BFI To Release Jean Rouch's Chronicle Of A Summer This Month on Dual Play

On 27 May 2013 the BFI releases the hugely influential French documentary Chronicle of a Summer, newly restored, on Blu-ray and DVD (in a Dual Format Edition) for the first time in the UK.

Shot in Paris during the summer of 1960 and released the following year, Chronicle of a Summer is the compelling result of a collaboration between anthropologist filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin.

Jean Rouch (Moi, un noir, Les maîtres fous) and Edgar Morin set out to chronicle the everyday lives of Parisians using a mixture of intimate interviews, debates and observation. Artists, factory workers, office employees, students and others open up to the camera to share their experiences, fears and aspirations. The film became one of the most influential of the sixties, and redefined the documentary form with its use of handheld cameras and observational techniques.

Rouch, whose work inspired the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Roberto Rossellini, trained his ethnographic lens on the metropolis, recording a series of extraordinary sequences, including a French survivor’s Holocaust testimony, to reveal the political underlying the personal in a society struggling into the post-colonial era.

The film questions the level of reality and truth in documentary filmmaking, and offers a fascinating insight into 1960’s Parisian society.



Special Features:
• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
• Brand new restoration
• Un été + 50 (Florence Daumon, 2011, 75 mins): documentary on the making of Chronicle of a Summer featuring new interviews with the participants including Edgar Morin and Régis Debray
• Jean Rouch at the NFT (1978, 55 mins): audio recording of a lecture delivered by Jean Rouch on Dziga Vertov and Robert Flaherty's influence on his work and that of his peers
• Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays by Professor Ginette Vincendeau

Pre-order /Buy: Chronicle of a Summer (DVD + Blu-ray)

Fasten Seat Belts Almodovar's I'm So Excited Has 'Exciting' Important Message For You

In preparation of the release of Perdo Almodovar's I'm So Excited, out in cinemas on 3rd May, we have a fantastic comical info graphic celebrating some of the cheekier elements of the film.

I'm So Excited is set upon a doomed flight heading to Mexico City. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque charactes whom in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could summarised in two: sex and death.

Follow the @PeninsulaCrew on Twitter and check out this great little in-flight-style guide to celebrate the release! The question should you be excited? Read our review here and go check out I'm So Excited when it's released in UK&Ireland 3rd May.

SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED DVD

Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day, and neither was the epic television drama series Spartacus which reaches its climax with the third season Spartacus: War of the Damned, newly released on DVD and Blu-ray this week. The series which has won legions of fans since it premiered with Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010) and continued with Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) and Spartacus: Vengeance (2012), is a show which is definitely not for the faint hearted. It will take those with nerves of steel to endure both the length and sheer violence of a show which brings graphic onscreen brutality and sex to a whole new level.

The fight against Rome and her oppressive regime, headed by rebel leader Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) and his bloodthirsty generals, reaches a bloody climax when he leads his army into a final battle against the empire in the form of Roman military officer Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells) and his men. In the ensuing confrontation there can only be one victor in a battle of epic proportions.

It's always hard to be subjective if you are coming to an established television series fresh. Many shows take time to grow on you, with the characters becoming as familiar to fans as their own family and friends, with the story-lines progressing over weeks and years. Which might explain why, if this is the first time you will have seen (or in my case) heard of the Spartacus television series, you may not really get it. Having now watched the show, I have to say that I can't work out for the life of me who it's aimed at.

The show's advertising and promotional campaign makes no bones about the fact that it isn't selling itself as anything other than a drama focusing around war and sex - on which basis it is probably a pretty accurate portrayal of the pass-times of much of the Roman Empire at the time. Following the lives and intertwined relationships of Spartacus and his arch enemy Marcus Crassus, the show is a modern, high-tech take on the old Hollywood sword and sandal epic, albeit with a much grittier edge.

However, authenticity (which the show admittedly has in spades) aside, it's not long before each hour long episode starts feeling like a battle to get through. Full-frontal, man on woman, man on man and woman on woman sex which leaves very little to the imagination, as well as gory, visceral violence (including beheadings, disembowelment and crucifixion) that you wouldn't expect to see outside a video nasty, makes for tough viewing, unless you're a prepubescent teenage schoolboy who gets kicks from watching something he knows he shouldn't. The dialogue by Steven S. DeKnight also grates with a stiltedness which is clearly meant to invoke a period feel, but quickly becomes arduous for the viewer to decipher or comprehend. As for the overuse of the 'f' word which litters the character's vocabulary at every opportunity - one is simply left weary by the end.

