Out on 10 August and 17 August
Liam Neeson has his evening sorted (it involves running). Russell Crowe tries directing. Sci-fi cinema welcomes its robot overlords. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of The Circus, The Kid, The Gold Rush, Videodrome, Run All Night, Get Hard, Kull The Conqueror, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Pickup On South Street, Cruel Story Of Youth, The Water Diviner and Robot Overlords. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
THE KID/THE GOLD RUSH/THE CIRCUS
These three films show Charlie Chaplin at that point probably the most famous man in the world moving into features, extending and exploring his silent techniques. The Kid at 55 minutes almost a feature was his longest movie to date, teaming him with a mini-me in the form of seven-year-old Jackie Coogan. Slapstick and Victorian melodrama blend as Chaplins tramp reluctantly adopts an abandoned infant, brings him up and comes to love him as they battle the pompous forces of law and respectability. Six years later, Chaplin now running his own independent studio under the United Artists banner created whats generally reckoned his silent masterpiece, The Gold Rush, with the tramp as a highly improbable prospector amid the snows of the Alaska goldfields. Some classic scenes, including the dance of the bread rolls, Charlies boots being boiled up for dinner and the hut teetering over a precipice. Regrettably though, what weve got here is the sound version Chaplin devised 15 years later, burdened with his sentimental and superfluous narration. Last time out, the DVD carried the complete silent original as an extra. Not this time, alas. Finally, theres Chaplins last silent movie, The Circus, with Charlie as an inept dogsbody amid the circus troupe. Plagued by production problems, it feels bitty: some inspired set-pieces (Charlie disrupting a magic act; his tightrope walk hampered by monkeys; pursued by an ill-tempered donkey) are strung together on a routine unrequited-love plot. Extras on all three discs are lavish to the point of extravagance. EXTRAS: > Introductions > Featurettes > Outtakes > Rushes > Excerpts DVD, BD release: 10 August 2015 Philip Kemp
VIDEODROME
Its just torture and murder, says James Woods TV exec Max Renn. No plots. No characters. Very, very realistic. I think its whats next. Hes talking Videodrome, the titular snuff show at the heart of David Cronenbergs prophetic horror. OK, so Im A Celebrity hasnt gone quite that far, but its only a matter of time, right? Having lost little of its power to get under the skin, this queasy mix of media satire and flesh-horror remains one of the Canadian auteurs most subversive, kinky films. While Woods is at his sleazy best, hes fighting for air time with Blondie herself, Deborah Harry, as his girlfriend who gets sucked into the shady world of Videodrome long before he does. The atmosphere is increasingly dream-like, merging fiction and reality in a way that foreshadows Cronenbergs underrated 1999 film, eXistenZ. Events, though, are frequently punctured by Rick Bakers delicious practical effects, from a TV that comes alive to Renn discovering a VCR-like slot in his stomach. Moments like this arent always subtle; the goggleboxs pernicious influence is hammered home, whether its Renn being hoovered into it face-first (now thats being glued to the screen...) or the Marshall McLuhan-like Prof. Brian OBlivion (Jack Creley) pronouncing how its become the retina of the minds eye. But with Cronenberg entirely in command of form and theme, the sickly social commentary still seems spot-on. As for the package, this impressive two-disc set comes with a host of rarities, old and new. Forging The Flesh is a particular delight, as Baker reveals how they approached the visuals (including that pulsating TV set). Fresh material includes interviews with Cronenbergs DoP Mark Irwin and producer Pierre David, and critical appraisals from Tim Lucas and Kim Newman, who dissects the also included four early Cronenberg shorts. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Featurettes > Short films Director: David Cronenberg Starring: James Woods, Sonja Smits Dual format release: 17 August 2015 James Mottram
RUN ALL NIGHT
Liam Neesons latest beat-em-up is refreshingly murkier, less high-concept and crucially better than much of his recent genre fare: hes an alcoholic ex-hitman on a redemptive quest to save his son (Joel Kinnaman) from getting offed by his former pal/boss Ed Harris. The action plays out over one night, giving Jaume Collet-Serras thriller (his third Neeson collab after Unknown and Non-Stop) an inherent urgency. For all the thumping set-pieces, its the tense tte--ttes between frenemies Neeson and Harris that prove the real driving force. EXTRAS: > Featurettes (BD) > Deleted scenes (BD) Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Starring: Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Common, Ed Harris DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 10 August 2015 Richard Jordan
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN
Before the hiply modern Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was digging up the cinematic past with this meta-sequel to 1976 slasher The Town That Dreaded Sundown. All the familiar genre tropes are here and stylishly rendered, from the small-town setting to the elaborate teen murders, but with a postmodern twist the killer is a copycat of the original films villain. Smarter than your average reboot/remake, though the actual bloodletting feels a tad tacked-on. EXTRAS: > Interviews Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Starring: Addison Timlin, Travis Tope, Spencer Treat Clark DVD release: 17 August 2015 Stephen Puddicombe
THE WATER DIVINER
War, romance, exotic Turkish settings, the clinging on to hope against the odds: at times you can almost hear first-time director Russell Crowe shouting Are you not entertained? from behind the camera. And indeed we are during this sweeping wartime drama, which tells the story of an Australian (Crowe) who sets off to Turkey and the site of the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in the hope of finding the bodies of his three perished sons. Its a compelling albeit occasionally preposterous story that particularly impresses with its generously humanistic attitude to the Turkish side of the conflict. EXTRAS: > Making Of Director: Russell Crowe Starring: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney DVD, BD release: 10 August 2015 Stephen Puddicombe
ROBOT OVERLORDS
Grabbers director Jon Wright gives us another Brit-centric sci-fi thats low on production values but high on charm. After giant robots invade earth and order all humans to stay indoors under threat of disintegration, teenager Sean (Callan McAuliffe) and his friends discover how to evade their steely gaze and go in search of Seans dad. Ben Kingsley provides exaggerated villainy as the robot collaborator, though Gillian Anderson gets little to do as the mumsy object of his not-so-subtle affections. McAuliffe takes centre stage, though, and proves a likeable hero in this cross between Amblin-style adventure and classic Doctor Who. EXTRAS: > Featurettes > Making Of > Interviews Director: Jon Wright Starring: Callan McAuliffe, Ben Kingsley, Gillian Anderson DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 10 August 2015 Matt Looker
KULL THE CONQUEROR
Unofficially the third Conan film, this sees Kevin Sorbo step into Schwarzeneggers sandals for a mullets-and-muscles cheese feast that gives the bulging barbarian a new name. Killing the mad king of Valusia in self defence, Kull finds himself wearing the crown; his decision to free all the slaves and not rape all the women attracts an army of royal interlopers and reanimated demon seductresses. Its just awful enough to be hilarious, with a kick-ass cock-rock soundtrack making the whole thing feel like the Game Of Thrones arcade machine that never was. EXTRAS: > Stills Director: John Nicolella Starring: Kevin Sorbo, Tia Carrere, Thomas Ian Griffith DVD release: 17 August 2015 Paul Bradshaw
GET HARD
Will Ferrell serves up another man-child, this time a wealthy banker who, convicted of fraud, pays the black man who washes his car (Kevin Hart) to ready him for San Quentin. What should be a sharp, uncomfortable satire instead trades in racial stereotypes, dick gags and an obsession with rape. Uncomfortable, yes; sharp, hell no. A savagely disappointing directorial debut from Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen, its the kind of project youd more readily expect from Hollywoods other perennial man-child, Adam Sandler. EXTRAS: > Featurettes (BD) > Deleted scenes (BD) > Line-o-ramas (BD) > Gag reel Director: Etan Cohen Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 17 August 2015 Jamie Graham
CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH
The second feature by Japanese New Wave provocateur Nagisa shima (In The Realm Of The Senses), CSOY follows a pair of Tokyo teenagers hes a petty criminal, shes a bourgeois girl looking for thrills who set up a racket ripping off salarymen: she entices them into having sex with her, he comes and beats them up, emptying their wallets. Pessimism rules nobodys likeable and things end badly but the energy is palpable. Extras include a whopping 54-minute intro from Asian-cinema guru Tony Rayns EXTRAS: > Intro > Booklet Director: Nagisa shima Starring: Miyuki Kuwano, Ysuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga Dual format release: 17 August 2015 Philip Kemp
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET
Sam Fuller was incapable of making a boring film, and this noir classic is one of his best. A veteran pickpocket (Richard Widmark) unwittingly bags some microfilm of great interest to communist spies; the resulting kerfuffle has Fuller drawing some bracingly direct parallels between criminal gangs, the NYPD and the feds. The action is even more bracing. Better still, Fullers way with both casting and pulpily poetic dialogue mean this practically pops off your screen. Extras are chocka with analytical heft. EXTRAS: > Interviews > Booklet Director: Sam Fuller Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter Dual format release: 17 August 2015 Andrew Lowry
