September will be another banner month for Arrow Video! This fall sees a 25th anniversary edition of Kevin Smith's slacker classic, Mallrats (US/CAN), a box set of both Fukasaku Kinji and Takashi Miike's versions of Graveyard of Honor (US/CAN/UK), a special edition of Miquel Llansó's Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (with his debut feature Crumbs as a bonus, US/CAN/UK), and Bernard Rose's (Candyman) 2000 indie drama, Ivansxtc (US/CAN/UK).
Check out the details and some gorgeous artwork below!
THEY’RE NOT THERE TO SHOP. THEY’RE NOT THERE THERE TO WORK. THEY’RE JUST THERE.
Following the smash success of his first feature, Clerks, Kevin Smith returned with Mallrats. Spawning a raft of characters and in-jokes that Smith would carry throughout his career, the film continued the one-of-a-kind comedic world known as the View Askewniverse.
Simultaneously dumped by their girlfriends, comic book obsessive Brodie (Jason Lee) and best friend TS (Jeremy London) plan to ease the pain of their losses by taking take a trip to the local mall. Amongst shoppers, they discover the mall is being used as the venue for a dating show, in which TS’s girlfriend Brandi is the star. Hatching a plan to win back their significant others, Brodie and TS enlist the help of professional delinquents Jay and Silent Bob to hijack the gameshow in a bid to win back Brandi. Meanwhile, Brodie carries out his own mission to make good his relationship with Rene (Shannen Doherty), who has attracted the attentions of his nemesis Shannon (Ben Affleck).
Featuring a cast including Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, who would go on to be recurring collaborators in Smith’s movies, Mallrats celebrates its 25th Anniversary in this limited edition set boasting a brand new restoration and hours of bonus content.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new restoration by Arrow Films of both the Theatrical and Extended cuts of the film, approved by director Kevin Smith and cinematographer David Klein.
Newly assembled TV cut of the film featuring hilarious overdubbing to cover up profanity
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Philip Kemp
Fold out poster featuring replica blueprints for ‘Operation Drive-by’ and ‘Operation Dark Knight’
DISC ONE – THEATRICAL AND EXTENDED CUTS
Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, archivist Vincent Pereira, and actors Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Jason Mewes
Brand new introduction to the film by Kevin Smith
My Mallrat Memories – and all-new interview with Kevin Smith
A newly filmed tribute to producer Jim Jacks by Kevin Smith
Brand new interview with actor Jason Mewes
Brand new interview with Cinematographer David Klein
Hollywood of the North: A newly produced animated making-of documentary featuring Minnesota crew members who worked on the film
Deleted Scenes – Kevin Smith and Vincent Pereira discuss deleted scenes and sequences originally cut from the film
Outtakes and behind the scenes footage
Cast interviews from the original set
Erection of an Epic: The making of Mallrats – archival retrospective with cat and crew looking at the making and release of the film.
Q&A with Kevin Smith – archival Q&A filmed for the 10th anniversary
Build Me Up Buttercup music video
Stills galleries
Theatrical Trailer
DISC TWO – TV CUT
Newly assembled TV cut of the film featuring hilarious overdubbing to cover up profanity
Original stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new introduction to the TV cut by director Kevin Smith
Stills gallery of the comic books featured in the film’s opening sequence
Easter eggs
GRAVEYARDS OF HONOR (US/CAN/UK)
Two peerless masters of Japanese cinema – Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honor and Humanity, Battle Royale) and Takashi Miike (Dead or Alive, Audition) – present their own distinctive adaptations of yakuza expert Goro Fujita’s gangster novel Graveyard of Honor, each tapping into the zeitgeist of a distinct period of Japanese history.
Set during the turbulent post-war years, Fukasaku’s original 1975 film charts the rise and fall of real-life gangster Rikio Ishikawa (Tetsuya Watari, Outlaw Gangster VIP). Shot through with the same stark realism and quasi-documentarian approach as Fukasaku’s earlier Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Fukasaku nonetheless breaks new ground through his portrayal of a gangster utterly without honor or ethics, surviving by any means necessary in a world of brutal criminality.
Meanwhile, Miike’s 2002 retelling transplants the story to Tokyo at the turn of the millennium. Less a direct remake of Fukasku’s film than a radical reimagining of the same overarching premise, Miike’s film captures both the hedonism and nihilism of the modern Japanese crime scene in deliriously stylish fashion, resulting in a fascinating companion piece to the original that nonetheless stands as its own entity.
