, whose confused passions lead him to find more pleasure with pigs than with his fiancé. Truffaut regular Jean-Pierre Leaud (400 Blows) plays the lead. Pigsty shadows the later satire of The Decameron or savagery of Salo, or the Last 120 Days of Sodom, and bears comparison to Buñuel. Its comments on the savage beast within man remain startling and shocking for modern audiences.

DVD extras include: Pasolini’s novel, ‘Ragazzo’

Features are subject to change.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Lionsgate Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Alfred Hitchcock (3-Disc Collector’s Edition) for 6th February 2007 priced at $39.98 SRP. This remastered set features five of legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s first features including the silent films The Ring and The Maxman, as well as Murder!, The Skin Game and the director’s personal favorite from the UK period, Rich and Strange. The box set also includes the new featurette, “Pure Cinema: The Birth of the Hitchcock Style” featuring interviews with Peter Bogdanovich and Pat Hitchcock as well as never before seen home movies from Hitchcock’s early days.

The Silent Films (The Ring and The Maxman) feature new Stereo soundtracks, while the other titles are presented in the original Mono with optional Spanish subtitles.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Universal Pictures have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of two great creature features from its sci-fi classics collection. Howard Hawks’ pioneering sci-fi shocker The Thing From Another World, and the comic horror Tremors Box Set featuring all four films from the series, will both arrive on DVD in March 2007.

The Thing From Another World arrives on 19th March 2007 priced at £15.99.

Hollywood legend Howard Hawks was the producer (and uncredited director) behind this seminal monster movie that effectively kick-started the alien sci-fi horror boom of the 50s. Scientists discover an alien craft and its pilot buried in ice in the arctic. When the alien thaws, the scientists face grisly consequences.

Later remade by John Carpenter, this new two-disc edition of the original features an exclusive commentary by John Carpenter along with a restored print and a colourised version of the film.

Tremors Box Set arrives on 5th March 2007 priced at £19.99.

This set features the complete collection (Tremors 1-4), beginning with Ron Underwood’s groundbreaking first film in the successful series. In the original Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward star as two small-town handymen who discover all is not well in their hometown of Perfection, mainly due to the huge worm-like creatures who appear from underground and devour the population.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of four titles as Wave 2 of their Universal Cinema Classics line. Due on 22nd May 2007 priced at $14.98 SRP each are: No Man of Her Own, Scarface (1932), So Proudly We Hail and Unconquered.

All titles will be digitally remastered for optimum picture quality and include an exclusive introduction by Turner Classic Movies Host Robert Osborne. The films are presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with English DD2.0 Mono audio and optional English SDH and French subtitles. Extras include introductions and original trailers, with Scarface (1932) also boasting an alternate ending.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of two Classic Western Round-Up collections for 8th May 2007. Priced at $26.98 SRP each these multi-feature collections are detailed below…

Classic Western Round-Up: Volume 1 - Four films - The Texas Rangers, Canyon Passage, Kansas Riders and The Lawless Breed - are spread across two discs (2xDVD9) presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with English DD2.0 Mono audio and optional English SDH and French subtitles. The only extras are the original trailers for all four films.

Classic Western Round-Up: Volume 2 - Four films - The Texans, California, The Cimarron Kid and The Man From Alamo - are spread across two discs (2xDVD9) presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with English DD2.0 Mono audio and optional English SDH and French subtitles. The only extras are the original trailers for all but California.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Post by Big Magilla »

The oft-promised Becket (1964) with Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole finally has a Region 1 release date - May 15th.
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Fox Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of three titles as part of a Literary Classics promotion. Arriving on 24th April 2007 priced at $19.98 SRP each are…

Les Miserables (2-Disc)

Both the 1935 and 1952 versions of the film are included on this two-disc set presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with English, French and Spanish Mono audio and optional French and Spanish subtitles. Extras include “The Fugitive/Pursuer: Eugene Vidocq”, a Restoration Comparison and Trailer.

