September Criterions and Other Upcoming DVD Releases

On the surface, September would seem to be a disappointing month for Criterion, with only two official releases, David Mamet's Homicide and Alexander Korda's That Hamilton Woman (on a side note, I think Criterion should really give Korda a rest, as their staff must include the world's only Korda fanboys). However, they also announced a Blu-ray of Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le fou, in addition to The Complete Monterey Pop Festival. And, similar to their release of Henry Cass' Last Holiday this past Tuesday, they're releasing Réné Clément's Gervaise, Marcel Carné's Le jour se lève and Anatole Litvak's Mayerling, with Danielle Darrieux and Charles Boyer, for the first time on DVD in the US as part of their Essential Art House Collection. Volume 4 of this set also includes Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Tales of Hoffman; all six are available separately as well. I thought a prominent New York newspaper said Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire was coming in September as well, but if it is, they haven't announced it officially.

Sony will be releasing Gregor Jordan's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers on DVD and Blu-ray on 25 August. The film's box office failure may have been one of the contributing factors to its distribution company Senator's shutting down, which came about last week; it's also worth noting that The Informers was first (and last) release from them, leaving a number of other films like the two Mesrine films in limbo. Season 3 of 30 Rock, in my opinion the best yet, will be out on 22 September from Universal; Salma Hayek, Jon Hamm, Oprah Winfrey and Alan Alda make memorable guest appearances throughout the season.

Sony announced Carlos Cuarón's Rudo & Cursi on DVD and Blu-ray for 25 August. Strand will be releasing Veiko Õunpuu's Sügisball on 22 September and Yôji Yamada's Kabei: Our Mother on the 8th. And finally, Sony will also release Steven Sodebergh's sex, lies and videotape on Blu-ray on 25 August. More catch-up soon!

You, Appearing

There will likely be a lag in my blog posts for the next two weeks or so. I'm heading out of town, and I suppose, I'm not really "feelin' it." Whatever that means. I do have a couple of contributions to other sites that will be showing up here soon, which I'll direct you to later... but for now, I'm going to live vicariously through the Fisher clan... and hope some form of epiphany arises from there.

Another Set-Back

While last weekend's maladies de l'âme kept me from writing, this weekend's physical ailments (of the nasal persuasion) have prevented me from the same. Assuming I'll wake up tomorrow with improved health, you can expect a number of entries for the Decade List to start unraveling. Until then, I can say Jarmusch's The Limits of Control is the best thing he's done in the past 10 years, even if its coldness has turned off most people. And that I've watched the season finale of 30 Rock at least five times since Thursday. Is it the cold medicine? Maybe.

Party Girls

Thanks Eric. Nicholas Ray's Party Girl, not to be confused with the Parker Posey vehicle from the mid-'90s (Hello, Chanel!), is now part of the Warner Archive series, which is a bit of great/disappointing news. Great as in it's finally available; disappointing as in 'doesn't Nicholas Ray deserve better than this?' Considering two of his most famous films, Johnny Guitar and Bigger Than Life, are still MIA on DVD in the US, I suppose something is better than nothing. Maybe.

On an unrelated subject, I ran across an article by Jonah Weiner on 30 Rock and its (?) conservative leanings (thanks, Lex). It's a fantastic read, but I think Weiner overlooks the fact that Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and her (wo)manchild-ness and walking-on-thin-ice liberal-ness are treated in the same vain as Jack Donaghy and his artless corporate-ness are. I did, however, forget how funny it was when Carrie Fisher referred to her neighborhood as "Little Chechnya."

Even More DVD Updates: Joe Dallesandro, Alain Robbe-Grillet

Eric announced earlier Mondo Macabre's announcement that they were releasing Alain Robbe-Grillet's Gradiva. Now it's been officially set for 25 August. Another Ryko title coming out on the same date is Fernando Di Leo's Vacation Massacre [Vacanze per un massacro], an action film with Joe Dallesandro from Midnight Choir. Also look for Ralph Bakshi's Fire and Ice on DVD the same day from Blue Underground.

The first of three Coco Chanel films coming out soon, entitled simply Coco Chanel, will hit DVD on 7 July from Screen Media Films. This one was made-for-television and stars Shirley MacLaine and Barbora Bobulova as the fashion designer. Speaking of Chanel, does anyone know if William Friedkin's biopic was scrapped? I had read he was casting Marina Hands as Chanel, but what I remember reading sounds a lot like Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, the closer of this year's Cannes Film Festival with Anna Mouglalis instead of Hands. Anyway, Venevision is releasing Carlos Sorin's Bombón el perro on 14 July. Film Movement is releasing his more recent The Window [La ventana] later this year as well.

Miramax has set a date for the Blu-ray of Pulp Fiction, set for 4 August. I don't know any specifics about the disc, unfortunately. Showtime will have the second season of their brilliant This American Life, which translates surprisingly well onscreen, out on 21 July. Zeitgeist's Oscar-nominated Trouble the Water comes out 25 August as well. Menemesha Films is releasing Jan Hrebejk's Beauty in Trouble [Kráska v nesnázích] on 8 September.

And finally, a few more Magnolia discs have been announced: Robert Kenner's Food, Inc. on 15 September; Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience on 15 September; The Mutant Chronicles on DVD and Blu-ray 4 August; Kirby Dick's Outrage on 15 September; and Thanakorn Pongsuwan's Demon Warriors on 4 August.

