New Series Alert

03.13.2024

Scene from Goin' South

Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome’s Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.

The first film in the series is RED ROCK WEST followed by GOIN’ SOUTH.

RED ROCK WEST

Michael (Nicolas Cage, Wild at Heart), a discharged marine turned drifter, ends up in Red Rock, Wyoming in search of honest work. Wayne (J.T. Walsh, Breakdown), a local bar owner, offers Michael the dishonest work of carrying out a hit on his wife Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle, The Last Seduction) after mistaking him for the actual hitman, “Lyle, from Dallas”, that he hired to murder his spouse. Before Michael can split town with his downpayment, he runs into the real Lyle (Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet) and, from there, all hell breaks loose.

Directed and co-written by John Dahl (Kill Me Again), RED ROCK WEST is an endlessly twisty slice of distinctly American neo-noir set in the heartland of the United States. Featuring stellar performances from all three leads and a nearly repellent mean-streak, Dahl’s film is an often forgotten jewel of 90s crime cinema, making its US blu-ray debut in an all new restoration from Cinématographe.

GOIN’ SOUTH

Henry Moon (Jack Nicholson, Chinatown) is a cut-rate outlaw in post-Civil War Texas, convicted of bank robbery and property theft. Moon is sentenced to death by hanging in the town of Longhorn, a town that maintains an ordinance allowing for any condemned man to be freed from the gallows via marriage. Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen, Clifford), a quiet virginal young woman with a secret gold mine, saves Moon from the gallows in an attempt to exploit him for free labor. With Moon intent on consummating his marriage to a virgin bride and Tate seeking to mine her hidden fortune, the two embark on an equally combative, comedic, relationship in the Old West.

The sophomore feature directorial effort from Jack Nicholson, following his counterculture comedy Drive, He Said in 1971, GOIN’ SOUTH is a commonly overlooked entry in Nicholson’s repertoire as an actor and filmmaker. Featuring gorgeous photography from noted cinematographer Néstor Almendros (Days of Heaven) and a talented comedic cast including John Belushi (Animal House), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Danny DeVito (Wise Guys) and Ed Begley Jr. (Blue Collar), Cinématographe is proud to present Jack Nicholson’s wild western comedy on blu-ray and UHD for the first time in the world from a brand new 4K restoration of its original camera negative!