To The Wonder DVD Review

To The Wonder is Terrence Malick’s latest film and it’s been released in the shortest period between films for him ever… a gap of one year! He notoriously didn’t make a film for literally 20 years between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. He has only made 6 films in his 40-year career of directing films (He wrote drafts of some films like Dirty Harry and Pocket Money) beginning with his masterpiece Badlands (a top ten film for me). He is considered by many to be one of the cinema’s greatest living talents and any new film by Malick is a real event.

Malick isn’t a director known for his great story telling ability. He makes great films but he is a mostly visually storyteller first and foremost, most of films have a very simple plot. To The Wonder is no exception and very possibly his simplest. French woman meets American man in Paris, they move to Oklahoma, it doesn’t quite work out, she moves back, he meets somebody else and it doesn’t work out, she decides to move back.

The film as is the case with all of Malick’s films to a extent is a deeply spiritual film. Malick own believes’ are truly unknown because he has been interviewed proper in almost 40s and is rarely photographed. The title To The Wonder has obvious spiritual connotations. The spirituality of a film is most obvious in its subplot of the film deals with a priest having a crisis of faith played by Javier Bardem.

The film has a very ambiguous ending not unlike his previous film The Tree of Life. Both films have been important in Malick’s career, both are much more overtly spiritual (they both deal with god, faith, nature as religion etc.), both are much more overly experimental than even stuff like The Thin Red Line or The New World. They have been critically very divisive even though The Tree of Life was more acclaimed on release. The films stars on both films have been even spoke of their reservations Sean Penn and Ben Affleck respectively.

However despite the very experimental nature of the film doesn’t mean its bad film, it’s a very good film. I’ve seen To The Wonder twice now, it’s clearly a meditation on love and faith and the loss of both. It’s beautifully photographed, which is always the case. The film’s biggest flaw is the subtitled narration throughout which can be really distracting from the stunning visuals but Malick is well known for using narration (it’s used heavily in every film of his). It’s a beautiful film even though it has some flaws.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

Rating: 15
DVD/BD Release Date: 17th June 2013(UK)
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Cast: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem
Buy To The Wonder: DVD / Blu-ray

Another Slick Trailer For Only God Forgives Slides Online

Despite the mixed vibes from Cannes Film Festival Nicholas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives is still high on many cinephile's most anticipated films to see this year and tonight your appetite will be re-nourished with another slick trailer.

Here in UK we might be just over 2 months to go before this Neon drenched slow burning revenge thriller invades our visual palettes but over on the other side of the Atlantic it arrives next month hence the new trailer. Only God Forgives set in Thailand, Ryan Gosling plays Julian a Thai Boxing club owner in Bangkok a club that's serves a front for his families drug running. Even is Hunky dory until a ruthless bent cop murders his brother forcing Julian's acid tongued mother to appear and demand her son seek revenge for his dead brother.

Some of the footage has already been seen in previous trailers & clips but this has enough new brutal footage to make it worth your  2 minutes of your time. The dialogue is minimal the silence ferocious feels just as Savage and domineering of hat comes out of Kristen Scott Thomas lips and once again this shows she will be the film's resident scene stealer. The word from the street Only God Forgives is one of those unique experience you have to witness first hand to appreciate the visceral richness that will play in front of us. It's not perfect but it has the makings to be a cut classic in years to come.



Only God Forgives arrive in UK&Ireland on 2nd August 2013 (USA 19th July), the film also stars Yayaying Rhatha Phongam, Vithaya Pansringarm, Tom Burke and Byron Gibson.

source: Yahoo! (via The Peoples Movies)

Watch First Trailer For Lynne Shelton's Touchy Feely

The queen of mumblecore Lynn Shelton returns with her latest dramedy Touchy Feely starring Rosemarie Dewitt as Abby a free spirited massage therapist who develops an aversion to human touch. This is not good for business for Abby not just professionally but also personally and her relationship with her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy).

The film made its debut at Sundance and Sundance London festivals this year, it's a film that sneaked onto cinephiles radar. Its probably Shelton's best ensemble unfortunately for those people who caught this film that cast seems to be the films strongest feature. Touchy Feely certainly looks a ambitious film and if your like us fans of Your Sister's Sister this film should still bring you  satisfaction and escapism for those film fans who want something different from the usual array of big Hollywood blockbusters that dominate the cinemas at this time of the year.

