Upcoming Indicator/Powerhouse Films Blu-ray Releases
HomeUpcoming Indicator/Powerhouse Films Blu-ray Releases
Posted December 3, 2020 03:23 PM by Webmaster
British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films have announced their March batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: Twentieth Century (1934), The Criminal Code (1931),
Crimewave (1985), and Things Change (1988).
Crimewave
Synopsis: After the colossal success of The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi teamed up with the Coen brothers (fresh from Blood Simple) to make his next film, Crimewave, an unusual mixture of screwball comedy, film noir and B-movie homage.
Raimi's film tells the bizarre story of a security-system installer, Vic (Reed Birney), who finds himself in the electric chair when he falls in love with Nancy (Sheree J Wilson), a femme fatale on the run from two bumbling exterminators 'of all sizes' (Paul L Smith, Popeye, and Brion James, Blade Runner).
A notoriously troubled production which flopped upon its original release, Crimewave can now be enjoyed as a riotously entertaining showcase for Raimi and the Coens, which also benefits from a highly amusing performance from cult-horror star Bruce Campbell.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Things Change
Synopsis: Written and directed by David Mamet (Oleanna), the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright known for his intense dramas, Things Change is a charming, expertly crafted 'mistaken identity' comedy.
The Mob force unassuming shoe-shine man Gino (Don Ameche, Trading Places) into taking the hit for a murder he didn't commit. The pay-off? A fishing boat in Sicily when he gets out. Small-time crook Jerry (Joe Mantegna, House of Games) takes Gino on one last jaunt to Lake Tahoe before his term begins, but, when Gino is mistaken for a major league gangster, the duo soon fall prey to local hoodlums…
An unexpected change of pace for Mamet, Things Change benefits from an intelligent, witty script and superb central performances from Ameche and Mantegna, who received Best Actor awards at the Venice Film Festival for their efforts.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Criminal Code
Synopsis: Howard Hawks (Twentieth Century) made his first film for Columbia Pictures with this pre-Code prison movie. The great Walter Huston (Dragonwyck) stars as a district attorney-turned-prison warden who gets to witness first-hand the effects of his convictions, especially Phillip Holmes (An American Tragedy), imprisoned after killing a man in a drunken brawl. Co-starring Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), The Criminal Code is tough, no-nonsense, quintessential Hawks.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Twentieth Century
Synopsis: The second film Howard Hawks (The Criminal Code) made at Columbia Pictures is among his greatest works. John Barrymore plays a theatre impresario down on his luck. Carole Lombard is his former protégé, now a major star. When the two meet by chance aboard the Twentieth Century locomotive, their love-hate relationship is reignited.
Now recognised as a classic, Twentieth Century is the film which established the template for the screwball comedy – and made Lombard a star.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Crimewave
Synopsis: After the colossal success of The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi teamed up with the Coen brothers (fresh from Blood Simple) to make his next film, Crimewave, an unusual mixture of screwball comedy, film noir and B-movie homage.
Raimi's film tells the bizarre story of a security-system installer, Vic (Reed Birney), who finds himself in the electric chair when he falls in love with Nancy (Sheree J Wilson), a femme fatale on the run from two bumbling exterminators 'of all sizes' (Paul L Smith, Popeye, and Brion James, Blade Runner).
A notoriously troubled production which flopped upon its original release, Crimewave can now be enjoyed as a riotously entertaining showcase for Raimi and the Coens, which also benefits from a highly amusing performance from cult-horror star Bruce Campbell.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Alternative presentation with pre-release Broken Hearts and Broken Noses title sequence
- Audio commentary with actor Bruce Campbell (2013)
- The Crimewave Meter with Bruce Campbell (2013): the Evil Dead star revisits Crimewave and his various collaborations with Sam Raimi
- Made in Detroit with Edward Pressman (2013): the producer discusses his participation in the making of the film
- Leading Man with Reed Birney (2013): the actor talks about his lead role in Crimewave and his wider career
- Rank Outsider (2021): genre-film expert, critic and author Kim Newman remembers the film's original UK cinema release
- New appreciation by the comedian, musician and writer Rob Deering (2021)
- Alternative titles and credits
- Original theatrical trailers
- TV spots
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Amanda Reyes, interview extracts with cast and crew members, an overview of contemporary critical responses and film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
Things Change
Synopsis: Written and directed by David Mamet (Oleanna), the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright known for his intense dramas, Things Change is a charming, expertly crafted 'mistaken identity' comedy.
The Mob force unassuming shoe-shine man Gino (Don Ameche, Trading Places) into taking the hit for a murder he didn't commit. The pay-off? A fishing boat in Sicily when he gets out. Small-time crook Jerry (Joe Mantegna, House of Games) takes Gino on one last jaunt to Lake Tahoe before his term begins, but, when Gino is mistaken for a major league gangster, the duo soon fall prey to local hoodlums…
An unexpected change of pace for Mamet, Things Change benefits from an intelligent, witty script and superb central performances from Ameche and Mantegna, who received Best Actor awards at the Venice Film Festival for their efforts.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original stereo audio
- New interview with writer-director David Mamet
- New interview with actor Joe Mantegna
- New Interview with actor William H Macy
- New Interview with composer Alaric Jans
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Ellen Cheshire, an archival production report, extracts from interviews with David Mamet and Don Ameche, an overview of contemporary critical responses and film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
The Criminal Code
Synopsis: Howard Hawks (Twentieth Century) made his first film for Columbia Pictures with this pre-Code prison movie. The great Walter Huston (Dragonwyck) stars as a district attorney-turned-prison warden who gets to witness first-hand the effects of his convictions, especially Phillip Holmes (An American Tragedy), imprisoned after killing a man in a drunken brawl. Co-starring Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), The Criminal Code is tough, no-nonsense, quintessential Hawks.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High definition remaster
- Original mono soundtrack
- Audio commentary with film historian Nora Fiore (2021)
- The Howard Hawks Masterclass with John Carpenter (1997): archival audio recording of an event from the British Film Institute's 1997 Howard Hawks retrospective at the National Film Theatre, London
- Kim Newman on Boris Karloff (2021): the author and critic discusses the non-horror roles of the iconic actor
- Codes and Convictions (2021): video essay comparing The Criminal Code with its 1950 film noir remake, Convicted
- Lux Radio Theatre: 'The Criminal Code' (1937): radio adaptation starring Edward G Robinson
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Philip Kemp, extracts from interviews with Howard Hawks, Henri Langlois on the early sound films of Howard Hawks, overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
Twentieth Century
Synopsis: The second film Howard Hawks (The Criminal Code) made at Columbia Pictures is among his greatest works. John Barrymore plays a theatre impresario down on his luck. Carole Lombard is his former protégé, now a major star. When the two meet by chance aboard the Twentieth Century locomotive, their love-hate relationship is reignited.
Now recognised as a classic, Twentieth Century is the film which established the template for the screwball comedy – and made Lombard a star.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- Original mono soundtrack
- Audio commentary with novelist and film historian Farran Smith Nehme (2021)
- Stars in Her Eyes (2021): academic Lucy Bolton discusses the film career of Carole Lombard
- Howard Hawks Study Day (1997): archival audio recording of an event from the British Film Institute's 1997 Howard Hawks retrospective at the National Film Theatre, London
- Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, extracts from interviews with Howard Hawks, overview of contemporary and modern critical responses, and film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
