5 October 2014
Jarmusch Collection Blu-ray Review - Down By Law (1986)
Genre:
Drama, Comedy
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]
Down by Law was Jim Jarmusch’s third film, his best and most popular. It was also recently re-released in the UK cinemas. Jarmusch’s most ambitious film to date, it marked the beginning of a long collaboration with the cinematographer Robby Müller. It’s an absurdist noir black comedy and remains the only film Jarmusch has used “American money” in it’s funding.
The story concerns three different men who are unknown to each other until they are thrown into jail together in New Orleans. Zack (Tom Waits) is a disk jockey, Jack (John Lurie) is a smalltime pimp, and both are innocent of the crimes they are imprisoned for. Their cellmate is Bob (Roberto Benigni), an Italian tourist who is imprisoned for manslaughter. They eventually hatch a plan to escape and end up in the swamps of the New Orleans Bayou.
Tom Waits, who was almost always a bit player, gets a co-lead here and you really get to see how good actor he can be. John Lurie is great as well and it’s a shame he hasn’t done much acting work since the 80s except some work on the TV show OZ, although this is partly down to illness. Benigni, however, steals the film: he gets all the biggest laughs, his character constantly misunderstands his cellmates to hilarious effect.
Robby Müller, one of the world’s best directors of photography from the 1970s to the early 2000s, shot Down By Law. He hasn’t shot a film in over 10 years, but his influence it still felt around the world. Down by Law contains some of Müller’s best work, the scenes in the Bayou are absolutely beautiful. The nearest comparison would be some of the scenes in Tarkovsky’s first film Ivan’s Childhood. He would end up working with Jarmusch on all his features up to and including Ghost Dog, with the exception of Night on Earth.
Almost 30 years after its release, Down By Law remains a high water mark of Independent cinema, and also of Jim Jarmusch’s career. It’s a surreal farcical trip and even on second and third viewings it still works its strange charm on you. It’s also full of great performances and a great soundtrack supplied by Tom Waits and John Lurie.
The film’s transfer onto Blu-Ray, from what I gather, comes from the same masters as the Criterion Blu-Ray. It looks the best I’ve ever seen, it’s crystal clear throughout but regains the right amount of film grain. The disc features a series of phone calls Jarmusch made to the cast for the original Criterion DVD which are funny and insightful regarding the film and their relationship.
★★★★★
Ian Schultz
Jarmusch Colection Blu-ray Review - Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Genre:
Comedy, Drama
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
John Lurie, Eszter Balint,Richard Edison
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]
Stranger Than Paradise was the film that made Jim Jarmusch’s name, and became one of the first films to come out of Independent film boom of the 80s and 90s. It also has the feel of a first film despite it being Jarmusch’s second feature length film: it’s the first one that is quintessential Jarmusch. It has the characters who are hipper than hip, which are still prevalent in his work—for example in his latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive.
It is a master class in minimalist storytelling, not unlike the minimalism one of Jarmusch’s heroes, Robert Bresson, employed in his work. It’s the story of the New York hipster Wllie (John Lurie) whose Hungarian cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) is visiting but is forced to stay at his place after their Aunt Lotte lands in the hospital. Initially he makes it clear he doesn’t want her to stay, but gradually he starts to enjoy her company. After 10 days she leaves for Cleveland, and the film picks up a year later when Willie and his friend Eddie (Richard Edson) decided to pay Eva a visit.
The film’s performances are naturalistic partly due to all the cast basically playing versions of themselves. Tom DiCillo, who would later be a noted director in his own right with films like Johnny Suede and Living in Oblivion, did the cinematography. It’s shot on leftover film stock, which was supplied by Wim Wenders. Wenders became a friend of Jim Jarmusch’s after watching Permanent Vacation.
The film, despite its obvious limitations and the 30 years that have passed since its release, still is as fresh and exciting when it first came out. It has aged perfectly; it’s a snapshot of a time but at the same time remains timeless, which might be down to the use of black and white. It broke the perceived notion of the independent film as inaccessible artsy crap and made it possible to be entertaining and funny outside the big studio system. It was one of the first micro-budget films that would be a box-office success, something that would be the norm a decade later. It also wound up winning numerous awards, including the Camera D’or at 1984 Cannes film festival.
The film has been restored for this Blu-Ray release and looks as good as the film could possibly ever look due to it’s budget. It includes a silent short “making of,” which was shot by Jim Jarmusch’s brother Tom. It also includes the trailers for Stranger Than Paradise along with trailers for Jarmusch’s other films.
★★★★★
Ian Schultz
Jarmusch Collection Blu-ray Review - Permanent Vacation (1980)
Genre;
Drama
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
Chris Parker, Leila Gastil, John Lurie,
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]
Permanent Vacation is the debut film by Jim Jarmusch. It was made on a shoestring budget of around $15,000 after he dropped out of film school in New York City. It’s a fascinating film, if somewhat pretentious and amateurish: I’m sure Jarmusch himself wouldn’t disagree, and that’s part of its charm.
