Well, it seems this is yet another Argento flick that is taking a beating in the review department. Even die hard fans are not too pleased with this outing. Anyhow, the PAL R2 DVD is now out via a Polish company that found it important to force the Polish subs!

Looks like this will be getting a UK release first via Arrow Films! I still haven't seen this, it was on my radar during last year's Midnight Madness during the Toronto Film Fest. The disc will be released March 15th..

This is the first in the popular crime/action series of Jesse Crowder starring Fred Williamson. Being released by Code Red coming this March 16th I believe. I still haven't dove into this series, but maybe a good start with this upcoming release!!

I wasn't a huge fan of his ISLAND OF DEATH, but would love to dive into this offering from Nico Mastorakis. Mya is releasing this in early March. Any thoughts on this flick? How is Kristy Alley in this as well?

I'm a huge fan of Polanski's work, so no surprise that I'm really looking forward to his latest outing here in THE GHOST WRITER. Impressive cast, especially the likes of the legend Eli Wallach! Great to see him still working away at...what 95 years of age?

TRAILER

Has anyone else seen this intriguing 5-part television series produced by Oscar Brazzi and starring his more well-reputed brother Rossano Brazzi?

It's a title that has fascinated me for a long time since - not just because it's a collaboration between the Brazzi brothers but also because Renato Polselli worked on the project as a production manager and the title song is sung by none other than Frank Sinatra! And unlike most Italian TV productions from this time it's actually in color, is nicely shot and has good production values - no doubt a result of it being a co-production with Germany and France.

I finally caught up with CORALBA through the (Italian language only) 2-DVD release by Fabbri Editori, who have been specializing in releasing Italian TV serials (so-called sceneggiati) and found it to be well worth seeking out. Rossano Brazzi stars as a wealthy doctor who is happily married to a beautiful, blonde and much younger wife (Valérie Lagrange), and who starts having a hard time when a mysterious blonde woman with big, black sunglasses starts relentlessly blackmailing him with a scandal from his past. In spite of big pay-offs, the mysterious woman refuses to leave the good doctor alone and so he decides to bring a gun when he is to meet her for a pay-off at a deserted house. Once he gets there, though, the doc finds the house seemingly abandoned. But when he goes to check the bathroom, someone slams the door shut behind him and locks him in. With no other way of getting out, the doc shoots the door open and then discovers a blonde woman lying face down on the floor - having apparently been killed by the shots he fired to break open the door. The doc panics and flees the scene but it doesn't take long before the cops come knocking on his door - telling him they've got a dead woman that they think is connected to him. He accompanies them back to the house where there is indeed a dead, blonde woman but it's not the blackmailer - it's the doc's beloved wife! Suddenly, the poor man finds himself the police's number one suspect and is caught in an intricate web of mystery and double-crossings.

While CORALBA is a tad to chatty at times, I have to say that on the whole, it is actually very engaging as it has a good story; attractive locations in Hamburg, Venice and Chamonix; super-funky costumes and decor; and a nice score. The international cast is top-notch too - with great performances by Brazzi as the long-suffering doc, the gorgeous Valérie Lagrange as his highly adored, dead wife, Glauco Mauri (the professor from DEEP RED) as the sympathetic cop on the case and the always wonderful Venantino Venantini as Brazzi's colleague, who soon turns out to be just as shady as he looks!

Most of the Italian sceneggiati are probably never going to see any sort of English-friendly releases as they probably wouldn't hold too much appeal to non-Italian viewers but CORALBA - being a co-production with Germany and France, and featuring a pretty solid international cast - is actually a very strong candidate for an English subtitled DVD. It's definitely worthy of some love!

So, has anyone else seen or even heard of this one? Or some other mystery/crime TV productions from Italy? These works are sadly quite neglected by most Euro-cult fans outside of Italy.


Anyway, here are a few screenshots to wet your appetites!

Grabbed this today for $14! Though I never really grab these discs, there were a few flicks in here that will probably never see another or better DVD release! Great line up of flicks here...

DVD details

This film has just opened in theatres (on the 20th) in France less than a week ago.

Similar in idea and scope to LA MOME(released in English language countries as LA VIE EN ROSE) and covering the life and career of Edith Piaf, and won Marion Cotillard an Oscar for Best Actress, another biopic about one of France's most talented (yet vulgar) musicians finally hits the big screen - which I have been looking forward to seeing since seeing the preview pictures at Cannes last year and the teasers / trailers on Youtube in the last couple of months.

Trailer below:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih3qI6gVrm8

On a purely selfish and personal note, I always dread when a movie like this comes out and suddenly it becomes "cool" and "trendy" to like a performer or an idea, and people think that you are following a trend rather than actually having an individual interest and/or passion. I have been a fan of Gainsbourg and his oeuvre since my teenage years (over 20 years) and though it is great that his music and talent will be re-discovered, there will be a lot who will just "get on the band wagon" which to me diminishes some of my own passion and enthusiasm. It frustrates me on a personal level when my interests (which I think contribute to my individuality) become mainstream. You can't talk about Gnosticism these days without people saying "I've read/seen The Da Vinci Code". Grrrrr!

