MARCH 2011

THE PRESS ROOM BULLETIN – MARCH 2011

Well here we are in March: summer is over, the air is soon to become a bit chillier and the post-holiday blues are hopefully beginning to fade. Fortunately, we have heaps of quality DVDs to help you ease into the new working year, which I trust will make your lives just that tiny bit more manageable.

THE LOVED ONES

The mother of all prom pics comes to DVD & BLU-RAY! This blackly funny, twisted tale of teenage romance with a power drill demands your attention – lest it kidnap you, tie you to a chair and force you to join it for an intimate dinner.

High school student Brent was behind the wheel when his father died in a car accident. Unable to cope with his guilt and his mother’s grief, Brent escapes into a haze of marijuana smoke and loud metal music. As graduation approaches, Lola Stone, the weirdest girl in school, asks Brent to the end of year dance – but Brent’s already going with his loving girlfriend, Holly. With the dance only hours away, Brent takes a walk in the woods behind his house to clear his head – when suddenly, everything goes black. He wakes up in Lola Stone’s filthy kitchen, decorated with a cracked mirror ball: here he is the King of the Dance at a demented, sadistic formal – where the entertainment is Brent’s threshold for pain.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

MY SUICIDE

Archie Williams is a 17-year old media geek who has suddenly found himself the most talked-about kid in school. He has announced that he’s going to kill himself – on camera – for a class project. His classmates, parents, Sierra – the most beautiful girl in school, and a “Shady Bunch” of shrinks, doctors, pill-pushers, and counsellors descend on Archie. Some are hoping to save him, some want to imitate him, others try to push him over the brink. Archie films every moment of his high school experience, hiding nothing from his audience: realities of life, death, violence, sex, drugs, and the intense media overload and hypocrisy that bombard all teenagers.

A cross-media phenomenon featuring a who’s who soundtrack of indie artists – including Bright Eyes, Animal Collective, Radiohead and many more – MY SUICIDE is an innovative, super black comedy. A ‘Heathers’ for the YouTube generation, if you will.

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

A TOWN CALLED PANIC

From the wild imaginations of a pair of Belgian claymation innovators comes the mad, whacky and downright hilarious A TOWN CALLED PANIC.

The unlikely trio of Horse, Cowboy and Indian live together in a crooked little house on the top of a hill, in a town called Panic. While Horse pines for the sultry piano teacher Madame Longrée, Cowboy and Indian are horrified to discover that they have forgotten Horse’s birthday. This leads the three improbable flatmates to embark upon a series of inconceivable adventures of pure implausibility, taking a journey to the Earth’s core, stumbling upon an aquatic parallel universe and taking part in a breakneck snowball ride across a frozen wasteland. Replete with booze-fuelled birthday parties, poker games and equestrian romance,
A TOWN CALLED PANIC is unlike anything you’ve seen before – or will ever see again!

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

WINTER IN WARTIME

January 1945. Nazi-occupied Holland lies under a blanket of snow.

A young man, Michiel, defiant in his hatred for the Nazis, inadvertently receives a map detailing the hiding place of a crashed RAF pilot and sets off to prove his worth. He finds the pilot, Jack, badly injured, but the situation becomes more desperate when a dead Nazi trooper is found… and a hunt for the killer begins. Unaware of the terrible consequences that await his family, Michiel decides to help Jack to escape, undertaking a perilous journey that could cost him everything he has ever known.

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

PIANOMANIA

PIANOMANIA follows the day-to-day life of Stefan Knüpfer, a softly-spoken, highly sought-after piano tuner for Steinway and Sons. Armed with his tool kit, his wry sense of humour and his keen musical ear, Knüpfer helps musicians such as Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder and Pierre-Laurent Aimard achieve the sort of tone, pitch and clarity they desire from their instrument.

No matter how rigorous the schedule or ridiculous the request, Knüpfer does whatever he can to facilitate the desires of his clients, achieving optimal results with minimal fuss. PIANOMANIA provides fascinating insight into a largely unseen world – a peak behind the velvet curtain of the world’s best concert halls, where our tour guide, Knüpfer, is charming, unpretentious and vastly talented.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

THE LADY VANISHES

From the filmmaker who needs no introduction comes THE LADY VANISHES, a high-stakes thriller set on Hitchcock’s favourite mode of transport –  the locomotive. When rich socialite Iris Henderson concludes her European holiday and boards the train back home, she meets the affable Miss Froy, with whom she shares an easy bond. But after Iris falls asleep, she awakes to find Miss Froy gone – and none of her cabin mates even admit to having seen her. Now, with the help of smart-aleck Gilbert, Iris attempts to track down Miss Froy, and prove that she is not losing her mind!

Hitchcock learnt his craft and perfected his style in his prolific British years, in which he also made the thriller YOUNG & INNOCENT with Nova Pilbeam and SECRET AGENT with Madeleine Carroll and Peter Lorre. These two titles are also available in March from Directors Suite.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

IP MAN – THE LEGEND IS BORN

Featuring some of the most spectacular, innovative and explosive martial arts ever staged, IP MAN – THE LEGEND IS BORN is the remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee’s mentor.

