Warner's Director's Showcase Collections

[Cronenfly]

Tossing aside the weird-ass assortment of movies compiled for this, I'm looking forward to the box for its sheer variety: I've wanted to see Personal Best and Payday for a while now, I'm sold on The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, The Ritz is (late, but what are you gonna do) Lester and seems to have a decent cast, so I'd give it a shot, and Tell Me A Riddle, well, it looks okay too. Not to encourage the practice of grouping films at random, but I find it refreshing when quality movies are grouped together regardless of a strand linking them or not (if they're available seperately too-as they are here-then there's even less to complain about, and, given the savings of purchasing them in a group, both ways are attractive, box or single).

[souvenir]

I don't think these will be boxed together. Like the first two "Directors' Showcase" promotions, I believe these titles are just being released at the same time.

[Cronenfly]

I don't think these will be boxed together. Like the first two "Directors' Showcase" promotions, I believe these titles are just being released at the same time.

Yes, I believe you're right souvenir: something about the wording on first glance made me think that perhaps it would be a box, but just singles do make much more sense (and are, as you say, the way the Directors' Showcase releases have worked thus far). Disregard my above comments, and sorry for any confusion.

[Cronenfly]

I don't say this about many movies, but jesus is The Heart is A Lonely Hunter depressing. Maybe I was just naive (it doesn't help that I didn't know the book), but I wasn't expecting something so completely downbeat. It's probably a good sign of my involvement in the movie that it still carried an impact, but it felt like a little too much by the end, cheating my emotional involvement with sorrow instead of treacle. I liked it (despite its err-ing on the side of oversimplifying its characters at times), but it was tough to at times. Praise be to James Wong Howe, in any case; not his flashiest work by any means, but solid all the same.

Nice to see Payday getting some positive reviews; DVD Talk gave it its Collector's Series rating, DVD Times liked it a lot, and EW gave it an A (whiile simultaneously trashing Nashville). While I thought that it wasn't necessarily the lost classic it's been made out to be, it certainly deserves a larger profile than it's had, a situation which the DVD will help amend at least somewhat.

[manicsounds]

made my day

Lookin’ To Get Out Director’s Cut
The comedy tells the story of two gamblers who head to Las Vegas hoping to turn their luck around after losing a lot of money in NY. Oscar®--winner Jon Voight (Coming Home), who also co-wrote the screenplay, stars as Alex Kovac, a charming, happy-go-lucky gambler, with Oscar nominee Burt Young (Rocky film series) as his buddy. Ann-Margret (Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas) co-stars as Alex’s ex-girlfriend, and a seven-year-old Angelina Jolie is seen in her film debut.

DVD Special Features:
All new interview with Jon Voight, Burt Young and Ann-Margret
Theatrical trailer

Revolution Revisited Director’s Cut (1985)
Al Pacino plays New York trapper Tom Dobb who finds himself an unwilling participant in the American Revolution. After his son Ned is conscripted into the Continental Army by the immoral Sergeant Major Peasy (Donald Sutherland), Dobb attempts to find Ned, but becomes convinced that he must take a stand and fight for the freedom of the Colonies alongside the aristocratic rebel Daisy McConnahay (Natassia Kinski). The film includes an appearance from British singer Annie Lennox as Liberty Woman.

DVD Special Features
New introduction with director Hugh Hudson and Al Pacino
Narration track
Theatrical trailer

Beyond Rangoon (1995)
John Boorman (Deliverance) directs this tense political thriller based on a true story. Patricia Arquette (TV’s “Medium”) stars as Laura, an American doctor who goes on vacation to Burma (now Myanmar) with her sister (Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading) to escape the memory of the tragic murder of her husband and son. After losing her passport at a political rally, Laura is left on her own for a few days during which time she finds herself in the dangerous midst of a civil war. As an outsider caught in a strange culture, Laura discovers new truths about herself.

DVD Special Features:
Introduction
Vintage EPK
Theatrical trailer

Zabriskie Point (1970)
Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blowup) directs his first American film: a surreal view of late ’60s America, as seen through the portrayal of two of its children. Sometime secretary Daria is working for a developer (Rod Taylor) building a village in the California desert, while dropout Mark is running from the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot. Their lives intersect at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley with an explosive finale. Harrison Ford has an uncredited part as an airport worker, and the soundtrack features music from various artists, including Pink Floyd, The Youngbloods, The Kaleidoscope, Jerry Garcia, Patti Page, and the Grateful Dead.

DVD Special Features:
Theatrical trailer

M. Butterfly (1993)
David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, A History of Violence) directed this provocative romantic drama of love and betrayal that’s based on the Tony Award® winning play by David Henry Hwang. Set in the mid-1960s against a background of the Cultural Revolution in China, the film stars Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons (Lion King), who plays a French diplomat in a 20-year love affair with a beautiful yet mysterious Chinese singer from the Beijing Opera. Interwoven are allusions to the Puccini opera "Madama Butterfly."

