Boxing Cats and Scorsese On Cinema

In the film The Magic Box, which was made in England in 1950, the great English actor Robert Donat plays William Friese-Greene—one of the people who invented movies. The Magic Box was packed with guest stars. It was made for an event called the Festival of Britain. You had about fifty or sixty of the biggest actors in England at the time, all doing for the most part little cameos, including the man who played the policeman—that was Sir Laurence Olivier.

I saw this picture for the first time with my father. I was eight years old. I’ve never really gotten over the impact that it had. I believe this is what ignited in me the wonder of cinema, and the obsession—with watching movies, making them, inventing them.

(Read on...)

July, New Titles, 'Zero Dark Thirty', 'Oz The Great And Powerful'

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is lean, mean storytelling: no backstories, no-frills – just action and an effortless forward momentum. Maya is obsessed with tracking down one of her leads: a man said to be Bin Laden’s courier. Some might think Bigelow is apologising for torture with this film. She’s not. She’s interested in why Maya and her CIA colleagues behave as they do – with the detachment of a reporter. We see the desperate context they work in – the tick, tick, tick wait for more bombs to go off around the world. Years pass. We watch a pile-up of dead-ends and mistakes.

Boal spent the best part of a decade talking to counterterrorism operatives, and it shows in his faultless dialogue. At CIA headquarters, they question Maya’s credibility. ‘What do you think of her?’, asks the CIA director (James Gandolfini). ‘She’s smart,’ answers an advisor. ‘We’re all smart,’ he deadpans. It’s 2010, and some analysts doubt Bin Laden is still the game, or perhaps he’s dead. (Time Out)

Other New Titles this month

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (2013)
OSLO AUGUST 31 (2011)
ARBOR, THE (2010)
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: LIVE ARENA TOUR (2012)
FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (2011)
MAMA (2013)
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (2013)
LAST STAND, THE (2013)
PARANORMAN (2012)
HOUSE OF CARDS (2013) SEASON 1
CLOUD ATLAS (2012)
CLOUD ATLAS (2012) BLU-RAY
AMOUR (2012) BLU-RAY
WE DIVE AT DAWN (1943)

June, New Titles, 'Anna Karenina', 'Flight'

In late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina leaves her husband while carrying on an affair with the affluent Count Vronsky and comes to a sticky end. Joe Knight directs this well-reviewed, stylized adaptation of Tolstoy's novel from a screenplay by Tom Stoppard.
'The play-within-a-film provides an effective metaphor for the inescapable gaze of Moscow high society as Anna rebuffs her stodgy husband for the studlier attentions of cavalry officer Vronsky.' (Time Out)

Other New Stuff
SKYLAB (2011)
56 UP (2012)
TOAST (2012)
BACK OF BEYOND, THE (1954)
FLIGHT (2012)
LIABILITY, THE (2012)
SAFE HAVEN (2013)
SWEENEY, THE (2012)
VULGARIA (2012)
JUBAL (1956) CRITERION
GATE OF HELL (1953) CRITERION
REPO MAN (1984) CRITERION
ARIA (1987)
AUGUSTINE (2012)
WEST OF MEMPHIS (2012)
BREAKING BAD SEASON 5 (2012)
VEEP SEASON 1 (2012)
HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN (2012)
I WISH (2011)
JACK REACHER (2012)
NEWSROOM, THE (2012) SERIES 1
TRUE BLOOD (2012) SEASON 5

May, New Titles, 'Hitchcock', 'This Is 40'

'Hitchcock' is the likeable biopic of the great director, concentrating on his marriage at work and home to the formidable Alma, his partner in crime. While 'This Is 40' is the study of marriage of a differently creative kind, a comedy from the Judd Apatow stable that takes another look at the lives of Pete and Debbie a few years after the events of pregnancy horror 'Knocked Up'. "In tried and true Apatowian style, it mixes weighty issues about intimacy and cohabitation with astute and smart-alecky pop culture references, crude bathroom jokes, stoner riffs, boob ogling, and existential angst" - Philadelphia Inquirer.

