New Titles, April, 'Once Upon A Time In Anatolia'

The new film from Nuri Bilge Ceylan follows a group of men driving across the Turkish steppe, hunting for the body of a murder victim. The murderer is in the car. The men are cops, escorting him to the site where he has buried the remains. The film is a cop procedural, with a difference. For the director is Turkey's answer to Andrei Tarkovsky, Bela Tarr, Angelopoulos and Sokurov. The great bores of modern cinema. This is Tarantino for film studies PhD's.

Murder mysteries rarely run as deep as this long, dark night of the soul from Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director of ‘Uzak’ and ‘Three Monkeys’. Ceylan is a master of brooding stories defined by their wry questioning of human nature and often focused on men in crisis. He has an unflinching eye for the worst in all of us and for the black comedy and absurd banalities of everyday life.

For his sixth film, Ceylan has chosen his bleakest canvas yet: a murder investigation that begins in the dark wilds of the great Anatolian outdoors and ends in the cold light of an autopsy room. In tone, it’s Ceylan’s most epic and talky film yet. But don’t be fooled – it’s also his most mysterious and meditative.

Other New Stuff This Week

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2010)

DREAM HOUSE (2011)

PUSS IN BOOTS (2011)

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (2011)

SHAMELESS (US) SEASON 1 (2011)

FIRST GRADER, THE (2010)

JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER (2011)

SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS, THE (2010)

IDES OF MARCH, THE (2011)

IDES OF MARCH, THE (2011) BLU-RAY

TREME SEASON 2 (2011) DISC 1-2

TREME SEASON 2 (2011) DISC 3-4

BURNT BY THE SUN (1994)

ANNA: FROM 6 TILL 18 (1994)

DARK EYES (1987)

New Titles, March, 'Vanya On 42nd St', 'Moneyball', 'My Week With Marilyn'

A great list of titles for the month of March. Best of all, it's good to see 'Vanya On 42nd Street' from Criterion. If you want to see other versions of Chekhov's play, check out the 'Anton Chekhov' set for the Olivier, Ian Holm & Anthony Hopkins versions.

We also changed our Rent By Mail policy. Now you can rent one title at a time for only $7.70 a time, and keep it for up to one month. (4 titles still costs $19.95). We also repeated our popular special so members can pay $20 and get $50 of rental credits on their account.

ATTENBERG (2010)

MONEYBALL (2011)

MYSTERIES OF LISBON (2010)

RED STATE (2011)

TRANSIT (2012)

IMMORTALS (2011)

PROJECT NIM (2011)

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (2011)

THE DESCENDANTS (2011)

HIGHER GROUND (2011)

MARGIN CALL (2011)

GILIAP (1975)

AMARCORD (1973) BLU-RAY CRITERION

RECONSTRUCTION, THE (1970)

DAYS OF '36 (1972)

TRAVELLING PLAYERS, THE (1975)

HUNTERS, THE (1977)

DEBT, THE (2010)

GUILTY OF ROMANCE (2011)

KNUCKLE (2011)

REAL STEEL (2011)

SHOCK DOCTRINE, THE (2009)

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011)

BREAKING BAD SEASON 4

DESK SET (1957)

STATE OF THE UNION (1948)

RUM DIARY, THE (2011)

VANYA ON 42ND STREET (1994) CRITERION

PORTRAIT D'UNE ENFANT DECHUE (1970)

PROVIDENCE (1977)

STRUCTURE OF CRYSTAL, THE (1969)

WALKING DEAD, THE SEASON 1 (2010)

J. EDGAR (2011)

DAYS OF THE ECLIPSE (1988)

IL DONO (2003)

ILLUMINATION (1973)

ILLUSION TRAVELS BY STREETCAR (1954)

L'AMOUR FOU (1969)

THE MIRROR (1997)

THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (1973)

OUT 1 (1971)

THE QUINCE TREE SUN (1992)

SUMMER IN THE CITY (1970)

SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY (1988)

VISITOR OF A MUSEUM (1989)

TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (2011)

OUR IDIOT BROTHER (2011)

PERFECT SENSE (2011)

TAKE SHELTER (2011)

DRIVE (2011) REGION 4

TT: CLOSER TO THE EDGE (2011)

HUGO (2011)

TINY FURNITURE (2010) CRITERION

THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI (1964) CRITERION

LES GIRLS (1957)

