Kino Lorber 2015 Home Video Highlights and Gift Guide

The Mask 3-D (Blu-ray & DVD) The first feature-length Canadian horror movie, THE MASK is a chilling tale of a doctor who comes into possession of an ancient tribal mask, which causes terrifying hallucinations of monsters, occultists, and ritual torture. Painstakingly restored by the 3-D Film Archive, Julian Roffman's psychotronic cult classic now looks and sounds better than ever before. The Blu-ray and DVD each come packed with unique special features (see website for full details). The Blu-ray also includes a special 3-D animated short featuring music by Brian May of Queen fame.   Blu-ray: $34.95 DVD: $19.95 Street Date: Now available     Moana with Sound (Blu-ray & DVD) In 1926, Robert and Frances Flaherty created this landmark documentary about life among the people of Samoa, as a follow-up to the wildly successfulNanook of the North. In 1975, their daughter Monica returned to the island of Savai'i to record a new soundtrack for the film, consisting of the island sounds, indigenous voices, and songs. Presented in a new 2k restoration by Bruce Posner and Sami van Ingen, this edition includes documentaries, interviews, and Robert Flaherty's 1925 "city symphony", 24 Dollar Island. Blu-ray: $29.95 DVD: $24.95 Street Date: Now available     Deutschland 83 (DVD) Notable as the first German-language TV series to air in the US, this groundbreaking show was a smash-hit when it aired on SundanceTV last summer. A coming-of-age story within a suspenseful thriller, set against the real events, culture wars and political realities of Germany in the 1980s, the series is told from the point of view of a 23-year-old East German soldier who goes undercover in West Germany and encounters a different way of life through his experiences. This DVD includes all 8 episodes, plus interviews with the show's cast and creators.   DVD: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available   Salaam Bombay! (Blu-ray) Mira Nair's highly acclaimed film, about a young boy struggling to survive on the tough streets of Bombay, was an international hit upon its release in 1988, winning the Camera d'Or at Cannes and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® that year. SALAAM BOMBAY! makes its Blu-ray debut packed with bonus features including audio commentaries by the director and the cinematographer, five documentaries shot in India, and more. Blu-ray: $29.95 Street Date: Now available     F.W. Murnau's Tabu (Blu-ray & DVD)    F.W. Murnau's final film (originally conceived as a collaboration with documentarian Robert Flaherty) is a tragic love story, filmed on location in Tahiti with a native cast and featuring Academy Award-winning cinematography by Floyd Crosby. This edition presents the complete, original, uncensored version, restored Luciano Berriatúa for the F.W. Murnau-Stiftung, and includes documentaries on the making and restoration of the film, outtakes and rare archival footage. Blu-ray: $29.95 DVD: $19.95  Street Date: Now available     F.W. Murnau's Faust (Blu-ray)       Mobilizing the full resources of the Ufa Studios, F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu,Sunrise) orchestrated a colossal adaptation of Goethe's FAUST that ranks alongside Fritz Lang's Metropolisas the greatest achievement of the German silent cinema. This special Blu-ray edition contains the F.W. Murnau-Stiftung's meticulous restoration of the original German version of the film, as well as a DVD of the lengthier alternate cut prepared by the Ufa Studios in 1930.   Blu-ray: $29.95 Street Date: Now available   The Kindergarten Teacher (Blu-ray & DVD)    Nadav Lapid's THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER is the story of a teacher who becomes at first enchanted, and then ultimately consumed, by the poetic genius of her five-year-old student. Nira (Sarit Larry) discovers that her young student Yoav (Avi Shnaidman) has an otherworldly talent for language and poetry, and becomes interested in cultivating the boy's gift. But when fascination morphs into obsession, Nira pushes the boundaries of her relationship with the boy and his family in an attempt to protect the purity of his talent. Special features include an interview with Nadav Lapid, and a short film by the director. Blu-ray: $34.95 DVD: $29.95 Street Date: Now available     Güeros (Blu-ray & DVD) Ever since the National University strike broke out, Sombra and Santos have been living in angst-ridden limbo. Education-less, motionless, purposeless, and unsure of what the strike will bring, they begin to look for strange ways to kill time. But their idiosyncratic routine is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Tomas, Sombra's kid brother. Unable to fit in amongst these older slackers, Tomas discovers that unsung Mexican folk-rock hero Epigmenio Cruz has been hospitalized somewhere in the city. Tomas convinces Sombra and Santos they must track him down