Kaneto Shindô's The Naked Island To Be Released On Blu-Ray Part Of Masters Of Cinema Series

The Naked Island, the breakthrough film by Kaneto Shindô, director of such classics as Onibaba and Kuroneko, will be released as part of Eureka Entertainment’s MASTERS OF CINEMA Series on Blu-ray on 17 June 2013.

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing an updated 1080p edition of The Naked Island, the breakthrough film by Kaneto Shindô, director of such classics as Onibaba and Kuroneko. The brand new blu-ray edition of this classic of '60s Japanese cinema, and Moscow International Film Festival winner of the Grand Prix will include copious special features including a full-length audio commentary by the director Shindô and composer Hikaru Hayashi, an exclusive video introduction by Alex Cox, and a 24-PAGE BOOKLET with an essay by Acquarello and Joan Mellen's interview with the director. The Naked Island will be released on blu-ray as part of the Masters of Cinema Series on 17 June 2013.

Filmed on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in south-west Japan, The Naked Island [Hadaka no shima] was made — in the words of its director — "as a 'cinematic poem' to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature". Kaneto Shindô (Onibaba, Kuroneko) made the film with his own production company, Kindaï Eiga Kyôkai, who were facing financial ruin at the time. Using one-tenth of the average budget, Shindô took one last impassioned risk to make this film. With his small crew, they relocated to an inn on the island of Mihari where, for two months in early 1960, they would make what they considered to be their last film.

The Naked Island tells the story of a small family unit and their subsistence as the only inhabitants of an arid, sun-baked island. Daily chores, captured as a series of cyclical events, result in a hypnotising, moving, and beautiful film harkening back to the silent era. With hardly any dialogue, Shindô combines the stark 'Scope cinematography of Kiyoshi Kuroda with the memorable score of his constant collaborator Hikaru Hayashi, to make a unique cinematic document.

Shindô, who had worked with both Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa, shot to international fame in 1952 with the astounding Children of Hiroshima. Eight years later, the BAFTA-nominated The Naked Island won the Grand Prix at the Moscow International Film Festival (where Luchino Visconti was a jury member). It is now considered to be one of Shindô’s major works, and its success saved his film company from bankruptcy. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to release The Naked Island for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

- Newly restored 1080p transfer, in its 2.35:1 original aspect ratio

- Full-length audio commentary by director Kaneto Shindô and composer Hikaru Hayashi

- Video introduction by Alex Cox

- Optional English subtitles

- 24-page booklet with an essay by Acquarello, and a reprint of Joan Mellen’s interview with Shindô from Voices from the Japanese Cinema

Pre-order/Buy: NAKED ISLAND, The (Masters of Cinema) (BLU-RAY)

Britain's favourite film critic celebrates his 50th birthday with a full orchestra and some surprise guests

The UK’s best known and most authorative film critic, Mark Kermode, is to celebrate his 50^th birthday with a top UK orchestra as they perform music from the films that have inspired him. From The Exorcist to Mary Poppins expect a riot of music, plus stories from his life and career, in concerts across the UK.

This summer, Mark, the co-host of BBC Radio 5 Live's Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, is teaming up with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Cheltenham Festival (3 July); Barbican, London (6 July) The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (8 July) and Symphony Hall, Birmingham (9 July) to celebrate a life spent in the movie theatre and how particular films have affected him so deeply.

The concerts will reflect Mark's unique and eclectic tastes: after all, how often will you hear music from Twin Peaksand Mary Poppins in the same evening. Taking us through the films that mean most to him, Mark Kermode will bring us a tender theme from Silent Running, a violent hunt from Planet of the Apes (a film Kermode credits with teaching him everything he knows about politics), Jonny Greenwood's hugely influential music from There Will Be Blood,  the infernal strains of Peter Maxwell Davies’s hell-raising score from The Devils, the fandango of North By Northwest, the sleazy cityscape of Taxi Driver, Angelo Badalamenti's dreamy score for David Lynch's Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me and the joyous overture to the Disney classic, Mary Poppins (one of Kermode's all-time favourites). And a Kermode concert would not be complete without The Exorcist, which famously lifted a spine-tingling theme from the opening of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Be afraid.