The film has the loosest “plot” of any of Jarmusch’s films, which is saying something. It’s about a New York New Waver called Allie (Chris Parker) who wanders aimlessly around the barren landscapes of late 70s New York City. He meets a series of random strange individuals though his travels and ponders his place in the world.
Permanent Vacation is a prime example of No Wave filmmaking. No Wave was a movement in the arts that came out of the New York punk scene, it’s most associated with music but it included different forms of visual art including filmmaking. It was a partly a response to the commercialization of punk and the labelling of more pop-orientated punk bands as “New Wave.” The music became increasingly more experimental, incorporating influences from Free Jazz and Avant-Garde music; Jarmusch himself was in the band The Del-Byzanteens, who are quite good.
The most surprising thing about Permanent Vacation, however, is how fully formed Jarmusch really is at such an early stage. It’s full of references to literature, music and film. There is whole scene dedicated to the protagonist reading excerpts from Comte de Lautréamont’s Maldoror and in pure nihilistic fashion, he tells a friend he can have the book because he has no more use for it. He also goes to see a Nicholas Ray film and the concession girl is reading a copy of J.G. Ballard’s Crash. It has similarities to Bresson’s The Devil, Probably so much so that he picked that as the film to play along side it once at a retrospective. It is also full of the extremely deadpan humour that runs though all of Jarmusch’s films.
It’s flawed but it has enough charm, and the short running time makes it an intriguing watch. It’s great to see the development of one of directors who would become a leading light in the American Independent world of the 1980s and 1990s and who continues to be relevant to this day.
It has been restored onto Blu-Ray, but obviously it still looks rough around its edges due to the film’s budget. It also includes a fantastic documentary on Jim Jarmusch made for German TV around the time of the release of his next film, Stranger Than Paradise.
★★★1/2
Ian Schultz
3 October 2014
Win Horror Film Afflicted On DVD
To celebrate the release of Afflicted, out on DVD 6th October 2014, we are happy to say that we have a copy on DVD up for grabs courtesy of Entertainment One.
Afflicted comes straight from the producer of “Insidious” and “Sinister”, and winner of the Best Afflicted reinvents a familiar horror genre with a smart and stylish combination of pulse-pounding action and bloody terror.
Afflicted is one of those movies where the less you know about it going in, the greater the reward. Without giving too much away, it takes a familiar horror genre and gives it a dazzling and totally unexpected spin. Co-writers, co-directors and co-stars Derek Lee and Clif Prowse have produced a stunning debut feature, packed with superlative effects, stunts and performances that belie the movie’s indie roots and modest budget.
Available to order on DVD & Blu-ray from 6th October http://amzn.to/1rM9tdg
Best friends Derek and Clif embark on the trip of a lifetime, planning to travel to the ends of the earth, see the world, and live life to the fullest, while documenting their adventures via video footage posted to their website. But things take a dark and bloody turn when, following an amorous encounter with a beautiful woman in Paris, Derek starts to show signs of a mysterious affliction. Now, thousands of miles from home, they must race to uncover the source of Derek’s illness before it consumes him completely.
To win this fantastic film Afflicted please answer the following question....
Q.What UK Film Festival Did Afflicted make it's UK premiere this during the festivals Horror strand this year?
Deadline is Sunday 26th October 2014 (23:59pm),If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post on twitter and facebook). Must be 18 or older to enter.
1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,Manga UK, Entertainment One UK,18 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void. 4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must 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.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only
UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
Loquax Competitions
Free Competitions
ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions
Film 4 Frightfest Invite You To Their Annual FrightFest Halloween All Nighter
The FrightFest All-Nighter 14 returns to its spiritual home, The Prince Charles Cinema, on Saturday October 25, with five killer titles, including the world premiere of Anthony DiBlasi’s LAST SHIFT.
We kick off with a special preview of The Vicious Brothers EXTRATERRESTRIAL, a fine blend of ‘Close Encounters’ and ‘Communion’ with some of the most extraordinary special effects and camerawork you’ll see in 2015. Next up, THE ABCs OF DEATH 2, needs no introduction. The first was a huge draw at FrightFest Glasgow and now we can scream along to 26 more deaths by 26 handpicked filmmakers. This is followed by the world premiere of Anthony DiBlasi’s demonic horror LAST SHIFT, which had to be dropped from the August line-up because of altered release and completion dates as did our next attraction - the highly anticipated sequel THE PACT II, which has its UK premiere. And Giallo fans will not want to miss our last presentation - the ‘Airplane’ of the Italian thriller genre in the sublime Astron-6 homage THE EDITOR.