in order to pay their final respects on his deathbed. But what they thought would be a simple trip to find their childhood idol soon becomes a voyage of self-discovery across Mexico City's invisible frontiers. Includes an interview with director Alonso Ruizpalacios. Blu-ray: $34.95 DVD: $29.95 Street Date: Now available   A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Blu-ray & DVD) Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps, and other sordid souls, is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness, where a lonely vampire is stalking the town's most unsavory inhabitants. But when boy meets girl, an unusual love story begins to blossom...blood red. Loaded with bonus features including a booklet essay by Eric Kohn, deleted scenes, stills, and Q&A hosted by Roger Corman. Blu-ray contains exclusive special features including VICE documentaries and a collectible graphic novel.  Blu-ray: $34.95 DVD: $24.95 Street Date: Now available   Welcome to L.A. (Blu-ray)  Los Angeles: a land of fascinating neurotics who live on the edge of loneliness and despair southern California style. The stellar cast includes Keith Carradine (Thieves Like Us) as a rock composer whose success, unbeknownst to him, is due to his father's money, Sissy Spacek (Prime Cut) as a free-spirited maid who likes to clean house stripped to the waist, Lauren Hutton (Gator) as a photographer in the midst of an affair with an older millionaire, Geraldine Chaplin (Z.P.G.) as the lonely wife of an ambitious man who fancies herself a modern-day Garbo, and Sally Kellerman (Foxes) as the desperate real estate woman with penchant for afternoon affairs with her clients. Produced by the great Robert Altman (The Long Goodbye) and directed by his protégé Alan Rudolph (Love at Large), Welcome to L.A. is a provocative, haunting and totally absorbing look at life in the fast lane of 1970s L.A.            Blu-ray: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available   A Child is Waiting (Blu-ray & DVD) The third directing effort by the great John Cassavetes (Husbands) is an engrossing, sobering expose of society's cruel prejudice toward mentally challenged children. Jean Hansen (Judy Garland, Judgment at Nuremberg) is an experienced city transplant who takes a job at a Down syndrome institution and befriends Reuben, one of the boys afflicted with the disease. Reuben latches on to Jean, to the dismay of Dr. Matthew Clark (Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry), the head of the institution. He feels that Jean's affection for Reuben will disturb the other children, prompting him to separate the pair. Cassavetes stunningly uses actual disabled children to convey the reality of these disabilities, and gives the film a level of humanity and unflinching depth that resonates long after the final credits have rolled.   Blu-ray: $29.95 DVD: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available       The Hurricane  (Blu-ray & DVD)  The Hurricane is one of the most spectacular productions of the 1930s directed by the legendary John Ford. An intolerant Governor (Raymond Massey,Arsenic and Old Lace) sets off a series of tragic events in an idyllic Pacific paradise, disrupting the peaceful lives of newlywed islanders Terangi (Jon Hall,Arabian Nights) and Marama (Dorothy Lamour, My Favorite Brunette). Terangi is wrongly imprisoned by racist officials and after many failed escape attempts, additional years are added to original his six month jail term. Terangi finally succeeds and returns to Marama after a long absence, but only to be confronted with one of the most savage natural disasters to ever hit the island. The devastating hurricane was created by special effects wizard James Basevi (San Francisco), who used enormous wind machines along with elaborate network of pipes and holding tanks to destroy the native village he had built. Blu-ray: $29.95 DVD: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available   The Phantom of the Opera (Blu-ray & DVD)   A forerunner of the American horror film, and one of the most lavish productions of the silent cinema, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has inspired countless remakes and imitations. But none of its successors can rival the mesmerizing blend of romance and mystery that haunts every frame of the Lon Chaney original. This edition presents the 1929 theatrical version, restored from archival 35mm elements by Film Preservation Associates, and is presented at two different historically-accurate projection speeds, each with two different soundtrack options. Also included is the 1925 theatrical version, which survives only in poor-quality prints, but contains scenes that were removed from the 1929 release version.   