Arrow.
Since its inception in 2009, Arrow Video, or Film, sometimes Academy has been an exceptional provider of boutique disc presentations, releasing really beautifully turned out discs ranging from obscure cult horrors to prestigious arthouse productions and not much in between. They brow high or they brow low which seems an admirable position to me. The best thing about them is that whatever film, or sometimes TV series, they are releasing they do it with love and attention.
So given that back catalogue, and that their discs don't come cheap, (not even second hand at CEX) this year they have made some of it available on a streaming service, Arrow, that is on no account to be referred to as Arrow Player, even though it's located at arrow-player.com. It'll cost you £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year, though there is a free trial month available
New this week is Hell On Earth: the Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils an hour-long Channel 4 TV documentary written and presented by Mark Kermode about the controversies and battles over the making of the 1971 film. Ken Russell has received some harsh words on this site because he made a lot of godawful films over his career but The Devils, his hysterical rendering of the hysteria whipped up in the Loudon demonic possession case in 17th century France is a phenomenal piece of cinema, containing Oliver Reed's finest performance and some extraordinary sets designed by Derek Jarman. Some of the more extreme scenes were edited out at the time and Kermode doggedly outlines their restoration. It's on less certain ground when it tries to tackle the issue of censorship. Everybody, other than the late Evening Standard critic Alexander Walker, argues for freedom of expression but the making of the nuns' orgy scenes was clearly a Me-Too nightmare with the naked actresses getting pawed over by extras. The young Kermode (then as now firmly entrenched in his to-the-death quiff off with Mark Lemarr) looks on awkwardly when Russell and his ageing cast and crew get together. They see themselves are provocateurs but they are just a bunch of old loveys really.
Hard To Be A God is a three hour, black and white, Russian science fiction film based on a novel by the authors of the book Stalker was based, but it is more Monty Python and the Holy Grail than Tarkovsky. A group of scientists have travelled to a planet that is like Earth in the Middle Ages where they have integrated themselves into the society but have a prime directive not to interfere. Completed by his son after his death during the production, Aleksey German's epic is, like his previous film Khrustalyov, My Car, a truly unique and astonishing piece of filmmaking. The camera focuses intensely on the lead character as he strides through the mud and the dirt and the squalor and other characters come into the frame to belch and fight and look straight into the camera. It's like an arthouse version of a first-person shoot 'em up. Also, just like his previous film Khrustalyov, My Car, within ten minutes I had no idea what was going on, despite numerous breaks to consult online synopsis.
One criticism I'd level at it is that it is hard to navigate. I get this with all Streaming services and if Netflix can't crack it why should Arrow, but sometimes it is difficult to find things unless you know what you're looking for. For example, it took me weeks to find out that they had a section on one of my favourite directors, Takeshi Kitano. There's Hana Bi (alongside Sonatine his greatest film) but also some more obscure films. His sex comedy Getting Any? is a hit and miss novelty but Kids Return and A Scene By The Sea are fantastic examples of the power his oblique editing and deadpan approach can produce.
Anyway here's a selection of some of the film's available and links to reviews.
The Forbidden Love section includes Cronenberg's magnificent J.G Ballard adaptation Crash, woman fall in love with fairground ride piece Jumbo and Borowczyk's Immoral Tales.
Among The 70s selection are Romero's The Crazies, There's Always Vanilla and Season Of The Witch, John Landis first film Schlock, Sleeping Dogs, and Robert Altman's forgotten gem Images. Plus loads of Italian Giallo nasties.
Elsewhere you can get your fill of Von Trier with Breaking The Waves, The House That Jack Built, Antichrist, Nymphomaniac Parts I and II and there's all the Jodorowsky you could need from Holy Mountain to Endless Poetry.
