Artificial Eye / Curzon Film World

[martin]

I've had a closer look at the Antoine & Colette audio on the Blu-ray disc. Because the BD has a PCM track it's actually easy to analyze the audio in a wav editor without reconverting the track (whereby we can rule out errors of the conversion process). Besides the missing audio there are a number of other errors such as bad edits or loud digital clicks. The audio starts very abruptly at 1m33sec with a loud and annoying click:



Likewise, during the sequence with the missing audio at 11m18s, there are big clicks when the audio disappears and reappears (only the first incident shown):



In the sequence below, we suddenly hear a brief tone-burst from 9m15s until the normal audio reappears with a loud click just before 9m16s. The frequency of this tone-burst is 24 Hz, btw, and could be related to the framerate. But that's just speculation:



And there are a number of other errors. From a technical viewpoint, the audio of this release would be seriously flawed even if there wasn't any audio missing (you can argue that the clicks etc. wouldn't be there if the audio was intact - but you know what I mean)! AE really must fix this.

[TMDaines]

The Decent One (Der Anständige) (Vanessa Lapa, 2014) - DVD only

Does anyone know if the subtitles here are optional or not?

[yoshimori]

Did anyone end up with the AE Roy Andersson Collection on blu-ray? I'll buy it in a heartbeat if it includes "World of Glory", but I can't find a review anywhere that details which shorts are included or what the enigmatic extras wording on the AE site -- "excerpts for Roy Andersson Films" -- means.

[neilist]

Did anyone end up with the AE Roy Andersson Collection on blu-ray? I'll buy it in a heartbeat if it includes "World of Glory", but I can't find a review anywhere that details which shorts are included or what the enigmatic extras wording on the AE site -- "excerpts for Roy Andersson Films" -- means.

The AE DVDs of his films released several years ago all include a 15-minute long featurette comprising of excerpts from each of his films and shorts. I can't imagine that what's included here is any different.

[swo17]

That's correct, and there are no shorts here.

[Kris]

Is it just me, or are at least two of the latest Chaplin Blu-rays from Artificial Eye really the shabbiest SD upscales imaginable?

dvdbeaver:
The Kid
The Circus

Or did Mr. Tooze perchance just misgrab the screens...?

[eerik]

More likely just a case of poor masters from MK2. Should be the same quality on all the releases around the world.

[StevenJ0001]

Can anybody comment on the picture quality of the Roy Andersson blus? I can't find a review anywhere.

[swo17]

They're a definite improvement over the DVDs but I think the picture tends to look a little...cloudy? Perhaps that's how it's supposed to be though.

[StevenJ0001]

They're a definite improvement over the DVDs but I think the picture tends to look a little...cloudy? Perhaps that's how it's supposed to be though.

Interesting--thanks!

[hearthesilence]

How does the transfer for The 400 Blows compare to Criterion's? I've read suggestions that it looks like the same source/master, but is it perhaps a better encoding? Just wondering if I should just get the Artificial Eye BD since it can be found for 6 quid new in the UK - maybe save a little money by forgoing Criterion's extras.

[feihong]

These are exciting. I had the French blu ray of The Beat My Heart Skipped, which is very fine, but this one is probably a must-have. The Andrei Rublev, Mirror and Stalker discs I'll probably buy as well.

Does Artificial Eye still have the UK rights to Shinji Aoyama's Eureka? I wish they would corner the market and make a blu-ray edition of that film. In hi-def that film would be rather phenomenal.

[hearthesilence]

Picked up Blu-Rays for Chabrol's The Ceremony and Bresson's Mouchette - pretty cheap discs, they were hard to turn down. Criterion has had HD versions of both up on their Hulu channel for quite some time, but they have yet to issue either on BD (and haven't issued The Ceremony in any physical format), but these are definitely solid alternatives - possibly the same HD transfers given to Criterion as I doubt they were derived from 4k transfers, but again solid, never a moment where I was taken out of the film by disappointing PQ.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

With Rivette's passing, does anyone know of any plans to reissue the La belle noiseuse set?

[RossyG]

Unfortunately the DVD of the first two Dardennes features has been delayed several months too. It's now got a December 31st date, which sounds more like a holding pattern than a realistic release date.

[dda1996a]

I have been considering buying the Theo Angelopolous collection and perhaps even some Bela Tarr from AE, can anyone speak about their quality? And if anyone knows if there might be an HD upgrade coming soon. And does anyone know what is going on the Ivan's Childhood? Saw it got pushed back to next month

[charal]

The Angelopoulos is of acceptable quality. I only have volumes 1 & 2 and have found most of the transfers to be clean and clear. The main exception being DAYS OF 36 which suffers from the occasional wobble, reel marking and fading. No major restoration appears to have been done to these transfers but some minor work appears to have been done to some (e.g. RECONSTRUCTION & TRAVELLING PLAYERS).

[colinr0380]

Also bear in mind as pointed out in the Angelopoulos on DVD thread that a number of the films appear to have edits within scenes, or brief trims to beginning and ends of shots, though it seems unlikely that they will be revisited any time soon.

[dda1996a]

Considering I have never watched one of his films does it really matter? I mean I always love watching the full cut when I can, but considering the situation does it make any real difference? And what about the PQ of the Tarrs and the Nuri Bilge Ceylan dvd releases? Sadly I doubt they will ever get a HD transfer

[MichaelB]

The Angelopoulos is of acceptable quality. I only have volumes 1 & 2 and have found most of the transfers to be clean and clear. The main exception being DAYS OF 36 which suffers from the occasional wobble, reel marking and fading.

I'm also not convinced that Days of 36 is in the right aspect ratio - there's lots of headroom, and at one point a painfully obtrusive microphone.

Still, it clearly hasn't been cropped, so better that way round than the alternative.

[kidc85]

With Angelopoulos didn't it turn out that AE's THE HUNTERS was probably a legit alternate cut akin to the situation with Malick's NEW WORLD? I wouldn't let it - or the other more minor issues - put you off getting the most comprehensive collection of his films that ever will be.

I have some of their Tarr releases, all fine. Would love for WERCKMEISTER (as well as Angel's LANDSCAPE IN MIST) to make it to blu-ray one day though.

[dda1996a]

Well seeing as there is no upcoming HD release I might get this... Eventually (too many LE boxset out right now). Having never watched a Tarr or Angelopolous where should I start? I love me some Tarkovsky would I be fine with exploring them?

[miless]

For Tarr, Werckmeister Harmonies is definitely the best starting point. Damnation could be a good start, too, but you will probably want to work your way up to Satantago (a masterpiece). I actually like The Man From London, but I think I needed to see it after all of the other films to really appreciate it (and to relish entering Tarr's world once again). Turin Horse is a good ending point (probably the most difficult of his films, but certainly worth it).

[TMDaines]

More difficult than Sátántangó? That was a slog I have no desire to ever try and sit through again.

If I didn't like that, what Tarr should I try second?

[miless]

Werckmeister Harmonies is definitely his most accessible. Beautiful cinematography, haunting score, a more deliberate pacing than Satantango. Turin Horse is difficult because of its extreme repetition. All of his films certainly work best on the big screen.