Luis Buñuel on DVD

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Wittsdream
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:00 pm
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Wuthering Heights from Films Sans Frontieres

#126 Post by Wittsdream » Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:20 pm

Anyone have the FSF edition of Bunuel's "Wuthering Heights?" How is the print quality? Do you think that Lions Gate will release this film in addition to the other films in his Mexican period that they've already released/announced?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

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tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
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Re: Wuthering Heights from Films Sans Frontieres

#127 Post by tryavna » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:05 pm

Wittsdream wrote:Anyone have the FSF edition of Bunuel's "Wuthering Heights?" How is the print quality? Do you think that Lions Gate will release this film in addition to the other films in his Mexican period that they've already released/announced?
Do you have FSF's other Bunuel releases (El, Los Olvidados, etc.)? If so, then Wuthering Heights is comparable in terms of A/V quality. That is, it's more than acceptable.

My guess is that Criterion and not Lionsgate have the rights to this one. Most of the Mexican films they released in that late-April batch (both Bunuel and not) were Alter titles. So it looks like the rights for the films that FSF have released are owned by somebody else and thus likely not part of the Lionsgate deal.

Wittsdream
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Re: Wuthering Heights from Films Sans Frontieres

#128 Post by Wittsdream » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:10 pm

tryavna wrote:Do you have FSF's other Bunuel releases (El, Los Olvidados, etc.)? If so, then Wuthering Heights is comparable in terms of A/V quality. That is, it's more than acceptable.

My guess is that Criterion and not Lionsgate have the rights to this one. Most of the Mexican films they released in that late-April batch (both Bunuel and not) were Alter titles. So it looks like the rights for the films that FSF have released are owned by somebody else and thus likely not part of the Lionsgate deal.
Thanks for the response. I actually went ahead and purchased the FSF edition, and yes, it is comparable in quality to "El." I am also in agreement with you that I believe Criterion is a better bet to release this, along with "Los Olvidados," than Lionsgate or some other label. Just wondering though, what is taking Criterion so long to release "Exterminating Angel" and 'Simon of the Desert." Those would easily be the most-anticipated of Bunuel films without acceptable DVD releases (I've heard the UK R2 disc of "Angel" erroneously amends the double exit scene early in the film). How dumb was that?

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justeleblanc
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#129 Post by justeleblanc » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:15 pm

Koch Lorber will release Olvidados if they win the lawsuit. If not, it will most likely be Lionsgate.

The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.

Wittsdream
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#130 Post by Wittsdream » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:11 am

justeleblanc wrote:The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.
So then the R2 DVD of "Angel" is the version that Bunuel had intended? For some reason, I remember a backlash against this release a couple of years ago for contravening the original (i.e. double exit) cut of the film. Either way, I think I'll just wait for the definitive Criterion release.

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vogler
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#131 Post by vogler » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:20 am

Wittsdream wrote:
justeleblanc wrote:The print of Exterminating Angel that showed on TCM in 2005 (with Janus logos) did not have the double exit scene. I thought this was put in by American distributors to make the film "more surreal (boogie boogie boogie)" but then I might be mistaken.
So then the R2 DVD of "Angel" is the version that Bunuel had intended?
No, absolutely not!
In his autobiography Luis Buñuel wrote:'In life, as in film, I've always been fascinated by repetition' ... 'There are at least a dozen repetitions in The Exterminating Angel' ... 'Another repetition occurs when the guests enter the hall and the host calls his butler twice; in fact, it's the same scene, but shot from different angles.'
More info here.

echopark_dweller
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Death in the Garden / La Mort en ce jardin (Bunuel, 1956)

#132 Post by echopark_dweller » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:58 am

Death in the Garden / La Mort en ce jardin (Bunuel, 1956)

Went to my local coffee shop this morning. A couple of guys next to me were looking over a picture of Simone Signoret on a laptop. I got to talking to them. The Signoret picture was a cover for an upcoming DVD of Death in the Garden. One guy was the graphic designer, and from what I gathered, the other guy was the producer. I didn't catch the name of their company.

They showed me what they were working on and it looked pretty tight. Death in the Garden is one of those obscure Bunuel films from his Mexican period that I've always enjoyed watching. So I was happy to hear the producer guy say they were giving it "loving treatment." He said the DVD will include an interview with Michel Piccoli that he himself shot. As for a release date, all he could give me was probably early fall.

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Anhedionisiac
the Displeasure Principle
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Re: Bunuel's Death in the Garden

#133 Post by Anhedionisiac » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:11 am

Great news, thanks for the inside scoop!

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Bunuel's Death in the Garden

#134 Post by Matt » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:32 pm

david hare wrote:To Mods how the fuck do you let these vermin/bots in?
This guy's been a member for several months and has made useful posts before. I see no reason to reject this rumor out-of-hand. It's not like he says he found a copy of Four Devils or anything.

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arsonfilms
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Re: Bunuel's Death in the Garden

#135 Post by arsonfilms » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:52 pm

Matt wrote:It's not like he says he found a copy of Four Devils or anything.
Oh, speaking of which, I was cleaning out my attic the other day, and you wouldn't believe what I found...

