Pravda: March 2006 Archives

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March 31, 2006

GreenCine Sponsors Opening Night Film at Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival

Iraq in Fragments, winner of three Sundance awards, makes its West Coast premiere at seventh annual festival; GreenCine strengthens its commitment to promoting the best films and filmmakers

San Francisco, CA � March 31, 2006 � GreenCine (www.greencine.com), where film addicts get their fix, has announced that it is sponsoring Iraq in Fragments, the opening night film at the seventh annual Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival (SAIFF). The sponsorship is GreenCine�s latest endeavor in a year of involvement with the documentary.

"GreenCine has shown tremendous support for the foreign and documentary film communities and an unmatched ability to connect independent films with larger audiences," said James Longley, acclaimed director of Iraq in Fragments and Gaza Strip (2002). "Iraq in Fragments has been perceived as a war documentary and a controversial film but neither of those assertions is true. The film showcases the depth and complexity of one of the most unique countries in the world and is a reminder of the human stories that are often overshadowed by other elements. I�m happy to have partners like GreenCine and the Seattle Arab and Iranian Film Festival to spread these important messages to as many people as possible."

GreenCine�s year-long involvement with Iraq in Fragments exemplifies its position as the only movie vendor capable of following the entire life-cycle of a film. After seeing a rough cut of Iraq in Fragments in May of 2005, GreenCine began touting the importance of the film on its blog, GreenCine Daily. Two feature length interviews followed: an interview with the film�s co-producer and CEO of Arab Film Distribution, John Sinno in December of 2005, and an interview with director James Longley at Sundance in January. By building relationships with filmmakers, covering film festivals and writing about films from their fundraising stages to their release on DVD or Video-on-Demand (VOD), GreenCine is able to strengthen the bonds that people form with their favorite movies.

GreenCine�s relationship with Longley predates Iraq in Fragments, as GreenCine�s VOD service became the first and only vendor to offer Longley�s first film, Gaza Strip, in November of 2004.

"It�s our belief that the more you know about a particular film, the more complete your overall viewing experience," said Jonathan Marlow, director of content acquisitions at GreenCine. "Connecting with films from their nascent stages onward allows GreenCine the ability to constantly promote movies that we believe in and enables our customers to make more informed choices."

About Iraq in Fragments
Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by the forces of foreign occupation, religion and ethnicity. Filmed in cinema verit� style, the film powerfully explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today.

Iraq in Fragments premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury prize and won three awards: Best Documentary Directing, Best Documentary Cinematography, and Best Documentary Editing -- the first time the documentary editing award was presented at Sundance. Iraq in Fragments has also been awarded the prize for best documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI International Critics award at the 8th annual Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in Greece.

To learn more about the film please visit: www.iraqinfragments.com

About GreenCine
GreenCine LLC (www.greencine.com), the #1 shop and stop for film addicts, featuring one of the largest libraries of independent, international and documentary films in the world and exclusive interviews with the world�s most influential filmmakers. GreenCine offers more than 80,000 films for rent, purchase or download through its award winning Rent-by-Mail and new DVD sales services, and from its extensive VOD library accessible from its site and through its technology partners Akimbo, Google Video and others. Supporting one of the largest film communities on the Internet, GreenCine enables members to review and debate their favorite films and connect with other members with similar interests. For further details on GreenCine and its services, please visit: www.greencine.com.

Posted by clewis at 11:42 AM

March 29, 2006

Dispatch #126

TV Box Sets are the theme this week, and in addition to that, we've got oodles of news, and a tip about a great screening we're sponsoring later in the week.

#126 | March 28, 2006

"Truth be told, I was jolly fed up with being a hero. Having to save the country two or three times a week meant I could get nothing done at all." -- Ripping Yarns.

If you miss those Editors' top lists that used to live on GreenCine's home page, don't fret - you can still look through all of them by clicking through our handy top list archives. Hours and hours of browsing and queueing fun!

Criterion's new set of three beautiful films by Louis Malle includes the warm, funny Murmur of the Heart, the morality tale Lacombe, Lucien, and the Oscar-nominated masterpiece Au Revoir les Enfants. The set also includes... read the rest here.

