Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi's 2LDK From Unearthed Films Set For Blu-ray On Apr. 05

It’s back and making its Blu-ray debut on Apr. 05!!

Unearthed Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has tabbed the first street-date Tuesday in April for the Blu-ray debut of Japanese filmmaker Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 2003 film festival favorites 2LDK.

A newly-minted DVD edition will also be available on Apr. 05 as a purchasing option.

You might call 2LDK (Japanese shorthand for a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen and dining room) a black comedy.   Partly true.   You might call 2LDK a tale of two women, who have a mutual psychotic break, and turn on each other a horror tale.   True as well.  

However you choose to classify 2LDK, it is one enjoyable evening detailing a descent into hell.   It opened on the festival circuit in early 2003, got good press and then opened theatrically in Japan in October of the same year.   A domestic DVD followed in April of 2004 and that was it.   Now it is back!!

Nozomi (Eiko Koike — Hell's Garden, Rebirth, Seppun, Crossroads) is an actress up for a big part in Yakuza Wives.   In 2LDK she is the country mouse, so to speak, from Sado Island and now in Tokyo and having auditioned for the part finds herself staying at her management agency’s Tokyo apartment awaiting news on the part.

Also staying there is Rana (Maho Nonami — Begging for Love, Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge, Love Strikes!), who has also auditioned for a role in Yakuza Wives … she is the town mouse of the tale, from Tokyo and a little on the wild side.

Thus, begins the evening.   The wait.   The wait for the phone call telling them if one of them has make the cut.   The anticipation of the phone call will keep them there, which is their only motivation, since they discover early on that they don’t particularly like each other.

2LDK is the equivalent of two gladiators being thrown into a cage … and soon enough, disagreements go from the mundane to assaults — verbal at first, and then … well, you get the picture.   A twist-ending ties this beauty into a nice package, which is swiftly paced and plays out like a two-person stage play.

Bonus goodies include commentary from Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike, a making of featurette, promotional video and video interview session.

2LDK is presented in Japanese with subtitles.

 

 

 

 

Bayview Entertainment Picks Apr. 26 For The DVD Debut Of Director Derek Stockton's Man In The Box

Bayview Entertainment has tabbed Apr. 26 as the street date for the DVD debut of Tennessee-based filmmaker Derek Stockton’s backwoods chiller, Man in the Box.

It was a deal too good to be true, but when Angela (Morgan Richards — Quiet, Pretty Things) buys a rundown home in a remote area of Tennessee she wasn’t about to look a “gift horse in the mouth.”  Instead, she set about to clean it up and get the place back into shape.   No questions asked!

To accomplish that, she invites three of her friends — now, genre fans will immediately recognize this as the “victim pool” — to join her at her new found dream home in the spooky woods for a little elbow grease and alone time.   Joining her are Mike (Eli Taylor), Nancy (Cassie Vermillion) and Fred (Jonathan Clouse), all of which — along with Morgan Richards — appeared in Stockton’s Quiet, Pretty Things, which will be making its DVD debut courtesy of Bayview Entertainment on Mar. 22.

In no time the four find a mysterious box that has been sealed.   Curious, they open it … and soon wish that they were not so alone in the backwoods of Tennessee!!

Also on the new-to-DVD docket from Bayview Entertainment on Apr. 26 is the UK Victorian-period horror import from writer/direct Adam Starks, The Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Nicholas Felt (played Adam Starks — Low Flyers) and Jacob Crimsby (Joshua Copeland — Criminal Network) have little in common, expect for their passion, or should we say Felt’s passion, to solve the mystery of the deaths of villagers living near the Bodmin Moor.  The locals claim it is some sort of beast … man or monster, it matters little as it is a “beast” in the truest sense, and “it leaves no survivors.”   Perhaps amateur sleuths should leave this hunt to the professionals!!

And, a cat and mouse game plays-out in writer/director Navneet Choujar’s Downunder thriller, Snakes and Ladders.  

Is he a killer?   Is John Barrat (Mark Redpath) a killer?   The police think he is, but he escapes their grasp and takes shelter — and a hostage — when he breaks into actress Olivia Bowman’s house (Eliana Dona — Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith).   Trapped, with his detective tormentors closing in, Olivia will be spending the night with Barrat … by dawn we will know if he is the real killer!!

 

 

 

Troma Entertainment's Sexy Box Arrives On Blu-ray This Coming Apr. 19

Troma Entertainment, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be delivering the three-film, three-Blu-ray box set titled Sexy Box on Apr. 19.

Three sexploitation delights from the early 1980s showcasing the fledgling talents of filmmakers Michael Herz and the iconic Lloyd Kaufman before Troma Entertainment was a household name.

So what treasures do we have here?   For starters, the Sexy Box has the September of 1982 release of Waitress!, which found Kaufman “doubling” as director “Samuel Wei,” with his Troma Entertainment partner, Michael Herz, as his co-director.

With limited resources, the pair were able to come up with 150 prints, which were subsequently “bicycled” around the country to various theatrical venues.

Filmed in New York City, the Tre Amici Ristorante is the center of the chaos, the comedy and the romance as would-be actress Andrea Morgan (Carol Drake), a waitress at the restaurant, is trying to the land the key role in producer George Belleman’s (played by Ed Fenton) Broadway production of Joan of Arc … she is hell-bent on it and we follow her ever-escalating attempts at landing the role. 

