Late Spring aka Banshun Blu-ray (Criterion)
This week is a bit light on Asian releases but the other genres should offer something for everyone. Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 4/17/12:
ASIAN CINEMA
Late Spring (Blu-ray) – the Critertion Collection brings Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 black-and-white masterpiece to Blu-ray
After the Banquet (DVD) – Pathfinder Pictures presents this 2009 Korean romantic drama about a wedding disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious stranger
Relation of Face, Mind and Love (DVD) – Pathfinder also provides this 2010 Korean film offering a more serious take on the whole “Shallow Hal” dilemma
FOREIGN CINEMA
American Translation (DVD) – a dark and disturbing 2011 French film about a Bonny and Clyde-esque couple who get their kicks by murdering gay hustlers
Domain (DVD) – a 2012 French-language drama about a teenage boy dealing with his burgeoning sexuality and a complex relationship with his self-destructive aunt
Nowhere in Africa (DVD) – this 2002 German-language film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture
Paan Singh Tomar (DVD) – a 2012 Hindi/Bollywood film about the life of Paan Singh, who went from champion at the Indian National Games to gun-slinging scourge of the underworld
MAINSTREAM
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Blu-ray/DVD) – the 2011 global box office sensation that successfully revitalized Tom Cruise’s career and established Brad Bird as a live-action director to watch – now on home formats!
The Divide (Blu-ray/DVD) – from the director of “Hitman” comes a 2012 post-apocalyptic thriller featuring Michael Biehn. This film has actually garnered some positive buzz online
High Road to China (Blu-ray/DVD) – Tom Selleck was perhaps never destined to be Indiana Jones, despite coming close to nabbing the role, but in 1983 he did the Indy thing with this forgotten Eighties action flick
7 Below (DVD) – Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames headline this 2012 direct-to-video supernatural thriller billed as “The Ring” meets “The Grudge”(!)
CULT/INDIE
Alambrista! (Blu-ray/DVD) – Criterion Collection presents this 1977 film set on the border of Mexico and California, a sterling example of American independent cinema
Shame (Blu-ray/DVD) – Michael Fassbender plays a sex addict struggling to cope in contemporary New York City in this 2011 indie drama
Roger Corman’s Cult Classics: The Nurses Collection (DVD) – in this set of Roger Corman-produced 1970’s nurseploitation movies, you receive: “Candy Stripe Nurses,” “Private Duty Nurses,” “Night Call Nurses,” and “Young Nurses”
Roadracers (Blu-ray) – delayed from a week or so ago, Robert Rodriguez’s made-for-Showtime movie stars David Arquette as a rebellious racer
The Amazing Bulk (DVD) – the Bulk is a purple monster with incredible strength so, chances are, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Sound familiar? Then you have to watch the trailer for this zero-budget movie
HORROR
The Asphyx: Remastered Edition (Blu-ray) – this cult favorite 1973 horror film receives the hi-def treatment from Redemption Films. For fans of classy British horror
The Survivor (DVD) – Robert Powell stars in this 1981 chiller featuring one of the most realistic looking plane crashes of all time
Halloween: The Resurrection (Blu-ray) – the 2002 entry in the venerable “Halloween” franchise, now on Blu-ray
Aggressive Behavior (DVD) – four friends get more than bargained for when they party with two deadly strangers in a remote French farmhouse. Despite the locale, this 2009 horror film is in English
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