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September 28, 2006

Dispatch #152

#152 | September 26, 2006


"Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding." -- The Maltese Falcon
    In this Dispatch:
  • Tip of the Week: Telluride Travelogue
  • What We're Watching: Indian horror, laughing cops, and famous Johnnys.
  • New to DVD
  • New articles: Michael Gondry, Jet Li and more.
  • Upcoming GC Screening

Two dutiful GreenCine correspondents visited Telluride for that beautiful place's venerable film festival and recorded a most enjoyable video travelogue about the fest along with some interviews of film folk they met along the way. We've put it up online so you can ride along.

Mondo Macabro presents two very enjoyable Bollywood horror films (2 discs, $17.95), Bandh Darwaza and Purana Mandir. Great fun "for fans of bizarre foreign genre films. Full of monsters, maidens and musical numbers both features are equal parts eerie and fun and the extras provide some very welcome insight into the culture that spawned them" (DVDManiacs).

If you live in San Francisco or are a fan of movies taking place here, then you're obligated to check out The Laughing Policeman. If you're a Walter Matthau fan (which means you like men with permanent grimaces; hint: the title is meant to be ironic) this is a must-see... read the rest here.

More quickie reviews can be found on GreenCine's review blog, Guru.

"While it does have its flaws," says DigitallyObsessed's Jeff Ulmer, "Johnny Famous is a fine debut for its director, and another feather in Jacobs' performance cap. A worthy addition to the independent Zero library." You can watch Johnny Famous now or anytime via GreenCine's diverse Video-on-Demand service.

More like this: Awara | Gumnaam
More like this: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Dirty Harry (or box set)
More like this: Somewhere in Indiana | The Book That Wrote Itself

The DVD Releasing Gods are in a dark mood this week, with the highlights of this week's new titles a fairly pessimistic, if quality, lot:

V

The Notorious Bettie Page (2005; $20.98). Gretchen Mol is stunning in this biopic of the elusive former pin-up girl. Mary Harron's (I Shot Andy Warhol) film shows her "as a young woman not so much naive as simply incapable of depravity," wrote Roger Ebert, very knowledgable on the subject. "The tone of the movie is subdued and reflective. It does not defend pornography, but regards it (in its 1950s incarnation) with subdued nostalgia for a more innocent time." But finally, Ebert adds, "Mol is the key to the mysterious appeal of the film, to its sweetness and sadness."

American Blackout (2005; $10.95). Illuminating activist doc is "a powerful piece of political cinema that effectively documents the disenfranchisement of black voters in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections" (Atlanta Constitution Journal).

Lady Vengeance (2005; $18.60), a.k.a. "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," is the concluding, and, we think, best chapter in Chan Wook Park's Vengeance trilogy (Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance were the others). "[Park's] most sullen and patient film," wrote Michael Atkinson in The Village Voice, "and yet it's breathless pop filmmaking, narratively mercurial, viscerally traumatic, and thematically infernal."

Masters of Horror: Takashi Miike - Imprint (2006; $13.45). The quality of this Showtime series of short horror films directed by the genre's best directors has been spotty but when Miike entered the fray, he went so over the top the network got frightened and pulled it from airing (it eventually showed on Bravo of all places). Here's a chance to see this depraved and inspired work, "everything a great piece of horror television ought to be, with the emotive blows coming as hard as the physical ones," wrote Fiona Wilson on Late Film.

Also out this week:

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006; $10.95), Robert Greenwald's urgently relevant new documentary; Three Times (2005; $19.93), "great cinema, pop romance that carries a special charge," says the Chicago Tribune; Edward Norton stars in Down in the Valley (2005; $24.45), the controversial daring neo-Western romance, "something rare these days: untamed," says Rolling Stone's Peter Travers; City of Men (3 discs; 2005; $25.45), a sort of follow-up to City of God; Curious George (2006); The Big Animal (2000); The Lake House (2006; $25.45).

