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Super Mario Bros. by James-Masaki Ryan (25th June 2022)
"Super Mario Bros." (1993) Mario (played by Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (played by John Leguizamo) are New York City plumbers who suddenly find themselves transported to an alternate dimension in which evolved dinosaurs and reptiles are in control, led by the almighty and evil King Koopa (played by Dennis Hopper). Koopa is looking to merge the dinosaur and human worlds together, and the key that is necessary is a piece of a meteorite that is held by Daisy (played by Samantha Mathis). She gets kidnapped by Koopa's cousin goons Iggy and Spike (played by Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson), but unbeknownst to them, Daisy gave the Mario Brothers the meteorite piece beforehand, who are looking to save her and make sure that the rock doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Producers Roland Joffé and ... |
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Scared to Death: Limited Edition by Eric Cotenas (24th June 2022)
Saturn Award (Best Low-Budget Film): Scared to Death (won) - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 1981 Best Special Effects (winner) - Fantafestival, 1981 A seemingly super-human serial killer has claimed the lives of eleven women so far, brutally tearing them apart but leaving no trace of their presence apart from some strange slime. Further hindering the investigation for detective Lou Capell (Creature's David Moses) is the unusual cold at the crime scenes during an otherwise hot summer that throws off the coroner's analysis. While public opinion-minded police chief Dennis Warren (Dick Tracy's Walker Edmiston) stubbornly insists that they are after a run-of-the-mill psycho, Capell believes that the responsible party is like nothing they have dealt with before and tries to solicit the help of burnt-out former partner-tur... |
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Lawrence of Belgravia by James-Masaki Ryan (18th June 2022)
"Lawrence of Belgravia" (2011) Lawrence (birthname: Lawrence Hayward) was the leader of the indiepop band Felt, releasing ten acclaimed albums over the course of a decade from their formation in 1979 to their disbanding 1989. In the 1990s Lawrence formed Denim, a solo career in which he experimented with glam rock, synthpop and electronic music again with acclaimed singles and albums to his name. In the 2000s, he was back leading a band with indie group Go Kart Mozart, later renamed Mozart Estate. At the age of sixty now, Lawrence (as he professionally goes by in a singular name) has had a career in music that has continued for more than four decades, yet his name and bands have never hit up the charts, as fame and fortune has eluded him at every single turn. Music publications had often given his works high praise and a number of high profile bands such as Pulp, ... |
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Sleep by Eric Cotenas (12th June 2022)
Best First Feature Award (Best First Feature): Michael Venus (nominated) - Berlin International Film Festival, 2020 German Film Critics Award (Best Screenplay): Thomas Friedrich and Michael Venus (nominated), Best Feature Film Debut: Michael Venus (nominated), and Best Editing: Silke Olthoff (nominated) - German Film Critics Association Awards, 2021 DSP Award (Best Supporting Actress): Marion Kracht (nominated) - German Screen Actors Awards, 2020 Flight attendant Marlene (Toni Erdmann's Sandra Hüller) has been having recurring nightmares in which she sees three men die under mysterious circumstances (and a potential fourth who is "stronger but growing weaker"). The dreams ... |
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The Last Metro by James-Masaki Ryan (11th June 2022)
"The Last Metro" ("Le dernier métro") (1980) It is 1942 and Paris is under Nazi German occupation. The Théâtre Montmartre is looking to start production on "Disappearance", a Norwegian play which was translated to French, and conforms to standards set by the occupied forces, including not being written by a Jewish writer. The theater is being run by actress Marion Steiner (played by Catherine Deneuve), who has taken it over from her Jewish husband Lucas Steiner (played by Heinz Bennent), who is hiding in the basement area as not to be arrested by the Gestapo. For the male lead of the play, actor Bernard Granger (played by Gérard Depardieu) auditions for the part, and in turn also starts falling for Marion who he acts opposite on stage. When he started writing for film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma as a film critic in the 1950s, François Truffaut was overly critical of French cinema at the time with the traditional filmmaking techniques being dated and stilted. Over the c... |
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Luminous Procuress by Eric Cotenas (10th June 2022)