We don't actually have an UK&Irish release date yet but Touchly Feely is due a 6th September USA release date. The film also stars Ellen Page, Allison Janney, Josh Pais,Ron Livingston and Tomo Nakayama.

Synopsis

TOUCHY FEELY is a closely observed examination of a family whose delicate psychic balance suddenly unravels. Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), is a sought after massage therapist and a free spirit, while her brother Paul (Josh Pais) thrives on routine and convention, running a flagging dental practice and co-dependently enlisting the assistance of his emotionally stunted daughter Jenny (Ellen Page). Suddenly, transformation touches everyone. Abby develops an uncontrollable aversion to bodily contact, which not only makes her occupation impossible but severely hinders the passionate love life between her and her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy).

source: Apple

Monster Pictures To Release The Long Awaited Little Deaths

Monster Pictures have announced the release of shocking and gruesome horror anthology Little Deaths, out on DVD and download from 12th August 2013.

Three boundary-pushing tales of sex and death from acclaimed British horror directors Sean Hogan (‘The Devil’s Business’), Andrew Parkinson (‘I, Zombie’), and Simon Rumley (‘ABCs of Death’, ‘Red White and Blue’, ‘The Living and the Dead’)

In House And Home, Sean Hogan’s opening segment, a ‘good Samaritan’ couple invite a pretty young homeless girl into their house for a meal and a bath. But when they reveal their perverted motive behind the charitable act, they soon discover that they are not the only ones with a dark hidden agenda for the night’s events.

Andrew Parkinson’s sci-fi horror segment Mutant Tool takes experimental drugs treatment to a whole new level. When a former prostitute visits a shady doctor and is given some tablets, she suffers headaches and nightmares. She soon learns that the unorthodox ‘treatment’ is preparing her for a sinister new role in a nightmare-ish medical experiment.

Simon Rumley’s Bitch completes the unholy trilogy. When a young woman’s kinky sex games and abusive character push her submissive boyfriend too far, she finds herself the victim of her worst fears – her phobia of dogs – and the sick revenge that her boyfriend has planned for her.

Pre-Order/Buy: Little Deaths ( House and Home / Mutant Tool / Bitch ) On DVD

Film 4 Frightfest 2013 Announce Opening And Closing Films

Big Bad Wolves from Israel and Indian Zombies signal global horror invasion at this year’s FrightFest. This year’s festival opens with the world premiere of The Ford Brothers THE DEAD 2: INDIA - the first-ever International production of a zombie film shot in India.

Howard and Jon Ford, the British director, writer and producer team behind the acclaimed African-set zombie road movie 'The Dead’ said today: “It's truly an honour to be the opening film – mind-blowing! Being at FrightFest for ‘The Dead’ was such an incredible experience for us and one of the highlights of our whole journey with the film. It's an awesome event with a brilliant crowd and we both sincerely cannot wait to see you all there!”.

The film follows the story of India-based American engineer Nicholas Burton (JOSEPH MILLSON) in a race against time to reach his pregnant girlfriend Ishani Sharma (MEENU). Burton enlists the help of an orphan street kid Javed (ANAND GOYAL) and together they make a perilous 300 mile journey across deadly landscapes as a zombie apocalypse threatens to engulf the entire nation.

Film4 FrightFest will close with the UK premiere of directors Aharon Keshales &Navot Papushado’s extraordinary revenge thriller BIG BAD WOLVES. Soaked in twisted tension, fairytale myth and seat-edged suspense, the film follows the lives of three men on a collision course: following a series of brutal murders: the father of the latest victim now out for revenge, a

vigilante police detective operating outside the law, and the main suspect in the killings - a religious studies teacher arrested and released due to a police blunder.

Aharon and Navot said today: “We always dreamt of having a film which would be good enough to be shown at FrightFest, but not even in our wildest dreams did we think that an Hebrew speaking revenge thriller would get us there. FrightFest is really making history here. As a token of our appreciation we promise to give everyone there a night they won't easily forget”.

