Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk’s excellent “9th Company” is coming out on Blu-ray in the States on August 31st, 2010. No word yet on region coding…
Danish director Henrik Ruben Genz’s “Terribly Happy” (Frygtelig Lykkelig, 2008), co-starring Twitch favorite Kim Bodnia, will be released on DVD in the states on July 13th. If you want to know why Todd has a man-crush on Jakob Cedergren, see this film.
This must be the worst year for Korean movies since I began watching them around six years ago. But high on my list of must-haves is the upcoming Lee Man-hee box set, supposedly due out on retailers’ shelves by the end of August. Another one to look out for, for lovers of pinku eiga, is The Japanese Wife Next Door 2, by Yutaka Ikejima, to be released the middle of September.
Still no word on the Lee Man-hee box set, I’ve checked around with the retailers here and none have been able to confirm a release date, but it looks like it could be the best Korean DVD of the year, along with the single release of Lee’s “The Road to Sampo”. As I mentioned earlier, Pink Eiga has been coming out with some terrific stuff recently, and the films have been accompanied by some extraordinarily generous bonus material. The Japanese Wife Next Door was great fun, if not high art, and Part Two could quite possibly be just as good. Other Japanese sex films certainly worth a blind buy are three being distributed by Wild Side (sorry, French subs only) as part of the roman porno japonais series: Journal érotique d’une infirmière, Le doux parfum deros and Graine de prostituée. All three received good reviews by Sancho does Asia’s Dimitri Ianni.
At last, the Lee Man-hee box set has a release date: September 11th. The box looks basic—sky blue, with the director’s name on the front. Can’t wait to see what’s inside!
At last, the Lee Man-hee box set has a release date: September 11th. The box looks basic—sky blue, with the director’s name on the front. Can’t wait to see what’s inside!
At least three of the films included in this collection are essential viewing (Assassin didn’t do much for me), but the insightful commentary tracks on The Marines Who Never Returned and A Day Off really make this set something to cherish. If you enjoy this one, and you want to learn more about one of Korea’s most gifted directors, you might want to pick up “Korean Film Directors - Lee Man-hee”
I’ve been eye-balling The Experiment. Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker.
I read that it’s based on a German film “Das Experiment,” which is inspired by a Stanford psychology experiment that happened in the 70s.
Has anyone seen the original?
Yes, and the original is very good.
The director of that one (Oliver Hirschbiegel) went on to make the famous “Der Untergang” (aka. “Downfall”) about the last days of Hitler.
Both “Der Untergang” and “Das Experiment” come highly recommended…
If you know someone who’s into pink film and speaks a little French, this just might be the ultimate holiday gift: “Koji Wakamatsu - cineaste de la revolte” - a 192-page illustrated book dedicated to one of pinku eiga’s most influential figures. Along with 15 essays written by Wakamatsu himself, in which he touches on themes as diverse as his engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his thoughts on Korea, his vision of pinku eiga, his childhood and yakuza background, are texts by filmmaker Nagisa Oshima and film critic Jean-Baptiste Thoret. As a bonus, Éditions IMHO have generously thrown in a DVD of La femme qui voulait mourir (The Woman who Wanted to Die, 1970), which has been banned in Japan. The book, to be released on November 27th, sells for 29 euros at the publisher’s website, less at other online retailers.
Pink Eiga has announced that their DVD release of Takahisa Zeze’s “Anarchy in Japan” is just about to hit the shelves. Zeze’s “Heaven’s Story” will be having its world premier at the Berlin Film Festival.
Zeze’s Heaven’s Story just walked away with the critics award at the Berlinale, and Pink Eiga has set March 7th as the release date for Anarchy in Ja(panty).
According to Amazon France, Ocelot’s newest DVD-release of “Dragons and Princesses” appears to have English subtitles, as does the package combining it with “Princes and Princesses”.
I’ve ordered to combined set (I love Ocelot) and will receive it later this week. I’ll let everyone know if it is indeed English-friendly or not…
So, “Evangelion 2.22” will finally be released next week on BluRay in an edition which MIGHT be Region-B compatible, by Funimation. Their release of “Evangelion 1.11” was playable for both Region A and B, so why not this one?
Thing is, try as I might I cannot find any confirmation on region-B compatibility. And this title’s release was negotiated separately from “1.11”, so this time both Madman (in Australia) and Manga-UK (in the UK) may have told Funimation to keep out of region B for this release.
The UK release by Manga-UK will not be in stores for another two months, but Manga-UK has sweetened the waiting time somewhat by announcing a Limited Collector’s edition which will include an extra DVD and a 22-page booklet:
Good for you, Manga-UK! I actually ordered this and will wait another nine weeks, even though the title has been released already here in The Netherlands (without English subs though, I should add).
According to Amazon France, Ocelot’s newest DVD-release of “Dragons and Princesses” appears to have English subtitles, as does the package combining it with “Princes and Princesses”.
I’ve ordered to combined set (I love Ocelot) and will receive it later this week. I’ll let everyone know if it is indeed English-friendly or not…
Scratch that! I’ve just received this set, and while “Dragons and Princesses” is an absolutely gorgeous bag of eyecandy it does not have English subtitles.
So my wife (who speaks French and even lived in Paris for a while) explains the fairytales to me, which… well, adds to the experience. They’re fairytales after all…
