Bloody
Oranges (2021/Dark Star
DVD)/Caged Birds
(2020/Corinth DVD)/Come
Drink With Me
(1966*)/Playground
(2021/Film Movement DVD)/Spiritwalker
(2021/Well Go Blu-ray)/To
Sleep So As To Dream
(1986/*both MVD/Arrow Blu-rays)
Picture:
C/C/B+/C/B+/B+ Sound: C+/C-/B+/C+/B+/B+ Extras: C-/D/B/C/C+/B
Films: C+/C+/B/C/C+/B
Now
for a mix of mostly foreign films, most of which are oddities...
Jean-Christophe
Meurisse's Bloody Oranges (2021) wants to be funny and
shocking at the same time with multiple storylines that add up to
some kind of dark comedy, but its choppiness, lack of any irony and
simply a constant need to be pointlessly gross and worse tries to
link sex, death and old age in the oddest ways.
The
only reason it gets the rating it gets is that some of the early
segments show some promise and the actors are trying, but then it
loses ground within its first half hour of its long, long, long 105
minutes with the really over the top bit being a man knocking out,
abducting and constantly sexually assaulting another man for sexual
pleasure in a graphic manor that is so off the rails that it is
insulting.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.00 X 1 image is on the soft side and not
always easy to watch, but the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is at least passable (the 5.1 sounds better in
this case) and the 2.0 has some surrounds to it.
A
trailer is the only extra.
Oliver
Rihs' Caged Birds (2020) wants to deal with crimes against the
people of Switzerland in the 1980s through an extremely out of date
prison system that led to all kinds of atrocities that have rarely
been heard of. Barbara (Marie Leuenberger) is a politically radical
lawyer who goes wild testing the broken system, even if it means
physical abuse and multiple arrests, but the script offers little
else we have not seen before and the film's nearly two-hour length
could have done much more with what they convincingly claim is based
on as true story.
That
the country had or has any corruption may bed shocking to those who
assume it is a paradise of political neutrality (many actually
supported the Nazis during WWII) and chocolate (even Nestle is
embroiled in many scandals as you read this) so that we at least get
a more realistic discourse on the country is in itself a good thing
and there are good scenes with good actors here. Too bad it does not
go further like it could have.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is on the soft side too and
that adds to not being able to get engaged in what is going on, but
the Swiss/German PCM 2.0 Stereo is very weak, transferred at a very
low volume and really poor. Be VERY careful of high playback volumes
and volume switching.
There
are no extras.
Come
Drink With Me
(1966) is comparative to the feel of Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon,
and is a beautiful martial arts picture that's recently been restored
and presented in deluxe Blu-ray treatment by Arrow Video. Directed
by King Hu, the film stars Pei-pei Cheng, Hua Yeah, Siu-Tung Ching,
Jackie Chan, Ying-Chieh Han, and Hung-Lieh Chen. The film is also
notably produced by Sir Run Run Shaw. If you're a fan of The Shaw
Brothers films then this is an early one and definitely worth
checking out for it's epic-ness alone!
A
western / mystical marital arts film, a group of bandits kidnap the
governor's son and hold him hostage with demands of leading their
captive leader free in exchange.
Come
Drink With Me is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray
disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1,
and lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix; also on the disc
in a lossless, Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono with English
subtitles.
Special
Features:
Brand
new audio commentary by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview
with star Cheng Pei-pei, filmed by Frederic Ambroisine in 2003
Interview
with star Yueh Hua, filmed by Frederic Ambroisine in 2007
Interview
with star Chen Hung-lieh, filmed by Frederic Ambroisine in 2003
Talk
Story with Cheng Pei-pei, a 2016 Q&A at the University of
Hawaii moderated by George Chun Han Wang
Cinema
Hong Kong: Swordfighting, a documentary on the history of the
wuxia genre and Shaw Brothers' contributions to it, produced by
Celestial Pictures in 2003 and featuring interviews with Cheng
Pei-pei, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar-leung, John Woo, Sammo Hung, Kara Hui,
David Chiang and others
Original
theatrical trailer, plus trailer for the sequel Golden Swallow
Image
gallery
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony
Stella
and
First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector's
booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson, and a 2010
essay by George Chun Han Wang about the relationship between director
King Hu and producer Sir Run Run Shaw.
Laura
Wandel's
Playground
(2021) is a somewhat realistic take of the first day of school for a
younger girl Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) and the upset she has being
alone, though older brother Abel (Gunter Duret) is there sometimes.
Running only 72 minutes, it is a long exercise that is pretty much a
run-on narrative about fear, boredom, bullying and everything we've
seen before on the subject without having much of anything to say
about it. The result is good acting in a forgettable tale.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image has some good color, but is a
little soft throughout, any kind of style choices notwithstanding.
At least it is consistent, while the sound is available in two lossy,
Belgian Dolby Digital choices: a passable 2.0 Stereo and somewhat
better 5.1 mix that is just fine for a dialogue-based piece with its
share of silences.
Extras
include trailers and Wandel's short film Foreign
Bodies
(aka Les
Corps Etrangers)
about a war photographer that runs 15 minutes.
A
man loses his memory and wakes up in a new body every 12 hours in
Yoon Jae-keun's Spiritwalker (2021,) which is a nicely
choreographed action extravaganza on Blu-ray from Well Go USA that
has a cool story to boot. I can definitely see this high concept
action thriller being rebooting with an American slant in the near
future.
Spiritwalker
stars former K-pop singer Yoon Kye-Sang (Chocolate, The
Outlaws), Park Yong-Woo (Nailed), Lim Ji-Yeon (Obsessed,
High Society) and Park Ji-Hwan (The Pirates: The Last Royal
Treasure).
The
film is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an
MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1, and Korean and
English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mixes,
with the Korean more convincing overall. The film is nicely
photographed and has some really cool special effects, especially
whenever he is switching bodies. Well Go has done a nice job here.
Special
Features:
Behind
the Scenes featurette
Action
trailer
and
a Theatrical trailer
And
now, the final film here. To
Sleep So As To Dream
(1986) is an interesting film to say the least and is a mix of film
noir and fantasy. A silent film actress is trapped within a silent
ninja film and it's up to two detectives to figure out how to rescue
her. A feature film debut of director Kaizo Hayashi (Maiku Hama
trilogy, The
Most Terrible Time in My Life).
This is the first time that this film has been available outside of
Japan and was critically acclaimed at the time of its release. The
film is pretty easy to get sucked into and is certainly impressive in
this Arrow release.
To
Sleep So As To Dream is presented in 1080p high definition black
and white image on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a
widescreen aspect ratio of 1.37:1, and a lossless Japanese DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) Mono mix, both of which present a beautiful
presentation on disc. The film is beautifully photographed and
surrealistic throughout.
Special
Features:
Brand
new Audio Commentary by Japanese film experts Tom Mes and Jasper
Sharp
Second
Feature Length Audio Commentary with director Kaizo Hayashi and lead
actor Shiro Sano recorded in 2000
How
Many Eggs? Actor Shiro Sano Talks, a brand new interview with the
film's lead actor
Talking
Silents: Benshi Midori Sawato Talks, a brand new interview on
early Japanese film culture and the art of the benshi silent film
commentator
Midori
Sawato Performs 'The Eternal Mystery', an exclusive benshi
performance to the film within the film
The
Restoration of To Sleep So As To Dream featurette
Fragments
from Japan's Lost Silent Heyday, a selection of scenes from
silent jidai-geki films from the Kyoto Toy Museum archives
Original
Theatrical trailer and English-language restored re-release trailers
Image
gallery
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by David
Downton
and
First Pressing Only: Illustrated Collector's
booklet featuring new writing on the film by Aaron Gerow
-
Nicholas Sheffo (DVDs) and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/