I genuinely wish I'd got the show, as it clearly has something of interest for a lot of people. However for this critic it was a particularly unpleasant experience of epic proportions and, like the period of time it depicts, better consigned to the annals of ancient history.

★★☆☆☆

Cleaver Patterson

Rating:18
DVD/BD Release Date: 29th April 2013 (UK)
Director:Steven S. DeKnight
Cast: Manu Bennett, Daniel Feuerriegel, Lucy Lawless, Peter Mensah, Liam McIntyre
Buy Spartacus : War Of Damned:Blu-ray / DVD
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The Collection DVD Review

Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton finally unleash the slick killer sequel to their 2009 torture porn Slasher The Collector, and it’s entirely worth the wait. Picking up from where the first film left off, we find Arkin (Josh Stewart) captured by the masked madman known as The Collector, a serial killer who employs vicious traps to dispose of his many victims. This time, Arkin is dragged back into The Collector’s house of mayhem with a team of mercenaries hell-bent on saving their employer’s daughter.

Considering the fact Melton and Dunstan are responsible for the later - more schlocky - Saw sequels, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons, but that’s not exactly detrimental either because The Collection is simply a great piece of entertainment horror. Dare I, a devout Saw fan, say it’s worth your time more than Saw’s 4, 5, 6, and 7? Well...yes. The directing duo has put aside a penchant for crap scripting to construct a bombastically shameless thriller with a decent story and a terrific pace.

After a brutal nightclub set-piece, the action flips over to The Collector’s lair where he’s got enough tricks and traps to put Jigsaw to shame. Special award for fucked-up defence systems goes to the brainless junkie zombies for outright macabre, but the true prize of the whole film is the actual collection. It makes a great poster for the film, but I can’t help thinking it would have been better to keep that wee trick up the sleeve. The story sees the team split up, tortured, disposed of, and hounded through a fun house like you’ve never seen, with Arkin questioning again and again how the hell he got dragged into all this for a second time. It is gruelling and action packed, the sets are a pleasure to watch for any horror fan, and more often than not you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat. This sort of energy is hard to find in modern horror (even Hostel has dried up) so you have to be grateful when you find it.

Keeping the fantastic Josh Stewart involved is a sure-fire way to maintain some continuity and at least attempt a bad-ass protagonist. Too often horror chucks its male heroes away in some blood-drenched sweetheart farewell that leaves the whole affair wrought with soppy after tones.  Special note goes to Lee Tergesen who lends a hand to be the other cool guy, the Cpl. Hicks to Stewart’s Ripley. The villain of the piece isn’t too shabby either, being entirely formidable, totally deranged, and genuinely mysterious. Brownie points have to be awarded for having the gall to keep the killer’s mask on, so there’s genuine potential for The Collector to get inducted into the Horror icons catalogue. With its cliff-hanger finale, Interest has been tickled.

A superior slice of fun that shamelessly flaunts a love of all things B-movie, Slasher, and gore-drenched, The Collection is a superior sequel to a dismissible first attempt. At this rate the third will be something to really look forward to.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Rating: 18
UK DVD/BD Release Date: 29th April 2013 (UK)
Directed By: Marcus Dunstan

Cast: Josh Stewart,Emma Fitzpatrick,Christopher McDonald

Win The Collection On DVD : Cinehouse / The Peopesmovies

Buy: The Collection On DVD

Give People What They Want In New Only God Forgives Clips

Here comes the pain in the shape of Ryan Gosling in 3 new clips for Cannes bound Only God Forgives. The new clips continue the momentum of what we've seen before, that Nicholas Winding Refn's new film will emulate Drive, likely to outdo it. Neon clad striking visuals, hyper violent, intense to the core Only God Forgive looks like it'll provide us with that substance with the expected Solid Gosling performance thing look extra spicy with Kristin Scott Thomas performance who looks like she'll the scene a few time. In these clips we do see her shine in her moment, acid tongued, intimidating, menacing urging her boy (Gosling) to seek revenge of his dead brother.

Only God Forgives has no confirmed UK release date just yet but in a few weeks at Cannes Film Festival (22nd May) things may change. USA  release date is 19th July 2013.


