Penny Woolcock's From the Sea to the Land Beyond BFI's First 2013 Release

This fascinating and moving film by award-winning director Penny Woolcock is a lyrical portrait of Britain’s coastline,created through an exquisite combination of evocative archive footage – drawn from the BFI National Archive – and stirring music. Brighton-based band British Sea Power set the course for this cinematic voyage with an original score that ebbs and flows with the natural sounds of seagulls, ships and
just the occasional snippet of speech. Uplifting and inspirational, From the Sea to the Land Beyond is released on DVD on 21 January 2013.


Travelling from 1901 through both World Wars, into peacetime and the modern age, From the Sea to the Land Beyond shows our coast as a place of leisure, industry and wild nature. With an emphasis on the romantic and the ritualistic, the archive footage used in the film’s assembly is rich and varied. Both film and music incorporate themes of work, play, childhood, romance,melancholy, hope, transportation, wilderness, the power of the elements and the beauty of wildlife.

Amongst many memorable and poignant images are those of a woman scaling a sheer cliff face to collect eggs, a group of Edwardian gentlemen playing beach combat games on the verge of World War I, bathers in top hats, a troupe of dancers on a pristine beach, the arrival by ship of émigrés from the Caribbean and India, the building of the Channel Tunnel, and present-day holidaymakers battling the wind and rain in Blackpool.

The film is comprised mainly of clips from four major BFI National Archive collections: the world-famous Mitchell and Kenyon films; Topical Budget (British silent era newsreels); public information films from the COI collection; travelogues from the British Transport Film Unit.

In her introductory essay in the DVD booklet, director Penny Woolcock (Tina Goes Shopping, The Principles of Lust) writes:‘In these days of formatted, factual entertainment and docu-soaps, tabloid television is created with twitchy fingers on the remote control in mind. Filmmakers find it hard to resist demands for commentaries that inform the viewer what they are about to see and reminding them of it as soon as it is over, and shovelling all the best bits in the film into the first couple of minutes andrepeating later. The opportunity of making something without these attendant anxieties was irresistible.’

Included amongst the DVD’s special features are some of the archive films which were used in From the Sea to the Land Beyond. One of them, Beside the Seaside, directed by Marion Grierson in 1935, is a wittily observant documentary that shows Londoners flocking to the coast to enjoy themselves during a heatwave. This, and the other archive films included as extras, feature newly recorded introductions by Penny Woolcock.

From the Sea to the Land Beyond was conceived and produced by Heather Croall, director of  Sheffield Doc/Fest, and Mark Atkin, director of Crossover Labs. It premiered in Sheffield's Crucible Theatre with a live score – to a standing ovation – in June 2012. The project was funded by The Space, an initiative of the BBC and The Arts Council. British Sea Power, a band famed for their live shows, have subsequently performed their original score at further screenings of the film.


Special features

• Making the Sea and the Land Beyond (2013, 25 mins): documentary with interviews withBritish Sea Power, Penny Woolcock and producers Mark Atkin and Heather Croall S.S Saxonia in Liverpool (James Kenyon, Sagar Mitchell, 1901, 3 mins): passengers and crew boarding the SS Saxonia

• Cunard Mail Steamer Lucania Leaving for America (James Kenyon, Sagar Mitchell,1901,3 mins): early footage of the Lucania passenger liner

• Beside the Seaside (Marion Grierson, 1935, 23 mins): Londoners flock to the South Coast to enjoy themselves by the seaside during a heatwave

• Worker’s Weekend (Ralph Eaton, 1943, 13 mins): the workers of the Vickers Armstrong factory in Broughton assemble a Wellington Bomber in the record time of 24½ hours

• Caller Herrin' (Alan Harper, 1947, 20 mins): the story of the herring fisheries in the North Sea
• Introductions to all the short films by Penny Woolcock
• British Sea Power in rehearsal (Ian Potts, 2012, 6 mins): footage of the band working on the film score
• Film and location identification track
• Illustrated booklet with an introductory essay by Penny Woolcock, film notes and credits

Pre-Order: From the Sea to the Land Beyond [DVD]

"Is There Anyone There?" Yes Robin Kasparik's Short Seance

Finally here at Cinehouse we're starting to post more great short films and we don't show many non English shorts but things are changing with this new film Seance. Hailing from Czech Republic, directed by Robin Kasparik Seance is award winning short horror about three people, who are trying to find the fortune of a deceased baroness through a spiritualistic seance. But things will go a bit differently than they planned.

