A man determined to not just emulate the character of Tony Manero portrayed by John Travolta in the 1977 film ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ but become the misogynistic screen presence doesn’t naturally come to one’s mind when thinking of viable movie plots. But in Pablo Larrain’s 2008 film ‘Tony Manero‘, he somehow weaves a [...]]]>

A man determined to not just emulate the character of Tony Manero portrayed by John Travolta in the 1977 film ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ but become the misogynistic screen presence doesn’t naturally come to one’s mind when thinking of viable movie plots. But in Pablo Larrain’s 2008 film ‘Tony Manero‘, he somehow weaves a world surrounding this 52 year old with a peppery grey pompadour, striving to win a contest as the “Tony Manero of Chile”.

Raul Peralta (Alfredo Castro) frequents the often abandoned movie theater nearby, re-watching the film, mouthing off the words in English that Tony Manero speaks, almost becoming one with his own personal celluloid god. He steals and deals with a neighborhood criminal to get glass bricks for a dance floor to properly present the disco dancing scenes from the movie for an upcoming show at the cantina he is staying at.

The film opens with him arriving a week early for the Tony Manero lookalike contest, amongst a group of Chuck Norris lookalikes. It’s an awkward uncomfortable scene, like many throughout the film’s 97 minute running time. Without giving too much away, Raul starts to let loose with his vicious violent side, first beating an old woman to death, but only after helping her home after she was mugged by some toughs on the street. He then feeds her cat and watches her color television while her body is seen, blurry in the background. When he returns one day to the theater and sees that ‘Saturday Night Fever’ has been replaced by another John Travolta film, ‘Grease’, he still buys a ticket for it anyway, holding out hope that it might echo something from the previous film. But after a few minutes, he finds his way up to the projectionist’s booth and beats the projectionist’s head into the projector, not even blinking for a second. He then notices the ticket booth attendant, the projectionist’s wife, who has brought up his dinner and we cut to the next scene, with Raul finding the film canister with his eternal mentor but we already know what has happened to the poor lady who stood in the way of his fantasy that gave him any sense of an identity, even a borrowed one.

A big thank you to Kino Lorber Films for releasing this underseen film, which was actually Chile’s submission for the Academy Awards and for good reason. It’s a harsh film, set in a reality that most people don’t even know remotely about. It will make you want to go to Wikipedia and read up on this time in Chile’s history and see where Pablo Larrain and co-writer’s Alfredo Castro and Mateo Iribarren were trying to portray in this film. A character that we can’t relate to at all but in some ways we can relate to the loss of identity and how sometimes it’s easier to escape into the world of film when reality is a bit too scary for one to handle.

Buy Tony Manero From Amazon

Kino leapt into the world of Blu-ray [...]]]>
Coming hot off of the heels of Janus Films picking up the rights to the Charlie Chaplin catalog, it looks like Kino is set to bring to DVD and Blu-Ray one of Buster Keaton’s, Chaplin’s silent counterpart, most legendary films, Steamboat Bill, Jr. Several months back,

Kino leapt into the world of Blu-ray with the Buster Keaton film, The General.

Kino International released a press release this weekend announcing that the film is set to come to DVD and Blu-Ray, with some really excellent special features. Included in the release will be three different musical backing tracks in the form of two scores (one organ and one piano) as well as a complete score by the Biograph Players, as well as a documentary on the making of the film, a stills gallery, a musical montage of stunts and pratfalls, and two recordings of the folk song, Steamboat Bill.

However, one of the coolest features comes in the form of a complete, alternate version of this classic silent comedy. The secondary version of the film is made completely out of variant takes and camera angles, giving the viewer a real reason to watch the film a second time.

Silent films are always some of the toughest for the average film viewer to really get into; however, if there is one way to really get into the era, it’s through films like Steamboat Bill, Jr. It’s still a very funny film, and is one of the more engaging pieces of that era. Hopefully this release will help urge the folks at the Criterion Collection and Janus to make use of their recent Chaplin purchase, and give us the singular releases and the box sets of that film legends films that we so longingly crave. Here’s to hoping.

