Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News
Entries from February 2010
Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman appeared at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the launch of Warner Brothers 35 DVD tribute collection to Eastwood. They were also there to commemorate Richard Schickel's new documentary The Eastwood Factor which is featured in the set and which Freeman narrates. Eastwood was philosophical about Invictus not getting a best picture or director Oscar nod, saying, "Look, I've been around a long time and probably they should give
somebody else a look. I don't think too much about that stuff. I didn't
think about it then, I just got lucky with those two. (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby)". Eastwood also confirms he's out of touch with his earlier films and has to reacquaint himself with them. For more click here
Universal is following in the footsteps of Warner Brothers by making well-known film titles available on a burn-to-order basis. The Universal titles are now available on Amazon and can be ordered through searching on the database, as you would for any other title. Each disc is recorded on DVD-R format. Here is the initial press release: CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jan. 20, 2010 – CreateSpace,
part of the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) group of companies, today
announced an agreement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment to
release a special selection of Universal's rare films, spanning six
decades. Titles from the all-new "Universal Vault Series" will be
available on Amazon.com through CreateSpace's DVD on-Demand technology.
Spanning a variety of genres and decades, many of the films will now be
available for the first time on DVD.
Digitally
remastered and exclusively available using CreateSpace's DVD on-Demand
platform, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will give fans
first-time DVD access to some of its most highly sought-after films,
such as "A Bronx Tale," the 1993 film directed by and starring Robert
De Niro. Other titles in the series will include cult favorite "The
Incredible Shrinking Woman," starring Lily Tomlin; "Gambit," the
three-time Academy Award®-nominated film starring Shirley MacLaine and
Michael Caine; "The Black Shield of Falworth," Universal's first
feature film using CinemaScope technology; "The Brass Bottle," starring
Barbara Eden and the film inspiration for the hit television show "I
Dream of Jeannie"; and "Resurrection," starring Ellen Burstyn as a
modern-day miracle worker.
DVD on-Demand enables major film
studios like Universal Pictures to release rare and unique content in
response to consumer demand. With DVD on-Demand, DVDs are manufactured
only after a customer places an order, making it a cost-effective
solution that doesn't require studios to estimate market demand or make
costly investments in physical inventory.
"CreateSpace's
model allows movie studios and content owners to restore and release
oft-requested titles quickly, easily and economically," said Dana
LoPiccolo-Giles, managing director, CreateSpace. "With CreateSpace's
DVD on-Demand platform, Universal Pictures can ensure its fans have the
opportunity to collect and view their favorite films from the past with
DVD quality."
Other titles in the "Universal Vault Series" to be made available through CreateSpace DVD on-Demand include:
- "40 Pounds of Trouble" (1962), starring Tony Curtis
- "Blue Collar" (1978), starring Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel
- "The Chalk Garden" (1964), starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills
- "Death Takes a Holiday" (1934), starring Frederic March
- "Dragnet" (1954), starring Jack Webb
- "Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain" (1995), starring Christina Ricci and Anna Chlumsky
- "A Good Man in Africa" (1994), starring Sean Connery
- "The House of Seven Gables" (1940), starring George Sanders and Vincent Price
- "Kitten with a Whip" (1964), starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe
- "The Last Remake of Beau Geste" (1977), starring Marty Feldman
- "The List of Adrian Messenger" (1963), starring George C. Scott, Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra
- "The Perfect Furlough" (1958), starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh
- "Pure Luck" (1991), starring Martin Short and Danny Glover
- "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1933), starring Charles Laughton
- "Shoot Out" (1971), starring Gregory Peck
- "Shout" (1991), starring John Travolta
- "Spawn of the North" (1938), starring Henry Fonda, George Raft and Dorothy Lamour
- "Stick" (1985), starring Burt Reynolds
- "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1970), starring Robert Redford
- CLICK HERE TO GO TO AMAZON AND ORDER YOUR TITLES!
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from The British Film Institute: On 15 February, the BFI releases Kent Mackenzie’s 1961 film The
Exiles. Deeply affecting and utterly convincing, this remarkable film
chronicles one night in the lives of a group of young American Indians living in
the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles.
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Based entirely on interviews with the participants and their friends, the
film follows this group of exiles – transplants from Southwest reservations – as
they flirt, drink, party, fight, and dance. With its vivid, high-contrast black
and white photography and soundtrack by The Revels, Kent Mackenzie’s gritty,
no-frills depiction of this marginalised Los Angeles community draws comparisons
to John Cassavetes, Charles Burnett and Vittorio De Seta.
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Finally made available on DVD in the UK for the first time, it’s packed
with extras including a feature commentary and short films.
By Lee Pfeiffer Blue Underground, which specializes in first class DVD editions of cult films, has released Circle of Iron (aka The Silent Flute) on Blu-ray. The 1978 martial arts movie was based on a story devised by Bruce Lee, James Coburn and Sterling Silliphant. Lee couldn't find studio interest in the metaphysical film that was designed to combine the spiritual qualities of Taoist philosophy with martial arts fight sequences. The movie languished for years until Silliphant was able to get a production deal. However, by then, Lee was a major film star and he turned his back on having anything to do with the movie. After Lee's death, studios were eager to capitalize on anything to do with his legend. Thus, the movie was heavily promoted as being a tribute to Lee, though the final result is probably light years away from what he envisioned. The movie is bizarre on many levels, yet is consistently entertaining and has a goofy and charming aspect to it.The plot takes place in a mythical land where Cord (Jeff Cooper), a top martial arts fighter is determined to take on the seemingly impossible quest to locate a mysterious figure named Zetan, who jealously guards a legendary book that supposedly contains the meaning of life. Cord must first accomplish numerous dangerous tasks along the way, if he hopes to actually meet Zetan. (Imagine The Wizard of Oz with kung fu fights).
Continue reading ""CIRCLE OF IRON", ODE TO BRUCE LEE, ON BLU-RAY"
By Lee Pfeiffer Filmmaker Kevin Epps has shed new light on the legends behind the legendary Alcatraz prison. Movie audiences have been weened on the notion that being confined to The Rock was largely an experience relegated to white prisoners. In fact, over the decades Alcatraz 'hosted' a sizable population of black prisoners as well. Hollywood generally, well, whitewashed those prisoner's experiences during the heyday of crime movies because of segregationist attitudes in American society. Clint Eastwood's 1979 film Escape From Alcatraz set the record straight in a minor way: at least it depicted some black characters.Epps, a San Francisco documentary maker, explores the black experience on Alcatraz in The Black Rock. Working with a very limited budget, Epps, creatively uses rare still photos combined with first-hand interviews with black former inmates and guards. The result is a fascinating and thoroughly engrossing film that educates as much as it entertains. Although most people believe segregation was largely relegated to the deep south, the film proves that the horrible practice was alive and well inside the walls of Alcatraz. Black prisoners were segregated from whites, using the old-standby excuse that it was done for their own protection. (It's amazing how racist policies are always justified by the people who create them on the basis that they are actually for the benefit of those who are victimized by them.)
Continue reading ""THE BLACK ROCK" EXPLORES THE UNSEEN SIDE OF ALCATRAZ"
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