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2009 | 2008

16 articles from 2009

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Kurosawa's 'Ran' Will Still Find Its Way to Blu-ray

24 November 2009 3:38 PM, PST | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

Those upset (myself included) that Criterion had to withdraw their planned Blu-ray edition of Ran due to a rights issue can cheer up as the holder of those rights was making the same plans. Lionsgate Home Entertainment in cooperation with StudioCanal are set to release Ran as well as 1955's The Ladykillers starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers and Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (Le Mepris) on Blu-ray on February 16, 2010.

Unfortunately there isn't any box art available yet, but below are the list of features for each:

Ran 1080P High Definition Widescreen format with Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian DTS Master Audio "A.K." - the acclaimed feature-length documentary on the making of the film "Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate" - documentary on the director Portrait of Akira Kurosawa by Japanese cinema expert and interpreter Catherine Cado "The Samurai" - documentary on Samurai art "Art of the Samurai »

- Brad Brevet

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What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #6

30 August 2009 2:58 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

Outside of seeing three films in theaters this week I also took in nine titles at home including films from Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski, Claude Lelouch and two from Chan-wook Park. It's a mixed bag going from a movie about a girl with a machine gun arm to a film from the French New Wave. As always, remember you can keep tabs on my personal Netflix queue right here. Now, here's the recap of my week in movies... The Machine Girl (2008) Quick Thoughts: I can't remember which one of the Netflix friends I have had this in their queue, but I saw it and noticed it was on Instant Play and just had to give it a watch. I mean, at 96 minutes who wouldn't want to give a movie about a girl with a machine gun on her arm a chance? Well, I gave it a chance and must say, »

- Brad Brevet

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Blu-ray Review: Kagemusha (Criterion Collection)

18 August 2009 4:43 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

When Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha was announced for Criterion Blu-ray I had seen the film for the first time only a couple months earlier and enjoyed it greatly. While it's not the director's greatest film, it is a visual feast that takes full advantage of a high-definition Blu-ray transfer, which I can only assume is the reason it's the first of Kurosawa's films Criterion decided to bring to the new format after their plans to deliver Ran were capsized due to rights issues. Kagemusha is Kurosawa's return to the samurai story and this time in color following his Oscar-winning Dersu Uzala five years earlier. The setting is the warring states of feudal Japan as the powerful warlord Shingen Takeda is fatally wounded, but before dying instructs his closest men to carry on his legacy, while not letting on he has passed away. In an effort to carry out the ruse »

- Brad Brevet

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Shemaroo releases 4-dvd pack of Akira Kurosawa films

6 August 2009 10:32 AM, PDT | BusinessofCinema | See recent BusinessofCinema news »

Shemaroo World Cinema has released a four-dvd pack of films of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.The collectors pack includes Kurosawa films namely Rashomon, Ran, The Quiet Duel and Madadayo. It also comprises a booklet that includes synopsis of all the four films and the filmmaker's profile along with certain trivia.Shemaroo has also packaged a 20-minute short film made by Whistling Woods International students called Any Which Way in the DVD set as a bonus.While the four-dvd pack is priced at Rs 999, the four films are also available individually ... »

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Ichi (2008) Movie Review

27 July 2009 7:21 PM, PDT | Beyond Hollywood | See recent Beyond Hollywood news »

“Ichi” has an interesting premise, being a reimagining of the enduringly popular Japanese tale of Zatoichi, the blind masseur and master swordsman, who was previously the subject of a long-running film and television series from the 1960s to 80s, and the 2003 blockbuster from Kitano Takeshi. Here, “Vexile” and “Ping Pong” director Sori Fumihiko adds a twist by recasting the protagonist as a young woman, played by gorgeous actress Ayase Haruka (recently in “Cyborg She”). The film boasts an impressive samurai pedigree thanks to the presence of fight choreographer Kuze Hiroshi, who worked on several Akira Kurosawa epics, including “Ran”, as well as Yamada Yoji’s masterpiece “The Twilight Samurai”. After having proved popular during its domestic release, the film now arrives on region 2 DVD via Manga Entertainment. The plot finds Ayase Haruka as the titular blind swordswoman wandering the countryside in search of the blind man who trained her as a child before disappearing, »

