JUNE 2011 |
|
 |
|
JUNE PRESS ROOM BULLETIN |
|
|
Members of the Press,
The on-set of Winter has actually given us a fever here at Madman – an Oscars® fever, that is – as June sees the release of no less than three films starring Oscar®-nominated actors. The subject matter may pull at the soul, but the performances of Oscar® nominee Michelle Williams and Golden Globe nominee Ryan Gosling will make your heart sing in BLUE VALENTINE. While on the subject of the Academy Awards®, see 2011 Best Actor nominee and all round ‘it-boy’, James Franco portray literary legend Allen Ginsburg in the docu-drama HOWL, whilst fellow Best Actor nominee Jesse Eisenberg (THE SOCIAL NETWORK) stars in HOLY ROLLERS, a crime drama based on the true events of a group of drug-smuggling Hasidic Jews. HK cinema legends John Woo and Michelle Yeoh return to the fold with old-school sword-play in REIGN OF ASSASSINS and Fritz Lang’s masterpiece METROPOLIS gets a restoration makeover on DVD and Blu-Ray – complete with 25 minutes of additional footage. And then there’s a fresh batch of British comedy classics on TV, absorbing docos from SBS and National Geographic, the best of everyone’s favourite Sesame Street resident (here’s a hint, his name starts with E), the highly anticipated next installment of the Evangelion re-boot and some mildly satanic laffs from [adult swim]. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
BLUE VALENTINEFeaturing the luminous Michelle Williams in an Oscar®-nominated performance, BLUE VALENTINE is the story of Cindy and Dean (played by THE NOTEBOOK star Ryan Gosling), a young couple with a lot of problems. Battling through the challenges of financial woe and parenthood, their relationship has taken a beating along the way. Cross-cutting between the salad days of their early romance and the reality of life in the present, BLUE VALENTINE offers a frank take on Hollywood’s “happily ever after” cliche. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: DVD $34.95 BLU-RAY $39.95 |
 |
 |
||
 |
HOWLJames Franco is Allen Ginsburg in this unique docu-drama, in which every line of dialogue actually occurred in real life. Comprised of reenactments of actual interviews with Ginsburg, spirited readings of the poem by Franco, brought to life with beautiful and original animation, and a dramatisation of the obscenity court case (featuring MAD MEN’s Jon Hamm), which followed the publication of his celebrated poem – HOWL tells the story of Ginsburg’s life, his masterpiece and the trials he endured in the name of expression and counter-culture. A seminal literary piece, this year Ginsburg’s Howl celebrates its 55th anniversary since publication. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $34.95 | |
|||
 |
HOLY ROLLERS2011 Oscar®-nominee Jesse Eisenberg plays Sam Gold in HOLY ROLLERS, a tense drama based on real-life events in the late nineties where Hasidic Jews were used as drug mules to transport ecstasy from Europe to the U.S. Sam lives in Brooklyn with his family, where he is awaiting an arranged marriage and studying to be a Rabbi. But when the family of Sam’s bride to be backs out of the agreement due to his financial situation, he is cajoled into working for an Israeli gangster to make ends meet by transporting what he is initially told is “medicine”. But as Sam becomes embroiled in the heady world of money, drugs, sex and international travel, it has perilous repercussions on his faith and family. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $29.95 | |
|||
 |
REIGN OF ASSASSINSThere will be kung-fu! Legendary action director John Woo (HARD BOILED, THE KILLER) and the iconic Michelle Yeoh (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA) make a triumphant return to their roots in REIGN OF ASSASSINS – a high-stakes, swords and sandals epic set in ancient China. ‘Drizzle’ (Michelle Yeoh) is a skilled assassin – her namesake, based on the swift and lethal fighting style she uses that can quite literally manipulate drops of water – working for The Wheel King and his deadly band of thieves. Whilst on an assignment, Drizzle double-crosses her master and escapes with the loot – the ancient remains of a Buddhist monk which she aims to return to their rightful resting place. But the mysterious remains hold the secret of an ancient and powerful technique, and before too long, The Wheel King unleashes his deadly disciples upon her to retrieve them. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: DVD $29.95 BLU-RAY $39.95 |
|
|
||
 |
METROPOLIS RECONSTRUCTED & RESTOREDThe original cut of Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece, METROPOLIS, was presumed lost for many years. But in 2008, a researcher at Argentina’s Buenos Aires film archives discovered a canister of film marked “Metropolis” – the only existing version of Lang’s original cut. Now, 25 lost minutes of footage have been restored, and we can see Lang’s director’s cut of the first, and most influential science fiction film of all time. It is the future, and humans are divided into two groups: the thinkers, who make plans (but don’t know how anything works), and the workers, who achieve goals (but don’t have the vision). Completely separate, neither group is complete, but together they make a whole. One man from the “thinkers” dares visit the underground where the workers toil, and is astonished by what he sees… Release Date: 15th June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: DVD $34.95 BLU-RAY $39.95 |
