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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: The Lovers, The Cottage and more.
- What We're Watching: Lost in Beijing, Early Ozu and Delirious.
- Explore: New on GC Daily.
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The release of any Louis Malle film on DVD is a cause for celebration but particularly one that had not only been unavailable on disc but was also once banned in a number of places in the US for "obscenity." Wrote Jamie Rich on DVD Talk: "One of my favorite Louis Malle movies, and the new Criterion DVD is a beautiful package. Jeanne Moreau is amazing... Busting bourgeois illusions while also deconstructing traditional romantic plotting, Malle creates a sexy movie about sexual freedom that self-reflexively comments on the perils of getting what you wish for. It's a dreamy, heady, and, above all, lusty motion picture, Highly Recommended." Also out today: Malle's Fire Within (Criterion). |
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Of this new UK horror comedy Fangoria raved: " The name Paul Andrew Williams might not mean much outside of Great Britain, but all that’s going to change [with The Cottage's release]. The writer/director’s unique horror satire is a rare example of how to cleverly cross genres in the sleekest, sneakiest ways possible to provide a consistently entertaining thrill ride through refreshed terrain of the most demented kind." Co-stars Andy "Gollum" Serkis. Adds the BBC: "This is cartoon carnage with a slightly surreal twist, but the developing bond between the brothers makes it surprisingly poignant too. All things considered, you'll forgive the shaky parts." |
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Guru reviewer James Van Maanen writes, "If I were to tell you the plot of Lost in Beijing [out on DVD today], along with its various twists and shocks (don't worry, I won't), you would tell me that this was soap opera worthy of Dynasty or the Lifetime channel. But because the film takes places in contemporary China, with its imploding social, economic, cultural and political morass, what happens here seems not only likely but possibly even typical. As directed and co-written (with Li Fang) by Yu Li, the movie simply bubbles along from scene to scene so quickly and deftly that, even if you question something, you'll end up going with it because of the momentum--and the remarkably fine performances from the four actors who make up one of the unhappier quartets in memory"... Read review here >> |
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Jeffrey M. Anderson on this important new set: "The Criterion Collection continues their outstanding and very welcome "Eclipse" series, but only one director has thus far been deemed worthy of two box sets: Yasujiro Ozu. Last year, the Late Ozu set made #1 on my list of the year's best DVDs, and this year's Silent Ozu (Eclipse #10) set is also a strong contender. These early works, made between 1931 and 1933, show a younger and more rambunctious Ozu, whose films actually have occasional camera movements and moments of melodrama. Though sound film was perfected in 1927 and established in 1929, Ozu kept making silent films up through 1934 for two reasons. He felt... read review >>
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Writer/director Tom DiCillo will always hold a place in my heart for his wonderful movie-about-making-movies Living in Oblivion (1995). Everything I'd seen from him since has proved disappointing to one degree or another. Until now. Delirious--made in 2006, released in 2007 and this month finally appearing on DVD--shows DiCillo at his peak, offering a charming, original story with characters both dark and light. The movie is full of coincidence but it's used with such charm and effervescence that it actually helps ground it. That the Delirious cast is headed by Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt proves an enormous help. Buscemi has rarely... read review >> |
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Among many must-read pieces now up on the GreenCine Daily blog -- including a host of dispatches from the just-wrapped San Francisco International Film Festival -- we just posted an obituary for artist Robert Rauschenberg, who passed away last night. Also: A new summary of upcoming and ongoing film fests and events. |
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