- James Mudge

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Akira Kurosawa: The Masterworks Blu-ray Disc Collection

19 June 2009 10:27 AM, PDT | Affenheimtheater | See recent Affenheimtheater news »

After Kadokawa already released a series of Akira Kurosawa’s films (Rashomon, Madadayo, Ran and The Quiet Duel) in a Blu-ray Disc Collection back in February, Toho Studio also decided to honour Japan’s probably most famous director with another collection bearing his name. The Akira Kurosawa: The Masterworks Blu-ray Disc Collection contains Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, Sanshiro Sugata, Sanjuro, Men Who Tread On The Tiger’s Tail, Sanshiro Sugata Part II and The Bad Sleep Well which are also available as single releases on October 23, 2009. Unfortunately Toho also decided to follow Kadokawa’s example and will not include English subtitles.

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- Ulrik

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Criterion Bluray Cover Art for Kurosawa's 'Kagemusha'

30 May 2009 6:30 PM, PDT | GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news »

Akira Kurosawa only made four movies after Kagemusha in 1980. By that point, he was 70 years old and his reputation as easily one of the ten greatest directors of the 20th century had been cemented for years. But Kurosawa continued to make amazing cinema, with this film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and the follow-up, Ran, earning Kurosawa four Oscar nominations, including his only bid for Best Director.

Kagemusha is one of the master's great samurai movies and it's also the first Kurosawa Bluray released by Criterion, although you can get most of his major works on standard format DVD through Criterion. Here's the artwork, courtesy of DVD Active:

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- Colin Boyd

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Kurosawa's 'Kagemusha' Destined for Criterion Blu-ray

17 May 2009 12:37 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

A scene from Kagemusha

Photo: Criterion Collection Back at the end of March it was sadly announced Akira Kurosawa's Ran would not be able to be release on Criterion Blu-ray due to some sort of a rights issue. This meant Criterion's only May Blu-ray release would be The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which -- if you read my review -- was fine with me, but I am more interested in old classics rather than the new ones from Criterion and it now appears a Kurosawa gem is taking the place of Ran, with a much better selection if you ask me. A scene from Kagemusha

Photo: Criterion Collection While I am sure most people would rather see Yojimbo, Rashomon, Ikiru or Seven Samurai as the first Criterion Blu-ray, the just announced August 18 release of Kagemusha is fine by me. A scene from Kagemusha

Photo: Criterion Collection Just look »

- Brad Brevet

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Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha on Blu-ray Disc

16 May 2009 2:27 AM, PDT | Affenheimtheater | See recent Affenheimtheater news »

Akira Kurosawa fans rejoice! To fill the gap in our HD loving hearts that was ripped open after the Criterion Blu-ray Disc release of Kurosawa’s Ran has been canceled indefinitely due to rights issues, the label now announced to release Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior) on Blu-ray Disc! The Criterion website states August 18, 2009 as the release date. However, the disc will most probably won’t play on European Bd Players since Criterion has so far used region coding on all their recent Blu-ray releases.

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- Ulrik

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This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: April 14, 2009

14 April 2009 1:50 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed Wow, what a horrible week for DVD and Blu-ray releases. Sure, some people will be interested in picking up The Reader after it was nominated for Best Picture, beating out poor ol' Dark Knight. I had it at #10 on my Best of 2008 list and I would love to own a Blu-ray version for reasons I will soon tell you, but I think that is a film I will remain in the minority and I would never recommend anyone pick it up on a blind buy. So what does that leave you with? The Spirit? I know a few people will probably be interested in the Blu-ray edition of Pride and Prejudice and the other half might think about buying 8 Mile on Blu-ray, but all-in-all there is really nothing to suggest here. So, while you can still read my mini-capsules »

- Brad Brevet

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Criterion Blu-ray Edition of 'Ran' Pulled from the Release Schedule