New Directors Prize: Steven Arnold (won) - San Francisco International Film Festival, 1971 Two young men (co-writer Steve Solberg and Ronald Farrell) enter the strange abode of the Luminous Procuress (Pandora) who shows them a series of sexual vignettes ranging from juvenile exhibitionism to taboo-bursting, among them a human carousel of androgynous and gender-bending nudes and a papal orgy. As the two men shed their exhibitions, the Luminous Procuress takes them into her bed and beyond. On paper, Luminous Procuress – one of only two feature-length projects by underground filmmaker, artist, illustrator, and photographer Steven Arnold – sounds like an arty porn film; and, indeed, it looks like a hybrid of Fellini Satyricon by way of ... |
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La peau douce by James-Masaki Ryan (4th June 2022)
"La peau douce" (1964) Pierre Lachenay (played by Jean Desailly) is a well known writer and speaker that travels from Paris to Lisbon by plane to speak at a convention. On the plane he is enchanted by a young flight attendant named Nicole (played by Françoise Dorléac), who happens to be staying at the same hotel as him. An invitation for a drink becomes a lengthy chat all night, which eventually leads the two to start a physical relationship. But Lachenay has a wife (played by Nelly Benedetti) and a daughter (played by Sabine Haudepin), and this sudden affair is going to change everything around him, for better or for worse. Following the international critical and commercial success of "Jules et Jim" in 1963, director François Truffaut looked to making his next project an ambitious one, and that would be adapting writer ... |
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The Shaolin Plot by Eric Cotenas (31st May 2022)
Manchu Prince Dagulen (Aces Go Places's Chan Sing) wants to rule China by mastering the secret techniques of the four great schools. When only one school willingly hands over its secret manuals and the Beggar school sends an assassin (Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog's Mang Hoi), Dagulen sends hired Tibetan monk warrior Golden Cymbals (Eastern Condors' Sammo Hung) - so named because of his "Flying Guillotine"-styled weapon of choice – to take the manuals by force. He first targets the Wudang school whose master sends his son Little Tiger (Fist of Fury's James Tien) fleeing into the forest with the secret sword manual and torches the rest before he is murdered by Gol... |
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Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy by Eric Cotenas (30th May 2022)
Asian Film Award (Best Director): Ryûsuke Hamaguchi () and Best Film (nominated) - Asian Film Awards, 2021 Silver Berlin Bear (Jury Grand Prix): Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (winner), Golden Berlin Bear (Best Film): Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (nominated), and Teddy (Best Feature Film): Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (nominated) - Berlin International Film Festival, 2021 Presented without preamble, interstitial linkage, or bookendings are a trio of "short stories" attributed to director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi that form the portmaneau Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. In the first story, model Meiko (Kotone Furukawa) listens to the account of her colleague Tsugumi (The Sea of Trees' Hyunri) of a date with a seeming "player" that was "erotic" even though nothing physical happened due as much to Tsugumi's discomfort with having sex on the first date as hinted-at physical difficulties on the part of her date who is st... |
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Execution in Autumn by Eric Cotenas (30th May 2022)
Pei Gang (Attack of the Kugn Fu Girls' Ou Wei) is in the local prison awaiting trial for a triple murder of his mistress (Men of the Hour's Li Hsing) and her two cousins. He is so confident that his powerful grandmother (Royal Fist's Bi-Hui Fu) will buy off his charges just as she has every time he has gotten into trouble before that he disregards a court official's advice in following his lead when pleading self-defense. He does indeed plead self-defense, claiming that the cousins were trying to extort him to pay for a child that was not his. As off-putting as his arrogance is in relating the skirmish, the magistrate accepts his self-defense plea for the two cousins but sentences him to death for the unnecessary and monstrous murder of his mistress. Since the autumn when executions are scheduled has already passed, Pei Gang has a year sente... |
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Snapshot by James-Masaki Ryan (28th May 2022)