Blu-ray: $39.95 DVD: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available     Je T'aime Je T'aime (Blu-ray & DVD)   Je t'aime je t'aime is a haunting tale of romantic obsession and time travel, a traumatic break-up caught in an endless loop. It is science fiction as only Alain Resnais ("Last Year at Marienbad") could have made. Claude Ridder (Claude Rich) is recovering from a failed suicide attempt after the collapse of his relationship with Catrine (Olga Georges-Picot). He is approached by an obscure scientific lab, who wants him to participate in the human trials of a new time travel device. The test will send him back one years time, for one minute. But the machine goes haywire, and Ridder gets caught in a never-ending series of temporal leaps, re-living his tragic life out of sequence. His past is a nightmare he is trying to escape, and the only exit might be his own death.   Blu-ray: $39.95 DVD: $29.95 Street Date: Now available     Lost Lost Lost & Walden (Blu-ray) Kino Lorber is proud to present in association with Re:Voir two diary films by the highly influential independent filmmaker and New American Cinema pioneer Jonas Mekas. Walden (1969), Mekas' first completed diary film, is an epic portrait of the New York avant-garde arts scene of the 1960s, featuring many of Mekas'friends of that period, including Andy Warhol, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and The Velvet Underground. Lost Lost Lost (1976), comprised of fourteen years of footage, documents Mekas' early years in New York as he and his brother Adolfas build their new life in America, discovering the city and the burgeoning film and arts community of the 1950 and 60s downtown scene. Each disc includes additional short films by Jonas Mekas.   Blu-ray: $44.95  Street Date: Now available   Moby Dick (DVD)   This spectacular retelling of Herman Melville's classic, masterfully directed by John Huston (The Unforgiven), is unsurpassed in entertainment, imagination and high adventure. From the screenplay by Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) and Huston, Moby Dick is a brilliant film - consumed by an insane rage, Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck, On the Beach) has but one purpose in life - revenge on Moby Dick, the great white whale who maimed and disfigured him. The obsessed skipper of a whaling boat, Ahab uses his command as an excuse to sail the seven seas in an unrelenting search of his prey while battling a mutinous crew, tropical heat and violent storms in this epic struggle of non-stop fury and inevitable doom.   DVD: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available     British Noir: 5 Film Collection (DVD)   While the film noir movement may seem like a distinctly American phenomenon, British studios embarked on their own shadowy thrillers, laced with postwar cynicism. This five-DVD collection assembles some of the lesser-known Brit noir titles from the Rank Studios, featuring such major talents as actors James Mason, Trevor Howard, and John Mills; and directors Ronald Neame and Roy Ward Baker. Includes THEY MET IN THE DARK (1943), THE OCTOBER MAN (1947), SNOWBOUND (1948), THE GOLDEN SALAMANDER (1950), and THE ASSASSIN (1952).   DVD: $59.95 Street Date: Now available     Awake: The Life of Yogananda (DVD) Awake: The Life of Yogananda is an unconventional biography about the Hindu swami who brought yoga and meditation to the West in the 1920s. Paramahansa Yogananda authored the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and is a go-to book for seekers, philosophers and yoga enthusiasts today (apparently, it was the only book that Steve Jobs had on his iPad). By personalizing his own quest for enlightenment and sharing his struggles along the path, Yogananda made ancient Vedic teachings accessible to a modern audience, attracting many followers and inspiring the millions who practice yoga today. Filmed over three years with the participation of 30 countries around the world, the documentary examines the world of yoga, modern and ancient, east and west, and explores why millions today have turned their attention inwards, bucking the limitations of the material world in pursuit of Self-realization.   DVD: $29.95  Street Date: Now available

Artsploitation Films

Artsploitation Films Returns with a Vengeance The Indie Distribution Company Announces a Diverse Slate of Genre Films   April 22, 2015 (Philadelphia, PA) - After a hiatus of 16 months, alternative North American film distribution company Artsploitation Films (www.artsploitation.com) has announced its upcoming summer line-up of international films. From the comedic to the horrific; the unsettling to the blood-curdling; and from the erotic to the controversial, the films showcase the best and most innovative genre movies the world has to offer.     