Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

[bigP]

Thanks for all the info JamesF. Shame it's not going to be BD but that Keyhole release sounds great in terms of extras and I've got it on pre-order. I'll almost certainly be picking up Barbara and The Forgiveness of Blood too, and appreciate the honesty about Blu expectations at the moment.

[repeat]

Great to hear that Compliance and Everyday are coming out - missed both of them at this year's festivals. I hope Soda will do well with Barbara, it's such a great film.

JamesF, can you say if Soda has considered Petzold, Hochhäusler and Graf's Dreileben? I still find it hard to believe that nobody in the English-speaking world wants to release it (Cinema Guild said they looked into it, but were thwarted by US music rights issues).

[JamesF]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Any constructive criticism of Soda DVDs you pick up is warmly appreciated too - we work with limited resources here, and I'm fairly new at this game, but I think you should be pleased. I'm pretty confident saying, for example, that Forgiveness Of Blood comfortably goes toe-to-toe with the Criterion PQ-wise.

repeat, Barbara was actually a real sleeper hit for us theatrically when it opened in September, certainly more than we expected - so fingers crossed for the DVD! Unfortunately our DVD will be vanilla due to the lack of English-friendly extras on offer, but on the plus side the film is coming from HD elements so should look and sound really lovely. As for the older Petzold film - Soda's previous attempt to release catalogue titles never really came off, but it's something I'd like to see us do again in the future. Again, no plans for the moment - we've got enough to keep us busy

[perkizitore]

I hope Barbara continues to do well, here is hoping for a BD!

[JamesF]

Okay, long-overdue thread update time! Here's all our DVD releases for February and March..

(UK readers will also be interested to know we're releasing Bullhead (Feb 1st), For Ellen (Feb 15th) and Compliance (March TBC) in that time as well.)

The Joy Of Six: Short Films
Release date: 4th February 2013 (order from Amazon here)
NBCQ presents a perfect package of award-winning short films, showcasing the best of British screen and directing talent. This may be the only time you get to encounter Dame Judi Dench on Facebook, as a woman attempting to woo her local choirmaster through social media, see Peter Mullan give a screen masterclass on how to smoke a cigarette (without the ash falling), or watch the rather handsome Luke Treadaway run...a lot. The Joy Of Six includes the directorial debut of Romola Garai and the first short from Dan Sully while Matthew Holness brings the pulp fiction of Terry Finch to the big screen. The Joy Of Six full programme: Long Distance Information (Douglas Hart)Man in Fear (Will Jewell), A Gun for George (Matthew Holness), Scrubber (Romola Garai), The Ellington Kid (Dan Sully) and Friend Request Pending (Chris Foggin).
Extras: Trailer; directors' statements and biographies.
Watch the trailer here

The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD
Release date: 11th February 2013 (order from Amazon here)
In 1943, the year in which the first A-bomb was built, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann discovered a substance that was to become the A-bomb of the mind. He realised that he was dealing with a powerful molecule that would have an impact not only on the scientific world but on sex, culture and politics. Using previously unreleased archival material and interviews with principal witnesses to the historical events (including Albert Hofmann), The Substance is an investigation into our troubled relationship with LSD, told from its beginnings until today. This is an enlightening trip looking back at Hofmann's legacy, the 20th century and a look forward to new developments related to LSD.
Extras: 30-min interview with director Martin Witz.
Watch the trailer here

Petit Nicolas
Release date: 18th February 2013 (order from Amazon here)
A delightful family comedy based on the best-selling books chronicling the adventures of Nicolas, a mischievous French schoolboy. When Nicolas overhears his parents talking about a new arrival, he knows it can only mean one thing – a baby! Convinced they are making plans to abandon him in the forest to make room for his sibling he enlists the help of his fellow classmates to make sure he will survive. Offering a wonderful child’s eye view of the world, this Gallic style Diary of a Wimpy Kid is bound to enchant children and parents alike.
Extras: Trailer.
Watch the trailer here

Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
Release date: 4th March 2013 (order from Amazon here)
Meet 85 year-old Jiro Ono, widely praised as the world's greatest sushi chef. His tiny restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, is tucked away in a Tokyo subway station and only seats ten, yet bears 3 Michelin stars and has a month-long reservation waiting list. Jiro runs this culinary gem with a will of iron, deft fingers and his eldest son Yoshikazu. Their fascinating relationship lies at the heart of this wasabi-infused tale, as the apprentice struggles with the sometimes overbearing aura of the master. David Gelb's feature film debut nimbly explores every facet of Jiro's daily life, from his total commitment to the craft to his role as patriarch, making our mouths water along the way.
Watch the trailer here

