Cinemascope
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The San Antonio Express-Times put it at the top of DVD releases for the month of March....
'Borat' tops March video releases
Michael Barrett
Special to the Express-News
"Borat," Sacha Baron Cohen's colossal con on cross-country America, is one of several March video releases based on the tension between documentary and entertainment, truth and fiction, illusion and reality. It's a theme of our time, reflected in many movies.
From Austin's Richard Linklater, "Fast Food Nation" is a documentary or lecture thinly disguised as drama, based on a nonfiction book. Its subject is "the machine that's taking over this country," and unlike much fast food, it feels good for you without being too tasty.
"The Cave of the Yellow Dog" uses a slim girl-meets-dog story to document the daily life of nomadic shepherds in the hills of Mongolia. It's a beautiful, absorbing film from Byambasuren Davaa, who made the similar "The Story of the Weeping Camel."
Luddite techno-guru and accidental postmodernist Marshall McLuhan became a media celebrity while everyone hoped his insights were gibberish. "McLuhan's Wake" presents him as a prophet who formulated four crucial laws of media. If this documentary is longer and artier than necessary, it fits its subject.
Yilmaz Arslan's "Fratricide" is a tragedy of friendship and revenge among Kurdish and Turkish refugees in Germany. Moments of very disturbing violence and occasional tenderness punctuate the tension.
Among older titles, Walerian Borowczyk's "Immoral Women" has three tales of feminine revenge in corrupt social contexts; these are more grotesque than erotic. He also contributed a segment to "Private Collection," but the gem here is a brightly colored abstraction from Shuji Terayama, a Japanese avant-gardist.
There's nothing abstract about Mikio Naruse's "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs." It's both a graceful widescreen soap opera about a bar hostess and a dry-eyed analysis of women's economic exploitation in postwar Japan. Noted scholar Donald Richie offers commentary.
Kon Ichikawa addressed WWII in two benchmarks of beauty and terror. The hero of "The Burmese Harp" seeks rebirth in Buddhism, while "Fires on the Plain" is an epic vision of despair and horror. Touching on cannibalism, this should be seen in conjunction with last month's documentary release "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On."
The beautifully mounted, widescreen martial arts pics of the Shaw Brothers are finally getting respect on DVD. The great action director Chang Cheh was so confident that he often looked away from the action to more interesting details; examples are "Have Sword Will Travel" and "The Traveling Swordsman," two late '60s vehicles for David Chiang's persona of a charming rebel.
From 1972 comes "Neither the Sea Nor the Sand," a restrained British romance that becomes a parable on the perils of "eternal love," or how to co-habit after death. Flawed but daringly loopy and memorable.
A little black girl falls into "The Well," touching off an imminent race riot in a small town. This remarkable 1951 indie still packs an effective punch, despite the Hollywood ending.
Mario Bava's "Kill Baby Kill," an English-dubbed ghost story about a spooky little girl, is a richly colored, dreamlike high point of '60s Italian horror. The new Dark Sky release has commentary by scholar Tim Lucas.
Another highlight of Italian cinema that deserves its accolades is Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves," (aka "The Bicycle Thief") a simple heart-wrencher about a jobless man and his son. This Criterion reissue has a bonus disc with three documentaries.
"Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut" marks Oliver Stone's third version of the biopic ? as he meant it to be seen, says the PR. At three and a half hours, it is, at last ... longer than ever. It's odd that a visually dynamic director should contract the stagey lethargy that afflicts most history lessons, but at least there's more sex ? and two endless, senseless battles.
"Dark Portals" is a CGI-fest about a mirror-masked villain who kills people with lightning and stalks a great detective in 1860 Paris. It's amusing despite, rather than because of, its frantic attention-deficit style.
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I'd reminded everyone earlier but apparently you didn't get the memo.
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I agree with you completely, and yes, I think it's scheduled to be released in the near future, although I've kind of lost count due to all the movies that were mentioned in the WHV chat.
And I agree with you also about this providing a new outlook on the work of Ava and G. Cukor.
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And also the Miami-Herald:
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ® *** ?: More of a concept than a traditional movie, the big-screen debut of Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazak TV reporter (originally conceived for the HBO series ''Da Ali G Show'') might be the funniest American comedy since ''Airplane!'' Essentially a series of incidents between the racist, clueless Borat and nonactors who believed they were sitting down for serious interviews, Cohen and director Larry Charles manage to simultaneously satirize the idiocy of contemporary racism and misguided political correctness. This is a dumb, coarse, shocking movie made by some very smart people. It is also hilarious. -- Rodriguez (vulgar language, nudity, sexual situations, adult themes). 82 minutes.
