IFC and Criterion, cont'd; Plus The General on Blu-ray

As you may have already seen, ScreenDaily announced all the titles that will come from the pairing of IFC and Criterion, after Gomorrah and A Christmas Tale, of course:

Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments [Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick]
Christopher Nolan's Following
Steve McQueen's Hunger
Abdel Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain [La graine et le mulet]
Hirokazu Kore-eda's Still Walking
Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours [L'heure d'été]
Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también

That unfortunately means, likely, no Last Mistress, but at least none of the titles above are worth complaining about. In other news, Kino has announced a Blu-ray of Buster Keaton's The General for 10 November. Universal will release the fourth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents... on 24 November, and Zeitgeist will have Jennifer Baichwal's Act of God on 26 January 2010.

DVD Release Update - 21 July

Of the releases below, it's worth noting that TLA has started announcing DVDs again after this news came out a few months ago. It's also nice to know that Criterion won't be wasting their time on a Chasing Amy Blu-ray, as Miramax has just set a date for it.

DVD

- Classic Educational Shorts, Vols. 1 and 2: How to Be a Man / How to Be a Woman, 1948-1982, d. Various, Kino, 6 October
- The Gate, 1987, d. Tibor Takács, Lionsgate, "Monstrous Special Edition," 6 October, w. Stephen Dorff
- Mirageman, 2007, d. Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Magnet Releasing/Magnolia, 6 October
- My Fair Lady, 1964, d. George Cukor, Paramount, 6 October
- Happy Birthday to Me, 1981, d. J. Lee Thompson, Anchor Bay, 13 October
- The Killing Room, 2009, d. Jonathan Liebesman, The Weinstein Company, 13 October, w. Chloë Sevigny, Nick Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Peter Stormare, Clea DuVall
- Love of Siam, 2007, d. Chukiat Sakveerakul, Strand Releasing, 13 October
- Shank, 2009, d. Simon Pearce, TLA Releasing, 20 October
- The Shaolin Temple, 1982, d. Zhang Xinyan, Dragon Dynasty/The Weinstein Company, 20 October, w. Jet Li
- Moonlight Serenade, 2006, d. Giancarlo Tallarico, Magnolia, 27 October, w. Amy Adams
- Perestroika [The Reconstructing], 2009, d. Slava Tsukerman (Liquid Sky), Strand Releasing, 27 October, w. F. Murray Abraham, Ally Sheedy
- Janky Promoters, 2009, d. Marcus Raboy, The Weinstein Company, 3 November, w. Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Young Jeezy
- North by Northwest, 1959, d. Alfred Hitchcock, Warner, 50th Anniversary, also on Blu-ray, 3 November
- Make the Yuletide Gay, 2009, d. Rob Williams, TLA Releasing, 10 November
- Wrecked, 2009, d. Bernard Schumanski, Harry Schumanski, TLA Releasing, 10 November
- Star Trek, 2009, d. J.J. Abrams, Paramount, also on Blu-ray, 17 November
- Three Monkeys [Üç maymun], 2008, d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeitgeist, 24 November
- The Redwoods, 2009, d. David Lewis, TLA Releasing, 8 December

Blu-ray

- Kurt Cobain: About a Son, 2006, d. AJ Schnack, Shout! Factory, 6 October
- Chasing Amy, 1997, d. Kevin Smith, Miramax, 3 November
- Clerks, 1994, d. Kevin Smith, Miramax, 3 November
- The Sopranos, Season 1, 1999, HBO, 23 November

Bad News Tennis Shoes

Michael K from Dlisted is reporting that my dear Rose McGowan has been dropped from Robert Rodriguez's Barbarella remake, which pisses me off to no end. The studio apparently wanted a name for the lead and guess who they want to play the role made famous by Jane Fonda: Jessica fucking Alba. She's about as sexy as a hang-nail and about as interesting too, so my well wishes for the unnecessary remake have dissipated. You may know that Alba, alongside Hayden Christensen, makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Boring and talentless have never offended me so much.

