New DVD • Blu-ray • 4K Ultra HD Additions For The Period Ending October 23, 2020

 

 New DVD Additions

 

Artsploitation

10/20/20 — Released Welcome to th

e Circle

 

Criterion Collection

01/12/21 — Sets Minding the Gap

01/19/21 — Sets Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

01/26/21 — Sets Ascent (Russian) (2 disc set)

 

EWTN

10/13/20 — Released @ Home with Jim & Joy: Daniel McCormick ? Young and Young Adults in the Catholic Faith and World Over with Raymond Navarro: Analysis of explosive charges made by former Papal Nuncio of the United States- Edward Pentin / Robert Royal / Gerald Murray

10/20/20 — Released @ Home with Jim & Joy: Bill Donaghy / TOB Head to Heart, @ Home with Jim & Joy: Jim and Joy Pinto Answer Viewer Calls, Questions, And E-Mails Live From the Pinto House, Called to Communion, Women of Grace: Praying for Our Fallen Away and World Over with Raymond Navarro: Mary Matalin / Fr. Gerald Murray / Walid Phares / Gary Sinise

 

Film Detective

01/19/21 — Sets Giant from the Unknown

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released After So Many Days, Chop Chop, Drowning, Five Years Apart and How to Fix a Primary

 

HBO Home Entertainment (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Plot Against America: The Complete Series (2 disc set)

 

Hallmark Channel (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Cheerful Christmas, Christmas Miracle and New Christmas

 

High Octane Pictures (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Rumble Strip

 

I-Cine

10/20/20 — Released Ben Nhau La Co Sai (32 disc set) and Cam Y Chi Ho (18 disc set)

 

Icarus Films

12/08/20 — Sets My Dog Stupid (French)

 

Image Entertainment

10/20/20 — Released Confessional

 

Indie Rights (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Myth

 

Kalmbach Publishing Company

10/20/20 — Released Rehab My Railroads, Volume 5

 

Kino Lorber

10/20/20 — Released Ape, Drifting (silent-1923)/The White Tiger (silent-1923), Killdozer, Outside the Law (silent-1920) and Picture Mommy Dead

 

Pentrex

10/20/20 — Released MARC Railroading: Summer 1994

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Best of Spidar Boodrow: Web of Destruction, Epic Wrestling Entertainment: Tradiciones Enmascarades - Jeffersonville, IN, H2O Wrestling: Pay Your Dues - Williamstown, NJ, IWA Mid-South: 24th Anniversary … in the Beginning - Connersville, IN and IWA Mid-South: This is Our House - Jeffersonville, IN

 

