Matt Damon is right: the movie world was better off when DVDs were mainstream, selling millions of copies, allowing studios to monetize non-profit movies when they hit theaters. We don’t say that buying physical format is a form of activism, but almost. Don’t believe what you read here and there, collecting is not a form of fetishism. Whether it’s wanting to have the films you love close to you, being sure to be able to watch the films when you want (let’s not forget that the platforms can weigh down the films, even their own) , whether it’s because we like the object, we want to support an industry, we like to lend films… It doesn’t matter. Buying films is always good. Every month, we will now come back to the most significant releases of the last few days. For this back to school, look back on a busy summer, whether with new releases, 4K releases, or rarer films finally brought up to date. Whether you like blockbusters or authors’ proposals, French, American or elsewhere films, horror or comedy, documentaries or nanars: there will be something for everyone.Ambulance, by Michael Bay (Universal, DVD / Blu-ray / 4K)Michael Bay’s film took everyone by surprise, the unseasoned public thinking that the filmmaker only knew how to lay Transformers, before getting caught in the face one of the blockbusters the most generous, with delirious staging desires. So if you missed it, grab it, and watch it on the biggest screen possible, and in the best possible quality – we’re putting our hand to it, you won’t regret it. The Batman, by Matt Reeves ( Warner Bros., DVD/Blu-ray/4K)One of the greatest films of the year, which deserves a place in your DVD library. And in the best possible quality, of course. Because if there is indeed a striking element in this production, it is the visual quality of the finished product, which is more than stunning – perfectly transcribed in this 4K. +1 for the analysis of the chase presented in the bonuses, which is worth the detour. Bruno Reidal, confession of a murderer, by Vincent Le Port (Capricci, DVD / Blu-ray) A slap, just that. Vincent Le Port’s film about the first cold-blooded killer studied by science, namely the young Bruno Reidal, is as chilling as it is fascinating. You don’t have to be a fan of Bring the Accused to want it in your DVD library.Calvaire, by Fabrice Du Welz (Studiocanal, Blu-ray)Fabrice Du Welz’s first feature film and an example of the genre, horrifying and creepy as desired. We had already sold it to you in our selection of the ten essential French-language horror films, and we still think it belongs – especially now that it is available on Blu-ray for the first time in France. chance and other fantasies, by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Diaphana, DVD / Blu-ray)Ryusuke Hamaguchi had already provided one of the most beautiful feature films of 2021 with Drive My Car. Now he does it again with a new masterpiece. Three short films of disconcerting beauty and poetry, which you have to see and see again, sometimes to see only one, to choose from. So to have on hand at all times, we agree. Edge of Tomorrow, by Doug Liman (Warner Bros., 4K) Among the notable 4K releases, we find the already cult film by Doug Liman. This groundhog day SF where a Tom Cruise finds himself stuck in a day of hell facing aliens and is helped by an Emily Blunt. But even more than the image work, which is certainly sublime, it is the steelbook containing the film, a booklet of making-of photos, two posters, and more, which is worth the detour – whether you are fan, collector, or both.Investigation into a State Scandal, by Thierry de Peretti (Pyramide, DVD/Blu-ray)It’s not every day that a French thriller is so clever and well staged than this new nugget from Thierry de Peretti (which is not his first attempt). We do not say that because we love the duo of actors, which brings together Roschdy Zem and Pio Marmaï, but it is frankly one of the most beautiful successes of the year on the French cinema side. Event Horizon, by Paul WS Anderson (Paramount, 4K) Don’t lie to us, Paul WS Anderson is best known for spawning a bunch of turnips. From its Resident Evil to the recent Monster Hunter through the first Alien vs. Predator, we are clearly on a complicated filmography. Nevertheless, a film has never been considered as anything other than an “Andersonnerie”: Event Horizon. Fortunately, Paramount has attempted a crazy undertaking: to rehabilitate said long with a 4K edition, recalling that the film, killed at the box office by Titanic, massacred by a studio with an edit, was trying something ambitious, namely to offer a space horror film with a classy cast, without monsters, centered on isolation and depression. To be rediscovered urgently, therefore. I… like Icarus, by Henri Verneuil (Gaumont, DVD/Blu-ray) Let’s be clear: Henri Verneuil has produced more classics than you can count. A Monkey in Winter, The Clan of the Sicilians, Fear of the City, Melody in the Basement… Nevertheless, I… as Icarus, although less known, is one of the richest and most interesting. Already for his postulate of an investigation retracing a Kennedy-style murder, against a background of