Coming DVDs

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Re: Coming DVDs

Post by Big Magilla »

I just watched a beautiful Blu-ray of David Lean's Summertime from Paramount Japan (Region A) with perfect picture and sound. Menu is in English - Japanese subtitles are removable. IMDb. lists a 2018 German Blu-ray, but it's not available on Amazon.de which just lists the washed out Spanish and UK DVD transfers.

The Japanese import is light-years beyond the now twenty-year-old Criterion DVD. I had given up hope of ever seeing a Blu-ray restoration but here it is.

I still don't understand how this one failed to receive Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing and how it failed to win in the two categories for which it was nominated - Best Director and Actress. I'll always prefer Katharine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi in Venice to Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster in New Orleans.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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I've got a horrible feeling Sony will release Casualties of War on BDR. They have such poor form with their back catalogue and I still can't believe that they released Toni Erdmann on BDR. I think the definitive Blu Ray edition will end up coming from Arrow or Indicator in the UK sometime in the future.

One can imagine most of the Kore-eda Hirokazu's finding their way to Blu Ray in the US/UK. Though I've bitten the bullet and purchased the Japanese editions. I can't remember Distance but I know that I didn't think much of it the first round. After Life is wonderful, such a novel and original film.

The BFI have some interesting films coming in July/August: The Comfort of Strangers, It Happened Here, Separate Tables & Eye of the Needle though I won't double dip on that one as I purchased the Twilight Edition.

Tender Mercies is coming to Blu Ray in August in Australia - hopefully in a decent transfer. Umbrella who are releasing it are hit and miss with their most recent Blu Ray release of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith coming under a lot of criticism. I watched it the other week and there is something 'off' with the transfer but I couldn't pinpoint what but one would expect better from a 'restoration'.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Precious Doll wrote: Kore-eda Hirokazu's early films (Nobody Knows, Maborosi, After Life, Distance, Hana, Air Doll and Still Walking) are all being released on Blu Ray in Japan - restored - with English subtitles, though I doubt any special features will be subtitled but one never knows. With only Still Walking already released in the U.S. by Criterion, these are must buys for any fan of Hirokazu. Incidentally, one of his most recent films, The Third Murder, will be released in July by Arrow in the UK
Maborosi was just announced for a US release by Milestone too.

Not sure when or if the others will be released--After Life was distributed by a company that went defunct after putting out just a handful of films, so I'm not sure who might have the rights; Hana was released in dubbed form by some company called Funimation; Nobody Knows was from IFC, so Criterion might could get their hands on it; Distance and Air Doll weren't released at all. I think The Third Murder is is being released by Film Movement at some point this year, although I'm not sure when.

That's a shame about 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. For some reason, the release in the U.S. was also cropped, and even the streaming version on Hulu's IFC channel (which is usually pretty good) only had the cropped version.

Casualties of War is being released by Sony in July. No word on whether it's the theatrical version of extended version (which DePalma prefers to the theatrical version), or whether this is a pressed disc or a BDR. Sony has released several films on BDR's over the past few years. This is one of DePalma's greatest movies in my mind, so I'll definitely be getting it. I know it's been released overseas, so if the US version is a BDR, I may get a Region B copy, especially if I can find it cheaper.

And I just realized that my post about the BFI's Woodfall release was just above your post about the very same subject. As soon as I read it on another board, I came over and posted it without reading anything in this thread. Sorry about that!
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Re: Coming DVDs

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For Oscar completists Broadway Hostess (1935) makes its DVD premier via Warner Archives in May.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Warning alert:

If anyone was considering purchasing the English Blu Ray of 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days don't. Artificial Eye have released the film in the incorrect ratio of 1:85:1 and not the original theatrical ratio of 2:39:1. Also, it has been confirmed that the Blu Ray is not open-matte but cropped on the sides.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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There are a number of interesting releases from around the globe coming in the next few months.

