Fear Of Desire Blu-Ray Review

Fear and Desire is one of the most notorious films in the entire history of cinema. It’s known for two things 1. Stanley Kubrick’s first feature 2. Stanley Kubrick blocked it’s re-release till the day he died, it had a very limited release in 1953. It was recently unearthed by the US library of congress and restored into high-definition and released over there by KINO and over here by Eureka under their Masters of Cinema range.

Fear and Desire is firstly an extremely short film it has a running time of only slightly over an hour but damn it seems like forever…. Barry Lyndon is a much more exciting film. The plot is basically in an unknown land there is some war going on and there are a group of soldiers in enemy lines and they face their “fears and desires”. They try to build a raft to get the enemies’ base, they meet a peasant girl and one of the soldiers is mentally disturbed.

The film is only a curious side note in film history. Kubrick released a press statement to discourage people going to a screening at the Film forum in NYC calling it “a bumbling amateur film exercise”. The film has absolutely dreadful pseudo poetic dialogue that comes off as the type of shit a 15 year old would write. It does however has the first over the top Kubrick performance by Paul Mazursky which is certainly a predecessor to Jack Nicholson’s wonderfully over the top performance in The Shining. It’s a film that fails on almost every level but it does have some decent shots and a interesting idea but very poorly executed, it’s worth watching once but never again.

The blu-ray or dvd does however have 3 early documentaries by Kubrick which are extremely well made and certainly show Kubrick did have IT that early (which the feature presentation certainly doesn’t). The Seafarers is one of the docs and it has extraordinary use of colour, which is almost Technicolor, the subject matter isn’t particularly interesting but the colour is something to marvel at. Day of The Fight predates bits of Kubrick’s first real feature The Killer’s Kiss. The other Flying Padre is a fascinating a somewhat bizarre short doc about a flying priest. Overall the package is worth seeing but don’t expect some lost masterpiece because it is that’s bad.

Ian Schultz

★★★1/2☆

Fear And Desire:★★☆☆☆
The Seafarers:★★★★☆
Flying Padre: ★★★★☆
Day of the Fight:★★★★☆
Rating:12
DVD/BD Release Date:28th January 2013(UK)
Director:Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp,Paul Mazursky
Buy Fear Of Desire:Blu-ray / DVD

Watch False Trail (Jägarna 2 ) Trailer, Win Film On DVD

From Director Kjell Sundvall and the producer of The Hypnotist Peter Possne, with the star of Wallander, Rolf Lassgård, False Trail is the latest Nordic Noir thriller to hit the big screen in the UK. Set in an isolated town in the frozen wastelands of northern Sweden, False Trail is a dark, twisted murder investigation that devastates a local community.

It’s been fifteen years since Erik (LASSGÅRD) was forced to leave the Norrland Police Department. Since then he has become the National Murder Commission’s best interrogator. When Erik’s boss orders him back to his home town to solve a brutal murder, he hesitantly returns as the thought of going back stirs up unpleasant memories. What at first appears to be a simple murder soon proves to be something much more complicated, as Erik finds himself with a new nemesis, Torsten (STORMARE), to contend with and events take a very sinister turn.

False Trail, (original title Jägarna 2), sequel to Tthe Hunters (Jägarna), stars Rolf Lassgård (WALLANDER) as Erik Bäckström, Peter Stormare (FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI) as Torsten, Annika Nordin as Karin and Kim Tjernstrom as Peter. Directed by Kjell Sundvall (Jägarna), written by Björn Carlström and Stefan Thunberg and produced by Björn Carlström, Per Janérus and Peter Possne (The Hypnotist).


So did you enter The Hunters (Jagarna) contest recently? fancy winning False Trail on DVD the sequel to The Hunters? Our Big brother site The People's Movies has just launched a competition and to enter  enter via this link (goes to competition post).

Studiocanal announce Rust And Bone UK February Home Release

StudioCanal have informed us the award winning and 2 time BAFTA nominated film, Rust And Bone the follow up film to Jacques Audiard's arthouse classic A Prophet. Rust And Bone stars Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and will be yours to own this February.