All the music will be conducted by maestro Robert Ziegler, who has a worldwide reputation as a conductor of film music and has worked regularly in the studio with film composers such as Howard Shore (Hugo, The Hobbit) Patrick Doyle (Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility) and Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood, Norwegian Wood).

Also joining Kermode will be a surprise guest who will talk about their own career in the movies, and discuss the film music which has inspired them – a selection of which will be played live by the orchestra.

Mark Kermode said: “As every film fan knows, music is the real third dimension of movies, the magical element which draws you into the drama, immerses you in the action and changes the experience from watching a movie to living it.

“These concerts are not an attempt to round up the ‘greatest’ screen music by the most celebrated composers. Rather, they are an enthusiastic romp through some very personal choices, blending the well-known with the more esoteric, the acclaimed with the ‘cult.’ We’ve attempted to have fun with the selections – we’re sure the audience will have fun hearing them.”

Concert producer Tommy Pearson says: "Mark's brilliant reviews and interviews on BBC radio and TV display the knowledge of a true movie connoisseur and enthusiastic geek, which is a gift for audiences young and old. Bringing that infectious enthusiasm and deep appreciation to the concert stage, alongside the amazing CBSO, has long been on our wish-list and it's going to be a really fantastic series of concerts. There's something for everyone in the line-up and Mark will guide us through with his own brand of anecdote, reminiscence and all-out rant."

Stephen Maddock, CBSO chief executive, commented: “We love performing the greatest soundtracks in the successful film concerts that we do each year. These concerts, which celebrate a significant milestone year for Mark, will offer a very personal, insightful and entertaining journey through his life spent with films and we are delighted to be celebrating with him. Film lovers, music lovers, and film music lovers won't want to miss this series!”

For further information go to www.Kermodefilmmusic.co.uk or join in the conversation #CBSOFilm.

Cinematic Masterpiece Cleopatra To Get Limited Cinema Release

The 50th Anniversary of the 1963 masterpiece CLEOPATRA will be celebrated with a limited engagement theatrical release; it was announced today by Twentieth Century Fox. Screenings will be held from the 12th July at Curzon May Fair, London and select cinemas nationwide. The 243-minute original theatrical version of CLEOPATRA has been meticulously restored to commemorate its golden anniversary. This new digitally restored transfer received a world theatrical premiere as an official selection of Cannes Classics at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 21.

Directed by Academy Award® winner Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the historical epic shot on 70mm film took home four Academy Awards and was the highest grossing films of 1963 earning more than $57 million in its initial release. CLEOPATRA infamously cost an unprecedented $42 million to make (equivalent to over $300 million today) and was racked with scandal as the onscreen love affair between Cleopatra (Taylor) and Mark Antony (Burton) spilled over into real life during the three-year production in Rome. Burton celebrated his great love for Ms. Taylor with exquisite gifts from Bulgari.

In 51 BC, Cleopatra became queen of the Egyptian Empire: the wealthiest and most revered kingdom the world has ever known. More than 2,000 years later Twentieth Century Fox Studios set out to tell her epic story in what would become, at the time, the most ambitious and lavish moviemaking endeavor in Hollywood history. Elizabeth Taylor signed a one million dollar contract to play the title role of Cleopatra, becoming the first female star to command such a sum for one picture. Elaborate sets and costumes, production delays and the relocation of principal filming from London to Rome added to the skyrocketing budget.

CLEOPATRA will be available for the first time ever on Digital HD beginning 28th May 2013. In addition to the film, this HD premiere on iTunes features the 80-minute documentary “Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood,” made up of film clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews that explore the fascinating stories behind this 5-year production.

The CLEOPATRA 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray is currently available to own. The 2-disc set is packed with dazzling bonus materials featuring never-before-seen exclusive content including Cleopatra’s lost footage, commentary from Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and more. Additionally, fans can watch footage from the film’s original theatrical premieres in both New York and Los Angeles.