New anime:

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig Vol. 7 ($19.45). The fine second season of the anime series based on the manga by Masamune Shirow.

GreenCine's review blog: Guru | A complete list of this week's new releases and all titles coming soon is available here | Ye Olde New Releases Archive | Your Queue

Following a slew of already-classic music videos, the remarkable Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the rousing Dave Chappelle's Block Party, French director Michel Gondry's playfully surreal new feature, The Science of Sleep, finally opens in US theaters. Sean Axmaker's got several question for him and, in turn, Gondry's got one for him. Full article >>

More for your reading pleasure:

Is it Jet Li's last martial arts film? Li tells Axmaker about Fearless and his future; in "Raúl Ruiz and the Poetics of Cinema," Jonathan Marlow talks to the Chilean director (whose The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting is out today), and with actress Elsa Zylberstein about working with Ruiz on Time Regained and That Day.

GreenCine Daily, our award-winning blog, covers all things cinema, including a look at the already notorious film Jesus Camp, and more fest and event coverage than you can shake a stick at.

Trivia contest alert! Fans of L'Auberge Espagnol, the ensemble romantic comedy, will appreciate its enjoyable sequel Russian Dolls. "Entertaining," says Bill Gallo in The Village Voice. "Those who loved the original Auberge will likely be eager to book rooms once again." And now you can win a copy of Russian Dolls, just out on DVD, and Caveh Zahedi's immediate cult hit I Am a Sex Addict by entering our latest trivia contest, courtesy of IFC Films. Go here for all the details. Deadline is this Friday, so hurry!

Double your trouble with the GreenCine member list of the week: our own goodyerin compiles films featuring Siamese Twins.

A reminder about GreenCine's upcoming screening at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts:

Next Wednesday, October 4, 7:30pm
Cabinetic & GreenCine present
The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Baron Prasil) by Karel Zeman (1961, 83 min., 16mm, in Czech with English subtitles)
$8/$6 GreenCine and YBCA Members, Students, Seniors

Baron Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen served in the Russian military and was involved in several battles, most notably against the Ottoman Empire, until he retired in 1750. On his return to his hometown of Bodenwerder, he told tales of visits to the Moon and flights across the battlefield atop a cannonball. While there have been many stories and illustrations about his legendary life, Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman mixed animation and live-action to create this exceptional little-seen film version of these fantastic tales. This film is not available on home video here and so this is your only chance to catch this most delightful film.

YBCA: 701 Mission Street, San Francisco.

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 5:58 PM

September 20, 2006

Dispatch #151

We've got a Proposition to make to you in the latest issue of the Dispatch.

#151 | September 19, 2006


"Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw your stinkin' palm tree overboard! Now what's all this crud about no movie tonight?" -- Mister Roberts
    In this Dispatch:
  • A tip about reviews
  • A trifecta of films we're watching this week
  • New releases
  • For your reading pleasure
  • Upcoming GC Screening

Ye shall review DVDs after ye watch. Give your fellow GreenCiners your take: Should they watch it? What worked and what didn't? How are the extras on the disc (if there aren't any, tell us, "What a gyp! No bonus features!") Go back to the film's product page - say, for Ringu - and click on the "write a review" link. Type your review (short or long) there, or write it first in a text editor program (so there will be no funky characters added) and paste in the review box. Preview and submit! For more tips on writing movie reviews, go here.

If Peter Weir (of the early variety) had channeled Sam Peckinpah he might have conspired to produce something like The Proposition, John Hillcoat's Aussie meta-Western, a bleak and violent parable as mesmerizing as it is disturbing... read the rest here.

Ritual is primary to La Petite Jerusalem, as is fundamentalist thinking. This second film by writer/director Karin Albou (her first was made for French TV) begins with the Jewish ritual of tossing crumbs into the river as a symbolic way to part with one's sins... read the rest here.

More quickie reviews can be found on GreenCine's review blog, Guru.