Following a theatrical opening to tremendous national and international acclaim, and a Best Film Award at the London Film Festival in October, Jacques Audiard, acclaimed director of A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, returns with this powerful drama about two people from very different worlds, seeking redemption in each other.
Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts - Bullhead) dreams of becoming a professional boxer. When he is suddenly put in charge of his five year old son, he moves in with his sister for support. While at his new job as a nightclub bouncer, he meets the beautiful and confident orca trainer, Stephanie (Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard - The Dark Knight Rises, La Vie en Rose). He gives her his number, not expecting that she will ever call. However, after becoming the victim of a tragic and life changing accident, Stephanie surprisingly turns to Ali for support. These lost souls discover new meaning in life together when Ali enters the dangerous world of underground boxing.

Winner of several international awards, Rust And Bone is one of the best and most talked about films of 2012. you can read our cinema review here. With 2 BAFTA nominations, Rust And Bone is up for Best Leading Actress (Marion Cotillard) and Best Film not in the English Language.

DVD & Blu-ray Extras:

- Audio Commentary with Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain and Arnaud Calistri

- Making of Rust and Bone

- The Special Effects of Rust and Bone

- Deleted Scenes

- Trailer

DVD & Blu-ray HMV Exclusive Extras:

- Audio Commentary with Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain and Arnaud Calistri

- Making of Rust and Bone

- The Special Effects of Rust and Bone

- Deleted Scenes

- Trailer

- Exclusive UK Interviews with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain

- Exclusive BAFTA Q&A with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jacques Audiard

Pre-order Rust And Bone: DVD / Blu-ray

Monster Pictures Bringing Us Irish Horror The Inside This March

Press Release:

MONSTER PICTURES present THE INSIDE, a hard, violent, visceral psychological horror featuring award winning Hollyoaks star Emmett Scanlan as you’ve never seen him before in Eoin Macken’s (BBC TV’s Merlin) most accomplished feature to date, released on DVD on 25 March 2013.

You’ve seen him as Sir Gwaine in the BBC’s TV series Merlin, now Eoin Macken steps behind the camera to direct The Inside, featuring Czech starlet Tereza Srbova (Sirens, Eastern Promises) alongside the cream of Irish acting talent that includes Emmett J. Scanlan(fan favourite Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks, Charlie Casanova), Sean Stewart (Occi, Coward), Natalia Kostrzewa (The Clinic) & Brian Fortune (Game of Thrones). 

While in a pawnshop a young man comes into possession of a second hand video camera; discovering a tape still inside he plays backthe footage and witnesses a horrific series of events involving a group of teens in an undisclosed location. Using the footage as a guide he retraces the steps to where the events seemingly occurred. Deciding to investigate he discovers to his horror not only the truth of theevents on the tape but comes face to face with a supernatural terror from which he may not escape....

The Inside is a hard, violent, visceral psychological horror, which gets into your belly, and leaves an unnerving disturbed feeling after watching it.  Shot mostly in alarming first person perspective this evocatively realistic story of five girls breaking into an abandoned warehouse for excitement -  then finding themselves subject to a terrifying human attack before succumbing to a supernatural terror -  will leave you shaking with fear!  The film shows the worst side of humanity and contrasts it with the horror of the supernatural, which has no compunction between good and evil.  But what is worse - the fear of the unknown, or the known fear of man?  Shot and directed by Eoin C Macken, with additional cinematography by David Laird, and also featuring Eoin Macken, with sound by Greg French of Irish band TheBrilliant Things and a chilling score from Kevin Whyms of Whymsonics, The Inside will re-invigorate the Irish horror genre.

Monster Pictures presents...The Inside, available on DVD from 25 March 2013

EXTRAS

· Exclusive feature length picture in picture commentary with Director Eoin Macken

· Trailers 

· ‘Making of’ Documentary

Pre-Order: INSIDE, THE (Monster Pictures) (DVD)

"Like [REC], The Inside is one of the most terrifying reality footage films ever" - Scream: The Horror Magazine

"Visceral and violent... impressively disturbing" - Screen International

"Will leave you shaking with fear" - Horrorbug

Watch The Adorable Trailer For Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo

Feeling a little woozy maybe a little whimsical? It's probably because your about to watch the first trailer for Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo (L’écume des jours).

