The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie Blu-Ray Review

Rating:
15
BD Release Date:
15th July 2013
Director:
John Cassavetes
Cast:
John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel
Buy: (3-Disc Limited Edition) The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was my introduction to work of John Cassavetes many years ago. It’s probably his most accessible film in a way; it’s inspired by film noir (which John Cassavetes acted in a handful in his time) but it’s a very arty and gritty take on it. Its much more story focused than most of his work that certainly helps its accessibility. It also came near the end of his golden period of filmmaking, which was from Faces to Gloria.

The film stars frequent Cassavetes collaborator Ben Gazzara who plays Cosmo Vittelli. He is a strip club owner and is making his last payment of his gambling debt to this sleazebag loanshark (played by the film’s producer/cinematographer Al Ruban). He celebrates this by taking his 3 favourite dancers out and it eventually ends in another poker game and he looses $23,000. The mob uses this against him so he will do a hit for them. He believes it to be some small-time Chinese bookie but in reality it’s a capo of the Chinese mafia “the heaviest cat on the West Coast”. He manages to perform the hit but soon realises he is double-crossed.

The film not unlike many of his other films was originally released in a much longer cut. It was originally released in a 135 minute cut but he pulled it after a week and Ben Gazzara hated this version and said it was too long. It was eventually recut in a much more accessible shorter cut of 108 minutes. It mostly cut the strip club routines but true to Cassavetes’ form he ordered the scenes in the new cut. The BFI Blu-ray includes both cuts.

The film is a great piece of cynical neo-noir 70s filmmaking in the vein of Chinatown or Night Moves. It’s boosts a wonderful performance by the always great Ben Gazzara (I’m sure the Coens watched this before they cast him in The Big Lebowski due to his role in this). His performance really makes the film, which is not unlike most of Cassavetes’ films where the leading actor or actress makes the film like for example his wife Gena Rowlands in many of the films. It’s different cause it’s male protagonist when a good majority of his films have a female one.

It’s one of John Cassavetes’ best films partly due to its accessibility. If you’re a fan of Scorsese’s early films and other noir inspired films of the 70s it’s very much worth your time. BFI has released a 3-disc special edition, which includes the film on both Blu-ray and dvd and a bonus disc with a feature length doc on John Cassavetes, a short, a interview and the film itself includes scene selected commentaries by the producer and Cassavetes’ friend and contemporary Peter Bogdanovich.

★★★★★

Ian Schultz

Static DVD Review

Rating:
15
DVD Release date:
15th July 2013 (UK)
Rating:
15 (UK)
Director:
Todd Levin
Cast:
Milo Ventimiglia, Sarah Shahi, Sara Paxton
Buy Static: [DVD]

This year's horror features have mostly been sub-standard releases (with the odd exception e.g. Lords of Salem, The Conjuring), however, Todd Levin's Static serves as a stellar reminder that there are still filmmakers capable of crafting some classy scares without resulting to the use of lashings of gore.

Static follows writer Jonathan Dade (Milo Ventimiglia) and his wife Addie (Sarah Shahi) who quietly grief the loss of their child in their secluded home. However, the arrival of a hysterical young woman (Sara Paxton) chased by a group of masked men forces the young couple into a fight for survival.

Levin's feature is a slow-building one, captured with a quiet yet remarkably unsettling atmosphere (similar to 2008's The Strangers). Whilst the opening sets up this underlying unease in the couple's woodland-surrounded house, Gabriel Cowan's screenplay also establishes a sense of depth and humanity within the protagonists: we see Jonathan thrown off his work and Addie look for purpose as a result of their child's death. Therefore when the tension does escalate and the couple are threatened there is a genuine empathy and support for these characters.

The arrival of Paxton's character really takes the tension up a notch and thrusts Static into full gear. The actress plays the stranger with a sense of mysteriousness which could be construed as something more sinister as we see her skulk round the couples' home. Levin has a real knack for building suspense - perfectly showcased in one sequence which sees Jonathan venture out of the house to investigate the stranger's damaged car. As the film turns home-invasion thriller Levin fills Static with a variety of jumps and scares, avoiding the clichés traditionally found in these features.

