December 2008

Hello Auteur House Customers,

Welcome to the first of what we hope will be monthly updates informing you of recent stock acquisitions and events associated with Hamilton’s preeminent independent DVD rental store and specialist book shop.

Auteur House will celebrate its second birthday on January 17th, 2009.  To mark the occasion we plan to repeat last year’s social extravaganza, with a party at the Ward Lane tavern featuring several local musicians.  The line up will include the legendary Big Muffin Serious Band, newcomers Sumo Love Machine and one or two other equally exciting acts.  We will provide further detail closer to the date; in the meantime, mark it on your calendars and in your diaries.

Auteur House New Releases

Our New Release section has recently been topped up by a selection of  titles from all around the world, including many which featured in August’s International Film Festival.

Japan’s “Always: Sunset on Third Street”, a huge popular and critical hit in its native country, recreates the years immediately after the end of the 1950s American occupation.  Based on the manga serial of the same name, the impressive CGI work serves a drama set against the backdrop of Japan’s post-war economic boom.

The Asian influence is also felt in “The Flight of the Red Balloon”, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s homage to Albert Lamorisse’s classic 1956 short “The Red Balloon”.  Set in present day Paris, it tells the tale of a seven year old boy who feels neglected by his puppeteer mother (Juliette Binoche).  The DVD contains Lamorisse’s film amongst its supplementary material.

Binoche’s rival Gallic stars are featured in two other French gems.  Crowd pleasing Audrey Tatou is cast to type as a beautiful Parisian who enjoys love and romance in “Hunting and Gathering”.  “The Swimming Pool”’s Ludivine Sagnier is part of an ensemble cast in the much darker “Un Secret”, a World War II drama in which infidelity and the realities of the Holocaust prove to be a tragic mix.

More graphically sexual is “The Story of Richard O” which sees Mathieu Amalric from “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” embark on carnal adventures, again in France’s capital.  Perhaps not quite as in your face pornographic as “9 Songs”, it has greater style and atmosphere.

Homo-eroticism provides a fresh spin on the zombie film in the German horror “Otto; Or, Up with Dead People”, which plays like a combination of Gregg Araki, David Cronenberg and George A Romero.  Decidedly not for the faint hearted or homophobically inclined.

Rising Danish star Mads Mikkelsen features in three Scandinavian movies of varying tones and subject matter.  The out and out satire “Adam’s Apple” pits religious optimism against neo-Nazi thuggery with surprisingly humorous results while “After the Wedding” is a wrenching melodrama from “Open Hearts” director Susanne Bier.  “Prague”, a more straightforward drama about grief, may well be better than both.

Amongst our New Release documentaries are three favourites from the Festival: “Stranded”, a detailed and moving account of the 1972 Andes plane crash in whose aftermath survivors were forced into cannibalism to survive; “The King of Kong”, the very funny story of nostalgic computer game competition and “Billy the Kid”, a coming of age character study of an alienated Main teenager.

“A Very British Gangster” looks at the life and times of Dominic Noonan, a modern day Pommy godfather with a proverbial heart of gold. 

Cult director Wong Kar-Wai’s first work in the English language, “My Blueberry Nights”, is an multi star affair.  Ravi Shankar’s little girl Norah Jones has the leading role, playing a love damaged young lady.  She is cheered up by a supporting cast which includes Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz.

New Zealand cinema gets a look in with “Apron Strings”, another Festival favourite.  Set in suburban Otahuhu its focus is on mother daughter relationships in both the Pakeha and Indian worlds.

For those with more mainstream tastes or moods there is Ricky Gervais’ bitter sweet wrap up of his “Extras” television show, a feature length Xmas special which sees Andy Millman unhappy with his sitcom success.  Richard Attenborough’s old fashioned World War II romance “Closing the Ring” is also bound to appeal to those with a yearning for melodrama and/or Mischa Barton.

New to DVD at Auteur House

As always our showcase ‘New to DVD’ section features an eclectic range of stock with a little something for everybody.  We are particularly pleased to present a number of Criterion Collection titles from the British classics “Black Narcissus” and “Hamlet” to the wonderfully lyrical 1930s French musical “A Nous la Liberte”.

Those with an enthusiasm for 1960s popular music should be tempted by three outstanding concert documentaries: a trio of Dylan performances from succeeding years at the Newport Folk Festival, climaxing in his controversial ‘electric’ set, which are collected under the title “The Other Side of the Mirror” and two films from the brothers Maysles.  “The Beatles: The First US Visit” offers a cinema verite take on a States side Fab Four that puts “A Hard Days’ Night” to shame while “Gimme Shelter”’s expose of violence at the 1969 Altamont Rolling Stones gig makes it perhaps the most revered concert film of all time.

French directors of the 1970s and 1980s are well represented.  A pair of masterpieces from the still active Alain Resnais, “Stavisky” and “My American Uncle”, complement a more recent work, “Coeurs”, which currently resides on our New Release shelf.  Louis Malle’s much respected 1981 talk-fest “My Dinner with Andre” sees the New Wave veteran in New York while Jacques Tati’s last complete feature, “Parade”, from 1974, has the latter day silent comic before a Swedish circus audience.

Contrasting takes on sexuality are offered by Maurice Pialat in “A Nos Amours” and Claude Sautet in “A Heart in Winter”.  Pialat focuses on a fifteen year old girl who responds to the absence of her father by sleeping with as many men as possible while Sautet’s tale involves violin craftsman Daniel Auteuil surprisingly resisting the charms of his real life future wife Emmanuelle Beart.

Vintage film noir works from the 1940s on offer include the three Alan Ladd/Veronica Lake vehicles, “This Gun for Hire”, “The Glass Key” and “The Blue Dahlia”, the boxing drama that made Kirk Douglas a star, “Champion”, and Jimmy Stewart’s first post-war hit, “Call Northside 777″.

For those with a weakness for British arthouse we have a pair of Peter Greenaway DVDs that compile his earliest efforts, including the pseudo-documentary “The Falls”.  Also available is Peter Brook’s stage adaptation “Marat/Sade”, a record of the Royal Shakespeare company’s production of Peter Weiss’ play with memorable performances from Glenda Jackson, Ian Richardson and Patrick Magee, and John Schlesinger’s landmark gay drama “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, again with Jackson, Peter Finch and the aptly named Murray Head.

Below the belt humour is a feature of Eddie Murphy’s break through stand up comedy film “Delirious”, with his outrageous camp take on Mr T, and a pair of coarse Aussie farces which champion the adventures of ex-pats Barry McKenzie and Dame Edna Everage in the mother country.

My highest recommendations would go to a pair of masterpieces from two of the cinema’s greatest artists.  Douglas Sirk’s 1956 “All that Heaven Allows”, with its May-December relationship between Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman the front for a sustained critique of middle America, is one of the most admired and imitated of his melodramas.  Luis Bunuel’s 1972 “The Discreet Charm of the  Bourgeoisie” takes a similarly critical stance toward the middle class, his late career surrealism delicately employed in a farce about a dinner party that is constantly being interrupted.

A Rare Opportunity to Become Our Neighbours

Auteur House is pleased offer a limited amount of inner city carparks for rental.  The cost is $25 per week, the location is off Barton St.

We also have some commercial space available for rent.  Interested parties should click on the below link:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchType=all&searchString=auteur+house&searchregion=100&type=Search&x=18&y=5