Sister
Release date: 11th March 2013 (order from Amazon here)
Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) lives with his older sister (Lea Seydoux) in a housing complex below a luxury Swiss ski resort. With his sister drifting in and out of jobs and relationships, twelve-year-old Simon takes on the responsibility of providing for the two of them. Every day, he takes the lift up to the opulent ski world above, stealing equipment from rich tourists to resell to the local kids down in the valley. He is able to keep their little family afloat with his small-time hustles and his sister is thankful for the money he brings in. But, when Simon partners with a crooked British seasonal worker, he begins to lose his boundaries, affecting his relationship with his sister and plummeting him into dangerous territory.
Extras: Trailer.
Watch the trailer here

Small Town Murder Songs
Release date: 11th March 2013 (order from Amazon here)
A modern, gothic tale of crime and redemption about an aging police officer from a small Ontario Mennonite town who hides a violent past until a local murder upsets the calm of his newly reformed life. When a young, unidentified woman is found dead by the lake - the victim of a brutal and violent crime - Walter, an aging small town police officer (Peter Stormare), is called to the scene of the town’s first murder investigation in decades. Haunted by his past, and hampered by the mistrust of the community and a state police officer overseeing the investigation, he sets out to solve the murder, complicated by his ex-lover (Jill Hennessy) and his suspicion of her current boyfriend. As he delves deeper into the crime, his newly-reformed life begins to unravel threatening his relationship with Sam (Martha Plimpton) and intertwining itself within the investigation and possibly the murder itself.
Watch the trailer here

Everyday
Release date: 25th March 2013 (order from Amazon here)
This potent film from Michael Winterbottom (The Trip, 24 Hour Party People, A Cock and Bull Story) is a story of a family apart and the celebration of the small pleasures of everyday life. (John Simm - Life On Mars, Doctor Who) plays father Ian who is serving time in prison, leaving Karen (Shirley Henderson - Harry Potter, Meek's Cutoff) to bring up their family of four children by herself. Filmed over a period of five years and shot in rural Norfolk, Everyday uses the repetitions and rhythms of normal life to explore how a family can survive a prolonged period apart. The story unfolds in a series of visits: first the family visiting the father in prison, later the father visiting the family at home. With each visit the distance between the children and their father becomes harder to bridge. By avoiding the normal cinematic conventions of time passing, Everyday focuses on the small subtle changes as people grow up and grow old whilst being apart.
Extras: TBC - will confirm very soon!
Watch the trailer here

Will report back as soon as I know more about Everyday extras. Stay tuned as well for info on our April titles, including Kirsten Sheridan's Dollhouse and a title I'm particularly excited about - Rabies, the first Israeli horror film!

[repeat]

Great stuff, looking forward to March!

JamesF, do you know if Soda has considered picking up Radu Jude's Everybody In Our Family? Just wondering as I noticed his previous film in the catalogue. Haven't seen that yet, but this new one is absolutely brilliant - definitely one of the best films of 2012

[JamesF]

I'm afraid I have no idea about the Jude film, repeat - it appears to still be without UK distribution, from what I can tell.

Can now confirm the Everyday extras - a deleted scene, a montage of the boys growing up throughout the shoot, and the trailer.

And a wee reminder to anyone who may be interested that Barbara comes out on DVD/VOD tomorrow!

[doc mccoy]

JamesF,

I've already posted this in New Wave thread, but don't Soda still own the rights to Koreeda's After Life? Because Matchbox appear to be putting out a Koreeda set containing this and other titles. Is this genuine?

[MichaelB]

It's not unknown for box-set distributors to licence content from other rightsholders - the Ken Loach boxes are undoubtedly legit, but the discs are exactly the same ones that were distributed individually by multiple labels, right down to the artwork.

[JamesF]

Sorry for not seeing this sooner - yes, Soda still own the rights to After Life, and it is our DVD included in the Matchbox boxset.

[JamesF]

For those of you who expressed interest in seeing Compliance in cinemas - it opens across the UK this Friday!

