New On DVD: Bruce McDonald’s ‘Pontypool’
I can’t get enough of this movie, and even though I’ve watched it several times in the past year, I’ll likely be getting out to Borders at some point this week and picking up the DVD. One of my favorite movies of last year (it was actually released in 2008, but most of America, including myself, didn’t see it until 09), Bruce McDonald’s awesome zombie survival flick Pontypool takes the horror genre and bends it in ways that have never been seen before. This is intelligent filmmaking at it’s best, giving us an hour and a half of the most intense, nerve wracking sounds and images seen onscreen in the past few years. The plot is simple enough; three unaware civilians working at the local radio station are trapped inside a church basement as infection runs rampant outside. Yes, the entire story is told from their perspective within the basement, and rather than dulling down the action or failing to convince viewers of the horrors going on outside, the setting actually adds a claustrophobic element to the mix, pushing the characters to new extremes that they may not have otherwise gone to. Beyond that, it’s the non-diegetic sounds and the brilliantly delivered dialogue that strike fear into the audience in a way that’s rarely seen in the cinema. Now thanks to it’s run with IFC films at their theaters and on Video On Demand, it’s finally come to DVD under their name. No news yet on a Blu Ray release, but I’ll keep you all up to date if I hear of one. You can order a copy over at Amazon or find it in stores. Check out the synopsis below and a trailer at the bottom of the post.
Shock jock Grant Mazzy has, once again, been kicked-off the Big City airwaves and now the only job he can get is the early morning show at CLSY Radio in the small town of Pontypool which broadcasts from the basement of the small town’s only church. What begins as another boring day of school bus cancellations, due to yet another massive snow storm, quickly turns deadly. Bizarre reports start piling in of people developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence. But there’s nothing coming in on the news wires. So… is this really happening?
Also out on DVD today and certainly worth mentioning (almost worthy of a post all on its own) is the box set of Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy from the good folks over at Criterion. It includes all three films (Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero) that Rossellini made during and after World War II as well as a slew of fantastic extras including three documentaries, a whole bunch of essays, extended footage, and more. The War Trilogy was a landmark of the neorealist movement and its barren aesthetic and gorgeous cinematography captured a war torn Europe more realistically and beautifully than any filmmaker has. Rosellini painted a portrait of utter despair in a time of chaos, but with it he provided a glimmer of hope in the emotion and personality of the stories. This one is definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of italian cinema or the history of film itself.
Also out today is last year’s critically acclaimed UK drama Bright Star from writer/director Jane Campion. It won the British Independent Film Award as well as being nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes last year. I was able to catch this one at the Eastman house back home in Rochester when it premiered and I can safely say that it’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in a while. Based upon the story of the nineteenth century poet John Keats and his love affair with Fanny Brawne, the film is rich with gorgeous imagery and some fantastic dialogue. Pick up the DVD online or in stores.
-William Gutheil
