“Lord Buddha is against killing, under any circumstances.”
The 1984 Martial Arts Epic THE 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER will be available on Blu-ray April 5th from Arrow Video. It can be ordered in advance HERE
After one of its lead actors (cherub-faced actin icon Alexander Fu Sheng) unexpectedly died midway through production, master director Lau Kar-leung (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) retooled his latest martial arts epic, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, as the ultimate action spectacular in tribute to the fallen star.
Loosely based upon the legendary Yang dynasty chronicled in Chinese folklore, the film starts as the family patriarch and all but two of his sons are brutally wiped out in a bloody battle. One surviving son (Fu Sheng) returns to his mother and two sisters, deeply traumatized; the other (Gordon Liu) escapes and joins a nearby monastery while in hiding. Once he learns his sister (Kara Hui) has been captured by their enemies, however, the warrior-turned-monk realizes he must renounce his peaceful ideals in order to mount a rescue mission and avenge his family.
Made during the legendary Shaw Brothers studio’s twilight years as a filmmaking powerhouse, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter is often regarded as director Lau’s masterpiece, as elegiac and suffused with anguish as it is thrillingly violent (not least in its bone-crunching, teeth-smashing climax).
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Original lossless Cantonese, Mandarin and English mono audio
Optional English subtitles, plus hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Brand new commentary by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China
Newly filmed appreciation by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interviews with stars Gordon Liu, Lily Li and Yeung Ching-ching, filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine in 2004
A Tribute to Fu Sheng, a short film commemorating the late actor that played before early screenings of The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, presented via a German-dubbed telecine (the best available copy) with English subtitles
Alternate opening credits, as The Invincible Pole Fighters
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Aspinall
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Terrence J. Brady
“ It‘s a big day for American cycling, to have two Americans beat an Olympic champ. You must feel some pride.”
Kevin Costner in AMERICAN FLYERS (1985) will be available on Blu-ray April12th from Warner Archive. It can be ordered in advance from the Warner Archive Store HERE
“American Flyers,” Rex Reed wrote, “is a fine mixture of romance, humor, and tears with action sequences among the most exciting ever captured on film. It’s guaranteed to increase the viewer’s adrenalin.” Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Costner and David Marshall Grant star as brothers struggling to win a world-class cycling competition — and regain the respect and affection they once shared. The painful events surrounding their father’s death have caused a rift. To bridge the gap, both enter the Hell of the West, a grueling race through the Rocky Mountains. While training and racing together, each confronts the fear that the congenital ailment that struck down their father could suddenly strike one of them. Written by Breaking Away Oscar® winner Steve Tesich and directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever), American Flyers is a dazzling, spirit-soaring spectacle.
“I can’t have my cell mate walkin’ around lookin’ like a bum. I got a reputation to live up to.”
Nothing’s more fun than The Wildey’s Tuesday Night Film Series.. Elvis Presley in JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) will be on the big screenwhen it plays at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL (252 N Main St, Edwardsville, IL 62025) at 7:00pm Tuesday March 29th. Tickets are only $3 Tickets available starting at 3pm day of movie at Wildey Theatre ticket office. Cash or check only. (cash, credit cards accepted for concessions) Lobby opens at 6pm.
Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation. But when he becomes a superstar, will his desire for fame and money cause him to forget the people who got him there?
The Film That Blew the Lid on Small Town Hate, WithBrand-New Restoration and Never-Before-Seen Special Features
Cinedigm announced today that The Film Detective, the classic film restoration and streaming company, in partnership with Something Weird Video, will release the exploitation classic Girl on a Chain Gang(1966) on special-edition Blu-ray and DVD, April 19.
From famed shlock distributor-producer-director Jerry Gross, whomade his directorial debut with Girl on a Chain Gang, a stirring feature about small-town hate. William Watson, Julie Ange and Ron Charles star in this shocker about three young people who are framed, arrested and tossed into jail by corrupt Southern police.
Gross—who produced everything from Blaxploitation films to features about teen pregnancy—exercised his social conscience in this drama about racist Southern cops. Made the year after three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi, Girl on a Chain Gang addresses a subject Gross must have believed worth exploiting into drive-in theater fare. True to his low-budget roots, the movie was filmed nowhere near the South, but in Long Island, New York.
