BFI (British Film Institute)

Discuss releases by the BFI and the films on them.

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1251 Post by rapta » Tue May 24, 2016 6:33 pm

rockysds wrote:The Crying Game, Cry of the City and Carmen Jones all have blu-ray listings on Amazon.
Yeah I also noticed those Cry of the City and Carmen Jones listings earlier today on Amazon - two of their DVD titles I had a feeling they might upgrade to Blu-ray at some point (the former of which I'm very happy about). Then The Crying Game popped up sometime after that, which was something of a pleasant surprise! Apparently StudioCanal were teasing a release of it a while back, but I'm glad it's now in the hands of the BFI as it'll both be more affordable, likely have more extras, and almost certainly come with a booklet. Looking forward to it!

Surprised there has still been no formal announcement from the BFI though. It's been almost a month since some of these new listings have appeared on Amazon. Worth mentioning that the Quay Brothers set looks like it'll be upgraded (basically a port of the Zeitgeist set), and at some point later this year we have both Napoleon and Pioneers of African-American Cinema set (similar to the Kino Lorber one), as well as the delayed The Wages of Fear from last year. I think there were rumours of a Chaplin at Keystone upgrade too.

So it's set to be an exciting rest of the year from the BFI, and I'd be surprised if they didn't have a few other titles up their sleeves before the year's out. Fingers crossed for some more upgrades to some of their DVD-only titles - in particular, any remaining Kurosawa (e.g. Ikiru, Red Beard, Stray Dog, High and Low etc.), Woman of the Dunes (Teshigahara), An Actor's Revenge (Ichikawa), A River Called Titas/The Cloud Capped Star (Ghatak), Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul), Still Life (Jia), Bigger Than Life (Ray), Godzilla/The Mysterians (Honda), The River (Renoir), Killer of Sheep/My Brother's Wedding (Burnett), Tristana (Buñuel), La Belle et la Bête/Orphée (Cocteau), and maybe an upgrade to the Lotte Reiniger set (since Svankmajer is likely off the cards). I hope they can achieve at least a few of those, and then if not then other UK labels (Eureka, Arrow, Second Run, Criterion) can get hold of them instead.

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MichaelB
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BFI (British Film Institute)

#1252 Post by MichaelB » Wed May 25, 2016 1:49 am

rapta wrote:Worth mentioning that the Quay Brothers set looks like it'll be upgraded (basically a port of the Zeitgeist set)
Other way round: both the Zeitgeist releases (2007 DVD, 2015 BD) were based on the original BFI shorts DVD that I produced back in 2006. Perusing the Zeitgeist BD, I was very flattered to see that they clearly thought that it wasn't broken enough (even after a decade) to need fixing.

I've also sent the BFI the longest current version of my Quay Brothers dictionary - all 7,250 words of it. Whether they publish it in full remains to be seen (I accept that there may be space issues), but at present the longest published version is exclusively in Polish (courtesy of the book Trzynasty miesiąc: Kino braci Quay), because Zeitgeist cut twenty-two entries from the version I sent them - basically, anything not directly pertaining to the contents of their disc, plus some of the quirkier ones ("Gueuze-Lambic", "Trams"). So fingers crossed.

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Alphonse Tram
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1253 Post by Alphonse Tram » Wed May 25, 2016 2:36 am

The BFI is also planning a release of the deliciously bad The Music Machine staring a young Clarke Peters, directed by Ian Sharp and written and produced by James Kenelm Clarke. I think this release is still a fair way off, we may not hear anything about it for quite a while. The same goes for James Kenelm Clarke's extremely rare Got it Made, so rare it's still not clear if the negative even exists. The suspicion is that Clarke used the negative to re-edit the film adding newly filmed sex scenes (featuring none of the cast) and released it several years later as Sweet Virgin in attempt to recoup some of the money lost making the film. So even if the negative is found, the chances are it will be the Sweet Virgin version. The BFI do hold a print of Sweet Virgin, but it's Got it Made that the BFI want to release.

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RossyG
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1254 Post by RossyG » Wed May 25, 2016 6:46 am

The Music Machine would be a fabulous choice. I've got the novelisation, which is a lovely bit of Seventies British tat, but to have the film itself on BD would be terrific. It's perfect Flipside fayre.

