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SUPPORT THE RAYGUN
NO AMAZON BONUS FOR BRUCE…
…AS RETAILER “PULLS” FILM
YOU WILL SEE THE DR NOW
BACK ON TRACK
BLOOD RUNS AGAIN
BELLE OF THE BLOOD
ANIME GOES FOR CINEPHILES
PIECE OF THE PIE
TRUE FACTS
CLOCK TICKS FOR TWO MINUTES
VENGEANCE IS ARROW’S
SPRING SPRINGS…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK 
The Raygun: a personal statement. As anyone who follows The Raygun’s Tim Murray on Twitter or LinkedIn may be aware, he has got a new job as editor for toy trade magazine Toys ;n Playthings. But after being in the industry for more than 30 years – and running the Raygun almost every week, 51 weeks a year for more than a decade – The Raygun is still incredibly loyal to the business and fully believes in home entertainment, especially physical media, albeit alongside streaming services. And The Raygun will continue for the foreseeable future. As I’ve often said before, I’ll keep the newsletter going until the industry is just two people and a dog. For the past year, the Raygun has been one man and a dog (Pablo), and we want to continue, albeit running it in our spare time. We’ve reassessed, here’s this week’s newsletter and we will be resuming next week with a new Week Commencing tag, going out on Monday morning for the following week. (Look, we’re settling in to a new job and have had a big move this past weekend too.) And as long as there’s demand for it, The Raygun will continue. But the industry needs to support us – be it with advertising (we’ve got to eat, so’s Pablo) and, perhaps even more crucially, editorial too. We want your press releases, your screenings, your comments and your help in putting this thing together. The Raygun appreciates the changing nature of the business and waxing lyrical about your forthcoming release is not always easy when US-owned corporations are not keen to comment. But you can still help us out with information and more, please ensure we’re on all your mailing lists and kept abreast of all information. As long as you care about The Raygun, The Raygun will care about the business.
Censorship or classification if you’d prefer, is not what it used to be. In a week when we at The Raygun noted that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness had been rated as a 14 by Disney+ for its streaming debut, in its own unofficial rating system for its svod service, despite having a 12 rating from the BBFC (the certificate that Disney would rather have had to put more bums on seats), it’s interesting to note there’s another censorship cum classification spat over on Amazon. For long-standing indie LQBTQ+ company Peccadillo has cried foul in a row with the Prime Video arm of the online giant after it refused to make the latest release from the company, Saint-Narcisse directed by Brice LaBruce, available for streaming through the service. The “darkly comic psycho-sexual thriller” has an 18 certificate from the BBFC, but Amazon has “refused” to make it available and, Peccadillo has claimed, the details for the rejection are “unclear” and Amazon has not told them the exact reasons. Intriguingly, the film was already available through Amazon’s US and French arms. After this was raised with the retailer, it was pulled from those services too. Peccadillo md Tom Abell said, ‘We are totally mystified as to why Amazon Prime Video is refusing to make the critically acclaimed Saint-Narcisse available to its customers, both here in the UK and internationally. While this hugely entertaining film is full of the outrageousness and provocations that are Bruce LaBruce’s hallmarks, we have no idea if Amazon’s objections relate to the film’s themes, or to particular sequences, or a combination thereof. I’m genuinely puzzled because there are numerous other films available on Amazon Prime Video which explore similar themes, and several which are far more sexually explicit. It is somewhat alarming to note the company’s increasing tendency to refuse certain queer films access to their platform.” Further comment on the “banning” came from diector Bruce LaBruce who said: “It's almost reassuring to know that I can still be banned or censored in this day and age! After being available for five months on Amazon Prime in the USA, my movie Saint-Narcisse has been removed from the platform in the US, France, and the UK for "offensive content." My movies have been banned in various territories over the years and cut to shreds since the early 90's by British censors, but considering what's available on these platforms now, it's quite astonishing. What's interesting to me is that it's not the sexual explicitness of Saint-Narcisse that is preventing it from being streamed on Amazon Prime - there is none - but the subversive and challenging sexual themes and implications of the film. For smaller independent films and distributors, decisions like this really do make it even more difficult than it already is to produce and promote work autonomously. I'm curious to know precisely what has got the platform into such high dudgeon!” And as Peccadillo itself noted: “Fortunately, audiences in the UK and Ireland can find Saint-Narcisse available on numerous other VOD platforms as well as on DVD and PeccadilloPOD.com." 