Criterion are releasing a boxset of von Sternberg/Dietrich in Hollywood - a great opportunity to get rid of those ordinary DVDs;

France have released See You Up There (Region Free) & Redoubtable (Region B locked) on Blu Ray with English subtitles. The one downside is that the special features lack English subtitles, which is a particular shame with See You Up There as the special features make up a second disc and it's jam-packed. The quality of both releases in outstanding and there is virtually no chance of See You Up There seeing a Blu Ray release outside of France. Cohen Media have the US rights to Redoubtable and released it in cinemas last week under a different title, Godard Mon Amour, and it will probably turn up on Blu Ray in the US given Cohen Media release most of their titles in this format;

Kore-eda Hirokazu's early films (Nobody Knows, Maborosi, After Life, Distance, Hana, Air Doll and Still Walking) are all being released on Blu Ray in Japan - restored - with English subtitles, though I doubt any special features will be subtitled but one never knows. With only Still Walking already released in the U.S. by Criterion, these are must buys for any fan of Hirokazu. Incidentally, one of his most recent films, The Third Murder, will be released in July by Arrow in the UK;

Dennis Hoppers little seen The Last Movie is also finally due for release later in the year, in the both the US & UK;

The second and final BFI boxset of Derek Jarman's work is due to be released in November I believe;

And finally Shout Factory have done a deal with Warners to release a number of titles. So far only Warner owned horror films have been announced but I believe they will be branching out into other genres and their are some real gems coming later in the year. I'm hoping for titles like Crusing, Fast Walking, Brewster McCloud, Personal Best, Heart Beat, etc.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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BFI is releasing WOOFALL: A REVOLUTION IN BRITISH CINEMA next month, so if you're region-free, this seems like a must-buy. Glad I've held off on the Criterion of some of these, because I'll come out cheaper with this in the long-run, and get some movies (e.g., The Entertainer) that might not get a release in the States.
WOODFALL: A REVOLUTION IN BRITISH CINEMA

DISC ONE: LOOK BACK IN ANGER

Working Class Heroes: The Stories that Changed British Cinema (2018, 47 mins)
A panel discussion hosted by Danny Leigh, in which actors Rita Tushingham, Tom Courtenay and Joely Richardson, journalist Paris Lees and filmmaker Jez Butterworth explore the gritty stories brought to life by Woodfall Films.

George Devine Memorial Play: Look Back in Anger (Peter Whitehead, 1966, 17 mins)
Footage of charity performance at the Old Vic in order to create an endowment for the George Devine Award. Made by Peter Whitehead, starring Kenneth Haigh as Jimmy Porter and Gary Raymond as Cliff Lewis.

Oswald Morris Remembers Woodfall (Alan Van Wijgerden, 1993, 24 mins)
Cinematographer Oswald Morris reminisces about his work with Tony Richardson and Woodfall in this interview from 1993.

Ten Bob in Winter (Lloyd Reckord, 1963, 12 mins)
A BFI Experimental Film Fund short film set in Notting Hill, directed by the Jamaican-born Lloyd Reckord with a score by the Joe Harriott Quintet

Trailer (3 mins)

Stills Gallery (2 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 105 mins
________________________________

DISC TWO: THE ENTERTAINER

George Devine Memorial Play: The Entertainer, Sequence One and Two (Peter Whitehead, 1966, 6 + 5 mins)
Footage of charity performance at the Old Vic in order to create an endowment for the George Devine Award. Made by Peter Whitehead, starring Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice.

O Dreamland (Lindsay Anderson, 1953, 12 mins)
Lindsay Anderson’s ground-breaking short film about a Margate amusement park, which helped to launch the Free Cinema documentary movement.

Panoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901, 2 mins)
Parade on West End Pier, Morecambe (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901, 2 mins)
Parade on West End Pier, Morecambe (2) (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901, 2 mins)
Parade on Morecambe Central Pier (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1902, 3 mins)
Morecambe Promenade & Winter Gardens (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901, 2 mins)
Morecambe Pier (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1900, 1 mins)
Scenes by the Stone Jetty, Morecambe (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901, 2 mins)
Morecambe Carnival - Topical Budget 944-2 (1929, 1 min)
A selection of Mitchell and Kenyon and Topical Budget films preserved at the BFI National Archive.

Lancashire Coast (John Taylor, 1957, 15 mins)
A British Transport Film travelogue of Lancashire shot by David Watkin, DoP on THE KNACK…and how to get it.

Stills Gallery (4 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 57 mins
________________________________

DISC THREE: SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
(NB: this is the 2009 release repackaged)

Commentary by film historian Robert Murphy, writer Alan Silllitoe and cinematographer Freddie Francis.
Feature-length audio commentary recorded in 2002

Albert Finney Interview (2009, 4 mins)
Excerpt from a 1982 Guardian Interview at the National Film Theatre where Albert Finney was in conversation with Michael Billington – played over stills.