BONUS FEATURES:
Full-length audio commentary with Movies are Magic author and Classic Films for Kids host, Jennifer Churchill
New, original essay from Something Weird Video’s Lisa Petrucci, in a full-color booklet insert
It’s All in the Title: Exploiting Jerry Gross, a short history of the semi-legendary producer with author/film historian Chris Poggiali, from Daniel Griffith at Ballyhoo Motion Pictures.
The 94th Oscars are less than 24 hours away and it’s time to look at WAMG’s predictions!
Throughout the week, preparations have continued at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood for Tinseltown’s big night, The Academy Awards. These past few days Oscar producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan have announced that Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra will perform this year’s nominated songs on the 94th Oscars, the Academy will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first 007 movie and the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather” and a performance of the hit “Encanto” song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT and in more than 200 territories worldwide. American Sign Language (ASL) provided by Certified Deaf Interpreters, live closed captioning and audio description will be available during the live broadcast.
Hosted by Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, the Oscar presenters include Josh Brolin, Jacob Elordi, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Momoa, Jill Scott, J.K. Simmons, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Rachel Zegler, Halle Bailey, Stephanie Beatriz, Ruth E. Carter, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kevin Costner, Jamie Lee Curtis, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Garner, H.E.R., Tiffany Haddish, Woody Harrelson, Tony Hawk, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Lily James, Daniel Kaluuya, Zoë Kravitz, Mila Kunis, Lady Gaga, John Leguizamo, Simu Liu, Rami Malek, Shawn Mendes, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, Rosie Perez, Tyler Perry, Chris Rock, Tracee Ellis Ross, Naomi Scott, Kelly Slater, Wesley Snipes, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Shaun White and Yuh-Jung Youn.
Let’s get right into it with WAMG’s Picks For Should win/Will win:
(L to R) Jamie Dornan as “Pa”, Ciarán Hinds as “Pop”, Jude Hill as “Buddy”, and Judi Dench as “Granny” in director Kenneth Branagh’s BELFAST, a Focus Features release. Credit : Rob Youngson / Focus Features
Cate Marquis
Picture Will: POWER OF THE DOG Should: BELFAST
Director Will: Jane Campion, POWER OF THE DOG Should: Kenneth Branagh, BELFAST
Actress Will: Jessica Chastain, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE Should: Kristen Stewart, SPENCER
Actor Will: Will Smith, KING RICHARD Should: Denzel Washington, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Supporting Actress: Will: Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY Should: Judi Dench, BELFAST
One of my favorite composers who has made a musical splash on the film score scene is Pinar Toprak. Being a collector of scores, whether it be TV of film, I’m a huge fan of hers and she has quickly become an active and reinvigorating composer in Hollywood. Toprak wrote the fantastic scores for DC’s Stargirl on The CW, and SY-FY’s Superman prequel series Krypton.
Today, Variety reported: “on Sunday she (Toprak) will be onstage at the Dolby conducting the Oscar orchestra for Billie Eilish’s performance of “No Time to Die.” Details about Sunday are otherwise under wraps. It’s said to be a new arrangement of the Oscar-nominated James Bond theme, and Eilish’s co-writer and sibling Finneas is expected to be onstage too. Toprak couldn’t comment.“
La-La Land Records and Paramount Music has released Toprak’s original motion picture score to the Paramount Pictures action adventure comedy THE LOST CITY, starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Danielle Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt.
The score soundtrack is available digitally from Paramount Music starting today (March 25, 2022), and on Limited Edition CD from www.lalalandrecords.com starting March 29, 2002.
Also featured on the soundtrack are “Danza De Dos,” “Bolerito De La Isla,” and “Lágrimas Sin Fin (featuring lyrics by David Aguilar),” three new tracks written for the film by Grammy and Latin Grammy winning composer, arranger, producer and performer, Cheche Alara.
In THE LOST CITY, brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.
The film’s exhilarating original score bursts with full-throttle adventurous fun, action and romance. “Writing this score brought me back to why I fell in love with film scores in the first place,” says renowned composer Pinar Toprak, “The adventure, the romance, and most importantly the FUN. It’s been a pure joy paying homage to those classic adventure films I loved growing up while giving it my own contemporary signature. It’s my sincerest hope that this score, like the ones that inspired me as a child, will withstand the test of time as well.”
