NEW RELEASES - June 28

Gunner Palace (2004).

Back in late 2003 and 2004, Michael Tucker, pretty much on his own and equipped with little more than a camera and a bullet-proof vest, slipped into Baghdad and hung with the US Army 2/3 Field Artillery Division, also known as the Gunner Battalion. And they're based in a palatial mansion that once belonged to Uday Hussein (one of Saddam's sons), known since it was bombed out and they moved in as Gunner Palace. The film is not about the rights and wrongs of the war and argues neither for nor against it. It's simply about capturing the day-to-day lives of the men and women we've sent over there, the very real dangers they face, the uncertainties, the frustrations, the pain and loss, but also the moments of humor, a lot of it, of course, rather dark.

"The raw inconclusiveness of Gunner Palace is the truest measure of its authenticity as an artifact of our time and of its value for future attempts to understand what the United States is doing in Iraq," wrote A.O. Scott in the New York Times. "Each time I have seen it, I have emerged feeling moved, angry, scared, hopeful, frustrated and dispirited - and grateful for this confusion, which is its own form of understanding."

Be sure, too, to read our interview with Tucker, conducted while he and his wife, Petra Epperlein were still editing the film.

Bad Guy (2001).

"It continues to amaze me how much Kim Ki Duk can accomplish with so little dialogue and what wonderful scenes that he can paint onto the screen with his use of color and music," writes markhl. "I'd recommend Bad Guy primarily to fans of experimental cinema and to those who've enjoyed the director's earlier, more radical, films."

We've got an interview to run along with this one, too. Jonathan Marlow spoke with Kim Ki-duk this spring during the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988).

The cyberpunk classic from Shinyu Tsukamoto finally sees a long awaited re-release. "Gets better with every viewing," says asha. "Still amazing," adds evilcupcakes.

Crazed Fruit (1956).

"Stained with hormonal dew and ideological lip sweat," wrote the San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Crazed Fruit is a fevered portrait of incipent social fraying that manages to remain corrosive even today." Based on the controversial novel by Shintaro Ishihara.

This Criterion disc features audio commentary by renowned Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie.

The Outsider. (1981).

This week sees the release of three films by Hungarian director Béla Tarr, perhaps most widely known for his 2000 film, Werckmeister Harmonies; just one film out would be an event since none have yet been released in the US on DVD. But... three!

And they are: Family Nest (1978), a startlingly, almost harshly realistic story of the hardships Hungarians faced in 1970s, The Outsider (1981), following András as he tries to hold down whatever job he can land in Budapest, and The Prefab People (1982), "the best of his early works because it achieves such a degree of intimacy that its lack of ostentatious filmmaking never impedes its ability to observe its characters." (MovieMartyr)

The Outsider.

The Prefab People.

Totally F***ed Up (1993).

"Think of it as Jean Luc Godard doing Saved by the Bell, or Antonioni doing Beverly Hills 90210," wrote PopcornQ of this early feature by Gregg Araki, currently winning plaudits for his Mysterious Skin. "Totally F***ed Up is one of those independent movies that is worth watching simply for the experience of it and also to see and support a young talented filmmaker as he develops a body of work that is essential to American culture."

The Browning Version (1951).

"Good show!" exclaims TV Guide. "[Terence] Rattigan adapted his own play for the screen, and it's lovingly directed by [Anthony] Asquith and acted within an inch of the viewer's life by [Michael] Redgrave and a magnificent small ensemble.... Absolutely not to be missed."

At Cannes that year, 1951, Rattigan won the Best Screenplay Award and Redgrave won Best Actor. More fine work from Criterion, who've added to the disc a 1958 interview with Redgrave and a new interview with Mike Figgis, who directed a remake in 1994.

Human Crossing Volume 3: Message in White (2005).

"There isn't a whole lot in anime that can be compared to Human Crossing," writes Anime News Network. "It's called honest, straightforward storytelling, and in an art form that often favors style over substance, it's definitely not a bad idea."

Browse the New Releases Archive for more recent arrivals.