GODZILLA (1954) CRITERION

POTO AND CABENGO (1980) CRITERION

ROUTINE PLEASURES (1986)

MY CRASY LIFE (1992)

WARP VISION: THE VIDEOS 1989-2004

BELLE DE JOUR (1967) Criterion

XALA (1974)

A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (1996)

MOMENT OF TRUTH, THE (1965) CRITERION

3 BY THEO (1994, 1996, 2003) 3 X DVD SET

BEST MAN, THE (1964)

DROLE DE DRAME (1937)

TAKEN (2008)

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)

BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK (2010)

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 1 (2011)

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 1 (2011) BLU-RAY

MILDRED PIERCE (2011)

THE WHISTLEBLOWER (2010)

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (2009)

ANOTHER EARTH

ANONYMOUS (2011)

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2: FULL SEQUENCE (2011)

IN TIME (2011)

BELLFLOWER (2011)

PINA (2011) BLU-RAY

ANOTHER EARTH (2011) BLU-RAY

February, New Titles, 'Dust Of Time' 'Melancholia'

Theo Angelopoulos (1936-2012)

The Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos, who has died aged 76 in a road accident, was an epic poet of the cinema, creating allegories of 20th-century Greek history and politics. He redefined the slow pan, the long take and tracking shots, of which he was a master. His stately, magisterial style and languidly unfolding narratives require some (ultimately rewarding) effort on the part of the spectator. "The sequence shot offers, as far as I'm concerned, much more freedom," Angelopoulos explained. "By refusing to cut in the middle, I invite the spectator to better analyse the image I show him, and to focus, time and again, on the elements that he feels are the most significant in it."

Angelopoulos was born in Athens, where he studied law. After military service, he went to Paris to attend the Sorbonne but soon dropped out to study at the IDHEC film school (now known as La Fémis). Back in Greece, he worked as a film critic for the leftist daily Allagi, which was closed down by the military junta that came to power in 1967. The seven-year regime of "the colonels" was seared into his consciousness and remained a subject – overtly or subliminally – throughout his oeuvre. (Guardian)

Other New Titles

ACROSS THE LINE (2010)

LOPE (2010)

KILLING, THE VOL.2 (2007)

INBETWEENERS MOVIE, THE (2011)

OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST (2008)

CONTAGION (2011)

DRIVE (2011)

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011)

MELANCHOLIA (2011)

THE DUST OF TIME (2008)

SALT OF LIFE (2011)

A PATCH OF BLUE (1965)

BOYFRIEND, THE (1971)

IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (1982) CRITERION

FUTURE, THE (2011)

GETTING STRAIGHT (1970)

AUTOLUMINESCENT (2011)

THING, THE (2011)

THING, THE (2011) BLU-RAY

HUNTER, THE (2011)

FOOTLOOSE (2011)

TALL MAN, THE (2011)

HELP, THE (2011)

DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) 2 DISC CRITERION EDITION

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (1947)

SOMETHING OF VALUE (1957)

TAWNY PIPIT (1944)

KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP!

MONTE CARLO (2011)

HOSTEL PART 3 (2011)

ZOOKEEPER (2011)

TEMPEST, THE (2010)

A WARM DECEMBER (1972)

MOON AND SIXPENCE, THE (1943)

VANINA VANINI (1961)

REV - SERIES 1 (2011)

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 (1987)

THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011)

PARIS: THE LUMINOUS YEARS (2010)

ARRIETY (2010)

SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2011)

LET THE BULLETS FLY (2010)

DOORS MR. MOJO RISIN' THE STORY OF LA WOMAN (2011)

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (2011)

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

APOLLO 18 (2011)

BUNRAKU (2010)

LEAP YEAR (2010)

February, New Titles, 'The Skin I Live In', 'Crazy Stupid Love', 'Hostel 3'

Pedro Almodóvar again reveals his genius for turning the ridiculous into the sublime with this creepy skin flick – THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011) - a melodramatic thriller that is sombre but never sober and that moves through time and space with much of the boldness and style we’ve come to expect from Spain’s leading director. Antonio Banderas puts in a charismatic turn as a tragic figure touched by evil. The last time Banderas worked with Almodóvar was for ‘Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!’ in 1990. Twenty-one years later, they’re back together for an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet’s French novel ‘Mygale’ (‘Tarantula’ in English translation), the story of a plastic surgeon, Dr Robert Ledgard (Banderas), whose skills with the knife allow him to take control of a messy personal life in ways unimaginable to anyone but him. Banderas puts in a commanding performance in a film whose thriller tendencies are made doubly interesting by also being an artful study of masks and identities, sex and flesh, bodies and power.

