Showing posts with label thunderbird releasing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thunderbird releasing. Show all posts

5 October 2014

Jarmusch Collection Blu-ray Review - Down By Law (1986)

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Genre:
Drama, Comedy
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]

Down by Law was Jim Jarmusch’s third film, his best and most popular. It was also recently re-released in the UK cinemas. Jarmusch’s most ambitious film to date, it marked the beginning of a long collaboration with the cinematographer Robby Müller. It’s an absurdist noir black comedy and remains the only film Jarmusch has used “American money” in it’s funding.

The story concerns three different men who are unknown to each other until they are thrown into jail together in New Orleans. Zack (Tom Waits) is a disk jockey, Jack (John Lurie) is a smalltime pimp, and both are innocent of the crimes they are imprisoned for. Their cellmate is Bob (Roberto Benigni), an Italian tourist who is imprisoned for manslaughter. They eventually hatch a plan to escape and end up in the swamps of the New Orleans Bayou.

Tom Waits, who was almost always a bit player, gets a co-lead here and you really get to see how good actor he can be. John Lurie is great as well and it’s a shame he hasn’t done much acting work since the 80s except some work on the TV show OZ, although this is partly down to illness. Benigni, however, steals the film: he gets all the biggest laughs, his character constantly misunderstands his cellmates to hilarious effect.

Robby Müller, one of the world’s best directors of photography from the 1970s to the early 2000s, shot Down By Law. He hasn’t shot a film in over 10 years, but his influence it still felt around the world. Down by Law contains some of Müller’s best work, the scenes in the Bayou are absolutely beautiful. The nearest comparison would be some of the scenes in Tarkovsky’s first film Ivan’s Childhood. He would end up working with Jarmusch on all his features up to and including Ghost Dog, with the exception of Night on Earth.

Almost 30 years after its release, Down By Law remains a high water mark of Independent cinema, and also of Jim Jarmusch’s career. It’s a surreal farcical trip and even on second and third viewings it still works its strange charm on you. It’s also full of great performances and a great soundtrack supplied by Tom Waits and John Lurie.

The film’s transfer onto Blu-Ray, from what I gather, comes from the same masters as the Criterion Blu-Ray. It looks the best I’ve ever seen, it’s crystal clear throughout but regains the right amount of film grain. The disc features a series of phone calls Jarmusch made to the cast for the original Criterion DVD which are funny and insightful regarding the film and their relationship.

★★★★★
Ian Schultz

Jarmusch Colection Blu-ray Review - Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

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Genre:
Comedy, Drama
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
John Lurie, Eszter Balint,Richard Edison
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]

Stranger Than Paradise was the film that made Jim Jarmusch’s name, and became one of the first films to come out of Independent film boom of the 80s and 90s. It also has the feel of a first film despite it being Jarmusch’s second feature length film: it’s the first one that is quintessential Jarmusch. It has the characters who are hipper than hip, which are still prevalent in his work—for example in his latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive.

It is a master class in minimalist storytelling, not unlike the minimalism one of Jarmusch’s heroes, Robert Bresson, employed in his work. It’s the story of the New York hipster Wllie (John Lurie) whose Hungarian cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) is visiting but is forced to stay at his place after their Aunt Lotte lands in the hospital. Initially he makes it clear he doesn’t want her to stay, but gradually he starts to enjoy her company. After 10 days she leaves for Cleveland, and the film picks up a year later when Willie and his friend Eddie (Richard Edson) decided to pay Eva a visit.

The film’s performances are naturalistic partly due to all the cast basically playing versions of themselves. Tom DiCillo, who would later be a noted director in his own right with films like Johnny Suede and Living in Oblivion, did the cinematography. It’s shot on leftover film stock, which was supplied by Wim Wenders. Wenders became a friend of Jim Jarmusch’s after watching Permanent Vacation.

The film, despite its obvious limitations and the 30 years that have passed since its release, still is as fresh and exciting when it first came out. It has aged perfectly; it’s a snapshot of a time but at the same time remains timeless, which might be down to the use of black and white. It broke the perceived notion of the independent film as inaccessible artsy crap and made it possible to be entertaining and funny outside the big studio system. It was one of the first micro-budget films that would be a box-office success, something that would be the norm a decade later. It also wound up winning numerous awards, including the Camera D’or at 1984 Cannes film festival.

The film has been restored for this Blu-Ray release and looks as good as the film could possibly ever look due to it’s budget. It includes a silent short “making of,” which was shot by Jim Jarmusch’s brother Tom. It also includes the trailers for Stranger Than Paradise along with trailers for Jarmusch’s other films.

★★★★★
Ian Schultz

Jarmusch Collection Blu-ray Review - Permanent Vacation (1980)

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Genre;
Drama
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
BD Release Date:
6th October 2014 (UK)
Rating: 18
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Cast:
Chris Parker, Leila Gastil, John Lurie,
Buy:Jim Jarmusch Box Set [Blu-ray]

Permanent Vacation is the debut film by Jim Jarmusch. It was made on a shoestring budget of around $15,000 after he dropped out of film school in New York City. It’s a fascinating film, if somewhat pretentious and amateurish: I’m sure Jarmusch himself wouldn’t disagree, and that’s part of its charm.

The film has the loosest “plot” of any of Jarmusch’s films, which is saying something. It’s about a New York New Waver called Allie (Chris Parker) who wanders aimlessly around the barren landscapes of late 70s New York City. He meets a series of random strange individuals though his travels and ponders his place in the world.

Permanent Vacation is a prime example of No Wave filmmaking. No Wave was a movement in the arts that came out of the New York punk scene, it’s most associated with music but it included different forms of visual art including filmmaking. It was a partly a response to the commercialization of punk and the labelling of more pop-orientated punk bands as “New Wave.” The music became increasingly more experimental, incorporating influences from Free Jazz and Avant-Garde music; Jarmusch himself was in the band The Del-Byzanteens, who are quite good.