Seance has a veil of macabre very traditional supernatural horror but with a big Gothic feel too, this is how old fashioned ghost stories would have been like. Maybe not Edgar Allan Poe but I'm sure Poe would have smiled after watching this.


Seance from Robin Kasparik on Vimeo.

sourceVimeo

Send In The Vikings In UK trailer For Hammer Of Gods

If your looking for a fight these bruisers the vikings will give you one and probably take your life too! Seasoned tv director(Doctor Who) Farren Blackburn's Hammer Of The Gods may do the trick. Plenty of sword fighting, blood, hairy blond people spitting out blood and plenty testosterone. It looks your typical 2am Syfy film but it has a few familiar faces such as Charlie Bewley (Twilight) leads the cast as the young Steinar, alongside James Cosmo, Clive Standen, Elliot Cowan, Glynis Barber, Michael Jibson, and Ivan Kaye.

Expect this one to appear in UK&Ireland around Spring 2013 for now check out the UK trailer below

Set in Viking Britain in 871 AD, Hammer of the Gods is a visceral, intense tale set in a world whose only language is violence. A young Viking warrior, Steinar (Charlie Bewley), is sent by his father the king on a quest to find his estranged brother, who was banished from the kingdom many years before. Steinar's epic journey across terrifyingly hostile territory gradually sees him emerge as the man his father wants him to be - the ruthless and unforgiving successor to his throne.

Source:IGN

Floating Weeds Blu-Ray Review (Masters Of Cinema)

Floating Weeds was one of the now legendary Japanese director Yasujitõ Ozu’s last films and one of his only handful of colours films. It is also a remake of an earlier silent film he made called A Story of Floating Weeds.

The film is set during a very hot summer in the coastal town the Inland Sea. A travelling theatre group visits the town for a series of performances. Komajuro (Ganjirō Nakamura) the theatre leader visits an old mistress Oyoshi who he had a son Kiyoshi with but his son doesn’t know who his father is. Sumiko who is Komajuro’s current mistress learns of his and becomes jealous. Sumiko plays a visit to Oyoshi’s eatery but Komajuro chases her away before she can reveal anything and breaks up with her in the rain. Sumiko to get back at Komajuro decides to have a young actress Kayo to seduce Komajuro’s son and more drama happens.

Ozu’s films in the last few decades has been reissued and reevaluated a lot and cited by many directors such as Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch as influence. In the latest Sight & Sound poll his earlier film Tokyo Story was voted the 3rd greatest film made after the standard classics Citizen Kane and Vertigo and it topped the director’s poll. Ozu will be very hard going for a lot of people, the films are very slow paced and his camera literally never moves, the stories are very simple domestic tales of then contemporary Japan.

However his films always very human and always powerful and beautiful in its simplicity and Floating Weeds is no exception. Floating Weeds is probably as “flashy” as Ozu ever got, the use of colour really adds a nice layer to his films with its beautiful composition and his choice of colours. The acting is always impeccably naturalistic at it’s best. Ozu should be studied by anyone interested in film and how great minimalist cinema can be, file next to Robert Bresson.

Floating Weeds has been restored by the always wonderful Masters of Cinema imprint of Eureka Entertainment, like the other recent entry Gate of Hell, it doesn’t feature any bonus features bar a trailer but includes 36 page booklet with a essay, rare photos and entries from Ozu’s personal diary.

Ian Schultz

★★★★1/2

Rating: PG
Release Date: 3rd December  2012 (UK)
Directed By: Yasujirô Ozu
Cast:  Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô , Haruko Sugimura
Buy :FLOATING WEEDS [UKIGUSA](Masters of Cinema) (DVD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT) [1959]

Gate Of Hell Blu-Ray Review (Masters Of Cinema Release)

Gate of Hell was the first Japanese colour film to released internationally. It was awarded the Palme D’or at the 1954 Cannes film festival, arguably the most prestigious award in film history. It was directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa who made quite a few films in his native Japan but it seems like all of his films bar Gate of Hell are currently unavailable in English speaking regions. He actually started in Silent film not unlike the notable Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu.