31 March 2009 12:42 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

If you thought you were going to be picking up Akira Kurosawa's Ran on Criterion Blu-ray on May 12 you better adjust your expectations as I just received the following update: Hello - Criterion's two-disc special edition of Ran is now out of print, and the previously announced Blu-ray edition has been withdrawn from the schedule due to a rights issue. This is a definite bummer and, who knows, it could be a temporary thing and the rights will be squared away and we will find it back on the release schedule, but for now it's a no go. As I mentioned in my On DVD Today article earlier today, I just watched Kurosawa's Kagemusha and after watching it all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to give Ran another viewing and this time on proper Blu-ray format. The only other time I have seen Ran was »

- Brad Brevet

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Blu-Ray Review: Criterion Continues Blu-Ray Expansion With Pair of Truffaut Classics

26 March 2009 1:20 PM, PDT | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0 Chicago – The Criterion Collection continues its foray into the world of HD with one of the most beloved directors of all time, taking a film already in the collection and giving it the HD treatment while simultaneously releasing a new edition of one of his later films. The legend is Francois Truffaut and the films are “The 400 Blows” and “The Last Metro”.

The “continuing series of important classic and contemporary films” has long-included “The 400 Blows” but this marks the first time that the film has been available on Blu-Ray. Criterion just started doing Blu-Ray and they are wisely alternating bringing some of their most popular films to the format along with issuing new releases on it.

The 400 Blows was released on Blu-Ray on March 24th, 2009.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

“The 400 Blows” is actually Truffaut’s first film. Released in 1959, this classic »

- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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DVD Review: Akira Kurosawa Returns to Criterion Collection With ‘Dodes’da Ken’

24 March 2009 8:57 AM, PDT | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »

DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0 Chicago – I’m not sure, but I think there are more Akira Kurosawa titles available in the Criterion Collection than any other filmmaker. His classic films like “Ran,” “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Yojimbo” have been critically acclaimed releases for the influential series of DVDs. His 24th title in the Criterion Collection is last week’s “Dodes’da Ken,” one of the greatest directors of all time’s first film in color.

1970’s “Dodes’da Ken” came five years after the great “Red Beard” and five years before “Dersu Uzala” and a decade before “Kagemusha”. The film was made at a tumultuous time in Kurosawa’s personal life and was critically panned in his home country despite being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Dodes’da Ken was released on DVD on March 17th, 2009.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

According to some sources, the »

- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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DVD Review: Akira Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den (Criterion Collection)

17 March 2009 3:23 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

When it comes to Akira Kurosawa I have either seen or own all of his name titles including Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ikiru, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, Sanjuro and Ran. I have Kagemusha sitting on my coffee table ready to be viewed for the first time and outside of a few noticeable omissions I am finally ready to venture into his lesser known titles and with Criterion's latest release of Dodes'ka-den I can't think of a better place to start. This isn't to say Dodes'ka-den is any kind of masterpiece, because it's not, but the instances surrounding Dodes'ka-den and how it came to be are utterly fascinating and opened up a side of Kurosawa I had never known. Serving as Kurosawa's first attempt at a color film, Dodes'ka-den also marked his first feature in five years following Red Beard in 1965. In those five years Kurosawa would put in work on »

- Brad Brevet

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Criterion To Release Akira Kurosawa’s Ran on Blu-Ray

18 February 2009 3:19 PM, PST | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

Criterion Collection has announced that they will be releasing Akira Kurosawa’s Ran on Blu-Ray in May. The release will include: Restored high-definition digital transfer, with an uncompressed stereo soundtrack Audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker A 30-minute documentary on the making of [...] »

- Peter Sciretta

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This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: February 17, 2009

16 February 2009 11:54 PM, PST | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed There is Plenty for you to browse through today as this week I have more than just new releases to preview as release dates have been set for Criterion's Blu-ray release of Akira Kurosawa's Ran and Paramount has announced the original Star Trek titles for Blu-ray as well. It's all here in this week's addition of On DVD and Blu-ray... Enjoy! Body of Lies Just yesterday I posted my Blu-ray review of Body of Lies, which is an impressive release in high definition on top of the fact I think it is also a good movie and definitely one to consider picking up this week and certainly the best new release in terms of non-catalog titles. I don't have a copy of the DVD edition, but if you are a Blu-ray owner you could do a lot worse than this release. »

- Brad Brevet

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2009 | 2008

16 articles from 2009

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