Pond Swimming In Coverage
When a film has a budget of around £25,000, that’s a story in itself, but while it might help pre-theatrical release, but when it comes to DVD, you need a bit of quality to catch the attention of reviewers. Thankfully for its ingenious producers, independent release Black Pond had it in spades, which enabled it to get plenty of coverage on its DVD bow, as our weekly round up of press coverage of home entertainment releases illustrates. The film got acres of column inches over the weekend, outdoing bigger budget (but less well received titles such as Dream House (which still got its fair share of coverage. Another low budget, leftfield homegrown title, Acts Of Godfrey, also performed well in front of the critics, making it s agood week for the independents. We’ll start our week of reviews in, as ever, the Metro newspaper, with the city-based freesheet aimed at consumers reverting to its standard two pages’ worth of home entertainment coverage following last week’s truncated version because of the Easter holidays. Leading the way was Deep Blue Sea (Artificial Eye), one of the previous weekend’s stronger performers in terms of both the quantity and quality of reviews (here it was described as being “something heart-achingly profound”). Also reviewed were Soda’s Las Acacias (“utterly transfixing”), Those Who Kill (eOne), Switch (Anchor Bay), Dogwoof’s Bill Cunningham New York (“fascinating viewing”) and Swinging With The Finkels(G2). Its feature coverage tied in with the reviews, so the Five Questions were directed towards Deep Blue Sea helmer Terence Davies, its Five Films were chosen by Las Acacias director Pablo Giorgelli. Its Lost Treasure regular slot (Forgotten Classics Dug Up) was Bluebell Films’ Lust For Love, described as “joltingly effective”). Friday now and starting with the Evening Standard, which took in predominantly leftfield titles, with the “simple but exquisitely crafted” Las Acacias leading the way, ahead of the paper’s own film award-winning title Black Pond (where it picked up the Most Promising Newcomer gong), Sensation (Element), Acts Of Godfrey (Guerilla), described as a “highly enjoyable romantic comedy” and Romantics Anonymous. Tabloids now and The Sun kept up its cheeky one-liners at the end of its reviews for the quartet of titles it covered this week, taking in Texas Killing Fields (EV), which was “worth more than a lone star, but there’s very little joy of Tex”, Anchor Bay’s Switch (somewhat predictably, “one to switch over”), Sensation (“not quite a sensation”) and Fox’s Die Hard Quadrilogy (“yippee ki-yay, um, chaps”). The Die Hard Quadrilogy also picked up the DVD Of The Week slot in the Daily Mirror’s The Ticket supplement, the “handsome box set” was far and away the best reviewed title on the page, with only one other title (Romantics Anonymous) getting more than two stars. The others that fared so badly included eOne’s Recoil (“a few beers should should numb the horror of Austin’s ‘acting’”; Acts Of Godfrey (“godawful”), G2\s Cassadaga (“for horror hounds only”) and, worst of all, Dream House (“fees like Shutter Island written for drunk people”). Over in the Daily Star, Dream House (Warner) was the lead title, with a review and a competition offering copies of the film as prizes. Also reviewed were AnneOf Green Gable: The Complete Collection (Sullivan Entertainment), Castle Season 1 and 2 (Disney) and Titanic (ITV Studios Home Entertainment). There were a trio of titles featured in the Daily Express, which was as esoteric as ever, taking in some of the weekend’s favourites, namely Black Pond and Dream House, as well as Romantics Anonymous. The Daily Mail on Friday was, as ever, a little bit slower on the uptake, covering titles that had been out for a week or two, namely Hugo and The Deep Blue Sea. Swinging With The Finkels received another excoriating review in The Independent, alongside Dream House, Black Pond and Texas Killing Fields. Over in The Guardian its Your Next Box Set feature was given over to Prison Break (Fox). Saturday now and moving via the television listings supplements in the tabloids, with the Daily Mirror’s We Love Telly featuring a competition for Public Enemies (Arrow) and the Daily Mail’s Weekend covering Titanic (ITV Studios Home Entertainment). Moving upmarket, The Times’ Review section covered Acts Of Godfrey, Dream House, A Midnight Clear (Second Sight) and its best-reviewed titles of the weekend, Revolver’s Into The Abyss and Last Tango In Paris (Fox). It was a case of from the sublime to the ridiculous in the Daily Telegraph’s Review section, the former represented by a rave review for Black Pond (“a hugely impressive debut: amusing, lyrical and languidly melancholic”); the latter by Dream House (“a movie that no one wants seen, let alone remembered”). The Guardian’s Guide led on Black Pond, its reviewer Phelim O’Neill noting, as did many others, its meagre £25,000 budget before adding: “Cost aside, Black Pond is not just an experiment in pound-stretching ingenuity, it’s a film that has plenty of character, something no amount of money can buy.” He also covered Bad Lieutenant and The Six Million Dollar Man (both Fabulous Films via Fremantle), Earthflight (Acorn) and A Midnight Clear (Second Sight). Sunday now, and we’ll rattle through the tabloids and their assorted coverage. The Daily Star Sunday covered A Midnight Clear, saying the anniversary edition was a “rare treat”, The Ledge (Universal) and Dream House, giving the film one of its better reviews, adding it was “nicely creepy”. Dream House also scored well in the Sunday Mirror (“slick horror thriller”), which was reviewed alongside Castle Season 2 (Disney). The People featured ITV Studios Home Entertainment’s take on Titanic. That same release didn’t sink without trace over in the Mail On Sunday’s Live supplement, where it was rated as one of The Week’s Entertainment Releases, appearing alongside books, films, CDs and Wales Grand Slam 2012 (Spirit) and Dream House. The Sunday Telegraph’s DVD choice was as diverse as ever, taking in Miracle In Milan (Arrow), Corman’s World (Anchor Bay) and, its best reviewed title, The Dust Of Time (Artificial Eye). The weekend edition of the Financial Times had Las Acacias, Bad Lieutenant (Fabulous Films), Black Pond and The Price Of Kings (Spirit Level). The Independent On Sunday took in Black Pond and Dream House. We’ll end our look at newspapers with Mark Kermode in The Observer. He offered a telling review of The HGirl With The Dragon Tattoo (SPHE), looking at why audiences shun foreign language films and then flock to the remade version. “In the end,” he concluded, “this remake sticks close enough to its predecessor to make you wonder why they bothered. You can check out Rapace’s matchless performances in all three original movies in Momentum’s Millennium trilogy boxed set for around the same price as the new first instalment.” You could have predicted he’d dismiss Dream House, and he duly dispatched of it (“Somewhere in the overcooked A-lister pudding of Dream House there’s an interesting B-movie bug-house shrieker struggling to get out”). He also covered the “intriguing and unsettling Black Pond, as well as Acts Of Godfrey, which, he said, “deserves plaudits for taking a running jump at the kind of insurmountable “obstacle” that would have doubtless delighted Lars von Trier”. We’ll end with a magazine or two, and the Radio Times covered Dream House, Soul Surfer (SPHE), Mother And Child (Verve) and White Heat (ITV Studios Home Entertainment). Time Out, meanwhile, went big on Network’s excellent Story Of Film, calling it “the best British documentary since The World At War”, before going on to say: “Every human being on earth with even a passing interest in how cinema came into being and how it developed into the world’s most popular art form needs to see this”. The magazine also reviewed The Portuguese Nun, Mother And Child, Deep Blue Sea and ID:A (Chelsea Films), as well as, under a Blu-ray Revivals header, The Die Hard Quadrilogy and Bad Lieutenant.
Tags: PR