Shirley Anne Field on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Caroline Millar, 2009, 10 mins)
The actress reflects on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and working with Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson.

We are the Lambeth Boys (Karel Reisz, 1959, 51 mins)
A Free Cinema documentary following a group of Lambeth teenagers. Shot by Free Cinema and Woodfall regular, Walter Lassally and with music by Johnny Dankworth who also features in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

EXTRAS TOTAL = 153 mins
________________________________

DISC FOUR: A TASTE OF HONEY

Commentary by Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan and Murray Melvin
Feature-length audio commentary recorded in 2002.

Walter Lassally Video Essay (2002, 21 mins)
Walter Lassally explains some of the decisions and techniques used on A Taste of Honey.

50th Anniversary Q&A with Rita Tushingham, Murray Melvin and Walter Lassally (2011, 15 mins)
To mark the 50th anniversary of the cinema release of A Taste of Honey, stars Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin, and cinematographer Walter Lassally take part in an onstage discussion with BFI curator Josephine Botting. Recorded at BFI Southbank on 7th November 2011.

A Taste of Honey from Stage to Screen – A Journey with Murray Melvin (2018, 25 mins)
Murray Melvin recounts the first stage production of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey (1958) by Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop. Reminiscing on his role in both the play and Tony Richardson’s film.

Rita Tushingham on A Taste of Honey (2018, 15 mins)
Rita Tushingham reminisces about working with Tony Richardson on A Taste of Honey.

Holiday (John Taylor, 1957, 18 mins)
Another British Transport Film, this one extolling the attractions at Blackpool. Shot by David Watkin, with music by The Chris Barber Band, who also features in Look Back in Anger and the Free Cinema film Momma Don’t Allow (Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, 1956).

Stills Gallery (5 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 199 mins
________________________________

DISC FIVE: THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
(NB: this is the 2009 release repackaged)

Commentary by Tom Courtenay and Alan Sillitoe moderated by Robert Murphy
Feature-length audio commentary recorded in 2002.

Walter Lassally Video Essay (2002, 19 mins)
Walter Lassally explains some of the decisions and techniques used on The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner.

Momma Don’t Allow (Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, 1956, 22 mins)
A Free Cinema short filmed over nine Saturdays at Art and Viv Sanders’ Wood Green Jazz Club. Shot by Walter Lassally and featuring the Chris Barber Jazz Band.

EXTRAS TOTAL = 145 mins
________________________________

DISC SIX: TOM JONES (DIRECTOR’S CUT)
(NB: first time available in the UK without cuts)

The Guardian Interview: Albert Finney (1982, 35 mins – audio only)
An extended excerpt from Albert Finney’s 1982 Guardian Interview with Michael Billington.

Vanessa Redgrave on Tony Richardson (2017, 10 mins)
Vanessa Redgrave discusses Tony Richardson’s career in this short interview shot by Criterion Collection.

USSR Today: Meeting to Mark the 200th Anniversary of Henry Fielding (1954, 1 min)
Produced by the Moscow-based Central Documentary Film Studio this newsreel-style light-propaganda magazine item documents a Moscow conference, sponsored by the Soviet Peace Committee, to commemorate the life and works of Tom Jones author Henry Fielding.

Trailer (3 mins)

Stills Gallery (Part one) (4 mins)
________________________________

DISC SEVEN: TOM JONES (THEATRICAL CUT)
(NB: first time available in the UK without cuts)

George Devine Memorial Play: Luther (Peter Whitehead, 1966, 7 mins)
Footage of charity performance at the Old Vic in order to create an endowment for the George Devine Award. Made by Peter Whitehead, starring Albert Finney as Luther.

Walter Lassally on Tom Jones (2017, 25 mins)
The cinematographer looks back over his work on Tom Jones in this interview made by Criterion Collection.

Stills Gallery (Part two) (4 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 217 mins
________________________________

DISC EIGHT: GIRL WITH GREEN EYES

Commentary by film historian Adrian Martin
A new feature-length commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin

Rita Tushingham on Girl with Green Eyes (2018, 7 mins)
A new interview in which Rita Tushingham discusses working on Girl with Green Eyes.

Film Poetry: Desmond Davis (2018, 24 mins)
A new interview in which Desmond Davis discusses his career in film and his work with Woodfall.

Food for a Blluuusssshhhhh (Elizabeth Russell, 1959, 31 mins)
A freewheeling experimental short by Elizabeth Russell partially funded by the BFI Experimental Film Fund. Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz admired it enough to include extracts in the sixth and final Free Cinema programme in 1959.

