Monday, May 19, 2003

Barkin To Star in Palindromes

According to The New York Daily News, Ellen Barkin has accepted a leading role in Solondz' upcoming film, Palindromes, which she promises will "start shooting this summer." Barkin, who you may remember as Penny Priddy in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension or the sexy femme fatale opposite Al Pacino in Sea of Love, has taken only very minor roles and cameos in recent years (except for that DTV cop film with Julian Sands a couple years ago), but has said, "Todd Solondz - now that's someone who could get me to happily go to work."

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

New Happiness DVD

On June 3rd, Lions Gate is due to be releasing a new DVD of Happiness as part of their "signature series." A special edition is surely too much to hope for, but it does look like this disc will be anamorphic (which the Trimark/ Vidmark disc wasn't). Most sites don't have any specs listed, yet, but I found the following on dvdplanet.com:

Retail Price: $19.99
Release Date: (6/3/2003)
Studio: Lions Gate
Year: 1998
Runtime: 140 minutes
MPAARating: Unrated
UPC: 031398826620
Languages/Subtitles:
Original Language: English
Subtitles Available: English, French, Spanish
Audio/Video Features:
Anamorphic16x9, Widescreen
Color
2.0 Dolby Surround
Audio/Video Features English Dubbed:
Product Features:
Cast/Crew Biographies

So, nothing to blow any socks off, but a welcome improvement none the less. Thanks, Lions Gate; and thanks also to "bisbeefilms" for pointing this upcoming release out to me. Here's a look at the cover:

happinesssig.jpg (50243 bytes)

Also, if you haven't already got Storytelling on DVD (perhaps you've been trapped underneath a giant boulder, or spent the last several years orbiting the Earth on a Russian space-station), you might want to pick up this rather spiffy two-disc set from France:

doubledvd.jpg (45543 bytes)

Both films are anamorphic, widescreen, and include the original English audio, along with optional (removable) French subtitles. This release is Region 2, PAL. Coolio.