The High School Sports Network (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released 2020 AHSAA 3A North Volleyball Regional Championship: Plainview vs Pleasant Valley - Huntsville, AL, 2020 AHSAA 3A South Volleyball Regional Championship: TPS vs Houston Academy - Montgomery, AL, 2020 AHSAA 4A North Volleyball Regional Championship: Curry vs Madison County - Huntsville, AL, 2020 AHSAA 4A South Volleyball Regional Championship: Montgomery Academy vs LAMP - Montgomery, AL, 2020 AHSAA 5A North Volleyball Regional Championship: West Point vs Fairview - Huntsville, AL, 2020 AHSAA 5A South Volleyball Regional Championship: Satsuma vs Bayside Academy - Montgomery, AL, 2020 AHSAA 7A North Volleyball Regional Championship: Spain Park vs Hoover - Huntsville, AL, 2020 AHSAA 7A South Volleyball Regional Championship; McGill-Toolen vs. Prattville - Montgomery, AL, 2020 IHSAA 3A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #1: Gooding vs Timberlake - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Weiser vs Sugar-Salem - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #3: American Falls vs SV Community - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #4: CDA vs McCall-Donnelly - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Boys Soccer Semifinals #1: Weiser vs Gooding - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #1: Kimberly vs CDA - Post Falls, ID , 2020 IHSAA 3A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Teton vs McCall-Donnelly - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #3: Sugar-Salem vs SV Community - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #4: Timberlake vs Marsh Valley - Post Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 3A Girls Soccer Semifinals #1: McCall - Donnelly vs CDA - Post Falls, ID , 2020 IHSAA 4A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Vallivue. Vs Sandpoint - Idaho Fall, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #3: Canyon Ridge vs Century - Idaho Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #4: Caldwell vs Blackfoot - Idaho Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Boys Soccer Semifinals #1: Vallivue vs Jerome - Idaho Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Boys Soccer Semifinals #2; Blackfoot vs Canyon Ridge - Idaho Falls, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Middleton vs Moscow - Ammon, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #3: Canyon Ridge vs Preston - Ammon, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #4: Columbia vs Skyline - Ammon, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Girls Soccer Semifinals #1: Middleton vs Twin Falls - Ammon, ID, 2020 IHSAA 4A Girls Soccer Semifinals #2: Columbia vs Preston - Ammon, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #1: Timberline vs Thunder Ridge - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Centennial vs Rocky Mountain - Coeur d'Alene, ID , 2020 IHSAA 5A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #3: Boise vs Post Falls - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Boys Soccer Quarterfinals #4: Madison vs Eagle - Coeur d'Alene, ID , 2020 IHSAA 5A Boys Soccer Semifinals #1: Thunder Ridge vs Rocky Mountain - Coeur d'Alene, ID , 2020 IHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #1: Kuna vs Highland - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #2: Mountain View vs Boise - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #3: Timberline vs Lake City - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Quarterfinals #4: Madison vs Rocky Mountain - Coeur d'Alene, ID, 2020 IHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Semifinals #1: Boise vs Highland - Coeur d'Alene, ID  , 2020 OSSAA 4A Softball Championship Finals: Lone Grove vs. Tuttle - Oklahoma City, OK, 2020 OSSAA 5A Girls Volleyball Championship: Victory Charter vs. Mount St. Mary - Oklahoma City, OK, 2020 OSSAA 5A Softball Championship Finals: Coweta vs. Carl Albert - Oklahoma City, OK, 2020 OSSAA 6A Girls Volleyball Semifinals #1: Mustang vs. Santa Fe - Choctaw, OK, 2020 OSSAA 6A Girls Volleyball Semifinals #2: Jenks vs. Bishop Kelley - Choctaw, OK, 2020 OSSAA 6A Softball Championship Finals: Owasso vs. Southmoore - Oklahoma City, OK, 2020 OSSAA Class 6A Volleyball Quarterfinals #1: Mustang  vs. Deer Creek - Choctaw, OK, 2020 OSSAA Class 6A Volleyball Quarterfinals #2: Santa Fe vs. Norman North - Choctaw, OK, 2020 OSSAA Class 6A Volleyball Quarterfinals #3: Bishop Kelley  vs. Edmond North - Choctaw, OK, 2020 OSSAA Class 6A Volleyball Quarterfinals #4: Bishop McGuinness  vs. Jenks - Choctaw, OK, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 1A Volleyball Championship Game #1: Summertown vs Meigs County - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #1: Anderson County vs. Greenville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #10: Central vs East Hamilton - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #11: Anderson County vs Nolensville - Murfressboro, TN , 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #12: Central vs Greeneville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #13: Central vs Anderson County - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #2: Central vs. Covington - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #3: Nolensville vs. Signal Mountain - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #4: East Hamilton vs. Crockett County - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AA Volleyball Championship Game #5 : Anderson County vs. Central - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #1: Collierville vs. Brentwood - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #10: Cooksville vs Siegel - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #11: Brentwood vs Houston - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #2: Cooksville vs. Science Hill - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #3: Houston vs. Station Camp - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #4: Siegel vs. Maryville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #5 : Brentwood vs. Cookeville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship Game #6: Houston vs. Maryville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1 AAA Volleyball Championship: Siegel vs Brentwood - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #10: Watertown vs South Greene - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #11: Summerton vs Loretto - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #12: Watertown vs Sale Creek - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #13: Sale Creek vs Loretto - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #2: Union City vs. Watertown - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #3: Halls vs. Sale Creek - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #4: Loretto vs. South Greene - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #5: Summerton vs. Watertown - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div 1A Volleyball Championship Game #6: Sale Creek vs. Loretto - Smyrna, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div I Class 2A Volleyball Championship: Anderson County vs Nolensville - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div II A Volleyball Championship Game #1: BGA vs. Notre Dame - Murfreesboro, TN, 2020 TSSAA Div II A Volleyball Championship Game #2: King's Academy vs. Goodpasture - Murfreesboro, TN , 2020 TSSAA Div II A Volleyball Championship Game #4: Notre Dame vs. Goodpasture - Murfreesboro, TN , 2020 TSSAA Div II AA Volleyball Championship Game #3: St. Agnes vs. Knoxville Catholic - Murfreesboro, TN and