Our low price: $67.45 for the set, or $25.45 for each film separately.

Independent in the best sense, the lovely drama Spring Forward, directed by Tom Gilroy from his play, is a breath of fresh air. A carefully told story of male friendship, so rarely depicted with this kind of nuance, it's an opportunity for Liev Schrieber and Ned Beatty to really shine. As A.O. Scott wrote in the New York Times, there's a "real satisfaction in watching such exact and unpretentious applications of craft."

Available now or any time via GreenCine's Video-on-Demand: "Words jump off the page and into the lives of cafe habitues," Variety wrote of J.P. Allen's indie film Coffee and Language, "a single-setting chatfest that avoids almost all the pitfalls of dialogue-heavy urban fare." Beautifully shot in black and white... read the rest here.

More like this: Europa Europa | Elevator to the Gallows (out 4/25)

More like this: Jerry and Tom | Ice Men

More like this: Hope & Play | Love & Plutonium

A few Oscar winners are sprinkled in among other fine new releases this week:

The Children Are Watching Us is "a marvel of complex visual and emotional scope, and its surface is no less simple than the fabulous shells of Shoeshine and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis," writes Slant's Ed Gonzalez of this classic from Vittorio De Sica. The Criterion disc features video interviews with star Luciano De Ambrosis and De Sica scholar Callisto Cosulich.

Memoirs of a Geisha surprised by winning three Oscars (Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design); it's the sort of literary adaptation Miramax used to excel at, only it came from DreamWorks and featured a stunning cast: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe.

Surely one of the oddest pairings of a director and a star since, well, Curtis Hanson and Eminem for 8 Mile, Get Rich or Die Tryin' is 50 Cent's own story, helmed by Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan.

Also out this week:

King Kong, Peter Jackson's spectacular remake of the 1933 original; David Lynch's Dumbland, which he describes as "a crude, stupid, violent, absurd series"; Adam Goldberg's intriguing tragicomedy, I Love Your Work, featuring Giovanni Ribisi; and the documentary TransGeneration.

New anime:

Ah! My Goddess Volume 4: We've Got Tonight (1993). "Long-time fans of Fujishima's work will love this series for how faithful it remains to the manga," writes Theron "Key" Martin for the Anime News Network, "while newcomers will find a light-hearted and enchanting take on anime romantic comedies."

A complete list of this week's New Releases | Coming Soon | New Releases Archive | Your Queue

Those wacky "vidiots" at TeeVee.org have given us a primer for boob-tube afficianados everywhere: TV Box Sets. That's right, they've pried themselves away from the set long enough to collect their thoughts on some of the best (and wonderfully worst) television box sets out there. So get lost, wire yourself with coffee before you commit homicide, and start reading.

The latest from David D'Arcy is a two-parter, really. Following an overview of several highlights at the recent International Festival of Film on Art in Montreal, he talks with Danielle Schirman, who makes films about objects that have made such a profound impact on our lives we never even think about them.

The GreenCine Daily is in full throttle mode: Shorts, fests, magazine peeks (including Cahiers du Cinéma) and obits (Richard Fleischer and Stanislaw Lem).

Speaking of TV box sets, our genre of the week is: British TV. Loads of ripping good shows - including Ripping Yarns, Michael Palin and Terry Jones' amusing comic adventure series, and of course those two chaps' previous excursion into television, some show called Monty Python's Flying Circus. Here, too, you'll find more recent forays, like the fine series The Forsyte Sage, League of Gentlemen, and, of course, The Office. You'll have a cracking good time. (And while you're at it, check out our British Comedy primer, too.)

The GreenCine member list of the week is postmod's "An extra in the movie adaptation of your life" - which refers to a line from a Pavement song; "if you're making the film of someone's life and they're still around, it's a little rude not to put them in."

GreenCine is proudly sponsoring the opening night film of the Seattle Arab and Iranian Film festival: Iraq In Fragments, a documentary by Seattle filmmaker James Longley (Gaza Strip) and producer John Sinno that was the recipient of three awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The film was culled from 300 hours of footage taken over a two year period, featuring indelible portraits of the Iraqi people, illuminating the textures and tensions of a country wrenched by occupation and pulled in disparate directions by religion and ethnicity. 7pm, this Friday, March 31, at the Cinerama Theater (2100 Fourth Avenue) in Seattle.

