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PillowRock
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:54 pm

#76 Post by PillowRock » Tue Feb 19, 2008 6:54 pm

skuhn8 wrote:I'd have to agree that if you have anything more than a cursory knowledge of cinema the mass majority of commentaries are going to be a waste of time.
I find good commentary tracks useful on foreign films where they can fill in info about cultural norms or historical context that I might have missed. Granted that even in a *good* track this is only a sparse scattering of information through the movie.

One recent example was the chopsticks stuck vertically in the rice in Drunken Angel. That was something that I hadn't realized the full significance of when I first watched the movie.

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Cronenfly
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#77 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:40 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Cronenfly wrote: I think that, if they're even on their radar at all, most mainstream studios seem to view them as too much work.
They shouldn't be, provided they're planned intelligently.
And therein lies the rub: the studios seem to be so used to churning out docs/interviews/commentaries as features that, however easy they might be to produce, video essays and the like just aren't happening. Maybe the majors will catch up someday to the independents; one can only hope.

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skuhn8
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#78 Post by skuhn8 » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:20 am

I'm looking forward to these Bunuels, commentary or no. I've been interested in Nazarin (even if it doesn't have a commentary) ever since I saw it excerpted in one of the Discreet Charm docs (not commentary).

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tryavna
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#79 Post by tryavna » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:42 am

Now that this thread is back to the Bunuels, I just wanted to point out that, even if these upcoming Lionsgate releases turn out to be straight ports of the Mexican Alter discs, they're not too bad. I have three of the Alter discs, and there's no need to fret too much about A/V quality. I'd say that they're clearly superior to Yume's NTSC-PAL monstrosities and a little better than the recent Facets releases, too.

Now, the question becomes: Does anybody know where one can find This Is the Dawn, Death in the Garden, and Fever Rises in El Pao with English subs? Those will be the last Bunuels that I have never seen -- or indeed that are still unavailable anywhere (even the bootleg market) with English subs, to the best of my knowledge.

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jesus the mexican boi
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#80 Post by jesus the mexican boi » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:11 pm

tryavna wrote:Now, the question becomes: Does anybody know where one can find This Is the Dawn, Death in the Garden, and Fever Rises in El Pao with English subs? Those will be the last Bunuels that I have never seen -- or indeed that are still unavailable anywhere (even the bootleg market) with English subs, to the best of my knowledge.
Back in the dark days before DVD (ah, the 90s), I picked up two of these from Facets on VHS. I believe La Fievre Monte a El Pao and Cela s'appelle l'aurore both had subs. Fievre was poor quality, near unwatchable with those white subtitles on the print itself. Mort en ce Jardin got a legit release, if I remember correctly, and was pretty good beat-up sister to Clouzot's Wages of Fear; definitely the most colorful of Bunuel's output at the time, with a great performance from Simone Signoret. I wish I knew what happened to the tapes I had. I must have pawned them off at some point in the road. Of the three, Death in the Garden is by far the best, followed by Dawn and then El Pao, the latter being a political film that never really gelled for me. Atypical Bunuel.

I take it, then, that you've seen La Hija del Engaño? That was one I found languishing unrented on a Mom-and-Pop videostore rack on unsubbed Mexican VHS back in the day and really enjoyed (I tried to convice the videostore owner to sell it to me, but she said no dice, so I duped it). I know it's gotten a release on DVD, but to my knowledge, no subs.

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tryavna
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#81 Post by tryavna » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:17 pm

jesus the mexican boi wrote:I take it, then, that you've seen La Hija del Engaño?
No, but it will be one of the six that will get released by Lionsgate in April. So I will have seen it by then. Same goes for River and Death.

I was just thinking ahead to the three that seem to be totally off the radar at the moment.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#82 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:56 pm

What do you gents (and gals) think of Robinson Crusoe? I've had this thing laying around on VHS for years and never gotten to it. Should I plunge?

mteller
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#83 Post by mteller » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:05 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:What do you gents (and gals) think of Robinson Crusoe? I've had this thing laying around on VHS for years and never gotten to it. Should I plunge?
It's not bad at all, but of course not much like a "typical" Bunuel film.

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HerrSchreck
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#84 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:08 pm

Yeah, thats pretty much the reason I kept putting it off.

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jesus the mexican boi
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#85 Post by jesus the mexican boi » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:14 pm

mteller wrote:
HerrSchreck wrote:What do you gents (and gals) think of Robinson Crusoe? I've had this thing laying around on VHS for years and never gotten to it. Should I plunge?
It's not bad at all, but of course not much like a "typical" Bunuel film.
I agree. I would much rather have had Bunuel direct his first choice for a Daniel Defoe novel, Journal of a Plague Year. His scriptbuddy Jean-Claude Carriere did a bang-up job on a similar project, Jean Giono's The Horseman on the Roof.

jurples
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#86 Post by jurples » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:12 pm

I managed to pick up Alter Films' versions of 5 of these when I was in Mexico the year before last. Unless there's some huge improvement in quality (which, given the prices I highly doubt) I'll just be picking up the set with La Hija del engaño.

