Olive Films Announce January Blu-ray Releases

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Olive Films Announce January Blu-ray Releases

Posted January 2, 2018 07:13 PM by Webmaster

Independent distributors Olive Films have announced that they will add six new titles to their Blu-ray catalog in January. Amongst them are Fernando Trueba's Oscar winner Belle Epoque, Bigas Luna's new wave classic Jamón Jamón and The Red Squirrel, and Brian Dorton's Preexisting Conditions a.k.a. Trashology 2 (a Slasher // Video release).

Belle Epoque

Synopsis: Spain, 1931 is a politically divided nation and on the brink of war. With allegiances torn between Republican and Traditionalist factions, Fernando (Jorge Sanz, Conan the Barbarian), a disillusioned soldier, has chosen a third option — going AWOL. Fate intervenes during his escape when he meets Manolo (Fernando Fernán Gómez, All About My Mother), an admiring land owner who sees himself mirrored in the young man and welcomes him into his home — a home inhabited by Manolo's four visiting daughters, each more beautiful than the other. Clara (Miriam Díaz-Aroca, High Heels), Violeta (Ariadna Gil, Pan's Labyrinth), Rocío (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También) and Luz (Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) will prove to be more than just a pleasant distraction for Fernando. While seeking refuge from the chaos of the outside world, he'll find romance at every turn in the witty love story Belle Epoque.

Belle Epoque, director Fernando Trueba's (The Queen of Spain) 1994 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, is written by Rafael Azcona (from a story by Azcona, José Luis García Sánchez and Fernando Trueba) and co-stars Agustín González (El abuelo) and Chus Lampreave (Volver).

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.

Jamón Jamón

Synopsis: From director Bigas Luna (Golden Balls) comes Jamón Jamón, starring Academy Award® winner Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) making her motion picture debut opposite Academy Award® winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) and co-starring Jordi Mollà (In the Heart of the Sea), Stefania Sandrelli (1900) and Juan Diego (Your Next Life).

Written for the screen by Cuca Canals, Bigas Luna and Quim Monzó, Jamón Jamón traces the romantic entanglements of the beautiful and pregnant underwear factory worker Silvia (Cruz); José Luis (Mollà), the father of her child and heir to the factory fortune; Raul (Bardem), underwear model, seducer and would-be-bullfighter; and Conchita (Sandrelli), José Luis' doting mother, family matriarch and Raul's lover. Through a series of Machiavellian plot machinations, Conchita will seek to tear apart the relationship between her wealthy son and the second-class Silvia. Melodramatic, surreal (a duel using ham legs is a highlight) and oozing with sexual tension, Jamón Jamón is soap opera at its grandest.

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.

The Red Squirrel

The Red Squirrel (La Ardilla Roja), written and directed by Julio Medem (Tierra) and starring Emma Suárez (Julieta) and Nancho Novo (Lovers of the Arctic Circle), is a stylish thriller à la Hitchcock — with echoes of Vertigo — set in a Spanish campground.

Jota (Novo), a musician with a career in decline and a romantic life in shambles, is on the verge of ending his life by jumping from a bridge when a mysterious figure on a motorcycle comes roaring — quite literally — into his life. Rushing to aid the injured cyclist, Jota discovers the driver is a beautiful young woman (Suárez) who's lost her memory in the crash. Seeing an opportunity to start a new life, Jota creates a fictional backstory for Sofia, the amnesia victim whom he now calls Lisa, claiming that they're a couple. Fearing her growing suspicion of his ruse, Jota cuts Lisa's hospital stay short by whisking her off to The Red Squirrel, a remote campground far away from prying eyes. But they soon attract the attention of the other campers, leading to an escalation in Lisa's erratic behavior. What secrets are hiding in Lisa's past? And who is Félix (Carmelo Gómez, Tierra), the mysterious stranger who appears at the camp site in search of Sofia? Twists and turns abound in The Red Squirrel.

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.

Tierra

"Doused throughout in the red hues of the Aragon landscape, and stunningly composed in widescreen by d.p. Javier Aguirresarobe, the picture has an unearthly feel that's a potent stage for the elemental central love story." - Variety

Tierra (Earth), a quirky, romantic dramedy from Sex and Lucia director Julio Medem, stars Carmelo Gómez (Vacas) as Ángel, a pest control specialist (and recently released mental patient) working the soil in Spanish wine country to rid the terrain of destructive grubs. Unexpectedly, Ángel will find romance and adventure beyond his wildest imagination when he falls for two of the locals: the earthy and soulful farmer's wife, Ángela (Emma Suárez, The Red Squirrel); and the sensuous, amorous (and much too young) Mari (Silke, The Dark Hour). Tierra's flights of fancy include spectral doppelgangers, irate migrant gypsies, fierce lightning storms, and one very jealous husband.

Tierra, written and directed by Julio Medem (The Red Squirrel, Vacas, Sex and Lucia), features Karra Elejalde (Biutiful) and Nancho Novo (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) and is beautifully lensed by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (The Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona).

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.

Vacas

Set in Spain's Basque Country, Vacas (Cows) tells of a bitter rivalry and a decades-old feud between three generations of the Mendiluze and Iriguibel families, stretching from the Third Carlist War through the Spanish Civil War. These families, not unlike the tale of the Hatfields and McCoys, have carried a simmering, deep-seated hatred dating back to a war-time act that left brave Carmelo Mendiluze dead on the battlefield and the cowardly deserter Manuel Iriguibel crippled but alive. Years have not cooled the animosity between these houses as the film traces the lives, loves, and deaths that propel the atmospheric story forward to its inevitable outcome. Directed by Julio Medem (Tierra, The Red Squirrel) from a screenplay by Medem and Michel Gaztambide, Vacas stars Carmelo Gómez (Tierra, The Red Squirrel), Emma Suárez (Julieta, The Red Squirrel), Ana Torrent (The Other Boleyn Girl) and Karra Elejalde (Tierra).

Director Medem is immeasurably aided by cinematographer Carles Gusi (El Niño), whose camera captures the lush foliage of the Basque countryside and cocoon-like farmhouse interiors, successfully recreating a bygone era. The film also features a dramatic score courtesy of composer Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener).

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.

Preexisting Conditions

Déjà vu! The gang is back in Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2). Beginning with a visit to the local library in search of the titular tome, we're treated to the further adventures of those co-dependent gal pals, Katrina Lizhope (writer/director Brian Dorton, Trashology) and Melissa Couch (Douglas Conner, Trashology) along with the irrepressible Ms. Green (Gerica Horn, Trashology), a diabetic, half-blind, wheelchair-bound mother out to avenge the murder of her son, unaware that houseguests Katrina and Melissa are responsible for his death.

In the grand tradition of Trashology, Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2) pays homage to the genre films made famous by Pink Flamingos director John Waters while creating its own unique world of sex, violence, fried chicken and revenge.

Slasher // Video presents Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2), written and directed by Brian Dorton (Trashology, Crazy Fat Ethel) and co-starring newcomer Ayana Moore and Jenny Coulter (Trashology).

Special Features and Technical Specs:
  • "A Handsome Dick" short film
  • Deleted and Alternate Scenes
  • Katrina's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
  • Outtakes and Blooper Reel
  • Photo Gallery
  • Trailer
  • Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.