And don't forget about our screening at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, next Wednesday, April 5, as we proudly unleash Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf. The film is by notorious Japanese director Teruo Ishii, known in some circles as the "King of Cult Movies," who single-handedly crafted some of the strangest motion pictures ever released. Blind Beast is based loosely on the writings of Edogawa Rampo. Wednesday April 5, 7:30 pm. 701 Mission Street, San Francisco. $8, $5 GreenCine members, students, seniors & teachers, $5 YBCA Members.

We recommend viewing this newsletter in all of its HTML glory; check your e-mail program's settings to view HTML. This newsletter is sent to GreenCine members only. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, log in to the GreenCine site, click "View Your Profile" then click Edit Profile. Choose "no" on the "Subscribe to the GreenCine newsletter" option and click "Update Profile." Archives of the Dispatch are now available online at GreenCine's Press and Marketing blog.

Posted by cphillips at 4:47 PM

March 22, 2006

Dispatch #125

Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming and GreenCine's Dispatch is pollinating new cinematic ideas for cinephiles everywhere. Read on for the latest news, tips and events.

#125 | March 21, 2006

"It's spring, time for love."
"What's wrong with the rest of the year?" -- Mae West in My Little Chickadee.

If you're looking to buy a DVD (or a set of DVDs) from GreenCine, but aren't sure you want to buy it right that second, hitting the "buy" button will simply put the title in your shopping cart. You can return to it later to begin the check-out process. Then you can click on "Your cart" at any point for final purchase. Easy, safe and fun for the whole family!

Look for many answers to frequently asked questions in our newly revised help section.

Zhang Yimou's gorgeous Raise the Red Lantern finally sees a proper Stateside release. It's the film that made Zhang an internationally renowned director and his frequent ing�nue Gong Li a star. Li is superb in this film set in 1920s China. A keeper.

Our low price: $15.45

GreenCine celebrates film about writers this week, with a host of excellent new films on the subject out on DVD this week. Meanwhile, an unfairly forgotten film with the forgettable title of How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog stars Kenneth Branagh as a struggling playwright in LA. Read our review here for more on this underrated film.

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life is a wonderful short film by actor-turned-director Peter Capaldi that was an Oscar winner a few years back. Starring the always terrific Richard E. Grant as the titular writer who is distracted from his work by a Christmas party. The collection of shorts also includes several other winners, "The Deal" and "Mr. McAllister's Cigarette Holder."

More like this: Hero | The Story of Qui Ju

More like this: Adaptation | The Man From Elysian Fields

More like this: Short Works by Hal Hartley | Independent Exposure: Animation

Spring arrives with a garden full of fine new DVD releases. Here are a few of our favorites:

"Paradise Now is about suicide bombers like Brokeback Mountain is about gay cowboys. In other words, there's far, far more to the film than its immediate reputation. "Politics aside, the movie is a superior thriller whose shrewdly inserted plot twists and emotional wrinkles are calculated to put your heart in your throat and keep it there," wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times. The film was also on Craig Phillips' 15 Best of 2005 list.

And #2 on the same list: The Squid and the Whale. "Noah Baumbach's inevitably compared to his cohort Wes Anderson but this sharply written, darkly funny work digs deeper and feels less controlled than even Anderson's best work. One of the best films ever about the pains of a divorce, with biblically-bearded Jeff Daniels splendid as the narcissistic, bitter professor/writer father and Jesse Eisenberg his near-equal as the parroting son."

Also out this week:

Keane (2004), a festival favorite featuring an intense performance from Damian Lewis as the title character; Everything is Illuminated (2005); Fun With Dick and Jane (2005); Derailed (2005); The Dying Gaul (2005); Loggerheads (2005); Paul Mooney: Analyzing White America (2002); Bukowski: Born Into This (2002); Breasts: A Documentary (1996).