The award-winning feature documentary Vertical Frontier, narrated by Tom Brokaw, chronicles with spectacular old and new footage the character-driven history and philosophy of climbing the big walls of Yosemite Valley. A great film for the outdoorsy-inclined. Watch now via GreenCine's diverse Video-on-Demand service.

More like this: The Man from Snowy River | The Tracker
More like this: The Syrian Bride | Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi
More like this: The Park | Wildflower

In addition to the aforementioned aussie Western, this week's new DVD titles offer up a few more past and future cult favorites:

V

The Spirit of the Beehive (Criterion) ($29.97). Back in 1999, Derek Malcolm wrote: "I once showed a dozen or so classic non-American films to students at the Royal College of Art. To my surprise, despite the fact that the list included the work of such world-renowned directors as Luis Bunuel, Satyajit Ray and Kenji Mizoguchi, the film they fell in love with was Victor Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive." "A wonderfully allusive and poetic account of childhood in Franco's Spain," (Peter Lennon, Guardian UK), and long considered one of the great lost masterpieces, this truly beautiful film is now no longer lost, thanks to Criterion.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005; $19.95). "A one-of-a-kind cinematic experience," (San Francisco Chronicle), Jeff Feuerzeig's doc is a stunning portrait of a musical and artistic genius who nearly slipped away. "An imaginative and at times heart breaking tribute." (Salon.com)

Jigoku (1960; $22.45). DVDTalk calls this cult classic, also new to DVD from Criterion, "a unique work of horrifying surrealist filmmaking... a hallucinogenic slice of morbid beauty and a distinctly Japanese attempt at addressing the afterlife."

Also out this week:

Fabulous: The Story of Queer Cinema (2006; $16.45); Mister Roberts ($15.95) - back on DVD; Ellen Page is the main reason to see the uncomfy guilty pleasure Hard Candy (2006; $21.45); Marius and Jeanette (1997; $23.45) - "a biting sociopolitical commentary in the guise of a romantic comedy" (AV Club); My Name is Earl: Season 1 (4 discs, $42.95); Let's Get Frank ($20.45), a "feisty, funny, and smart" portrait (Christian Science Monitor) of the liberal Congressman; Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Vol. 7: End of Days ($21.45).

GreenCine's review blog: Guru | A complete list of this week's new releases and all titles coming soon is available here | Ye Olde New Releases Archive | Your Queue

Brian De Palma's adaptation of The Black Dahlia drives the last nail into the coffin of a near-life-long obsession for author James Ellroy. Or so he hopes. Hannah Eaves talks with Ellroy about books and movies, good and evil, San Francisco and LA. Full article >>

More for your reading pleasure:

David D'Arcy talks with Michael Tucker about his new follow-up to Gunner Palace, The Prisoner; and Jonathan Marlow interviews Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob on the subject of their new Al Franken doc.

Now playing at GreenCine Daily: Wrapping up Toronto, and oodles more.

Details on the next GreenCine-sponsored screening at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts:

Wednesday, October 4, 7:30pm
Cabinetic & GreenCine present
The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Baron Prasil) by Karel Zeman (1961, 83 min., 16mm, in Czech with English subtitles)
$8/$6 GreenCine and YBCA Members, Students, Seniors

Baron Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen served in the Russian military and was involved in several battles, most notably against the Ottoman Empire, until he retired in 1750. On his return to his hometown of Bodenwerder, he told tales of visits to the Moon and flights across the battlefield atop a cannonball. While there have been many stories and illustrations about his legendary life, Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman mixed animation and live-action to create this exceptional little-seen film version of these fantastic tales. This film is not available on home video here and so this is your only chance to catch this most delightful film.