In the meantime, definitely pick this one up in either DVD or Blu-Ray when it hits shelves on July 6th.

New York, May 14, 2010 – Kino International, the leading distributor of silent cinema in the United States, is proud to release a two-disc edition of Buster Keaton’s STEAMBOAT BILL, JR., on both standard DVD and Blu-Ray (released in a single Blu-ray disc).

Kino’s STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. DVD and Blu-ray, as well as the upcoming LOST KEATON DVD, are set to prebook on June 8, 2010, with a street date of July 6. Kino’s 2-disc STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. DVD comes with a SRP of $29.95, while its Blu-ray counterpart is priced at $34.95. Kino’s LOST KEATON 2-Disc DVD will be available for $34.95.

This definitive edition of Keaton’s classic comedy is newly mastered from archival 35mm materials and is accompanied by a complete alternate version. It was not unusual for filmmakers and studios during the silent era to create two or more versions of a film for the international market, often using different takes and camera angles. The alternate version here also comes from an archival 35mm print.

This special edition offers viewers three optional musical scores: a new score from The Biograph Players, an organ score by Lee Erwin, and a piano score by William Perry. Also included is a 15-minute documentary by film historian Bret Wood exploring the making of the film and the differences between the two versions of the film; “Why We Call Him Buster,” a musical montage of pratfalls and stunts; two vintage recordings of the folk song “Steamboat Bill,” which inspired the film; and a stills gallery.

Synopsis:

William Canfield, aka Steamboat Bill, is the seasoned captain of a rundown Mississippi paddlewheel who finds his business threatened by the arrival of a new competitor, a self-proclaimed riverboat king with deep pockets.

He’s excited, however, by the impending visit of his son, William Canfield Jr. (Keaton), who has been raised and schooled in Boston and whom Canfield hasn’t seen since he was a baby. Much to his shock – and chagrin – young Willie turns out to be far too pampered for the tastes of the crusty old captain, and even worse, Willie sparks up a romance with the daughter of Canfield’s bitter rival. Thus is set in motion a quintessential Keaton scenario: Keaton must prove his bravery and manhood, while battling against the encroachment of modernization.

Filled with  classic Keaton gags – from Willie unsuccessfully trying on a series of hats to his pathetic (and hysterical) attempt to break his father out of jail – STEAMBOAT BILL JR. climaxes with one of the most spectacular sequences in all of silent cinema: Buster Keaton getting caught in the middle of a terrific cyclone as it wipes out much of the town, forcing him to save his girl, his father, and his father’s business. Houses are tossed about, flood waters rage, and Keaton takes a ride through the air on an uprooted tree. But the highlight of the sequence, is the eye-popping shot of a house front collapsing onto a seemingly oblivious Keaton, who miraculously emerges unscathed. It is a shot which film historian Kevin Brownlow has justly called “probably the most celebrated Keaton moment,” and it remains astonishing more than eighty years later.

In addition to Keaton, the cast also includes Ernest Torrence and Marion Byron. Torrence (1878-1933) was among the most recognizable character actors of the 1920s, with prominent roles in such silent-era classics as TOL’ABLE DAVID, THE COVERED WAGON, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE KING OF KINGS.  He was also a memorable Captain Hook in the 1924 version of PETER PAN.

Byron (1911-1985) was just sixteen when she made her film debut here. After working with Keaton, she bounced around Hollywood for a few years, co-starring in some comedy shorts for the Hal Roach studio and playing second leads in a few features into the early 1930s, before moving into increasingly smaller parts. STEAMBOAT BILL JR. would remain her best-known role.

Today, STEAMBOAT BILL JR. is widely regarded as one of Buster Keaton’s greatest achievements. When it was initially released in 1928, however, it was considered a commercial disappointment – just like Keaton’s THE GENERAL, now judged as his best film – and, as such, it became the last of his independently-made features and marked the end of the most productive and creative period of his career.