|
|
||
 |
EVANGELION: 2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE.Following on from the enormous success of EVANGELION 1.11: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, director Hideaki Anno shows once again why he is ranked alongside such Japanese filmmakers as the great Hayao Miyazaki. In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari. Maneuvering their enormous Eva machines into combat, the four young souls fight desperately to save mankind from the heavens – but will they be able to save themselves? Release Date: 15th June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: DVD $29.95 BLU-RAY $39.95 |
|
|
||
 |
 |
THAT’S MY BOY – SERIES ONEFrom the golden age of British television comedy comes the hilarious THAT’S MY BOY (currently screening on 7TWO) starring ARE YOU BEING SERVED’s very own Mollie Sugden. Adopted out as a baby, Dr. Robert Price has never known his biological mother… until now! When his domineering new housekeeper turns out to be his actual mother, she locks horns with his adoptive mother and his wife in her attempts to make up for lost time! THAT’S MY BOY belongs to the family of classic British television comedies such as DUTY FREE, THE RAG TRADE, SIX DATES WITH BARKER, HOME TO ROOST and FURTHER UP POMPEII – a truly hilarious comic collection, all available from Madman TV this June! Release Date: 15th June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $24.95 | |
|||
 |
AN AUDIENCE WITH BILLY CONNOLLYPerforming his hilarious anecdotes, stories and side-splitting observations to an audience of his peers, AN AUDIENCE WITH BILLY CONNOLLY illustrates why the wise-cracking Scot continues to top comedian polls all over the world. In a show which ranges from shouting and swearing to long-winded tales about quality of life for an incontinent person, Connolly performs for an intimate audience of high-profile guests which include Joanna Lumley, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton, many of whom get in on the act…This is Billy Connolly undressed, uncut and never better! This DVD release includes both the 50 minute broadcast and the superior 100-minute (‘much swearier’) versions of this classic bit of Billy. Release Date: 15th June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $24.95 | |
|||
 |
THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELFBased on the highly-acclaimed, best-selling book of the same name,this fascinating documentary explores the erosion of a long-held scientific belief: that the brain is a hard-wired instrument incapable of fundamental change and, for the past 400 years, we have understood that we are stuck with the brain we’re born with. But we were wrong. The brain CAN change its own structure and function through thought and activity. This sentence is the most important shift in our view of the brain since we first sketched out its basic anatomy four centuries ago, and has profound implications for our understanding of how love, sex, grief, relationships, learning, addictions, culture, technology, and psychotherapies change our brains. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $29.95 | |
|||
 |
 |
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: BRITAIN’S UNDERWORLD – SEASON 1Away from the touristic hot-spots of London and the rough beauty of the Hibredean wilderness lurks a dark underbelly of Britain. From the 1950’s petty-safe blowers to the drug kingpins of the nineties, BRITAIN’S UNDERWORLD lifts the lid on the crime lords who have flourished in Britain’s roughest, toughest cities. This gripping series – told by the police and some of the ruthless gangsters themselves – reveals how gangs have shaped the streets and changed the very nature of crime in the UK. Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $24.95 | |
|||
 |
 |
SESAME STREET: BEST OF ELMO COLLECTIONEveryone’s favourite furry red monster is ready to share the fun with you! Whether he’s meeting world-famous celebrities such as Destiny’s Child, Whoopi Goldberg, India.Arie or Adam Sandler, or just hanging out with his best mates on Sesame Street (and his goldfish Dorothy of course!) Elmo is the fluffy red cure for the blues! Celebrate everything red and furry with all the best bits of Elmo! Release Date: 1st June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $19.95 | |
|||
 |
 |
LUCY, THE DAUGHTER OF THE DEVILFrom the wacky Satan-worshipping kids at [adult swim] and the sardonic comedy geniuses behind DR. KATZ, HOME MOVIES and BOB’S BURGERS comes LUCY, THE DAUGHTER OF THE DEVIL, a CGI-animated series as dark as the Apocalypse and as hot as hell. 21 year-old Lucy is just an ordinary art-school graduate and bar tender who lives in San Francisco. Oh, except that her father just happens to be the Devil, and she is under some obligation from her dad to fulfill her destiny as the Antichrist. And the guy she has a crush on, a DJ called Jesús, turns out to be the second coming of the messiah. Not to mention the group of “Special Fathers” and a “Special Sister” who are on a quest from the Vatican to find and destroy Lucy. Apart from that, she’s just a regular girl. Release Date: 15th June, 2011 |
|||
| SRP: $29.95 | |
|||
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: |
||||
| www.madman.com.au | ||||
