OCN has quite a few smaller films getting the Blu-ray treatment this month. There are two titles that are rather exciting to watch. I Think Were Alone Now is about two fans obsessed with Tiffany. Remember her in the ’80s when she took shopping malls with her performances? She was once the rival to Debbie Gibson. She still has staying power with these fans. Jane By Charlotte is a daughter’s documentary about her mother. Jane Birkin became a sensation in the ’60s and ’70s when the actress split from split from John Barry to become a singing sensation while with Serge Gainsbourg. She even is responsible for the Birkin Bag. Her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg explores her mother’s life adventures. There’s more film son the list. Here’s the press release from Vinegar Syndrome:
| We have a lot to be thankful for this November! Black Friday at VinegarSyndrome.com may be just around the corner (Nov. 25th-28th) but our Partner Label slate for the month is already on sale and includes heavy hitter art-house imports (DISTANT and ELISA), the latest (and final) box set of Doris Wishman films from our friends at AGFA, another SOV mind-melter from Saturn’s Core with the cyberpunk opus THE GOOD BOOK, a duo of music focused films that defy expectations and genre placement (I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW and THE ICARUS LINE MUST DIE), a documentary on two of our greatest entertainers with JANE BY CHARLOTTE, a double-dose of shot-on-film genre oddities newly restored for home video (MINDFIELD and MIND, BODY AND SOUL), a toe-tapping musical from Malaysia that finally makes its way to the US with SELL OUT! and, last but not least, a dark holiday comedy that’s sure to put you in the yuletide spirit with the acerbic WHITE REINDEER. There’s something for everyone this month and all of these new Partner Label releases are shipping now, which will give you plenty to watch while waiting for your Black Friday orders to ship! And speaking of Black Friday, a friendly reminder that Partner Label titles with a release date prior to July 2022 will be on sale for 50% off during the sale (excluding any titles released via a prior distributor) which is a perfect opportunity to catch up on back catalog titles and slipcovers now in low quantities like OTHER MUSIC and THE OREGONIAN from Factory 25, DON’T LET THE ANGELS FALL from Canadian International Pictures, SOUND AND FURY from Altered Innocence and THE AGFA TRAILER HORROR SHOW from AGFA! See you all again for Partners Only month in December with thirteen new Partner Label releases, including one Vinegar Syndrome website exclusive, all on sale at 12:01pm on December 1st! DISTANT (Big World Pictures) Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan made a name for himself on the international art-house circuit with his 2002 Cannes Grand Jury Prize (and Palme d’Or nominee) winning drama that evokes, and explicitly references, the cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky. It’s an elegant, decidedly cold, film that is infinitely rewarding for those willing to submit to its pace and language. Highly recommended. ELISA (Altered Innocence) French filmmaker Jean Becker’s closest companion to his sleazy 80s thriller ONE DEADLY SUMMER is a 90s crime drama starring KNIFE + HEART’s Vanessa Paradis as a young woman conning her way through the streets of Paris. Perfect for fans of understated genre films and 90s teen dramas, with a riveting performance by Paradis. THE FILMS OF DORIS WISHMAN: THE DAYLIGHT YEARS (AGFA) The third, and final, box set of Wishman’s films from AGFA this year, collecting her early films with a penchant for documenting the habits of nudists. Wishman fans likely know what to expect here and everyone else should have a great time discovering her most playful films for the first time. THE GOOD BOOK (Saturn’s Core) Matthew Giaquinto wildly ambitious SOV cyber thriller is the type of thing you least expect when dealing with films shot on video, dealing in themes and aesthetics that would be more commonplace in studio films with 100 times the resources, yet Giaquinto makes it work and then some, throwing all sorts of genre staples (including vampires!) into the mix over its meager 81 minute runtime. I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW (Enjoy the Ride) One of the wilder entertainment documentaries of the 2000s, chronicling the obsessions of two different Tiffany fans and how they engage with the star to varying degrees of legality. Winner of Best Documentary at the Fantasia Film Festival and garnering a cult following over the past decade since its release, this disc contains a slew of newly produced supplements that pick up where the feature left off which makes it a must for those who are already fans as well as the uninitiated. THE ICARUS LINE MUST DIE (Dark Star Pictures) An enlightening, formally interesting, marriage of narrative and mockumentary about the nearly forgotten 2000s band The Icarus Line, featuring band members as themselves alongside contemporaries Ariel Pink, Keith Morris and Justin Pearson of The Locust. For anyone interested in the cutthroat indie music scene of the past 20 years, it’s essential viewing. JANE BY CHARLOTTE (Utopia) Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin likely need no introduction, and if they do then this film can serve that purpose. An illuminating and gorgeously rendered personal documentary by Cainsbourg about her mother Birkin, mixing stories and images of family with those rooted in the entertainment industry they both inhabited. One of the better documentaries of the year so far. MIND, BODY AND SOUL (Culture Shock) Vinegar Syndrome fans are well versed in the work of Rick Sloane (Hobgoblins, Vice Academy) by now and his early 90s Satanic horror film starring Wings Hauser and Ginger Lynn will likely be of immediate interest to those with an interest in genre cinema at the schlockiest end of the spectrum. Full of gratuitous nudity, quotable dialogue and the type of profound storytelling you can expect from Sloane. MINDFIELD (Canadian International Pictures) Nearly a decade after starring in SCANNERS, Michael Ironside appeared in this other Canadian thriller focused on the mind, directed by Jean-Claude Lord of VISITING HOURS fame. Relatively unheard of in the US, it should enter the canon of great genre films from up north as well as holiday set thrillers and features an all timer Ironside performance. A big discovery and re-release for our friends at CIP. SELL-OUT (Kani) Yeo Joon Han’s Venice Film Festival winning media musical has long been unavailable, especially in the west, and it should be a surefire cult hit on video now that Kani are making it available for everyone to see. The humor is sharp, the it’s visually assured and the songs are endlessly catchy – which makes the inclusion of a CD soundtrack all the more welcome! WHITE REINDEER (Factory 25) Zach Clark’s very dark holiday comedy is a master class in tone, nearly effortlessly making the most grim subjects funny even when we’re uncomfortable laughing. Should end up in your yearly holiday rotation, unless you’re easily offended! |