After STEAMBOAT BILL JR., he was forced to enter into a production deal with MGM, an agreement he would later call the worst decision of his career. But over the decades, the reputation of the film, like Keaton’s reputation as a whole, would continue to grow. The critics Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris notoriously didn’t agree on much, but they both ranked the film among their favorites and were early champions of it. Kael wrote in her book 5001 Nights at the Movies, “One of the least known of the Buster Keaton features, it probably ranks right at the top.”

Special Features

Complete alternate version of Steamboat Bill, Jr., comprised entirely of variant takes and camera angles.

Music by The Biograph Players in 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround

Organ score by Lee Erwin

Piano score by William Perry

Documentary on the making of the film and comparison of the two versions

Stills gallery

“Why They Call Him Buster,” a musical montage of pratfalls and stunts

Two vintage recordings of the folk song “Steamboat Bill”

Specs

U.S.  1928  B&W  69 min.  Full-frame

Directed by Charles F. Reisner

Story by Carl Harbaugh

Photographed by Dev Jennings and Bert Haines

Technical direction by Fred Gabourie

Presented by Joseph M. Schenck

Released through United Artists

Starring Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron, Tom McGuire, Tom Lewis

Our fine friends across the pond at DVDuell.de recently found the new cover art that will accompany the upcoming Masters of Cinema release of the newly restored, “complete” Metropolis.

Anyone else get a Chris Ware vibe from this cover art?

As pointed out in the comments below, Brenden from The [...]]]>

Our fine friends across the pond at DVDuell.de recently found the new cover art that will accompany the upcoming Masters of Cinema release of the newly restored, “complete” Metropolis.

Anyone else get a Chris Ware vibe from this cover art?

As pointed out in the comments below, Brenden from The Blu-ray Blog points out that the artwork is from Boris Bilinsky, “clearly an influence on Ware.”

Here are the supplemental materials that will be included with the release:

• 150-minute feature film (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
• Special-edition packaging with lavish wraparound sleeve and embossed printing
• Pristine film transfers presented on Blu-ray (1080p) and DVD (2-disc)
• Newly translated optional English subtitles
• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010) documentary about the film
• 56-page booklet featuring new essays, archival interviews, vintage production stills, and more
• Further extras to be announced nearer the release date

We’ll be treated to a theatrical run here in the states courtesy of Kino Lorber, who will also be releasing the film on DVD and Blu-ray this fall.

Kino recently released a new trailer, for the Metropolis re-release:

Last November we told you about the new cut of Metropolis that would be screening at the Berlin Film Festival. We then talked about the footage we were able to see which was streamed live over the internet. It looks like Kino is now preparing a theatrical run here in the the [...]]]>

Last November we told you about the new cut of Metropolis that would be screening at the Berlin Film Festival. We then talked about the footage we were able to see which was streamed live over the internet. It looks like Kino is now preparing a theatrical run here in the the states, as well as a DVD/Blu-ray release this fall.

I was able to catch some of the footage that streamed online, but I wasn’t able to get much out of the experience, as far as seeing what was added with the found footage.

With all of the recent talk of the death of the theatrical experience, with more and more content being pushed online directly, it is so reassuring to be a cinephile right now, as we are getting more and more theatrical re-releases of classic films, completely restored. Rashomon, The Red Shoes, Breathless, the list goes on. I was fortunate enough to catch the 2002 restored print of Metropolis while living in San Diego, and I cannot wait to catch the film here in Portland.

What do you think about this re-release? Are you excited about adding 25 minutes to this classic? Will you wait for the home release, even if the film is playing in your city?

Below you’ll find the press release from Kino Lorber.

This new 147-minute version, being released as THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS, premiered on February 12 at the Berlin Film Festival and will have its first US showing on April 25 at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival

The film’s national theatrical release will commence on May 7, with a NY premiere at Film Forum, and on April 14, at Laemle’s Royal Theater in Los Angeles – followed by runs in all major markets throughout the US and Canada. The DVD and Blu-ray release is set for November of this year.