Anna Karenina (1915)

Features include:
1.33:1 Full Frame
English Stereo and Spanish Mono
French and Spanish subtitles
Anna Karenina - The 1915 Version
"Silent Movie"
Anna and Leo
Restoration Comparison
Trailer

Jane Eyre (1944) - Jane Eyre secures a job as governess to the child (Margaret O'Brien) of the troubled Edward Rochester, sire of Thornfield, a mysterious English manor. When she hears strange cries and noises from a distant wing, her inquiries are rebuffed. As time goes on, Jane and her master fall in love and decide to marry. But their halted when a visitor suddenly reveals the shocking secret that Rochester has kept for years.

Features include:
1.33:1 Full Frame
English Stereo
English, French and Spanish Mono
French and Spanish subtitles
Orson Welles's Jayne Eyre
Story Boards
Production Gallery
Restoration Comparison
Trailer
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Post by MovieWes »

As far as general DVD releases go, here's what's on the slate for the next few months...

January 23

Sherrybaby

Saw III (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

The Guardian

Jesus Camp

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

The Waltons - The Complete Fourth Season


January 30

Open Season (Widescreen Special Edition)

Flyboys (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Catch a Fire

Celtic Woman - A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland

One Night With the King


February 6

Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)

The Science of Sleep (Widescreen Edition)

Charmed - The Complete Seventh Season

Flicka

Running With Scissors

Eddie Murphy - Delirious

The Grudge 2 (Unrated Director's Cut)

Hollywoodland (Widescreen Edition)


February 13

The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Beauty and the Beast - The Complete First Season

Picket Fences - The Complete First Season

Marie Antoinette

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Half Nelson

Zoom: Academy for Superheroes

School for Scoundrels

The Butcher Boy

F*ck


February 20

Babel (Widescreen Edition)

The Prestige

Flushed Away (Widescreen Edition)

For Your Consideration

Family Ties - The Complete First Season

Man of the Year (Widescreen Edition)

Penn & Teller Bullsh!t - The Complete Fourth Season


February 27

Stranger Than Fiction

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

The Return

A Good Year (Widescreen Edition)


March 6

Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition)

Stargate Atlantis - Season 2

Hawaii Five-0 - The Complete First Season

Northern Exposure - The Complete Sixth Season

South Park - The Complete Ninth Season

Fast Food Nation


March 13

Casino Royale (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Shortbus (Unrated)

I Love Lucy - The Complete Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Seasons

Without a Trace - The Complete Second Season


March 20

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - Volume 1

Maude - The Complete First Season

Miami Vice - Season 3

Miami Vice - Season 4

The Holiday

Rocky Balboa

The Nativity Story

Everyone's Hero


March 27

Night at the Museum

Happy Feet

The Pursuit of Happyness

The Curse of the Golden Flower

The Jeffersons - The Complete Sixth Season

Mind of Mencia - Season 2


April 3

Entourage: Season Three Part 1 (3pc) (Ws Dub)

Law & Order - The Fifth Year

Murder She Wrote - The Complete Sixth Season


April 10

Twin Peaks - The Second Season


April 24

The Odd Couple - The First Season: Odd Couple

NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service - The Complete Third Season: NCIS
"Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution." -- Alec Guinness (Lawrence of Arabia)
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Fox Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of 3 "Comedy Classics" for 3rd April 2007. Priced at $19.98 SRP each are:

Bedazzled - Stanley (Dudley Moore) is a hapless short-order cook who is hopelessly in love with a waitress named Margaret (Eleanor Bron) - although she barely knows he's alive. Enter George Spiggott (Peter Cook), a.k.a. Satan, who grants Stanley seven wishes in order to win Margaret over, but his efforts are hilariously hampered by the Seven Deadly Sins - including the insatiable Lilian Lust (Raquel Welch)!

Features include:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English Stereo & Spanish Mono
Spanish subtitles
Interview With Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) and the Devil (Peter Cook)
A BEDAZZLED Conversation with Harold Ramis
Paul Ryan Show
Trailer

Royal Flash - Based on George McDonald Fraser's Flashman novels, Malcolm McDowell stars in this comedy directed by Richard Lester.

Features include:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Commentary with Malcolm McDowell
”Inside Royal Flash” Featurette
”Meet Harry Flashman” Featurette

S*P*Y*S - Just because the CIA accidentally killed two KGB spies, the Russians want to kill two American agents. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould are nominated.