New anime:

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig Volume 4 (2005)."A much better offering than the 1st season/gig," writes Ursus: "better writing, and music (Yoko Kanno is the Bee's Knees Baby!!!) with incredible CG animation. Very high production values, great v. actors and dub. Good, Good, Good."

A complete list of this week's New Releases | Coming Soon | New Releases Archive | Your Queue

Betty Page sure is hot again. With a new biopic (with Gretchen Mol as the alluring pin-up idol) out soon, and several documentaries floating around out there, why not take a look at one of the better ones: Bettie Page Uncovered. An intimate look at the original Queen of Kink, you can watch the film any time you wish via GreenCine's ever-expanding Video-on-Demand collection.

Winner of last year's Blue Angel Award for Best European Film and the Amnesty International Award for Best Film, Paradise Now was also nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. John Esther talks with director Hany Abu-Assad.

The GreenCine Daily blog returns from the SXSW Fest with some fine wrap-up coverage. Expect a flurry of shorts and more soon.

The GreenCine Genre of the week: Short Films (which is filed under "Independent" on GreenCine). Shorts have found a new life of sorts thanks to the DVD and VOD, and we've got a wealth of these cinematic treats perfect for cinephiles with short attention spans. From the experimental films of Maya Deren, to the Treasures from the American Film Archives, a British zoo to Coyote Beach, this section covers the world, quickly.

Since spring has sprung, and the birds and bees are doin' it, the member list of the week is dpowers' clean, well-lighted erotic video list.

Thanks to THINKFilm, a very special trivia contest will be up on Thursday, which will be of particular interest to fans of the Beastie Boys. Check your head and check our home page on Thursday.

Our next screening at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will be on April 5 as we proudly unleash Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf. The film is by notorious Japanese director Teruo Ishii, known in some circles as the "King of Cult Movies," who single-handedly crafted some of the strangest motion pictures ever released. Blind Beast is based loosely on the writings of Edogawa Rampo. Wednesday April 5, 7:30 pm. 701 Mission Street, San Francisco. $8, $5 GreenCine members, students, seniors & teachers, $5 YBCA Members.

Posted by cphillips at 4:44 PM

March 20, 2006

GreenCine Broadens Service and Audience with Launch of New DVD Sales

Becomes first movie vendor to offer DVD sales, Rent-by-Mail and Video-on-Demand; now able to service all types of film lovers

San Francisco, CA � March 20, 2006 � GreenCine (www.greencine.com), where film addicts get their fix, has announced that it is adding sales of new DVDs to its industry leading Rent-by-Mail and Video-on-Demand (VOD) services. This marks the first time in history that a vendor has offered all three services from the same location. Until now, GreenCine has primarily been known for boasting the Internet�s largest library of independent, documentary and international films, including thousands of titles that can�t be found through any other service. With the launch of this new service, GreenCine adds thousands of mainstream titles to its existing catalog, enabling it to service a wider base of film lovers. Open to members and non-members, the new DVD sales service pushes GreenCine�s library to more than 80,000 available films across over 250 genres.

�We started GreenCine because we wanted to offer something that film fans had never had before, a comprehensive site that catered to different film appetites, created a sense of community among its members and served as a conduit for discovering new films,� said Dennis Woo, co-founder and president of GreenCine. �We started to gain a reputation throughout the film world as a trusted resource for news and interviews. There were tens of thousands of non-members visiting our site daily to read the articles and reviews and browse the discussion boards. By launching DVD sales we are meeting the expectations of our audience. We�ve become the chief destination for informed film lovers, and can now offer them a range of services and array of films that is unmatched in the industry.�

Specific highlights from GreenCine�s DVD sales service include:

� Pricing and Selection
Drawing from one of the largest libraries of independent, documentary and international films in the world, GreenCine features competitive pricing on new releases, catalog titles and TV and movie box sets.

� Free Priority Shipping for all orders over $50
While other online vendors provide a free shipping option, their offers usually take weeks for delivery. GreenCine will offer free USPS Priority Shipping for orders over $50, which usually delivers within days.

� 5 distribution centers for DVD Sales
GreenCine has 5 distribution centers, guaranteeing fast, reliable shipping to everywhere in the US.