Static's narrative is also filled with little titbits that allude to the film's twist ending - such as the couple finding security equipment in their home. These suggestions keep Static refreshing and unexpected, separating it from run-of-the-mill home invasion horrors. This is also helped by some terrific performances from the likes of Milo Ventimiglia, who is a captivating lead, conveying a convincing sense of emotion within the character and never resorting to overplaying things. Shahi is an equally powerful screen presence, whilst Paxton is a perfect addition to the mumblecore style of Static.

Static is an intelligent and well-crafted horror. It's quiet atmosphere and masterful tension, alongside some stellar performances ensure that it is one of the strongest horrors of the year.

★★★★☆

Andrew McArthur

"Do You like movies?" Watch The Canyons New Tailer

"Do You like movies?" Lindsay Lohan asks in the new trailer for The Canyons it's a logical questions but what we have is an Rhetoric mess that will be a cult hit years to come.

The Canyons is an erotic noir from Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver,director of  American Gigolo) set in modern day Los Angeles a group of twenty somethings film actor wannabes attempting to break into the industry find themselves involved in various sex games and ove triangles.

Its been a troublesome film for director Schrader, from finance and with many mainstream press writing off the film you just have to look at the what film festivals have been picking the film up  like Venice it must have some quality. Taking the film seriously though with Lindsay Lohan as female lead and her porn star boyfriend James Deen  male lead is like asking Adam Sandler to star in a serious Oscar wining film which will never happen (but we do know he can act...Punch Drunk Love?!). On a serious note I despite the films negativity I do see some optimism in the shape of Brett Easton Ellis who the cult novel come movie American Psycho wrote the Canyons so there is a glimmer of hope maybe the film will have some dark twisted moments. Sadly I have the sneeky feeling that this may end up been  a The Room type film.

No word on a UK or Irish release but The Canyons is to get a very limited USA cinematic  release on 2nd August.



Source: The People's Movies

Frightfest 2012 Thriller The Seasoning House UK Home Release Coming This August

Buy: [DVD] [Blu-ray]

The Seasoning House arrives on DVD & Blu-ray 12th August and is a must-own for fans of revenge thrillers at their best.The film picked up some positive reviews at Film4 Frightfest in 2012 (our review is here) and now it will be yours to own.

Directed by special-effects maestro Paul Hyett (The Woman in Black, Eden Lake, The Descent), the film was highly anticipated and didn’t disappoint when it premiered at last year’s Frightfest, where it was described as “nerve shredding” and “exceptional.”

Starring talented British newcomer Rosie Day (Ironclad 2) in the lead role of captive Angel, and with support from Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers, Wild Bill) Kevin Howarth (The Last Horror Movie, Gallowwalker) and Anna Walton (Hellboy 2, Mutant Chronicles) The Seasoning House is a dark, gripping exploration of a young orphaned girl’s psychological terror as she is kidnapped and enslaved by soldiers.

SYNOPSIS: Set in the war-torn Balkans, The Seasoning House is a grim and soulless place where young girls are bought and sold for men’s pleasure. Here we meet Angel (ROSIE DAY), a young, mute, orphaned girl enslaved by Viktor (KEVIN HOWARTH). Unbeknownst to her master, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the house – silently observing, learning and planning for her escape. When her closest confident is savagely killed, Angel can no longer contain her rage and sets out through both ingenuity and brutality to seek justice.

The Seasoning House will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray 12th August 2013.

BFI To Bring Satyajit Ray’s The Big City To Cinema's Across UK.

On 16 August the BFI brings Satyajit Ray’s The Big City to cinemas across the UK. This richly absorbing tale of family and city life from the master of Bengali cinema is set in mid-50s Calcutta, a society still adjusting to Independence and gripped by social and financial crisis.