Beginning at the start of his journey, from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become the supreme master of the art of Wing Chun, A Legend is Born, the prequel to GRANDMASTER IP MAN, has already been hailed as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time and features an all-star cast, including Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Ip Man’s real life son, 76-year-old Ip Chun, as Ip Man’s kung fu master.

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

THE SNOOP SISTERS

In a precursor to the hit series MURDER, SHE WROTE, Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick are mystery writers with a touch of the eccentric. Stumbling across fiendish and baffling murders, the spinster sisters put their literary talents into real action as they investigate clues to bring the clever perpetrators of crime to justice. From faded movie stars, to basketball pros and satanist cults, there’s nowhere these seemingly genteel ladies won’t poke their noses as they are driven around by their pragmatic chauffer in a classic vintage car.

Part of the legendary NBC Mystery Movie wheel which featured COLUMBO, McMILLAN & WIFE and McCLOUD, THE SNOOP SISTERS was pioneering in presenting elderly investigators who appear to be frail old ladies, yet possess a [knitting] needle-sharp brain for uncovering crime and with a light comic touch, trick their foe into a false sense of security.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

MIDSOMER MURDERS 13 (PART 1)

John Nettles returns to the deadliest county in Britain for the first four episodes of SEASON 13 – his final season of the best-selling murder mystery show. Unflappable detectives DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Ben Jones uncover affairs, tragedy and long-held family secrets as mystery, murder and mayhem shatter the peaceful and picturesque surroundings of the Midsomer villages once again. We are also introduced to a new Barnaby, Tom’s cousin John, who will take over the burden of solving crimes in season 14 of the series.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

IMMIGRATION NATION

Australia led the world in the 20th century by initiating reforms that entrenched basic freedoms decades before they were tried overseas. Yet at the heart of this lay a dark paradox. Racist ideals emerged when the nation underwent the White Australia policy. It would take more than 100 years to resolve this fundamental contradiction. IMMIGRATION NATION is the story of how Australia did it, and highlights the dramatic saga of modern Australia.

A landmark production and a superb reference tool in the tradition of SBS’ FIRST AUSTRALIANS, IMMIGRATION NATION tracks, for the first time, the dramatic saga through Australia’s untold immigration policy.

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

KINGDOM OF THE BLUE WHALE

Blue whales are the largest animals to ever live, yet they are difficult to find or track. Even some of the locations where they birth their young are great secrets. Join some of the world’s eminent blue whale scientists as they embark on a revolutionary mission to identify and tag California blue whales as they migrate to a spot known as the Costa Rica Dome. This incredible voyage yields unforgettable new footage and insight into these amazing creatures’ lives.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

THE SACRED BLACKSMITH

Cecily is a blushing knight in shining armour. Unfortunately, it seems most battles end with her as the damsel in distress. Her lack of skill and distaste for violence make her an unlikely heroine – until the brooding blacksmith Luke comes to her aid, using his powerful magic to forge blades of supernatural strength. Cecily wields this sacred steel and charges forth to face a dangerous new threat. A cloaked fiend is unleashing demons upon the land, and though he lurks in shadows, the villain is much closer than Cecily can imagine.

Release Date: 16th March, 2011

SESAME STREET: IRON MONSTER AND SESAME HEROES

Look! Up in the air on Sesame Street… it’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s… Iron Monster?! When Super Grover’s cape is not ready at the Laundromat, he turns himself into Iron Monster, Super Hero of the Laundromat to heroically solve any laundry related problem that comes his way. Can he make change for the dryer and subtract stains using amazing maths skills? Will his power of static cling come through in a pinch? Find out in this and three other action-packed Sesame Street stories including fantastic friends Elmo, Abby, and Rosita in the story of The Furry Four, and Super Grover’s silly search for a new sidekick. It’s heroic maths fun for everyone!

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011

THE WANNABES

THE WANNABES follows six high school students, Sarah, Andrew, Mariah, Alan, Drew and Shaylen, who attend an arts academy boarding school in the hope that they will one day become pop stars… until they realise the stuffy academy only teaches the classics like ballet, instrumental music and Shakespeare! After a singing battle breaks out in the student lounge, their principle hands out one week of detention – working free at the local café!  Fortunately for the teens, the daughter of the café owner shares the same hopes of becoming a pop star and talks her dad into letting her and the academy students rock out at the café, and the band, ‘THE WANNABES’ is formed.

The series follows these wannabes as they learn to tolerate, but appreciate their time at high school while enjoying their secret life as pop stars. Watch how funny things can get as the six students try to climb their way to the top of the pop charts.  Hiding their identity from their strict principal won’t be easy but they’ll do anything to keep singing and dancing the way they like it!

Release Date: 2nd March, 2011