New Videos Coming Out This Week
The major new release scheduled for June 5, 2001, is Ang Lee's much-anticipated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, winner of four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film. But there are other movies coming your way, including two exciting DVD releases: Platoon - Special Edition and L'Avventura - Criterion Collection. Let’s take a look at these films and also take a sneak peek at the videos/DVDs coming out on June 12.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Length: 120 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for martial arts violence and some sexuality
"The things we can touch have no permanence. My master would say there is nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess what is real." So says the wisest of the main characters in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The movie’s title is an expression of the notion of concealed strength. A big hit with audiences and critics alike, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won four Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction - Set Direction, and Best Original Score. Directed by Ang Lee and starring Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts movie set in feudal China, but it offers several other dimensions as well. The complicated plot involves a warrior out to avenge his master’s death, a pair of romances, and a struggle over the fate of a beautiful, aristocratic young woman. The film is visually stunning and features haunting cello music by Yo-Yo Ma.
Selected DVD Special Features:
Formats available: The above information refers to the DVD. This film is also available in two VHS versions: Mandarin with English subtitles and dubbed English.
L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
Length: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR (not rated)
This 1960 film is the first entry in an Antonioni trilogy revolving around alienation. Most of the slender plot is driven by the mysterious disappearance of a woman and the ensuing search for her. L'Avventura is cinematic in the deepest sense of the word, and the film's stunning visual style evokes the hollowness and precariousness of post-modern existence in a way that mere story never could.
Note: This film is in Italian with English Subtitles.Selected DVD Special Features:
Formats available: The above information refers to the Criterion Collection DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
Next page Platoon and A Sneak Peek at Next Week Page 1, 2, 3