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1255 Post by rapta » Wed May 25, 2016 6:11 pm

I noticed earlier today that Napoleon is set for a theatrical release on November 11th, so I doubt they would release the Blu-ray edition before then. Perhaps December, but possibly into early 2017. We'll have to wait and see...
MichaelB wrote:
rapta wrote:Worth mentioning that the Quay Brothers set looks like it'll be upgraded (basically a port of the Zeitgeist set)
Other way round: both the Zeitgeist releases (2007 DVD, 2015 BD) were based on the original BFI shorts DVD that I produced back in 2006. Perusing the Zeitgeist BD, I was very flattered to see that they clearly thought that it wasn't broken enough (even after a decade) to need fixing.

I've also sent the BFI the longest current version of my Quay Brothers dictionary - all 7,250 words of it. Whether they publish it in full remains to be seen (I accept that there may be space issues), but at present the longest published version is exclusively in Polish (courtesy of the book Trzynasty miesiąc: Kino braci Quay), because Zeitgeist cut twenty-two entries from the version I sent them - basically, anything not directly pertaining to the contents of their disc, plus some of the quirkier ones ("Gueuze-Lambic", "Trams"). So fingers crossed.
Sorry yes, I forgot that we had discussed this before. Indeed Zeitgeist did include everything from your previous DVD release, with a few more added and the much-publicised Nolan short. Hopefully BFI go all-out on this one and make it a special edition of some sort - would including your Brothers Quay dictionary make it a significantly thicker booklet? Might mean they'd have to put the booklet on the outside of the case, in which case it'd have to have a slipcover (much like the recent MoC Man with a Movie Camera, or their upcoming Edvard Munch upgrade). My fingers are crossed too, but I'm just happy to see them upgrade it - as I had been holding off the DVD set once I had heard a few rumours of a Blu-ray edition!

Still no formal announcement though. Maybe they're saving it 'til Friday (though I've been thinking that every week).

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1256 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Jun 01, 2016 4:30 am

Martinis can rejoice that Cry of the City has a commentary by our Ade

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1257 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:45 pm

Q3 announcement:
Rural British classics, Hollywood gems and a Blu-ray debut for Ken Russell’s Women in Love
from thrillers to musicals, pastoral dramas to film noirs, the next three months of BFI releases celebrate a broad range of styles and stories

On 25 July the acclaimed adaptation of Ronald Blythe’s Akenfield (1974) receives its much-anticipated Blu-ray debut. Watched by 15 million people when originally broadcast in 1976, the film has been newly restored and will be available in a Dual Format Edition (DFE) Blu-ray and DVD. There will also be screenings in Suffolk and at BFI Southbank during July as part of BFI’s Britain on Film project.

Ken Russell’s Women in Love (1969) starring Alan Bates, Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson, receives its Blu-ray premiere in August. Based on D.H. Lawrence’s celebrated novel, this undisputed classic of British cinema has been newly restored in 2K by the BFI National Archive and will be released with a host of special features.

In September the return of Flipside continues with Psychomania (1971), Don Sharp’s cult horror classic brimming with action and fantastical mayhem. Featuring motorcycle gangs, devil-worship and the living dead, Psychomania is packed with gothic tropes, black humour and eccentric performances. Look out for screenings of Psychomania across the UK as part of the Scalarama 2016 festival.

Alongside these, our July-September releases feature an electric range of titles. During July we continue our Children’s Film Foundation collection with Masters of Venus, Ernest Morris's out of this world science fiction serial, and present two exciting silent film projects – Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film, an exquisite compendium of early Shakespeare film adaptations (featuring a newly recorded score from the Globe Theatre musicians) and Around China with a Movie Camera, celebrating 50 years of Chinese history through evocative archive movies.

We mark the ‘rural’ phase of the BFI’s Britain on Film series with the DVD release of On the Black Hill (1987). Based on Bruce Chatwin’s award-winning novel and starring Bob Peck (Jurassic Park) and Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary), On the Black Hill offers a redolent depiction of farming life set in the beautiful Welsh Border country.