CUTS AND MAJOR RESTORATIONS:

When it was first screened in Berlin on January 10, 1927, the sci-fi epic ran an estimated 153 minutes. After its premiere engagement, in an effort to maximize the film’s commercial potential, the film’s distributors (Ufa in Germany, Paramount in the U.S.) drastically shortened METROPOLIS, which had been a major disappointment at the German box office.

By the time it debuted in the states latter that year, the film ran approximately 90 minutes (exact running times are difficult to determine because silent films were not always projected at a standardized speed).

METROPOLIS went on to become one of the cornerstones of science fiction  cinema foreshadowing BLADE RUNNER and THE MATRIX to name just a few recent examples. Testament to its enduring popularity, the film has undergone numerous restorations in the intervening decades.

In 1984, the film was reissued with additional footage, color tints, and a pop rock score (but with many of its intertitles removed) by music producer Giorgio Moroder. A more archival restoration was completed in 1987, under the direction of Enno Patalas of the Munich Film Archive, in which missing scenes were represented with title cards and still photographs. More recently, the 2001 restoration combined footage from four archives and ran at a triumphant 124 minutes. It was widely believed that this would be the most complete version of Lang’s film that contemporary audiences could ever hope to see.

But, in the summer of 2008, the curator of the Buenos Aires Museo del Cine discovered a 16mm dupe negative that was considerably longer than any existing print. It included not merely a few additional snippets, but 25 minutes of “lost” footage, about a fifth of the film, that had not been seen since its Berlin debut. The discovery of such a significant amount of material called for yet another restoration.

This was executed by Anke Wilkening of the Murnau Stiftung (Foundation), the German institution that is the caretaker of virtually all pre 1945 German films, Martin Koerber Film Department Curator of the Deutche Kinemateque and on the music side, by Frank Stoebel.

The result of their work was first seen by the public on February 12 at the 1600 seat Friederichstrasse Palaste, accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra playing the original 1927 score by Huppertz. The public and critical response was ecstatic.

Regarding the quality of the added footage Ms. Wilkening has said:

“The work on the restoration teaches us once more that no restoration is ever definitive,” says Wilkening, “Even if we are allowed for the first time to come as close to the first release as ever before, the new version will still remain an approach. The rediscovered sections which change the film’s composition, will at the same time always be recognizable through their damages as those parts that had been lost for 80 years.”

This March, Kino will be releasing another in it’s line of recent additions to their Blu-ray library: Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels. Personally, I can’t wait. While I haven’t seen this, I loved Chungking Express, and can’t wait to get some more of his films in high [...]]]>

This March, Kino will be releasing another in it’s line of recent additions to their Blu-ray library: Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels. Personally, I can’t wait. While I haven’t seen this, I loved Chungking Express, and can’t wait to get some more of his films in high definition. From the sound of things, Kino may be releasing another Wong Kar-wai film on Blu-ray in the near future as well.

The Fallen Angels Blu-ray will be released on March 16th, with an SRP of $29.95.

Check out our very first episode, discussing Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express (remember, this is our first episode, we had no idea what we were doing).

From the Kino Press Release:

New York, January 21, 2010 – Kino International, a division of the newly created Kino Lorber, is proud to release the director-approved, 5.1 Stereo Surround edition of Wong Kar-Wai’s Fallen Angels (1997), on Blu-ray.

Featuring some of the most spellbinding and decade-defining visuals of the 1990s, Wong Kar-Wai’s classic film was restored to optimal condition in late 2008, using high-def technology. Under the strict supervision of Wong Kar-Wai, scratches and dust spots were digitally removed and the film’s color gradings were completely reviewed in this new transfer of the film.

After this restoration was made available to the general public on DVD in early 2009, Kino International is now proud to present this film on a format that displays the final restoration work as it was meant to be seen – in high-def. As special features, this blu-ray edition of Fallen Angels bring trailers, a stills gallery, an exclusive interview with director of photography Christopher Doyle, and other behind-the-scene featurettes.