The Peaches (Michael Gill, 1964, 16 mins)
This surreal coming of-age-film about a young women was made with financial assistance from the BFI Experimental Film Fund. Shot by Walter Lassally with music by Woodfall regular John Addison and narrated by Peter Ustinov.

Trailer (3 mins)

Stills Gallery (4 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 177 mins
________________________________

DISC NINE: THE KNACK AND HOW TO GET IT

Commentary by film historian Neil Sinyard
A new feature-length commentary by film scholar Neil Sinyard

George Devine Memorial Play: Exit the King (Peter Whitehead, 1966, 4 mins)
Footage of charity performance at the Old Vic in order to create an endowment for the George Devine Award. Written by Eugène Ionesco and starring Alec Guinness as Berenger.

Captain Busby The Even Tenour of Her Ways (Ann Wolff, 1967, 16 mins)
A BFI Experimental Film Fund short, Ann Wolff’s film is based on a surreal poem by Philip O’Connor and features Quentin Crisp.

Now and Then: Dick Lester (1967, 17 mins)
Dick Lester interviewed by Bernard shortly after the British and American premieres of How I Won the War (1967).

Rita Tushingham remembers THE KNACK… and how to get it (2018, 11 mins)
In this new interview Rita Tushingham recalls how she got involved in the project and what it was like working with Richard Lester.

Staging the KNACK… and how to get it (Marcus Campbell Sinclair, 2018, 2 mins)
Theatre director Keith Johnstone recalls staging the first production of THE KNACK… and how to get it.

British Cinema in the 1960s: Richard Lester in Conversation (Marcus Campbell Sinclair, 2018, 59 mins)
Richard Lester discusses his career in film with Neil Sinyard. Recorded at BFI Southbank in 2017.

Stills Gallery (2 mins)

EXTRAS TOTAL = 183 mins

BOXSET EXTRAS TOTAL = 1236 mins (20+ hours)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Some interesting releases coming up:

Arrow has a triple delight in May with Smash Palace (1981) a film from New Zealand directed by Roger Donaldson, one of the best films to ever examine the breakdown of a marriage; Black Venus (2010) one of Adbellatif Kechiche's better films that received scant screenings when first shown and an early work from Olivier Assayas: Irma Vep (1996) starring living legends Maggie Cheung & Jean-Pierre Leaud that draws inspiration from Les Vampires (1915), the legendary serial by Louis Feuillade. All three titles will be released in May in the U.S. and the U.K.

Also in May the BFI will be releasing:

A new 8-disc set celebrating the 60th anniversary of Woodfall Films. Includes eight iconic films (many newly restored and available on Blu-ray for the first time) that revolutionised British cinema and launched the careers of the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Rita Tushingham.

Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959)
The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960)
A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962)
Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut)
Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964)
The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965)

Special features:

Presented in High Definition
All films newly remastered for this release, excluding Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Extras TBC
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Arrow Films is having sale on their website through early January. I suspect that if titles run out of stock, they won't be re-stocked until after the sale. Lots of movies included in this, both from their Arrow Academy line, their Arrow Films line, their Arrow Video line, and their Arrow TV line. With their new site, if you make an order, don't order more than four at a time. Shipping prices jump a great deal when you add your fifth film to the cart, so order in batches of four to save on shipping.

Also, Criterion announced their slate for March. They'll be releasing The Age of Innocence (first Blu-Ray release for it in the States, and one of Scorsese's few films not yet on Blu-Ray), Women in Love, King of Jazz, Baal, and a Blu-Ray upgrade of The Passion of Joan of Arc.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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From Twilight Time in February

MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY (1993) BLU-RAY - February 20th

HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK (1976) BLU-RAY - February 20th

THE INCIDENT (1967) BLU-RAY - February 20th

THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS (1972) BLU-RAY - February 20th

BFI releases for the 1st quarter of 2018 (March 2018):

Derek Jarman Volume 1: 1976-1986 (Blu-ray)

Derek Jarman sadly passed away from HIV-related complications in February 1994, but his legacy lives on. In the twenty years since his death, his work has lost none of its relevance.

