Hitchcock, Wilder, McCarey, Kenton, Mizoguchi, and Miike Films Coming Up From Eureka
Posted January 24, 2012 04:04 PM by Webmaster
Eureka Entertainment have revealed their upcoming titles for the months of April, May, and June 2012. There will be seven new releases added to the Masters of Cinema series: Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944) and The Lost Weekend (1945), Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), Erle C. Kenton's Island of Lost Souls (1932), Leo McCarey's Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) and Sanshô dayû (1954), as well as one non-Masters of Cinema release, namely Takashi Miike's Yatterman (2009).
Eureka Entertainment also continues its ongoing association with Bounty Films (responsible for the UK release of The Human Centipede) with the release of Yûdai Yamaguchi's Deadball (DVD only).
Note: Eureka Entertainment have also revealed that they have acquired the rights for Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928).
April 23, 2012
Lifeboat (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT Edition (SteelBook Edition also available)
Alfred Hitchcock's only film for Fox, made at the height of WW2, stars a first-rate ensemble cast, led by grande dame of the stage Tallulah Bankhead, as the survivors of a Nazi attack set adrift on a lifeboat in the Atlantic Ocean, pitted against interpersonal animosities, creeping paranoia, and the captain of the Nazi sub that placed them in their current predicament...
Ugetsu Monogatari (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT Edition
Mizoguchi's intensely poetic tragedy consistently features on polls of the best films ever made. This new HD restoration is the film's first appearance on Blu-ray anywhere in the world, and is accompanied by an HD presentation of Mizouguchi's 1951 classic OYÛ-SAMA.
Sansho Dayu (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT Edition
One of the most critically revered films in Japanese cinema history, Mizoguchi's deeply affecting classic has been newly restored in HD and appears here on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world, and is accompanied by an HD presentation of Mizoguchi's 1953 classic Gion Bayashi.
Yatterman DVD & Blu-ray
Classic seventies anime series Yatterman flies to the silver screen in a brilliant crime-fighting explosion of candy-coloured camp, over-the-top adventure, and pure popcorn entertainment. Directed by legendary cult director Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer, Audition) and featuring a brand new plot and re-imaged characters, this live action debut of Yatterman will re-define the robot action adventure genre.
Deadball DVD (Released by Bounty Films)
A hilariously offensive, politically incorrect sports splatter comedy, Deadball is director Yudai Yamaguchi's follow-up to his earlier zombie baseball classic Battlefield Baseball, and once again features action star Tak Sakaguchi (Versus, Be a Man!, Samurai School).
May 28, 2012
Island of Lost Souls (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT Edition (SteelBook Edition also available)
For the first time in the UK, one of the most imaginative and nightmarish fantasies from Hollywood's golden age of horror - starring the legendary Charles Laughton. Originally rejected by the BBFC, this first and best screen adaptation of H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, is one of Hollywood's wildest pre-Code pictures.
Ruggles of Red Gap (Masters of Cinema) DUAL FORMAT Edition
The UK home viewing premiere of one of the finest films of Leo McCarey (Make Way for Tomorrow, An Affair to Remember) finds Charles Laughton in one of his greatest roles as a personal valet shipped off to America in the service of the brash and wealthy Egbert Floud (played, coincidentally enough, by Charlie Ruggles); a sophisticated comedy of rude manners ensues.
June 25, 2012
Double Indemnity (Masters of Cinema) Blu-ray (SteelBook Edition also available)
Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler team up to create one of the greatest, and quintessential, noir films of the studio era, a classic of the hard-boiled genre nominated for seven Oscars, and whose performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson have been leaving audiences breathless for almost 70 years. Now, exclusively restored by The Masters of Cinema Series for its first ever release on Blu-ray anywhere in the world.
The Lost Weekend (Masters of Cinema) Blu-ray (SteelBook Edition also available)
An Academy-Award-winning (including Best Picture) triumph from the great Billy Wilder, with Ray Milland as a writer's-block-ridden and booze-sodden author spiralling into a days'-long rock-bottom binge crafted by Wilder with expressionist fervour. This gorgeous Blu-ray edition is the first available anywhere in the world.
OMFG. Double Indemnity, FOUR -- count em -- FOUR Mizoguchi, and Lifeboat! Just got my Hitchcocks and Woodys on Blu today. 2012 is shaping up to be an extraordinary year.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw this lineup. I'm getting every single MOC title (besides Island of Lost Souls which is already available from Criterion). They're all top tier films. Hopefully some of these are region free... I have a region-free player, but it's nice to take them somewhere else and still be able to play them.
I'm excited beyond the capacity for rational thought. Two more Mizoguchi (arguably his best), Hitch and Wilder! ISLAND OF LOST SOULS is a great Criterion release so no need to double dip, but good news for those in the UK who are region locked. Great selection so far for 2012. No wonder I watch very few moden films...
I'm all over "The Lost Weekend," Ray Milland's best performance ever; and, "Double Indemnity" and "Lifeboat" are two other films on my secret wishlist! Thank you Eureka and I'm also so glad that I own a region-free BD player.
Hopefully Universal here in the states will release 'Double Indemnity' and 'The Lost Weekend' on Blu-ray soon. FOX owns 'Lifeboat' and I've been going to buy the DVD for the past 2 weeks and haven't done it. Maybe we'll get these great classics soon in Region A.
@Arkadin: Universal does *NOT* normally use region-locking in the U.S. (Neither does MoC--unless the distributor demands it, which is common. Unlike Universal or WB, MoC is too small to tell them to take a hike. )
Even though I'm in the US, I occasionally buy some of these attractive-looking Masters of Cinema series from Eureka. They very much remind me of Criterion and it's nice to see another studio releasing such high quality films, transfers and packages.
This announcement, in particular, is exciting as there is so much coming down the pike. Double Indemnity is a film I've wanted in my collection for an eternity. The Lost Weekend and Lifeboat should be quite interesting. And I wonder what special features Eureka will place on Island of Lost Souls, as contrasted with those to be found on Criterion's version. Perhaps I'll buy the steelbook versions of all three. Really all of these films seem intriguing, including the two Kenji Mizoguchi films and Takashi Miike's YatterMan.
Can't wait for Lifeboat & Double Indemnity to be available in the U.S. I think I would like to check out Island of Lost Souls as well when released here in America.
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