PIC of the week – The Lure
Article series by Ray Schillaci
For several years I have posted my PIC of the week on Facebook, a video release that really stood out amongst the glut of releases that sometimes numbered into a hundred or more. It could be an obscure film (The Fortune, Straight Time, The Sender), a cult classic (Night of the Hunter, Electra Glide in Blue) or even a recent blockbuster (Hacksaw Ridge, Kong: Skull Island). I do not discriminate.
I’ll now expand those brief postings for a little more in-depth look on The Movie Guys. I may even, now and then, provide a runner-up, and I’ll continue to provide a link to the most inexpensive way to purchase or rent that “PIC of the week.”
I’ll start with the announcement of the PIC of the week… @Criterion Blu of director Agnieszka Smoczynska and writer Robert Bolesto’s The Lure. These two creative minds have brought something unique and fun to the screen – a horror/musical with carnivorous mermaids. The trailer alone of this Polish oddity is perplexing enough with its disco nightclub setting. Add to it a dark feminist twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Smoczynska and Bolesto provide one of the biggest surprises of 2017. Released to the public internationally in 2015, it was apparently too weird to release on our shores until a brave enough distributor released it to the art houses. Audiences and critics showered it with love and laughs.
This film had me at the mention of mermaids. I’ve loved these fish tails ever since seeing the 1948 film, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. And, if any of you have not caught this one, go out immediately and rent or buy. It’s well worth a view. I’ve also found myself lured by Night Tide, starring Dennis Hopper, the Ron Howard fantasy Splash, and even the 2014 independent horror/fantasies Spring, Siren, and Killer Mermaid (aka Nymph). Spring and Siren are not the traditional mermaids, but they run alongside the mythos. And I have to take a dip into the Asian waters and recognize Stephen Chow’s (Kung Fu Hustle) environmentally conscious comedy/drama/fantasy, The Mermaid. But, with such a variety of delicacies from the sea, The Lure may top them all with its bizarre take on this fantastical myth.
And, now Criterion made it available with director-approved special editions on Blu-ray.
– High definition digital master with 5.1 DTS surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
– New program about the making of the film featuring interviews with cast and crew
– Deleted scenes
– Two short films by director Agnieszka Smoczynska
– New English subtitle translation
– An essay by best selling author and ghostwriter, Angela Lovell
Criterion’s Blu of The Lure can be found on Amazon.
Also, this week is a must for a runner up; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Blu of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. The coolest movie since Pulp Fiction with a great soundtrack, fast-paced action and a dynamite cast. You’ll take this one for a drive several times, so it’s worth owning. Also at AMAZON.
Enjoy!
