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Vinegar Syndrome‘s October releases include The Tenant, Corpse Mania, and Shanks on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray along with The Ghost Dance, Mind Benders, Dial D for Demons, and Forgotten Gialli: Volume 7 on Blu-ray.

Here’s everything you need to know…

From maverick director Roman Polanski comes one of the most unusual and unsettling studio thrillers of the 1970s: The Tenant. Adapted from Roland Topor’s cult novel, Polanski casts himself in the lead, offering a uniquely demented and outrageously funny performance, and is supported by Melvyn Douglas (The Changeling), Shelly Winters, and Isabelle Adjani (Possession).

Featuring cinematography by two-time Oscar winner Sven Nykvist (Cries and Whispers) along with an original score by acclaimed composer Philippe Sarde (La Grande Bouffe), Vinegar Syndrome presents the 4K Uhd debut of The Tenant, newly and exclusively restored in 4K from its original camera negative and featuring a wide array of new and archival...

After beating the odds last year by hosting a physical edition in the midst of the pandemic, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux’s Lumière Festival kicked off in Lyon with great fanfare and prestigious guests including Paolo Sorrentino, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Netflix’s co-ceo Ted Sarandos, Valeria Golino, Joachim Trier, Rossy de Palma, Melanie Laurent and Edouard Baer.

The festival, which unfolds in the birthplace of the Cinematograph and its creators, the Lumière brothers, is dedicating its 13th edition to its long-time president Bertrand Tavernier, the beloved filmmaker who recently died.

During his opening speech, the usually voluble Frémaux had to take a moment to regain his composure as he paid an emotional tribute to Tavernier, his friend and close collaborator, with whom he worked side by side for nearly four decades at the Lumière Institute.

“Bertrand has left us with a heritage that is so major and so immense, and your...

The French city of Lyon is gearing up for its annual Lumière film festival which will be honoring the work of New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion on this 13th edition.

The event, named after the Lyon-born brothers who staged the first cinema screenings, is a star-studded affair that celebrates both heritage and contemporary cinema in crowded theaters throughout the city.

It is run by the Institut Lumière, an institution dedicated to film heritage preservation and distribution, whose director is also Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux.

Festival-goers will be able to enjoy some 440 screenings, ranging from black and white classics by the likes of Luis Buñuel (“Un Chien Andalou,” 1929), Sergueï Eisenstein and Julien Duvivier to premieres of highly anticipated films including Campion’s “The Power of the Dog”, Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” – all Netflix pics that will be presented by the directors themselves in Lyon.

Finally, the Daily Dead “Class Of” series has reached my beloved birth year, 1981. For the genre, 1981 signifies an important moment in the history of horror. With the introduction of two slasher icons, Michael Myers in 1978 and Jason Voorhees in 1980; the beginning of the sequel boom that would dominate the rest of the decade was born in 1981 with Halloween 2 and Friday the 13th Part 2. These two sequels are merely the introduction to the rise of slasher cinema for the 80s, with 1981 providing a variety of examples like The Burning, Graduation Day, The Prowler, Funhouse, Happy Birthday to Me, Final Exam, Night School, Student Bodies, and My Bloody Valentine.

1981 also proved the best year in the history of horror for werewolf movies. The iconic American Werewolf in London set the gold standard in practical transformation effects. The Howling is a demonstration of how horror and humor can coexist perfectly. Wolfen...

So you thought compact discs were a dead format? Not to soundtrack collectors. Film music labels continue to thrive, turning from current scores to, increasingly, limited-edition expansions and even new recordings of classic scores from the past.

Many film studios have (as they did in the 1950s and ’60s) formed their own in-house music labels and frequently release digital-only albums of their movie and TV soundtracks. So the traditional soundtrack labels are focusing more on older, classic material, often expanding the old 30-to-40 minute albums to CD length of 75 minutes or more. They’re also tracking down and licensing previously unreleased soundtracks of interest to collectors.

It’s a business model that seems to be working for more than a dozen labels in the U.S. and Europe that are devoted to releasing music from movies and TV. Here then, alphabetically, are our choices for the best classic film music...

Johannsson received best film composer for the second year in a row.

The 18th annual World Soundtrack Awards have been given out during the 45th Film Fest Gent in Belgium, with Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson receiving the best film composer award posthumously.

Jóhannsson, who won the same award last year before passing away in February 2018, was honoured this year for his work on Mandy, Mary Magdalene (co-composed with Hildur Guðnadóttir) and The Mercy. Guðnadóttir accepted the prize on his behalf.

The award for best original song written directly for a film went to ‘Black Panther’ from the film of the same name.