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Very much so. I felt like I was watching my life up there on the screen.
Me too! :x
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I was also very interested to read about Borat's influence on the "top Hollywood phrases of the year"
"Sexy Time" leads Hollywood word list
"High Five!" and "It's Sexy Time!," favorite expressions of the hit comic character Borat, have topped a list of the top Hollywood phrases of the year.
The Global Language Monitor, a non-profit group that monitors word use, put those two expressions at the top of its annual list of Hollywood words and phrases for the impact they made on the English language.
Both came from the surprise box office hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," which featured British comic Sacha Baron Cohen as a boorish Kazakh journalist touring the United States.
In second place was a Hollywood star trend of giving babies unusual names like Suri, the name of the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Shiloh Nouvel, the daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Global Language Monitor head Paul JJ Payack said the trend "opens an entire new world of possibilities to young parents for either inflicting or bestowing names upon their children."
Other words and phrases on the list include were "Pursuit" from Will Smith's film "The Pursuit of Happyness" and the phrase "Nazi Bullets," used by the grandfather in "Little Miss Sunshine" to explain his crankiness.
"I still got Nazi bullets in my ****," said actor Alan Arkin who won the best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as an irascible grandfather in the movie.
One expression from the box office hit "The Queen," for which Helen Mirren won the best actress Oscar, made the list.
"Will someone please save these people from themselves!," Tony Blair said of the British Royals as he attempted to heal the rift between Queen Elizabeth and her subjects.
Actress Meryl Streep also made the list after declaring to an unfortunate associate in "The Devil Wears Prada": "The details of your incompetence do not interest me."
Last Year, "Brokeback" from "Brokeback Mountain" topped the annual survey.
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Sadly that movie apparently has never been released on video in any country, although I'm not sure that legal problems would be involved. Maybe they just feel there's a lack of interest.
It's a shame, too because Albert Finney is such a fantastic actor
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Another interesting article, this one about the award given by the Israel Film Festival.
'Borat' Star to Receive Israel Award
It will be the festival's first outstanding achievement award given
Zap2It.com
Sacha Baron Cohen didn't win his Oscar, but his comic genius won't go unrecognized.
The 35-year-old actor will be the first to receive the Israel Film Festival award for outstanding achievement on Tuesday, March 6, reports Variety.
"This was his year and we couldn't have chosen a better person to recognize," said exec director Meir Fenigstein.
Baron Cohen, known for "Da Ali G Show," made a sensation this past year even before "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was released. His antics as a fake reporter shocked and delighted many while providing fodder for lawsuits for others. He received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.
The honor will take place at the fest's opening night award dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Also honored that night will be Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chair Amy Pascal and Israeli actress Gila Almagor. The dinner is open to the public for $350 per ticket.
Baron Cohen was also the voice of the head lemur in "Madagascar" and stole scenes in Will Ferrell's comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." The actor next joins Tim Burton's musical remake of "Sweeney Todd" as Signor Adolfo Pirelli.
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Whatever animosities the three of you have with each other doesn't make it right for you to hijack a thread.
Please do not accuse someone of "hijacking" when one has been the target of badgering by other people with personal vendettas.
My sole interest and the only reason I became interested in this thread is because I admire Brando very much and I'm looking forward to the documentary.
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Sorry you forgot your reminder!
I'll tell you all I think of it as soon as I watch it (maybe later today or tomorrow).
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Oh yeah, good point. Well, now the DVD is out so they have no excuse!
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Oh, she was, but she had a small part -- the movie's stars of course were Bette Davis and Anne Baxter.
She would get bigger parts starting around Clash by Night in which she co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck.
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I would say that sounds about 100% correct, malkat
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Huh? Sorry who pirated Borat? :0
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I think it's included in the upcoming DVD box set.
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I'll keep an eye out, but I think that for a lot of titles a rental now would probably be enough to wait out the eventual HD release, even if it's 5 or 8 years down the road.
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Are those all from the same studio?
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Oh that sounds like quite the collection!
Too bad Bhowani Junction is not yet on DVD.
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Just because she played a dumb blonde doesn't mean she was one.
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Have been looking forward to this movie, it's showing now on FMC. Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney are very appealing leads!
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A funny dispatch from London....