Casting looks excellent with players looking very like the personalities they are playing, Letitia Casta looks a dead ringer for BB, Elmosnino as Gainsbourg and Lucy Gordon looks and sounds (even when she sings) very like Jane B. Also the direction looks stylish, and reviews I have read so far have praised the film... that said, it is unlikely that those who don't understand French (even with English subtitles) will be able to understand the subtle plays on words and intricacies of his puns.

So, which DVDs lined up for this year are you guys looking forward to the most? Any goodies awaiting us?
I myself am eagerly anticipating the following three:

THE BARBARIANS (1987) - this ultra-cool muscleman/adventure flick from the always reliable Ruggero Deodato is supposed to get an Italian release sometime next month and with an English audio option! Finally! I can't wait as this one is really a lot of fun!

SO SWEET, SO DEAD (1972) - sordid and stylish giallo classic with a great cast that includes Farley Granger, Sylva Koscina, Femi Benussi, Susan Scott, Luciano Rossi and numerous others. This one is being released by Camera Obscura. Hopefully they'll include the English dub and not just English subs (like they did with TERROR EXPRESS) because the classic line "I may be homosexual but I'm not homicidal" just won't be the same in Italian.

THE VISITOR (1979) - this horror flick featuring the amazing line-up of Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Sam Peckinpah and Shelley Winters was announced by Code Red a long time ago but it seems to finally have come together and Code Red recently wrote on their blog that it will be out before the summer. These guys always make great DVDs so I'm sure it'll be worth the long wait. Really, really excited about this one!

Any other choices?

One of my favorite C-level Italian journeymen to touch just about every genre, Tonino Ricci is certainly no stranger to fans of sublime Euro-drek. I personally have managed to score only three of his films thus far - but I'm fascinated by the man's filmography - which will no doubt fuel me to find more of his "visions" as 2010 goes on.

I have however, obtained copies of two of his rather fun 'White Fang' oriented, pseudo-Spaghetti Westerns; WHITE FANG TO THE RESCUE (1974) (ZANNA BIANCA ALLA RISCOSSA) and Ricci's later, BUCK AND THE MAGIC BRACELET (1999) (BUCK E IL BRACCIALETTO MAGICO).

WHITE FANG TO THE RESCUE in particular, is a great time for the avid Euro-cult lover, with an ultra-cool cast that includes Maurizio Merli, Henry Silva (playing another real sly prick here), Gisela Hahn, Donal O' Brien, Luciano Rossi, Renzo Palmer and Benito Stefanelli, among them. The latter, BUCK AND THE MAGIC BRACELET, is Ricci's far lighter and campier follow-up to his popular 1991 film, BUCK AT THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (starring David Hess and John Savage). It would also be his last to date (I'm assuming he is still alive by all accounts). Old favorites like Bobby Rhodes, and Ricci-regular, Conrad Nichols (aka. Luigi Mezzanotte...real name, Bruno Minniti) turn up for one last go in Ricci-land.

As well, I own a couple of prints of his Dominican Republic-shot crossover oddity, NIGHT OF THE SHARKS (1988) (LA NOTTE DEGLI SQUALI)...a mix between a JAWS cash-in (of which Tonino was no stranger to) and a crime flick. A nice later-eighties cast assembled here though as well, with American stalwarts, Treat Williams and the always jive, Antonio Fargas coming over to appear with Italian B favorites like John Steiner, Janet Agren (who doesn't stick around long enough), a sadly dying, Christopher Connelly (who by this time, was well into his cancer), Sal Borgese, and my good real life pal, Carlo Mucari. Crime kingpins chase around a disc with vital information on it while a massive Great White turns up every once in a while to chomp on someone. It is what it is, but I personally have always dug it, and the line-up doesn't hurt.

Aside from that though, I definitely need me some more Tonino Ricci. I've heard awesome things about his giallo/crime cross CROSS CURRENT (1971) (with Phillipe Leroy and Ivan Rassimov), with many folks stating it's his best work. I'd also love to see his bizarre sounding western, KID IL MONELLO DEL WEST (1973) (KID, TERROR OF THE WEST). Of course, there's his two post-nukers - RUSH (1983) and RAGE (1984) that I finally have to get my hands on as well. Long overdue with those, and a pair amongst only a very tiny bunch of Euro-post-apocalypse pictures left to see for me.

Okay guys, what are your thoughts on the films of the man otherwise known as 'Anthony Richmond'? There must be at least one other Tonino Ricci fan out there...