The film’s nationwide release will coincide with a two-month complete retrospective of the director’s work at BFI Southbank during August and September.

Subrata Mazumdar (Anil Chatterjee), a young bank clerk struggling to support his entire extended family on a meagre salary, firmly believes that ‘a woman’s place is with her cooking pots’. Unsurprisingly, he experiences conflicting emotions when his wife Arati (Madhabi Mukherjee) helps out by taking a job as a door-to-door ‘salesgirl’ peddling knitting machines to rich housewives. Though shy and nervous to begin with, Arati soon proves a huge success, relishing her new-found independence (not to mention the joys of lipstick) and thoroughly upsetting the family dynamic.

Bengali star Madhabi Mukherjee, with her expressive frown and mischievous smile, gives a ravishing, spirited performance as Arati. This was Mukherjee’s first film with Ray (she was later to star in his Charulata) and she confessed herself ‘stunned’ by his extraordinary ‘woman-centred’ screenplay, so different from anything she had previously encountered. Indeed, Ray originally considered calling the film ‘A Woman’s Place’.

Yet, for all his focus on Arati’s problems, Ray – who is renowned for his breadth of sympathy – also deploys warmth, abundant humour and deep psychological insight in his depiction of a large, multi-generational cast of characters, including Arati’s conservative old father-in-law, her studious teenage sister-in-law, her feisty Anglo-Indian colleague and her benevolently despotic boss.

For this new restoration of The Big City, undertaken in India, the original negative was scanned at a high resolution (2K), enabling the film’s epic scale and intimate detail – from the portrayal of bustling urban life to the exquisite play of emotions on Arati’s face – to emerge in greater beauty and clarity.

Now re-released by the BFI to mark its fiftieth anniversary, The Big City, with its emphasis on conflicting social values – and most particularly on the role of women – feels as fresh and relevant as ever.



The Big City is part of The Sayjit Ray season next month at The BFI Southbank from 16th August, more details here.For listings of when The Big City will be playing near you please check with your local independent/Arthouse cinema for exact dates.

Watch The UK Trailer For The Sea Starring Ciarán Hinds, Charlotte Rampling

The Sea features a stellar cast including Ciarán Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, Natascha McElhone, Rufus Sewell and Sinéad Cusack, and is an adaptation of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel by John Banville. After the film's UK Premier at last month's Edinburgh Film Festival this afternoon we get our first look at the film's UK Trailer.

Grieving after the death of his wife, art historian Max Morden (Ciarán Hinds) returns to the sleepy seaside resort where he spent summers as a child. Max lodges at a boarding house he once frequented, where frosty proprietor Miss Vavasour (Charlotte Rampling), and eccentric resident Blunden

(Karl Johnson), now reside. Before long - and despite protestations from his daughter Clare (Ruth Bradley) - Max revisits the ghosts of his past. Max's mind returns to an idyllic summer in 1955 when, as a child, he encountered the Grace family. Carlo (Rufus Sewell) and Connie (Natascha McElhone) were unlike any adults he had met before: nonchalant, bohemian and filled with worldly grace and candour. Young Max (Matthew Dillon) befriends the young Grace twins, Chloe (Missy Keating) and Myles (Padhraig Parkinson), and his fascination for this unconventional clan transforms into intimacy and love. Meanwhile, the children's young nanny Rose (Bonnie Wright), an outsider like Max, regards the Grace's new surrogate with quiet suspicion. While Max attempts to deal with the loss of his wife, and recalls moments with his departed partner Anna (Sinéad Cusack), he also confronts a distant trauma from the past. The Sea is a haunting, uplifting, meditation on the human condition - at times elegiac, poetic, and nostalgic. A story of memory, love, loss, regret... and the persistent possibility of rebirth.


The Sea UK Trailer from paull devine on Vimeo.

The Sea will be released in UK this September.