Kazakhstan, 'Borat' view of country differ
LONDON, March 2 (UPI) -- The real Kazakhstan and the country portrayed in Sacha Baron Cohen's send-up "Borat" are nothing alike, the country's citizens told a British reporter.
The movie, a box-office smash and Golden Globe winner, was banned in Kazakhstan movie houses and prompted the country to launch a global marketing campaign to show just how much the former Soviet state has to offer, said a Sky News correspondent who visited the country.
Baron Cohen's movie, fully titled "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," follows the politically incorrect journalist as he learns about America for viewers "back home."
A student said he was so furious that he couldn't watch the pirated DVD he snagged.
"I tried to watch this movie fully, but after only 15 minutes I couldn't because there was so many wrong and bad things that were shown in this and I was offended," he said.
Visitors to Kazakhstan will certainly find a different country than the one portrayed in the film, tour guide Rima Junusova said.
"I would like everybody to come here to see the reality," she said.
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I've been in love with the movies since my earliest memories, but that love didn't fully bloom until I had the opportunity to start learning about film from an academical perspective in college, and took every opportunity to attend special screenings, festivals, and to track down rare videos for movies that were very difficult to find.
I can't think of anything more stimulating for a film buff who has a particular fondness for classic American cinema than watching TCM on a regular basis. I like foreign-language films too, and watch many recent releases. But the bulk of what I like is the kind of stuff that shows up on TCM. :x
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I also enjoyed reading this other review:
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" and "Peter Pan" are among this week's release.
?Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan?
One of the most crude, crass yet beloved overseas observers of the glorious nation of U.S. and A. blusters his way into your homes. Reprising one of the alter egos he created on ?Da Ali G Show,? British comic Sacha Baron Cohen delivered a $100 million hit with this uproarious assemblage of sketches, documentary-style encounters and moments of cultural ridicule. Cohen plays the clueless, buffoonish Borat, a Kazakh TV journalist traveling across the United States to report back on the nation and its people to his homeland ? and hopefully, to wed Pamela Anderson in the process. The DVD includes five deleted scenes plus a montage of deleted footage, along with coverage of the publicity tour Cohen did last year, always maintaining the Borat persona. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox)
???
?Peter Pan?
Another of the most cherished cartoon features ever is re-released from the Walt Disney vaults in a two-disc set with a digitally restored version of the 1953 classic. The adaptation of J.M. Barrie?s tale follows the adventures of three children, Wendy, John and Michael Darling, who are whisked to a magical land of pirates, fairies and Peter Pan, the boy who can fly and refuses to grow up. Among the highlights of the DVD extras is a segment about alternate approaches Disney considered for the film but abandoned, including a different opening that would have started the story in the fantasy world of Never Land, instead of the Darlings? London home. The set includes a couple of deleted songs, games and storybooks, a making-of featurette and an essay from Walt Disney himself on why he made the film. Walt?s nephew, Roy Disney, is host for audio commentary that includes Disney animators, critics such as Leonard Maltin, and Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice of Wendy. The set also has a preview of the upcoming straight-to-video release ?Tinker Bell,? centered on the tiny flying pixie who is best pals with Peter. DVD set, $29.99. (Disney)
???
?Literary Classics Collection?
Three decades of films adapted from classic literature debut on DVD. The five-disc set includes Vincente Minnelli?s 1949 rendition of Gustave Flaubert?s ?Madame Bovary,? with Jennifer Jones as the doomed adulteress. Also in the set: the 1948 take on Alexandre Dumas? ?The Three Musketeers,? starring Gene Kelly as the dashing D?Artagnan; 1962?s ?Billy Budd,? with Robert Ryan and Peter Ustinov in an adaptation of Herman Melville?s shipboard saga; Gregory Peck in the title role of C.S. Forester?s naval adventure ?Captain Horatio Hornblower?; and a double-feature disc containing the 1937 and 1952 versions of Anthony Hope?s ?The Prisoner of Zenda.? Terence Stamp, who plays the title role in ?Billy Budd,? and his director on ?The Limey,? Steven Soderbergh, offer commentary for that film, while the other discs feature vintage cartoons and short films. DVD set, $59.92; single DVDs, $19.97 each (Warner Bros.)
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> I would have happily volunteered to be his WATER
> GIRL.
Good point.
Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando Story
in General Discussions
Posted
thank you for sharing, newclassicfilmfan. I hope everyone who reads this will be as moved as you were