Back in 2009, Oscilloscope Laboratories, the unorthodox distributor led by the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, took the step of launching a “Circle of Trust” mail-order DVD club where members were entitled to the next 10 releases the company would release for $150. Since then, the program has grown to include an option for Blu-ray when available and the price has now dropped to $100, making the average price of owning the ordinarily $30 discs just shy of what it would cost to see any one of the films in the theater.
There are other perks, including invitations for advance screenings of Oscilloscope’s new releases and the option to buy any of their previous releases for $15 during the year’s membership in the program, but while you’re at the mercy of what films the company will distributing next by signing up, it’s a safe bet that you will be getting some of the world’s best cinema in the months ahead. This Tuesday alone brings the release of Evan Glodell’s apocalyptic romance “Bellflower,” which you know we’re fans of, yet beyond that Oscilloscope has secured the rights to the acclaimed Tilda Swinton drama “We Need to Talk About Kevin” from “Morvern Callar” director Lynne Ramsay, the recently restored final film from Nicholas Ray, “We Can’t Go Home Again,” and “Fish Tank” director Andrea Arnold’s radical reinterpretation of Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights.” Having been on the fall festival circuit, we can vouch for “Kevin” and “Heights” as not just good, but requiring second and third looks if not many more. Full information can be found here.