"Snapshot" (1979) Angela (played by Sigrid Thornton) is a 19 year old hairdresser assistant who doesn't have much going for her in life. She is not treated with respect at work, her mother (played by Julia Blake) gives more attention to her little sister Becky (played by Jacqui Gordon), and her ex Daryl (played by Vincent Gil) continuously tries to get back together with her even though she has no interest in him anymore. While she may not have any confidence in herself, model Madeline (played by Chantal Countouri) sees potential in her, enough to convince her to quit her job to become a model under her wing. While the world of modeling has a sense of freeing wonder and work that gives Angela more confidence, there are dangers lurking around the corners, leading to some deadly outcomes... After the international success of the supernatural horror film ... |
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American Arcana: The Bushwhacker/The Ravager by Eric Cotenas (27th May 2022)
When Mondo Macabro debuted their new "American Arcana" line in conjunction with Something Weird Video with a red case limited edition double feature of The Ravager and The Bushwhacker in 2019, hopes were high for more but those hopes were unfulfilled. Three years later at last with the standard edition – one wonders if we really have not heard the last of the line amidst an ever-increasing and exciting roster of more "macabro" international titles from the label each month. A bushwhacker is a hermit who has been too long away from other people and gone crazy, and when The Bushwhacker (Space Thing's Ronny Runningboard) needs to get his rocks off, he shoots down a plane which crashes nearby in the desert. The survivors – pilot Dan (... |
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American Arcana: The Bushwhacker/The Ravager by Eric Cotenas (27th May 2022)
When Mondo Macabro debuted their new "American Arcana" line in conjunction with Something Weird Video with a red case limited edition double feature of The Ravager and The Bushwhacker in 2019, hopes were high for more but those hopes were unfulfilled. Three years later at last with the standard edition – one wonders if we really have not heard the last of the line amidst an ever-increasing and exciting roster of more "macabro" international titles from the label each month. A bushwhacker is a hermit who has been too long away from other people and gone crazy, and when The Bushwhacker (Space Thing's Ronny Runningboard) needs to get his rocks off, he shoots down a plane which crashes nearby in the desert. The survivors – pilot Dan (... |
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Revolver by Eric Cotenas (23rd May 2022)
Former Milan cop and newly-appointed deputy prison warden Vito Cirpiani (Women in Love's Oliver Reed) comes home to a phone call from a person unknown telling him that he must find a way to spring small-time crook Milo Ruiz (What Have You Done to Solange's Fabio Testi) – awaiting trial for a botched robbery that claimed the life of his partner Jean-Daniel (Ludwig's Gunnar Warner) – if he ever wants to see his young wife Anna (Night of the Devils' Agostina Belli) alive again. Ruiz swears that he has no idea who would want him out of jail. His cellmate DeGregori (... |
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The Men by James-Masaki Ryan (21st May 2022)
"The Men" (1950) U.S. Army Lieutenant Ken Wilocek (played by Marlon Brando) is taken to a veteran's hospital, where he must receive care and rehabilitation due to him becoming paralyzed from the waist down from a battle injury. Dr. Brock (played by Everett Sloane) is straightforward with his patients and their families about spinal cord injury and that they should never focus on miracles of walking again, but instead on living with the condition and maintaining the body as best they can. While many in the rehabilitation ward are willing to commit to living with paralysis as a condition and working hard to train their bodies, Wilocek does not want to play by the rules, causing tension among the rest of the wounded veterans, as well as with his relationship with his fiancee Ellen (played by Teresa Wright). Will he ever come to terms with his future or is he destined to stay in misery? "The Men" is a very significant film in many elements. First it is the film debut of Marlon Brando, who had made a name for himsel... |
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Girls Nite Out AKA The Scaremaker (Blu-ray) by Paul Lewis (20th May 2022)
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The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter by Eric Cotenas (19th May 2022)
In league with the invading Khitan forces – lead by Prince Lian (Five Deadly Venoms' Lung-Wei Wang) – and planning to betray his daughter the Empress (Bastard Swordsman's Leanne Lau), General Pan Mei (The Young Master's Ke-Ming Lin) advises his daughter to send the patriotic and loyal General Yang and his seven sons to Golden Beach to lead the war campaign, a suicide mission intended to punish the family for the supposed murder of the Empress' brother. When the worried Dowager Yang (Executioners from Shaolin's Lily Li) seeks advice in divination from the ancestors and receives the prophecy "Seven sons go forth. Six sons return," she be... |