2020 TSSAA Div II Class AA Volleyball Championship: Baylor vs Briarcrest - Murfreesboro, TN

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

10/20/20 — Released Secrets We Keep (ARR of 32 days; box office: $207,928) and Tremors: Shrieker Island

 

Vertical Entertainment

10/20/20 — Released No Escape (ARR of 32 days; box office: $163,369)

 

 

 

New Blu-ray Additions

 

 

AGFA

11/24/20 — Sets She Mob/The Girl From Pussycat

 

Adler & Associates Ent. (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Tijuana Jackson

 

Arrow Video

01/26/21 — Sets Southland Tales (2 disc set)

 

Artsploitation

10/20/20 — Released Welcome to the Circle

 

Cappella Romana

10/20/20 — Released Benedict Sheehan: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

 

Colossal Content (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Expulsion

 

Criterion Collection

01/05/21 — Sets Three Films by Luis Buñuel (3 film set: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (French), The Phantom of Liberty (French), That Obscure Object of Desire (French))

01/12/21 — Sets Minding the Gap

01/19/21 — Sets Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

01/26/21 — Sets Ascent (Russian)

 

Dark Force Entertainment, LLC

01/19/21 — Sets Blue Monkey

 

Film Detective

01/19/21 — Sets Giant from the Unknown

 

Fun City Editions

11/24/20 — Sets I Start Counting

 

FUNimation

10/20/20 — Released Lord of Vermillion: The Complete Uncut Series (2 disc set) and Your Name (Japanese)

 

Good Deed Entertainment (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Tijuana Jackson

 

Gravestone Films (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Samhain

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released After So Many Days, Chop Chop, Drowning, Five Years Apart and How to Fix a Primary

 

Image Entertainment

10/20/20 — Released Owners, Quiz and Scare Package

 

Indie Rights (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Myth

 

Kino Lorber

10/20/20 — Released Ape, Drifting (silent-1923)/The White Tiger (silent-1923), Fear No Evil/Ritual of Evil, Killdozer, Outside the Law (silent-1920) and Picture Mommy Dead

 

Mill Creek Entertainment

01/12/20 — Sets Ultraman Taro: The Complete Series (6 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

 

Monster Pictures (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released Kings of Indiana

 

Naxos

10/20/20 — Released Anne-Sophie Mutter & Karajan and Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim: Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 + Schubert - Symphony No. 7

 

Nuclear Blast

10/20/20 — Released Hammerfall: Live! - Against the World (Blu-ray/CD Combo Pack)

 

Paramount Home Media

11/10/20 — Sets Odd Couple II and The Stooge

 

Sentai Filmworks

10/20/20 — Released Negima! + Negima!?: The Complete Collection (7 disc set)

 

Shout! Factory!

10/20/20 — Released Adaptation, Captains Collection (4 film set: The Captains, The Captains: Close-Up, Get a Life!, William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge) (4 disc set), My Neighbor Totoro (Japanese) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack), Princess Mononoke (Japanese) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) and Pumpkinhead: Limited Edition

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

10/20/20 — Released IWA Mid-South: 24th Anniversary … in the Beginning - Connersville, IN and IWA Mid-South: This is Our House - Jeffersonville, IN

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

10/20/20 — Released Tremors: Shrieker Island (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent. (MOD)

11/24/20 — Sets Libeled Lady and Pirate

 

Well Go U.S.A.

10/20/20 — Released Cut Throat City (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

 

 

 

 

Mill Creek Entertainment To Open The New Year On Jan. 12 With The Blu-ray Debut Of Ultraman Taro: The Complete Sixth Series

Back in July of 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that they had acquired the domestic distribution rights to the massive Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd Ultraman library.   It took five decades to amass the programming, which boasts some 1,100 television series episodes and 20 feature films.

Mill Creek wasted no time in moving the first two complete series — Ultra Q: Complete Series 01 and Ultraman: Complete Series 02 — into the Blu-ray arena one year ago (October of 2019).   More series and films followed during these past 12 months — eight full series and four of the 20 feature-length films.  Fans were overjoyed as the company remained true to their word.

So, it is only fitting that the release news this week from Mill Creek Entertainment is word about the next Ultraman series, which leads the way for the company’s 2021 release campaign.

Arriving on Jan. 12 as a Blu-ray set is Ultraman Taro: The Complete Sixth Series, a six-disc collection, complete with Digital Copy and featuring all 53 episodes from the 1973 broadcast season.