August sees the release of Robert Siodmak’s film noir classic Cry of the City (1948) on DVD and Blu-ray. A masterpiece of law and disorder, Cry of the City foreshadows the New York films of Martin Scorsese and is a key work in the crime genre.

The following month sees the release of Neil Jordan’s Academy Award-winning The Crying Game (1992) on Blu-ray and DVD in a Dual Format Edition. The Troubles in Northern Ireland provide the backdrop for this landmark study of sexual intrigue, starring Forest Whittaker and Stephen Rea.

September also sees Otto Preminger’s acclaimed musical Carmen Jones (1954) receive its Blu-ray debut. Starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, this Technicolor spectacle features an iconic Oscar Hammerstein score and is a milestone of black cinema.

Last – but by no means least – the short films of the Brothers Quay will be released in a special Blu-ray collection. Combining fifteen of the duo’s innovative animations, the Quay Brothers Collection will also feature Quay, Interstellar director Christopher Nolan’s short documentary revealing the inner workings of the brothers’ studio.

As usual, all these releases will be of the best possible technical quality with special features and accompanying booklets. More details will be sent for each one in due course.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1258 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:58 pm

Michael is there anything worth holding onto the DVD set for that won't make the blu?

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1259 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:06 pm

Assuming you're talking about the Quay release, I haven't the faintest idea: aside from sending them a significantly expanded version of my Quay Brothers Dictionary, I have no involvement with this project and don't know any more than you do about the specs.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1260 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:35 pm

Yes I should have clarified that but thanks for the answer anyway. Just wondered whether the twins might have nixed something since the DVD collection.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1261 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:50 pm

Well, Nocturna Artificialia isn't on the Zeitgeist disc, although I believe an HD master exists. And the Quays asked me to drop it back in 2006, but since the BFI owned it outright they had no formal veto - although I did agree a compromise whereby it was tucked away on the extras disc and I promised not to censor anything that they said about it in the interview. (I kept that promise, even though they absolutely laid into it.)

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1262 Post by rapta » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:12 pm

Strange that there are Blu-ray and DVD listings for Charles Burnett's The Glass Shield up on Amazon and HMV (with an August 22nd release date), yet there was no mention of it in the announcements. I wonder if they forgot, or they're just planning to push it into their Autumn lineup?

Anyway, I'm very happy about Cry and the City, the Quay Brothers Collection and The Crying Game in particular. Interested in some of the others, but none are a particular priority. Maybe Carmen Jones, but whilst I'm a fan of Preminger, I'm not so hot on musicals.

I suspect Napoleon will be left for the end of the year, as well as Pioneers of African-American Cinema and the delayed release of The Wages of Fear.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1263 Post by AidanKing » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:28 am

I think On the Black Hill is extremely good. It's had a previous release on DVD so hopefully the package will be an upgrade in some way: it probably will be with the booklet at least. I wonder if there's any particular reason for it not being a dual format release?

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1264 Post by rapta » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:56 am

AidanKing wrote:I think On the Black Hill is extremely good. It's had a previous release on DVD so hopefully the package will be an upgrade in some way: it probably will be with the booklet at least. I wonder if there's any particular reason for it not being a dual format release?
I was wondering this too. The listing on Zavvi says it is Dual Format, but everywhere else seems to say DVD-only. Perhaps they weren't confident enough in it for Blu-ray? Though Akenfield is arguably more obscure and is getting the Dual Format treatment...

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1265 Post by mistakaninja » Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:24 am

The BFI online shop lists it as a two disc dual edition.
http://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/pre- ... 2qDV1-3PFo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1266 Post by rapta » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:32 am

mistakaninja wrote:The BFI online shop lists it as a two disc dual edition.
http://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/pre- ... 2qDV1-3PFo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
What is a "dual edition"? The case is clearly for a DVD, so either it's a typo or they're undecided whether this will include a Blu-ray disc or not!

I'll ask them on Twitter.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1267 Post by Drucker » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:37 am

The "additional info" tab indicates a blu ray and dvd are included.

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1268 Post by rapta » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:34 pm

Drucker wrote:The "additional info" tab indicates a blu ray and dvd are included.
Strange, they never mentioned it in the official announcement, nor on the Amazon listing.