Meanwhile, reporter Jennifer Martin (Carol Bevar) goes undercover as a waitress at the restaurant while working on a story about dating.   And, the owner of the place sends his mischievous college-brat daughter, Lindsey (Renata Hickey), there to work as punishment.

It’s sex in the city before “Sex in the City” was a thing, which is ironic since Mr. Big of Sex in the City, Christopher Noth, has a bit part (a blink of an eye) as he was just starting out … talk about typecasting!!

Teamed with Waitress! are the 1983 comedy, Stuck on You!, starring Virginia Penta and Mark Mikulski as a couple who end up in divorce court run by Judge “Gabriel” (played by “Professor” Irwin Corey — How to Commit Marriage, Foreplay, Jack), who takes them on a whirlwind tour of history to teach them a lesson before revealing his true identity.  The other film in the Sexy Box collection is a trip to summer camp with The First Turn-On!!

All three films feature commentary from filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman, there is the “Sex Comedy Stars” featurette and two video sessions, one with Troma co-founder Michael Herz, and the second featuring Lloyd Kaufman on the early days of Troma Entertainment.

 

 

 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Tabs May 31 As The Street Date For A 4K Ultra HD Edition Of 1776

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of director Peter H. Hunt’s 1972 film adaptation of Peter Stone’s book and Tony-winning musical stage play (with Sherman Edwards), 1776, on May 31 with the release of a 4K Ultra HD/double-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack edition.

The original theatrical release was edited down to 141 minutes, but Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be presenting two viewing options for this 4K Ultra HD release.   One is the 165-minute “Director’s Cut” and the other option is the 167-minute “Extended Cut” of the film.  This same viewing option is included on the first of two companion Blu-ray discs, with the second Blu-ray disc providing the original theatrical cut of the film.

There are also vintage commentary options featuring the late Peter H. Hunt with either Peter Stone or with cast members William Daniels (as John Adams) and Ken Howard (as Thomas Jefferson).   Additionally, there are deleted and alternate scenes (with commentary) and nine screen tests.

 

Director Steven Spielberg's West Side Story Remake From Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment On Mar. 15

Director Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the 1961 Best Picture-winner, West Side Story, will be making its transition from theatrical venues to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace on Mar. 15 (two weeks prior to the Mar. 27 Oscar telecast) as a three-SKU product offering.

The film will begin streaming on Disney+, as well as HBO Max, on Mar. 2, so we fully expect to see the usual suspects knocking off their own Blu-ray release copies within hours of the first airing.

Planned for release, officially, are stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions, plus a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack buying option.

The head-scratching decision by Spielberg to redo West Side Story has only generated $37.2 million in domestic box office receipts (against a production budget estimated to be north of $100 million) … the ARR works out to 95 days.

On the bright side, West Side Story did manage to score seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (Spielberg’s eleventh Best Picture nomination as a producer … winning only once for Schindler’s List and robbed of the Oscar for Saving Private Ryan), Best Director (Spielberg’s eighth Best Director nomination … winning twice for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan) and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Ariana DeBose (her first).

Bonus features are “Over 90-minutes worth of behind-the-scenes bonus extras.”

Director Simon Kinberg's The 355 Arrives On Blu-ray And DVD On Feb. 22

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced this past week that director Simon Kinberg’s all-star spy thriller, The 355, will be getting a short window from theatrical venues to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace on Feb. 22.

The ARR is a super-quick 46 days, which is, by any standard, a very quick turn from theatrical distribution to Blu-ray and DVD product offerings.  The domestic box office take currently stands at $14.5 million.

Bonus features are deleted scenes and five featurettes — “Chasing Through Paris,” “Action that Hurts,” “Reconstructing Marrakesh,” “Choas at the City of Dreams” and “VFX Breakdowns.”

 

The Criterion Collection Announces It May Of 2022 Film Restoration Calendar • Double Indemnity Gets 4K Ultra HD Push On May 31

The Criterion Collection announced its May release calendar of new film restorations this past week and topping the list is clearly director Billy Wilder’s 1944 film noir masterpiece, Double Indemnity, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson.

This is a new 4K digital restoration for this Best Picture nominee, which lost out to Going My Way … War World II was raging on and audiences, including Academy members, wanted something bright and cheerful, not the genius of the writing of Billy Wilder and none other than Raymond Chandler, who defined the early days of the film noir trend with scripts for Murder, My Sweet, The Blue Dahlia, The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity.

Film buffs and film noir fans will have two purchasing options for Double Indemnity from Criterion on May 31.   There will be a 4K Ultra HD/double-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack as well as a double-disc Blu-ray edition.

Bonus features include a vintage commentary option with film critic Richard Schickel, a newly-prepared video session with film scholar Noah Isenberg and a second newly-prepared video conversation with film historians Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith.

Other bonus goodies include the 2006 short film titled Shadows of Suspense, the 1992 German television production, Billy, How Did You Do It?, vintage audio clips with cinematographer John F. Seitz and both the 1945 (MacMurray and Stanwyck) and 1950 (with Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck) radio adaptations.

Also on the May film restoration calendar from the Criterion Collection are a pair of foreign language imports, director Joseph Losey’s 1977 César Awards Best Picture-winner, Mr. Klein, starring Alain Delon (May 10, Blu-ray in French) and Japanese filmmaker Jûzô Itami’s 1984 comedy, The Funeral (May 17 on Blu-ray), plus on May 24 there will be a new 4K film restoration of director Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala (Blu-ray) and lastly, May 31 also will see the Blu-ray release of director Wayne Wang’s Chan is Missing.