Two FriendsThough known primarily as an actor, Louis Garrel has been conducting appreciable efforts behind the camera as well. After directing three short films, including a César-nominated Petit tailleur, and most recently La règle de trois, Louis Garrel expands upon his fascination of threes with his first feature length film, Two Friends (Les deux amis), in which he also stars. Based loosely on the French play The Moods of Marianne, Garrel's film finds professional movie extra Vincent (Vincent Macaigne) in frenzied love with Mona (Goldshifteh Farahani), who cannot and will not give in to his romantic advances due in part to her restrictive situation, which she keeps secret. She works behind a pastry counter by day, but every evening must return to prison for curfew, not unlike an incarcerated Cinderella. Vincent enlists his best friend, the caddish Abel (Louis Garrel), to help win her over or at least understand her cooling passion.

Director Jose Giovanni was best known as a screenwriter for a number of important French auteurs throughout the 1960’s, having written items like Jacques Becker’s Le Trou (1960), Claude Sautet’s Classe Tous Risques (1960) and the novel upon which Melville’s Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966) was based. Many of his own directorial efforts have faded into obscurity, but his 1973 title Two Men in Town, a political drama documenting the social ills associated with the death penalty, has recently received resurrected interest thanks to Rachid Bouchareb’s 2014 remake, retooled for the American Southwest and predicated on issues of immigration. Starring Alain Delon and Jean Gabin in their last of three on-screen collaborations, it’s an interesting item, though Giovani’s overly protracted first half doesn’t sit well with the finale’s obvious sermonizing.

Social worker Germain Cazeneuve (Gabin) tirelessly works as a bridge between prisoners and authorities, doing the best he...

UK release from Second Sight.

By Tim Greaves

A quartet of ageing gentlemen friends (Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Melvyn Douglas) meet up on a weekly basis in the snow sprinkled town of Milburn, New England in order to exchange scary stories. Self-dubbed ‘The Chowder Society’, they challenge one another to come up with something truly unsettling. Good natured entertainment takes a sinister turn when a dastardly secret that has lain dormant for more than 50 years rears its terrifying head. Drawn helplessly from sweat-sodden nightmares into a living nightmare more frightening and deadly than anything conjured up in their yarning sessions, the comrades’ collective fate falls to the hands of a seemingly unstoppable entity hell bent on revenge. But revenge for what? What could the friends have possibly done all those years ago that was so terrible?

Now wait just a moment... Fred Astaire made a horror movie?...

Animal movies aren't just for kids anymore, but nobody made one better than this French production, which stars a pair of talented Ursine thespians doing their thing amid more beautiful mountain scenery than seems decent. It's guaranteed perfect 'watch something with the kid' material, and more than intelligent enough for consenting adult fans of the great outdoors. The Bear 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition Shout! Factory Savant Blu-ray Review 1988 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 96 min. / 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition / L'ours / Street Date September 29, 2015 / 19.99  Starring Bart the Bear, Youk the Bear, Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace, André Lacombe. Cinematography Philippe Rousselot Film Editor Noëlle Boisson Original Music Philippe Sarde Animal specialists Dieter Krami, Steve Martin, Doug Seus, Lynne Seus, Clint Youngreen, Jean M. Simpson. Written by Gérard Brach from the novel by Jame Oliver Curwood Produced by Claude Berri Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Bear charmed big audiences...

Love’s Connections: Sautet’s Frustrating, Savvy Love Story

Out of the many representations of cinematic emotional complexities French filmmakers master over most is the messy actuality of that thing called love. Director Claude Sautet went on to make Cesar and Rosalie in 1972, his third consecutive film with star Romy Schneider (they would work on five films together, all told) and also his first union with frequent collaborator Yves Montand. An attempt to portray the complicated elusiveness of loving the one you’re with, at its core the film is about a love triangle, with a beautiful woman as the ever shifting apex. Its title is actually misleading, and could easily have been called Rosalie.

Rosalie (Schneider) is currently dating Cesar (Montand), a wealthy scrap metal dealer with significant business connections. As they get ready to attend a wedding, we get the sense he loves her more than she does him,...

Two European Gems

By Raymond Benson

February is a good month for The Criterion Collection. Last week we reviewed the company’s restored Blu-ray/DVD dual format release of Foreign Correspondent. Coming quickly on its heels are two more excellent releases on this red carpet of home video labels.

First up—Tess, directed by Roman Polanski. This 1979 picture—released in the U.S. in 1980 and nominated for Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Score) and winner of three (Art Direction, Cinematography, and Costumes) is a scrumptious, beautiful depiction of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It is a very faithful adaptation, although several scenes from the book are left out or shortened. Still, the film is nearly three hours long—but don’t let that scare you, it’s never dull. I have to confess that I fell in love with Nastassja Kinski when I first...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 25, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD $39.95

Studio: Criterion

Nastassja Kinski is Tess

This multiple-Oscar-winning 1979 period film drama Tess by the great Roman Polanski (Carnage, The Ghost Writer) is an exquisite, richly layered adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

A strong-willed peasant girl (Cat People’s Nastassja Kinski, in a star-making breakthrough performance) is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumor that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge, which Polanski unfolds with deliberation and finesse.