Based on a 1947 Boris Vian's novel L'ecume des jours about a wealthy young inventor Nicholas(Romain Duris) who falls in love Chloe (Audrey Tatou)they marry.Unfortunately during their honeymoon Chloe takes seriously ill thanks to a water lilly sprouts in her lung and the only way to help is to surround her with fresh flowers but as time goes by the funds start to dry up.

Mood Indigo is like that Michel Gondry film made into one big  film, this is the French trailer however there's very little dialogue as the strength of the trailer is in  it's visual quality which simply gorgeous. Many Gondry fans, film critics have been waiting nearly 10 years for that film that can match what we loved in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Mood Indigo might just be that film they have been waiting for. What can say without doubt this is uniquely a Michel Gondry film which is sure to be a hit in arthouse cinemas around the world.

Mood Indigo doesn't have a  release date confirmed however Studiocanal are handling the UK&Irish release , French cinephiles can see this 24th April. Mood Indigo also stars Omar Sy, Gad Elmaleh, Lea Seydoux.



Michel Gondry's last film The We & The I will be closing gala at next Month on 13th February at Glasgow Youth Film Festival and the following night you can see Romain Duris starring in the Opening Gala for Glasgow Film Festival starring in Populaire.

Network Releasing Partner Amnesty International For Oscar Nominated NO

UK film distributor Network Releasing have announced an  unique partnership with the human rights organisation Amnesty International centred around the Oscar-nominated drama NO, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which opens in UK cinemas on 8 February 2013. The partnership will see former Chilean prisoners of conscience or human rights experts presenting the film at screenings at Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK on 12 February 2013.

The arrangement will last for the duration of the cinema and DVD releases of the award-winning film about the true story of bringing democracy to Chile in 1988 after Pinochet’s dictatorial rule, which stars critically-acclaimed Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

The resulting 'No' campaign succeeded in ending over 16 years of military dictatorship, and is a powerful representation of the change that can be achieved when people come together to stand against oppression. As well as joint editorial activity to spread the message of the film via traditional and digital media, an Amnesty expert or a former Chilean prisoner of conscience will be present at every screening of the film at Picturehouse Cinemas on 12 February 2013. Most of the cinemas have also arranged a post-film discussion to answer questions and discuss the situation in Chile both now and at the time of Pinochet’s rule.

Participating cinemas are listed below:


· The Gate, Notting Hill
· Ritzy Brixton
· Hackney Picturehouse
· Clapham Picturehouse
· Greenwich Picturehouse
· Stratford East
· Belmont Aberdeen
· Duke of York’s Brighton
· Abbeygate, Bury St Edmunds
· Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge
· Cameo Edinburgh
· Exeter Picturehouse
· Regal, Henley
· FACT, Liverpool
· Norwich Picturehouse
· Bath, Little Theatre
· Phoenix, Oxford
· York
· Harbour Lights, Southampton
· Stratford-Upon Avon

Synopsis: Garcia Bernal plays cynical young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra, who is asked to spearhead the “No” campaign for those opposing the Pinochet regime to bring democracy to Chile. With scant resources, constant scrutiny from individuals sympathetic to Pinochet’s totalitarian regime including ad agency colleagues and the secret police, this bold, enthralling film looks at how a team of Chile’s “Mad Men” and opponents of the dictatorial regime instigated change. Seamlessly blending scripted scenes with archive footage, NO is a compelling period piece making it the first essential film to see in 2013.

Tim Beddows, Network Releasing Managing Director commented, “We are delighted to be working with Amnesty International on the release of NO and fully support the values they stand for. They are the perfect cause-related partner for the film.”



NO opens at UK cinemas on 8 February 2013 courtesy of Network Releasing

Competition - Win V/H/S On Blu-Ray

“The scariest, rawest horror movie of the year” (Rolling Stone) is shortly upon us; the highly original, brutally uncompromising, creative and diverse V/H/S – out on DVD & Blu-ray January 28th (out in select UK cinemas January 18th) through Momentum Pictures.

To celebrate the release of V/H/S, we’re giving away a copy on Blu-ray!