There's plenty Hellraiser, and Reform School Girls and Manic Cops but some of the classier entries are Heathers, Aniara, Primer, Battle Royale, Enemy, Toto The Hero, Jia Zhangke The Man from Fenyang, Cinema Paradiso, The Fireman's Ball, The Sheltering Sky, The Sorrow and The Pity, We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Since its inception in 2009, Arrow Video, or Film, sometimes Academy has been an exceptional provider of boutique disc presentations, releasing really beautifully turned out discs ranging from obscure cult horrors to prestigious arthouse productions and not much in between. They brow high or they brow low which seems an admirable position to me. The best thing about them is that whatever film, or sometimes TV series, they are releasing they do it with love and attention.
So given that back catalogue, and that their discs don't come cheap, (not even second hand at CEX) this year they have made some of it available on a streaming service, Arrow, that is on no account to be referred to as Arrow Player, even though it's located at arrow-player.com. It'll cost you £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year, though there is a free trial month available
New this week is Hell On Earth: the Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils an hour-long Channel 4 TV documentary written and presented by Mark Kermode about the controversies and battles over the making of the 1971 film. Ken Russell has received some harsh words on this site because he made a lot of godawful films over his career but The Devils, his hysterical rendering of the hysteria whipped up in the Loudon demonic possession case in 17th century France is a phenomenal piece of cinema, containing Oliver Reed's finest performance and some extraordinary sets designed by Derek Jarman. Some of the more extreme scenes were edited out at the time and Kermode doggedly outlines their restoration. It's on less certain ground when it tries to tackle the issue of censorship. Everybody, other than the late Evening Standard critic Alexander Walker, argues for freedom of expression but the making of the nuns' orgy scenes was clearly a Me-Too nightmare with the naked actresses getting pawed over by extras. The young Kermode (then as now firmly entrenched in his to-the-death quiff off with Mark Lemarr) looks on awkwardly when Russell and his ageing cast and crew get together. They see themselves are provocateurs but they are just a bunch of old loveys really.
Hard To Be A God is a three hour, black and white, Russian science fiction film based on a novel by the authors of the book Stalker was based, but it is more Monty Python and the Holy Grail than Tarkovsky. A group of scientists have travelled to a planet that is like Earth in the Middle Ages where they have integrated themselves into the society but have a prime directive not to interfere. Completed by his son after his death during the production, Aleksey German's epic is, like his previous film Khrustalyov, My Car, a truly unique and astonishing piece of filmmaking. The camera focuses intensely on the lead character as he strides through the mud and the dirt and the squalor and other characters come into the frame to belch and fight and look straight into the camera. It's like an arthouse version of a first-person shoot 'em up. Also, just like his previous film Khrustalyov, My Car, within ten minutes I had no idea what was going on, despite numerous breaks to consult online synopsis.
One criticism I'd level at it is that it is hard to navigate. I get this with all Streaming services and if Netflix can't crack it why should Arrow, but sometimes it is difficult to find things unless you know what you're looking for. For example, it took me weeks to find out that they had a section on one of my favourite directors, Takeshi Kitano. There's Hana Bi (alongside Sonatine his greatest film) but also some more obscure films. His sex comedy Getting Any? is a hit and miss novelty but Kids Return and A Scene By The Sea are fantastic examples of the power his oblique editing and deadpan approach can produce.
Anyway here's a selection of some of the film's available and links to reviews.
The Forbidden Love section includes Cronenberg's magnificent J.G Ballard adaptation Crash, woman fall in love with fairground ride piece Jumbo and Borowczyk's Immoral Tales.
Among The 70s selection are Romero's The Crazies, There's Always Vanilla and Season Of The Witch, John Landis first film Schlock, Sleeping Dogs, and Robert Altman's forgotten gem Images. Plus loads of Italian Giallo nasties.
Elsewhere you can get your fill of Von Trier with Breaking The Waves, The House That Jack Built, Antichrist, Nymphomaniac Parts I and II and there's all the Jodorowsky you could need from Holy Mountain to Endless Poetry.
There's plenty Hellraiser, and Reform School Girls and Manic Cops but some of the classier entries are Heathers, Aniara, Primer, Battle Royale, Enemy, Toto The Hero, Jia Zhangke The Man from Fenyang, Cinema Paradiso, The Fireman's Ball, The Sheltering Sky, The Sorrow and The Pity, We Need To Talk About Kevin.