All the directors and some cast members will be attending the festival.

Film4 FrightFest Co-director Alan Jones commented: “Film4 FrightFest is delighted with our Opening and Closing Film choices. Both THE DEAD 2: INDIA and BIG BAD WOLVES represent everything FrightFest is about; the discovery, nurturing and celebration of vital new voices in the genre. FrightFest launched the Ford Brothers' THE DEAD to worldwide acclaim in 2010 and Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado's RABIES in 2011 became the only movie in our entire 14-year history to warrant successive extra screenings based on overwhelming want-to-see demand. So to welcome both duos back with their stunning new movies, both exploring unusual cultural aspects within a remarkable genre framework is an absolute thrill. These films bookend Film4 FrightFest perfectly and hint at what we are trying to achieve this year - the best platform to deliver our broadest, most diverse and most surprising event ever”.

Film4 FrightFest, the UK’s biggest genre film festival, runs from Thursday 22 August to Monday 26 August at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square. The full line up will be announced on Fri 28 June. Festival & day passes go on sale from 29 June. Tickets for Individual films are on sale from 27 July.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Relive Emil And The Detectives Film Adaptations This July On BFI DVD Release

The latest in the BFI’s DVD releases of film adaptations of children’s books, released on 15 July 2013, is Emil and the Detectives, the classic story by Erich Kästner.

Featuring a screenplay written with Billy Wilder and Emeric Pressburger, this original German version from 1931 is directed by Gerhard Lamprecht. It is accompanied by the rarely-shown 1935 British remake by Milton Rosmer which was set on the streets of London.

When young Emil is sent to Berlin by his mother, the money he is carrying to give to his granny is stolen by a sinister man on the train. Once in Berlin, Emil follows the thief and enlists the help of a gang of youngsters – ‘the detectives’ – to help retrieve the stolen money.

This 1931 German adaptation of Erich Kästner's much-loved book was written by Kästner himself in collaboration with the legendary Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment) and an uncredited Emeric Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes).

One of the first German sound films, Emil and the Detectives provides a fascinating glimpse of Berlin before Nazism and the Second World War.

Special features

• Emil and the Detectives (Milton Rosmer, 1935, 60 mins): once considered to be a lost film, this rare British adaptation has been newly transferred from the only surviving film elements

• Illustrated booklet with original promotional material, contemporary reviews, and new essays by Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, Bryony Dixon and Caren Willig

Pre-Order Emil And The Detectives :DVD

Neil Young And Crazy Horse: Year Of The Horse DVD Review

The Year of the Horse marks Jim Jarmusch’s second collaboration with Neil Young. It came out after the first Dead Man (which is my personal favourite of Jim Jarmusch’s films) and Neil Young composed the score to the film live while watching the film. It’s one of many many films on Neil Young including a trilogy by noted film director Jonathan Demme and 5 by Neil himself under his pseudonym Bernard Shakey. It follows Neil with his band Crazy Horse during mostly their 1996 European tour.

The film originally came out in 1997 and had a rather lacklustre release. It opened to pretty poor reviews with Roger Ebert in his end of the year run down citing as the worse film of the year… this was the year of Batman & Robin. It was made during a period when Neil Young had found a new hip creditability with the “grunge” kids and was being cited as a “godfather of grunge” by people like Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder and J. Mascis. This came after a very hard 10+ years of 80s where rock critics lambasted Neil Young’s music because he experimented in many music styles; which eventually resulted in a notorious lawsuit.

The film is clearly inspired by D.A Pennebaker’s seminal film on Bob Dylan Don’t Look Back (as is any rock n’ roll tour film) and to a lesser extent the still unreleased Rolling Stones film Cocksucker Blues. Both films Jim Jarmusch has cited as influence films for him. Unlike those 2 films the musicians in question don’t come off as completed drug addled assholes (even though Neil certainly has done his fair share…. See The Last Waltz). The film not that dissimilarity to Jim Jarmusch’s fictional films for the most part just follows Neil & his band mates around Europe. They talk… they talk and talk. They play some songs.

