Laurence Boyce brings you an eclectic selection of some of the best DVD releases available over the coming weeks. If you like Cubans, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, Anime and Francis Bacon then you’re in for a treat … and you probably also have weird things on your walls. Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba) (Mr Bongo Films) is, simply put, one of the best films ever made. Made in 1964, it’s ta…

Laurence Boyce takes time out of his busy schedule (well, takes time out of watching DVDs) to bring you the latest round of the DVDs that should either rock your world or destroy your faith in humanity in Special Edition # 12. Note that there's one film he doesn't like at all. I wonder if you'll be able to tell which one it is... Is The Da Vinci Code (Sony Pictures Releasing)…

  Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox will have its world premiere at the London Film Festival's opening gala tonight. Suchandrika Chakrabarti reviews. In case you don't know (shame on you if you don't), Fantastic Mr Fox is a 1970 children's novel by Roald Dahl. The film fleshes out the original storyline, which sees Mr Fox outsmarting the local triumvirate of mean farmers - Boggis, Bunce and…

Ahead of the London Film Festival's opening night tomorrow, here's a round-up of some highlights from Suchandrika Chakrabarti. The LFF's press screenings begin before the festival begins, and carry on during it, with the previews of the big gala films, like the opening night's Fantastic Mr Fox (gosh, they do love a bit of Wes Anderson) and the George Clooney-starring The Men Who Stare at Goats…

Now available to buy on DVD, September remains one of the most affecting and beautiful British short films of the past few years. The film beat off stiff competition from the likes Sam Taylor Wood’s passionate and impressive Love You More to walk away with the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Short Film (Live Action) to add to its numerous other awards and accolades. The film tells the story of Marvin…

Any book that attempts to reinforce the idea that film is, first and foremost, a visual medium has to be a good thing. 'Cinematic Storytelling' certainly does just that. Directors, writers, editors and cinematographers will all glean much of use from this book. Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions ISBN: ISBN 1-932907-05-X Published date: Current Country of origin: US Subject area: Visual Film Na…

  An Education, which which has its UK premiere tonight at the London Film Festival, is based on a short memoir written by newspaper journalist Lynn Barber, which was published in Granta. The story was adapted for the screen by Nicky Hornby, and stars Carey Mulligan in an acclaimed turn as 16-year-old Jenny (based on the young Lynn), and Peter Sarsgaard as David, the older man who shows her wh…

Given that he's written more than 30 novels and numerous short stories it's surprising that the works of Philip K. Dick haven't been adapted more in Hollywood. Yet, from 1982s Blade Runner to the just released A Scanner Darkly there have only been 5 films based on the work of the celebrated science fiction author. In Counterfeit Worlds Brian J Robb examines Dick's career and the H…

From the striking opening credits, with a boy throwing eggs at the screen, you know that Mischief Night is going to live up to its name. It is both an irreverent look at life in a Leeds suburb, as well as an exploration of the effects of increased ethnic segregation. The setting of Beeston, Leeds – home of three of the July 7th bombers – also provided the backdrop to Penny…

  This is the animated banner that greets visitors to the new documentary website brought to you by the Documentary Film Group in association with the British Council. It's a one-stop shop for documentary, created especially for everyone interested in the art and craft of documentary filmmaking. The site will bringing the latest news and events from the global doc community, with…

Whether it’s the fountain where Anita Ekberg frolicked in La Dolce Vita, the scuzzy convenience store where Dante wasn’t even supposed to be that day in Clerks or the hotel where Jack Nicholson went a little bit bonkers in The Shining, there are plenty of movie locations that remain a source of pilgrimage for holiday makers, movie buffs and – on occasion – completely bar…

    Michael Powell's The Edge Of The World, a black and white classic film of 1937, filmed in Scotland's remotest island community, has been released for the first time on DVD by the British Film Institute. The film has been printed afresh and the DVD package comes with a wealth of supporting documentary material that shows just why this was such a remarkable testament…

