Not always DVDs

Of course, it's not always DVDs on this blog, despite the title...

Just had the privilege to see SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE at the London Film Festival - all I can say is that there aren't too many movie trilogies out there where all three films are of such a high calibre (pun intended). I have no idea when a DVD boxset of this film, OLDBOY and SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE will come out, but I'll be getting one, for certain.

Saw this today and TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE, which I'm sorry to say didn't hold a candle to NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Earlier in the week, saw 'electroclash' funsters LADYTRON live at Koko in Camden, North London. It seems that the excellent (am I overusing this word?) support band BATTANT is lucky enough to have an early Siouxsie Sioux reincarnation fronting them.

Finally, I got to see the British Film Institute release of the original Japanese version of the 1954 GODZILLA at the Curzon Cinema in Soho. The BFI are promising a DVD release in the UK, though I'm hoping that they have better materials at their disposal than the theatrical print that's on show. Soft, scratchy and dupey, it looks every inch a 1950's film, but I'm sure the Japanese DVD will have been restored within an inch of it's nitrate - I'd get that, but it has no english subtitles...
The re-emergence of Godzilla films in the early 1990's was the reason that I started to look east for other more interesting films. During the search for watchable videos, VCDs and laserdiscs, I discovered the joys of RINGU, ULTRAMAN TIGA and AKIRA as they first came out. But despite the fact I've seen every one of his films, this was my first ever experience of Godzilla on the big screen.
Below is the excellent poster art by Phil Ashcroft to publicise this well overdue event, which even managed to miss the big guy's 50th birthday. (Fortunately I was able to celebrate properly last year with a trip to Japan, but that's another posting...)











Max