Other New Stuff

PARIS: THE LUMINOUS YEARS (2010)

ARRIETY (2010)

SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2011)

LET THE BULLETS FLY (2010)

DOORS MR. MOJO RISIN' THE STORY OF LA WOMAN (2011)

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (2011)

MONTE CARLO (2011)

HOSTEL PART 3 (2011)

ZOOKEEPER (2011)

TEMPEST, THE (2010)

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

APOLLO 18 (2011)

BUNRAKU (2010)

LEAP YEAR (2010)

DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) 2 DISC CRITERION EDITION

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (1947)

SOMETHING OF VALUE (1957)

TAWNY PIPIT (1944)

KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP! (Godard)

A WARM DECEMBER (1972)

MOON AND SIXPENCE, THE (1943)

VANINA VANINI (1961)

REV - SERIES 1 (2011)

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 (1987)

January, New Titles, 'One Day', 'Beginners', 'Priest', 'Vigo'

The worries about this adaptation of David Nicholls’ much-loved and likeable 2009 novel were obvious when it was first announced. Could Anne Hathaway pull off the character of a Northern lass (‘We spent all our summers in a caravan in Whitby’), first as an Edinburgh student and later a graduate working in a Taco joint? Would Danish director Lone Scherfig be sensitive to the book’s subtle but playful period stylings? Would the film’s makers resist the temptation to tip what was already a slightly gimmicky and cloying story into the territory of full-on romantic sap? And how could one film do justice to 23 eventful years in the lives of confident public-school boy Dexter and earthy, less assured Emma (Hathaway) – two opposites whom the novel visits once a year on the same date they first have a romantic encounter in 1988 as students?

The result is a compromise – but not a disastrous one. Nicholls’ script follows his novel closely as a ‘greatest hits’ spin on the book, rather than taking it anywhere new. Dexter follows a path of success, hubris and self-destruction, followed by rehabilitation, while Emma takes equally as long to discover what she wants from life and a friendship with Dexter, but without the accompanying obnoxiousness.


Other new stuff this week
SMURFS, THE (2011)
PRIEST (2011)
ONE DAY (2011) BLU-RAY
WEEDS SEASON 6 (2010)
COMPLETE JEAN VIGO, THE (1930-1934) CRITERION
LANDMARKS OF EARLY SOVIET FILM
RIVER MURDERS, THE (2011)
BEGINNERS (2010)
CHANGE-UP, THE (2011)
FROZEN PLANET
INTO THE UNIVERSE with Stephen Hawking

New titles, December, 'Gainsbourg', 'Senna', 'The Guard'

First-time writer-director Joann Sfar, known for his popular comic ‘The Rabbi’s Cat’, tries to get under the skin of his subject, French pop crooner Serge Gainsbourg, rather than detail his every scandalous misadventure.

To a certain extent he succeeds, leaving us in no doubt of the lasting impression made on young Lucien Ginsburg by being forced to wear a yellow star in wartime Paris, where Nazi propaganda covered the streets with anti-Semitic grotesquerie. The film’s most daring move is to have one of these caricatures step down off the wall and become a life-size marionette which follows Gainsbourg around. However, instead of eating away at his confidence, ‘La Gueule’ (‘The Mug’) becomes a Tyler Durden-esque alter-ego prompting showbiz-aspirant Serge to further deeds of daring naughtiness. Yes, my boy, you shall shag Salvador Dalí’s girlfriend on the artist’s sofa!

With chic animated interludes adding to the appeal, it’s clear there’s an element of visual brio not found in every musical biopic, as this self-styled ‘Vie Héroïque’ happily encompasses sundry winning female performances (Anna Mouglalis as a slinky Ms Greco, Laetitia Casta as a voluptuous Bardot, the late Lucy Gordon as a gamine Miss Birkin) while happily spotlighting lookalike Eric Elmosnino's convincingly addled incarnation of the title role.

