Straightheads at Blockbuster today

In case you didn't know, today is the launch day for Straightheads at Blockbuster. They've got an exclusive on the disc (barebones-no extras version I believe) for a while, not sure how long... I'm also told HMV will have some kind of special sleeve on their discs when they come up for sale on 24th Sept, haven't seen it though. Here's the US DVD cover for Closure: 

Also take a look at this: Swedish DVD cover.

Comments

[Alan]

Hi Dan!

Good to hear from you! You are indeed right in saying that Straightheads in now available for rental in the UK exclusive from Blockbuster today (24/8/07) as I've just finished watching it! :)

It's brilliant Dan! Absolutely brilliant! Just as good now as it was when I watched it 4-months ago if not better!

I know I keep on about this but are there any more videos or publicity pictures you can post for us? I greatly enjoy this film and I still want to know more about it.

Anyway I hope that things are okay with you and that you're staying busy. I look forward to hearing from you again here at Straightblog.

Take care and all the very best.

- Alan.

[GADD1960(Marie)]

Hey there Dan and thanks for the stopping by!

Here in Sweden you can rent it from 14 November at Love Film. Rotten Swedish title, roughly translated into English; "The Cruel Game"! But I liked the cover and if anyone is interested to see it you can go here :
http://www.lovefilm.se/browse.do?show=movie&id=48486
I eagerly awaits my copy from Amazon UK!

[Leslie - NL, Canada]

ohhh I can't wait to get my copy... seeing the cover is just making me more anxious to see it. :))

~Les

[Micha]

I liked both covers very much...
Will order my Straightheads copy from HMV I guess. Greetings from Germany!

[Crystal]

I saw Straightheads today, and I was very surprised to love it more than I thought I would! I thought that it was going to be more about Adam and Alice being heartless towards them...but it wasn't. I can't wait until I actually own the dvd. Both Gillian and Danny were excellent; at their best. Thanks so much Dan, awesome movie :)-Crystal

[Raquel Danason]

Hi Dan,
thanks a lot for that information! I pray for it come to Blockbuster Brazil too but it´s not more Blockbuster internacional group, it´s bought in the beginning of the year. Well, now it´s wait!
but I´m happy to know the british friends is available to see now!

[AG]

I'm still wait a presentation of SH in RF.

[Arlene]

Looks cool! I have pre-ordered the DVDs through amazon.co.uk so I still have to wait till the 24th. I am really looking forward to finally see it!

[GADD1960(Marie)]

"Closure" is getting some pretty good reviews from the US. Glad to see that it's received a bit better judgement than in the UK. Couldn't really understand why it was so panned there. It got some very good reviews but most were surprisingly negative.

http://www.scoopy.com/straightheads.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Closure-Anderson/dp/B000SSQ7K6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-2577984-8097443?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1189619126&sr=1-1

http://www.bloodtypeonline.com/c37.htm

[Keri Ann]

I thought the movie was well done, and very intense. One moment I was aroused and the next I'm covering my eyes, just horrified. Well done Dan, great movie. Gillian was beautiful in this movie and such a talented actress.

[Leslie - NL, Canada]

I finally got to watch the DVD as well, this afternoon! I really liked your movie. It was very intense! Without giving away spoilers.... the scene after the attack... phenomenal! Gillian was incredible in it, as was Danny. Awesome job!

~Les

[GADD1960(Marie)]

Cinema-crazed review 3 *** out of 4

Straightheads

The Good: Apocalypse films and revenge films; those are my downfalls. Those are my easy buttons, the ones that really speak to me regardless. And like almost every other revenge film ever made, this is one that’s really based around rape, and sports more than one title. It depends in the end on what you want to call it: “Straightheads” or “Closure”? I prefer the former. If anything, regardless of its quality “Straightheads” features Gillian Anderson speaking in a Brit accent, and that’s not too shabby. Anderson is still a really sexy woman and the Brit accent only induces that atmosphere she possesses. “Straightheads,” as I call it, shows Anderson at her most raw. This is a role that shows Anderson completely going all out to bring home this revenge plot, featuring every bit of her body for the purposes of the brutality. Adam and Alice are friends who have bonded thanks to Adam’s installation of a security device at her home.
At the night of a big business party, the two ditch the boring soiree and duck out where they accidentally smash into a deer by the side of the road. Their attempts to clean up are interrupted by three travelers who proceed to beat him near death and overpower her, beating and raping her. The two return to their home angered and garnering their own personal injuries of their own attempt normality. But that proves difficult when Alice almost crashes into a group of horsemen and discovers one of her attackers.

I think what hasn’t gelled with audiences is the fact that this isn’t a typical revenge film. “Straightheads” is instead a tale of morality, and sacrifices. It’s about how some of us would be willing to sell our souls to protect our loved ones if we had to. “Straightheads” is less a story of two people leaving a trail of bodies after their tragedy, but more about adding faces to these monsters and causing us to discuss what we’d do in this situation. Dan Reed doesn’t exactly strive for originality here because, let’s face it, there’s not much to be done with the sub-genre that hasn’t already been done better. But for what he explores here, he does his best to show our victims attempting to seek vengeance all the while faced with the prospect of death.

Death is not such an easy aspect in this plan for revenge, as they see the effects of this crime and know that it entails a great weight of guilt and self-righteousness. What Reed also conveys is this downward spiral that these two people experience as their sanity fades, and they soon deteriorate. The gradual metamorphosis makes for the best scenes in the film as Anderson and Dyer have a great chemistry that enables them to properly convince us of the effects of this random attack. When all is said and done, Reed asks us to examine what had happened and if anyone actually won out in the climax. Revenge is never healthy, and violence changes us. I think he extrapolates such questions with sheer skill.