With both films making their High Definition debut in a sumptuous limited edition packed with new and archival bonus content, Arrow Video is proud to present these two intertwined but unique crime thrillers from two celebrated filmmakers at the peak of their creative powers.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- Exclusive two-disc set featuring two different versions of Graveyard of Honor: the 1975 film by Kinji Fukasaku and the 2002 film by Takashi Miike
- Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on both films by Jasper Sharp
DISC ONE – GRAVEYARD OF HONOR (1975)
- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- Original lossless Japanese PCM 1.0 mono soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles
- New audio commentary by author and critic Mark Schilling
- Like a Balloon: The Life of a Yakuza, a new visual essay by critic and Projection Booth podcast host Mike White
- A Portrait of Rage, an archival appreciation of Fukasaku and his films, featuring interviews with filmmakers, scholars, and friends of the director
- On the Set with Fukasaku, an archival interview with assistant director Kenichi Oguri
- Theatrical trailer
- Imagery gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
DISC TWO – GRAVEYARD OF HONOR (2002)
- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- Original lossless Japanese PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles
- New audio commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes
- New visual essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger
- Archival “interview special” featuring Miike and cast members Goro Kishitani and Narimi Arimori
- Archival “making-of” featurette
- Archival “making-of” teaser
- Archival press release interviews featuring Miike, Kishitani and Arimori
- Archival “premiere special” featuring Miike, Kishitani and Arimori
- Theatrical trailer
- Imagery gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY (US/CAN/UK)
What do you get when you cross Afro-futurism, Cold War paranoia, the dystopian world of Philip K. Dick and 60s exploitation cinema, along with a hefty dose of Lynchian surrealism? The answer: Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, the second feature by Miguel Llansó (Crumbs) and one of the most striking and original films you’ll see all year.
The year is 2035, and Special Agent Gagano (Daniel Tadesse, Crumbs) dreams of leaving the CIA to open a business with his wife Malin (Gerda-Annette Allikas). Before he can hand in his resignation, however, a strange cyber virus attacks Psychobook, the CIA’s operating system, forcing Gagano to enter cyberspace via virtual reality to combat the threat. Before long, however, the virus starts to reach out into the real world, destabilising the fragile socio-political order for its own ends, and Gagano, trapped in the VR world, must find a way out before it’s too late.
Featuring encounters with an Irish-accented Joseph Stalin, a kung-fu-fighting Batman, and Jesus Christ himself, to name but a few, Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway is absurd, audacious and like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.
2-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- New audio commentary by critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Anton Bitel
- From Talinn with Love, a new visual essay by critic Will Webb exploring the influence of exploitation cinema on Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway
- Exclusive audio interview with director Miguel Llansó, conducted by critic Josh Hurtado
- Crumbs (2015), Miguel Llansó’s feature directorial debut and spiritual predecessor to Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (Limited Edition Exclusive)
- Chigger Ale (2013) and Night in the Wild Garden (2015), two short films by Miguel Llansó
- Original proof-of-concept trailer
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Austin Hinderliter
- Double-sided fold-out poster
- Limited Edition illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway by Barry Forshaw and Crumbs by Anton Bitel
- Limited Edition of 2000 copies
IVANSXTC (US/CAN/UK)
Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Lisa Enos star in this biting satire on the behind-the-scenes of the Hollywood film industry, with all its drink and drug-fuelled excess, from director Bernard Rose (Candyman, Paperhouse).
Opening with the death of its titular protagonist, ivansxtc goes back in time to chart the final days of hot-shot Tinseltown agent Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston) and his fast-paced, wheeler-dealer lifestyle, which will ultimately lead him to an early grave after a shock cancer diagnosis.
Loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's celebrated 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and featuring a searing performance by Danny Huston at its core and wonderfully sleazy turn from Peter Weller as Ivan’s biggest client, ivansxtc is a powerful meditation on life, death and morality set against the glitzy backdrop of La La Land.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- High-Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD MA options
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Q&A with director Bernard Rose, actress/producer/co-writer Lisa Enos, actors Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Adam Krentzman from a 2018 screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Robert J Simpson