Made of a series of elliptic exchanges and plot twists, together with carefully chosen songs and perfectionist camera work, Days of Being Wild introduced a fully mature filmmaker to the international art scene; this time, it was obvious that everything in a Wong Kar-Wai film (from music  to lighting and dialogue) was thoroughly orchestrated by its director.

FALLEN ANGELS

Set in the neon-washed underworld of present day Hong Kong, Fallen Angels intertwines exhilarating tales of love and isolation, primarily the unconsummated love affair between a contract Killer (Leon Lai Ming) and the ravishing female Agent (Michele Reis) who books his assignments and cleans up after his jobs.

Special Features:

Three Behind-the-scenes Featuretters

Interview with d.p. Christopher Doyle

Trailers

Stills Gallery

Presented in 5.1 Stereo Surround

1995 / Hong Kong / 96 Minutes
Color / Letterboxed (1.85:1) / Not Rated
Written, Produced and Directed by Wong Kar-Wai

Photo Credit: Kino International

Ten years ago, I began my journey into real film studies. Upon deciding that I wanted to go into film-making as a profession, I began watching everything and anything I could get my hands on. While my dreams of working behind the camera or in an [...]]]>

Ten years ago, I began my journey into real film studies. Upon deciding that I wanted to go into film-making as a profession, I began watching everything and anything I could get my hands on. While my dreams of working behind the camera or in an editing room have dulled slightly over time, I still love watching any movie that comes across my screen. Loren Cass was no different. However difficult it is, to digest this harsh world set before us, it is nevertheless an interesting ride.

With Loren Cass, director Chris Fuller presents us with a raw, unpolished look at a very specific segment of society, during a time of boredom, angst, and undirected anger. The American independent film movement was presented with similar film-making in Larry Clark’s Kids and Bully, Harmony Korine’s Gummo, and to some extent, David Gordon Green’s George Washington. While I don’t think Loren Cass will necessarily gain the following that those films have, it certainly presents as strong a vision.

We are presented with an area of Florida, that has seen a riot in it’s recent past, but whose inhabitants are still disaffected, harboring resentment towards the other races. The three main characters are each going through the motions of daily life, without ever really doing anything substantial with their lives. We see a snapshot of their lives in this moment, without the obligatory idea of imposing a narrative, where none is needed.

Loren Cass will turn your stomach, not because of any graphic imagery, because of the exact opposite. You want something to happen, for these characters to get themselves out of the world they’ve grown up in, and in turn, you feel for them. I wouldn’t go so far as to call any of the people on screen sympathetic, except perhaps Cale, the mechanic. That could be simply because I can relate to the romantic situation he finds himself in. Overall, these people are almost embarrassingly honest in their performances. I would never want to be friends with these people, but I would like to see them at a happier place in life.

This is obviously Chris Fuller’s first film. I say that with all of the respect and admiration a former film student can give another. The shots are not particularly inspiring, the music, abrasive at times. These, however, create a sense of realism that just isn’t found in many of today’s filmmakers. I’m thinking specifically of this past years (500) Days of Summer, directed by Marc Webb. I felt that film lacked any sense of realism, in it’s attempt to create a believable story of love and loss.

This is a film that will certainly reward repeat viewings, as you will be able to observe the small nuances each actor brings to the screen, however unsavory they may be. If you enjoyed your viewing of David Gordon Green’s George Washington, or Harmony Korine’s Gummo, you’ll certainly want to add this to your Netflix queue.

Kino Video will be releasing Loren Cass on DVD on Tuesday January 5th, 2010. The DVD is barebones, which is a real disappointment, after reading all that went into making this film. I’m sure a commentary, or a documentary would be incredibly rewarding. Hopefully, if this film finds a larger audience, a future release will include more than just the film itself.

Buy Loren Cass from CriterionCast through Amazon.