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It’s a thin week for home video releases so we’ll keep this short but sweet!

Pick of the Week

George Harrison: Living the Material World (UMe) — I figured I had a lot to learn about the subject, being a Beatles fan but not a deeply knowledgeable, read-every-biography, hunt-down-every-alternate-take devotee. As it turns out, I was already familiar with most of the areas covered in Martin Scorsese’s documentary, but the film was a revelation nonetheless. Most of the major topics you’d expect are here—the young guitarist’s salad days, the explosion into worldwide fame, the discovery of Indian music and spirituality, the band’s dissolution, the making of the solo masterpiece All Things Must Pass, the Concert for Bangladesh, the formation of Handmade Films—as are most of the interview subjects: Paul and Ringo, Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, George Martin, Eric Clapton, Patti Boyd, and Phil Spector, among many others. Scorsese’s direction here mainly consists of editing—almost all the interviews, so far as I can tell, seem to have been farmed out to others, and the rest is archival footage of various kinds. But the interviews are candid, often funny, and deeply touching. And the footage, much of it previously unseen by the public, is remarkable, whether it’s Ravi Shankar giving Harrison sitar lessons or Paul and George tearing into each other during a late Beatles studio session. Scorsese’s touch is evident in the dazzlingly deft cutting, the obvious love of the music and admiration for the man who made it, and the themes that recur in both artists’ lives—religion, most notably, as well as the dark side of public acclaim: it was only after Harrison finished speaking about the impact John Lennon’s assassination had on him that I remembered, with a start, the director’s own connection to that terrible day. Available on DVD and Blu-ray, and a Special Edition (2DVD/Blu-ray/CD/96-Page Book). (Nelson Kim)

Have Not Seen Yet But Really/Kinda/Sorta/Maybe Wanna

Haywire (Lionsgate) — Available on DVD, Blu-ray, and at Amazon Instant.

Cirkus Columbia (Strand Releasing) — Available on DVD.

W.E. (The Weinstein Company) — Available on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy.

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Michael Tully is an award-winning writer/director whose films have garnered widespread critical acclaim, his projects having premiered at some of the most renowned film festivals across the globe. He is also the former (and founding) editor of this site. In 2006, Michael's first feature, COCAINE ANGEL, chronicling a tragic week in the life of a young drug addict, world premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film immediately solidified the director as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s "25 New Faces of Independent Film,” a reputation that was reinforced a year later when his follow-up feature, SILVER JEW, a documentary capturing the late David Berman's rare musical performances in Tel Aviv, world-premiered at SXSW and landed distribution with cult indie-music label Drag City. In 2011, Michael wrote, directed, and starred in his third feature, SEPTIEN, which debuted at the 27th annual Sundance Film Festival before being acquired by IFC Films' Sundance Selects banner. A few years later, in 2014, Michael returned to Sundance with the world premiere of his fourth feature, PING PONG SUMMER, an ‘80s set coming-of-age tale that was quickly picked up for theatrical distribution by Gravitas Ventures. In 2018, Michael wrote and directed the dread-inducing genre film DON'T LEAVE HOME, which has been described as "Get Out with Catholic guilt in the Irish countryside" (IndieWire). The film premiered at SXSW and was subsequently acquired by Cranked Up Films and Shudder.

Comments
  • Fortapachefilm

    Great post!
    NYU Alumn Martin Scorsese has donated a signed poster to help bring this film to life, check it out! http://kck.st/HyppbC

    May 5, 2012
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