Working with the belief that people�s favorite movies are stepping-stones to a bigger world of cinema, the GreenCine staff is committed to broadening movie tastes by personally recommending films and interviewing influential filmmakers. Regardless of the movies consumers are looking for when they find the site � whether it be Sundance winners or mainstream hits � the DVD sales service enables GreenCine to offer movies for its entire audience and the knowledge, expertise and content to help them find countless others.

�Since its launch, GreenCine was largely perceived as a specialty shop catering only to independent film enthusiasts,� said Jonathan Marlow, GreenCine's director of content acquisitions and business development. �In reality, we've created a comprehensive site that allows any movie fan to expand their awareness and locate films of every sort. While most e-tailers merely supply access to movies familiar to the average customer, GreenCine provides a discovery engine for anyone to find those same titles while learning about remarkable films that they never knew existed. Our aim is to facilitate the entire process, from initial discovery to download, rental or sale.�

While GreenCine�s DVD sales service does not require any form of membership or subscription to purchase, GreenCine members will be eligible for a series of benefits in the form of coupons and other promotions. To purchase DVDs or to learn more about the service and GreenCine�s other offerings, please visit: www.greencine.com.

About GreenCine
GreenCine LLC (www.greencine.com), the #1 shop and stop for film addicts, featuring one of the largest libraries of independent, international and documentary films in the world and exclusive interviews with the world�s most influential filmmakers. GreenCine offers more than 80,000 films for rent, purchase or download through its award winning Rent-by-Mail and new DVD sales services, and from its extensive VOD library accessible from its site and through its technology partners Akimbo, Google Video and others. Supporting one of the largest film communities on the Internet, www.greencine.com enables members to review and debate their favorite films and connect with other members with similar interests. For further details on GreenCine and its services, please visit: www.greencine.com.

Posted by clewis at 12:12 PM

March 15, 2006

Dispatch #124

Beware the Ides of March - but don't fear the latest edition of the GreenCine newsletter, the Dispatch, which is chock full of heavenly movie recommendations, site tips, and pre-official word about our latest venture.

#124 | March 14, 2006

"Alive! It's alive!" -- Young Frankenstein.

WE'RE LIVE!

GreenCine's new DVD Sales service is now up and running and ready to service all of your DVD collecting needs. As mentioned in this space a few weeks ago, we offer competitive pricing, quick, reliable delivery and the big one: free priority shipping for all orders over $50.

A big thank you to all the members who have taken the time to explore the new homepage features, buy DVDs, ask questions and comment on the service. If there's anything you need to know that isn't addressed on the help page or hasn't been answered by a GC staffer on the discussion boards, please drop us a line and we'd be happy to help.

We know you have a lot of options when buying DVDs and we appreciate the love you've been throwing our way. There are some big companies out there vying for your hard- earned money, but we think you'll agree that none of them combine content, community and commitment the way GreenCine does. Again, we appreciate any suggestions you may have and look forward to being your trusted source for DVD rentals and sales.

Also, please check back frequently as we are constantly updating the site and will be launching a member benefits package shortly.

Chappelle's Show: Season One is the comic uncensored and unrivaled. With his film Block Party called this year's Wattstax and drawing a lot of critical acclaim (and box office), it's a good time to revisit the first season of the show that rocketed him to stardom. It's biting satire of the best kind - with the sketch featuring Chappelle as Clayton Bigsby, a blind white supremacist who had no idea he was black, a particular standout. Painfully funny stuff.

Our low price: $20.95

Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko is lesser known in the States, partially because the company's most famous director, Hayao Miyazaki, didn't direct it - the gifted Isao Takahata did - and partially because it's a little odd, particularly to Westerners unfamiliar with both Japanese mythology and the stylistic animation. The film shifts... read the rest here.

"By turns sweet, quirky, comical, and exhausting, A Sign from God stretches the tired conventions of the romantic comedy like few films I've seen," wrote FilmThreat's Merle Bertrand. Greg Watkins' romantic black comedy depicts a semi- fictionalized day in the life of independent filmmaker Caveh (the ubiquitous Caveh Zahedi, natch) and his girlfriend... read the rest here.