This is all it says:
We mark the ‘rural’ phase of the BFI’s Britain on Film series with the DVD release of On the Black Hill. Based on Bruce Chatwin’s award-winning novel and starring Bob Peck (Jurassic Park) and Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary), On the Black Hill offers a redolent depiction of farming life set in the beautiful Welsh border country.
And the Amazon listing:
On the Black Hill (DVD)
Number of discs: 1
They've replied to me on Twitter and are saying it's now Dual Format, so it's odd that they haven't made that clear to everyone potentially pre-ordering this!

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1269 Post by rapta » Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:44 am

Some good and bad news from BFI concerning several upcoming releases. Good of them to clarify a few of them though, so at least we have final word on some of them (or near enough):

- The Wages of Fear looks likely to be delayed again, and will probably be pushed into 2017. Apparently not long after they confirmed the year-long delay this time last year (it was originally due for October 2015 release), they caught wind of a new scan and restoration of the film, so now they're now waiting on that. I can certainly wait for that!
- El Sur is indeed set for a Dual Format release as suspected (though may be split between separate Blu-ray and DVD releases...they haven't decided yet). Won't be ready for a while now, but my guess would be early 2017 (if not, then later on in the year)!
- Exact specs for The Quay Collection and Pioneers of African-American Cinema will be confirmed soon (keep an eye on Amazon listings).
- Privilege will be reissued soon with new artwork, and other Flipside titles will get the same treatment as and when they go OOP. They will still be Dual Format and include the booklet as well, so no need to rush out and pay extortionate prices from third party sellers (Privilege in particular is going for stupid money in some places). Only titles with separate Blu-ray and DVD reissues will omit the booklet (as they did with The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Saturday Night & Sunday Morning).
- The Glass Shield is not coming out on Blu-ray, and never was. According to my contact, it was some kind of miscommunication that resulted in a third party submitting listings for the film on Blu-ray on various sites, but they only ever had materials appropriate for DVD. No word on any other Burnett on Blu-ray though, but I expect if they did it would presumably have to be restored in the States first.
- The Klushantzev Collection is almost definitely cancelled outright. I say almost because they seemed to imply "never say never". Presumably there would have to be some sort of relevant theatrical season for it to happen, or a restoration elsewhere that they could license or collaborate on. Either way, there are no plans to start that project up again right now.
- No current plans for upgrades to Japanese DVD titles (though they didn't elaborate - I was mostly asking about Kurosawa). In particular, no more Ozu upgrades as people have been consistently requesting, due to the materials not being suitable.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1270 Post by perkizitore » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:15 am

I am wondering what is happening with their Naruse set, I stupidly sold it after MichaelB said it wasn't OOP ](*,)

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rapta
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1271 Post by rapta » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:45 am

perkizitore wrote:I am wondering what is happening with their Naruse set, I stupidly sold it after MichaelB said it wasn't OOP ](*,)
I just asked about that, and all I can say is that they might be considering it (in some form or another).
Last edited by rapta on Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Drucker
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1272 Post by Drucker » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:55 am

It's a shame they didn't wait to release the newest restoration of Seven Samurai.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1273 Post by kindaikun » Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:23 am

rapta wrote: - No current plans for upgrades to Japanese DVD titles (though they didn't elaborate - I was mostly asking about Kurosawa). In particular, no more Ozu upgrades as people have been consistently requesting, due to the materials not being suitable.
Any idea what that means for their plan to release all 32 Ozu films they had access to? They'd been releasing the last few in DVD sets but they don't seem to have any plans to finish the run. Or did you only ask about bluray upgrades?

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1274 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:41 am

rapta wrote:- No current plans for upgrades to Japanese DVD titles (though they didn't elaborate - I was mostly asking about Kurosawa). In particular, no more Ozu upgrades as people have been consistently requesting, due to the materials not being suitable.
Perhaps Criterion has secured UK rights to many of the Kurosawa and Ozu films.

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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#1275 Post by L.A. » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:01 pm

rapta wrote:- The Klushantzev Collection is almost definitely cancelled outright. I say almost because they seemed to imply "never say never". Presumably there would have to be some sort of relevant theatrical season for it to happen, or a restoration elsewhere that they could license or collaborate on. Either way, there are no plans to start that project up again right now.
Not fair. :cry:

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