Oh, well.
I am informed by One In The Know that THE GOLDEN ARROW and CAPTAIN SINDBAD are currently owned by Warner Bros., and that the rights to THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN are now likely controlled by Studio Canal. I don't understand how MGM could still own THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which was made the same year as THE GOLDEN ARROW and THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (and by many of the same people), but there you have it.
On another note, reader Michael Swart has written to inform us that Palm Pictures' DVD of Asia Argento's THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS (2004) appears to be a defective pressing. "About 80 minutes in," Michael writes, "the disc jumps to the beginning of the next chapter. It does this on both my players, and I know a scene is missing because I saw the film last year - and it's not just any scene, it's a key scene. I made a point of buying the DVD of this film on its release date because I think it's a very good movie that's been unfairly neglected by most critics. The majority of this film's audience will probably see it on home video, so it's unfortunate that this error will spoil their experience of it. Hopefully, these discs will be recalled and a corrected version issued (although a similar problem with Monte Hellman's IGUANA back in the early days of DVD was never corrected)."
I spent most of yesterday working on my next "No Zone" column for SIGHT AND SOUND, devoted to Jonathan Weiss's THE ATROCITY EXHIBITION, an astonishing adaptation of J. G. Ballard's 1970 novel now available as a Dutch import DVD. Not to pre-empt my column, but as an longtime admirer of Ballard and this novel in particular, I was floored by the successful filming of this "unfilmable" work. It's just like the book -- clinical yet savage, non-narrative, non-linear, and full of arresting bits of beauty and ugliness. Strong stuff, but recommended to those who can take it. The disc also includes two audio commentaries, one by Ballard himself, which is the proverbial detail that had me at "hello." You can find it here, or at www.reel23.com.
Finally, I've been asked to remind you all that the World HD Premiere of the "director's cut" of Stuart Gordon's FROM BEYOND will be taking place on Monsters HD on Saturday night, June 10, at 8:00 pm eastern. On Monday, June 12th, Monsters HD is presenting an entire day of AIP programming in honor of the company's late founding father Samuel Z. Arkoff, who would have celebrated his 88th birthday on that date.