Features include:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Inside S*P*Y*S
Irvin Kershner: The Road To 'The Road Of A Hundred Days'
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of James Cagney: The Signature Collection for 24th April 2007. The Oscar winning screen icon comes to life in this collection that includes five new-to-DVD films – The Bride Came C.O.D., Captain of the Clouds, The Fighting 69th, Torrid Zone and The West Point Story. Cagney’s versatile talent is on display opposite a star-studded array of screen favorites including Bette Davis, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Ann Sheridan and Pat O’Brien. Special features on each title in the Collection include the entertaining “Warner Night at the Movies” short subject galleries with vintage newsreels, vault treasures and classic cartoons. James Cagney: The Signature Collection will be available as a giftset with superslim packaging for $49.92 SRP and the individual titles will sell for $19.97 SRP.

The Films

The Bride Came C.O.D (1941)
Comedy comes from a mother lode of sources in this screwball farce headlined by the ebullient pairing of James Cagney and Bette Davis, scripted by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein (Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace). Whether up in the clouds, or underground in a mine, the stars (in their second and final film together) spar with harebrained zest as a pilot hired to kidnap an about-to-elope heiress, and the happy result from start to end is C.O.D. – Comedy on Demand.

DVD Special Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1941 short subjects gallery:
Vintage newsreel
Musical shorts Carnival of Rhythm and the Oscar-nominated Forty Boys and a Song
Classic cartoons Porky’s Pooch and the Oscar-nominated Rhapsody in Rivets
Trailers of The Bride Came C.O.D. and 1941’s Honeymoon for Three
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Captains of the Clouds (1942)
One of the first war-themed films to hit theatres after America entered World War II tells the expansive tale of rugged bush pilots who bring their flying savvy to the Royal Canadian Air Force. James Cagney plays pilot Brian MacLean with grit and swagger. Michael Curtiz, who would next helm Cagney’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, directs this two-time Academy Award? nominee cheered for vivid Technicolor? lensing of North Country lakes and forests.

DVD Special Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1942 short subjects gallery:
Vintage newsreel
Sports short Rocky Mountain Big Game
Classic cartoon Fresh Hare
Trailers of Captains of the Clouds and 1942’s In This Our Life
Classic cartoon What’s Cookin; Doc?
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

The Fighting 69th (1940)
In the seventh of their nine movies together, off-screen pals James Cagney and Pat O’Brien play soldiers of the famed, largely Irish-American World War I regiment, the Fighting 69th. O’Brien is Father Duffy, the brave chaplain whose statue stands today in Manhattan’s Times Square. Cagney is Jerry Plunkett, a street-tough braggart turned yellow by the horror of No Man’s Land, but inspired to redemptive heroism by Duffy’s courage under fire.

DVD Special Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1940 short subjects gallery:
Vintage newsreel
Two patriotic shorts: Young America Flies and the Oscar-nominated London Can Take It!
Classic cartoon Pilgrim Porky
Trailers of The Fighting 69th and 1940’s Brother Orchid
Classic cartoon The Fighting 69½th
Audio-only bonus: radio adaptation with Pat O’Brien, Robert Preston and Ralph Bellamy
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Torrid Zone (1940)
Off-screen pals James Cagney and Pat O’Brien team for the eighth time in this snappy action comedy set in a Central American “Banana” Republic. In a role widely cited as putting her on the movie fan’s map, Hollywood’s “Oomph Girl” Ann Sheridan portrays wisecracking chanteuse Lee Donley who’s the lure to keep the plantation’s best man (Cagney) from leaving the company. With superb support, zippy repartee, plus 950 banana trees planted over 5 backlot acres, the heat is on.

DVD Special Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1940 short subjects gallery:
Vintage newsreel
Musical short Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
Technicolor historical short Pony Express Days with Torrid Zone’s George Reeves
Classic Oscar-nominated cartoon A Wild Hare
Trailers of Torrid Zone and 1940’s Santa Fe Trail
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

The West Point Story (1950)
Yankee Doodle Dandy Academy Award? winner James Cagney puts on his dancing shoes again for this merry musical comedy packed with spirited starpower and lively tunes by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.