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 5:55 PM

September 13, 2006

Dispatch #150

Happy 150th to the Dispatch, as we bring you the newsletter's Sesquicentennial Edition (referring to the number of issues, not years, of course - no truth to the rumor that Mathew Brady was a GreenCine member).
#150 | September 12, 2006


"You may look around, and see two groups here. White collar, blue collar. But I don't see it that way. You know why not? Because I am collar-blind. "
-- The Office

Almost as a way of congratulations, Variety ran a nice piece on GreenCine this past weekend.

Also: GreenCine now has a MySpace page - and, hey, who doesn't? - but while we're still figuring out how to use the darned thing, please feel free to drop on by and say hi, become a friend, or love us in any way you please. (Well, almost any way. There are some interesting people on MySpace aren't there?)

Duck Season's title puts us in mind of a Chuck Jones cartoon (not entirely a coincidence) but this lovely Mexican film is small in ambition and scale but large on pleasure. Beautifully capturing adolescent angst and the importance of just "hanging out" to one's survival, Fernando Eimbcke's film was the Grand Jury Prize winner at the AFI Festival and a Best Foreign Film nominee at this year's Independent Spirit Awards.

Epic in length and scope, but also a character-driven piece, Paul Verhoeven's masterfully entertaining WWII film Soldier of Orange is the most polished of his fine work in his native Holland (though the more subversive The 4th Man is perhaps his sharpest). It makes it all the more apparent how far he eventually fell in his more recent Hollywood forays (B-movie masterpiece RoboCop notwithstanding). Soldier also catapulted Rutger Hauer to stardom, charismatically playing real life... read the rest here.

More quickie reviews can be found on GreenCine's review blog, Guru.

The independent film Breakfast With the Colonel, shot and set in a not-too-far in the future Marin County, CA, is a "very funny sci-fi flick that ties in elements of Orwell's 1984 with Terry Gilliam's Brazil, while never straying too far from a light mood," praised MicrocinemaScene. "[It] never gets overly bogged down in social desperation and hopelessness, perhaps because it's a no-budget movie shot on Hi-8 video and edited on a 1986-model Powermac." Now available via GreenCine's Video-on-Demand service. Watch it, buddy!

More like this: Nobody Knows | Solo Con Tu Pareja More like this: Das Boot | Kanal More like this: To Skin a Cat | Donald & Dot Clock

The best of week's batch of new releases are a wholly unique lot:

Death of Mr Lazarescu ($18.60). A pitch black comedy about Romania's archaic health care system? Sounds like a real treat, doesn't it? Not so fast. It's one of the best reviewed films of the year. "Both sad and darkly funny, the film is so sharply conceived and richly populated that it often registers like a Frederick Wiseman documentary, even though everything is scripted and every part played by a professional," raved Jonathan Rosenbaum in the Chicago Reader. "A heartbreakingly powerful masterpiece," adds Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor.

I am a Sex Addict (2005; $19.45). Caveh Zahedi (who we interviewed awhile back and now interviews himself) made waves with this "breathtaking high-wire act that combines fact and fiction, drama and self-deprecating humor, honesty and self-delusion, home movies and animation" (Marjorie Baumgarten in the Austin Chronicle). A "consistently witty and inventive lark," wrote Bright Lights Film Journal. "Mischievous, and hardly the most reliable narrator, [Zahedi] presents this playful meta-vaudeville as part documentary, part dramatization with actors, and all narcissistic reflection on his life as a horndog."

The Office Season 2 (2006; $35.95), fresh off its Emmy win for Best Comedy Series, after a season in which it really began to come into its own.

Lucky Number Slevin (2006; $22.45). Though reviews were mixed, Slevin [sic] was a bit better than the clunky title and marketing campaign would have you believe, a clever thriller that is "stylish as hell with sharp dialogue, a tongue-in-cheek plot and visual and editing razzle-dazzle" (Hollywood Reporter).