A small group of misfit friends and petty crooks are hired by a mysterious man to break into a derelict suburban house with the sole purpose of finding and stealing a rare videotape. Their only clue to identifying the tape in question is, “You’ll know it when you see it.”

However, on arrival at the house they soon realize the job isn’t as straightforward as they imagined. In one room they discover the lifeless body of a middle-aged man sitting in an armchair, facing a wall of television sets and a stack of VHS cassettes. A similar bounty of tapes is found in the basement, none of which bears any obvious markings to suggest it is the prize they are seeking. As they search through the tapes, playing them in turn, they are treated to a succession of graphic and apparently genuine video recordings, each one more shocking and bizarre than the last.

To win V/H/S on Blu-ray please answer the following question:

Q.In the Late 1970's into 1980's VHS had a rival video format, what was that format called?

A.Betavideo
B.B-VHS
C.Betamax 

Send your Answer, name, address, postcode ONLY to winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com 

Deadline for entry is 17th February 2013 (2359hrs) (Must aged 18 or Older to enter)

Label your email  V/H/S     Read our DVD Review

Terms & Conditions:1.This prize is non transferable.No cash alternatives apply.UK & Irish entries only.2.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and Momentum Pictures . have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice 3.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse ,Momentum Pictures  employees 4.This competition is promoted on behalf of Momentum Pictures 5. If this prize becomes unavailable we have the right to offer an alternative prize instead 6.To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline 17th February 2013 (2359hrs)7.Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.8.If the above form fails please send the information required from the form email it to win [at] thepeoplesmovies [dot] com (label vhs) If any info required from the form is not sent in the email your entry will be void 9.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.10.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry.11.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 12.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control13.The competition is opened to Aged 18 and over.14. Majority of the prizes on offer will come from representatives of the distributor, no The People’s Movies &Cinehouse, when we do have the prizes we will inform you.15. Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them and if you include your telephone number Cinehouse and The People’s Movies are not responsible for the security of the number 16.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email or announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners.17.This competition is bound by the rules of Scotland,England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland.18.By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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Dance Hall DVD Review

Ealing Studios had a way of always surprising you. Though their name may be most readily associated with comedy they were equally prolific in other genres, a favourite of which was social drama. A classic example of this was Dance Hall (1950), which centred around the lives and loves of a group of young girls and the dance hall they frequented in Chiswick, west London. Directed by Ealing stalwart Charles Crichton, and edited by Seth Holt who would go on to helm the Hammer classic The Nanny (1965), this film starring Diana Dors, Petula Clark and Natasha Parry, showed the passions and rivalry inspired by ballroom dancing long before anyone had ever heard of Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.

Eve (Parry) loves ballroom dancing and, along with her friends from the local factory, spends all her spare time at the local dance hall in the hope that with enough practice she will be chosen for the Greater London Dance Championships. However her boyfriend Phil (Donald Houston) is not such a hot hoofer, and becomes jealous when Eve joins up with a new partner Alec (Bonar Colleano). Phil persuades Eve to forget about dancing and marry him, but she quickly becomes disillusioned with life as a housewife and is soon lured back to the dance hall after meeting her old friends from the factory. When Phil discovers that she has been back with her friends and met up again with Alec, he looses his patience with his new wife with disastrous results for all.

Dance Hall is significant, not only in the cannon of Ealing Studios but also in the wider history of British film, as an exercise in social commentary both in its storyline as well as in its production. Set as it is so shortly after the end of the Second World War, the film is a piquant reminder of a time when the roles of men and women were very different from they are today. Eve and her friends may be independent in as far as they go to work and make their own way (even if their jobs are reminiscent of the factory work women did during the war). However once married (as is seen with Eve and Phil) their lives soon revert to the old scenario of the wife staying at home whilst the husband goes out to earn the money.

Less obvious perhaps is the way these stereotypical gender roles played out behind the camera. One of the film's three writers, along with E. V. H. Emmett and Alexander Mackendrick, Diana Morgan was amongst only six women (mostly uncredited) in a production crew of thirty nine. Women were obviously seen on the screen in Ealing's films, but they seldom played significant roles behind the scenes other than in the usual female dominated areas of makeup and costume. To be honest though, this male dominance in film production was not restricted to Ealing, as it was common throughout the film industry until more recent times.