Eureka Entertainment Announce Their August/September Line Up

Releases from Fellini, Sirk, Antonioni, Pialat and Antonio Campos are set to join the Masters of Cinema Series as Eureka Entertainment announce their release schedule for August and September 2013

Eureka Entertainment have announced via their twitter feeds (@eurekavideo & @mastersofcinema) the forthcoming releases in The Masters of Cinema series for the months of August and September 2013.

From classic Hollywood to the finest in French and Italian art cinema as well as a brand new film by an emerging auteur, The Masters of Cinema Series is as eclectic as ever in its August and September 2013 line-up – a 6-film slate that includes directors Douglas Sirk, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Maurice Pialat, and Antonio Campos.

Producer of the Masters of Cinema Series, Andrew Utterson stated “In August, we welcome director Antonio Campos into the series for the first time with his remarkably assured second feature Simon Killer alongside worldwide Blu-ray premières of Douglas Sirk's The Tarnished Angels and Michelangelo Antonioni's La notte [The Night].More cinematic treats follow in September with Maurice Pialat's study of the great artist Van Gogh, the worldwide Blu-ray première of Federico Fellini's early masterpiece Il bidone, and the worldwide Blu-ray première of Douglas Sirk's penultimate Hollywood feature A Time to Love and a Time to Die. “

Managing Director of Eureka Entertainment Ron Benson added “Across six standout films, world and UK premières abound, with new restorations aplenty, as we continue our quest to release the very finest in world cinema, using the very best available materials, and all with a meticulous attention to detail and design.”

Eureka Entertainment Buys Rights To The John Hurt Narrated More Than Honey Documentary

Today Eureka Entertainment announces its plans to release the award-winning film More Than Honey in cinemas 23 August. The film asks why bee colonies continue to collapse worldwide and the UK release will feature a brand new narration from legendary actor JOHN HURT.

Beautifully filmed and directed by Oscar nominated Markus Imhoof (The Boat is Full, Les petites Illusions), winner of numerous Best Documentary Awards across international film festivals and stunning cinematography by Jörg Jeshel and Attila Boa, More Than Honey brings sharply into focus our current bee crisis where numerous colonies of bees have been decimated throughout the world with 50% to 90% of bees having disappeared over the past 15 years. With one in three mouthfuls of the food we eat and 80% of plant species dependent on pollination, the honey bee is as indispensable to the economy as it is to man’s survival.

The decline of bees could have an enormous impact on the environment, which is dependent on the insects for pollination. If there is no pollinating insect life, fruits, vegetables, and field crops would be obsolete, leaving the future of much of the world's food supply in question. Or are parasites, new viruses or travelling stress to blame? Seeking answers, the film embarks on a world journey to discover the answers. More Than Honey is the provocative yet touching tale of what may happen if our bees become extinct.

Ian Sadler, Sales Director for Eureka Entertainment commented: “Globally, bee populations are declining significantly and this is an issue for both commercial and non-commercial bee-keepers. Ultimately, if bee populations continue to decline, the impact on just about everything we eat will be enormous. Powerful, beautiful and tragic, More than Honey demonstrates the global nature of the problem, and in doing so captures everything from the awe inspiring emergence of the queen, to the death of a colony.”

More Than Honey will be released theatrically in key cities around the UK and Eire on 23 August 2013.

The Brood Blu-Ray Review

Rating: 18
BD Release date: 8th July 2013 (UK)
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Olivier Reed,Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle
Buy The Brood: [Blu-ray] David Cronenberg’s cult classic The Brood is perhaps one of the most innovative and surprising films to deal with the dangers of psychological therapy. Starring Oliver Reed as the mysterious therapist, Dr Raglan, Art Hindle as Frank Carveth, and Samantha Eggar as Nola Carveth, The Brood explores the possibilities for body horror in medical science without following tired routes: a man desperately clinging to what is left of his family after his ex-wife becomes increasingly more involved with mysterious treatments at a cultish psychological institute, seeks to save his family and solve a recent spate of murders that coincide with his wife’s psychotic turns.