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Gigi M.
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:09 pm
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The World War Collection

#87 Post by Gigi M. » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:43 pm

Interesting set coming on 5/27. Includes:

- The Sound Barrier (David Lean, 1952)
- King & Country (Joseph Losey, 1964)
- Angels One Five (George More O'Ferrall, 1952)
- The Captive Heart (Basil Dearden, 1946)

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What A Disgrace
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#88 Post by What A Disgrace » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:33 pm

King and Country, The Captive Heart, and The Sound Barrier? The awesome train has come to town.

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Person
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Re: The World War Collection (Lionsgate)

#89 Post by Person » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:58 pm

Wow, usually WWII boxed sets feature a real rag-bag of films, but this one looks good!

King & Country will hopefully be 1.66:1 anamorphic. The Captive Heart is a sadly overlooked classic, with Michael Redgrave giving a superb performance. Doug Slocombe was the DP. Basil Deardon made some great films.

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tryavna
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Re: The World War Collection (Lionsgate)

#90 Post by tryavna » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:29 pm

Person wrote:The Captive Heart is a sadly overlooked classic, with Michael Redgrave giving a superb performance. Doug Slocombe was the DP. Basil Deardon made some great films.
I recently bought the R2 Optimum release of this title. (I assume that Lionsgate will use the same print.) And it looks fantastic. Slocombe's cinematography is exquisite at times; the film is good, but it really comes alive artistically with Slocumbe's on-location work. It's also got to be one of the very few POW films with absolutely no time dedicated to escape plans. It's all about the tedium of imprisonment, which -- let's face it -- was the realistic experience of 99.9% of all POWs. I second Gordon's hearty recommendation.

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John Hodson
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#91 Post by John Hodson » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:25 am

As part of a recent restoration of 10 Lean films, a new transfer of 'The Sound Barrier' will be released in the UK in August - I wonder if this will be that new restoration?

BTW, the artwork screams 'don't mention the British!'

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Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

#92 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:19 pm

Guess we know now where Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), et al. will be coming from for certain.
Last edited by Cronenfly on Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Cinephrenic
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#93 Post by Cinephrenic » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:29 pm

Perhaps Johnny Guitar will be finally released.

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What A Disgrace
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#94 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:43 pm

Gimme Rio Grande and Quiet Man, too.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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#95 Post by Jeff » Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:59 pm

I imagine that Lionsgate will start with the films that Paramount has already done restoration work for. This list hasn't been updated in two years, but it is a place to start. I also suspect that the Republic titles that Paramount announced, then quickly canceled two years ago will turn up quickly too.

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Person
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 3:00 pm

#96 Post by Person » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:28 am

Sheesh, I had forgotten about Letter From An Unknown Woman. :oops: Bring that one on, pronto!

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Buttery Jeb
Just in it for the game.
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:55 pm

The Meridian Collection: Diva

#97 Post by Buttery Jeb » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:01 pm

Here's an article from Home Media Magazine, regarding the launch of Lionsgate's new arthouse label, The Meridian Collection. As noted in the Rumors and News section, the first two titles, "Diva" and "The Red Violin," pop out in June.

I get the sinking feeling that a Meridian edition of "It Always Rains on Sunday" will be out in September (seeing as the only Ealing film with Criterion, "Kind Hearts and Coronets," was licensed from StudioCanal by way of Anchor Bay). That said, it'll be nice to see a couple of long-suffering Lionsgate or Artisan titles get nice double-dips in the near future.

-BJ

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pro-bassoonist
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#98 Post by pro-bassoonist » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:47 pm

Thank you for posting it. This is nothing but excellent news as I imagine there will be plenty of Studio Canal product that will likely be channeled through it.

Ciao,
Pro-B

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

#99 Post by kekid » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:05 pm

This is very good news. However, I wonder why they would choose two films that have been around on DVD rather than break some new ground.

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tryavna
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Re: Lionsgate: The Meridian Collection

#100 Post by tryavna » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:45 pm

Buttery Jeb wrote:I get the sinking feeling that a Meridian edition of "It Always Rains on Sunday" will be out in September (seeing as the only Ealing film with Criterion, "Kind Hearts and Coronets," was licensed from StudioCanal by way of Anchor Bay).
Actually, Criterion have released two Ealing films so far, counting both Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Proud Valley (which is in the Paul Robeson boxset).

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