Writer/Director Matthew Rankin's The Twentieth Century Arrives On DVD And Blu-ray From Oscilloscope Laboratories On May 18

One of the best comedy films (satire, black comedy, dramedy, etc.) of 2019 to get blindsided by the Covid-19 pandemic was writer/director Matthew Rankin’s debut effort, The Twentieth Century, which opened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of 2019 to solid reviews and the first of its many film festival awards — Best Canadian First Feature Film for Rankin.  

The film, an indie production, was acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories just before it opened in Toronto … they knew a good thing when they saw it.  Throughout the fall of 2019, Oscilloscope marched it out on the festival circuit to build awareness and get the word out through the media … the awards that piled up were just a bonus.   Off to Europe in early March … and then you know the all too familiar story.   Theatrical venues dried up.

When a studio like Walt Disney takes a film with a $100 million production budget and takes it direct-to-video (Soul), you know there is a problem.  In light of that, Oscilloscope did the only reasonable thing, they announced the move to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace with the release of DVD and Blu-ray editions of Rankin’s The Twentieth Century on May 18.

If you are not Canadian, then the name William Lyon Mackenzie King probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to you.   Mackenzie King (played here by Dan Beirne — Space Riders: Division Earth, We Were Wolves, Suck it Up, etc.) was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Canada, not consecutively, but during three terms in office, including World War II.   Almost 22 years in office, covering the time period from 1921 to 1948.

Another little tidbit about King is, that when he died, scholars found the largest collection of diaries imaginable — a typical movie script runs about 120 pages (give or take) … King’s life, as detailed in his diaries, if translated into a movie script would yield over 400 such scripts!!

Oh my, where does one begin?   A literal telling of King’s life, which was, to the casual observer, pretty mundane, would end up being a multi-part mini-series, at best … and it could end up being pretty boring.

So, Rankin took an entirely different approach.  He has jumbled up the “big picture,” moved characters are around in time and made King more of a Monty Pythonesque caricature — you don’t really believe Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter do you (as depicted in Timur Bekmambetov’s 2012 film) — so if you are looking for actual history, look elsewhere.

The Twentieth Century is a visual feast, which the actors having a field day with historical Canadian figures … it is so odd, if the Road Runner and Wiley Coyote would show up on the screen, you’d think nothing of it.   And yes, it is true, King’s diaries contained details on his occult extracurricular activities (no one had a clue) and details on his sexual behavior, which Rankin lampoons to the fullest extend imaginable!!

Bonus features include commentary from writer/director Matthew Rankin and the film’s star, Dan Beirne, and three short films — Mynarski Death Plummet, Tabula Rasa and Docking.

Also added to the release calendar this past week from Oscilloscope Laboratories is the May 11 DVD and Blu-ray debut of documentary filmmaker Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words.

He departed the world of fashion abruptly in 2009.   His company, Maison Margiela, which he founded in 1988, became the center of avant-garde designs, with the models over the years being notably secondary to the design and presentation … it was his hallmark.

This iconic Belgian designer remained something of an enigma during his career and when Holzemer was given access for the documentary, the anticipation was that the layers would be pulled back and the persona would become a person.   Perhaps, but one of the conditions was that the subject would not be on camera as a talking head.   Instead, the creative process and an understand of how Margiela achieved his design vision emerges through conversataions and interviews with those who covered his career.   It is a fascinating take on the life of a fashion icon.

Bonus features include a video session with filmmaker Reiner Holzemer, two short films by Martin Margiela — Kristina and Seven Women — and a short film by Marina Faust (Maison Margiela photographer) titled Duvet Coat.

Martin Margiela: In His Own Words is presented with a mix of French and English, with English subtitles when needed.

 

 

 

Paramount Home Entertainment Locks Into June 15 For The DVD Debut Of Bryan Cranston's Your Honor

Paramount Home Entertainment, in conjunction with Showtime Networks, Inc., has tabbed June 15 as the DVD debut date for Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston’s ten-part mini-series, Your Honor.

What to do?  What to do?   You are a judge, a servant of the law, and someone close to you is involved in the death of another; it was an accident … your advice is to turn yourself in and let the police sort it out.  