Other New Titles This Month

NUMERO DEUX (1975)
HITCHCOCK (2012) R4
I AM (2010) R2/4/5
GANGSTER SQUAD (2013) R4
ROOM 237 (2012) R2
RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN (2011) R2
STEP UP TO THE PLATE (2012) R4
THIS IS 40 (2012) R2/4
NUMERO DEUX (1975) R1
HITCHCOCK (2012) R4
I AM (2010) R2/4/5
GANGSTER SQUAD (2013) R4
ROOM 237 (2012) R2
RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN (2011) R2
STEP UP TO THE PLATE (2012) R4
THIS IS 40 (2012) R2/4
PEEP SHOW SERIES 8 (2012) R2
SUN SHINES BRIGHT, THE (1953) R1
DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012) R1
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD (2010) R1
BELOVED (2011) R4
BLANK CITY (2010) R4
COMPLIANCE (2012) R4
LAURENCE ANYWAYS (2012) R4
LOVE STORY (2011) R4
TASTE OF MONEY, THE (2012)
BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD (2011) R4
TUESDAY (2007) R4
BADLANDS (1973) CRITERION R1
I, ANNA (2012) R4
QUARTET (2012) R4
SIGHTSEERS (2012) R4
SAMSARA (2011) R4
SAMSARA (2012) BLU-RAY
DARIA (1997) SEASON 1 R0
DOWNTON ABBEY (2010) SEASON 3 DISCS 1-2 R2/4/5
DOWNTON ABBEY (2010) SEASON 3 DISCS 3-5 R2/4/5
IMPOSTER, THE (2012) R2
MILL AND THE CROSS, THE (2011) R1
ANATOMY OF A RELATIONSHIP | GENESIS OF A MEAL R1
RUST AND BONE (2012) R2
HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (2012) R1
BEING FLYNN (2012) R2/4
CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER (2012) R4
ELECTRICK CHILDREN (2012) R4
KING OF PIGS, THE (2011) R4
LES MISERABLES (2012) R4
WRECK-IT RALPH (2012) R4
LINCOLN (2012)
AMOUR (2012)
MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944)
MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947)
A JIHAD FOR LOVE (2007) R4
ACE ATTORNEY (2012) R4
CLIENT 9: THE RISE & FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER (2010)
DREAMS OF A LIFE (2011) R4
HAIL (2011) R4
LIBERAL ARTS (2012) R2/4
QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, THE (2012) R4
YOU WILL BE MY SON (2011) R4
ZERO DARK THIRTY (2012) R1
ZERO DARK THIRTY (2012) BLU-RAY
EATING RAOUL (1982) CRITERION R1
PURPLE NOON (1960) CRITERION R1
TIN DRUM, THE (1979) CRITERION R1
RED DUST (1932) R1
TERRI (2011) R4
HOBBIT, THE: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012) R1
HOBBIT, THE: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012) BLU RAY
LIFE OF PI (2012) R1
LIFE OF PI (2012) BLU RAY
ALPS (2011) R2
LETTERS TO FATHER JACOB (2009) R4
REBELLION (2011) R4
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (2012) R4
SOUND OF MY VOICE (2011)
THORN IN THE HEART, THE (2009) R2
ENLIGHTENED (2011) SEASON 1 R4
PARADE'S END (2012) R4
HUNT ANGELS (2006) R0
DAY AND NIGHT (2010) R0
KEEP THE LIGHTS ON (2012) R0
PITCH PERFECT (2012) R2/4
PUSHER (2012) R4
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (2012) R4
PLEASE LIKE ME (2013) SERIES 1 R2/4
SKYFALL (2012) BLU-RAY

Argo wins 2013 Best Picture Oscar

It’s a little-known fact that Ben Affleck – celebrity totty, tabloid bait and esteemed filmmaker – has a degree in Middle Eastern affairs from the University of Vermont. It’s a qualification he puts to good use in ‘Argo’, a nail-biting thriller based (fairly loosely) on real events which, for the majority of its length, manages to avoid the expected Hollywood clichés about the Arab world and promote a balanced view of America’s dealings with that troubled region.
It’s 1979, and after the fall of the Shah supporters of the new Islamic rulers of Iran have laid siege to the US embassy, demanding the return of their former leader for trial. But six embassy employees have escaped, and are hiding out in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Enter Tony Mendez...