Guests attending include The Vicious Brothers, Anthony DiBlasi and Andy Nyman, So, be sure to be part of our terror tribe for the night-ride of your lives
Horror fans around the country can join in the fearsome fun on Saturday 1 November, when the event travels to the GFT Glasgow and the Edinburgh Cameo. On Friday Oct 31, the event hits the Watershed Bristol.
21:00 EXTRATERRESTRIAL (Special Preview)
Five teenagers party in a remote cabin in the woods unaware the region has become a hot bed of bizarre events, military activity and space invader sightings. Then a UFO crashes in the forest and driven by curiosity they decide to investigate. This ambitious second feature from The Vicious Brothers is a wonderfully effective sci-fi fantasy; a close encounter of the shocking kind, which delivers thrills and terror in a surprising special effects package
Director: Colin Minihan. Cast: Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Melanie Papalia, Jesse Moss, Michael Ironside. 106 mins. US 2014
23.40 ABC’s OF DEATH 2 (UK Premiere)
Get ready to learn your ABC's again with 26 new directors and 26 new deaths. Some of the talent in the impressive mix include Vincenzo Natali (SPLICE), E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS), the Soska Sisters (AMERICAN MARY), Aaron Keshales and Navot Papushado (BIG BAD WOLVES) and Larry Fessenden (HABIT). The follow-up to the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived, Provocative, shocking, funny and confrontational, it’s another global celebration of genre filmmaking.
Directors: A lot. Cast: Andy Nyman, Tristan Risk, Mark Grossman, Ryan Winsley, Conor Sweeney. 120 mins. US 2014
02:15 LAST SHIFT (World Premiere)
A rookie cop’s world is turned upside down when she comes face to face with Paymon, King of Hell. From Anthony DiBlasi, director of the past FrightFest presentations MISSIONARY, CASSADAGA and DREAD, comes a new frontier in fear. Officer Jessica Loren has the last shift at a transitioning police station, assigned to wait for a crew picking up bio-hazard waste from the armoury. But unbeknownst to her, cult leader John Michael Paymon has haunted the department ever since he committed suicide in captivity. Jessica is about to find out how dangerous he still is, now alone on the graveyard shift.
Director: Anthony DiBlasi. Cast: Juliana Harkavy, Natalie Victoria, J. LaRose, Joshua Mikel, Amber Watson. 90 mins. USA 2014.
04:30 THE PACT 11 (UK Premiere)
Surpassing the original movie by going into deeper psychological areas to stir up its scares, directors Patrick Horvath and Dallas Richard Hallam's latest episode in the Judas Killer saga once more unfolds a murder mystery linking two intriguing realities that skirt the fine line between being paranormal supernatural and entirely plausible. This time a trauma scene cleaner learns she's the adopted daughter of one of the maniac's past victims and now she's the target of a possible copycat murderer. How an FBI profiler and her cop boyfriend fit into the creepy picture make for neat twists and jolting shocks.
Directors: Dallas Richard Hallam, Patrick Horvath. Cast: Caity Lotz, Camilla Luddington, Scott Michael Foster, Patrick Fischler, Mark Steger. 96 mins. US 2014.
.06: 15 THE EDITOR (Special Preview)
From Astron-6 (MANBORG and FATHER’S DAY), comes the AIRPLANE of Giallo. Editor Rey Ciso is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the four wooden fingers on his right hand a reminder of the dangers of exhaustion. Then the lead actors from the Giallo he’s cutting turn up dead…A brilliant homage to 1970s’ Italian thrillers mixing crime with horror. Watch out for big hair, bad dubbing, inappropriate nudity, ‘hysterical blindness’ and a terrific Claudio Simonetti soundtrack.
Directors: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy. Cast: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Paz de la Huerta, Udo Kier, Laurence R. Harvey. 106 mins. Canada 2014.
Alan Jones, co-director, said today: “Thank you all for making our August Bank Holiday event so wildly successful – the reviews were the best ever and our move to the Vue, Leicester Square, couldn’t have been better received. So we felt it was now an appropriate time to celebrate our roots and the interactive community that makes FrightFest unique amongst global genre festivals.The Prince Charles Cinema is where it all began 15 years ago and this Halloween you can join us for an intimate trip down memory lane and an ultimate shock around the clock experience”.
Passes for the London event cost £40 and go on sale from Friday 3 October. To book go online at Prince Charles Cinema website
or call the Prince Charles Cinema on 0207 494 3654 Tickets can also be bought at the cinema
For details of regional screenings please visit www.frightfest.co.uk Note that the regional venues may not be playing all of the titles screening at the London event so please check local listings
Cinehouse and our mainsite The People's Movies are hoping to be at The Edinburgh and Glasgow all-dayers so if your there do say hello!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)