The film’s story is about a simple as you can possibly get. It tells the story of the samurai warrior Moritō who prevents an attempted coup. A lady in the court disguises herself as the lord’s wife and this allows the royal family to escape. The lord offers Moritō any wish he wants. He asks to marry the women who disguised herself as the lord’s wife, however it’s revealed that she is already married. Moritō refuses to withdraw this request and this setting in motion starts a series chain of events that can end up no way but tragic.

Martin Scorsese a couple years ago released to lists of which included 20 films and he split them up in 2 categories. The first list was colour English speaking films and the other was international. Gate of Hell was on the international list and understandably, the use was colour is almost hallucinatory, the yellows, greens, purples, blues almost literally jump out of the screen at you. In some ways the film is almost only worth watching for the use of colour, the plot is so simple but that’s not a criticism, just an observation. The colour technology used was Eastman colour, which at the time was very new and radical.

Jean Cocteau the great French filmmaker, poet, artist and writer wrote a preface for the French release said something along the lines of “the greatest use of colour ever in film”. This may be a slight over statement but you can clearly see what he meant. The film has been lovingly remastered by the always wonderful Eureka Entertainment as a part of their Masters of cinema range, it’s has no extras except a booklet but the film speaks for itself.

Ian Schultz

★★★★½

Rating: PG
DVD/BD Release Date: 03 December 2012 (UK)
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa
Cast: Machiko Kyô, Kazuo Hasegawa , Isao Yamagata 
Buy: GATE OF HELL [JIGOKUMON] (Masters of Cinema) (DVD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT) [1953]

Marlene Dietrich's The Blue Angel To Get Masters Of Cinema Treatment

THE BLUE ANGEL [DER BLAUE ENGEL] will be released as part of Eureka Entertainment’s MASTERS OF CINEMA Series in a DUAL FORMAT (Blu-ray & DVD) edition on 28 January 2013

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing THE BLUE ANGEL [DER BLAUE ENGEL] as part of Eureka Entertainment’s MASTERS OF CINEMA Series on 28 January 2013.  The film launched the career of the legendary Marlene Dietrich and her multi-film collaboration with Josef von Sternberg, and stars Emil Jannings, the famous German actor of such classics as Faust, The Last Laugh, and The Last Command.  The Blue Angel showcases Dietrich in performance singing many of the songs that would take on the status of trademarks throughout her long career.

“A remarkable performance from Emil Jannings.” – Kim Newman, EMPIRE Magazine

“Not only is Mr. Jannings's and Miss Dietrich's acting excellent, but they are supported by an unusually competent cast.”– New York Times

“Exceptionally high drama for its day, this tragic, tragic tale is one of the best examples of well-realized filmmaking from the first half of the 20th century.” – Filmcritic.com

Synopsis:The Blue Angel is one of the first German language sound films (filmed simultaneously in an English-language version), and the picture that represents the initial collaboration between Josef von Sternberg and his immortal muse, Marlene Dietrich. 

Following up his role in Sternberg's great silent The Last Command, Emil Jannings portrays a schoolteacher named Immanuel Rath, whose fateful expedition to catch his students frequenting the cabaret known as "The Blue Angel" leads to his own rapture with the establishment's main attraction Lola (Dietrich) — and, as a result, triggers the downward spiral of his life and fortune.

Directed by Sternberg while on loan from America to the pioneering German producer Erich Pommer, The Blue Angel is at once captivating, devastating, and powerfully erotic, laced-through with Sternberg's masterful cinematography. From here, the director and Dietrich would go on to make six more films together in the span of five years, and leave a legacy of some of the most indelible iconography in the cinema of glamour and obsession. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Blue Angel in a new Dual Format presentation that incorporates both versions of the film in 1080p HD for the first time in the UK.

SPECIAL DUAL FORMAT (BLU-RAY + DVD) EDITION:

• New 1080p HD presentation of both the German-language and English-language versions of the film, with progressive encodes on the DVD.