With its earthy visual textures, achieved by two world-class cinematographers—Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret) and Ghislain Cloquet (Au hasard Balthazar)—Tess is a work of great pastoral beauty and vivid storytelling.

Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo release of the film includes the following features:

• New 4K digital restoration,...

Above: Image from Maurice Binder's title sequence for Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

Sleep Little Lush

This follow-up to the previous soundtrack mix, Hyper Sleep, is very much the same animal: a chance gathering of mesmerizing music tracks, carefully arranged to focus on the interstitial character of film music—its ability to distill into hallucinatory moments, the most sensual or emotional qualities of a film’s nature, and amplify these sensations to increase their temporal impact. With this idea of music as intoxicant in mind, the passing this year of John Barry was a loss of one of the great “perfumers” of film composing (for more on music as perfume, see Daniel Kasman’s “Herrmann’s Perfume”). The beautiful themes that Barry scored for the world of 007 that open this collection set the spell for a kaleidoscopic (largely) 60s and 70s sample of some of the best film music written by Ennio Morricone,...

"The finest Western you'll see this year is set in aristocratic 16th-century France, in the heat of Counter-Reformation," declares Nick Pinkerton. Segueing into his interview with Bertrand Tavernier, Aaron Hillis, also in the Voice, sums up the gist of The Princess of Montpensier: "Adapted from Madame de la Fayette's classic novel, the film concerns a nubile, wealthy heiress (Mélanie Thierry) who loves a rugged hothead from the wrong clan (Gaspard Ulliel), but is forced by her father to marry another prince (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), leaving her to dwell on the too-modern desire for free will — defiantly bucking against the rigid traditions of her breed." Back to Pinkerton: "The setting always serves the performers rather than vice versa — though the film is also greatly enhanced by the costuming, the rugged French countryside photographed in outdoor-adventure CinemaScope, and Philippe Sarde's baroque-tribal score, its martial and romantic poles matching a tale of...

Reviewed by Annlee Ellingson

(from the 2010 AFI Fest)

Directed by: Bertrand Tavernier

Written by: Jean Cosmos, François Olivier Rousseau and Bertrand Tavernier

Starring: Mélanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Grégoire Leprince Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel and Raphaël Personnaz

“The Princess of Montpensier’s” titular young noblewoman and her sheltered, privileged milieu are far removed from the 16th-century France we first encounter in Bertrand Tavernier’s period romance. Set during the reign of Charles IX in the midst of a war that pits Catholics against Protestants, the film opens on the battlefield, the camera panning the gruesome scene at ground level as horsemen trample dead soldiers before it lifts above the tree line to capture the scope of both the conflict and the countryside.

A Western by way of Gaul, “Princess” is at once epic in its depiction of war and authentic in its portrayal of combat, with swordfights that are choreographed rather than...

Reviewed by Annlee Ellingson

(from the 2010 AFI Fest)

Directed by: Bertrand Tavernier

Written by: Jean Cosmos, François Olivier Rousseau and Bertrand Tavernier

Starring: Mélanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Grégoire Leprince Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel and Raphaël Personnaz

“The Princess of Montpensier’s” titular young noblewoman and her sheltered, privileged milieu are far removed from the 16th-century France we first encounter in Bertrand Tavernier’s period romance. Set during the reign of Charles IX in the midst of a war that pits Catholics against Protestants, the film opens on the battlefield, the camera panning the gruesome scene at ground level as horsemen trample dead soldiers before it lifts above the tree line to capture the scope of both the conflict and the countryside.

A Western by way of Gaul, “Princess” is at once epic in its depiction of war and authentic in its portrayal of combat, with swordfights that are choreographed rather than...

Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" dominated the nominations of the 36th Annual Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. "Of Gods" received 11 nominations total and will compete against Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), Mammuth, Le Nom Des Gens, The Ghost Writer, and On Tour for Best Film.

The Social Network, Invictus, Inception, Illegal, The Secret In Their Eyes, Bright Star, and Les Amours Imaginaires will duke it out for the Best Foreign Film category.

Jodie Foster will preside over the ceremony and Quentin Tarantino will be given an honorary Cesar award. The 36th Annual Cesar Awards will be held on Feb. 25th.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Film

Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), dir: Pascal Chaumeil

Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieu), dir: Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), dir: Joann Sfar

Mammuth, dir: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern

Le Nom Des Gens, dir: Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer,...