TY

I'm taking this opportunity to do what so many others on my Facebook news feed are doing and thanking Bea Arthur for being a friend. She will be missed. And God knows the gays will be dropping their tears into a glass or three this evening. Wear some shoulder pads tonight in remembrance. Goodbye, Dorthy Petrillo Zbornak.

New Lifshitz, plus some bad TV news

For those of you not tired of me blabbing about Sébastien Lifshitz, I'd like to thank my friend Jordany for directing me to his new film's IMDb page. Plein sud stars Yannick Renier (Private Property, Born in '68), Léa Seydoux (De la guerre, The Last Mistress), Théo Frilet (also from Born in '68) and Pierre Perrier (Cold Showers, One to Another), will unfortunately not be shot by Agnès Godard (Claire Mothon is the DOP, I'm not familiar with her work), but will feature music from John Parish, one of PJ Harvey's collaborators [check out their album A Woman, A Man Walked By if you haven't already], and Jocelyn Pook. It's scheduled to be released in France on 19 August, and I suppose there's a chance it'll play at either Venice or Toronto a few weeks later. You like how I got to bring up both Lifshitz and PJ Harvey in the same post?

Also, Nathan at Film Experience gives us some bad news about a planned television series based around Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. No Carmen Maura or Rossy de Palma and scripted by someone who works on Grey's Anatomy? Fail. Makes you kinda wish that American remake with Jane Fonda had happened, so this wouldn't have.

Universal Backlot, Olive Films and Other DVD Updates

Universal has added four more titles to their Blacklot Series, all set for 7 July: Arthur Lubin's Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with Maria Montez; William A. Wellman's Beau Geste, with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland and Susan Hayward; David Miller's Lonely Are the Brave, with Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau; and Henry Hathaway's The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, with Sylvia Sidney, Fred MacMurray and Henry Fonda. Universal has also announced a 20th Anniversary Edition of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, which will also be out on Blu-ray on 30 June. In other Blu-ray news, Robert Altman's M*A*S*H will be out through Fox on 14 July.

In other news, Wolfe announced the DVD for Pedro, the biopic of Pedro Zamora that was written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk), for 9 June. The film aired on MTV a couple of days ago. Sony will release Jack Garfein's The Strange One, with Ben Gazzara, on 16 June. Sony also set a new date for Waltz with Bashir, on DVD and Blu-ray 23 June. Lionsgate has a horror film with Crispin Glover and Blake Lively called Simon Says for 23 June. Indiepix will release Chico Teixeira's Alice's House [A Casa de Alice] on 23 June. City Lights Pictures has Adam Rifkin's Never on Tuesday, with Peter Berg, set for 23 June. And in television news, look season 5 of Lost on 8 December.

Olive Films Opus announced a number of DVDs set for later in the year as well. The titles include Pavel Chukhraj's The Thief, with Vladimir Mashokov, on 22 September (the film was released previously from Sony but is now out-of-print); Aku Louhimies's Frozen Land [Paha maa] on 4 August; Marius Holt's Mirush [Blodsbånd] on 18 August; and José Joffily's Who Killed Pixote? [Quem Matou Pixote?] on 29 September.

DVD Updates

Just a few DVD release updates for you. Sony has lined up dates for both of their foreign language Oscar hopefuls, Laurent Cantet's The Class [Entre les murs] and Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir, for 14 April and 28 April, respectively. As Rachel Getting Married, I've Loved You So Long and Seven Pounds have shown us, the dates will likely change by a week or two. Miramax also announced their Oscar hopeful Doubt for 14 April.

The most exciting news I have to offer comes from Facets, as they have a number of great stuff lined up for May. Firstly, they've announced a two-disc edition of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's Ludwig, Requiem for a Virgin King [Ludwig - Requiem für einen jungfräulichen König], which makes for a fine comparison/companion piece to Visconti's Ludwig, which was released by Koch Lorber last year. Harry Baer stars as Ludwig II, alongside Ingrid Caven as Lola Montez. Facets will also be releasing Martin Meissonnier's documentary The Real Joan of Arc [Vraie Jeanne, fausse Jeanne], which explores the history and mythology of Jeanne d'Arc, Helma Sanders-Brahms' Earthquake in Chile [Erdbeben in Chili], Stanislav Stanojevic's Subversion, Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Quo Vadis?, which co-stars Boguslaw Linda, Ning Ying's On the Beat and the documentary Inquiring Nuns, in which a pair of Chicago-based nuns ask people on the street if they're happy. All street on 26 May.

Synkronized USA will be releasing two recent French films on 5 May: Antoine Santana's A Song of Innocence [La ravisseuse] and Cheyenne Carron's Twisted Souls [Écorchés]. A Song of Innocence stars Isild Le Besco (who also starred in Santana's Un moment de bonheur), Émilie Dequenne, Grégoire Colin and Anémone; Twisted Souls features Vincent Martinez and Sagamore Stévenin (Romance). Synkronizes titles are usually delayed, so keep that in mind. Lifesize Home Entertainment will also be releasing another film starring Émilie Dequenne, entitled Écoute le temps (also known as Fissures). Mathieu Demy also stars.

Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams, will be released by Oscilloscope on 5 May, along with Koch Lorber's release of Ole Bornedal's Just Another Love Story [Kærlighed på film]. Magnolia has set 2 June for James Gray's Two Lovers, and finally, Lionsgate is releasing the second season of Mad Men on 7 July. That's all for now.