Summing Up: I loved this film, not just because it’s a story of revenge, but it’s also a story of how far we’d go to protect the people we love, even if it meant hurting others in the process. Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer give wonderful performances complimented by a deliberately paced story of crimes and their long last effects.

http://www.cinema-crazed.com/straightheads.htm

[Lily]

I really liked it - my best compliments! I liked its essential and realistic style, never gratuitious though. Gillian is powerful, and a bit scary too! Dyer is a good complement to her, so uncertain and hungry for the strenght he's lacking.

[lapa]

Do you know one of the best portuguese writers ever: CRISTÓVÃO DE AGUIAR?

ALIVE IN MY BLOG.
Thank you.

[Michael H.]

Finally, Dan... I got my DVD from England and watched the film now, including deleted scenes + interviews. Overall I have to say I liked it, was fascinated by it in a way. The two things that really stand out for me are
1. the acting. Gillian Anderson is amazing (as always) in portraying the traumatized Alice, with two scenes I'd like everyone to see as examples: the scene in the woods on the morning after the attack, and the scene where she recognizes the attacker on the horse and asks for his name. But Danny Dyer does a great job too in showing Adam's weakness and the loss of confidence that drives him mad.
2. the use of settings, colours and light. There's a great atmosphere, a coldness and bleakness that is always there and makes the film appear whole and coherent. (Some scenes that were deleted actually did not fit into that, e.g. Alice's birthday at work, so it's good that they're cut.)

Some things that I didn't like (although that's hard to say and definitely influenced by all the comments I've read before):
1. The coincidence of Alice meeting her attacker again. It seems strange that she returns to the same area again in a completely different context (the death of her father). It gave the film a surreal touch, like a nightmare coming back (which maybe is not that bad, coming to think of it, but it takes away the realism that the film strives for elsewhere).
2. One particular scene: Alice meeting Sophie in the woods. Why would Sophie make some vague comments about her life when she talks to a complete stranger? Especially since Alice doesn't look very trustworthy in that scene, but more suspicious...
3. Heffer's "excuse". Can't really say what kind of reason for his doings I would have found more plausible, but this "distracting the bad guys fom my daughter"-backstory just didn't work for me.

Concerning the violence, I was prepared of course, and I didn't it too shocking, but adequate. I feel I've got the message that by being traumatized in such a way you turn into a completely different person and you don't have control over yourself, given the circumstances. In this sense, I found the two MAIN characters and their developments completely plausible, which is always one crucial point in judging a movie. As I said, the two lead actors have their share in making their characters work.

I will of course re-watch this, next time with the comments of the three of you, and maybe comment again. (Hope you still read this...:)

[AG]

Dan, I have looked SH.
I have received a disk as a gift from my friend. It was pleasant (a gift).
SH.
I looked film in English, I suppose, that any details of dialogues could be "lost in translation ".
As a whole, I am glad, that I have found an opportunity to look your film.
It was interesting to me for many reasons: first - GLA, secondly - you, thirdly - history.
I have reconsidered film few times.
I do it sometimes. It allows to remove a layer of emotional dependence, if in a basiq role is favourite actrice. :)))

Positive: History is well written. The behavioural line of heroes is very well realized. For this thanks you as a scripwriter, and special thanks for actors.

DD it is very convincing, the clear head. Very-very strongly and correctly sustained character. A uniform miss in typology of behaviour up to an attack and after. Evolution of his aggression. And this, forgive me, obsession of the man to die of pity to itself. And weak in the beginning it remains weak during all history, and naturally breaks on revenge.
Smartly.

GLA - without comments, I can't speak objectiv about this actress.
I can tell, that her play has forced me to empathize almost organic.
A negative: I don't have

Имейте хороший день. Пардон за мой английский

[GADD1960(Marie)]

Been listening to the commentaries (they are great btw!) and a question springs to mind! Dan, if you had an opportunity to do a Director's cut, is that something you would want to do? And would it be very different from what we see? It sounds to me that a lot of people had a say in the editing and just wondered if you had a different version in your head. Can I say again how much I appreciate this movie! I can't say like or love because that isn't the way it feels watching it. Fascination is one word, bewilderment another!;)

[brige]

...i just wanna ask...why is it not available in the philippines..?=(

such a shame...i think the movie's gonna be great...i've watched the trailer and i found it cool...

keep rocking, man..

[AG]

U nas narod creativit - sosdali vosmosnyi variant obloski DVD "SH" i dage russkii variant nasvanya filma - "Napramuy".
Ya perechitala kommentarii v etom blog, bylo interesno.
Visu , chto ludi v bolschey svoey chasty vosprinalu film. Eto raduet.

[noctralace]

rochitrmo

[Mina Rhodes]

Hi, I just wanted to drop by and say that Straightheads was the first film I reviewed for DVD Verdict.com

You can see the review here:
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/closure.php
(It's positive ;P)

[Raquel]

The movie is coming to Brazil in dvd on february!

[Michael H.]

Hi Dan, hi Straightheads fans, any of you left??

I just discovered this version of the cover, I think it's a Belgian website:
http://www.cinebel.be/portal/resources/movie/1002129/ba18196x.jpg

[Str8ahead]

Thanks for the cover Micheal :-) And be sure that all of us are still out there and still talking about the movie.;). Btw, that commentary is beyond words. Whoever just got 'Closure' (I'm still in denial, the title is ONLY Straightheads), make sure to get the Uk release too guys!. Damn worth it.