Kino Lorber announce a
16-SKU line-up of DVD and Blu-ray product offerings for the month of Nov. this
past week. As is the case with Kino
Lorber, it is an eclectic blend of classics, arthouse enteries and foreign
language imports.
In chronological order we
begin on the first street date Tuesday of the month, Nov. 5, with DVD releases
of both writer/director Andrew Bujalski’s award-winning tale of machine against
man, Computer
Chess (the ARR is 109 days and domestic major metro ticket sales are
$90,619) and documentary filmmaker Molly Bernstein’s Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries
and Mentors of Ricky Jay (ARR is 200 days and the domestic box office
was $147,986).
The early computer nerds
rule in Computer Chess … it’s over 30 years ago and we meet the likes of “Advantage” (Kriss Schludermann) and “Deep
Speed” (Tom Fletcher) in a “what-might-have-been-encounter” at a convention for
early computer programmers in their attempts to beat human contestants at
chess. It is, of course, a well-played
metaphor on the coming of ever-increasing technology and the innocent nerds who
unleashed it upon us.
The fascinating world of
actor, writer and magician Ricky Jay is chronicled in Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries
and Mentors of Ricky Jay.
Included in the mix are early TV appearances, including a classic from The
Dinah Shore Show featuring Ricky Jay with a young comedian by name of
Steve Martin.
Shifting to Nov. 12, we
discover fully-restored DVD and Blu-ray editions of director David Leeds’ 1978
cult favorite, Shoot the Sun Down: Director’s Cut, starring Christopher Walken
(just prior to Deer Hunter) and Margot Kidder (just prior to Superman).
This pre-Western (Texas,
circa 1830 … prior to the Battle of the Alamo in 1836), finds four unlikely
characters — The Woman (Kidder), Mr. Rainbow (Walken), The Captain (Bo Brundin)
and Scalphunter (Geoffrey Lewis) — on a three-day journey to the (New) Mexican
city of Santa Fe as they search for the legendary treasure of Montezuma’s gold.
Bonus features include an
alternate opening title sequence.
Also streeting on Nov. 12
are DVD and Blu-ray editions of director Christian Petzold’s German-language
import, Barbara. Set in East
Germany before reunification, Nina Hoss stars as Barbara, a doctor who is sent
to a remote clinic as punishment for her views on the repressive political
systems … her goal is to defect, but the care of her patients creates a moral
conflict that she dare not resolve.
Shifting to Nov. 19, we
find both newly remastered Blu-ray and DVD editions of the 1922 German silent
classic, Nosferatu (a double-disc collection) and the Russian language
import, Russian Ark: Anniversary Edition.
German filmmaker F.W.
Murnau’s classic vampire tale, Nosferatu, arrives on both DVD and
Blu-ray with two viewing options — the original German version (with optional
English subtitles) or the domestic English Intertitles version with Hans
Erdmann’s 1922 music score. There is
also the feature-length documentary, The Language of Shadows, included as
a bonus feature.
Also streeting on Nov. 19
is the DVD-only release of documentary filmmaker Erik Sharkey’s intimate look
at the life of movie poster artist Drew Struzan, Drew: The Man Behind the Poster.
The ARR for this look the
background of the artist who design such one-sheet classics as Raiders
of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and Star
Wars has an ARR of 95 days.
The month concludes on
Nov. 26 with the DVD release of Danish filmmaker Martin Zandvliet’s Applause,
starring Paprika Steen as has-been actress Thea Barfoed, who must now confront
the damage she’s done to her life and relationships after a prolong period of
alcoholism in her attempt to resurrect her career.