Kotaro Higashi (Saburo Shinoda, an Ultraman alumnus, he was a different character in Ultraman Ace) aspires to be a champion boxer, but is fatally injured in an Astromons Kaiju attack and only the efforts of the Mother of Ultra saves him by combining his life force with an Ultra Hero, making him Ultraman Taro.   Taro becomes the sixth member of the Ultra Brothers and returns to earth to battle various Kaiju monsters.

Ultraman Taro: The Complete Sixth Series is presented with its original Japanese language track with English subtitles.   This Blu-ray collection will be available in both standard and SteelBook packaging.

 

 

 

The Film Detective Preps 4K Film Restoration Of Director Richard E. Cunha's Giant From The Unknown For Blu-ray And DVD Release On Jan. 19

The Film Detective will be opening its 2021 home entertainment packaged media release campaign on Jan. 19 with the 4K film restoration (from the original camera negative) of Richard E. Cunha’s 1958 sci-fi thriller, Giant from the Unknown.  

Available on that date will be both DVD and Blu-ray editions of this genre classic.   There will also be a “Limited Edition Deluxe Promo Box,” which features the aforementioned DVD and Blu-ray selections, plus a box-full of goodies, including a collector’s magnet, a 13-month calendar targeted for genre fans, a collectible lapel pin, and a surprise bonus movie.

Harold Banks is dead and the people of Pine Ridge (filmed on location in the Big Bear/Fawnskin area of the San Bernardino Mountains) are very concerned.   He was beaten to a pulp … add his death to the recent wildlife killings and you can see how they would be all over Sheriff Parker to do something … anything (Parker was played by the legendary Bob Steele, who began his film career in the silent era, was a Western star with the coming of sound films and then appeared in such films outside his mainstay as Revenge of the Zombies, The Big Sleep, Island in the Sky, Pork Chop Hill … over 240 film credits during his 50-plus year career).

However, spooky Indian legends are conjured up by Indian Joe (Billy Dix), but Parker sets his sights on Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer — perhaps best known as Commander Buzz Corry in the early 1950s sci-fi series, Space Patrol), who was seen arguing with Banks just before his murder.  

But before this red herring is explored much further, we note the arrival of Professor Cleveland (played by screen veteran Morris Ankrum — Rocketship X-M, Chain Lightning, The Thin Man Goes Home, Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, etc.) and his alluring daughter, Janet (played by the late Sally Fraser, a horror film queen of the 1950s — War of the Colossal Beast, The Spider, It Conquered the World), who have arrived in Pine Ridge to do some archaeological research.   Brooks immediately recognizes Cleveland and befriends him, but certainly has his eye on Janet.   Back at his cabin he shows the professor artifacts that he has discovered and agrees to point out their location … but they are about to make a discovery that will send shockwaves through the area.

The dead Banks and the butchered animals are all the handywork of — are you ready for this?   Vargas, a returned-from-the-dead Spanish Conquistador … a giant of a man (played by Buddy Baer, the little brother of Heavyweight Champion Max Baer — as Ursus in Quo Vadis, as the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk … and more) who lived 500 years ago and was known as the “Diablo Giant.”  He quit exploring the New World for the Spanish and struck off on his own to search for gold … and was never seen again, until now!!

It will take a while to convinced the people of Pine Ridge, especially after the teen-bopper Ann (Jolene Brand … perhaps best known as Anna Maria in Disney’s Zorro television series) is savaged by Vargas.   Parker goes so far as to arrest Wayne for her brutal murder (he can’t catch a break), but eventually there is enough to convince everyone that an unstoppable monster is on the loose!!

Giant from the Unknown is a remarkable film, a goofy script to be sure, but what a cast … these were all pros and they made the film work.   It is still an enjoyable lark even today.

As to bonus goodies, the Film Detective has conjured up not one, but two commentary options.   The first features author and film historian Tom Weaver and the second is with actor Gary Crutcher (as Dr. Everett in cult director William Grefé’s Stanley) — he plays Ann’s teenage brother, and his screen name is Brown, Charlie Brown, isn’t that a hoot!! 

Other bonus features include an extensive still gallery and two newly-prepared featurettes — “You’re a B-Movie Star, Charlie Brown” and “The Man with a Badge: Bob Steele in the 1950s.” 

 

 

 

Fun City Editions' New 2K Film Restoration Of Director David Greene's I Start Counting Arrives On Blu-ray On Nov. 24

Before Walkabout.   Before Logan’s Run.   Before Jenny Agutter became a star, she was the lead in director David Greene’s 1970 suspense thriller, I Start Counting, which, as near as we can tell, was never picked up for theatrical distribution in the United States.