conspiracy and Cold War film; for its treatment, very cold; but also, for his image, of a rather staggering splendor. In the Heat of the Sun, by Jiang Wen (Spectrum, Blu-ray) One. On the directing side, his fine career (whether with the enormous Chinese box office success Let the Bullets Fly or the Cannes sensation Les Démons à ma porte) started with an unknown masterpiece, In the Heat of the Sun. A wandering in the Beijing of the 1970s as personal as it is political, as beautiful as it is melancholy. And in addition, with The Emperor’s Shadow, Spectrum provides a period film with a Wen still little known at the time. The Hill where the lionesses roar, by Luàna Bajrami (The Pact, DVD) Luàna Bajrami was discovered in L It’s time to go out, alongside Laurent Lafitte, before seeing her in Fête de famille, Les 2 Alfred or Portrait of the young girl on fire. Now 20, the actress has gone to the other side of the camera for her first feature film, The Hill where the lionesses roar, presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2021, in Cannes. A powerful first film that should not be missed, about three young women in Kosovo trying to flee their native village and live their life. The Death Race of the year 2000, by Paul Bartel (Carlotta, Blu-ray) You might think it’s a dick, and you’d be right. But of the enjoyable, remarkable, somewhat silly and important kind. Because all the same, we must remember that he is at the origin of a franchise of the 2000s (the first was a guilty pleasure remake which took up a lot of elements of the original but moved away from it in its synopsis base), namely Death Race. But before we saw Jason Statham blowing up cars at all costs, we had this ofni, unidentified filmic object, a kind of GTA before its time, in which a TV game sees pilots crossing the United States by killing the as many passers-by as possible to get maximum points. We told you, enjoyable. Silly, but enjoyable.The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, by Luis Buñuel (Studiocanal, 4K)Another remastering, very impressive this time. Because Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece has never been so beautiful as in this new edition, which already existed on Blu-ray for a few years. But seeing this detestable and delicious satire of the bourgeoisie in 4K is a pleasure you can’t refuse.The Red Desert, by Michelangelo Antonioni (Carlotta, Blu-ray/prestige edition)If the filmmaker’s name is familiar to you, his very first feature film in color, probably not. And yet, it is a pivotal work. Already, because it is the climax of his collaboration with Monica Vitti, but also because it is undoubtedly one of his most beautiful films in terms of visuals, with a play on the colors and the landscapes used to stick with the tortured mind of its central character. And also because the film is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. All helped by a sublime remastering, and a prestige edition that is worth the detour – reading the original press kit is always a pleasure. Licorice Pizza, by Paul Thomas Anderson (Universal, DVD/Blu-ray) Any film by Paul Thomas Anderson is an event. Even more: you should have in your collection absolutely all the films of PTA. Without exception. And especially the sublime Licorice Pizza.Make My Day #50 (Studiocanal, Blu-ray)Jean-Baptiste Thoret’s collection contains its share of nuggets, but quite a few film noir. Thing settled with this double program. On the one hand, a Douglas Sirk not the best known, with Girls Disappear, about a serial killer in the Victorian era. On the other, a Joseph Losey, The Criminals, restored in 4K, where Stanley Baker plays an imprisoned robber with a secret. Only happiness. Red Rocket, by Sean Baker (Le Pacte, DVD / Blu-ray) One of the best films of Cannes 2021, one of the best films of the year. Why deprive yourself of it? The Beatles: Get Back, by Peter Jackson (Disney, Blu-ray) Quite simply, the documentary series of the year. We spend six hours alongside the Beatles on the conception, or in any case the genesis, of the last album of the four Britons, when we would like to spend twice as much on it. The work of restoring the image is not the only remarkable thing, the editing helping to live true moments of life. And in addition, the physical version comes with.The Great Buster, by Peter Bogdanovich (Carlotta, Blu-ray)With the disappearance of the great Peter Bogdanovich, many have only retained the cult feature films of the director, forgetting a whole section of his career – that of a film historian. His best proof remains this documentary, released in 2018, which looks back on the immense Buster Keaton, and brought out by Carlotta. The cast is quite remarkable – from Quentin Tarantino to Werner Herzog to Mel Brooks or even Johnny Knoxville. Necessary.The Medium, by Banjong Pisanthanakun (The Jokers, DVD/Blu-ray)If I tell you that I’m offering you a Thai horror film, you’ll say to me: why the hell buy it? Because it’s not an easy movie to get to, and it’s devilishly effective. A mockumentary about an exorcism within a family of shamans, which you will want to see again, and show. So to buy, yes.
Leave a comment