23 April 2008
Always a dodgy term, 'classic cinema', suggesting an inherent greatness in the product but often now used to refer to any well established or long-running product when something new has taken its place. UK distributor Metrodome have applied the label to four such candidates for a June 2008 DVD release – whether they deserve the status as it was originally intended you'll have to decide for yourself. All four will hit the shelves on 2md June 2008 at the RRP of £17:99.
Death of a Salesman – Collector's Edition
A powerful motion picture based on the timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Arthur Miller. Death Of A Salesman is the triple Emmy Award winning adaptation, that also saw Dustin Hoffman pick up a Golden Globe win in the Best Actor category for his incredible performance. Willy Loman (Dustin Hoffman) has spent his entire adult life as a struggling traveling salesman, but when he is fired from his lifelong job after years of self-delusion, Willy is finally forced to come face-to-face with his successes and failures, his family and loved ones, and the life that he has lived.
This Collector's Edition contains a feature length 'Making Of' documentary, with insightful and revealing interviews with the key cast and crew.
The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (1952)
Claude Rains (Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia) stars as Kees Popinga, the chief clerk for a trading company. Honest and upstanding, Popinga discovers that his employer has been defrauding the company to support a mistress. Upon learning that his boss intends to flee to Paris with company funds, Popinga, infuriated, prevents this from happening by stealing the money himself. Through a series of wild coincidences, he finds himself entangled with the very woman (Marta Toren) who had caused his boss' downfall.
This one plays without extra features.
Smithereens
The world belongs to Wren. She's nineteen and awash in the boundless energy of someone determined to make it big in the world of rock 'n' roll. The pieces of her world are scattered over lower Manhattan: the abandoned train yards along the Hudson River; a grungy Lower East Side tenement; the copy shop where she works; and most of all, the helter skelter world of East Village rock clubs, like the Peppermint Lounge. It doesn't matter that that Wren can't sing, or play an instrument, or write songs; or that her aggressiveness is often rewarded with a black eye or busted lip. Desperation makes people do dangerous things.
Susan Seidelman's first feature rocked the world of cinema, winning acclaim from Cannes to Hollywood. She went on to bigger projects like Desperately Seeking Susan and She-Devil, but Smithereens, with its barbed wire humour and indefatigable heroine, remains a classic of American independent cinema.
Once again this is a film-only affair, a bit of a surprise considering the film's indie status.
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea
English widow Anne Osborne (Sarah Miles) lives by the sea with her young son Jonathan. The arrival of a rugged sailor Jim (Kris Kristofferson), brings Anne the love that she thought she had lost forever with the death of her husband. However, Anne and Jim's burgeoning relationship is threatened by her son's hostility to this new intruder, and his resentment manifests itself into something far more dangerous.
Once again, this is a movie-only release. |