More like this: Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth | Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly

More like this: Grave of the Fireflies | Catnapped! The Movie

More like this: I Don't Hate Las Vegas Anymore | In the Bathtub of the World

This week's new DVD releases are a short but sweet bunch - or, more accurately, less sweet than dark, but high quality nonetheless:

Because David Cronenberg's A History of Violence was nominated for "only" two Oscars (Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, William Hurt, and Adapted Screenplay, Josh Olson), the film played a mere walk-on role during red carpet season. But we're sure the film will endure. When the Village Voice polled the best critics in the nation at the end of last year, the film came out on top. "A masterpiece of indirection and pure visceral thrills," Manohla Dargis called it in the New York Times, "the feel-good, feel-bad movie of the year."

"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." -- Good Night and Good Luck. Nominated for six Academy Awards (Best Picture; Best Director, George Clooney; Best Actor, David Strathairn - be sure and catch up with Sean Axmaker's interview if you haven't yet; Best Cinematography, Robert Elswit; Original Screenplay, Clooney and Grant Heslov; and for Art Direction and Set Decoration), Good Night, and Good Luck pits CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly, against Senator Joseph McCarthy who, of course, was doing his best to cast anyone questioning authority as an enemy of the United States. Not that there might be any contemporary relevance or anything...

Also out this week:

Marebito (2004). "While it may be no Audition (that conceptual revenge piece's second half was one of the most alarming and confounding catharses put to film," wrote Reverse Shot editor Michael Koresky,"Marebito keeps its gaze focused and tight, and never bites off more than it can chew."

And a new director's edition of the crowd pleaser Remember the Titans (2000).

New anime:

Planetes Volume 6 (2003). "a very pleasant surprise," writes drseid. "Great animation combines with a great storyline that could reflect our not-so-distant future, and a very likable group of misfit characters that seem real. This is definitely one of the best shows released in recent memory."

A complete list of this week's New Releases | Coming Soon | New Releases Archive | Your Queue

Check out David Lam's gripping Hong Kong police drama Powerful Four (1992), which "underscores the bitter subtext of troubled British-Chinese relations and the part it played in fueling resentment between factions even within the police force," wrote Eric Henderson in City Pages. "Of course, not everything here is about repression and injustice: Indeed, there's no shortage of balls-on-ice, severed ladyfingers, and bullet ballets to hold even the most bloodthirsty viewer at full attention."

"Tristram Shandy, the unfilmable novel, is not so unfilmable after all," writes David D'Arcy, introducing the conversation he had with director Michael Winterbottom when his adaptation of Laurence Sterne's 18th century classic, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Primer coming soon: Pre-code cinema, by an expert on the subject, film critic Mick LaSalle. Look for it shortly.

The GreenCine Daily blog has been on the road, in Austin, Texas, for the SXSW Fest. Don't miss our detailed coverage of the whole shebang.

The GreenCine Genre of the week: Comic Books. Believe it or not, the newly released History of Violence is found in this section, too - in the "Alternative Press" subgenre - as it's based on a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. (And, as we noted above, an Oscar nominee for best adapted screenplay, which we suspect could be an increasingly common occurrence for graphic novels-to-movies.) Superheroes, from Captain Marvel to Wonder Woman, are here, too. So are Barbarella, and Barb Wire (and we know which one we'd choose.) Up up and away!

The member list of the week is actually several GreenCine-staff created lists based around film distributors we hold in high regard: THINKFilm, and Docurama - the latter's catalog is so voluminous we made several lists to break it down (Docurama list #1, list #2, list #3 and list #4). Both companies have an extraordinarily diverse catalog of fine, award-winning films.

As part of the addition of sales to our site, we've changed the way our catalog pages work for multi-disc sets. If you would like to buy a box set, all you have to do is hit "buy" on its product page, of course, but if you wish to rent it, or rent some of the volumes but not all of them: Click the "rent" button. That will bring you to a second page, where you can either click on the "rent all" link, or rent individual volumes. It's simple!

Answers to this and lots of other buy-related and general site-related questions by clicking through our newly updated help pages.

