Kino Lorber in November

Mel Gibson as Max in "Mad Max" (George Miller, 1979)

I find myself going back and buying from the folks at Kino Lorber a lot this year. They release and distribute a lot of really interesting genre and indie films, as well as some amazing historical artifacts. They also do a ton of sales, which obviously gets my attention. So I figured it's time to chat a bit about their upcoming releases for November. There are some rad reissues headed our way, along with a few great sounding documentaries.

November 3

I think we'd gotten a promo copy for in-store play of "Discord" sometime back in 1998 when I worked at this bookstore. It grabbed my attention because DJ Spooky was performing on the record, although I knew nothin about the composer. It was my first conscious exposure to Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; I'd discover later that I'd unknowingly heard his work before via the scores for "The Last Emperor", "Aile De Honnêamise" ("The Wings of Honneamise"), and "Wild Palms". It lead me to check out Yellow Magic Orchestra, "Neo Geo", modern composition in general.

So, obviously, I'd like to see "Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda", Stephen Nomura Schible's 2017 documentary about the Oscar and Grammy winner. Shot in the period between the release of "Three" and "async", "Coda" explores Sakamoto's recovery from cancer, his activism, and his creation of art in the autumn of his life. It sounds cool as hell. Also included is Schible's concert film from 2018, "async at the Park Avenue Armory", featuring one of the first live performances of Sakamoto's most recent studio album.

"Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President" has been running on CNN since early September, and it's no understatement to say it'd be nice to have someone running the executive brand who's into being kind to the world and who likes Bob Dylan. I've yet to watch Mary Wharton's documentary about the 39th President's relationship to rock 'n' roll. But as someone who's always had the highest respect for President Carter, someone from Georgia who grew up listening to Little Feat and the Allman Brothers, and someone who wants desperately to cocoon on Election Day, this seems like a pretty good watch. Wharton previously directed an episode of "American Masters" on Joan Baez back in 2009 that I remember being pretty good, and the work that CNN Films releases is strong, so I feel pretty comfortable suggesting watching this one.

November 10

Kino Studio Classics has been slowly reissuing the films of Clint Eastwood with 2K and 4K restorations, making them must haves if you're a Blu-ray collector. Their latest round features Clint's directing debut, 1971's "Play Misty For Me", along with 1972's "The Beguiled" (Don Siegel) and 1975's "The Eiger Sanction". All three of these are great; "Eiger" is one of those mid-70s Euro thrillers that are imminently watchable, and "The Beguiled" was remade by Sofia Coppola in 2017 to some strong acclaim. In my house, however, we mark out hard for "Misty".

"Misty" freaks me out more than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Halloween". It's one of the movies that make me jump everytime I see it. Mrs. Mallory Archer herself, Jessica Walter, is a perfect foil to Clint's DJ Dave Garver, and Donna Mills is tremendous as the woman caught in the middle. The music is top notch, from Errol Garner's "Misty" serving as title inspiration to cameos from Cannonball Adderly, Johnny Otis, and Joe Zawinul at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Best of all, it was shot in Mrs. Ape's hometown, and was lensed by longtime Eastwood collaborator Bruce Surtees. In short, it's a fantastic Hitchcock homage for Clint's first directorial gig. This has a ton of extras included: a 2K restoration, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, a making-of documentary. And, HEY! It has an o-card! I'm pretty psyched. Just don't tell the missus: she'll be getting this for her birthday.

November 17

Code Red is one of the KL-distributed imprints, and they are a fount of trashy cinema. A lot of their releases are licensed from overseas, and are pretty bare bones, in terms of extras. I'm actually hyped at this reissue, with new art, of their 2017 release of "So Sweet, So Dead", aka "The Slasher", aka "Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile". Directed by Robert Bianchi Montero, and starring Stewart Granger, this 1972 giallo about a serial killer targeting unfaithful wives was best known in the States for being re-edited as a porno called "Penetration". The change here from the 2017 release is in the title and the cover art, adopting the artwork from the Italian poster. If you copped this a few years back, there's no reason to rebuy. BUT if you don't already own this, and are looking for a tense, well acted horror movie, this is one to snag.

November 24

Zine dorks rejoice! Scott Crawford, whose debut documentary "Salad Days" is a big favorite of mine, is back with a look at Detroit's favorite rock 'n' roll mag, Creem Magazine. CREEM was the champion of the underbelly of pop music throughout the 70s; undercapitalized and geographically separate from the industry scenes in L.A. and New York, it fostered writers like Robert Christgau, Richard Meltzer, and Peter Laughner, and was memorably led by Lester Bangs from 1971 to 1976. If Rolling Stone provided legitimacy to its cover subjects, Creem ensured they'd stay hip.

"CREEM: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" has been streaming since the start of COVID-19, but debuts on the 24th with this DVD-only release. Most of the folks you'd expect to see in a doc like this make appearances: Alice Cooper, Wayne Kramer, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley. Musicians like Thurston Moore and Michael Stipe pop in, no doubt to provide the 70s reader perspective. In different hands, this could end up like a VH-1 special from the 90s. But I've seen Crawford at work before, and I'm interested in his take on this writer's paradise.

Finally, a classic I'm sworn to buy every fucking time they reissue it. I've owned no less than a half dozen copies of "Mad Max" over the years: VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray box set, UMD. Shoot, if I'd ever owned a Beta machine, I'd probably have copped it on Beta. My current watching copy is the Collector's Edition released by Scream Factory a few years back. Kino Studio Classics is releasing the first ever 4K UHD version of George Miller's classic. There's been no mention yet as to any restoration that's been undertaken on the print itself, but, like with that Scream Factory release, we get both the original Aussie soundtrack and American theatrical dub, both in gleaming lossless mono. In fact, it appears that all of the extras from the 2015 Collector's Edition get reprised in this 2020 UHD/Blu-ray combo. The additions? A new interview with George Miller, a "Trailers from Hell" featurette, and new cover art based on the French and American theatrical posters. Like I said above, I took a vow when I was young to support any and all releases of "Mad Max", so, even though I don't currently own an Ultra HDTV or a 4K Blu-ray player, I'll be preordering this bad boy.

Jessica Walter and Clint Eastwood in "Play Misty For Me" (Clint Eastwood, 1971)

This is just a small sample of what Kino Lorber has releasing in November. Between their in-house releases and distributed labels, there are a total of 45 film & TV releases this month. That seems to be pretty typical for them. As with the other video houses I write about, I suggest buying direct, because they always seem to offer better discounts than anywhere else in the world, and their free shipping threshold is $50. They also get new releases in my hands anywhere from three to 10 days before the street date, which is nice as hell. So, you know, check 'em out.