More news soon on further releases - including the DVD and Blu-Ray of Michaël Roskam's Oscar-nominated Bullhead as well as DVDs of So Yong Kim's For Ellen and Morgan Spurlock's Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope - but for now details of our two DTV releases in April:

Dollhouse
Release date: 15th April 2013 (order from Amazon here)
6 Teenage Misfits. 1 Debaucherous Night. 1 Shocking Secret. No Control.
A group of street teens from Dublin's inner-city break into a posh house in an upper-class suburb. Their frenzied rampage is interrupted by a series of shocking revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of them... Jack Reynor (star of What Richard Did and the upcoming Transformers 4) leads an outstanding young cast in this heart-stopping new feature from the Oscar-nominated co-writer of In America and the director of Disco Pigs.
Extras: Making-of featurette, cast and crew interview, trailer, Easter Eggs.
Watch the trailer here

Rabies
Release date: 22nd April 2013 (order from Amazon here)
The first horror film ever produced in Israel, Rabies was such a success at the renowned Film4 Frightfest festival in London that unprecedented extra screenings were added due to demand. The film finally makes its long-awaited UK DVD debut heaving with an array of UK-exclusive bonus features, including a brand new directors’ commentary.
A psychotic serial killer on the loose in the woods crosses paths with a group of unsuspecting teenagers. Soon people are dying one by one… but the bad guy isn’t who you’d think. Turning genre conventions on their head with a smart script, plenty of unexpected scares and a massive helping of bloody mayhem, Rabies thoroughly earns its mantle as one of the best slasher films of recent years.
Extras: Feature-length directors’ commentary; Rabies: Behind The Scenes - interviews with cast and crew (18 mins); Film4 Frightfest interview with the directors (15 mins); UK and international trailers; trailers for other Soda Horror titles.
Watch the trailer here

[TheDoman]

I'm wondering if anyone knows how the Soda Two Years at Sea compares to the Cinema Guild, in terms of PQ? I see the CG has an additional short film, but curious how they compare in terms of quality. I haven't seen any comments regarding this one.

Thanks a lot.

[JamesF]

I don't have the CG disc to compare with, but needless to say our disc was mastered from LUX's HD master materials and should stand up nicely. As for the extra short, even if you do go for the Soda disc it may well turn up on a Ben Rivers short compilation at some point. (That's not just idle speculation by the way, I know one's been discussed, though probably not for release by us.)

[Calvin]

Soda will be releasing a dual format Chris Marker Collection on June 2nd. I haven't found any details on what exactly will be included, but this suggests that it will consist of nine short works including The Sixth Side of the Pentagon and The Case of the Grinning Cat.

[JamesF]

I can confirm the set contains ten films - only two on the Blu-Ray as HD masters weren't available for the rest, but they are Blu-Ray world premieres as well as English-language home video premieres, so well worth it for any monolingual Marker fans.

This DVD collection of Chris Marker films consists of three works that pre-date La Jetée, the featurette that firmly planted his name as a filmmaker, as well as a series of seven shorter films that span each decade of his career thereafter. These remarkable curios reveal much about him, his ideas and his visuality, as well as his take on the modern world from an artistic point-of-view - from China, Siberia and Israel in the 1950s to the Pentagon, art collectives, cheshire cats, haikus and early new media.

Sunday In Peking (Dimanche à Pékin, 1956) (also on Blu-Ray)
Letter To Siberia (Lettre de Sibérie, 1958) (also on Blu-Ray)
Description Of A Struggle (Description d'un combat, 1960)
The Sixth Side Of The Pentagon (La Sixième face du Pentagone, 1968)
The Embassy (L'Ambassade, 1973)
Theory Of Sets (Théorie des ensembles, 1991)
Three Video Haikus (Trois Video Haikus, 1994)
Blue Helmet (Casque bleu, 1996)
E-CLIP-SE (1999)
The Case Of The Grinning Cat (Chats Perchés, 2004)

Formats - 1 BD + 2 DVDs

Spec Aspect ratio: 4:3 / BD running time: 80 mins approx / DVD1 running time: 134 mins approx / DVD2 running time: 154 mins approx / Colour / PAL / English/French with English subtitles

[Calvin]

That's a fantastic selection of films. Who'd have thought that Sunday in Peking and Letter to Siberia would make it to Blu-Ray? I, for one, wouldn't have and am very pleased to have been wrong! It's interesting to see Description of a Struggle in the mix; I remember reading that Marker 'disowned' that film and I've only ever seen a clip - itself within a clip of Dan Geva's Description of a Memory. Will there be any extras (or a booklet) included that expand on Marker's views towards the film? (Or are there any articles online?)