Win a pair of tickets to see Citizen Dog at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival! This would be for the Friday, March 17 screening at the Castro Theater. Citizen Dog is from the director of the extraordinary Tears of the Black Tiger, and is a fabulously bizarre collection of tall tales, curios and love affairs, set in a Bangkok where everyone sings and grows tails. A film for true cinephiles.

To win a pair of tickets, be the first person to e-mail us at contest@greencine.com.

Posted by cphillips at 10:28 AM

March 8, 2006

Dispatch #123

We usher in March with a full head of steam. Read the latest Dispatch for news of the diverse list of things now available to enjoy via GreenCine.

#123 | March 7, 2006

"Well, if people didn't try something new, there wouldn't be hardly any progress at all."
-- Cat Ballou.

Did you know that you can toggle the genre list on the right side of the GreenCine site open or closed? Simply by clicking on the minus ("-") link next to "Genres," you'll collapse that menu down, decreasing the amount of scrolling required by your tired mouse hand. You can then open up the genres again by clicking on the plus ("+") link. Another way to see all the genres all at once is to go to the genre index page - either by clicking on the word "Genres" itself or bookmarking this page: http://www.greencine.com/genre.

Meanwhile, brace yourself: as mentioned last week, GreenCine's new DVD store is coming your way imminently. Start spreading the news...

Andrzej Wajda was given an honorary Oscar back in 2000, the Academy's way of rectifying its own neglect (just ask Robert Altman). Wajda's Revenge (2003) stars film director Roman Polanski displaying surprising range and wit as a dreamer and a fool in 17th century Poland. "It's a treat to see this terrific artist reveal another, unexpected dimension of his talent," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's Edward Guthmann. You can watch Revenge, and several others of Wajda's work, now or anytime you like via GreenCine Video-on-Demand.

Vincent Ward's lyrical, sweeping globetrotting romance Map of the Human Heart is continually overlooked but deserves an appreciation. "Ward has an extravagant visual imagination so that even the more outlandish scenes linger in the mind," wrote Brian Case in TimeOut Film Guide. "The mise-en-scene is stunning. Go with the floe."

Erick Zonca's poignant The Dreamlife of Angels is the story of the tumultuous friendship of two women, a depiction of the class struggle in France, and an urgent and frightening depiction of one character's psychological unraveling. Emotionally raw, Dreamlife is also beautifully acted by the two leads, �lodie Bouchez and Natacha R�gnie (both of whom shared best actress honors at Cannes). And the ending is breathtakingly shocking. -- Craig Phillips

More like this: In Desert and Wilderness | Pan Tadeusz

More like this: The Navigator | French Lieutenant's Woman

More like this: Don't Let Me Die on a Sunday | Me Without You

All aboard the cat bus as we take you to this week's new DVD releases:

Howl's Moving Castle (2004).

It's taken a while, but the latest (and last?) brilliant and imaginative animated feature by the master, Hayao Miyazaki, is finally arriving on DVD. While this two-disc edition naturally features both the original and dubbed versions, there have been far fewer complaints about the American and British voices this time around, what with contributions from Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Lauren Bacall and even Billy Crystal (because, after all, you can't actually see him hamming it up). Don't forget the bonus disc.

Plus: at long last, a re-release of Miyazaki's classic My Neighbor Totoro [bonus disc] worthy of the wonderfully whimsical film; and the first time release of Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart, which Miyazaki penned for the late director Yoshifumi Kondo (a prot�g� of Miyazaki's who died tragically young), based on the manga by Aoi Hiiragi.

And now for something completely different: two on Iraq. "Is Jarhead (2005) a realistic film?" David D'Arcy asked Anthony Swofford, author of the book, back in November. "I think so," he replied. "Obviously, in the script and the movie there are some compressions, there are some amalgamations of characters, but the look, the feel, the sound, the training, the desert, the feeling of being a Marine, for me rings very realistically. It's a film, but as far as a film goes, as a narrative, trying to capture that space, especially the emotional psychological center, I think it succeeds quite well." The documentary Occupation: Dreamland, meanwhile, is "a fair-minded (but hardly apolitical) grunt's-eye view of the war in Iraq that trusts the audience to draw its own conclusions," wrote Joshua Land in the Village Voice.