Word arrived this past week from Fun City Editions that Greene’s film adaptation of the Audrey Erskine Lindop’s 1966 novel of the same name will be making its Blu-ray debut on Nov. 24.   This will be a new 2K film restoration from the original 35mm interpositive … and for just about everyone in the domestic market I Start Counting will be like a new movie; unseen.

For David Greene, even though he had been doing episodic television work for years (from 1953 through 1967), this was one of his early theatrical productions.  He scored critical marks for both Sebastian (1968, with Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York) and The Strange Affair (1968, with Michael York) and then got an Emmy win in 1969 for his direction of the CBS Playhouse episode titled The People Next Door (which he would remake for theatrical release in 1970 with Eli Wallach and Julie Harris in the starring roles).  

Wedged in between these was I Start Counting, which features Jenny Agutter as a 14-year old school girl named Wynne living in Bracknell on the outskirts of London.   Orphaned at a young age, she has been adopted by family, which means that her older stepbrother, George (played by the late Bryan Marshall — Quatermass and the Pit, Mosquito Squadron, Man in the Wilderness, The Spy Who Loved Me, etc.), is also her cousin and that creates a certain sexual tension.

In the meantime, she begins to put two and two together, spying on George, leads her to suspect him as the one responsible for a serial killing spree in the area.   The more she spies on him, the more the evidence mounts.   She goes so far as to share her suspicions with her schoolmate, Corinne (Clare Sutcliffe), who also has a bit of crush on George … and tries her best to “seduce” him. 

I Start Counting is a sweet little mystery that will keep you guessing right up until the final “reveal,” especially after Corinne’s clumsy moves on George gets her roughed up by him … and later she is found dead!

Bonus features include commentary from film historian Samm Deighan, a video essay by filmmaker Chris O’Neill, an extensive stills gallery and the featurette titled “A Kickstart: Jenny Agutter Remembers I Start Counting.”

 

 

 

 

Oscilloscope Laboratories Locks In On Nov. 24 For The DVD And Blu-ray Release Of All I Can Say

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced this past week that All I Can Say, from the documentary filmmaking team of Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould and Colleen Hennessey will be available as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on Nov. 24.

There is one other member of the Clinch, Gould and Hennessey filmmaking team, and that was the subject of the film, Shannon Hoon, the lead singer for Blind Melon.   He shot all of the film.   Huh?

Documentary filmmaking is, by its very nature, a narrative.   And a lot of rock-documentaries follow the pattern of vintage footage, interviews with former band member, friends of the subject, critics and so on.   All I Can Say is unique in that Shannon Hoon started video himself in 1990, he chronicled tons of stuff in his life and did so for five solid years … and then he died of a cocaine overdose.  

Danny Clinch has been making music videos, music-themed documentaries and assorted short films for years.   He’s been nominated for Grammy Awards on three occasions, including in 2006 for the music video “Bruce Springsteen: Devils and Dust.”   He knows the music business.

Back in 1992, when working for Spin Magazine, he did a photo shoot on Blind Melon, and got to know the lead singer, Shannon Hoon, they became friends.   Skip ahead to 2018 and once again Clinch was revisiting his long-dead friend, only this time in the form of some 250 hours-worth of self-recorded videos, all filmed in a cinema verité fashion by Hoon, who seemed obsessed with sharing everything in his life and career.

WOW, what material.   You watch the rise from a nobody to stardom … and then view the last video segment, which was recorded just hours before his death.   Clinch teamed up with editor/producer Taryn Gold (who had the done the film editing for Clinch’s Pearl Jam: Let’s Play Two documentary in 2017) and camera technician Colleen Hennessey (she was one of camera operators on Clinch’s 2011 documentary, Dig It!) to go through the mountains of raw footage and assemble it into a coherent storyline.  

It’s all Hoon, no talking heads, no former band members telling stories and the vintage footage is all Hoon.   One clever thing that filmmaking team did, was to use old answering machine clips (Hoon kept those too) to provide context.   All I Can Say is storytelling at its very, very best.

Bonus features include the video session titled “Camera as Consciousness,” which features producer/director Judd Apatow in conversation with Clinch, Gould and Hennessey, the featurette titled “A Conversation with Nico Hoon” (Shannon Hoon’s daughter) and the music video “In the End” performed by Nico Hoon.