Jarman's multi-faceted work is inspirational in its fearlessness, yet remains touchingly personal. The dynamism of these features evokes comparison with the bold romanticism of directors Ken Russell (an early champion) and Michael Powell, as well as artists Paul Nash and John Piper. But Jarman was also a subversive force in film. Through the provocativeness of Jubilee, The Tempest and The Angelic Conversation, he invoked Elizabethan occultist Dr John Dee and explored alchemical imagery, a subject in which he was well versed, while in Sebastiane and Caravaggio he revived key gay and homo-erotic figures from the past with edgy and unmistakeable style.

Derek Jarman's enduring legacy is celebrated in this lavish box set containing his first five features, newly scanned at 2K from original film elements, alongside an exciting array of new and archival extras.

Special features

Presented in High Definition for the first time
Extensive new and archive extras (Details TBC)
Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film, and full film credits
UK | 1976 - 1986 | colour | 461 minutes (+ extras) | 5 x BD50, Region B
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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An eclectic selection from Warners Archives on Blu Ray for November:

Dolores Claiborne
Summer of '42
Doc Hollywood
Battle Cry
Auntie Mame
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Warners have been releasing back catalogue films in beautiful masters the last couple of year on Blu Ray. But they have a real treat coming for us this October:

The Sea Wolf (1941) with Edward G. Robinson & John Garfield

From the Warners website about the release:

Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf had it all: action, mystery and widespread popularity. But Jack Warner, claiming the title was too similar to the studio's The Sea Hawk, wanted to give the 1941 film version something else: a new name. Producer Henry Blanke resisted, saying it would be "a detriment to the box office.(like changing) Gone With the Wind to Molly From the South." As film fans know, Molly stayed in the South and the haunting nautical adventure took a big bite out of the box office, becoming one of the top moneymakers of 1940-41.

Edward G. Robinson and a superb cast are the hands on deck for this voyage into nightmare. Robinson is Captain Wolf Larsen, a hell-bent seadog who ranks with Moby Dick's Ahab and Mutiny on the Bounty's Captain Bligh. Doom is the mad seafarer's fog-shrouded port of call.and he intends to take a roughneck recruit (John Garfield), two castaways (Ida Lupino and Alexander Knox) and his crew (including Gene Lockhart and Barry Fitzgerald) with him. Adventure - and eerie suspense - ahoy! The Sea Wolf was such a box-office hit that it was given a national theatrical reissue in 1947, but to do so, the film was cut to a length of 86 minutes, and remained that length for 70 years. Long thought to exist only in substandard form, Warner Bros. is proud to present this film as first released in 1941, restoring its original 100-minute running time from 35mm nitrate elements.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Some interesting films have surfaced on DVD and/or Blu Ray recently.

The Bacchus Lady is now available on DVD from Korea. As with almost all their releases it has English subtitles. This is unlikely to turn up in any English speaking markets. Director E J Yong is up there with the best and more internationally known Korean directors and his films deserve wider exposure. Veteran actress Yoon Yeo Jeong gave the best performance of 2016 in what was a very strong year for actresses;

Entertaining Mr. Sloane & Loot on Blu Ray from the UK. Had a quick flick through them and they look outstanding. A vast improvement on the DVDs released over a dozen years ago;

Sieranevada on a limited edition Blu Ray (about 900 I think) from Romania. It's looking more and more unlikely that this film is not going to turn up in the English language market. Gorgeous transfer however there appears to be playback issues with one particular scene on some players and my oldest player simply would't play the disc;

Arthur Penn's The Chase (1966) makes its Blu Ray debut by Indicator in the UK to be followed by the so-bad-its-good Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) in November.

And drumroll.....A restoration of 1983 cult classic Liquid Sky comes to Blu Ray in November.

The other news of interest is the continued decline in sales of physical media. Apparently the next 2 years will determine the future of the medium as many companies are starting to find it harder to sell their 'product'.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Kino are also having a sale: https://www.klstudioclassics.com though for US & Canadian customers only as they don't sell to markets for which they don't have the rights to.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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If you have a region free player, Arrow is doing a sale at their website through July 29.

Mostly older releases, so you won't find things they just put out like The Sorrow and the Pity.

But they did have several box sets--the Taviani set, their Dekalog set (which has some TV specials that Kieslowski did that aren't on the Criterion set), The Human Condition, and all of their Woody Allen sets, which takes you from Bananas through Shadows and Fog. They have most of those titles available individually, but the individual discs aren't part of the sale.

Also, Barnes & Noble has all of their Criterion DVDs and Blu-Rays on sale through August 7.
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