Also out this week: Film Noir: Dark Side of Hollywood (five discs; $35.45); Goal! The Dream Begins (2005; $21.76), good if you're going through World Cup withdrawal; Jan Svankmajer: The Ossuary & Other Tales [interview] ($19.91); Dick Cavett: Hollywood Greats ($30.95) features simply some of the greatest (and most enjoyable) television interviews ever; and Ballets Russes ($23.45), the absorbing dance film ("gives you such an intense hit of creativity that afterward you may find yourself trying to jete out of the theater and into the street" - Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun).

New anime: Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shambala ($21.45) is set two years after the events of the Fullmetal Alchemist TV series's last episode, and won three awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, as well as the 2005 Animation Grand Award at the Mainichi Film Awards.

GreenCine's review blog: Guru | A complete list of this week's new releases and all titles coming soon is available here | Your Queue

Over the past few years, we've asked Caveh Zahedi to interview Amos Gitai, Larry Gross, Christopher Munch and Henry Jaglom. Now, with the aforementioned I Am a Sex Addict out on DVD, we've asked Caveh to interview... Caveh. Full article >>

The black comedy Expiration Date has been winning over audiences at festivals across the country. Director Rick Stevenson tells Sean Axmaker about his highly unusual distribution model - example: the film opens in LA at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on September 14 - and why he believes regional filmmaking will play a major role in the future of indies. Full article >>

Though festival fever flares on at GreenCine Daily, our award-winning blog takes a break with a report from D.K. Holm highlighting recent DVD reviews.

Congratulations are in order to the lucky winners of the One Take Only trivia contest. 3rd prize winner was JPielaszczyk; 2nd prize winner was mgeis; and [drum roll please] 1st prize went to phour20! Congrats to all and enjoy the booty.

The GreenCine member list of the week is: JAuner's "A Subjective Guide to Something Weird Video."

Details on the next GreenCine-sponsored screening at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts:

Wednesday, October 4, 7:30pm
Cabinetic & GreenCine present
The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Karel Zeman (1961, 83 min., 16mm, in Czech with English subtitles)
$8/$6 GreenCine and YBCA Members, Students, Seniors

Baron Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen served in the Russian military and was involved in several battles, most notably against the Ottoman Empire, until he retired in 1750. On his return to his hometown of Bodenwerder, he told tales of visits to the Moon and flights across the battlefield atop a cannonball. While there have been many stories and illustrations about his legendary life, Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman mixed animation and live-action to create this exceptional little-seen film version of these fantastic tales.

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 3:46 PM

September 12, 2006

Another Variety Article Mentioning GreenCine

Web opens new pic pipelines

Digital download sites offer a number of viewing possibilities
GreenCine.com may be the real go-to site for independents. GreenCine's VOD service began in 2003 with 12 titles, but today boasts upwards of 12,000, more than CinemaNow and Movielink combined. Many titles were acquired through direct deals with indie filmmakers.

The site has been extremely successful selling and renting DVDs from both studio and independent sources, but bringing in studio titles for VOD and digital downloading has been difficult, says head of acquisitions Jonathan Marlow. "Given the contracts offered by the studios," he says, "we'd have to reinvent the whole system for each studio. We'd end up losing money."

Posted by cphillips at 3:13 PM

Variety article on GreenCine

Variety 's Matthew Ross wrote a nice piece on GreenCine, this past Sunday, September 10. Here it is, in its entirety.

GreenCine digs deep

Netco serves serious film lovers
By MATTHEW ROSS


Last December, at an Apple Store panel hosted by indieWIRE in Gotham, a group of the film community's most respected indie film bloggers was asked which blog had the best, most relevant content for hardcore cinephiles. The answer was unanimous: GreenCine (daily.greencine.com).

The blog is the brainchild of David Hudson, an American expat who edits the site from his home base in Berlin. "When (New York Times film critic) Manohla Dargis was in Berlin a couple of years ago, she told me she sees the blog as a daily briefing," explains Hudson.

But the blog is only one part of GreenCine's operation.