Elfie Hopkins To Make UK TV Premier On Horror Channel

Ryan Andrews’ tasty horror thriller, Elfie Hopkins starring Jaime &a Ray Winstone (on screen for the first time together), makes its TV debut on Sat June 27, 22:55, courtesy of Horror Channel.

A twisted tale of cannibalism set in a British rural hunting village, ELFIE HOPKINS stars Jaime Winstone as wannabe detective Elfie Hopkins, whose life changes when a mysterious family moves into her sleepy neighbourhood. Elfie’s appetite for gumshoe excitement is soon matched by the strange and exotic appetites of the sinister Gammons. But will anyone other than best friend Dylan Parker (ANEURIN BARNARD) and local butcher (RAY WINSTONE) believe her before their homeland turns into a cannibal holocaust!

Plus, there are UK TV premieres of three films that are part of the Friday night double-bills that make up the GRINDHOUSE SEASON.(June 7 – June 28) - DEAR GOD NO!, (billed with THE EXTERMINATOR); BARE BEHIND BARS (billed with BAD BIOLOGY and MONSTRO! (billed with 99 WOMEN) The fourth double-bill is NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS, paired with channel favourite THE BEYOND. Welcome to B-Movie heaven – and hell…

June also sees the network premieres of three not-to-be-missed zombie films, George Romero’s classic DAY OF THE DEAD (June 29), the third in his seminal zombie trilogy, Adam Gierasch’s sexy crowd-pleaser NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (June 9) and the all-out Dutch zombie gore-comedy KILL ZOMBIE! (June 16)

Trailers

Elfie Hopkins

Dear God No!

Monstro

Kill Zombie!

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Cannes 2013: Watch 3 More Clips And Sizzle Reel For Only God Forgives

You have to be living on Mars to know Nicholas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives to be one of 2013 eagerly awaited films and this Wednesday the film will finally make it's world premier at Cannes Film Festival. After Drive it's hoping the movie will justify the hype and deliver a film that's stylish,unscrupulous, intense violently brutal but could it scupper the film winning the Palme D'Or?

Tonight 3 new clips have arrived online delivering more new footage in the stylings of the previous trailers, clips but also show more promise that the film will live up to it's hype. First 2 clips Kristin Scott Thomas is the star of the show a certain to be in the running for Awards when the season arrives again. The first clip shows the public side of her anger with the second clip her rage demanding her son julien (Ryan Gosling) be a man and avenge his brother's death with Julien in the final short clip 'let's fight' Chang  the killer of his brother.

Over at The Playlist a sizzle reel apparently shown by Weinstein Company previewing the film. The Reel shows more new footage delivering a sense of family dynamic as Crystal (Scott Thomas) firing a a verbal assault on Julien's girlfriend, showing whose boss in their family.

Only God Forgives will make its world premier at Cannes Wednesday 22nd May with the UK release date 2nd August.

Clips (NSFW):

Sizzle Reel:


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

source: Ropesofsilicon

White Satin Suits And Platform Shoes As Future Cinema Presents Saturday Night Fever!

It's time dust off the cobwebs slip on your tight white satin suit as you did in the 1970's (or steal your dads one) as Future Cinema bring Saturday Night Fever to life, launching on Saturday 15th of June until the 7th of July.

Future Cinema will transform the Troxy into the most shaking and happening disco club of the 70s, the 2001 Odyssey, creating a fever amongst young Brooklynites every Saturday night.

The Audience is the youth of Bay Bridge Brooklyn, looking for a place to dance, to party and to get loose on a Saturday night.

Tickets Are Now On Sale!!!

Future Cinema will create the most colourful, sexy, dance-fuelled night since Studio 54, bringing to life the retro vintage feel of the 70s, with a gritty and glitzy club world through disco balls, amazing DJs, dance-offs and secret scenes brought to life all around the audience.

Previous shows at the Troxy include the much-loved Bugsy Malone and this year’s critically acclaimed Casablanca. This is the first of Future Cinema’s venue partnerships, with a total of 90 shows planned for 2013.