"Japanese critics voted Seijun Suzuki's elusive ghost drama Zigeunerweisen (a.k.a. Tsigoineruwaizen, 1980) as the key movie of that entire decade," wrote Robert Keser in 24fps, "yet few Westerners saw this indelibly haunting film at its scattered festival showings." That's about to change.

Also out this week:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005); Prime (2005) (a light, intelligent comedy many have compared to 70s-era Woody Allen); The Warrior (2001); and Suzuki's Kagero-Za (1981) and Yumeji (1991).

A complete list of this week's New Releases | Coming Soon | New Releases Archive | Your Queue

New to GeenCine's Video-on-Demand offerings: We go ampersand happy with Hope & Play, Coffee & Language, and Love & Plutonium - all fine independent offerings. Variety called Coffee & Language "liberating and emotionally striking." The Daily Tribune called the superhero satire (set in Suburbiaville) Love & Plutonium "an original tale of comic book villainy... strangely accessible and sweetly compelling."

GreenCine�s VOD library is now over the 10,000 title mark (read more about this on Pravda, our press blog.)

Last August, in an interview with Sean Axmaker, Gus Van Sant talked about how, watching the films of B�la Tarr, he could imagine "a parallel cinema" growing up alongside, say, D.W. Griffith's. That partly explains why, as Peter Hames has written in Kinoeye, Tarr is "set to mark the first genuine international breakthrough by a Hungarian auteur since Mikl�s Jancs� in the 60s." Now, Jay Kuehner talks with Tarr about Werckmeister Harmonies, just out on DVD.

In "The Oscars Numbers Game," GreenCine's Casey Lewis debunks a few myths about the box office and gives a round of applause for what amounts to a great year for independent film - as vindicated at the Oscars. And the numbers don't lie, either.

Our Oscar-winning, er, award-winning, blog, the GreenCine Daily, says goodbye to the Academy Awards with a final round up of reactions. Start your clicking now.

How many Oscar winners for Best Picture have you seen? (For that manner, how many of them do you think deserved the honors?) Check GreenCine's Oscar winners page for the full list, now updated to include this year's surprise winner, Crash. And while you're at it, why don't you check into our Oscar discussion thread to: vent, question, cheer, or... discuss.

And hey, screw the Oscars; the Independent Spirit Awards were announced this past weekend, too, and we've updated our Spirits page, too.

The member list of the week: "Best Foreign Film Oscar Winners," by our own underdog. (Last year's winner, The Sea Inside, is seen at left.) And as soon as Tsotsi is scheduled for a home video release, he'll add one more film to the running list.

Congratulations to the winners of GreenCine's Ice Harvest trivia contest: Mctrudy and Msimoneau (the answer was Pushing Tin).

We'd like to thank everyone who came to GreenCine's special film event last week. Marlow's Cabinet of Curiosities, featuring the beguiling and the surreal, the forbidden and profane, was a big success, with great fun had by all. Thank you again!

Our next screening at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco will be on April 5 as we proudly unleash Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf. The film is by notorious Japanese director Teruo Ishii, known in some circles as the "King of Cult Movies," who single-handedly crafted some of the strangest motion pictures ever released. More details on this special screening will be forthcoming in this very space.

Posted by cphillips at 10:31 AM

March 1, 2006

GreenCine Presents at the Yerba Buena Center: Marlow's Cabinet of Curiosities

Tonight, March 1! GreenCine presents: Marlow's Cabinet of Curiosities (1903-1968, approx. 90 min, 16mm & digital video).

The beguiling and the surreal, the forbidden and profane - these are the treasures hidden in the Cabinetic archives. Join curator Jonathan Marlow as he leads a one-time-only display of rare, fantastical works by Yuri Norstein, Ladislas Starewicz, Georges M�li�s, Jir� Trnka and other legendary filmmakers, including Jan Svankmajer's early short Rakvickarna (1966) and Karel Zeman's stunning Inspiration (1949).

Wednesday, March 1, 7:30 pm.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco.
$7 regular/$6 GreenCine members, students, seniors & YBCA members.

Posted by cphillips at 2:32 PM