On a local note, the Tivoli in the University City Loop has announced their Midnight Movie Fest for this summer/fall. The results are mixed, as usual, appealing to the dorky 80s crowd mainly, but there are a few highlights, which include the uncut version of David Lynch's Wild at Heart, which I believe is just a little more graphic decapitation/head explosion (I can't remember which) near the end, and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. John Waters' Pink Flamingos will also show it's filthybeautiful head, and, though I might have thought it to soon, the epic Grindhouse will also be showing. And now you can see it with people who knew what the fuck was supposed to be going on. The full list is as follows:

July 18-19 - Alien (Director's Cut)

July 25-26 - American Psycho

Aug 1-2 - Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Aug 8-9 - Wild at Heart (Uncut) - No One Under 18 Admitted

Aug 15-16 - Jurassic Park

Aug 22-23 - The Breakfast Club

Aug 29-30 - Blade Runner (The Final Cut)

Sept 5-6 - The Dark Crystal

Sept 12-13 - Grindhouse

Sept 19-20 - Rear Window

Sept 26-27 - The Crow (new print)

Oct 3-4 - My Neighbor Totoro (in English)

Oct 10-11 - Pink Flamingos - No One Under 18 Admitted

Oct 17-18 - 2001: A Space Odyssey

Oct 24-25, Oct 31-Nov 1 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Ballons, Parks, Abortions, Rides, and Kabuki

Here are some more DVD updates. Unfortunately, I've been rather busy in a job hunt, so I haven't had time to review a bunch of films as I'd like to. So, hopefully this will hold you over. Oh, and if you have any fine job suggestions, send 'em my way!

IFC has announced their October releases, which includes a new date for the Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days for the 14th. The June release was delayed, although the film is available for rent at Netflix, seeing as how their Red Envelope Entertainment co-released the film. Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park and Hou Hsiaso-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon will also hit shelves on the 7th and 21st respectively.

The Weinstein Company has also announced Boy A, which is hitting theatres right now, for 7 October; the film, directed by John Crowley (Intermission) and starring Peter Mullan, has received some positive notices from critics. Through Dimension, they will also be releasing Hell Ride just in time for Halloween on the 28th. The violent biker film looks like it'll skip a theatrical release and head straight to video. It stars Dennis Hopper, Vinnie Jones, Michael Madsen and Eric Balfour. Elite Squad [Tropa de Elite] from Brazil will also be out on 14 October; the film won this year's Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

As previously mentioned by Eric, Luchino Visconti's Ludwig, starring Helmut Berger, will be out on 14 October from Koch Lorber. The film will be presented uncut and contain two-discs. I'm sure you've already read about this, but MGM will release their long-overdue Hitchcock boxset on the same day. The set includes: Rebecca, Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, The Paradine Case, Spellbound, Notorious, Young and Innocent, Sabotage and Lifeboat.

AnimEigo will release Kon Ichikawa's Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, formerly known as An Actor's Revenge, on 14 October. Sommerhouse, a division of Koch Vision, has re-announced The Apprentice, aka Fleur bleu, starring a young Susan Sarandon for the same date. Tarsem's The Fall, starring Lee Pace, will be released by Sony on 9 September. Wolfe will release Jamie Babbit's Itty Bitty Titty Committee on 2 September.

Fox will release as part of their film noir set Moontide, directed by Archie Mayo and an uncredited Fritz Lang and starring Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino, and Road House, directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Lupino and Richard Widmark, for 2 September. And finally, TLA is releasing Hormoz's I Dreamt Under Water [J'ai rêvé sous l'eau], which co-stars Caroline Ducey (Romance) and is an extension of his short film of the same name, on 30 September.

UPDATE: Eric was right. MGM will also release Elia Kazan's Boomerang on 2 September as part of the Fox Film Noir collection. Thanks! Also, I forgot to mention, if you want overkill, The Weinstein Company will also have a 3-disc set of Rob Zombie's Halloween sometime in October.

When You're Fresh Out of Asia Argento Films to Watch...