Released by STUDIOCANAL on DVD with a host of extras including a Making of featurette, Restoration Comparison and Trailer, Dance Hall provides a nostalgic glimpse of a time when life, though harsher in many ways than it is today, was often simpler and more prone to happy endings.

Cleaver Patterson

★★★☆☆☆

Rating:PG
DVD Release Date: 21st January 2013 (UK)
Director:Charles Crichton
Cast:  Donald Houston, Bonar Colleano , Petula Clark, Natasha Parry, Diana Dors
Buy:

Monsters Pictures To Release The Fallow Field. A throwback to 1970's British Horror

Press Release:

MEMENTO meets WOLF CREEK set against the backdrop of English harvest time’

THE FALLOW FIELD is one of the most original but twisted British horror films to be seen in years, and the debut feature from British filmmakers Leigh Dovey & Colin Arnold.

Not for the first time, amnesiac Matt Sadler (Steve Garry) awakes alone in the middle of a wilderness with no recollection of the past seven days. Finding his way home he discovers a life rapidly falling apart: his wife is convinced he’s hiding an affair, the police are suspicious of his repeated disappearances and now he is plagued by terrifying nightmares when he closes his eyes.

As disturbing slithers of memory gradually return to Matt he retraces his steps to uncover his missing actions during the blackouts. Matt’s search leads him out of the city and in to the countryside, to a remote farm owned by loner Calham (Michael Dacre). The cold farmer is suspicious of Matt but instantly sparks a dark sense of déjà vu in his visitor. But Calham turns on Matt, imprisoning and interrogating him, before forcing him on a terrible journey of abduction and slaughter to show the amnesiac the twisted games they used to play together. As Matt’s fogged memory slowly begins to clear and he learns the two men share a violent history, the horrors of their past come skipping out of the darkness to greet them….

Genuinely dark and quintessentially English, The Fallow Field is a throwback to brutal horrors and thrillers made in the ‘70s.  Capturing some of the genre’s bleak tones and threat, its twisting plot, slowly building sense of dread as well as sudden shocks and visceral scenes make The Fallow Field a genuinely terrifying film. 

THE FALLOW FIELD will be released by Monster Pictures in the UK on DVD on 11 March 2013.

EXTRAS

·         Commentary with Director Leigh Dovey and Producer Colin Arnold
·         Trailer
·         Stills slideshow
·         The making of The Fallow Field 

“THE FALLOW FIELD is a handsome, thrilling and strange movie.”  John Landis (American Werewolf in London, )

Pre-Order/Buy:FALLOW FIELD, THE (Monster Pictures) (DVD)

Watch UK Trailer For Jennifer Lynch's Chained

Let's be honest how many times have we had to rely on taxi's when local transport even own family members have let us down? Lot's of times! What if you entered one of those lifesavers that actually take your life? Jennifer Lynch's Chained might just be the last fare you'll pay, watch the UK trailer

From the mind of writer/director Jennifer Lynch comes the shocker that stunned audiences worldwide: When he was 9 years old, Tim and his mother were abducted by taxi-driving serial killer Bob (Vincent D’Onofrio). Tim’s mother was murdered. Tim was kept as a chained slave, forced to bury the bodies of young women Bob drags home and keep scrapbooks of the crimes. Now a teenager, Tim (Eamon Farren) and Bob share a depraved father/son/protégé relationship. But who will ultimately sever the bond between ‘family’ and unimaginable horror? Evan Bird (“The Killing”), Jake Weber (“Medium”) and Julia Ormond (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, “Mad Men”) co-star in what critics are calling one of the most controversial and uncompromising thrillers of our time.

Chained looks more a psychological horror than one that focuses on less actual murders but the actual aftermath of Bob's atrocities and emotional impact on Rabbit. Boxing Helena gave us a new twist on body in 1990's in 2013 Jennifer Lynch's Chained could potentially bring a fresh new compelling twist on the serial killer genre

Chained is set for a limited release in UK cinemas on 1st February  with the film been released on DVD& Blu-Ray from 4th February. Chained stars  Evan Bird, Jake Weber and Julia Ormond.



Pre-order/Buy Chained: DVD / Blu-ray