The most surprising thing about Permanent Vacation, however, is how fully formed Jarmusch really is at such an early stage. It’s full of references to literature, music and film. There is whole scene dedicated to the protagonist reading excerpts from Comte de Lautréamont’s Maldoror and in pure nihilistic fashion, he tells a friend he can have the book because he has no more use for it. He also goes to see a Nicholas Ray film and the concession girl is reading a copy of J.G. Ballard’s Crash. It has similarities to Bresson’s The Devil, Probably so much so that he picked that as the film to play along side it once at a retrospective. It is also full of the extremely deadpan humour that runs though all of Jarmusch’s films.

It’s flawed but it has enough charm, and the short running time makes it an intriguing watch. It’s great to see the development of one of directors who would become a leading light in the American Independent world of the 1980s and 1990s and who continues to be relevant to this day.

It has been restored onto Blu-Ray, but obviously it still looks rough around its edges due to the film’s budget. It also includes a fantastic documentary on Jim Jarmusch made for German TV around the time of the release of his next film, Stranger Than Paradise.

★★★1/2
Ian Schultz


1 March 2014

DVD Review - For Those In Peril (2013)

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Genre:
Drama
Distributor:
Soda Pictures
Rating: 18
DVD Release Date:
3rd March 2014 (UK)
Director:
Paul Wright
Cast:
George McKay, Nichola Burley, Katie Dickie, Michael Smiley
Buy: For Those In Peril [DVD]

British cinema has long since been known for its realist aesthetic with directors such as Ken Loach (Kes, Raining Stones, and Ladybird, Ladybird) and Mike Leigh (Life Is Sweet, Naked, and Secrets & Lies) working at the forefront of our national cinema within a social realist idiom. In more recent years, with Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher and Andrea Arnold’s more recent Fish Tank springing to mind, the traditional realist mode as changed context and become more poetic in its form. And now we have Paul Wright, whose debut feature For Those in Peril uses local folklore to transcend the boundaries of realist cinema and imbue his story with a sense of magic.

The film concerns itself with the guilt and need for redemption that take their toll on Aaron (George Mackay), the lone survivor of a fishing accident that claimed the lives of several young men including his own brother. With the local townsfolk of the remote Scottish fishing community in which he resides either blaming him or resenting him for being the only one to return, and with his only solace coming from his mother (played by the excellent Kate Dickie) and his dead brother’s girlfriend Jane (Nichola Burley), Aaron retreats into his own world. With the conviction that his brother is still alive and after taking literally the fable his mother used to tell him as a child, he sets out to rescue his brother from the belly of the monster at the bottom of the sea.

My initial reaction when I watched the film was that the use of folklore to lift the film into the realms of magical realism was, as other critics have been eager to point out, a major misjudgement that diverts our attention away from the films compassionate and intense psychological core. But upon reflection the real problem isn’t anything to do with the films magical elements but more to do with the 18 certificate given to the film, because this film does work as a children’s fable, albeit a dark one, that should be made available for a younger audience. For while the film still has its problems, namely the credibility of the townsfolk’s resentment of Aaron, the film is an ambitious debut that deserves to sit alongside Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher, Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, and Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen as a children’s film that has fallen foul of the BBFC’s rating system.

★★★☆☆

Shane James



10 April 2013

Soda Pictures/Jinga Films to Re-release Julian Richards Summer Scars

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Soda Pictures has announced the UK DVD re-release of Julian Richards' BAFTA winning hostage horror SUMMER SCARS with a street day of May 6th 2013.

SUMMER SCARS tells the story of a gang of delinquents who ditch school to hang out in the woods where some hot rodding on a stolen moped changes the fate of their day. They crash into Peter, an ex-army loner, who is delighted to have some company. First he gains their trust by joining in their games, but then his behaviour begins to change. Peter uses what he has learned about the kids against them, bullying the aplha boys, belittling the weaker ones and saving his worst for the only girl of the group. As events spiral out of control the youths resort to extreme measures in order to survive the ordeal.

SUMMER SCARS re-unites Richards with lead actor Kevin Howarth, the dynamic director/actor team behind cult sensation THE LAST HORROR MOVIE. Richards has since directed the forthcoming Hollywood thriller SHIVER starring Danielle Harris, John Jarratt and Casper Van Dien, whilst Howarth has starred alongside Wesley Snipes in GALLOWWALKER and Sean Pertwee in THE SEASONING HOUSE.



Pre-Order/ Buy:Summer Scars On DVD





1 November 2010

UK Trailer For MAMMOTH starring Michelle Williams & Gael Garcia Bernal

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Soda Pictures have sent me the new trailer for MAMMOTH starring Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia  Bernal which is getting a limited release in UK & Ireland next Friday 5th November.
Dysfunctional families seem to be one of the big movie topic especially in the independant/world cinema with Kids Are All Alright ( lesbien couple with kids trying to contact their biological father) and early next year Animal Kingdom about the youngest of a  known criminal family who doesnt want to be in the 'family business' and is pressurised to blag on his family to the cops.In Mammoth Leo(Bernal) is an owner of a booming gaming website and Ellen a emergency nurse  and they have a 8 year old daughter who seems to spend more time with the Fillipino maid (Marife Necesito) who works long and hard to send money home for her 2 sons. Leo heads to Thailand for business and what happens there sparks of a string of events that lead to consquences to all of them.
Mammoth is directed by acclaimed  Swedish director Lucas Moodysson ( A Hole In My Heart, Container). Apoligies to Soda Pictures for taking so long to post this. You can catch Mammoth at Odeon Convent Garden London and Screen Dublin
Synopsis and Trailer after the break....