Profoundly humane and stunningly aesthetical, Waltz with Bashir is not about dancing…not even around the bullets of one’s enemies as does an Israeli soldier in the eponymous scene. Through the personal lens of his experience as a soldier during the Sabra and Chatila massacres of the 1982 Lebanese war, Israeli director Ari Folman tells the universal story of young men and the harrow…

Grassroots and No are both political films based on real events that concentrate on the competition: to win a local election in the former film, and to win a regime-changing plebiscite in the latter. The fact that No succeeds as an engaging film to such a greater extent than Grassroots shows that political races on film need to be contested by sharply-out…

Will Self, I think, once blamed Hollywood in part for the current 'war on terror' because its depiction in epics such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter of good and evil as black and white absolutes leads the audience to simplify incredibly complex situations. Even Star Wars  – where Obi Wan rebuked Anakin's Bush-like 'you're either with us or against us…

 There's a real air of independence with Special Edition # 17 as there’s no Hollywood blockbusters in sight. Instead there are movies from across the world, which show the real diversity of things available to movie goers nowadays. Whether it’s French horror, some classic documentaries or a curious Sci-Fi film then Laurence Boyce is here to show you can find just abo…

  Britain's latest and remotest filmfest in the Shetland Islands got off to a great start with a screening of BBC 4's drama Reichenbach Falls, a fast-moving drama made by a BBC Scotland team. The TV programme clearly proved that low budget does not exclude high production values - something known to indie filmmakers for a long time - but clearly the message is now getting through to TV d…

Michael Haneke's critically-acclaimed The White Ribbon, which was released on DVD yesterday, is a chilling look behind the apparently normal façade of a small north German village in the lead-up to the First World War. Narrated by one of the most sympathetic characters, the schoolteacher, when he has become an old man, the film shows us brutal events, some apparently perpetrated by children, b…

  Starsuckers is the second feature-length documentary from writer/director Chris Atkins, who made the BAFTA-nominated Taking Liberties in 2007. The film takes an in-depth look into celebrity culture - and sleb journalism - and the results are both laugh-out-loud funny and worrying. The issue of made-up stories making their way into showbiz gossip columns was discussed by George Clooney and…

Paul Taylor takes a tragic story and makes an up-lifting, life-affirming, non-preachy film. We Are Together (Thina Simunye) has as its backdrop one of the most urgent (and shameful) issues of our time: the spread of HIV, Africa's 1.2 million AIDS orphans and the lack of access to life-saving anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. That less than 17% of HIV sufferers have access to the drugs in a…

Lots of new films this time around as Special Edition # 33 has more examples of Hollywood being unable to think of new ideas, a bunch of documentaries and the usual intriguing mix of world cinema and TV releases. Originally a BBC Drama, State Of Play (Universal Releasing) has transferred to the big screen under the direction of Oscar winner Kevin One Day In September Macdonald. The original was…

How did we cope before the advent of DVD’s? Rewinding a video tape took ages, the quality was something less to be desired and there was a nary a special feature in sight. How our film loving predecessor’s must have suffered in that primitive world - well, unless they had loads of money and bought a Laserdisc. Thankfully, we’re now knee deep in DVDs and Special Edition # 28 is…

Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong), Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G. Borat et al), Milo Twomey (Band of Brothers), Rebecca Craig (Casualty, Emma, Silent Witness) star in this recently discovered remarkable British comedy. The Jolly Boys Last Stand is a unique and unforgettable show of their raw talent available to rent and buy from 13th February 2006 (RRP £14.99) When "El Presidente&…

This book’s subtitle is The Power of Color in Visual Storytellling, but it’s also something of a tribute to the power of a good title. I would defy anyone to spot this in a bookshop and not have their curiosity aroused. Publisher: Focal Press ISBN: 0-240-80688-3 Published date: Current Country of origin: US Subject area: Colour in Film Design price: £24.99 Personally, I’ve know all about the i…

Everyone who says that there are no decent films being made in the UK are dead wrong. There are plenty of decent movies made in the UK. It's just that no-one really gets the chance to see them. With UK distributors consistently playing it safe, there's a raft of excellent stuff that - apart from an occasional screening at a film festival - that's gathering dust on a shelf. But t…