Since 2002, the San Francisco-based Netco has been offering film fanatics titles they might not be able to find on Netflix or anywhere else. It's also been a pioneer in video-on-demand rentals and is offering a third of its 30,000-film catalog for temporary download.

Earlier this year, GreenCine launched a sell-through service. Filmmakers receive a share of the profits: $1.50 for each rental transaction and $5 for each download.

Co-founder and managing partner Dennis Woo, who started GreenCine as a side project of eLine, another Bay Area technology company, says, "We're known for having a very extensive catalog, including thousands of titles even our behemoth competitors don't touch."

But, he adds, what sets GreenCine apart from the competition is its ongoing connection with serious film lovers: "I don't think Netflix suits would go out into local pubs to host trivia nights and carouse with its members.

"Bigger groups oriented solely toward commerce are less interested in forming bonds with their members and between members; we're looking for ways to interact with them and to guide them better, both on the site and through events."

As a result, GreenCine has a loyal following from its readers, renters and the filmmakers whose work it has distributed.

"My experience with them has been nothing but wonderful -- they have been consistently honest, responsive and farsighted," says helmer Caveh Zahedi, who worked closely with GreenCine to release his early work on DVD. "I only read the blog occasionally -- I'm not a big blog reader -- but whenever I do, I'm always stunned by the depth and breadth of the writing that goes on there. They seem to know everything that is happening."

Posted by cphillips at 2:25 PM

September 7, 2006

Dispatch #149

#149 | September 5, 2006


"But Pop, I've seen things that I know are so wrong. Now how can I go back to school and keep my mind on... on things that are just in books, that aren't people living?"
-- On the Waterfront

GreenCine offers offers free priority shipping for new DVD orders over $50. (You must choose "group my items into as few shipments as possible" at the time of checkout to be eligible for this offer.) So, for example, Brazil (Criterion) + Baron Munchausen = free priority shipping.

Playtime (Criterion) (1967; $29.97). Jacques Tati's memorable follow-up (ten years later) to Mon Oncle, returns Monsieur Hulot to a bafflingly modernist Paris. Tati's gloriously choreographed, nearly wordless comedies about confusion in the age of technology reached their creative apex with Playtime. "The most visually inventive film of the 60s is also one of the funniest," wrote Dave Kehr in the Chicago Reader. One to treasure. The new disc also includes Cours du Soir, a delightful 1967 Tati short.

More quickie reviews can be found on GreenCine's review blog, Guru.

Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece The Seven Samurai had already been out once before courtesy Criterion, but the new edition puts the previous one to shame: a new High Definition transfer of the film, a new 4.0 sound mix, and (on disc three) a fascinating interview between Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima from the Director’s Guild of Japan in 1993, plus a wonderful doc, Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences. For starters. Or, we'll let Mike Restaino of DVDFile say it: "Commence drooling, everybody...nothing short of a watershed. Just try not to turn into Gollum while staring at this beautiful 3-disc edition (it is, indeed, precious)."

Journalist Pete Hamill narrates Brothers...On Holy Ground, a heartbreaking film made in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, from the perspective of New York City Firefighters, their families, and friends. "A clinic in the power of simplicity, a 54-minute picture that packs a wallop," finds DVD Verdict. "Don't miss it."

More like this: M. Hulot's Holiday | Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean More like this: Kagemusha | Ran More like this: Vertical Frontier | Underground Zero

Reissues and pristine new editions of classics are the name of the game in this week's batch of releases:

Godzilla: Gojira Deluxe Collector's Edition (1954; $15.95). The star attraction of this new two-disc Godzilla set is the original Japanese cut of the film (the second version features the American theatrical release which added Raymond Burr and a revisionist script). "A classy release that elevates the general stature of the Godzilla franchise," raves the DVD Savant, "[F]ans will be enthusiastic about the extras on the double-disc set." Extras abound on the second disc, so, Burr or no, don't miss it.