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Human Lanterns by Eric Cotenas (15th May 2022)
After arrogant Lung Shai (Fist of Fury's Tony Liu) loses face at a reception held by elder Master T'an (The Man with the Iron Fists's Kuan Tai Chen) who humiliates him by making the guest of honor the younger man's brothel mistress Yen Chu (Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman's Linda Chu), Lung resolves to best his rival at the Chinese New Year lantern festival. Drunken lantern maker Old Tsui (Vengeance!'s Ching-Ho Wang) confesses that he is not the man behind his creations and introduces him to Chao Ch'un Fang (Five Fingers of Death's ... |
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Dreadnaught by Eric Cotenas (15th May 2022)
Little Geung (The Prodigal Son's Biao Yuen) is far too timid to collect laundry bills from local bullies but is equally afraid of the wrath of his big sister (The Young Master's Lily Li). Brother Foon (The Postman Strikes Back's Ka-Yan Leung), chief pupil of healer and martial artist Wong Fei Hung (The Magnificent Butcher's Tak-Hing Kwan), takes pity on Geung and attempts to get his master to take the younger man under his wing. Foon also tries to build up Geung's confidence by recklessly picking fights with such toughs like Big Talker (We're Going to Eat You |
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Outside the Law by Eric Cotenas (15th May 2022)
Under the counsel of wise Chang-Lo (The Devil Doll's E. Alyn Warren), aging gangster "Silent" Madden (The Birth of a Nation's Ralph Lewis) has been working on rehabilitating himself and hopes that his daughter Molly (The Wildcat of Paris's Priscilla Dean) - known to the police as "Silky Moll" – will follow in his footsteps. Rival gangster Black Mike Sylva (The Phantom of the Opera's Lon Chaney), however, has been nursing a grudge against Maden for some time and plans to frame him for murder and see him railroaded, whereupon he hopes Molly will return to a life of crime. Madden strolls into the middle of a staged shootout and is wounded. When stool pigeon ... |
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Jules et Jim by James-Masaki Ryan (14th May 2022)
"Jules et Jim" (1962) Jules (played by Oskar Werner) is an Austrian writer and translator whose best friend is Jim (played by Hernri Serre), a Frenchman with a fondness for the arts. They both have a love for art, literature, and women, they are slightly different in personalities, with Jules being more on the shy side while Jim is more of an extrovert. Things take a turn when the men meet Catherine (played by Jeanne Moreau), a woman that captivates both of them like no other woman has done before, with her non-conforming ways breaking traditions. With both of their hearts being tugged upon, their relationships become more complex yet stay close throughout their many years together and apart. Film critic François Truffaut happened to come across a secondhand copy of the novel “Jules et Jim” in 1955. Written by Henri-Pierre Roché as his first novel when he was 74 years old, it was a semi-autobiographical work t... |
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Wicked World by Eric Cotenas (8th May 2022)
Institutionalized after a killing spree that claimed the lives of his own wife (Pattie Anne Crossman) and several strangers along with his own therapist (Judy Humble), Harold (Eddie Platt) has been deemed harmless after a lobotomy has left him confined to a wheelchair and mostly unresponsive to the physical therapy of his much-despised nurse (Maria Delgado). Although he cannot speak, Harold's thoughts reveal that he still retains the same hatred for society and the same murderous urges, either rehashing his old crimes or conjecturing new ones – including the stalking and killing of a group of college kids on a lakeside jaunt – in apparent preparation to write a book intended to sway the world toward his misanthropic notions on an apocalyptic scale. When former corrupt cop Grant Eklund (writer/director Barry J. Gillis, Things)... |
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Death Wish 2 by Eric Cotenas (8th May 2022)
Having moved to his business to Los Angeles after the murder of his wife and escaping capture for the vigilante killings that followed, architect Paul Kersey (Violent City's Charles Bronson) has settled into a new life with his traumatized daughter Carol (Tourist Trap's Robin Sherwood) undergoing treatment in a nearby mental hospital and a new love interest in Geri Nichols (Hard Times' Jill Ireland), a reporter for the radio station for which Paul is designing a new building. When his wallet is stolen by a street gang, he gives chase and beats up Jiver (Rocky II's Stuart K. Robinson) who does not have his wallet but wants revenge for the ... |