That’s the position that Judge Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston) finds himself in when his son, Adam (Hunter Doohan — Truth be Told), comes to him with news about how he was involved in an accident and a young man on a motorcycle was killed.   He wants to do the right thing, but when he learns that the victim was the son of local mob boss, Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg — A Serious Man, The Looming Tower, Call Me by Your Name), he has second thoughts; his son will be killed as retribution, accident or not.

Sir Walter Scott perhaps said it best, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”  Because that is what plays out over ten-episodes as the desperate act of trying to cover up the accident creates more and more problems, expanding the web of those involved, with more deaths and more to cover up.  

Your Honor is a noirish nightmare, complete with lies, murder, blackmail, dangerous criminals, seductive women and deeply buried secrets that are uncovered as the story unravels … all set to the backdrop of sultry New Orleans.

Bonus goodies included with this three-disc DVD set are never-before-seen deleted scenes.

 

 

 

Blue Underground Looks To July 20 For The 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack Release Of Director Gary A. Sherman's Dead & Buried

Blue Underground, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K film restoration (from the interpositive) of director Gary A. Sherman’s 1981 undead tale, Dead & Buried, ready for a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack release on July 20.

Nothing like the success of one project to open doors for the next.   Ridley Scott’s Alien was a huge success for 20^th Century-Fox in 1979, and connected to that success were writer Dan O’Bannon, whose script for Alien got him noticed by “Hollywood,” and his buddy, Ronald Shusett, who worked with O’Bannon on the story and got a producer’s credit on Alien.

Enter producer Robert Fentress, who hadn’t produced anything at the point, but he did have an original story that he had purchased from two guys named Jeff Millar and Alex Stern.   He convinced O’Bannon and Shusett to write the screenplay, and then with their connection to the film (hello, Alien) money was raised for the production (you see how it works).   O’Bannon and Shusett would later have a falling out over the film (but that’s another story).

Meanwhile, Gary A. Sherman comes on board as the director, who had been involved with O’Bannon and Shusett on the disastrous Phobia film directed by John Huston in 1980 (that’s also another story).   Sherman was noted for his 1972 film, Raw Meat, and would later deliver such films as Vice Squad, Wanted: Dead or Alive and Poltergeist III.

From start to finish, the writing, production and distribution of Dead & Buried took almost two years, with Avco Embassy finally ending up with the domestic theatrical distribution rights.

Dead & Buried is an effective “zombie” horror tale because of its structure.   Filmed on location in Mendocino, California (Potter’s Bluff for the film), we are introduced to the local sheriff, Dan Gillis (James Farentino — The Final Countdown), who is trying to make sense out of what happened to visiting photographer George Le Mayne (Christopher Allport) — who was attacked by “friends” of a local girl named Lisa (Lisa Blount — An Officer and a Gentleman, What Waits Below) in the opening sequence … beaten, tied up and set ablaze.

Somehow Le Mayne survived and is now in the hospital.   Meanwhile, things start to get creepy when Gillis stops by the local diner for a cup of coffee and the waitress, who was among those who attacked Le Mayne, politely inquires as to what happened … what the hell is going on here?

That night, the townies do it again.  Two victims … hmmmm.   But, wait, Gillis’ wife, Janet (Melody Anderson — Flash Gordon), is starting to act a little mysterious … the creepiness mounts.  

The girl from the beach, Lisa, shows up as a “nurse” at the hospital and murders Le Mayne — she keeps calling him “Freddie.”   The townies strike again, this time a family that gets lost.   Creepy, skin-crawling creepy … and, if you want creepy, the local mortician, Dobbs (played by Jack Anderson), seems to be involved (which he is, of course).

What makes Dead & Buried so much fun is that Gillis is trying to make sense out of what is going, only to discover — through a twist at the end — that he’s all part of it.   The dead, the people of Potter’s Bluff, are all part of what amounts to a creepy “passion play,” staged by … Dobbs!!

As to bonus goodies, there are four — count’em, four — commentary options.   Three are vintage, the first featuring Gary A. Sherman, the second with Shusett, who is joined by his wife, Linda Turley (she plays the waitress in the diner), and the third is with cinematographer Steven Poster (Blood Beach, Strange Brew, Next of Kin, Rocky V).  The fourth commentary option is newly-minted and features film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson.