1 – The Lost City of D 2 – Pinot Grigio on Ice 3 – Book Tour 4 – The Only Clue 5 – You’re Safe Now 6 – The Island 7 – Ruins Revealed 8 – People Eat Cake 9 – Gotta Go Up 10 – Highly Trained & Very Dangerous 11 – Contoured Scenery 12 – Hands out, Butt to Butt 13 – Alan Gets a Moped 14 – Hammock Extraction 15 – Set Your World on Fire 16 – It’s Not a Metaphor 17 – Watch Your Step 18 – The Tomb 19 – Fairfax Escapes 20 – Dulcius Ex Asperis 21 – Got Your Back 22 – A New Adventure Beginning 23 – The Final Countdown 24 – Danza De Dos 25 – Bolerito De La Isla 26 – Lagrimas Sin Fin (feat. Cecilia Noel) 27 – Stage Mishap (Bonus Track) 28 – Book Trailer (Bonus Track)
Pinar Toprak is one of the most refreshing voices in music composition today with a diverse body of work spanning across film, television, and video games. She has composed for major superhero sagas like Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, DC’s Stargirl, and SY-FY’s Krypton. She also scored HBO’s six-part docuseries McMillions, which earned her a 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score).” In addition, she has written music for Epic Game’s massively popular online video game, Fortnite. Away from the big screen, Toprak crafted the new main theme for Walt Disney World’s iconic EPCOT theme park, scored the celebrated 2021 Walt Disney Animation short Us Again, and wrote music for Christina Aguilera’s 2019 Xperience show in Las Vegas. Toprak was the recipient of the 2019 ASCAP Shirley Walker Award and also won the 2019 IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) Award for “Best Original Score for a Documentary Film” for her score to The Tides of Fate.
She had previously won two other IFMCA Awards for her work on The Wind Gods and The Lightkeepers which was on the Academy Award shortlist for “Best Original Score” in 2011. Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Toprak began her classical music education at the age of five. After studying composition and multiple instruments at the conservatory she moved to Chicago to study jazz, before continuing on to Boston for a degree in film scoring from Berklee College of Music. She then moved to Los Angeles and earned a master’s degree at CSUN in composition at age 22.
Alright horror fans, the new new trailer has dropped for XYZ Films’ WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE.
Rhys lives in the zombie-infested wasteland. His job is to capture civilians and deliver them to what’s left of the military. When Rhys captures a half-zombie-half-human named Grace, he comes to believe she is the key to ending the apocalypse.
The latest feature from Australian filmmaking brother duo Kiah Roache-Turner and Tristan Roache-Turner, whose previous collaborations include their breakout feature debut WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD, which premiered at the 2014 Fantastic Fest and put them on the map internationally for their creative use of low-budget gore and highly effective horrific story, and the 2018 TIFF Midnight Madness premiere NEKROTRONIC. The two share co-writing credits while Kiah handles direction with energetic ease and Tristan produces.
With a mix of new and familiar faces from the creative worlds of the Roache-Turner brothers , WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE stars Luke McKenzie (Wentworth, WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD), Bianca Bradey (WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD), Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Total Control), Tasia Zalar (Mystery Road), Jay Gallagher (WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD, NEKROTRONIC), and Nicholas Boshier (Soul Mates).
Blake Northfield (STREAMLINE) produced alongside Tristan Roache-Turner, and Todd Brown and Maxime Cottray executive produced for XYZ Films.
One of the Dalit women journalists of Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’), India’s only women-led news outlet, reporting a story, in the Oscar-nominated documentary WRITING WITH FIRE. Courtesy of Music Box Films.
WRITING WITH FIRE, a nominee for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, is about India’s only women-run newspaper, a news source that has gone in digital since its founding in 2002, and one that covers stories overlooked by other news outlets, particularly on abuse, rape and corruption, with hard-hitting reporting and high journalistic standards. That is astonishing enough but the fact that all the women are also Dalits, the cast formerly known as untouchables, makes this news source seem nearly miraculous. But this is not fiction: these hard-working female reporters are the real thing.