Besides the aforementioned Seven Samurai set, today finds two other reissues from Criterion: the three-disc deluxe special edition of Terry Gilliam's Brazil ($44.96) features a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by the director and a treasure trove of Brazil-iana; while Federico Fellini's carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Amarcord ($29.97), arrives in a new, deluxe two-disc edition, with new audio commentary by film scholars Peter Brunette and Frank Burke, a new and improved English subtitle translation, and a new 45-minute documentary, Fellini’s Homecoming - among many other treats.

United 93 (2006; $21.76) is Paul Greengrass' eerie recreation of the airborne tragedy of 9/11, from the view of the ground and flight controllers, the passengers, and their nervous families awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones. "Shocking and supremely well-made," raved talltale.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994; $12.45). Another cult title making its debut on DVD, Alan Rudolph's film transports us back to the 1920s of Dorothy Parker, the oft-quoted, witty woman at the center of the Algonquin Round Table. "What it tries to do it does so extraordinarily well," wrote Marjorie Baumgartner in The Austin Chronicle, "and that is to capture a moment in time and look more closely at the scars hidden underneath the blue ribbons gaily camouflaging Parker's slit wrists. Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance is so incredible that witnessing it is reason enough to take a look at this movie."

Also out this week: Kinky Boots (2006; $21.76); another reissue - Blade Runner: Director's Cut ($15.95); District B13 (2005; $20.41), an exhausting French action/sci-fi flick, a "lean, clean, adrenaline- and indignation-fueled B movie" (Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer); Unknown White Male (2006; $19.93); Our Brand is Crisis (2005; $21.45); Lost: Season Two (2006; $45.73), a.k.a., "Yep, Still on That Damned Island."

New anime: Kyo Kara Maoh! God [?] Save Our King! vol. 9 - the latest installment in the satirical fantasy series Now Playing magazine says "will catch many viewers off guard - while nonetheless leaving them wanting more."

GreenCine's review blog: Guru | A complete list of this week's new releases and all titles coming soon is available here | Your Queue

We keep meeting up with Kirby Dick simply because he keeps making such vital and fascinating documentaries. In 2004, Francine Taylor spoke with him about Derrida; a year later, she covered an emotionally charged screening of his Oscar-nominated Twist of Faith. Now, with his very funny, entertaining and infuriating This Film Is Not Yet Rated in theaters, David D'Arcy asks him about the ways studios hamstring their competition, namely, indies and foreign films. Full article >>

If Hannah Eaves had to be interrupted during her talk with Andrew Bujalski about Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation, she couldn't have asked for a more appropriate disruption. Full article >>

The new documentary August in the Empire State focuses on three people caught up in the storm sparked by the Republicans descending on New York City for their National Convention in 2004. Michelle Goldberg, covering the story for Salon and Rolling Stone and author of Kingdom Coming, is one. Full article >>

GreenCine Daily, our consistently caffeinated blog, offers a recap of the just-wrapped Telluride Film Festival, while, halfway around the world, the Venice Fest didn't seem to like the latest Darren Aronofsky puzzler.

With the fifth(!) anniversary of the date's tragic events fast upon us, we created a list of worthy September 11, 2001-themed films, both documentaries and features. Even the imperfect ones add good fodder for discussion and as a tool for reflection. For 9/11: A list.

Details on the next GreenCine-sponsored screening at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts:

Wednesday, October 4, 7:30pm
Cabinetic & GreenCine present
The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Karel Zeman (1961, 83 min., 16mm, in Czech with English subtitles)
$8/$6 GreenCine and YBCA Members, Students, Seniors

Baron Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen served in the Russian military and was involved in several battles, most notably against the Ottoman Empire, until he retired in 1750. On his return to his hometown of Bodenwerder, he told tales of visits to the Moon and flights across the battlefield atop a cannonball. While there have been many stories and illustrations about his legendary life, Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman mixed animation and live-action to create this exceptional little-seen film version of these fantastic tales.

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Posted by cphillips at 11:48 AM