There are four new featurettes — “Behind the Scenes of Dead & Buried,” “Dead & Buried Locations: Now & Then,” “Murders, Mystery and Music” and “The Pages of Potter’s Bluff” — and three vintage featurettes — “Stan Winston’s Dead & Buried EFX,” “Robert Englund: An Early Work of Horror” and “Dan O‘Bannon: Crafting Fear.”

 

 

 

Director Mona Fastvoid's The World To Come On DVD And Blu-ray From Wolfe On June 01

Wolfe announced this past week that director Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come will be arriving on both DVD and Blu-ray this coming June 1.

The ARR is 109 days and box office receipts from the film’s limited arthouse run in February of this year were $108,871.

Lushly filmed by André Chemetoff (Traitor, The Happening, The Beach, etc.), The World to Come captures the pre-Civil War countryside (circa 1854) as homesteaders in isolated valleys carve out their future in the wilderness (of note, Romania doubled for the up-state New York wilderness, with all of the sets — cabins, barns, etc. — built from scratch by award-winning designer Jean-Vincent Puzos — Amour, The Lost City of Z, 10,000 B.C., Hercules, etc.

It is here that we are introduced to Abigail (Katherine Waterston — Alien: Covenant, Logan Lucky, Steve Jobs), who is lives a lonely life with her husband Dyer (Casey Affleck), a cypher of a man, who has retreated into a quiet, indifferent world after the tragic loss of their daughter.   The loneliness is amplified by the dreary winter conditions that have arrived with the coming of a new year.

Into Abigail’s world comes a new neighbor, taking up the nearby farm as “renters” are the cruel Finney (Christopher Abbott) and his much-abused wife, Tallie (Vanessa Kirby — The Crown, Pieces of a Woman, Mission: Impossible - Fallout).   Abigail and Tallie soon become friends; more than friends.   They find solace in their friendship … moments away from the silence, the loneliness and the brutality.

The World to Come delivers a lyrical love story from a place long forgotten; a romance which is, as the narrative unfolds, sadly doomed through circumstances.
Bonus features for the DVD and Blu-ray debut of The World to Come from Wolfe on June 1 include a making-of featurette.

 

 

 

Bayview Entertainment Preps The Domestic DVD Debut Of the Benoit Brothers' Erratum 2037 For Delivery On June 08

Bayview Entertainment has picked up the domestic DVD distribution rights to the Benoit Brothers’ (aka: Ben Brothers) time-traveling sci-fi adventure, Erratum 2037, for release on June 8.

Three brothers, French, started out making short films, learning the craft as they went along and then made the natural transition to feature-length productions.   Ironically, by taking one of their short films and expanding it out to a feature film.

However, they didn’t follow the path of most French filmmakers with mysteries, romances, dramas and thrillers, instead they took the sci-fi route, which is pretty rare these days in France.

As to our story, Leo (played by Elie Benoit) is a slacker, if there was a mall nearby, he’d be a mall rat; if he had a skateboard, he’d be looking for any empty pool to roll around in.   His only real enjoyment is hanging out with would-be hacker Antoine Glyphon (Timothe Beugnet), who likes to be called Anaglyph.

Through a series of seemingly random events, Leo ends up with a message on his computer from the future.   He reads it, mulls it over and then is quickly kidnapped … and voilà he’s been magically transported to the future!!

The fate of the world now rests in the hands of a French slacker … nous sommes tous condamnés (roughly translated, we are all doomed)!!

Erratum 2037 is great fun and a bit of a surprise.   It is presented in French with English subtitles.

 

 

 

 

Arrow Video Preps Film Restoration Of Director Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee For Blu-ray Release On June 29

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected June 29 as the street date for the double-disc, limited edition Blu-ray release of auteur filmmaker Sam Peckinpah’s 1965 Civil War “Western,” Major Dundee, starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, James Coburn and Peckinpah’s cadre of familiar faces, Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson.

