In foreign DVD news, Artificial Eye has announced Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank for 25 January. After a May delay, M6 Vidéo in France has set 12 November as the new date for their Édition Prestige of Marcel Carné's Les visiteurs du soir, which is set to include a documentary by Marc Caro on "le cinéma fantastique français." As expected, no English subtitles will be included on the disc. For those of you who can read German, Alive has announced a three-disc Jean Cocteau set, which will include Orphée, as well as the unavailable-in-the-US The Eagle with Two Heads [L'aigle à deux têtes] and Les parents terribles. The set will be available on 31 December.
And, just as all of Akira Kurosawa's films are finally becoming available on DVD in the US, Japan is one-upping us by putting all of them on Blu-ray. Jesnet released Madadayo, Ran, Rashômon and The Quiet Duel on Blu-ray earlier this year. Toho will unleash several more starting in October. Set for 23 October: Kagemusha, Seven Samurai, Sanshiro Sugata, Sanshiro Sugata 2, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Sanjuro and The Bad Sleep Well. 18 December: The Lower Depths, The Most Beautiful, I Live in Fear, Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, Stray Dog and Yojimbo. And for 19 February 2010: Red Beard, Dodes'ka-den, Throne of Blood, One Wonderful Sunday, High and Low, No Regrets for My Youth and Drunken Angel. Most Japanese Blu-rays are Region A, which is also the US code, so you might want to check 'em out (assuming English subtitles are present).
Anyway, on with the US DVD announcements. I suppose there's a chance that the dates could change, but it looks as though Anchor Bay has made a quick turn-around on a trio of their titles before the end of the year. Both Pandorum, a space horror directed by Christian Alvart (Antibodies) and starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster, and Peter Hyams' remake of Fritz Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, with Michael Douglas and Amber Tamblyn, will bow on DVD and Blu-ray 22 December; and Michael Moore's latest, Capitalism: A Love Story, with hit both formats the following week.
- The Mighty Boosh, 2004-2007, BBC/Warner, 13 October- Psycho Love Story [Cennet], 2008, d. Biray Dalkiran, Pathfinder, 13 October
- P, 2005, d. Paul Spurrier, Palisades Tartan, 20 October
- Criminal Justice, 2008, d. Otto Bathurst, Luke Watson, BFS, 3 November, w. Ben Wishaw, Pete Postlethwaite
- The Band, 2009, d. Anna Brownfield, Breaking Glass Pictures, 17 November
- Kobe Doin' Work, 2009, d. Spike Lee, ESPN/Buena Vista, 24 November
- The Hangover, 2009, d. Todd Phillips, Warner, also on Blu-ray, 15 December
- Let Them Chirp Awhile, 2007, d. Jonathan Blitstein, Cinevolve, also on Blu-ray, 15 December, w. Justin Rice, Brendan Sexton III
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, 2009, d. Peter Hyams, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Kartemquin Films: The Early Years, Volume 1 (Parents / Thumbs Down), 1968, d. Gerald Temaner, Gordon Quinn, Kartemquin/Facets, 22 December
- Pandorum, 2009, d. Christian Alvart, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 22 December
- Capitalism: A Love Story, 2009, d. Michael Moore, Anchor Bay, also on Blu-ray, 29 December
- Blade of the Ripper [Lo strain vizio della Signora Wardh, aka The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh], 1971, d. Sergio Martino, MYA, 26 January, w. Edwige Fenech
- Desirable Teacher [Pierino contro tutti], 1981, d. Marino Girolami, MYA, 26 January
- Goodbye Gemini, 1970, d. Alan Gibson, Scorpion Releasing, 26 January, w. Michael Redgrave
- Hello Goodbye, 2008, d. Graham Guit, Liberation, 26 January, w. Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu
- Not Now Darling, 1973, d. Ray Cooney, David Croft, Jezebel/Alternative Distribution Alliance, 26 January
- Sex Advice [Sesso in confessionale], 1974, d. Vittorio De Sisti, MYA, 26 January
- Troma's War, 1988, d. Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman, Troma, 26 January
Blu-ray
- The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue [Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti, aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie], 1974, d. Jorge Grau, Blue Underground, 27 October- Stargate, 1994, d. Roland Emmerich, Lionsgate, 27 October
- Logan's Run, 1976, d. Michael Anderson, Warner, 10 November
- Monsters, Inc., 2001, d. Peter Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, Disney, 10 November
- The Mask of Zorro, 1998, d. Martin Campbell, Sony, 1 December
- The Mel Brooks Collection [Blazing Saddles / Spaceballs / Young Frankenstein / High Anxiety / History of the World: Part 1 / Robin Hood: Men in Tights / Silent Movie / To Be or Not to Be / The Twelve Chairs], 1970-1993, d. Mel Brooks, Alan Johnson, Fox, 15 December
- Versus, 2000, d. Ryuhei Kitamura, Tokyo Shock, 29 December
- The Green Berets, 1968, d. Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, Mervyn LeRoy, Warner, 5 January
- Magnolia, 1999, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, New Line, 19 January
- The Toolbox Murders, 1978, d. Dennis Donnelly, Blue Underground, 26 January
Date Changes/Delays
- Rage, 2009, d. Sally Potter, Liberation [available now, as opposed to in November]- Made in France [Origine contrôlée], 2001, d. Ahmed Bouchaala, Zakia Tahri, Synkronized USA, now 10 November
- The House of the Devil, 2009, d. Ti West, MPI, now 8 December [moved up]
- Hansel & Gretel, 2007, d. Yim Pil-Sung, Tokyo Shock, now 29 December
- The Brothers Bloom, 2009, d. Rian Johnson, Summit [according to a friend, available for rental everywhere, but won't be for purchase until a later date]
- Tennessee, 2008, d. Aaron Woodley, Vivendi [sorry, Mariah fans, delayed until further notice]
- Casualties of War, 1989, d. Brian De Palma, Sony, Blu-ray [postponed indefinitely]
- Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, Sony, Blu-ray [postponed indefinitely]
“When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out.”