Only God Forgives (Solo Dio perdona) - Estratto... by SpaggyPalermo


Only God Forgives (Solo Dio perdona) - Estratto... by SpaggyPalermo


Only God Forgives (Solo Dio perdona) - Estratto... by SpaggyPalermo

source:Collider

Sundance London 2013: Blood Brother Review

Sweeping up the documentary awards at the American Sundance, Blood Brother is director Steve Hooper’s tale of his best friends journey to India that quickly became more than the gap-year soul searching experience he intended.

Rocky Braat’s move from Pittsburgh was born out of that nagging existential crisis that at times can plague us all. Desperate to fill the void in his life and aware of the possibilities that lay past the barriers of routine American life, he ditched his career as a graphic designer, booked his ticket and embarked on the road well travelled to the world’s spiritual Mecca. What followed was a life-changing experience not often shared by those passing through to grab a slice of ‘finding themselves’ before strapping on their backpack and covering themselves in neon paint to puke their new found selves’ guts out on a beach in Thailand.

The change was as whimsical as it was dramatic. At a loose end, Rocky agreed to take in a local centre for children suffering with HIV expecting to feel sad for an allotted amount of time before departing for an adventure elsewhere around the country. His usual ambivalence to children was instantly shattered by what he saw, children who not only had nothing but also suffered from this most deadly of diseases yet wore the smiles of stage children, brimming with constant enthusiasm and unabashed happiness.

Knowing then where his future lay, he cancelled the rest of his trip to stay with the children and when his visa ran out returned to the US only to sell all of his possessions and raise funds for a return trip. Quickly becoming known as Rocky Anna (meaning brother), his affection for these children was the catalyst for friend Hoover to join him overseas and document his experience.

We’ve become slightly numb to these sights, grown cynical of those white faces on Comic Relief, dipping their toe in poverty before fleeing on first-class plane tickets, our British sense of level-headedness and famed stiff upper lip often getting in the way of fully embracing projects like these. However, there’s a lack of pretence with Rocky who seems as sincere and genuine in his mission as anyone can be, making it difficult to throw some of this cynicism his way. Immersing himself completely in village life he’s able to gain the trust of the adults after they witness the rapport and affection he has forged with their children.

Along the way we see the emotional, physical and mental burden faced by Rocky that makes his an even more worthy cause. His warmth and care for the children is that most overused and derided of words – heart-warming which, apparent on screen, only adds to the sadness when one is taken ill or silently passes away in the middle of the night.

It’s often difficult to watch these kinds of films/images without a certain level of scepticism – do-gooder American saves poor third world problem – but in Blood Brother that slowly gets wiped away. Rocky has worn us down, our cynicism faded, stiff upper lip softened and faith in human kindness partially restored. Who would’ve thought it would take an American slacker to do that?

★★★★☆

Matthew Walsh

Rating: NR
Festival Date:27th/28th April 2013
Director: Steve Hoover
Cast: Rocky Braat, Steve Hoover

Sundance London 2013: Sleepwalk With Me Review

Mike Birbiglia’s journey to the silver screen isn’t your average one. A stand-up comedian by trade, he then branched out into theatre performing a one-man show based on his real-life battle with a sleeping disorder. The success of the show caught the attention of producer Ira Glass who invited Birbiglia onto his podcast ‘The Moth’ where he would become a regular contributor until eventually the two set about turning that autobiographical tale into Sleepwalk With Me – not only his first acting gig but also his debut in the directors chair.

All this may come as something of a surprise when watching this festival winning film (2012 Sundance NEXT Award) as Birbiglia seems so effortlessly natural on screen, easing us into his world with an address to camera, “This is a true story”. The need to justify its truth is an understandable one – you can imagine similar stories being dreamt up in a screenwriting lab in Hollywood furiously work shopped into an Adam Sandler vehicle. The fact that it wasn’t and these were, at one time, real events suffered by Birbiglia is no doubt the reason for it’s complete success in achieving the notes of authenticity apparent on screen.

Birbiglia stars as alter-ego Matt Pandamiglio, an aspiring stand-up who’s minutes behind the mic pale in comparison to the ones he spends serving drinks and mopping toilets at the local comedy club. Coupled with a relationship with girlfriend Abby (Six Feet Under’s Lauren Ambrose) that is coming under the scrutiny one suffers after 8 years and no proposal and the pressure facing Matt starts to take it’s toll, manifesting in bouts of sleepwalking which occur with increasing severity.