Death in the Garden really doesn't seem like an outlandish claim to me. For what it's worth, it played as part of a Bunel retrospective at last year's Berlinale.

echopark_dweller
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Re: Bunuel's Death in the Garden

#136 Post by echopark_dweller » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:04 pm

arsonfilms wrote:Death in the Garden really doesn't seem like an outlandish claim to me. For what it's worth, it played as part of a Bunel retrospective at last year's Berlinale.
Maybe I'm blind here, but what would I have to gain here? Seriously, I'm truly naive on this BOT issue. What does BOT stand for?

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Matt
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Re: Bunuel's Death in the Garden

#137 Post by Matt » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:38 pm

echopark_dweller wrote:What does BOT stand for?
Wikipedia

Revelator
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Re: Death in the Garden/La Mort en ce jardin (Bunuel, 1956)

#138 Post by Revelator » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:49 pm

Confirmation here and here.

Someone owes echopark_dweller an apology...

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AlexHansen
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Re: Death in the Garden / La Mort en ce jardin (Bunuel, 1956)

#139 Post by AlexHansen » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:54 pm

The mention that Las Hurdes is also coming excited me. Finding out that Microcinema previously had plans to release it in late 2007 or early 2008 tempers that excitement a bit.

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Awesome Welles
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#140 Post by Awesome Welles » Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:13 am

The disc is available for pre-order if anyone gets it please report back!

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L.A.
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#141 Post by L.A. » Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:32 pm

There's an Australian release of Un chien andalou which also includes Las Hurdes.

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Yojimbo
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:06 am
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#142 Post by Yojimbo » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:12 pm

I'm just about to watch 'The Great Madcap' which just arrived yesterday.
Although I don't expect premium Bunuel, neither did I have high expectations for 'Susana', which I absolutely love, so here's hoping

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Yojimbo
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Re:

#143 Post by Yojimbo » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:25 pm

jesus the mexican boi wrote:I disagree about this being minor Bunuel. Perhaps I'm biased -- I actually enjoy Bunuel's Mexican output as a whole much more than his earliest and latest works. But Susana is a film I can watch endlessly. It's charming and, I think, note-perfect in its portrayal of the reform school girl come to wreck the peaceful rancho by seducing anyone with a scrotum. I think it's a great doublefeature with El Bruto, as Susana and Katy Jurado's character in that film share certain affinities as lustful creatures. Also, I think it's interesting to see Bunuel's characterizations of the elderly in both films -- the slumlord's practically diapered dad in Bruto, and the dicho-spouting housekeeper in Susana. This film is especially about the subversion of order and even when order is seemingly restored, there's more subversion in the subtext.

Again, I highly recommend it to fans of epoca de oro Mexican cinema, Bunuelophiles and Russ Meyer fans. Ok, maybe they'll find it tame. But I dig it.
Speaking as a member of that exclusive club, I heartily concur: Bunuel is deliciously wicked and playful in this one: and its bookended by wonderful beginning and concluding scenes

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Yojimbo
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Re:

#144 Post by Yojimbo » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:27 pm

david hare wrote:I agree Susana is far from minor. Among other things she becomes a catalytic agent who plays off labor and capital - and the way Bunuel embeds politics into his great Mexican pictures (Illusion Travels, etc) is wildly more sophisticated than the dominant play of political themes in the mid fifties French pics, notably La Fievre Monte a el Pao.

Speaking of Mexican Bunuel does anyone else have a soft spot for Abismos de Pasion? Along with the Rivette it's surely the best Wuthering Heights around. And light years ahead of the Wyler.
I studied the novel in school and was hugely disappointed by Kiju Yoshida's version, although I'll certainly be watching out for the Bunuel, whatever about the Rivette

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tavernier
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#145 Post by tavernier » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:04 pm

Microcinema is releasing Le Mort en ce Jardin in R1 on October 27.
Available for the first time on DVD! The DVD was created using a newly restored print!

Special Features
- Restored picture and sound plus new and improved subtitles
- Audio commentary by film scholar Ernesto R. Acevedo-Munoz
- New video interviews with actor Michael Piccoli and film scholar Victor Fuentes
- Booklet featuring essays by Javier Espada, Juan-Luis Buñuel and Susan Hayward
- New and improved English subtitle translation

Revelator
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#146 Post by Revelator » Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:12 pm

Here's the link to Microcinema's listing: http://www.microcinemadvd.com/product/D ... arden.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Can't wait to see it--part of my interest is that Raymond Queneau contributed to the script. A hell of a team-up!

echopark_dweller
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#147 Post by echopark_dweller » Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:43 am

Here is the trailer for Death in the Garden. It looks pretty clean.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luis-Bunu ... 931?ref=mf

Revelator
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:33 pm

Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#148 Post by Revelator » Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:38 pm

DVD Beaver has put up an overall good review of the screener: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRevie ... garden.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You can preorder the DVD from Amazon for $17--I did so today.

Perkins Cobb
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#149 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:30 am

So ... it's in the wrong aspect ratio, and it's an improper PAL->NTSC conversion. How is that good exactly?

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#150 Post by Michael Kerpan » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:08 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:So ... it's in the wrong aspect ratio...
Where do you get this notion? (Not in the DVDBeav review, so far as I can tell).

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