[JamesF]

Updated Chris Marker info from our press release:

THE CHRIS MARKER COLLECTION | UK Dual Format release 2 June 2014

Passion for Words, Madness for Images
This collection of Chris Marker films consists of three works that pre-date La Jetée, the featurette that firmly planted his name as a filmmaker, as well as a series of seven shorter films that span each decade of his career thereafter. These remarkable curios reveal much about him, his ideas and his visuality, as well as his take on the modern world from an artistic point-of-view — from China, Siberia and Israel in the 1950s to the Pentagon, art collectives, cheshire cats, haikus and early new media.
Released in conjunction with a major exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery, London, and featuring a 32-page booklet with a new piece by writer and curator Chris Darke (Rediscovering Chris Marker), alongside a seminal early piece by Roger Tailleur (Markeriana: A Scarcely Critical Description of the Work of Chris Marker).

BLU-RAY
Sunday In Peking (Dimanche à Pékin, 1956, 22 min)
Letter From Siberia (Lettre de Sibérie, 1958, 62 min)

DVD1
Sunday In Peking (Dimanche à Pékin, 1956, 22 min)
Letter From Siberia (Lettre de Sibérie, 1958, 62 min)
Description Of A Struggle (Description d'un combat, 1960, 60 min)

DVD2
The Sixth Side Of The Pentagon (La Sixième face du Pentagone, 1968, 27 min)
The Embassy (L'Ambassade, 1973, 20 min)
Theory Of Sets (Théorie des ensembles, 1991, 11 min)
Three Video Haikus (Trois Vidéo Haikus, 1994, 3 min)
Blue Helmet (Casque bleu, 1996, 26 min)
E-CLIP-SE (1999, 8 min)
The Case Of The Grinning Cat (Chats perchés, 2004, 59 min)

[JamesF]

Newly announced on industry newsletter The Raygun, what I'll be spending my summer on:

Big news from Soda Pictures, as the independent has unveiled a major new initiative involving US director Jim Jarmusch. As well as releasing the director's latest Only Lovers Left Alive on home entertainment formats in September, the independent label has also cannily acquired the rights to many of the director's early classics, Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law, Mystery Train, Night on Earth and Dead Man. Only Lovers Left Alive is being released across all format, including a Steelbook. A Blu-ray box set of the six early Jarmusch titles is due on October 6. The activity will see a month-long Jarmusch season a the BFI, both in London and touring, and Down By Law will also get a theatrical re-release. Commenting on the plans, Soda's Eve Gabereau said: "It is very exciting to bring Jarmusch's film back to the fore of audience attention, especially newcomers through the Only Lovers fan base. They are in for a treat. And, for followers they can jump right back into his work in newly mastered glory."

More details to come later this summer once specs have been ironed out, but we have big plans and hopes for it.

In addition, some of you may be interested to know we're releasing The Kelly Reichardt Collection on Blu-Ray this summer too, to tie in with the UK cinema release of Night Moves. Old Joy, Wendy & Lucy and Meek's Cutoff in HD, plus River Of Grass (as yet unreleased in the UK) in SD.

Other titles on the way include Florian Habicht's music doc Pulp: a Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets; UK/Nigerian literary adaptation Half Of A Yellow Sun; the award-winning Ilo Ilo and Omar; Gruff Rhys documentary American Interior; and Ralph Steadman doc For No Good Reason.

[matrixschmatrix]

Whoa a for real halfway decent looking blu of Dead Man? I going to buy that day one so hard it might cause physical pain.

Will there be separate releases or will I have to buy the whole set?

[JamesF]

We only have plans for the boxset so far, but you never know.

[Finch]

Excellent news about the Only Lovers Left Alive Blu. I already have the Australian BD of Dead Man and the Criterion BD of Mystery Train and I don't particularly care about Night on Earth and Down by Law (Begnini grates on me) so I'll pass on the set but I hope it sells like hotcakes all the same. (I'd get a standalone Blu of Stranger than Paradise though).

[domino harvey]

Great news to finally see Wendy and Lucy in HD, especially since Oscilloscope said they had no plans to upgrade it

[swo17]

I don't know if it's logistically possible, but it would be fantastic if Reichardt's curation of experimental shorts from that Oscilloscope DVD could make it over to this set in HD. (Or at least Peter Hutton's New York Portrait 2.)

[What A Disgrace]

Stop making me spend more money.

[colinr0380]

plus River Of Grass (as yet unreleased in the UK) in SD.

It will be great to see this get a home video release although luckily this a Nashville sort of situation where UK television, in this case Film4, have screened it a couple of times already.