Having a case of bronchitis isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. Of course, it could turn into pneumonia, which would, naturally, be worse, but at least my bronchitis has kept me up-to-date on some overdue film viewing (and equally overdue sleep). Though my bank account is looking pretty measly as a result of not working, I can at least pride myself in this continuing self-education. I don't really have the mental or physical strength to write extensively about any of these films (in fact, some don't warrant more than a simple mention), but for those curious as to what I've seen, the list is as follows:

The Good:

You, the Living [Du levande] - dir. Roy Andersson - 2007 - Sweden/Germany/France/Denmark/Norway [And by good, I mean really fucking good]

The Edge of Heaven [Auf der anderen Seite] - dir. Fatih Akin - 2007 - Germany/Turkey/Italy - with Nurgül Yesilçay, Baki Davrak, Hanna Schygulla, Tuncel Kurtiz, Patrycia Ziolkowska, Nursel Köse

Frownland - dir. Ronald Bronstein - 2007 - USA - with Dore Mann, Paul Grimstad, David Sandholm, Mary Wall, Paul Grant

North by Northwest - dir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1959 - USA - with Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason [I'm embarrassed to admit that this was the first time I'd seen this]

Rolling Family [Familia rodante] - dir. Pablo Trapero - 2004 - Argentina/Brazil/France/Germany/Spain/UK - with Graciana Chironi

Irina Palm - dir. Sam Garbarski - 2007 - UK/Germany/France/Belgium/Luxembourg - with Marianne Faithfull, Miki Manojlovic, Kevin Bishop, Siobhan Hewlett, Jenny Agutter - Review here

The Bad:

Teeth - dir. Mitchell Lichtenstein - 2007 - USA - with Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Hale Appleman, Lenny von Dohlen - Review here

Funny Games - dir. Michael Haneke - 2007 - France/UK/Austria/USA/Germany/Italy - with Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt, Tim Roth, Brady Corbet

SoulMaid - dir. Jeffrey Maccubbin, Jeffrey Thomas McHale, Dan Mohr, Josef Steiff - 2007 - USA - with Joe Schenck, Tom Bailey, Becca Connolly

Be with Me - dir. Eric Khoo - 2005 - Singapore [I seem to be the only person I've found that disliked this film this strongly.]

Poor Boy's Game - dir. Clément Virgo - 2007 - Canada - with Rossif Sutherland, Danny Glover

Lost in Beijing - dir. Li Yu - 2007 - China

...And Somewhere in Between:

The Golden Compass - dir. Chris Weitz - 2007 - USA/UK - with Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green

The Banishment [Izgnanie] - dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev - 2007 - Russia - with Konstantin Lavronenko, Aleksandr Baluyev, Maria Bonnevie

The Guatemalan Handshake - dir. Todd Rohal - 2006 - USA - with Will Oldham, Katy Haywood, Ken Byrnes, Sheila Scullin, Rich Schreiber

My Brother Is an Only Child [Mio fratello è figlio unico] - dir. Daniele Luchetti - 2007 - Italy/France - with Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Diane Fleri - Review below

Mister Lonely - dir. Harmony Korine - 2007 - USA/UK/France/Ireland - with Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, James Fox, Anita Pallenberg, Leos Carax

A New Year's Resolution

In browsing my video store's classics library, I realized that I'm probably about as big of a douche bag as Dane Cook is. I'm shocked at how many important films (and I'm not saying just because a video stores deems a film a 'classic' means anything more than just 'it's old') I haven't seen, and how many terrible, terrible films I have. Perhaps with this weekly "dare-aoke" in which I have to watch a film I'd normally scoff at, I should throw in a film that I'm embarrassed to admit not having seen it (I haven't seen a lot of movies I would like to have due to availability, so I'm referring to films that are readily available to me instead). Here's ten sad examples, and feel free to share your own, as I'm sure I'm not the only sucker out there.

I've seen Marci X, but I haven't seen North by Northwest.
I've seen It's Pat, but I haven't seen Casablanca.
I've seen Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, but I haven't seen Once Upon a Time in the West.
I've seen Jury Duty, but I haven't seen Das Boot.
I've seen Phat Girlz, but I haven't seen Rebecca.
I've seen Batman & Robin, but I haven't seen The Apartment.
I've seen The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps, but I haven't seen Barton Fink.
I've seen Sudden Death, but I haven't seen Nights of Cabiria.
I've seen Exit to Eden, but I haven't seen Tokyo Story.
I've seen Sliver (more than once), but I haven't seen M.

Unfortunately, I could probably go on from there, but you get the picture. Hopefully 2008 will be the rear of eradicating my shameful ignorance.