These aren’t your average zombie-walking eyes closed affairs you often catch on screen, these nocturnal activities resemble the hallucinations of a drunk, all slurry vocals and imagined scenes which are both hilarious and dangerous. Pestered by his physician dad into examining his behaviour, Matt is diagnosed with REM sleep behaving disorder – a condition that involves the sufferer acting out his dreams, something not suited to the life on the road he stumbles upon after a chance meeting with an agent.

As his set becomes more in tune with his mounting problems his jokes finally start to hit the mark with audiences lapping up his truthful tales of a stuttering relationship and bizarre sleep patterns. The new found attention means more time away from home as Matt struggles to find the right balance of caring boyfriend and successful comic.

Balance is one thing Birbiglia doesn’t find as challenging as his on-screen persona, striking a chord with his delicate marriage of laughs and heart in a film you struggle to believe is a debut. His wry observations are incredibly well-observed and ring true of the commitment issues that plague a generation of young males unable to articulate their thoughts. It’s an incredibly honest look at modern relationships handled with originality and moments of hilarity and, while comparisons with Woody Allen are unfair at this point, Birbiglia makes a case for his to be the next career to succeed with inward-looking analysis and laugh out loud jokes. An exceptionally promising debut.

★★★★½

Matthew Walsh

Rating: 15
Festival Date: 27th/28th April 2013
Director: Mike Birbiglia, Seth Barrish
Cast:  Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn

I'm So Excited (Los amantes pasajeros) Review

A Everyman Cinema has opened in Leeds and the first in the North. It’s a nice digital cinema in the new Trinity shopping complex in the city centre of Leeds. The first week of it’s opening has had many Q&As and special showings. The first of 2 I went to was a preview of Pedro Almodóvar’s new film I’m So Excited.

I’m So Excited is the first pure comedy since his international sensation Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 1988. That film broke his strange brand of filmmaking into the public consciousness. He has tend to move away from comedy since then and has moved more into Douglas Sirk inspired melodramas and Hitchcockian thrillers. All his films feature his strange brand of kitschy humour, transsexual or cross-dressing characters and normally but not always a strong female lead character. I tend to prefer his more serious films like Law of Desire, Bad Education and the recent The Skin I Live In.

I’m So Excited is basically a classic sex comedy but with a twist. It’s all set on a plane (for the most part) and they having problems with the landing gear and have to keep flying in circles. The film revolves mainly about the exploits of the 3 gay stewards on the plane. They drink like fish and do plenty of drugs. While they face possible death they have to entertain and serve the passengers as well as they can. However nothing quite goes well and life is as complicated in the clouds as it is on the ground.

It’s a self-described “very light comedy” and it’s fine but serviceable. It has it moments especially when they make the Valencia cocktail spiked with mescaline However it is lacking any of the real substance his finest films have or the classic absurdity of Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It perfectly fine but of a man who has such a solid body of work reaching back to the early 80s I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

★★★☆☆

Ian Schultz

Stars: Javier Cámara, Hugo Silva , Cecillia Roth,Pepa Charro, Lola Dueñas
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Release: 3rd of May 2013
Certificate: 15 (UK)

Win The Collection On DVD

From the writers of Saw IV, V, VI and 3D comes the thrilling sequel to The Collector that works just as well as a standalone film. Tense, terrifying and packed full of action The Collection will have you on the edge of your seat - or hiding behind it! It's like Aliens to The Collector's Alien with a team of badasses hunting down the mysterious serial killer and a helluva lot more nasties to be found in his lair.

It's out on DVD 29 April and to celebrate we have a copy to give away!

When Elena (Fitzpatrick) is talked into attending an underground warehouse party with her friends, she finds herself caught in a nightmarish trap where the revelers are mowed, sliced and crushed to death by a macabre series of contraptions operated by a masked psychopath. When the grisly massacre is over, Elena is the only survivor. But before she can escape, she is locked in a trunk and transported to an unknown location.

Fortunately for Elena, one man— Arkin (Stewart) —knows exactly where she’s headed, having just escaped from there with his life and sanity barely intact. Going back is the last thing on Arkin’s mind, but Elena’s wealthy father (McDonald) hires a crack team of mercenaries to force Arkin to lead them to the killer’s lair. But even these hardened warriors are not prepared for what they encounter: an abandoned hotel-turned-torture-chamber, rigged with deadly traps and filled with mangled corpses. Can Arkin and the team get to Elena before she too becomes part of his gruesome “collection”?

To be in for a chance to Win The Collection On DVD please answer the following question:

Q.The Collection star Josh Stewart Has appeared in another recent film about a masked protagonist that's just finished a trilogy name that film?