The film is never a deep expose on the relations between Neil and his band mates. It does however have on very revealing interview in which Neil’s band mates jackets have “Neil Young & Crazy Horse” while Neil’s has simply “Crazy Horse”. It does talk a bit about some of the early members who died young because of heroin use; Neil has been staunchly anti-Heroin throughout his career because of it. It has a very Testament on their tour bus… you know “the part where god is really pissed off”.

The film highlight of the film is obviously the concert footage of band playing some of their most well known songs “Like a Hurricane”, “Sedan Delivery”, “Tonight’s the Night” etc. The film starts with a funny bit of a crazy German Neil Young singing “Like a Hurricane” really badly. It’s shot on many different formats Super 8, 16mm, Hi-8 Video (for the interviews due to length problems). It has a very grainy look reminiscent of those old concerts films I mentioned earlier and to a extent Jim Jarmusch’s earlier films like Stranger Than Paradise and Down by Law.

The film has been out of circulation for many years, only previously released on vhs in the UK. It was released in the US for a bit but is currently out of print. Neil Young & Crazy Horse is touring in the UK as I write this review. It’s clearly being re-released to collide with that tour which is fine cause it’s a welcome release of a previous rare film in Jim Jarmusch’s filmography. Now only if they will release Human Highway on dvd. The dvd contain additional 45 minutes of interviews split between Crazy Horse and Neil and Jim.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

Buy: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Year Of The Horse [DVD]

Much Ado About Nothing Review

Firefly creator Joss Whedon takes on Shakespeare in his latest cinematic release; adapting the Bard’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing – which follows two couples in the time leading up to their marriages, while others scheme to thwart their happiness.

As with Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, Whedon’s film makes use of Shakespeare’s original dialect. However unlike that previous work, Much Ado About Nothing  is not so much set in a strictly modern period; instead exuding a timeless that is not representative of one particular era. This is in part due to the film having been shot in black and white – a factor that Whedon notes was due to a limited budget in addition to its aesthetic value.

The cast are assembled mainly from actors whom the director has worked with on previous projects, including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Nathan Fillion. All are excellent in their roles, and manage the source material very capably; particularly Clark Gregg (The Avenger’s Agent Coulson), performing his comedic turn effortlessly.

Much Ado About Nothing translates to the big screen in such capable hands, with Shakespeare’s humour and Whedon’s wit an appropriate pairing. While this will not appeal to the majority of film audiences, it will undoubtedly please fans of both writers, past and present, and it is good to see that Whedon’s creativity has not floundered following his recent successes. A worthy homage.

★★★★☆

Sophie Stephenson

Rating: 12A
Release Date: 14th June 2013 (UK)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg

Jacques Rivette's Rarely Seen Le Pont Du Nord Getting A Masters Of Cinema Release

Buy :BLU-RAY / DVD
Le Pont Du Nord, the rarely seen, and long-requested key film by one of the world's greatest filmmakers Jacques Rivette, will be released as part of Eureka Entertainment’s Masters Of Cinema Series on Blu-ray and DVD on 29 July 2013.

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing the first-ever Blu-ray and DVD editions in the world of Le Pont Du Nord, from the great French New Wave director Jacques Rivette, the creator of such sprawling and legendary works as Out 1, Céline and Julie Go Boating, La Belle noiseuse, and Va savoir. Rarely seen, and long-requested key film by one of the world's greatest filmmakers, the film stars Rivette's staple actress Bulle Ogier and her then-21-year-old daughter, Pascale Ogier. Released as part of the Masters of Cinema Series, these editions will Include a lengthy booklet containing new and vintage writing by Arthur Mas, Andy Rector, Serge Daney, and Caroline Champetier; writing from the original press-book by Jacques Rivette, and Jean Narboni; rare archival imagery; and more. Le Pont Du Nord will be released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the Masters of Cinema series on 29 July 2013.

“It seems more obvious than ever how much Rivette has influenced a subsequent generation of filmmaker - Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry - and expanded our sense of the possible.” – Village Voice

The culmination of New Wave master Jacques Rivette's legendary middle period (which ranged from L'Amour fou through Out 1, Céline and Julie Go Boating, Duelle, Noroît, and Merry-Go-Round), Le Pont du Nord envisions Paris as a sprawling game-board marked off with tucked-away conspiracies, where imagination and paranoia intermingle; where the hinted-at stakes are sanity, life, and death.

