While you’re partaking in family reunions, food binges, bland NFL action, exciting college basketball action, and more food binges this weekend, don’t forget to check out these new-to-home-video titles:
The New Year Parade (Carnivalesque Films) — Thanks to the devotedly independent David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, Tom Quinn’s award-winning The New Year Parade is getting a much-deserved home video release through Redmon and Sabin’s Carnivalesque Films imprint. Quinn’s tender drama is low-budget regional filmmaking at its very finest. Read Mike S. Ryan’s review, then buy it on DVD
Three Monkeys (Zeitgeist Films) — The idea of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan following up his masterly breakup drama Climates with what sounds like a much more standard film noir is a worrisome one. Would the more familiar tropes of the genre overpower Ceylan’s increasingly singular vision? Would he succumb to the formula and deliver something disappointingly conventional? Yeah, right. Three Monkeys only reaffirms Ceylan’s status as one of modern cinema’s true giants. With this haunting study of a family who is unable to shake memories of its tragic past, Ceylan has crafted a supremely tense noir thriller that plays by its own riveting rules. Read the rest of my review, then buy it on DVD
Mad Dog Morgan (Troma Films) — Troma is finally releasing Philippe Mora’s 1976 Aussie cult classic for the first time in an uncut form. Since I’ve only seen this version, I can’t verify just how uncut it really is, but Mora’s raucous telling of the story of Irish bushranger Dan Morgan is certainly a feast for the senses. Dennis Hopper plays the wild bushranger who survives prison only to wreak havoc on Victoria. If Alejandro Jodorowsky had directed The Hired Hand, it would look something like this. While Mad Dog Morgan isn’t perfect, it’s an pretty wild ride nonetheless. Buy the new special edition DVD
All Tomorrow’s Parties (Warp Records) — I watched the first five minutes of Jonathan Caouette’s latest cinematic collage in the screening room at CPH:DOX, but quickly shut it off because I knew I wasn’t getting the full impact by watching it in that environment. This thing is most certainly best experienced on as large a screen as possible, as loudly as possible. Watch the trailer, which only hints at the sprawling, messy goodness to come. Much like the Beastie Boys’ Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That, the footage was assembled from many different on-the-ground sources. Buy it on DVD
— Michael Tully