• Newly translated optional subtitles on the German-language version, and SDH on the English-language version.

• New and exclusive video essay on the films by critic and scholar Tag Gallagher.

• New and exclusive feature-length audio commentary by critic and scholar Tony Rayns on the German-language version.

• Original screen test with Marlene Dietrich.

• Archival interview clips with Dietrich.

• Substantial booklet containing writing on the film, vintage excerpts, and rare archival imagery.

• More features to be announced closer to release date!

Pre-Order:THE BLUE ANGEL [DER BLAUE ENGEL] (Masters of Cinema) (DUAL FORMAT) [Blu-ray] [1930]

Zombies Go Mexican Arthouse In Trailer to Halley

I may have deceived everyone with the use 'zombie' so apologies there, however we are keeping with the undead  with Halley new film from Mexican filmmaker Sebastian Hofmann. The film was originally screened at this years Sundance film festival Hofmann's film takes an arthouse look at the undead though whose seem to have found a new approach to the very tired crowded sub-genre. Don't expect lots of running, chasing ala Zack Synder's zombies or even George Romero style either expect something a little more atmospheric a little more moodier.

Still a really intriguing looking film, check out the trailer below....

Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Make-up and perfume can no longer conceal his quickly decomposing body. Dismayed, he decides to withdraw from the world. But before surrendering to his living death, Alberto forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. 

source:Twitch

Sightseers Review

Ever get the impression that you were watching a different film from everyone else? I'm not sure what I was missing with Sightseers (2012), the new film from director Ben Wheatley and written by and starring Steve Oram and Elizabeth Sladen lookalike Alice Lowe, all three of whom were involved with the recent cult hit Kill List (2011), but half way in I was praying for the end to come mostly as a result of boredom and disgust. Marketed as a comedy, the film attempts to leaven this with a liberal dose of horror, failing dismally to achieve either satisfactorily.

In order to escape from her overpowering mother, Tina (Lowe) agrees to go on a caravan trip with her new boyfriend Chris (Oram). However what starts off as a sightseeing trip of North Yorkshire soon becomes the road trip from hell after Chris's true psychotic tendencies come to the fore, following a misunderstanding at a local tourist attraction, with murderous results for all involved.

Like the caravan holiday that forms the basis around which its story is built Sightseers swiftly looses its appeal. Its real problem, as with much of what currently passes itself off as humorous particularly in Britain, is that it tries too hard. As with most 'laddish' fun, the laughs here are more as a result of embarrassment than anything genuinely amusing.

Neither does it work particularly well from a horror point-of-view either. Comedians often see the field of horror as an ideal entry into the world of films. However they frequently make the mistake which many people do, of not taking the genre seriously. By it's very nature horror often lays itself wide open for parody, providing prime material for people to send up. However study them closely and you will discover that those horror films which are successful approach it with a degree of reverence, even when it's being poked fun at.

Those who understand the secret of real horror grasp the concept that less is more. The audience's imagination is always much stronger than anything filmmakers can depict on the screen, with most good horror films cutting away before you see anything at all - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) had a degree of black humour, but the secret of its longevity was that everyone believed they saw more than they actually did. The current crop of films from mainland Europe such as the upcoming Spanish chiller Sleep Tight (2011) succeed by taking this subtle approach, whilst the American hit Scream (1996), which marketed itself as neither a comedy or a horror film (though it was quite clearly both) worked by doing the whole thing quasi seriously. Much modern British horror on the other hand, like Sightseers and the recent crass monstrosity Inbred (2011), doesn't know when to stop, showing vivid violence and gore in nauseating close-up.

In its defence the film looks beautiful - the English backdrop against which the shenanigans play out is breathtaking. Unfortunately this does little to compensate for an otherwise lurid and inept attempt at offbeat wit. I know my opinion is likely to meet with universal disagreement, in which case please do fill me in on what I was missing.

Cleaver Patterson

★★☆☆☆

Rating: 15
Release Date: 30th November 2012 (UK)
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies

Frightfest Announce UK Theatrical Tour For American Mary

Following its recent successful UK festival run, including the world’s first screening at Film4 FrightFest in London in August, the smart and stylish horror thriller American Mary will return to UK cinemas for a theatrical tour from January 11 2013, courtesy of FrightFest Presents.