In the end the film suffers, as did 'Walk The Line' and a host of other music-star biopics, from following the lifestory too literally rather than taking a fictional whizz on the idea. Come back Ken Russell, all is forgiven.

Other new stuff this month...

5 DAYS OF WAR (2011)

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

GUARD, THE (2011)

CATCH .44 (2011)

GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, THE (2011)

GANTZ (2010)

JANE EYRE (2011)

SENNA (2011)

SENNA (2011) BLU-RAY

COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011)

COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011) BLU-RAY

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011)

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011) BLU-RAY

GREEN LANTERN (2011)

LARRY CROWNE (2011)

BEAUTIFUL LIES (2010)

WU XIA (2011)

WICKER MAN, THE (1973)

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011) BLU-RAY

TREE OF LIFE, THE (2011)

TROLL HUNTER (2010)

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (2011)

CARLOS (2010) CRITERION

EVIL DEAD, THE (1981) BLU-RAY

EVIL DEAD 2 (1987) BLU-RAY

AO: THE LAST NEANDERTHAL (2010)

JOHNNY THE GIANT KILLER (1950)

STAR SPANGLED GIRL (1971)

FUTURAMA SEASON 5 (2009-2010)

A MAN VANISHES (1967)

R (2010)

30ROCK SEASON 4 (2009)

A BING CROSBY CHRISTMAS (1998)

THE COMPLETE HUMPHREY JENNINGS (1934-1940) BLU-RAY

THE COMPLETE HUMPHREY JENNINGS (1934-1940)

ORPHEUS (1950) CRITERION

GAINSBOURG (2010)

STRIP-TEASE (1963)

LE BEAU SERGE (1958) CRITERION

KURONEKO (1968) CRITERION

JUMPING JACK FLASH (1986)

CONTACT (2000)

Ken Russell (1927-2011)

The great British director has died, aged 84; his most notorious film 'The Devils' will be released by the BFI this coming March.

In May this year, Ken Russell came to the first UK screening of one of his most notorious films, The Devils, in a newly restored form. He was frail and unable to make it down the steep steps of the Barbican’s main cinema screen, so sat at the back, but managed to participate in the on-stage Q&A thanks to a roving mike. Precise recall wasn’t always within his power, but a lot of the old fire was undimmed, as he recounted his battles with Warner Brothers over the cuts they demanded, and his pride at getting to see something close to the original assembly – thanks to the detective work of Mark Kermode, among others – with a sold-out audience.

Having caught only the tail end of the film on late-night Channel 4 in my teens, it was pretty thrilling to experience it fully and for the first time in the company of Russell himself. It’ll come to be seen as the defining film of a great hellraising career: one in which hell was sometimes almost literally raised, as at the castle of Lord Byron in his 1986 literary fantasia, Gothic.

Russell’s reputation for outlandishness – he was certainly one of the maddest imagists British cinema has ever spawned – should never be taken as the whole story, though. He could work within the establishment as well as outside it, and it’s interesting how many of his films launched themselves into mania from the springboard of seemingly respectable genres, such as literary adaptation (he returned committedly to DH Lawrence) or biopics of classical composers. An Oscar nominee for his direction of 1969’s Women in Love, which won Best Actress for Glenda Jackson, he even dipped his toe into Hollywood waters with the inimitably bonkers one-two of Altered States (1980) and Crimes of Passion (1984): a bit like slapping your host on one cheek, then the other, and wondering if you’ll be asked back.

There was mischief, insult and daring in Russell’s vision, and a playfulness that made him unique – his favourite game was to exploit the starchy norms of British prestige cinema and then abruptly throw an orgy, or blow loud raspberries in the direction of the church. In this sense he followed the rudely provocative tradition of Fellini or Buñuel , but fused that with an antic spirit of thoroughly British eccentricity. His idea of a costume drama was pretty much the antithesis of what Merchant-Ivory said it should be: one where everyone ran around giggling, things exploded and wigs went flying. Only with Mahler’s 5th playing instead of the Benny Hill theme tune. (Daily Telegraph)

Rent Ken Russell at Video Dogs - Women In Love, Lady Chatterley, The Rainbow, The Lair of the White Worm, Gothic, Mahler, Elgar, Delius, Lisztomania, Tommy, Altered States, Whore, and Billion Dollar Brain. Plus, Ken Russell at the BBC. Coming soon, 'The Boyfriend' & 'Music Lovers'