The Baker is also currently available on region 2 DVD (Europe, Japan, South Africa, Mideast, and Egypt) and will be released on region 4 DVD (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean) on September 18th.

“The only thing better than a black comedy is an over the top, absurd, and wickedly funny black comedy. The Baker, starring Damian Lewis, is one hell of a funny black comedy DVD.
Damian Lewis plays Milo, a hit man who botches a job and must hide from reprisals until his boss can set things right. He finds shelter in a bakery in Gwynfyd, a remote Welsh village. Since the villagers are expecting a baker, a baker he becomes. Milo soon discovers he was born to be a baker.

Through some very strange circumstances involving an exploding ram, some villagers soon discover Milo’s real identity. Because of more strange coincidences the first chocolate cake Milo bakes for a customer coincides with the early demise of that customer’s wife. Milo the baker and his chocolate cakes then become very popular.

At first, Milo does not know the villagers know who he is or why chocolate cakes are all the rage. Eventually, Eggs, his assistant sets him straight:

Milo: “Is there anybody in this village who doesn’t want someone dead?”

Eggs: “Possibly Mrs. Pritchard?”

This leaves Milo is a difficult situation. Well, many difficult situations: a hit man is after him; a local girl has raised his dough; and his assistant has just completed one of the chocolate cake orders and is quite distraught.

The Baker is a hilarious movie. The actors playing the people of Gwynfyd are great, the various feuds and hatreds are extremely funny, and there are so many absurdly comic scenes you end up having to back up the DVD because you were laughing too hard. The writing is also superb and full of little comic gems:

Milo: “Everybody has a few skeletons in his closet.”

His girlfriend: “That’s supposed to be a figure of speech!”

At first the ending seems to veer toward the kind of Hollywood melodrama too many of us have become used to but there’s a great twist and the movie is comically absurd to the end.

The Baker is one black comedy movie you will not regret buying.”

Current information indicates that show will premiere on September 3rd at 20:00 hours but that has not been confirmed – so check your local listings; click here and here for more information.

“It did very well [at film festivals], but we have no distribution,” Cox said. “I am trying to get it seen by more than two people and a dog. I think it is very hard to work at the level we work at making these independent films and not to have recognition.”

Cox has discussed the problem with Nairn festival co-organisers Mark Cousins and Swinton, who is part-funding the eight-and-a-half day Ballerina Ballroom alternative film festival. “I think people do want to see films, but it is tough,” Cox said. “One time in this town… in one day, Pirates of the Caribbean was played 52 times. A small independent movie played up against that doesn’t have a chance.

“There is an inequity, a lack of fairness. Film festivals take up the slack but the cinema I grew up with and love is a cinema of films that were visceral and touched the heart… I’m not knocking it, because I earn my living doing it, but I want a reasonable platform to show the work which I consider to be my best work.

“It is these little festivals that reignite everything. What is lacking is cinema-going as a community activity…. We are too busy flogging it, making the bucks, as opposed to thinking about what the thing is.”

The Escapist will be released on region 2 DVD in the UK on October 13th.

“Now if you enjoy light weight movies, there’s no point in reading anymore, because this was the opposite. I was glued from the moment it started…The Escapist is what I would call a modernized, updated reinterpretation of Escape from Alcatraz with a much better soundtrack, more intense storyline, more vivid characters, and more stunning visuals – and it’s set not even remotely close to Alcatraz. I was completely blown away by The Escapist, in all aspects, and I’m still recovering from how amazing it was…

The Escapist uses two parallel storylines that eventually converge to build the film. The first is showing the escape in progress, while the second is showing all of the events leading up to the escape and the preparation. Rupert Wyatt’s editing techniques involve cutting between the storylines at moments where the location or the actor’s actions were similar, something that mesmerized me every time. Great editing combined with an incredibly rich visual style, a riveting and inspiring story, one of the best scores I’ve heard in ages, and uncanny performances have resulted in my new favorite escape movie. The Escapist is a bold, energetic, intense, and inspiring film that surprised and impressed me more than almost any film at Sundance…

Not only is Frank Perry’s story actually interesting (for once), but the remaining visual and aural elements outweigh the story in order to turn it into a fascinating film. Rupert Wyatt has considered all aspects of the prison atmosphere: the sound work in this is some the best all year (and deserves an Oscar nomination) and the rich visuals perfectly define this claustrophobic London prison. If you’re a prison break movie fan in the slightest, then The Escapist deserves more than your undivided attention.

I’ve got to give a special shout out to Benjamin Wallfisch, who’s work on the score in this incredible. The music in this is half of what made it so awesome. The music in The Escapist reminds me of Tyler Bate’s 300 score, that was energetic, intense, and upbeat.
Bravo Benjamin Wallfisch for composing one of my favorite scores of 2008.

All I’m gonna add is wow, it was brilliant. Best film I’ve seen for ages, not that I’ve seen many, but this was worth the wait.”

“A co-worker, who was lucky enough to be stationed on the back lot to open the doors, said Damian Lewis, the star of NBCs crime drama LIFE and another actor whose name he couldn’t remember (Donal Logue?) rolled up on a golf cart and took pictures on the event’s green carpet.”

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