Additionally, Canadian-born writer/directors Jen and Sylvia Soska, and Mary Mason herself, lead actress Katharine Isabelle (Gingers Snaps) will all be returning to the UK to introduce the screenings, starting at the Prince Charles Cinema on Friday January 11, followed by shows around the UK including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton and Leeds.

The tour will take in seven cities over seven dates, with introductions and post-film Q&As from the filmmakers, compered by FrightFest’s Alan Jones and Paul McEvoy.


Ian Rattray of FrightFest Presents commented: "After the fantastic reception both American Mary and the Soska Sisters got at FrightFest, we're immensely proud to be able to partner Universal Pictures UK for the theatrical opening of the film. This is FrightFest Presents’ first step into theatrical distribution and American Mary is the perfect fit for us".

Jen & Sylvia Soska commented: “After being given an opportunity of a lifetime for a filmmaker by having our first American Mary screening at the fantastic FrightFest, the festival organisers and Universal are doing it again by bringing us out to travel with the film in the UK for its theatrical tour. We are so thrilled to be coming  back where our career first kicked off with the first film and cannot wait to experience the new film with all the filmgoers in the darkened theatres. Looking so forward to meeting you all and seeing you there!”

Katharine Isabelle commented: “American Mary is dark, twisted, smart and beautiful. When I first read Jen and Sylv’s script, I knew it would be an incredible professional adventure. The twins’ ingenuity and wit is just undeniable and I am so excited to share the result with audiences in the United Kingdom this January”.

Full cinema listings:

Fri January 11 - Prince Charles Cinema, London
020 7494 3654, www.princecharlescinema.com

Sat January 12 - Edinburgh Filmhouse
0131 228 2688, www.filmhousecinema.com 

Sun January 13 - Glasgow Film Theatre
0141 332 6535, www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre

Mon January 14 - Sheffield Showroom
0114 275 7727, www.showroomworkstation.org.uk 

Tue January 15 - Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds
0113 275 2045 www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk

Wed January 16 - Bristol Watershed
0117 927 5100, www.watershed.co.uk 

Thu January 17 – Duke’s at Komedia, Brighton
www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Dukes_At_Komedia

One of the year’s most horrific highlights, American Mary tells the story of broke student Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) who grows disenchanted with medical school and the doctors she once idolised.
The allure of easy money sends a desperate Mary through the gruesome world of underground surgeries but soon finds they leave more marks on her than the so-called freakish clientele...
Smart, sexy, funny and utterly gorgeous to look at, American Mary features a standout lead performance from award-winning actress Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps), and puts the Soska Sisters, aka the Twisted Twins, squarely at the forefront of modern genre filmmaking.
On both sides of the Atlantic, Jen and Sylvia Soska’s American Mary has already been celebrated with more than a dozen international film festival honours, including Best Picture (LA ScreamFest, Shudder Fest) as well as Best Director and Best Actress (Toronto After Dark, LA Screamfest, Shudder Fest).
Total Film Magazine voted Katharine Isabelle Best Actress at London’s Film4 FrightFest in August, whilst SFX Magazine called American Mary the ‘Best of the Fest’.

American Mary will be released theatrically through FrightFest Presents at selected cinemas nationwide from January 11 2013.

Watch An Hour Long Q&A With Paul Thomas Anderson For The Master

With The Master no finally out in UK&Irish cinemas it seems to be having what I call the 'Tree Of Life' effect. Nothing to do with comparing both films but to do with a film  thats visually beautiful, a cast that's at home not just in mainstream cinema but also arthouse film and is dividing not just the public but also the critics. It's probably down also your understanding of the story, The Master loosely based on L Ron Hubbard the founder of Scientology but many people coming out disappointed as its more about man and his master or even man animalistic cravings.

Paul Thomas Anderson was recently in Australia to help promote the film Down under where he was involved in a intriguing 1 hour Q&A after a screening.Within the video the director talks about his reasons for shooting in 70mm, his vision, just watch and enjoy a true master of cinema explain the story behind The Master.

The Master is out on now on general release, read our review here.


source:CinemaBlend