Considering the plot for the film, it would be easy in other hands for The Brood to misfire in a big way, but in careful hands, with a good sense of humour, Cronenberg executes this passion project with nothing short of full genius. One of the things you’ll notice after a first viewing is how brave the film seems once you’ve gotten over the initial shock. The sites of violence and the manner in which those brutal scenes are depicted is riveting and sharp, in particular a class room assault is one of the most controversial yet open-eyed choices in the film.

At points The Brood can stray into laughable territory, spending too much time with hyper-characterized figures and relying a little too much on the apparent terror attached to lonesome children. Cronenberg does, however, carefully balance the humour of his film with visceral imagery and merciless moments of grotesque violence. Yes, the mutant children have perhaps approached their sell-by date and in their bright winter coats appear a wee bit garish but when taken as part of the whole they are still rendered as utterly feral and devious.

The Brood’s cult reputation comes mostly from its classic finale which offers one of the most startling images in horror, and one of the most engaging feminist/horror dialogues committed to film. It is in this shocking final scene that Samantha Eggar unleashes the full fury of her wonderfully damaged psychotic mother-figure and flaunts an unsettling talent for barmy behaviour.

Sharp and well executed, with stand-out performances from Hindle, Reed, and Eggar, and one of cinemas greatest villians and finales, Cronenberg’s The Brood is a sadly often ignored story of relationship breakdown meets horror of the psyche, highly recommended viewing for any classic horror fan.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Broken Blu-Ray Review

Rating:
15
BD/DVD Release Date:
8th July 2013 (UK)
Director:
Rufus Norris
Cast:
Cillian Murphy, Robert Emms, Tim Roth, Eloise Laurence, Rory Kinnear
Buy Broken:
[Blu-ray] / [DVD]

Based on Daniel Clay's 2008 book of the same name, Broken follows 11 year old tomboy Skunk Cunningham (Eloise Laurence), her lawyer dad Archie (Tim Roth) and her brother Jed (Bill Milner) and their life in a London cul-de-sac. After Skunk witnesses a violent attack carried out by the father of the troublesome Oswald family, it sets a series of events in motion that will change life in the suburban North London close for all involved.

The first thing that struck me about the film was just how well acted it all was. It has genuine, human performances from the seasoned pros like Roth and Cillian Murphy all the way down to the kids. Eloise Laurence is astounding as Skunk. She sidesteps every precocious child actor beartrap possible and delivers a very real feeling character you relate to and care about. There are moments of real warmth and charm in the film that work beautifully and really draw you in to the drama.

Broken takes many of its cues from Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Many of the characters and family dynamics are the same. For instance, Tim Roth plays the moral Atticus character “Archie” and the white trash Ewells are now the equally scummy “Oswalds”. It does a good job of modernising it too. The real strength of the film lies in the relationships. Archie's relationship with Skunk is very believable and her interactions with Murphy's teacher Mike are genuinely touching.

What isn't so great is when the film (and presumably the book) goes off at a right angle to the source novel and all subtlety is abandoned in favour of a thick layer of melodrama. I felt that once the film got rid of Mockingbird's stabilizers, it became a much shakier prospect. It does fantastic groundwork in making you root for these characters but when it comes to the final act it opts for a batshit smattering of soap-opera level drama which spoils things somewhat. A hackneyed fantasy sequence near the end had me mourning for the deftness of touch displayed in the first half.

First time director Rufus Norris does a great job. He chops and changes between narrative threads with confidence and the result is very engaging. However, there is an overreliance on standard “Brit grit” conventions and the whole thing feels very stagey. No surprise as both Norris and screenwriter Mark O'Rowe have theatrical backgrounds. Not to sell the film short, but I have the feeling Broken would work even better on the stage.

Broken is a well-acted, well directed character piece. The goodwill it earns is only slightly marred by an overdramatic, student film level bleakness towards the end. Recommended.

★★★☆☆

Ben Browne