SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
Netflix has announced that its latest documentary, WHAM!, which follows the 80s pop group from their humble beginnings to their final show at Wembley Stadium, will be screened in cinemas for one night only on the 27th of June before moving to the platform on the 5th of July.
It’s directed by Chris Smith, who was reportedly given unprecedented access to the personal archives of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley to make the film.
Broadway in Nottingham will hold a special preview of Quentin Dupieux’s latest film Smoking Causes Coughing on the 29th of June in a double bill with his 2019 film Deerskin.
Smoking Causes Coughing follows the Tobacco Force vigilantes, who are sent on a team-building retreat by their leader, which is thrown into chaos by Lézardin, the Emperor of Evil.
His previous film, Deerskin, stars Jean Dujardin as a man who spends his life savings on a jacket and becomes so obsessed with it that he sets out to be the only man allowed to wear a jacket at all.
The genre-bending horror film Medusa, from writer/director Anita Rocha da Silveira, will hit cinema screens on the 14th of July, as well as simultaneously releasing on VOD services including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Curzon Home Cinema and BFI Player.
Distributed by Peccadillo Pictures, the film follows a 21-year-old woman who is part of a repressive, patriarchal sect and cultivates the image of a perfect woman during the day, while stalking the streets for sinners alongside a brutal group of vigilantes at night.
The first images and trailer have been released for Cobweb, which stars Lizzy Caplan, Anthony Starr, Cleopatra Coleman and Woody Norman, and will be released in cinemas on the 1st of September courtesy of Lionsgate.
Written by Chris Thomas Devlin and directed by Samual Bodin, Cobweb follows eight-year-old Peter who is haunted by a constant, mysterious tap from his bedroom wall and begins to suspect that his parents are hiding a dangerous secret.
Mubi has released a new trailer for Ira Sachs’ upcoming film Passages, which stars Ben Whishaw, Franz Rogowski and Adèle Exarchopoulos. Having had its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and been nominated for Best Feature at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, Passages will open in UK cinemas on the 1st of September.
It follows a gay couple living in Paris, played by Whishaw and Rogowski, whose marriage is thrown into crisis when one of them has an affair with a young woman.
Scenes on the small screen
Two new clips have been released for the upcoming horror film The Gates, directed by Stephen Hall and starring John Rhys-Davies and Richard Brake.
It follows two paranormal investigators and a mysterious medium who must team up to stop the malevolent spirit of a serial killer who wants to open the gates of hell.
The Gates is released digitally by 101 Films on the 3rd of July.
Radiance Films has announced that its limited edition Cosa Nostra boxset, featuring three Franco Nero mafia films directed by Damiano Damiani has been pushed back to the 3rd of July.
The boxset contains The Day of the Owl, The Case is Closed: Forget It and How to Kill a Judge, all presented in 2K with new and archival interviews, documentary footage, video essays and a limited edition 120-page book including writing by Andrew Nette, Piero Garofalo and Paul A.J. Lewis.
The latest film from Neil Marshall, the director of Dog Soldiers and The Descent, is heading to Blu-ray, DVD and digital release courtesy of Acorn Media International. The Lair is a Shudder Original and is inspired by classic monster movies like Alien, Predator and The Thing.
It stars Charlotte Kirk, Jamie Bamber and Jonathan Howard as soldiers who find themselves in a life-or-death battle with a horde of creatures known as the Ravagers. The Lair is released on the 17th of July.
Asian film specialists Third Window Films has announced the world’s first Blu-ray release of six films from Katsuhito Ishii. It includes his 1995 debut Promise of August, as well as Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl (1998), Party 7 (2000), Sorasoi (2008), Hello Junichi (2014) and his latest film Norioka Workshop (2022).
The three-disc boxset is released on the 17th of July and the director is touring Europe to promote the films:
June 30th - July 4th - In-person retrospective at the Neuchatel Intl Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF)
July 5th - Double bill of Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl/Party 7 w/director Q&A in London at the Prince Charles Cinema
July 7th - Double bill of Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl/Party 7 w/director Q&A in Derby at the QUAD Cinema
Eureka Entertainment has announced its September slate of releases, starting with the Blu-ray debut of the Hong Kong action flick She Shoots Straight, directed by Corey Yuen and starring Joyce Godenzi and Sammy Hung.
Newly restored in 2K, the release will include brand new audio commentaries from Asian film expert Frank Djeng and action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, as well as a limited edition slipcase, with artwork from Darren Wheeling, and a collectors booklet with new writing from James Oliver.
Also released on the 18th of September is a limited edition release of Martha Coolidge’s Valley Girl, marking the UK home media debut of this film, some 40 years after its initial release.
It stars Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman and is presented in 1080p with new audio commentaries and interviews, archive footage and interviews, and a collectors booklet with new writings from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Craig Ian Mann.
One of the greatest films ever made, and the last film made by Orson Welles in the studio system, Touch of Evil will join the Masters of Cinema Series on the 25th of September presented in three different versions (theatrical, preview and reconstructed) all restored to 4K.
This limited edition boxset includes four audio commentaries, video interviews with film historians and critics, a newly produced video essay and a 100-page collectors book with writings from Orson Welles, François Truffaut, André Bazin, and Terry Comito.
Second Sight Films has announced limited and standard edition releases of Lucky McKee’s 2002 cult horror film May, which will hit shelves on the 24th of July. It follows May Dove Candy, an awkward veterinary assistant who is obsessed with perfection, which leads her on an increasingly depraved journey.
Both editions include audio commentaries, new interviews with the cast and crew and video essays, with the limited edition presented in a rigid slipcase with new artwork by Bella Grace, with a 70-page booklet with new essays by Joseph Dwyer, Rachel Knightley, Mary Beth McAndrews and Heather Wixson.