The nominations for this year’s César Awards (France’s Oscar equivalent) has been announced. In addition the awards ceremony has also chosen Quentin Tarantino as the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award. Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning confirmed that the director would be present to ick up his award in person.

It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.

The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Movie

L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil

Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski

Tournée by Mathieu Amalric

Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg...

Three U.S. films are among the seven nominees for best foreign film in this year’s César Awards, France’s version of the Oscars. Meanwhile, American director Quentin Tarantino has been selected to receive an honorary award and will be at the Feb. 25 ceremony in Paris to accept it, it was announced Friday.

The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.

Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.

Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.

Quick, what’s the scariest horror film score out there? I’m sure a couple of no-brainers came to mind, and a few of you probably thought of something wholly original. Thanks to the Cinemagic channel on Sirius Xm, we have an official list to choose from. There are a few shocking inclusions, and a couple of omissions, one that I, myself, deem glaring.

See for yourself:

Halloween John Carpenter 1

Psycho Bernard Herrmann 2

The Shining Wendy Carlos/Assorted 3

Jaws John Williams 4

Alien Jerry Goldsmith 5

Omen, The Jerry Goldsmith 6

Bride of Frankenstein Franz Waxman 7

Thing, The Ennio Morricone 8

Exorcist, The Pendereki 9

Fog, The John Carpenter 10

Rosemary’s Baby Christopher Komeda 11

Hellraiser Christopher Young 12

Friday the 13th Harry Manfredini 13

A Nightmare on Elm Street Charles Bernstein 14

Suspira Goblin 15

Poltergeist Jerry Goldsmith 16

Changeling, The Rick Williams 17

Dawn of the Dead Assorted 18

Haunted Palace, The Ronald Stein 19

Amityville Horror, The Lalo Schifrin 20

Creepshow John...

'Alice' Turns Down Heat / Low-intensity French import has charm, but Binoche breezes through enigmatic romance

By David Hunter

A 1998 French-Spanish co-production that comes off as a low-

intensity French import after the likes of "Pola X", "Romance" and "Humanite", USA Films' "Alice and Martin" is not without bookish charm -- everything is arranged neatly in chapters, for starters -- but it's hardly a must-see (or, rather, a must-read of English subtitles for the French-language film).

Director/co-writer Andre Techine ("Wild Reeds", "Thieves"), working with screenwriter Gilles Taurand (they also collaborated on Techine's 1985 Cannes winner "Rendez-vous"), is a mild-mannered dramatist with a lot of ground to cover in this lengthy tale of the bastard son of a successful man who runs away to Paris from a tragic event and a seesaw relationship with the woman of his dreams.

In a role she relatively breezes through, Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche ("The English Patient") as Alice is an enigma almost equal to erratic introvert Martin (newcomer Alexis Loret). He's got plenty to be troubled about, starting with the opening scenes of his happy childhood in Spain with unwed mother Jeanine (Carmen Maura) that was cut short when she sent him to live with his father, Victor (Pierre Maguelon), in southwestern France.

Excising a stretch of narrative and inserting it later, Techine instead jerks us to a fateful moment 10 years later, with grown Martin fleeing Victor's house and literally heading for the hills. On Martin's aimless, homeless tramp, which includes his robbing of a local farmer's henhouse, he is arrested and released. He makes his way to Paris and the possible safe harbor of his gay half-brother Benjamin (Mathieu Amalric).

Benjamin lives with "girlfriend" Alice in a close but nonsexual relationship. Transforming from an awkward, moody newcomer who miraculously (well, it is Paris) scores a modeling career into a blossoming beau who sweeps up Alice with his passion and heterosexuality, Martin is living on the edge emotionally. We find out why during Martin and Alice's long sojourn at a lonely Spanish seashore, where he swims all day and she hangs out, occasionally writing, with Benjamin.

With the help of a long flashback, we get the big picture squared away. Not surprisingly, Martin is a tormented soul who requires special handling, while Alice goes through the scary business of getting pregnant by a guy who may be suicidal, homicidal and, at the very least, masochistic. The film plays out in two hours of good and not-so-good times, scoring strongest during its middle chapters concerning the evolving triangle of Alice, Martin and Benjamin, with the terrific Amalric stealing his scenes.

ALICE AND MARTIN

USA Films

October Films

Presented by Alain Sarde

Credits: Director: Andre Techine; Screenwriters: Andre Techine, Gilles Taurand; Producer: Alain Sarde; Director of photography: Caroline Champetier; Production designer: Ze Branco; Editor: Martine Giordano; Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier; Music: Philippe Sarde. Cast: Alice: Juliette Binoche; Martin Sauvagnac: Alexis Loret; Benjamin: Mathieu Amalric; Jeanine: Carmen Maura; Victor: Pierre Maguelon. MPAA rating: R. Running time - 123 minutes. Color/stereo.