For a list of dates please see below. All dates are evening shows.

Saturday 15th June
Sunday 16th June

Thursday 20th June
Friday 21st June
Sunday 23rd June

Wednesday 3rd July
Friday 5th July
Sunday 7th July

Attendees must be aged 18 years or over. Standard tickets cost £25, with concession tickets at £20, and can be purchased from www.futurecinema.co.uk/tickets

Future Cinema produces unique and cutting edge events that shake up the traditional cinema experience by fusing film with music, theatre and performance. These wondrously atmospheric and highly interactive cinematic experiences are famed for taking audiences on a multi-sensory ride and have become 'Don't miss' events all across the UK, gathering critical and public acclaim.If you have been to one of Future Cinema's events you know there truly something special so nights do fill up really quickly so dont be disappointed book up today!

So get out those Bee Gee's records and start practising those moves and feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'

Brit Marling Jams With Anarchy In UK Trailer For Sundance Hit The East

THE EAST starring Brit Marling (Another Earth, Arbitrage), Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood), Ellen Page (Juno) and Patricia Clarkson (Station Agent) will be released in cinemas across the UK & Ireland on June 28th 2013. To Mark the release Fox Searchlight have sent us the official UK trailer and poster which you can check out below.

An official selection at this year’s Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals, THE EAST sees Director Zal Batmanglij collaborate once more with actress and co-writer Brit Marling following their critically acclaimed debut Sound Of My Voice.

Marling plays a a private intelligence operative whose task is to infiltrate a eco-anarchist terrorist group known as 'The East' who are causing havoc to an big powerful corporate. Once she gets inside the group she starts to fall for the  groups leader (Page) forcing her to rethink her priorities.

I was really eager to see Sound Of My Voice sadly it didn't get the cinematic run it deserved in the UK but what I know of both films they are similar in nature. Both run the theme of cult though The East is heading more into political thriller a lot more conventional than the directors previous film. The trailer is short but sweet which delivers a sense of mystery, wrapped around an intriguing premise what is also intriguing is the role of Ellen Page as a terrorist leader a role we never expect her to play so will be interest to see how she fares.



The East also stars Michael Costigan and Jocelyn Hayes-Simpson with Ridley Scott producing. The film will arrive in UK Cinemas from 28th June.

Synopsis

THE EAST, a suspenseful and provocative espionage thriller, stars Marling as former FBI agent Sarah Moss. Moss is starting a new career at Hiller Brood, an elite private intelligence firm that ruthlessly protects the interests of its A-list corporate clientele. Handpicked for a plum assignment by the company’s head honcho, Sharon (Patricia Clarkson), Sarah goes deep undercover to infiltrate The East, an elusive anarchist collective seeking revenge against major corporations guilty of covering up criminal activity. Determined, highly-trained and resourceful, Sarah soon ingratiates herself with the group, overcoming their initial suspicions and joining them on their next action or “jam.” But living closely with the intensely committed members of The East, Sarah finds herself torn between her two worlds as she starts to connect with anarchist Benji (Alexander Skarsgård) and the rest of the collective, and awakens to the moral contradictions of her personal life.

Curandero: Dawn of the Demon DVD Review

Back in 2005 Grindhouse maestro Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror, From Dusk Till Dawn) wrote a Spanish-language script about a satanic descent into the seedy Mexican underworld, where a sheepish exorcist and kick-ass cop are on the hunt for a bloodthirsty cult. The film was shelved and hasn’t seen the light of day until now.

Curandero doesn’t bother to hit above its weight, it’s got a keen understanding of where it sits on the quality spectrum and embraces its B-movie roots gleefully, spinning an ever more gruesome web of black magic and gore. At points the film revels in its total lack of CGI but flips and starts flaunting some truly wobbly effects, even then they arguably fit into the film snuggly. Eduardo Rodriguez has an obvious talent for filming this sort of thing, the gruesome and vicious come naturally to every frame however some dodgy editing makes viewing difficult during indoor scenes which can sometimes be too dark to see what the hell is going on.