Cagney plays a Broadway showman down on his luck yet full of hotshot ideas. Brought to West Point to stage the cadets’ annual musical, he decides to make it a tryout for a Broadway transfer. But first, he must lure the show’s talented lead (Gordon MacRae) out of the military. He’s got just the right bait: a sweet-natured Hollywood star (Doris Day). Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson also star alongside the irrepressible Cagney, who’s “in rare good form, singing, dancing and wisecracking in his most electrifying style” (Bosley Crowther, The New York Times).

DVD Special Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1950 short subjects gallery:
Vintage newsreel
Oscar-winning Sports Parade short Grandad of Races
Classic cartoon His Bitter Half
Trailers of The West Point Story and 1950’s Tea for Two
Subtitles: English (feature film only)
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Optimum Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of a John Sayles Collection for 26th February 2007 priced at £29.99. This box-set brings together three early films from John Sayles, one of the foremost American Independent directors working today. Never before available on UK DVD, these films are characterised by their nuanced observations, humanity and irrepressible sense of independence, forming the foundations of Sayles’ illustrious career.

Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

John Sayles’ directorial debut, The Return of the Secaucus Seven is a landmark moment in American independent cinema.
Shot on free locations with actors drawn from Sayles’ Eastern Slope Playhouse, the film is an affectionately observed ensemble drama that deals with the annual reunion of several college friends. Formerly bound by the shared moral and political activism of 1960’s campus life, the group have all chosen different paths since graduation but despite the shifts in time and the changing nature of their relationships remain linked by a shared experience and common humanity.

Cert: 15
Feature Running Time: 104 mins approx
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full frame
Mono

Lianna (1983)

Directed, written and edited by Sayles, Lianna was one of the first American films to deal with a lesbian relationship in a non-exploitive manner. It also continued Sayles’ crafting of strong female roles and interest in protagonists largely ignored by the mainstream.

Cert 15
Feature Running Time: 108 mins approx
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full frame
Stereo


Brother From Another Planet (1984)

Following a trying studio experience on Baby It's You, John Sayles triumphantly returned to independent productions with the African-American sci-fi allegory The Brother From Another Planet. Sayles regular Joe Morton (Lone Star) stars as an escaped mute black slave who fetches up in Harlem. Deftly performed and executed with Sayles’ trademark gift for understatement, the film was a sizeable box-office success and was nominated for a Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

Cert: 15
Feature Running Time: 110 mins approx
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full frame
Mono
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Optimum Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Hitchcock: The Early Years for 26th February 2007. This special box-set brings together some of Hitchcock’s early gems for the first time. The Ring, Champagne, The Farmer’s Wife & The Manxman have been fully re-mastered and feature Brand New and Exclusive Soundtracks. Other key extras include an alternative ending to Murder!, scenes from the original, silent version of Blackmail, and a documentary on Hitchcock’s early work, featuring Claude Chabrol and Bernard Eisenschitz.

The films in this 9-disc set are: The Ring, Champagne, The Farmer’s Wife, The Manxman, Blackmail, Murder!, The Skin Game, Rich and Strange and Number Seventeen.

Special features:
Re-mastered with new soundtracks for The Ring, Champagne, The Farmer’s Wife and The Manxman
Alternative ending to Murder!
Introductions to all films by Director / Film Historian Noel Simsolo
Blackmail: Takes with Anny Ondra (Hitchcock’s first ‘Blonde’)
52-minute documentary: Hitchcock’s Early Works with Claude Chabrol and Bernard Eisenschitz
Scenes from the original silent version of Blackmail
Picture galleries for all films

More from the Press Release:

Born in London in 1899 and Jesuit educated, Alfred Hitchcock’s first job was with an electrical company where art school training enabled him to draw technical advertisements. He subsequently designed title cards for silent films when he joined the fledgling industry in the early ‘twenties.

Hitchcock rapidly acquired a thorough grounding in all aspects of early film making, including writing, design and direction. From the age of sixteen he had taken a serious interest in cinema and found himself most influenced, both technically and visually by the early masters of silent film; Griffiths, Murnau and Fritz Lang.

Alfred Hitchcock directed his first feature film, The Pleasure Garden in Germany in 1925 and received immediate critical acclaim. By the age of twenty-seven with several successes behind him he was regarded as one of the mot promising young film directors in all Europe, with a reputation for being a patient, polished, highly intelligent director who showed more subtlety and imagination in his work than most of his contemporaries.