Nestling in at number 10 in the current Official Film Chart is Dr Who And The Daleks, the first of a brace of feature films with Peter Cushing starring as the Timelord. As reported here previously, both have been restored by Studiocanal, with …And The Daleks out now and the second, Daleks Invasion Earth, due shortly. The top 10 placing shows just how well Studiocanal’s release policy is working. The company’s Alison Arber said: “Doctor is still in the house! After a successful release of Dr Who and the Daleks on 4K UHD and a fantastic special screening at the BFI with special guests in June, July 10th sees both films showing in cinemas across the country as a retro double bill – currently at over 370 sites for a one-off screening! And what’s more the second film, Daleks Invasion Earth will also be available as a stunning 4K UHD collector’s edition and Steelbook on July 18th Just what the Doctor ordered!”
Sticking with Studiocanal and this week sees a re-release for The Railway Children, given a new lease of life at cinemas ahead of the theatrical bow for the long-time-coming sequel. And obviously this means plenty of opportunity for the original at home entertainment too. Here’s the company’s Nicola Browning on the release. She said: “We’re really excited to be re-releasing the original Railway Children in UK cinemas this weekend in advance of the upcoming big screen release of The Railway Children Return. This beloved British classic is adored and revered by many and it’s great to give audiences of all ages the chance to enjoy it on the big screen.”
This theatrical return of Jenny Agutter follows another Studiocanal title that has been in cinemas and set to see interest in the home entertainment offering being revived too is First Blood, the original Rambo film starring Sylvester Stallone (it’s now known as Rambo: First Blood). We saw it on the big screen last week – a first after years and years of repeated VHS, DVD and Blu-ray viewings, and it looked great. Commenting on its return, Studiocanal’s Kristin Ryan said: “In celebration of the 40th Anniversary Rambo: First Blood was unleashed back in UK cinemas taking an impressive £20,000 over its first weekend. With UK press eager to cover the screenings and an active social campaign, there’s definitely a lot of retro love for Stallone’s first John Rambo film.” 
Out on June 27 and, according to the company, performing strongly, is the latest excellent Japanese animated title from Anime Lid, Belle, which landed in stores on the back of another successful theatrical release from the independent. We raved about the film after seeing it just before its spring cinema release and it really is another fine outing from Mamoru Hosoda, one of the genre's leading lights, and the film has got off to a suitably strong start after the rave critical and audience reception to its theatrical bow. Commenting on the release, Anime Ltd's Andrew Partridge said: "We were thrilled by the response from both audiences and critics in the UK to BELLE earlier this year, and we're incredibly excited to transfer that magic into people’s homes this summer with our home video release. Anyone who has seen it will tell you that BELLE is a special film, and the sheer wealth of bonus content included in our release is a testament to the drive and creativity of everyone involved. It’s been a passion project from beginning to end, and I hope this film inspires more people to venture into Mamoru Hosoda’s works, and indeed anime as a medium.”
Meanwhile, it’s been a busy week for the independent Anime Ltd, as the company launched an ongoing theatrical burst that will see it through the summer and into the autumn. It’s offering a slate of Japanese animation that kicked off with Pompo The Cinephile, a tale aimed at lovers of cinema following the fortunes of a fictional studio. The programme is called Cine Matsuri, which aims, as Anime Ltd, to bring “an exciting and diverse programme of Japanese animated films exclusively to cinemas throughout the season and into autumn“. Future releases include pandemic fantasy The Deer King and the story of a 14th century rock star entitled INU-OH. Comment came from Anime Ltd’s Kerry Kasim who said: "A major part of our remit as a company is to bring ground-breaking original anime film to cinemas across the UK and Ireland. This year, we’ve got a treasure trove of releases across a host of genres to ensure there’s a film for everyone. It's going to be a packed period for theatrical releases, with many more still to be announced on the horizon. There's never been a better time to find anime at the cinema in the UK!”