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The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue: Standard Edition by Eric Cotenas (6th May 2022)
London antiques dealer George (Oasis of Fear's Ray Lovelock) travels by motorcycle to Manchester to join some friends for the holidays. When Edna (The House That Screamed's Cristina Galbó) accidentally damages his bike, George insists that he take her to his destination but Edna is on her way to take her heroin-addicted sister Katie (Count Dracula's Jeannine Mestre) to rehab. When they stop for directions at a farm where a new ultrasonic pest control device is being used experimentally, Edna is accosted by a mysterious tramp named Guthrie (Murder in a Blue World's Fernando Hilbeck) who supposedly drowned weeks ago. George and Edna arrive ... |
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One Armed Boxer by Eric Cotenas (2nd May 2022)
The Hook gang, operating out of a local martial arts school, run drugs and a prostitution ring, and are not above flaunting the law in broad daylight. When lower-tier Hook gang member Ma Tian Bao (Lightning of Bruce Lee's Chun Lei) attempts to intimidate a local businessman, Yu Tian Long (The Killer Meteors' Jimmy Wang Yu), Second Brother of the Zhengde School, steps in and humiliates Ma and his fellow gang members in a scuffle. Ma challenges him to another fight in the local quarry where the Hook Gang members are once again soundly trounced. When the gang boss Shao LaoLaoliu (Blood of the Dragon's Yeh Tien) demands an explanation, craven Ma tells him that Yu Tien started it and furthermore insulted the boss' martial arts skills. Shao Laoliu takes the gang to the school and demands teacher Han Tui (... |
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Vampyr by Eric Cotenas (2nd May 2022)
The listless wanderings of dreamer and occult enthusiast Allen Gray (Julian West, actually Paris-born future fashion icon Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg who also funded the film) takes him one evening to the lonely village of Courtempierre and the inn where he takes a room for the night. His sleep is disturbed by strange voices and sights capped by the intrusion into his room of an old man in a dressing gown (Napoleon's Maurice Schutz) who implores to him "She must not die" and leaves him a package to be opened upon his death. Unable to sleep, Allen explores the village, happening upon a warehouse where he witnesses dancing shadows connected to no bodies, a peg-legged gravedigger who also moves independently of his shadow, a frightening old crone (Henriette Gérard) who seems to have magical command over the shadows and wild dogs that hunt the village children at night, and a sinister doctor (... |
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The Right Hand Man by James-Masaki Ryan (29th April 2022)
"The Right Hand Man" (1987) In a stagecoach accident, Lord Harry Ironminster (played by Rupert Everett) is injured badly that his right arm has to be amputated. In addition, his father (played by Tim Elliott) is killed instantly. Harry has a love for his horses and riding, but the loss of his arm as well as complications he is facing with diabetes has stopped him from enjoying what he once loved. When he encounters the rugged horseman Ned (played by Hugo Weaving), he finds the perfect person to help him as a servant and friend. In addition, there is Sarah (played by Catherine McClements), the daughter of the town doctor and a young woman with deep interest in science, who starts to care more for Harry and his condition. "The Right Hand Man" was a book written by children's and young adult novelist K.M. Peyton in 1977, taking place in 1818 in Essex and London. English actor ... |
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Twisting the Knife: Four Films by Claude Chabrol [The Swindle/The Color of Lies/Nightcap/The Flower by Eric Cotenas (28th April 2022)
"For five decades Claude Chabrol navigated the unpredictable waters of Cinema, leaving in his wake more than fifty feature films that remain among the most quietly devastating genre movies ever made. Sardonic, provocative, unsettling, Chabrol's films cut to the quick with a clarity and honesty honed to razor sharpness. "Though influenced by Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir, Chabrol's voice was entirely and assuredly his own, influencing in turn filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho, James Gray and Dominik Moll. His amused, unblinkered view of life and refusal to judge his characters makes his films timelessly relevant and accessible to all. Arrow Video is proud to present this second collection of films by Claude Chabrol with a wealth of new and archival extras." The Swindle: Betty (Elle's Isabelle Huppert) and Victor (La Cage aux Folles' ... |
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