THE RING (1927)
"One Round Jack" (Carl Brisson) is a circus sideshow boxer whose streak of one-round knockouts ends when he faces a strapping Australian boxer. The boxer (Ian Hunter) is actually the heavyweight boxing champion and offers the defeated Brisson a sparring position. However, Hunter's interest doesn't lie with Brisson but his finance/wife (Lillian Hall Davis) which forces the two boxers to meet again in the ring to win the woman's heart.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 111 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
English Language


CHAMPAGNE (1928)
Rebellious daughter of a millionaire (Betty Balfour) decides to marry the penniless Jean Bradin against her father's will. She runs off to France and begins living a life of luxury on the profits from her father's business. Her father puts an end to her lavish lifestyle telling her the business has gone bust and she must now work for a living. When he finds out about her "job," he decides to end his facade but she'll only forgive him if he accepts her new husband.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 86 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
English Language


THE FARMER’S WIFE (1928)
Jameson Thomas plays Farmer Sweetland, a middle-aged landowner, who after being widowed for five years decides that the time has come for him to choose a wife from among the unattached women of his neighbourhood. Thinking himself to be a fine catch he sets about the task of conferring his favour on someone whom he considers to be deserving of the high honour. With the aid of his housekeeper (Lillian Hall-Davies), the faithful Araminta, he compiles a list of eligible females and then sets off on his journey to make his choice.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 129 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
English Language


THE MANXMAN (1928)
Pete and Philip have been friends from boyhood in the village in the Isle of Man where they live. The former is a fisherman, the latter studies law. Both men admire Kate, daughter of the village innkeeper, but Pete is repulsed by her father owing to poverty. He goes abroad and is reported drowned. Kate had promised to wait for him, but thinking he is dead she falls in love with Philip and has an affair with him. Shortly afterwards Pete returns suspecting nothing, and he and Kate are married. But the child she shortly afterwards bears is Philip’s, and she is unable to maintain the deception anymore…

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 90 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
English Language


BLACKMAIL (1929)
Anny Ondra is Alice, the daughter of a shopkeeper in 1920's London. She secretly arranges a rendevous with an artist and goes off to his studio where he attempts to rape her. She defends herself but kills him accidently with a bread knife. When the body is discovered, John Longden, a Scotland Yard detective is assigned to the case. However, he is also Alice’s boyfriend, which makes him an ideal target for blackmail…

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery / Takes with Anny Ondra (Hitchcock’s first ‘Blonde’) / Scenes from the original silent version of Blackmail

Running time: 84 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
English Language


MURDER! (1930)
Diana Baring, an actress in a touring company, is discovered near the scene of the crime when a woman is found murdered. She is charged with murder, placed on trial and convicted on circumstantial evidence. One of the jury, however, Sir John Menier, believes in her innocence and undertakes to prove it.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Alternative ending / 52-minute documentary: Hitchcock’s Early Works with Claude Chabrol and Bernard Eisenschitz / Picture gallery

Running time: 104 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
English Language


THE SKIN GAME (1931)
Two neighbouring families, with different views on the future of their community, are pitted against each other. The affluent Hillcrests wish to stop the land speculating Hornblowers from removing poor farmers from their land and building factories in their place. When The Hillcrests discover a secret about the "dark past" of the Hornblower's daughter, they use this information as a way to blackmail the greedy land developer.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 77 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
English Language


RICH AND STRANGE (1932)
Fred and Emily Hill, a happy young married couple, inherit money and decide to take a world cruise. On board the ship their new-found fortune goes to their heads and they tend to go their separate ways. Fred loses most of his money to a fake princess, while Emily also gets involved, but luckily escapes the commitments of her escapade. Their ship-board romances drive them apart and it takes a ship-wreck brings them back together again.

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 92 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
English Language


NUMBER SEVENTEEN (1942)
A beautiful girl, member of a gang of thieves, falls in love with a detective, who is on the track of her confederates. She saves him from death at the hands of the gang but thereafter they must flee from her vengeful former associates and life live on the run. Screenplay by Alfred Hitchcock, from the play by Jefferson Farjeon

Extras: Introduction by Director and Film Historian Noel Simsolo / Picture gallery

Running time: 63 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
English Language
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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