Other Movies This Month

PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, THE (2012)
SKYFALL (2012)
SESSIONS, THE (2012)
AMERICAN MARY (2012)
FRANKENWEENIE (2012)
LAST DANCE (2012)
33 POSTCARDS (2011)
WHEN A CITY FALLS (2011)
LAWLESS (2012)
TO ROME WITH LOVE (2012)
ON THE ROAD (2012)
MONSIEUR LAZHAR (2012)
ROOM IN ROME (2012)
FIRE IN BABYLON (2012)
KING OF THE HILL (2012)
LOOPER (2012)

 

February, New Titles, 'Looper'

The first thing you notice is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face. Has the star of ‘Inception’ lost a fight with an orbital sander? His nose is oddly flat, his forehead unnaturally smooth. It’s distracting – which is a problem, because ‘Looper’ offers the kind of head-bending sci-fi that you don’t want to be distracted from. Look away, and you’ll miss something important.

The face is intentional, of course: like a futuristic take on the surgerised celebrity lookalikes in ‘LA Confidential’, Gordon-Levitt has had a digital facelift to make him resemble Bruce Willis. In fact his character, gangland assassin Joe, is destined to become Willis, drop back through a portal in time and confront his ‘current’ self. Confused? If you pay attention, you won’t be.

The plot of writer-director Rian Johnson’s third feature is far too convoluted to explain: let’s just say it involves time travel, organised crime, future terrorism, death, loss, hope, regret and genetic mutation. But it’s to Johnson’s credit that, for the attentive viewer, none of these frantic plot contortions ever becomes bewildering: ‘Looper’ lays out a wealth of clever, intriguing concepts lucidly and with precision.

Not that any of these ideas is particularly new. Both the time-travel structure and a late-arriving, even more compelling subplot involving Emily Blunt as an isolated woman with a unique child are familiar from decades of sci-fi, notably ‘The Terminator’, ‘Twelve Monkeys’ and Jerome Bixby’s wonderful 1953 short story ‘It’s a Good Life’ (memorably adapted for ‘The Twilight Zone’).

But, as with his 2005 debut ‘Brick’, it’s how Johnson organises these elements that makes ‘Looper’ special.

Other New Titles
VIVA RIVA! (2010)
ARBITRAGE (2012)
MEAT (2010)
MENTAL (2012)
MY JOY (2010)
BEAUTY (2011)
JAYNE MANSFIELD'S CAR (2012)
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES (2006)
OSS 117: LOST IN RIO (2009)
WARRIOR (2011)
HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (2012)
THE APPARITION (2011)
SEVEN BELOW (2011
BAIT (2011)
WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW: SEEDIQ BALE
GIRLS (2012) SEASON 1 BLU-RAY
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2011) SEASON 2
LAST MOVIE, THE (1971)

January, New Titles, 'Searching For Sugar Man'

All you really have to know about this surprising and emotive music doc is that you should see it. Anyone who enjoyed, say, ‘The Buena Vista Social Club’ or ‘Anvil: The Story of Anvil’, will surely go for this too. It tells the unlikely story of Sixto Rodriguez, a gifted but way-under-the-radar Detroit-based Hispanic singer-songwriter, and, like those other films, it enshrines a deeply moving idea that, in our cynical, superficial world, an authentic spirit will somehow, somewhere find its way to listeners’ hearts.

It’s also the remarkably round-the-houses route of Rodriguez’s odyssey which makes ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ so intriguing. But, to be honest, the less you know about it, the richer your experience will be.

Other New Titles
BARRENS, THE (2012)
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012)
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (2012)
HOLY MOTORS (2012)
KILL LIST (2011)
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012)
WATCH, THE (2012)
PASSIONATE FRIENDS, THE (1949)
VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY, THE (1970)
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY (2012)
MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED (2012)
PEACE, LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDING (2011)
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (2012)
WUNDERKINDER (2011)
YOUR SISTER'S SISTER (2011)
EL GRINGO (2012) R4
EXPENDABLES 2, THE (2012) R4
SAMARITAN, THE (2012) R4
KINGDOM OF PLANTS WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (2012)