DVD Special Features:
New interview with director David Cronenberg
Additional featurette title to be announced
Theatrical trailer

No commentaries for M Butterfly, which is disappointing, and only a trailer for Zabriskie? oh well....

[Perkins Cobb]

Four hours since a Zabriskie Point announcement and nobody's plotzing yet? Wow.

I'm really curious about '80s coke-decline era Ashby, literally none of which is on DVD, so I'm actually more excited about Lookin' to Get Out. Now where's 8 Million Ways to Die?

[Matt]

I know the big news is ZP, but I'm actually most excited to be able to retire the library's VHS copies of Beyond Rangoon and M Butterfly. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than chucking a VHS tape in the dustbin.

coke-decline era Ashby

I knew there had to be a reason Let's Spend the Night Together is completely unwatchable. Is there a book that discusses Ashby and his work in any detail (beside Easy Riders, Raging Bulls)?

Lookin' to Get Out

I'm surprised this hasn't been released earlier due to the presence of li'l Angie Voight.

[jaredsap]

Is there a book that discusses Ashby and his work in any detail (beside Easy Riders, Raging Bulls)?

There's an Ashby biography coming out in March.

I'm surprised [LOOKIN' TO GET OUT] hasn't been released earlier due to the presence of li'l Angie Voight.

This Director's Cut was only recently uncovered.

[domino harvey]

I guess "Jeremy Irons (Die Hard With a Vengeance)" was too esoteric

[zedz]

I guess "Jeremy Irons (Die Hard With a Vengeance)" was too esoteric

I'd say Warners' publicists need to overhaul their film cross-reference algorithm, unless there's a large Lion King / Cronenberg crossover audience of which I'm unaware.

[kaujot]

So no stand-alone releases, then?

[justeleblanc]

So no stand-alone releases, then?

Each title will sell individually for $19.97 SRP.

[AisleSeat]

[url=http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/70021/directors%E2%80%99-showcase-take-four-r1-in-may.html]Directors’ Showcase: Take Four (R1) in May[/url]

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Directors’ Showcase: Take Four on 26th May 2009.

Beyond Rangoon (1995)
John Boorman (Deliverance) directs this tense political thriller based on a true story. Patricia Arquette (TV’s “Medium”) stars as Laura, an American doctor who goes on vacation to Burma (now Myanmar) with her sister (Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading) to escape the memory of the tragic murder of her husband and son. After losing her passport at a political rally, Laura is left on her own for a few days during which time she finds herself in the dangerous midst of a civil war. As an outsider caught in a strange culture, Laura discovers new truths about herself.

Beyond Rangoon ... what a wretched piece of movie making. And John Boorman, no less.

[Vic Pardo]

I don't say this about many movies, but jesus is The Heart is A Lonely Hunter depressing. Maybe I was just naive (it doesn't help that I didn't know the book), but I wasn't expecting something so completely downbeat. It's probably a good sign of my involvement in the movie that it still carried an impact, but it felt like a little too much by the end, cheating my emotional involvement with sorrow instead of treacle.

I recently found an old notebook from college that contained a list of 50 favorite films I made back then (early 1970s) and I was surprised to see HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER on it. I remember being impressed with the film when I first saw it (on a double bill with Paul Newman's RACHEL, RACHEL) but I don't recall liking it that much. It certainly mysteriously failed to appear on future lists. I saw it twice in the movies (the second time on a double bill with another Arkin film, WAIT UNTIL DARK) but I haven't seen it since.

[Killerinstinct]

I don't say this about many movies, but jesus is The Heart is A Lonely Hunter depressing. Maybe I was just naive (it doesn't help that I didn't know the book), but I wasn't expecting something so completely downbeat. It's probably a good sign of my involvement in the movie that it still carried an impact, but it felt like a little too much by the end, cheating my emotional involvement with sorrow instead of treacle. I liked it (despite its err-ing on the side of oversimplifying its characters at times), but it was tough too. at times. Praise be to James Wong Howe, in any case; not his flashiest work by any means, but solid all the same.

I just saw this movie on DVD, and as luck would have it, no actors were familiar to me, so gazing at stars pulling off great performances wasn't a distracting issue.

I found the film deeply moving, and unjustly unheralded, at least as of this date. I won't give away the plot, the movie is unsentimental and heartbreakingly true to life, IMO. The delving into the depths of loneliness and silent despair reduced me to tears, and I felt wiser after I had viewed it. Alan Arkin(I had to check his credentials as he was unknown to me) should have won the Oscar that year, he achieved so much with extremely subdued nuances. The supporting actors were all perfectly cast. However, Cliff Robertson walked away with the Academy Award for best actor in a much flashier part as "Charly." I regret the fact he did.

Depressing movie? No doubt. But it's a rich one you shouldn't miss.

[domino harvey]

Sondra Locke is quite good too. I actually use the scene where she tries to describe the LP to Arkin in the classroom to teach how to write about music. You should check out Arkin's Little Murders, which he directed and co-starred in. Among the darkest satires of all of seventies cinema.