Legend has it that Sam Peckinpah’s film career got a huge boost from Heston, who attended a screening of Ride the High Country, which was Peckinpah’s breakout film in 1962.  Heston, after seeing the film, agreed to being cast as the lead in Peckinpah’s Major Dundee on condition that Peckinpah be involved in the writing of the screenplay.

Being a studio production, all sorts of names appeared in trades, but Peckinpah knew what he wanted and to get that, he filmed the entire production in Mexico where the politics of “Hollywood” had little sway.   Except, and it is a big “EXCEPT,” the studio got worried when the production fell behind (Harris was sick) and so the solution was to cut nearly two-weeks of filming (just hack out scenes and move on).

Once again Heston stepped in and backed Peckinpah, but eventually Peckinpah was removed from post-production supervision (editing, etc.).   Heston, who had backed Peckinpah during these issues with the Columbia, sent his paycheck back in protest.

The film itself has Heston as a frontier Union Cavalry officer who has the pitiful duty of guarding rebel prisoners and other “scum of the earth.”   When the Apaches massacre a nearby town and troop detachment and make off with three children, Dundee (Heston) recruits rebel prisoners, headed by Capt. Tyreen (Richard Harris), to join with his Buffalo Soldiers (black recruits) to head into Mexico on a rescue mission.

Dundee has a war on three fronts — the prisoners, the Apaches and Maximillian’s French troops.   Not all will finish this mission safely.

Bonus features from Arrow Video include two cuts of the film.   The “common” theatrical cut, which ran 122 minutes, and the “extended” version of the film, which clocks in at 136 minutes.

There are three commentary options on the “extended” version of the film.   The first features documentary filmmaker Nick Redman (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: Deconstructing Pat & Billy, A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and the High Country), author David Weddle (“If They Move Kill ‘Em: Peckinpah”), author Garner Simmons (“Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage”) and documentary filmmaker Paul Seydor (Peckinpah in Black and White and Color).

The other two commentary options feature film critic Glenn Erickson solo and with writer/critic Alan K. Rode.

Other bonus goodies include documentary filmmaker Mike Siegel’s 2019 feature-length documentary titled Passion & Poetry - The Dundee Odyssey, the companion featurette titled “Mike Siegel: About the Passion & Poetry Project.”   Plus, there is a vintage featurette titled “Riding for a Fall,” deleted scenes and selected extended scenes, deleted scenes and outtakes with commentary by historian Glenn Erickson.

 

 

 

Vinegar Syndrome Preps 4K Ultra HD Edition Of Director Lance Mungai's Six-String Samurai For Delivery On June 01

Vinegar Syndrome announced this past week that a new 4K film restoration of director Lance Mungia’s 1998 post-apocalyptic thriller, Six-String Samurai, will be heading home as part of the company’s “Halfway to Black Friday” promotion as a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.  

Newly restored from the film’s 35mm negative, Six-String Samurai will ship over the Memorial Day weekend, so mark that, for street-date Tuesday purposes, as a June 1 street date.

Released on DVD at the dawn of the format in 1999 by the now defunct Ryko/Palm, this marks the first time that Mungai’s film has been available as either a Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD product offering.

In a mash-up of film genres, ranging from sci-fi to Spaghetti Western, from homage to rock’n’roll legends to Japanese samurai films … a buddy flick and more, we learn that a nuclear war with Russia in the 1950s has left the United States a vast wasteland, ruled by nomadic warlords and such.

Into this world (filmed in Death Valley) strides Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon), an homage himself to rock legend Buddy Holly.   He is on his way to Las Vegas, now called “Lost Vegas,” where word is it that “The King” is dead and a new king is needed.   It’s not long before he has an unwanted sidekick, The Kid (Justin McGuire), a young boy that he rescues from nomadic thugs.

This unlikely pair will embark upon a series of dangerous adventures and deadly encounters as they make their way to Lost Vegas … it is the journey, not the destination that makes Six-Sting Samurai the film that it is.  

Bonus features include (more to be added) a newly-prepared commentary with writer/director Lance Mungia and a new making-of documentary co-directed by Lance Mungia and Elijan Drenner titled, Vegas Needs a New King: The Making of Six-String Samurai.