Send Your Name, Address, Postcode and answer to winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com (label your email 'the collection')You must 18 or older to enter. Deadline for competition is Sunday 19th May 2013 (11.59pm)

Double your chances follow us at Facebook! (you will get double entry every counts, if your already following us please share the post on facebook)

Terms &Conditions: 1.This prize is non transferable.No cash alternatives apply.UK &Irish entries only.2.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and eOne  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, eOne employees 4.This competition is promoted on behalf of eOne 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 19th May 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 winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com  (label the collection) 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.Failure to complete the above form (i.e full name or address) will result your entry been void 11.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 if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.12.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 13.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control14.The competition is opened to Aged 18 and over.15. 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.16. 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 17.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email or announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners.18.This competition i bound by the rules of Scotland,England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland.19.By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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The Best Father-Daughter Relationships in Film (The Look Of Love)

The Look of Love documents the life of Soho’s king, Paul Raymond – the one time richest man in Britain, self made millionaire, property owner, publisher, nightclub order, husband, lover and father. Raymond’s reputation as a ladies’ man may precede him, but despite his flaws it is undeniable that relationship with his daughter Debbie was the most important aspect of his multifaceted life. She was not only his heir and undoubtedly the apple of his eye, and his motivation. The Look of Love stars Steve Coogan, Anna Friel and Imogen Poots and to mark it’s release, here’s a countdown of the best father-daughter relationships on the big screen.

Matt King in The Descendants (2012)

George Clooney plays a father whose wife is left in a coma after an accident. Although he had never been hands-on dad, he is left to take care of his two young daughters, the eldest of which is a rebellious teenager. When shocking secrets about his wife’s life come to light, the family are forced to pull together, re-examining the past and embracing their new future together whilst Matt has to make the difficult decision regarding his family’s ancestral land.

Doctor Poulain in Amelie (2001)

Amelie was never close to her father. A stern army doctor, the only time she was ever close to him was during her annual check up – something so exciting that it caused her heart to pound and led her perents to believe that she has a defect! A recluse since the death of Amelie’s mother, he spent his autumn years collecting garden ornaments and making shrines to his wife, until, in a bid to bring some colour into his life, Amelie secretly gives her father’s favourite gnome to her air hostess, who takes him on her travels, sending back pictures of the cheery fellow in various exotic locations, to his bemusement.

George Banks in Father of The Bride (1991)

Steve Martin plays a father struggling with the idea of giving his daughter away, wracked with the idea that her future husband is now taking the place of the most important man in her life. However, in the end he realises that she is always going to need him, and that he will always be there for her no matter what.

Daddy Warbucks in Annie (1982)

Oliver ‘Daddy’ Wharbucks was a self-proclaimed bachelor – he never wanted children or anyone to share his millions with. That was until Annie, the feisty red-headed orphan came into her life. Initially she was nothing more than a photo opportunity for Wharbucks, staying in his mansion for a week in a bid to boost his image. However, he is soon won over by her charm and intelligence, rescuing her from the orphanage and adopting her as his own.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

The southern lawyer is a single father who brings his daughters up with compassion and kindness, teaching his children to treat all people with equality and respect – valuable life lessons with gems such as: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Wink in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2013)

The young hushpuppy’s relationship with her hot-headed father is strained at times, but when melting ice-claps flood her ramshackle community ‘The Bathtub’ and unleash ancient creatures, Wink goes to extreme efforts to solidify his daughter’s independence despite his ailing health.

Mose in Paper Moon (1973)

When travelling con-man stumbles across a funeral, the striking resemblance between himself and the orphaned child of the dead woman means that he is reluctantly persuaded that the pair are somehow related, and he is charged with delivering the her back to her aunt’s in Missouri. The intelligent Addie soon realises that Mose is not the wandering preacher that he professes himself to be, and the pair become a fantastic team – making money in every dishonest way imaginable, meeting a variety of colourful characters along the way.

Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2013)

Fantine, a worker in Valjean’s factory is unceremoniously cast into the street on the discovery that she has an illegitimate child, and subsequently forced into a life of prostitution in order to provide for her, which leads to her death. On discovering this, Valjean is wracked with guilt and vows to become little Cosette’s protector, rescuing her from her abusive step-parents and treating her like a daughter – she becomes the centre of his world.


The Look of Love comes is out now in UK cinemas Read our review