Regular Rivette actress Bulle Ogier stars as Marie, a claustrophobic ex-con who, shortly after wandering into Paris, encounters the wild and potentially troubled young woman Baptiste (Pascale Ogier, Bulle's actual 22-year-old daughter). Baptiste, a knife-wielding, self-proclaimed kung-fu expert with a drive to slash the eyes from faces in adverts (including, in one instance, those on a placard for Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha), accompanies Marie on her quest to solve the mystery behind the contents of her former lover's (Pierre Clémenti's) suitcase: an amalgam of clippings, patterns, and maps of Paris that points to a vastly unsettling labyrinth replete with signs and intimations whose menacing endgame remains all too unclear.

Gorgeously shot by the master cinematographer William Lubtchansky, Le Pont du Nord is a freewheeling, powerful experience whose hypnotic rhythm and ominous undercurrents resolve into a frightening and exhilarating portrait of post-revolutionary, early-'80s Paris – and in turn form a prime example of Rivette's uncanny, occult cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Jacques Rivette's rare and essential feature Le Pont du Nord on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time anywhere in the world.

Here's a preview clip from Le Pont Du Nord


Special Features DVD And Blu-Ray:
• Gorgeous new 1080p presentation (on the Blu-ray) of the film in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio
• Optional English subtitles
• A lengthy booklet with writing about the film by Arthur Mas, Andy Rector, Serge Daney, and Caroline Champetier; writing from the original press-book by Jacques Rivette, and Jean Narboni; rare archival imagery; and more
• More details to be announced soon!

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God DVD Review

In the wake of the Jimmy Saville revelations and Operation Yewtree, you’d be forgiven for thinking that old television personalities from the 70’s had a monopoly on committing shocking sex crimes. There is however an institution even older than the BBC with an equally chequered history when it comes to abuse, the Catholic Church. This record of abuse is the focus of Alex Gibney documentary Mea Maxim Culpa: Silence in the House of God which asks whether the set-up of Catholicism had an implicit part to play in the silence surrounding the multiple cases.

The cases themselves turn out to be numerous and spread worldwide but Gibney’s doc is centred in Boston and on the case of Father Laurence Murphy, the head priest at St. Johns school for the deaf. Murphy was a popular figure among the children there, a hearing adult fluent in sign language and able to communicate and establish a rapour with them – the first abuse of power we witness in this hard-hitting documentary. Via signed talking heads with former pupils of St. Johns we learn how this trust was quickly used by Murphy to establish a horrific ritual of sexual abuse and assertion of control across St. Johns. Narration informs us of the frequent and disturbing practices the priest embarked on throughout his time at the school.

Added to the horror of the revelations we hear are shadowy reconstructions of events, utilising religious iconography and imagery to heighten the terror – so prevalent they are in outright horror films.

Setting the film apart from the countless news articles used as source material, Gibney goes further to examine the complicit role of the church itself in hiding such scandals and therefore forcing those guilty to re-offend. Cases appear across America and the rest of the world and Mea Maxima Culpa goes right to the heart, turning their attention and their cameras towards the Vatican.

Established as its own state under the Mussolini reign, Vatican City is free from traditional Italian law and is instead governed under their established Canal law. This self-serving set of rules enables the church to deal with matters in house, often leading to a lot of sweeping under the carpet and hiding away from public scrutiny.

This sense of unravelling of the truth, under chapter-like headings such as ‘the whistleblower’ and ‘the reckoning’ and the use of sharp editing add a suspense to the film leading it to play out almost like a heist or thriller film and ensures it becomes more than the made for TV special it could be in danger of appearing. The sense of anger of pupils, victims and indeed those within the church who bravely stood up to voice their concerns prevails throughout and, while some are able to seek solace, the continued silence coming from the Vatican is deafening and the most frustrating element of all.

★★★☆☆

Matthew Walsh

Rating: 15
DVD Release Date: 24th June 2013 (UK)
Director: Alex Gibney
Cast: Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke