Dear Friends,
Happy 2009! We are getting ready to unleash the new Global Cafe website in the next few weeks! I am so excited and have been waiting for the new era of The Global Cafe for over two years. I am working with several of my closest friends to bring you a new website. I will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Trevor P. Stottlemyer
Editor in Chief The Global Cafe
Last night, I came home to the pleasant suprise of Criterion's July release calendar. Look below for the full run down.
THE HUMAN CONDITION
Masaki Kobayashi’s mammoth humanist drama is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three parts, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition (Ningen no joken), adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji (handsome Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet POW. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of its nation’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.
REPULSION ( DVD & BLU-RAY )
Roman Polanski followed up his international breakthrough Knife in the Water with this controversial, chilling tale of psychosis, starring Catherine Deneuve as Carol, a fragile, frigid young beauty cracking up over the course of a terrifying weekend. Left alone by her vacationing sister in their London flat, Carol is haunted by specters real and imagined, and her insanity grows to a violent pitch. Thanks to its unforgettable attention to disturbing detail and Polanski’s unparalleled adeptness at turning claustrophobic space into an emotional minefield, Repulsion remains one of cinema’s most shocking psychological thrillers
MADE IN THE U.S.A.
With its giddily complex noir plot and color-drenched widescreen images, Made in U.S.A was a final burst of exuberance from Jean-Luc Godard’s early sixties barrage of delirious movie-movies. Yet this chaotic crime thriller and acidly funny critique of consumerism—featuring Anna Karina as the most brightly dressed private investigator in film history, rummaging through an intricate plot for a former lover who might have been assassinated—also points toward the more political cinema that would come to define Godard. Featuring characters with names such as Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, David Goodis, and Doris Mizoguchi, and appearances by a slapstick Jean-Pierre Léaud and a sweetly singing Marianne Faithfull, this piece of pop art is like a Looney Tunes rendition of The Big Sleep gone New Wave.
FOR ALL MANKIND ( DVD & BLU-RAY )
In July 1969, the space race ended when Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” No one who witnessed the lunar landing will ever forget it. Al Reinert’s documentary For All Mankind is the story of the twenty-four men who traveled to the Moon, told in their words, in their voices, using the images of their experiences. Forty years later, it remains the most radical, visually dazzling work of cinema yet made about this earth-shaking event.
20th Century Fox shall make all those Blu-ray devotees proud in April and May of 2009. Cover art and bonus material information is below for the Blu-ray editions of The Westler (April 21, 2009), The Day The Earth Stood Still (April 7, 2009), Notorious (April 21, 2009) & S. Darko (May 12, 2009).
The Day The Earth Stood Still
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL special edition DVD/BD is presented in widescreen format (2.35:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound and Spanish and French Dolby Surround with English, Spanish and French subtitles. Packaged with the original 1951 version of the film. Bonus features include:
Deleted Scenes
Re-Imagining “The Day” Featurette
Unleashing Gort Featurette
Watching The Skies: In Search Of Extraterrestrial Life Featurette
The Day The Earth Was “Green” Featurette
Commentary By Writer David Scarpa
Still Galleries
Concept Art
Storyboards
Production Photos
The Day The Earth Stood Still Digital Copy for portable media players
THE WRESLTER
The Wrestler single-disc DVD is presented in widescreen format 2.35:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 Dolby Surround. Individual disc bonus features as follows: Within the Ring featurette & The Wrestler Music Video – Written and Performed by Bruce Springsteen
NOTORIOUS
The NOTORIOUS Unrated Director’s Cut Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Disc is presented in widescreen format (2.55:1 ration) with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Audio with French and Spanish subtitles. English subtitles will also be available for the deaf and hard of hearing. The disc will include all of the bonus features on the NOTORIOUS Unrated Director’s Cut Collector’s Edition as well as: BD-Live Feature – The Music: get even closer with the music of B.I.G. with this interactive trivia track and tag and track your favorite songs throughout the movie. BonusVIEW – Life After Death: Making NOTORIOUS Digital Copy.
S.DARKO
The S. DARKO Blu-ray Disc is presented in widescreen format 1:78:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English, French and Spanish subtitles. The BD features in hi-definition include filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes, the making of S. Darko & Utah Too Much featurette.
Jamison Rotz is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from South Central Pennsylvania. His most recent project is called The Programaddicts, a mixture of synth-pop, new wave and modern rock music. The Programaddicts have a song called “City Girls” in the new Miramax comedy, Adventureland. Jamsion Rotz was kind enough to discuss his music and being a musician in South Central Pennsylvania with The Global Cafe.
The Global Cafe mourns the passing of Latin Percussionist and bandleader Manny Oquendo. Oquendo played along-side such jazz giants as Chano Pozo, Tito Rodriguez and Eddie Palmieri. Manny's most recent group was called Cojunto Libre. Manny Oquendo inspired and influenced numerous Timbale players over the past 4 decades
Nothing makes The Global Cafe happier than the announcement of classic schlock cinema on DVD and Blu-ray. Even with a slow economy and video labels like New Yorker closing their doors Blue Underground, Mondo Macabro, Mya Communications and Dark Sky are still pumping out re-mastered obscure gems through the spring and summer months of 2009. Return to The Global Cafe for reviews of the below releases.
Spring tempts use with a wonderful selection of new music!!!! Elvis Costello teams with T-Bone Burnett, Steve Earle produces a full CD of Townes Van Zant material and thats just the beginning of the musical flood. The Gloal Cafe will keep you posted with reviews and further information about these new CD's.
Available March 31
BOBBY OSBORNE & THE ROCKY TOP X-PRESS Bluegrass & Beyond (Rounder)
BRUCE COCKBURN Slice O Life: Live Solo (Rounder)
DAILEY & VINCENT Brothers from Different Mothers (Rounder)
DIANA KRALL Quiet Nights (Verve)
GOMEZ A New Tide (ATO)
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Lost Channels (Nettwerk)
JOHN SCOFIELD Piety Street (Emarcy)
LEONARD COHEN Live in London (CD/DVD) (Sony)
MARCUS ROBERTS New Orleans Meets Harlem, Vol. 1 (J-Master)
MICHELLE MALONE Debris (SBS)
NEIL YOUNG Fork in the Road (Reprise)
PETER BJORN & JOHN Living Thing (Almost Gold/Startime)
PJ HARVEY/JOHN PARISH A Woman A Man Walked By (Island)
SARA WATKINS Sara Watkins (debut solo from Nickel Creek singer/fiddler, produced by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones) (Reprise/Nonesuch)
STEVE FORBERT The Place And The Time (429/SLG)
STEVIE NICKS The Soundstage Sessions (Reprise)
THE FLATLANDERS Hills And Valleys (New West)
YEAH YEAH YEAHS It's Blitz! (Interscope)
Available April 7
ALISON BROWN The Company You Keep (Compass)
ANGEL TAYLOR Love Travels (Epic)
BAT FOR LASHES Two Suns (Astralwerks)
BOB MOULD Life and Times (Anti-)
CAROLINE WEEKS Songs For Edna (Manimal)
CASSANDRA WILSON Closer To You: The Pop Side (covers from her Blue Note albums) (Blue Note/EMI)
CHRIS VELAN Solidago (w/ members of Mother Hips, ALO, Jackie Greene) (Newsong Recordings)
CRYSTAL ANTLERS Tentacles (Touch and Go)
CYRIL NEVILLE Brand New Blues (M.C. Records)
DAVID WILCOX Open Hand (What Are Records?)
DOVES Kingdom of Rust (Astralwerks)
GLENN TILBROOK Pandemonium Ensues (Koch)
JUNIOR BOYS Begone Dull Care (Domino)
LADY SOVEREIGN Jigsaw (Midget Records)
MANDA MOSHER Everything You Need (Red Parlor)
MARIA TAYLOR LadyLuck (Nettwerk)
MICACHU AND THE SHAPES Jewellery (Rough Trade)
RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT A Stranger Here (Anti)
RAY CHARLES Genius: The Ultimate Collection (Concord)
SUPERCHUNK Leaves in The Gutter (EP) (Merge)
THE FELICE BROTHERS Yonder Is The Clock (Team Love)
THE THERMALS Now We Can See (Kill Rock Stars)
THE TRAGICALLY HIP We Are the Same (Rounder)
THE VEILS Sun Gangs (Rough Trade)
TIM BRANTLEY Goldtop Heights (Blackledge Music)
VIENNA TENG Inland Territory (Zoë/Rounder)
YOUTH GROUP The Night Is Ours (World's Fair)
Available April 14
BILL CALLAHAN Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)
FASTBALL Little White Lies (33 1/3/Megaforce)
HANDSOME FAMILY Honey Moon (Carrot Top)
JAKE SHIMABUKURO Live (Hitchhike)
JILL SOBULE California Years (Pinko)
JOHN DOE AND THE SADIES Country Club (Yep Roc)
PAPERCUTS You Can Have What You Want (Gnomonsong)
ROBERT GOMEZ Pine Sticks Phosphorus (w/ members of The Polyphonic Spree, Midlake, Postmarks & Sarah Jaffe) (Nova Posta Vinyl)
SCOTT MILLER For Crying Out Loud (w/ Patty Griffin & Tim O'Brien) (F.A.Y.)
SILVERSUN PICKUPS Swoon (Dangerbird)
THE FREDDY JONES BAND Time Well Wasted (OTB Records)
WILLIE NILE House Of A Thousand Guitars (MRI)
Available April 21
ALLEN TOUSSAINT The Bright Mississippi (1st solo album in over 10 years, produced by Joe Henry) (Nonesuch)
BOOKER T Potato Hole (w/ Neil Young on guitar and Drive-By Truckers as backing band) (Anti-)
BOXMASTERS Modbilly (Vanguard)
BRAIN BLADE Mama Rosa (Verve Forecast)
CAMERA OBSCURA My Maudlin Career (4AD)
COMMANDER CODY Dopers, Drunks, and Everyday Losers (Blind Pig)
DAN ZIMMERMAN Cosmic Patriot (Sounds Familyre)
DEPECHE MODE Sounds Of The Universe (Mute/Capitol/Virgin)
EILEN JEWEL Sea Of Tears (Signature Sounds)
JESSE WINCHESTER Love Filling Station (first studio release in 10 years) (Appleseed)
JULIAN MARLEY Awake (Univeral Republic)
KATIE HERZIG Apple Tree (Marion-Lorraine)
RICHARD SHINDELL Not Far Now (Signature Sounds)
ROY ROGERS Split Decision (Blind Pig)
SLAID CLEAVES Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away (Music Road)
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS Dark Days/Light Years (Rough Trade)
THE GREENCARDS Fascination (Sugar Hill)
WAYNE HANCOCK Viper Of Melody (Bloodshot)
WEBB WILDER More Like Me (Blind Pig)
Available April 28
BEN LEE The Rebirth of Venus (New West)
BOB DYLAN Together Through Life (Columbia)
GREAT NORTHERN Remind Me Where the Light Is (Eenie Meenie Records)
KING WILKIE The Wilkie Family Singers (w/ Robyn Hitchcock, Abigail Washburn, David Bromberg, Peter Rowan, John McEuen, and the Be Good Tanyas' Sam Parton (Casa Nueva)
LOS STRAITJACKETS The Further Adventures Of (Yep Roc)
MELODY GARDOT My One and Only Thrill (Verve)
NEWFOUND ROAD Same Old Place (Rounder)
PALEFACE The Show Is On the Road (Ramseur)
SAMANTHA CRAIN & THE MIDNIGHT SHIVERS Songs In The Night (Ramseur)
SLAID CLEAVES Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away (Music Road)
WILCO Ashes of American Flags (2008 concert DVD) (Nonesuch)
YONLU Yonlu (Luaka Bop)
ZERA MARVEL Birds And Bullets Fly (In Spades)
Available May 5
BEN HARPER & RELENTLESS 7 White Lies For Dark Times (Virgin)
CRACKER Sunrise in the Land of Milk & Honey (429 Records)
CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND Outer South (Merge Records)
RYAN BINGHAM Road House Sun (Lost Highway)
ST. VINCENT (aka Annie Clark) Actor (4AD)
THE NEW YORK DOLLS Cause I Sez So (produced by Todd Rundgren) (Atco)
ZIGGY MARLEY Family Time (kid's album w/ guests Willie Nelson & Paul Simon, co-produced by Don Was) (Tuff Gong)
Available May 12
ALECIA NUGENT Hillbilly Goddess (Rounder)
ART BRUT Art Brut vs. Satan (produced by Frank Black) (Downtown Records)
HANNE HUKKELBERG Blood From A Stone (Nettwerk)
HILL COUNTRY REVUE Make A Move (North Mississippi Allstars' Cody Dickinson & Chris Chew) (Razor & Tie)
MEAT PUPPETS Sewn Together (Megaforce Records)
MICHELLE SHOCKED Soul Of My Soul (Mighty Sound)
OPERATION ALOHA Operation Aloha (features members of Gomez, Maroon 5 & Phantom Planet) (independent)
ROMAN CANDLE Oh Tall Tree In The Ear (Carnival Recording/RED)
STEVE EARLE Townes (2-CD tribute to Townes Van Zandt tribute) (New West)
UNKNOWN INSTRUCTORS (w/ Mike Watt) Funland (Smog Veil Records)
WOODEN BIRDS Magnolia (Barsuk)
Available May 19
ASHLEY CLEVELAND God Don't Never Change (Koch)
EMINEM Relapse (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
IRON & WINE Around the Well (previously unreleased) (Sub Pop)
JARVIS COCKER Further Complications (Rough Trade)
JASON LYTLE Yours Truly, the Commuter (Granddaddy singer-songwriter) (Anti-)
JOHN VANDERSLICE Romanian Names (Dead Oceans)
LESLIE MENDELSON Swan Feathers (Ryko)
MAT KEARNEY City of Black & White (Aware/Columbia)
TORI AMOS Abnormally Attracted To Sin (Universal Republic)
Available May 26
GRIZZLY BEAR Veckatimest (Warp)
JENNY OWEN YOUNGS Transmitter Failure (Nettwerk)
SIR RICHARD BISHOP The Freak Of Araby (Drag City)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Chris Gaffney Tribute: The Man Of Somebody's Dreams (w/ D. Alvin, Alejandro Escovedo, Los Lobos, J. McMurtry, Calexico, Boz Scaggs, Joe Ely) (Yep Roc)
Available June 2
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King (RCA)
ELVIS COSTELLO Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (acoustic album produced by T Bone Burnett) (Hear Music)
JEFF BUCKLEY Grace Around the World (CD/DVD retrospective) (Columbia/Legacy)(www.triplearadio.com)
Recently, The Global Cafe talked with singer and song-writer M.Ward about his latest CD Hold Time. Hold Time is a wonderful mixture of contemporary indie rock and traditional roots music. M.Ward chatted with us about what inspires him as an artist and about other musicans connected with the CD Hold Time. We hope you enjoy this podcast version of the interview.
After much rumor and fan anticipation, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind will surface on Blu-ray just in time for the fourth quarter of 2009. both films are celebtraing 70th anniversaries and the boxart indicates massive gift set presentations. We are more excited about the release of Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music on Blu-ray. This release also has no offical street date. We will keep you posted!
Are you ready to go where no Blu-ray has gone before? Soon you will with the release of the first season of the original Star Trek on Blu-ray! This massive seven disc set will feature the original 29 old-school episodes and also the newly tinkered special effects versions. The release date for the boxset is April 28, 2009. Not enough Trek? We the next month the Star Trek film are unleashed in Blu-ray. Currently, two boxsets are slated for release, one featuring all the original cast films and another featuring the first three Star Trek feature films both released on May 12, 2009. As of now, Paramount and CBS have no plans of releasing the films individually.
Criterion continues to bring the home video market wonderous gems in 2009. We are most excited about the Shoehi Imamura collection called Pigs, Pimps & Prostitues featuring the iconic Japanese New Wave film Incest Woman!
PIGS, PIMPS & PROSTITUTES: 3 From Shoehi Imamura
In the 1960s, Japanese filmmakers responded to a stale studio system by looking for fresh ways to tell stories, and Shohei Imamura was one of the leading figures of this new wave. With the three films in this set—Pigs and Battleships, The Insect Woman, and Intentions of Murder—Imamura truly emerged as an auteur, bringing to his national cinema an anthropological eye and a previously unseen taste for the irreverent. Claiming his interests lay in “the relationship of the lower part of the human body and the lower part of the social structure,” Imamura dotted the decade with earthy, juicy, idiosyncratic films featuring persevering, willful heroines. His remains a unique cinematic voice. (Criterion.com)
WISE BLOOD
In this acclaimed adaptation of the first novel by legendary Southern writer Flannery O’Connor, John Huston vividly brings to life her poetic world of American eccentricity. Brad Dourif, in an impassioned performance, is Hazel Motes, who, fresh out of the army, attempts to open the first Church Without Christ in the small town of Taulkinham. Populated with inspired performances that seem to spring right from O’Connor’s pages, Huston’s Wise Blood is an incisive portrait of spirituality and Evangelicalism, and a faithful, loving evocation of a writer’s vision. (Criterion.com)
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE
In one of the best performances of his legendary career, Robert Mitchum plays small-time gunrunner Eddie “Fingers” Coyle in Peter Yates’s adaptation of George V. Higgins’s acclaimed novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle. World-weary and living hand to mouth, Coyle works on the sidelines of the seedy Boston underworld just to make ends meet. But when he finds himself facing a second stretch of hard time, he’s forced to weigh loyalty to his criminal colleagues against snitching to stay free. Directed with a sharp eye for its gritty locales and an open heart for its less-than-heroic characters, this is one of the true treasures of 1970s Hollywood filmmaking—a suspenseful crime drama in stark, unforgiving daylight. (Criterion.com)
The Global Cafe was honored to talk with jazz legend Charlie Haden concerning his new CD Ramblin’ Boy. The CD is a retun to his country music roots. Charlie also talked with The Global Cafe about his exposure to music growing up and working on a musical project with his entire family.
One of the best parts of High Definition is experiencing older films in the best quality possible since the original theatrical release. Below is the latest batch of classic going Blu in 2009!
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (March, 3rd 2009)
The Silence Of The Lambs Blu-ray Disc goes behind-the-scenes and behind-the-mask to uncover a buffet of thrilling extras from the film including the behind-the-scenes featurettes Breaking The Silence and Understanding The Madness (in high definition), a documentary featuring the two-part The Silence Of The Lambs: From Page To Screen and a featurette about the film’s frightening score. Also featured are Inside The Labyrinth: Making The Silence Of The Lambs, an original “making of” featurette from the film’s 1991 theatrical release, over 20 deleted scenes, an outtake reel, TV spots and a special phone message from Sir Anthony Hopkins. (20th Century Fox)
THE ROBE (March, 17th 2009)
Arriving in celebration of the Easter holiday, THE ROBE: SPECIAL EDITION DVD and BD is loaded with all-new bonus materials including a special introduction from Martin Scorsese, commentary by film composer David Newman and film historians and a behind-the-scenes featurette; plus the Blu-ray Disc is highlighted by over two hours of BD Exclusive content including picture-in-picture vignettes, in-depth featurettes such as The CinemaScope Story, vintage celebrity intros and much more. (20th Century Fox)
SOUTH PACIFIC (March 31st, 2009)
The South Pacific 50th Anniversary Edition BD release is authored in BD-J with AVEC (MPEG 4) compression on two dual-layer 50GB discs, presented in widescreen format (2.20:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, English 4.0 Dolby Surround, English Stereo and French / Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital plus English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Korean and Mandarin subtitles. BD bonus features include:
Disc 1:
· Audio Commentary by Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin and Musical Theater Writer Gerard Alessandrini
· Sing-A-Long Karaoke Subtitles (English only)
· Songs-Only Option
Disc 2:
· Extended “Road Show Version” of South Pacific (with 15 additional minutes of footage)
· Commentary by Film Historian Richard Barrios
· BD Exclusive – “Passion, Prejudice and South Pacific: Creating An American Masterpiece” full-length documentary
· “Making Of South Pacific” featurette**
· “60 Minutes Exclusive: The Tales of the South Pacific” with Diane Sawyer and writer James Michener
· Fox Movietone News: “South Pacific on the Screen – A Perfect Hit” and “State Department Confers High Honor on South Pacific”
· Vintage Stage Excerpts Performed by Original Broadway Stars Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza
. “Some Enchanted Evening”
. “A Wonderful Guy”
· Mitzy Gaynor Screen Test
· Original Theatrical Trailer (20th Century Fox)
Criterion plans on releasing In the Realm of the Senses & Empire of Passion by director Nagisa Oshima in April of 2009. In the Realm of the Senses will also get the HD/Blu-ray treatment. Below are the details for both release from Image Entertainment.
IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES
Still censored in its own country, In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no corrida), by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, remains one of the most controversial films of all time. A graphic portrayal of insatiable sexual desire, Oshima’s film, set in 1936 and based on a true incident, depicts a man and a woman (Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda) consumed by a transcendent, destructive love while living in an era of ever escalating imperialism and governmental control. Less a work of pornography than of politics, In the Realm of the Senses is a brave, taboo-breaking milestone.
DVD AND BLU-RAY DISC FEATURES
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- New audio commentary with film scholar Tony Rayns
- New interview with actor Tatsuya Fuji
- A 1976 interview with director Nagisa Oshima and actors Fuji and Eiko Matsuda, and a 2003 program featuring interviews with consulting producer Hayao Shibata, line producer, Koji Wakamatsu, assistant director Yoichi Sai, and film distributor Yoko Asakura
- Deleted footage
- U.S. trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie and a reprinted interview with Oshima
EMPIRE OF PASSION
With an arresting mix of eroticism and horror, Oshima plunges the viewer into a nightmarish tale of guilt and retribution in Empire of Passion (Ai no borei). Set in a Japanese village at the end of the nineteenth century, the film details the emotional and physical downfall of a married woman (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) and her younger lover (Tatsuya Fuji) following their decision to murder her husband and dump his body in a well. Empire of Passion was Oshima’s only true kaidan (Japanese ghost story), and the film, a savage, unrelenting experience, earned him the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival.
DISC FEATURES
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New video essay by film historian and critic Catherine Russell
- New interview with actors Kazuo Yoshiyuki and Tatsuya Fuji
- An interview program from 2003 featuring production consultant Koji Wakamatsu and assistant directors Yusuke Narita and Yoici Sai
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Tony Rayns and a reprinted interview with Nagisa Oshima
Cool new jazz releases for January & February 2009. Click on the images below for details. Look for reviews in the near future.
Who you gonna call on June, 16th 2009? You can call The Ghostbusters of Blu-ray. In celebration of 25 years Sony Pictures Entertainment will bring this great film to HD life with all the previous SD version's extras, plus BD Live goodies. The same day Atari will release a new Ghostbusters video game.
Last year The Global Cafe was honored to have up and coming Americana band The Youngers in the studio. Check out the session below.
Many people only remember the Bee Gee's for dreadful spandex laden disco anthems, but we love the early work of the Bee Gee's. If you are a fan of twee-pop, the early Bee Gee's recordings are essential. We can not wait for the re-issue of Odessa! Click Here for details. Look for a full review here at the Global Cafe.
On January, 27th 2009 MGM releases a Sidney Poitier Collection on DVD and on February, 3rd 2009 The Natalie Wood Signature Collection is set for release.
Films in the Natalie Wood Signature Collection .
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961) - Directed by Elia Kazan stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty as young lovers during the 1920's who can't be together due to society's external pressures and the internal pressures of the girl's fragile mental state.
SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL (1964)Directed by Richard Quine. Natalie Wood stars as Helen Gurley Brown. A writer at a tabloid magazine (Tony Curtis) wants to interview Miss Brown, but the only way he can do so is to masquerade as a patient.
INSIDE DAISY CLOVER (1965) Directed by Robert Mulligan. Set in the 1930's Daisy is a teenager who becomes a star against the odds. She has to find a way to deal with her newfound fame. Christopher Plummer plays the studio executive that controls Daisy's every move.
GYPSY (Deluxe Edition) (1962) Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Story of the burlesque queen includes a great performance by Rosalind Russell as her stage mother and Karl Malden as the agent/family friend. Gypsy is not the center of attention of the act or of the family until her sister - the real star up to that point - elopes at the ripe old age of 13. That younger sister is played by Ann Jillian.
BOMBERS B-52 (1957) - Directed by Gordon Douglas. Stars Karl Malden as Master Sergeant Chuck V. Brennan who has a strong dislike for hot-shot Colonel Jim Herlihy, the commanding officer of the 329th Bomber Squadron. When Herlihy takes a liking to Brennan's daughter (Natalie Wood) the dislike grows even more. Usually these kind of films have the enlisted man liking the officer's daughter. This reverses things a bit.
CASH MCCALL (1960)directed by Joseph Pevney. James Garner plays the title character - an entepreneur who has already had an affair with Natalie Wood's character. When they meet again it is when McCall is trying to buy her father's company.
Films in the Sideny Poitier Collection.
PATCH OF BLUE (1965) The best known film in this collection. Poitier plays a man who befriends a blind white girl who has a horrible home life. Shelley Winters plays the negligent mother, and she is hard to watch as she abuses both her daughter and her father. However, the mother and grandfather unite in their dislike of the daughter's friendship with Poitier. Poitier doesn't play an all-out good guy here, he actually speaks of the girl as being a bit of a burden to him, yet he is genuinely concerned about her welfare.
A WARM DECEMBER (1974) Poitier plays a doctor on a long vacation in England. There he meets the daughter of an African diplomat and falls in love with her. The woman has many secrets, however, and many of her mysteries amount to her not leveling with Poitier's character. It is a good and rare examination on film of the difference in cultures of American and African blacks.
EDGE OF THE CITY (1957) Directed by Martin Ritt. Poitier and John Cassavettes play the best of friends, two New York City longshoremen. Jack Warden plays the boss of the two who is jealous of the happy nature and home life of Poitier's character. Warden performs an incredible act of violence that you think he's going to get away with until the very end.
SOMETHING OF VALUE (1957) Directed by Richard Brooks, has Rock Hudson and Poitier as best friends at the time of the Kenyan struggle for independence. The friends turn to enemies when Poitier joins the Kenyan struggle for independence and takes up its violent ways as well. Poitier's part is well acted and real here, some time before he began to get mainly good-guy roles.
We love the big green giant and we are thrilled to report that a massive HD restoration of all 28 Godzilla films is currently being done in Japan. We might start seeing these new transfers on Blu-ray late in 2009. Check out this link to the full article on the Sci- Fi Japan website. Read More
Kino International have announced several tasty treats for 2009. Look for special editions of Wong Kar-Wai's classic films Fallen Angels and Happy Together. These 2 DVD editions will include enhanced and remastered picture and sound. If you are a fan of F.W. Murnau, Kino has a treat for you! The new Murnau boxset will feature the new special editions of many silent era masterworks. Below are the details.
MURNAU COLLECTION INCLUDES THE FILMS:
NOSFERATU (NEWLY RESTORED EDITION)
1922 GERMAN 94 MINUTES COLOR TINTED
NOSFERATU is triumphantly reborn in this breathtaking new restoration by the F.W. Murnau Foundation.
DVD EXTRAS:
- Hans Erdmann s original 1922 score, available in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
- The Language of Shadows: The Early Years and Nosferatu; a 52-minute documentary
- Nosferatu: An Historic Film Meets Digital Restoration; a 3-minute documentary
- Lengthy excerpts from other films by F.W. Murnau: Journey Into the Night (1920), Phantom (1922), Tabu (1931) and 5 other Murnau Films
- Photo Gallery
- Scene Comparison
- With newly-translated English intertitles
FAUST (NEWLY RESTORED EDITION)
1926 GERMANY 116 MINUTES B&W
Mobilizing the full resources of the Ufa Studios, F.W. Murnau orchestrated a colossal adaptation of Goethe s FAUST that ranks alongside Fritz Lang s Metropolis as the greatest achievement of the German silent cinema. Beautiful new restoration by the F.W. Murnau Foundation.
DVD EXTRAS:
- Presented with the original German intertitles (with optional English subtitles)
- The Language of Shadows: Faust, a 53-minute documentary on the making of Murnau s film
- New musical score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
- The lost screen test footage of Ernst Lubitsch s abandoned 1923 production Marguerite and Faust.
- Image Gallery
- Essay by film historian Jan Christopher Horak
THE LAST LAUGH (NEWLY RESTORED EDITION)
1924 GERMANY 90 MINUTES B&W
One of the crowning achievements of the German Expressionism movement.
DVD EXTRAS:
- New recording of the original score by Giuseppe Becce, available in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
- The Making of THE LAST LAUGH, a 40-minute documentary
- Original German title sequences
- Image Gallery
TARTUFFE (RESTORED AUTHORIZED EDITION)
1925 GERMANY 63 MINUTES COLOR TINTED
DVD EXTRAS:
- THE WAY TO MURNAU, A 35-minute documentary on the life and career of F.W. MURNAU
- Booklet essay by film scholar Jan Christopher Horak
THE HAUNTED CASTLE (RESTORED AUTHORIZED EDITION)
1921 GERMAN 81 MINUTES COLOR TINTED
Before plumbing the depths of horror and despair with such films as Faust and The Last Laugh, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau tested the waters with this moody drama of a storm-bound manor and the grim mystery that lurks within.
DVD EXTRAS:
- Gallery of set design paintings by Robert Herlth
- Excerpts of Rudolf Stratz s novel
THE FINANCES OF THE GRAND DUKE (RESTORED AUTHORIZED EDITION)
1924 GERMANY 77 MINUTES COLOR TINTED
In one of the most eclectic films of the German silent era, visual stylist F.W. Murnau (Faust, Sunrise) broke away from the dark, foreboding dramas for which he was known to explore the realm of light comedy.
DVD EXTRA:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Kalat
How we love classic television at The Global Cafe. 2009 is starting of on a great foot with the release of Mannix Season 2 (01/06/2009), The Invaders Season 2 (01/27/2009), Friday The 13th Season 2 (02/10/2009) and Tales from the Dark Side Season1 (02/10/2009).
It is no secret that two of our favorite record labels are Anti and Nonesuch. 2009 is filled with musical treats from both labels. Look for reviews of the below CD's in February and March!
Dear Friends,
Below is a link to a very special documentary looking a the music of Dr. William Pritchard. Many of the songs within this special are in their early rough form and are amazing examples of the musical growth and diligence of a singer/songwriter. The Global Cafe would like to thank the family and friends of Dr. William Pritchard for their help and support in this production. The Global Cafe also wishes to thank Shippensburg University’s Communication and Journalism Department of which Dr. William Pritchard was a faculty member. We could not have produced this program without the support of WSYC FM and all those that contributed to the making of this special program. Dr. William “Bill” Pritchard will always be remembered for his love of the arts and as a wonderful friend.
Sincerely,
Trevor P. Stottlemyer
100. Xui Xui - Women as Lovers – Kill Rock Stars
99. Beachhouse – Devotion – Carpark Records
98. The Walkmen- You &Me – Gigantic Records
97. Bauhaus – Go Away White – Self Released
96. Old 97’s – Blame it on Gravity – New West
95. Billy Bragg – Mr. Love & Justice – Anti
94. Brazilian Girls – NYC – Verve
93. Big Blue Ball- Big Blue Ball – Real World
92. B.B. King – One Kind Favor - Geffen
91. Jakob Dylan – Seeing Things - Sony
90. Kathleen Edwards – Asking for Flowers – Rounder
89. Charlie Haden & The Family – Ramblin’ Boy - Decca
88. Hayes Carll – Trouble in Mind – Lost Highway
87. Old Crow Medicine Show – Tennessee Pusher – Nettwerk
86. The Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea – Drag city
85. Daniel Martin Moore – Stray Age – Sub Pop
84. James Yorkston- When the Haar Rolls – Domino
83. Portugal, the Man – Censored Colors – Equal Vision
82. Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s – Not Animal – Epic
81. Damian Jurado – Caught in the Trees – Secretly Canadian
80. Tricky – Kwole West Boy – Domino
79. The Rosebuds – Life Like – Merge
78. David Bryne & Brian Eno – Everything that Happens Will Happen Today – Todo Mundo
77. Noah The Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down – Cherry Tree Records
76 . Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams – Merge
75. The Grand Archieves - The Grand Achieves – Sub Pop
74. Black Mountain – In The Future – Secretly Canadian
73. Hank III – Damn Right Rebel Proud – Curb Records
72. Sam Phillips – Don’t Do Anything – Nonesuch
71. John Hiatt – Same Old Man – New West
70. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zummer – Sub Pop
69. O’ Death – Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin – Kemado
68. The Notwist – The Devil, You and Me - Domino
67. Raphael Saadiq- The Way I See It – Sony
66. Ron Sexsmith – Exit Strategy of the Soul – Yep Roc
65. Jason Collett – Here’s to being Here – Arts & Crafts
64. Ersi Arvisu – Friend for Life – Anti
63. Connor Oberst – Connor Oberst – Merge
62. Cassandra Wilson – Loverly – Blue Note HOUR 3
61. Michael Franti & Spearhead – All Rebel Rockers – Anti
60. Sigur Ros – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust - XL
59. Cat Power – Juke Box – Matador
58. The Long Blondes – Couples – Rough Trade
57. Death Vessel- Nothing is Precious Enough For Us – Sub Pop
56. Gutter Twins – Saturnalia – Sub Pop
55. My Morning Jacket – The Evil Urge – ATO
54. Laura Marling – Alas I Can Not Swim – Astralwerks
53. The Last Shadow Puppets – Age of the Understatement- Domino
52. Kathy Mattea – Coal – Thirty Tigers
51. Martha Wainwright – I Know You’re Married, But I’ve Got Feelings Too- Rounder
50. Thao – We Brave Bee Stings and All – Kill Rock Stars
49. The Constantines – Kensington Heights – Arts and Crafts
48. The She & Him – Vol. One – Merge
47. Randy Newman – Harps & Angels – Nonesuch
46. Jennifer O’Connor- Here With Me – Matador
45. Langhorne Slim – Langhorne Slim – Kemado
44. Hayden – In Field & Town – Fat Possum
43. Thievery Corporation – Retaliation Radio -18th Street
42. TV on the Radio – Dear Science – Interscope
41. Abigail Washburn & Sparrow Quartet- Nettwerk
40. Orchestra Baobab - Made in Dakar - Nonesuch
39. Hercules And The Love Affair - Hercules And The Love Affair - Mute US
38. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell – Sunday at Devil Dirt - Fontana
36. Jolie Holland – Living and the Dead – Anti
35. Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal – Back Porch
34. The Raconteurs- Consolers of the Lonely - Warner Brothers
33. The Stills – Oceans Will Rise – Arts and Crafts
32. Ra Ra Riot – Rhumb Line – Barsuk
31. Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping – Polyvinyl
30. The Radar Brothers – Auditorium – Merge
29. The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride – 4AD
28. Deerhoof – Offend Maggie – Kill Rock Stars
27. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue – Warner Brothers
26. Bonnie Prince Billy – Lie Down In the Light – Drag City
25. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago – Jagjaguwar
24. Lambchop – (Oh) Ohio – Merge
23. Devotchka - Mad and Faithful Telling – Anti
22. The Black Keys – Attack and Release – Nonesuch
21. Rodney Crowell – Sex and Gasoline – Yep Roc
20. Los Campesinos! – Hold on Now, Youngster – Arts & Crafts
19. The Man Man – Rabbit Habits – Anti
18. Peter Moren – The Last Tycoon – Quarter stick
17. Portishead – Third - Mercury
16. The Fleet Foxes – The Fleet Foxes – Sub Pop
15. Blitzen Trapper – Furr – Sub pop
14. Calexico – Carried to Dust – Touch & Go
13. Ray La Montagne – Gossip in the Grin – RCA
12. Radiohead – In Rainbows – Self Released
11. Ray Davis- Working Man’s Café – New West
10. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive – Vagrant
9. Lucinda Williams – Little Honey – Lost Highway
8. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin’ Bones – Sugar Hill
7. Nick Cave – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!- Anti
6. Shearwater – Rook – Matador
5 Okkervil River – The Stand Ins - Jagjaguwar
4. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend – XL Records
3. Delta Spirit- Ode to Sunshine – Rounder
2. Jeff Hanson – Madam Owl – Kill Rock Stars
1. Firewater – The Golden Hour – Bloodshot Records
Here at The Global Cafe we thrive off two kinds of cinematic art. The high end pretentious stuff and the lowest of grindhouse schlock. A DVD company doing a great job of fulfilling our need for cinematic crap is Severin. Here is a list of future exploitaion titles from this wonderful company. No dates announced. Joe D'amato's The Alcove, Walerian Borowczyk's The Art of Love, Lucio Fulci's Door of Silence, Enzo G. Castellari's Eagles of Over London, Rino Di Silvestro's Hanna D. The Girls From Vondel Park, Mario Caiano's Nightmare Castle, and Vidal Raski's Sinful Dwarf. Mind numbing fun in 2009!
Criterion is making some great choices for the new year and the most exciting is the release of Luis Bunuel's masterpieceThe Exterminating Angel. Other films on the way include Bunuel's Simon of the Desert and David Lean's Hobson's Choice.
Finally after years of waiting Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet is coming to DVD in the United States! It will be uncut and digitally remastered. The street date is February, 24th of 2009. This brings us to the topic of Mya Communications and the replacement of Noshame Films. Many will remember Noshame as the DVD company that brought such amazing Italian Pop Cinema to the US as Boccaccio '70 and Roma Citta Libera. Is Mya the new Noshame? Mya Communciations is connected with Rykodisc for distribution in North America. The first batch of Mya films will land at DVD retailers on January, 27th 2009. These include Dario Argento's Door Into Darkness, Luigi Comencini's Bread, Love & Dreams, Giorgio Bianchi's The Inveterate Bachelor and Lucio Fulci's The Maniacs. Michele Massimo Tarantini 's A Policewoman in New York and Sergio Martino's The Scorpian with Two Tails will follow in Febraury of 2009.
2008 will be remembered as the year of the new home video format. Sales of players and also Blu-ray titles are amazing concidering the interval of time between consumer adoption and the end of the format war. 2009 aims to be an astoundingly Blu year! Below is a taste of forthcoming Blu-ray films landing in stores in January and February of 2009.
JANUARY 6th, 2009
Bangcock Dangerous (2008)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Life Gamble (Shaw Brothers:1979)
Opium and the Kung Fu Master (Shaw Brothers:1984)
JANUARY, 13th 2009
Boondock Saints (2000)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
JANUARY, 20th 2009
Antwone Fisher (2002) Dominio (2005) El Norte (1983) French Connection (1971) French Connection II (1975) King Kong (2005) This is Spinal Tap (1984)
JANUARY, 27TH 2009
Chungking Express (1995) Dead & Buried (1981) The Pink Panther (1963) Zodiac (2007)
FEBRUARY , 3rd 2009
Being There (1979) Little Miss Sunshine (2006) Sideways (2004) The Passion of Christ (2004)
FEBRUARY, 10th 2009
A History of Violence (2005) Amadeus (1984) Donnie Darko (2001)
FEBRUARY, 24th 2009
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) Raging Bull (1980) Vanishing Point (1971)
We reported the December release of the Murnau & Borzage boxset over two months ago. We are extremely thrilled by this release and hope that it will live up to the hype and potential. This could be the cinephile event of 2008! The picture above is a look inside the mammoth boxset. Will it live up to the John Ford boxset from 2007?
Murnau, Borzage And Fox DVD Collection Special Features & Disc Specific
Lazybones (1925) – Frank Borzage
Original scenario by Carl Meyer with annotations by F. W. Murnau
Feature length documentary (1.66:1 aspect ratio)
On February 24th, 2009 William Friedkin's classic police film The French Connection will hit the streets on Blu-ray! The Blu-ray will be presented in 1:85:1 aspect ratio with a newly re-mastered 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio track. All the new special features are presented in HD. The lesser seen follow-up The French Connection II will also be avaible with new special features and audio an commentary from John Frankenheimer. Below is a complete list of features included on both Blu-rays.
The French Connection
DISC ONE
NEW HD – William Friedkin Introduction to The French Connection
Commentary by William Friedkin
Commentary by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider
NEW Trivia Track
NEW Isolated 5.1 Score Track
Theatrical Trailer
NEW D-Box Motion Control
DISC TWO
NEW HD – William Friedkin Discusses Deleted Scenes
Tailing the Frog, The Whip Girl, Devereaux at Work, Mutchie’s Bar, Mutchie’s Bar Part 2, Girl on a Bicycle, Street Walker &Hector
NEW HD Featurette: Anatomy of a Chase
NEW HD Featurette: Gene Hackman on Popeye Doyle
NEW HD Featurette: Friedkin and Grosso Remember the Real French Connection
NEW HD Featurette: Scene of the Crime
NEW HD Featurette: Color Timing The French Connection
NEW HD Featurette: Cop Jazz-The Music of Don Ellis
NEW HD Featurette: Rogue Cop-The Noir Connection
BBC Documentary: The Poughkeepsie Shuffle
Making the Connection: The Untold Stories of The French Connection
French Connection II
Commentary by Director John Frankenheimer
NEW HD Featurette: Frankenheimer in Focus
NEW HD Featurette: A Conversation with Gene Hackman
NEW D-Box Motion Control
NEW HD Stills Gallery
NEW Isolated 5.1 Score Track