"I love you, really. With all due respect, you're a beautiful person. You're a credit to your race." -- Sid Waterman, 'Scoop'

Film It's nearly eighteen months since I mentioned the rather underwhelming first teaser poster for Woody Allen's film Scoop then waited and waited for a proper UK release. It appeared at the Glasgow Film Festival in February and that's been it. His next, Cassandra's Dream is already on the release roundabout and looking more like to be seen over here.

In the light of the fact that it's a BBC Film, it's odd that we seem to be the only country in the world who hasn't seen it since the original limited US release being as early as last July, not even a direct-to-dvd release and made all the more bizarre since the cast headlines Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman. It isn't apparently all that wretched according to Sight & Sound, certainly not another Hollywood Ending.

I almost gave up waiting. I say almost, because after checking online I found that CD-Wow had a region two dvd of the film from somewhere on the continent which I ordered at the middle of July. They took my money and then nothing arrived. A fortnight later I emailed and they said they were having a supply problem, pretty normal and not to worry and they took my money so that they didn't have to hold my credit card details and isn't that good thing and so much more secure. That might be the case, yet you still have my money and I don't have a dvd.

So I still had to wait some more. And some more. It finally arrived today in a jiffy-bag which has been sent from Hong Kong (which is where some of CD-Wow's distribution is based). The dvd inside is from Sweden (though with an English soundtrack). This then is a British film financed by the BBC which has been released on dvd in Sweden and pressed there, shipped off to Hong Kong and then posted back to me which does somewhat explain the extra waiting time. This is a film which has traveled, especially considering it was directed by an American and has a multinational cast. I do hope it's worth it after all that. Expect a review in the not too distant future.

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