The announced selection of 10 titles begins June 9th with the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the German slasher film and film festival favorite DER SAMURAI and features films from 6 different countries. Showcased is a cross-dressing, samurai sword-wielding killer (DER SAMURAI); a middle-class snuff-making suburban couple (THE HOUSE WITH 100 EYES); a group of cub scouts who should not have gone into the woods (CUB); a porno director’s bed-hopping search for his next female star (TRANSGRESSION); a young girl tormented by psycho-sexual dreams (HORSEHEAD); a money-desperate drug dealer who will stop at nothing (DEALER); a kidnapped woman more duplicitous than her abductors (RECKLESS); and, coming this Fall, a severed hand bent on bloody revenge…and bodily reunification (BLOODY KNUCKLES). And there is not a G–rated children’s film in the bunch!   There will be several limited theatrical releases (FEVER and DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES this summer) and most films will go out day and date on DVD/Blu-Ray and VOD. Artsploitation’s founder, Raymond Murray, sums up the company’s acquisitions philosophy as, “We seek entertaining and provocative films that encompass our admittedly left-of-center film esthetic. My goal is to find films that my team and I love but then the hard work begins: connecting each film with its targeted, often quite specialized audience. And remember, hundreds of fictional men, women and children have been killed, kidnapped, tormented, or have had their blood sucked out of them and the least we can do is connect their stories with their future fans.”   The slate of titles are below with more films to be announced in the coming weeks. DER SAMURAI (2014, Germany, Director: Till Kleinert) Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: June 9, 20015 A young police officer stalks a cross-dressing villain with a sword and a predilection for beheadings. "A fantastic piece of cinema...beautiful and blood drenched." - Ain't It Cool News Bonus features: Director's commentary Making of featurette THE HOUSE WITH 100 EYES (2013, USA, Directors: Jay Lee and Jim Roof) DVD Release Date: June 16, 2015 This grisly horror-comedy follows a nice couple who happen to also be serial killers and snuff filmmakers. "One of the greatest horror films of the century." - Film Radar   Bonus features: Director's commentary Sizzle reel Gag reel HORSEHEAD (2014, France, Director: Romain Basset) Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: June 23, 2015 A shocking horror-fantasy about a young woman haunted by nightmares involving a horse-man. "Well acted, gorgeously and nightmarishly executed." - Ain't It Cool News Bonus features: Making of featurette (60 minutes) Four short films THE TREATMENT (2014, Belgium, Director: Hans Herbots) Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: July 7, 2015 A murder-mystery about a cop seeking a maniac who torments the parents before abducting their kids. Based on the international best seller by Mo Hayder. "Exceptionally well made…incredibly creative and the twists come as huge surprises." - Influx Magazine Trailer: https://vimeo.com/124133052 RECKLESS (2014, Netherland, Directed by Joram Lürsen) DVD Release Date: July 14, 2015 A wealthy beautiful woman is kidnapped by two ex-cons but their plan goes all wrong in this twisted thriller.  Based on 2009's The Disappearance of Alice Creed. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/124133699 TRANSGRESSION (2014, France, Director: Jean-François Davy) DVD Release Date: July 28, 2015 A semi-documentary about a seasoned French erotic filmmaker who goes on an unusual flesh and sex filled tour of Eastern Europe in search of his next leading lady. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/124357796 Bonus feature: Director's cut of EXHIBITION, Jean-François Davy's 1975 documentary on the French porn industry. CUB (2014, Belgium, Director: Jonas Govaerts) Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: August 18, 2015 A camping trip turns into a carnage for a troop of cub scouts as a killer, aided by his feral young assistant, stalks them with deadly traps. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l75j-JeFM1c Festival screenings: 2014 Toronto International, 2014 Sitges Film Festival, 2014 London Film Festival THE SUMMER HOUSE (2014, Germany, Director: Curtis Burz) DVD Release Date: August 25, 2015 A psycho-sexual drama in which a middle-aged family man’s sexual attraction to his daughter’s young friend threatens the stability of his family. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/120181262 DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES (2014, Argentina, Director: Natalia Meta) DVD Release Date: September 8, 2015 A rookie cop to goes undercover in Buenos Aires’ gay underworld to solve a murder in this crime thriller that was one of Argentina’s top grossing films of 2014. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-CB7GLfhMk DEALER (2014, France, Director: Jean-Luc Herbulot) DVD Release Date: September 29, 2015 A stylish, violent thriller about a drug dealer who is thrown into an urban hell when a deal goes sour. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re5e914SnQ8

Harlan Ellison — Pay the Writer