WRITING WITH FIRE is one of two documentaries this past year about small news outlets doing journalism right, covering stories larger outlets won’t cover and serving their community and its right to know. The other one, STORM LAKE, tells an admirable story about an award-winning small town newspaper in the American heartland that is doing everything right, in a way so many larger news outlets no longer are. There is something hopeful in having two such uplifting documentaries, about the triumph of the “little guy,” in a year dominated by so much grimness.
In many ways, filmmakers Rintu Thomas’ and Sushmit Ghosh’s documentary WRITING WITH FIRE is the more amazing story. In 2002, a group of women in India established a women-run newspaper, Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’). That is astonishing enough in a country where men dominate the news industry, and much of life generally. More amazing is that this group of women were also Dalits, the people once called “untouchables” who exist beyond the lowest level of India’s caste system. No one expected their newspaper to survive, yet it did. It still remains the only women-run paper in India.
Documentarians Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh follow these women as they engage in a fearless kind of journalism, reporting abuses and corruption no one else covers. Led by journalist Meera Devi, they investigate and report, but also train and encourage other Dali women who want to join them in doing what journalism is supposed to do: speaking truth to power. And they do that while battling both sexism and caste discrimination every day.
The title refers to several things, including the fiery devotion these women have to the mission of their news outlet for truth-telling, and their determination to covering stories that are too hot, too incendiary, for most other Indian media outlets. Often these are issues of particularly concern to women or to Dalits generally, who face prejudice and often live at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. But the title might also refer to their fierce commitment to each other.
These women journalists are committed to reporting untold stories with courage, but the whole operation serves another purpose: to encourage women who otherwise have little power to take control of their lives. The news outlet welcomes any woman who wants to join their effort, training them in reporting and giving them educational and job skills they never had before. All the staff work as a team, with a commitment to uplifting and supporting women like themselves. At the time the documentary was shot, the news outlet was actively embracing new media, arming their female reporters with smartphones for their work, women who have never owned a cell phone and might have little formal education. And it is impressive what these women can achieve with those tools and that encouragement.
The documentary follows the women journalists as they report on a series of stories, including one of serial rapes that have been ignored by both other media and the police. By digging deep and by dogged persistence, the reporters force both other media to recognize the crime and authorities to address it. The film also follows several individual stories, including one new young recruit with no education who discovers a self-confidence and ability she didn’t know she had before. Another thread focuses on a young woman who becomes a star reporter, and with eyes newly opened to life’s possibilities, embarks on higher education. Watching Meera Devi’s devotion to high journalistic standards and to covering the stories others won’t, combined with her skill and warmth as a mentor, is truly inspiring. The women are not only hard working but joyful in their work and fellowship with each other.
If you need a dose of uplift, in the face of all the negative things happening in the world now, WRITING WITH FIRE delivers that, just as these female reporters deliver the news their community needs. WRITING WITH FIRE, in Hindi with English subtitles, debuts on VOD on all major digital platforms on Mar. 22, and will have its TV debut on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Mar. 28.
Naomi Watts in Bleecker Street’s INFINITE STORM
Credit: Bleecker Street
It’s said truth is stranger than fiction, and one strange tale based on true facts inspired INFINITE STORM, a drama about a lone woman trying to rescue a stranded man in a snowstorm the wintry New Hampshire mountains.
Pam Bales (Naomi Watts), a fit woman in her 50s, is headed up into to the New Hampshire mountains to climb a peak, Mt. Washington, even though the forecast looks brutal for that November day. Stopping by a cafe to fill her thermos with hot cocoa before the climb, the cafe owner (Dennis O’Hare) tries to talk her out of it. But she is determined, reminding him it is a special date, an anniversary perhaps, although we sense it is not a happy one. A glimpse of a patch on her gear lets us know she is with a search-and-rescue operation, so she should know what she is doing.
When Pam arrives in the trail head parking lot, she notices another car in the lot and speaks briefly to a couple who are leaving but they don’t know to whom it belongs. The hike up the mountain is rugged but the weather is still clear, and as she ascends, she starts hearing odd sounds, which may be the other climber. She calls out but no one responds. Nearing the top, the predicted snowstorm blows in, but she struggles on until the weather becomes so savage that she decides to turn back. Then she sees the footprints – an inexperienced climber in tennis shoes, not even hiking boots.
