Kino Lorber Preps Busy March Release Package

Kino Lorber has set an interesting mix of DVD and Blu-ray product offerings for the month of March.   And counted among the listings is one film that is — by any standard — certainly more “interesting” than most.

It is listed as a documentary, but Kumaré — starring and directed by Vikram Gandhi (aka Sri Kumaré) — is more of a “performance” film than anything else.  The DVD streets on Mar. 12 … the ARR works out to 263 days and the box office take was $129,552.

We are in on the premise; the MacGuffin of the film — can’t really use the words “gag” or “joke” — from the get-go.   Vikram Gandhi is a New Jersey native with roots in India and for reasons that are a bit unclear, but seem to make some sense (within the context of the film itself), he sets out to make a documentary about yogis, mystics and gurus and their ability to building followings … cults.

He grows out his beard, adopts the mannerism, the accent and the attire of any self-respecting guru from India and descends upon the unsuspecting in Arizona (filmed in and around the Phoenix area) to gather his flock.   It’s a con job.  He tells the yoga classes that everything he is teaching them is an illusion, but still they come.

In terms of the film experience, Sri Kumaré the guru; the yogi is like Chance Gardner (Peter Sellars) in Being There … “Yes! There will be growth in the spring!”  They listen, they follow, they believe, because they need to believe in something.   

He’s like Forrest Gump, running and running and running and pretty soon he has a whole flock of people running behind him … they too needed to believe in something.  Harold Hill has arrived in River City!

The trick to the film, and you have to give Vikram Gandhi credit for pulling it off, is how he builds the tension as to when he will let the cat of the bag.   He’s not out to harm anyone, but his little film prank has earned him not so much followers, but friends, and hurting them is not what he ever intended.

Elsewhere on the Kino Lorber release schedule in March (in chronological order) are:  Mar. 5, DVD and Blu-ray editions of the 1927 Buster Keaton comedy classic, College: Ultimate Edition.  

Bonus nuggets include commentary from film historian Rob Farr, a 1966 short film, The Scribe (Keaton’s final film) and a “visual essay” on the filming locations for College.

Also streeting on Mar. 5 is documentary filmmaking team of Paul Lovelace and Jessica Wolfson’s Radio Unnamable, a look at the life and times of free spirit and radio broadcast legend, Bob Fass.

The ARR is 165 days and the limited arthouse showcase generated $19,498 in ticket sales.

Shifting to Mar. 12, in addition to Kumaré, Kino Lorber has documentary filmmaker Pip Chodorov’s look at avant-garde cinema in Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film — ARR is 221 days.  

Mar. 12 also marks the DVD and Blu-ray arrival of writer/director Larry Wade Carrell’s Jacob, an indie horror flick about the Kell family, a dysfunctional small town clan with an oafish teen named Jacob (Dylan Horne) and his little sister Sissy (Grace Powell), whose soothing voice keeps him in check.

Now what good would a horror flick be with a Frankenstein-like creature waiting in the wings if little Sissy just says “no, Jacob … come, Jacob.”  You guessed it, some equally deviant inbred (filmmaker Larry Wade Carrell does double-duty in front of the camera as well) does away with the innocent young girl and the monster is loose.

On a side note, one would like to know the production backstory on this one as filmmaker Larry Wade Carrell was able to land sci-fi icon Michael Biehn for flashback sequences — excellently staged and photographed, belying the film’s micro budget — that give the audiences insights into the current state of affairs of the Kell family.        A nice touch.

Bonus features on Jacob include a Q&A session with Carrell, deleted scenes and a video interview with the aforementioned Michael Biehn.

Mar. 19 reveals an interesting mix from Kino Lorber.  There is the French-language import from writer/director Stéphane Robelin, featuring both Jane Fonda and Geraldine Chaplin.   Title for this bittersweet tale of old friends, a retirement home and a student’s project on the subject of aging is All Together. 

A minor arthouse showcase generated ticket sales of  $37,734 … the ARR is 151 days.   (ARR of 151 days; box office: $37,734).   Presented in French with English subtitles.

Also on the foreign-language front on Mar. 19 are DVD and Blu-ray editions of writer/director Luigi Batzella’s 1974 gothic horror tale, Nude for Satan: Remastered Edition.  Genre fans will have two viewing options — the original Italian (with English subtitles) or an English-dubbed version.

Also heading home on Mar. 19 is a Blu-ray presentation of director Michael Cort’s 1969 Brit “sci-fi” sexploitation film, Zeta One: Remastered Edition (aka: The Love Factor).  The plotline: Topless Amazonians from another planet and dimension (Angvia — try moving the letters around on that one) have arrived to kidnap strippers to repopulate their planet.  Un-huh, right … the film didn’t surface theatrically in the United States until 1975.  It worked in 1969.  It worked in 1975 … and it works today.  Some stories are just timeless!

And finally we come to the last street Tuesday of the month of March (Mar. 26) and find documentary filmmaker Scott Thurman’s The Revisionaries (the limited theatrical yielded ticket sales of $18,262 … the ARR is 172 days) and from the film vaults a Blu-ray edition of the 1953 cinéma vérité classic, Little Fugitives (Best Writing Oscar nominee … losing out to Dalton Trumbo’s Roman Holiday).

 To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report