Carlos Gallardo’s reserved performance is a key reason why this film should be the beginning of a franchise, as he can hold the screen without over acting or seeming like he’s seeking out our attention. His enigmatic performance is why Curandero feels like the seedy Mexican equivalent of Constantine. The whole plot seems like an origin tale, unsure of what exactly to do first, but that doesn’t hold it back too much, this film is focused on giving the viewer a great time whilst throwing enough demonic imagery at you to make the more superstitious viewers out there have a heart attack.

Fast paced, immersed in Mexican culture and superstitious iconography, yet drenched in gore and visceral sequences of violence, Curandero forsakes the straight path by shaking its tale of good vs evil up with acid-trip imagery and some intriguing style decisions. Hopefully the release of this B-movie extraordinaire will spawn a sequel.

★★★☆☆

Scott Clark

Rating: 18
DVD Release Date: 20th May 2013 (UK)
Director: Eduardo Rodriguez
Cast: Carlos Gallardo, Gizeht Galatea, Sergio Acosta, Ernesto Yáñez

Buy: Curandero: Dawn Of The Demon [DVD]

Verve Picture Bringing Home (Yurt) 'Home' June on DVD

Verve Pictures have announced  the UK DVD Release of  HOME (Yurt), winner of  The Golden Wings Digital Digiturk Distribution Award at the recent London Turkish Film Festival.

The first feature to be written and directed by actor Muzaffer Özdemir, best known for his roles in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's THE SMALL TOWN, CLOUDS OF MAY and DISTANT, for which he won the Cannes Best Actor Award, HOME (Yurt) is a beautifully composed meditation on memories and a changing world. Doğan, a pessimistic and neurotic architect, longing for his homeland, revisits the countryside of his childhood for the first time in many years. His search for the familiar, however, is an elusive one and in this modern technological age he quickly discovers that time which once stood still is now fleeting, and that the tranquillity of familiar landscapes is fading.

Poetic and resonant, HOME (Yurt) is a serene depiction of one man's journey to find his own sense of peace amidst the conflict between nature and the ever intrusive modern age.

Home(Yurt) stars

Pre-order/Buy:Home (Yurt) On DVD 

Cannes Festival Winning Post Tenebras Lux A Home July UK Release

Drakes Avenue Pictures and The Independent Cinema Office and are pleased to announce that Carlos Reygadas’ (Battle in Heaven, Silent Light) Post Tenebras Lux will be released in UK on DVD and on Blu Ray for the first time from 22 July.

Reygadas picked up Best Director in Cannes last year for Post Tenebras Lux, perhaps his most personal and complex work to-date. A gorgeous, allusive mood piece examining marriage, poverty, class and gender, the film also looks at our place in nature and how evil lives with us in the most intimate and ordinary of places.

Juan (Adolfo Jiménez Castro) is a wealthy industrialist who has chosen to live with his wife and two children away from the trappings of wealth and the city. Yet isolation in this superficially idyllic rural landscape seems to have brought little peace to his world. Juan’s marriage to Natalia (Nathalia Acevedo) is suffering under the strain of sexual ennui, the banal rigors of bringing up young children and living in a community where he is clearly an outsider.

Its central theme, signposted in an audacious manner very early on, is Juan’s struggle to morally navigate the welter of everyday decisions we are all forced to make in life. The morality of family life is further complicated by Juan’s post-colonial Mexican ethnicity and position as an employer and elite landowner in a country with an increasingly divergent wealth divide.

Largely non-linear in its structure, preferring instead to show a series of striking images from the past, present and possible futures, Post Tenebras Lux repays repeat viewings allowing its myriad ideas to slowly rise to the fore. What lingers long after viewing are not only the more striking images, but also the subtler aspects of family life, the tender fragility of childhood and marriage, and the beautifully haunting representations of nature.



Post Tenebras Lux will be released on DVD and Blu Ray in UK&Ireland on 22 July starring Adolfo Jiménez Castro.

Pre-Order/Buy:Post Tenebras Lux On DVD / Blu-ray