She begins to track the footprints and, with the wind howling and sleet falling, she comes upon a young man (Billy Howle) seated on a rock, facing away from her. He is barely responsive, won’t even give his name. Pam’s training and experience kick in, and she tells him she is there to rescue him. As she sets about doing that, she decides to call him John until she knows his name.
Thus begins a harrowing true tale of wilderness rescue in a blinding snowstorm, made even more treacherous by the uncooperative, even bizarre, behavior of the man being rescued. It is not clear if he is coherent, or even that he wants to be saved, but at other times, he is panicked and frightened. That he is twice her size does not help. And there is a ticking-clock element too, as they must at least reach the tree line before dark to have any hope. No matter the risk to herself, she cannot leave him behind.
Based on a true story, Pam Bales battled both the elements and the uncooperative stranded man in this gripping wilderness adventure, and Naomi Watts does a fine job as this tough but caring woman, who persists despite her own pain, for the sake of this stranger. Pam keeps up a patter of encouragement as she works but it is generally a one-way conversation. The man being rescued says little, and Billy Howle as that stranger is very, well, strange, as the role demands. At times, “John” is child-like and crying, or passive, even nearly comatose, but other times he is defiant, heading off in the wrong direction. His actions endanger himself but her as well, as she cannot just abandon him. Yet his communication is often to tell her off or just howl with pain, as if she is the cause of it all. At times, his behavior is so odd that one might be tempted to think the whole thing is happening in Pam’s imagination, and that the stranger does not really even exist, which makes as much sense as anything. However, that this drama is based on a true story is a fact brings us back from that thought.
Shot in Eastern Europe, apparently Slovenia, the mountain vistas have a wild beauty as well as a frightening power which is shot in a dramatic style with de-saturated color by cinematographer Michal Englert. This tale is not just man-versus-nature, but about inner human struggles, man-versus-self. Some of what happens is twist of fate, much like Pam being on the mountain at the same time as the man, and sometimes those chance happenings are good but often they are not. Sometimes she makes choices that don’t make sense given her oddball charge and other times his actions are hard to comprehend. He seems to waiver between helpless and clumsy, and strong and agile, making more than his mental state a mystery.
The strangeness of the stranded man is part of why this rescue tale doesn’t quite follow the usual formula for this kind of man-against-nature drama, although in some ways it must. But there is also a philosophical bent to this tale, built around grappling with grief. Periodically, there are flashbacks to Pam playing with her two little girls, while we sense they are no longer part of her life. In pieces, we learn more about that story but the nameless man remains more opaque until we gain a little insight late in the film.
The rescue itself has a coda that helps bring everything into better focus. The drama has a contemplative message about grief and about how experiences and people can change the direction of one’s life. Those expecting this to be a straightforward simple adventure tale will get more than they bargained for.
INFINITE STORM opens Friday, March 25, at multiple theaters.
Searchlight Pictures announced today that Seth Rogen (This Is the End, Superbad, Pineapple Express) has joined the cast of Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut Being Mortal. The film stars Academy Award® Nominee Bill Murray (The French Dispatch, Lost in Translation) along with Ansari (“Master of None”), who also wrote the script and is producing with Youree Henley. Taylor Friedman and Cameron Chidsey are overseeing for Searchlight Pictures.
The film is based on Atul Gawande’s non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Principal photography will start this April, with Searchlight Pictures set to release the film theatrically in 2023.
Rogen can currently be seen in Hulu’s highly acclaimed “Pam & Tommy” starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan. He recently starred in HBO Max’s An American Pickle and in Long Shot alongside Charlize Theron for Lionsgate. Rogen was nominated for two Primetime Emmy awards for Outstanding Drama Series for Amazon Prime’s “The Boys” and for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for “Da Ali G Show”. He will next be seen in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans alongside Michelle Williams for Universal Pictures.
Rogen is represented by UTA and Principal Entertainment LA.
Searchlight Pictures recently set release dates for upcoming titles including Andrew Ahn’s Fire Island, set for June 3rd; Sophie Hyde’s Good Luck to you, Leo Grande for June 17th; and Quinn Shephard’s Not Okay for August 5th; all of which will stream exclusively on Hulu. Searchlight also recently dated Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin for a limited theatrical release on October 21st.