And there’s more from Anime Ltd as the company has also announced a further addition to the Cine Matsuri range for later in the year too, as One Piece Film: Red has been announced as set to land later this year. It’s the latest in the ongoing One Piece saga and also boasts the involvement of original creator Eiichiro Oda. “One Piece is deeply loved in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and rightly so,” said Andrew Partridge, ceo and co-founder of Anime Limited. “It’s our privilege and honour to be able to bring such an exhilarating chapter of the One Piece saga to the big screen in the biggest way possible.”
In stores on Monday July 4 is the latest from the ever-varied and always worth looking at Picturehouse Entertainment imprint, which is offering up another title to add to its eclectic catalogue. The release is True Things, starring Ruth Wilson and is another winner. Commenting on the release for Picturehouse Entertainment, Bill Sich said "We're incredibly excited to be releasing TRUE THINGS on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday - it's an outstanding piece of work from Harry Wootliff following her brilliant debut Only You. Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke deliver stunning performances and the acclaim the film has received is well deserved. Described by critics as 'a visually ravishing depiction of obsessive love and destructive desire', we really hope audiences enjoy this intoxicating new drama"
Asian film specialist Third Window Films is also returning to the fray with another release bearing a wonderful title that in and of itself should attract attention. Summer Time Machine Blues lands with a bump in the year 2022 and arrives in stores on Monday July 4 and the company’s Adam Torel said: “We’re very happy to give the Japanese time-travel 2005 hit ‘Summer Time Machine Blues’ its very first release outside of Japan. It’s a fantastically charming time-travel film from the creators of BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES. It’s also the perfect time for it to finally get a release, hot on the tails of the worldwide success of Beyond. Loads of exclusive extras have been sourced and made for this release too, including a couple time-travel short films from the team alongside a new interview with Makoto Ueda, the creator of both films, and more.”
Meanwhile, as noted here recently, Arrow is offering up a slightly streamlined schedule for the late summer as it introduces new process and checks for its releases to ensure quality of its highly-rated Arrow Video titles is kept at the premium level consumers have become used to. And in that spirit, the company has just revealed its titles due in September. And here’s the company’s Louise Buckler on its September titles. She said: "September sees a duo of exciting titles joining the Arrow Video library. We have an Indonesian high-kicking action epic in Edwin's Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash. A fun throwback to the macho kung-fu cinema of the past but with a modern twist - tacking themes of toxic masculinity, erectile dysfunction and cultural violence. Rounding out the month we have A Fugitive From The Past, the stunning magnum opus from Tomu Uchida. Our release contains a stunning restored version of the 183-minute cut of the film which is accompanied with a wealth of new extras. A must buy for fans of Japanese cinema.”
Coming to cinemas this Friday, July 8, is the latest from Trinity CineAsia, and it’s one that is rooted in the present day rather than a historical epic. Ode To The Spring tells the story of ordinary people in Wuhan and the Coronavirus impact that spread from there around the globe. Commenting on the cinema release ahead of a home entertainment bow, Trinity Cine Asia co-founder and director Cedric Behrel said: “Ode to Spring is an unparalleled depiction of life as Covid-19 first hit China, with a first-rate cast and crew, based on true stories, which will resonate with audiences anywhere. We’re very thankful to Wanda Pictures and Beijing 1905 to entrust with bringing this landmark film to the UK & Ireland.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/lAmdRRI1Osg More shark business… https://youtu.be/o0nCxBQiQLM It’s taken nearly 30 years… https://youtu.be/ecJRvz9nk-U …
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