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Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:26 pm
by FrauBlucher
Arrow was asked on Twitter and said they are concentrating on the boxset for now and we'll have to see further down the line. Whatever that means.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:28 pm
by swo17
It means they want people to buy this boxset either way.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:41 pm
by FrauBlucher
That they want people to buy the boxset even if they dislike some of the films is more like it.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:34 pm
by Noiradelic
swo17 wrote:Have any of their UK-only releases been region free?
EDIT:

A relatively small number of titles are region-free, for example: the Yoshida box, Too Late for Tears and Woman On the Run.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:38 pm
by Ribs
Not major studio titles. Some of the Eastern European Academy releases were, as were Woman on the Run/Too Late for Tears but those were a weird case where Arrow just used the same exact discs as the Flicker Alley US release.

It's possible something can fall through the cracks, and it's possible there's weird exceptions to the rules, but just assume these or any Arrow or MoC release is Region B until we get the first reviews that might prove otherwise.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:52 pm
by domino harvey
I think one of the positive virtues of this assortment of noir titles, which admittedly is a bit random other than their genre connection and the studio rights, is that even the weakest is interesting. The Big Combo is total “Noir as style” bolstering, and while some of its lofty reputation is due to its public domain status and subsequent omnipresence, there's so much excess here to enjoy-- I can't remember which Film Noir doc has Lewis talking about shooting a provocative scene from the shoulders up, but it's such a hoot that I hope there's a way to include it; the Dark Mirror is an amusing diversion with some still impressive special effects in presenting Olivia De Havilland as twins; Force of Evil is a serviceable programmer to me but ranks highly among others here as one of the best examples of the genre and I look forward to revisiting it to see if it’s aged into higher esteem for me; and, as we’ve been discussing in the Fritz Lang thread, Secret Beyond the Door doesn’t really work, but in-context with the string of psychology-exploiting noirs of this period, it has some interest, and fans of Chabrol may get mileage out of his love for the film as exhibited throughout his oeuvre, sometimes explicitly. And those extras for all the films! This looks like a set I want to spend a week with, which is a luxury in these days, but well-worth it I think. I give Arrow a lot of guff for exalting time and energy on a lot of genre titles that don’t always merit their slavish devotion (YMMV obv), but such steadfastness to exhaustive supplements pays off in releases like this.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:53 am
by Noiradelic
Ribs wrote:Not major studio titles. Some of the Eastern European Academy releases were, as were Woman on the Run/Too Late for Tears but those were a weird case where Arrow just used the same exact discs as the Flicker Alley US release.

It's possible something can fall through the cracks, and it's possible there's weird exceptions to the rules
Swo didn't specify major studio titles. Obviously with an exception or two major studio titles aren't.
This page lists 21 titles not released by Arrow US that are region free/ABC:
http://www.thenerdmentality.com/movies/ ... heck-list/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I read elsewhere that Goto, Isle of Love is too. Only studio title listed here is Obsession. Might be a good idea to get corroboration that these titles are region free before ordering.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:57 am
by MichaelB
Ribs wrote:Not major studio titles. Some of the Eastern European Academy releases were, as were Woman on the Run/Too Late for Tears but those were a weird case where Arrow just used the same exact discs as the Flicker Alley US release.
Both Arrow and Flicker Alley used the same source, and mutually agreed that it would be far easier and cheaper to pool their resources and author just the one disc. While they're technically compatible with Region A and B players, I believe that you get the Flicker Alley ident in a Region A player and the Arrow one in Region B. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne and La Grande Bouffe do something similar, although in that case it's to do with Arrow Academy branding in the UK and Arrow Video branding in the US.

As for the Czech and Polish releases, rightsholders there have never been fussed about region-locking. Which is why the overwhelming majority of Second Run's catalogue is region-free - it's not because they have some amazingly enlightened and visionary policy about region-coding (I still see people making bizarre claims like this!), it's because they don't license major studio titles. Indeed, their catalogue is usually so obscure and unlikely to be released anywhere else that the rightsholders doubtless appreciate that it wouldn't remotely be in their interest to insist on region-locking.
It's possible something can fall through the cracks, and it's possible there's weird exceptions to the rules, but just assume these or any Arrow or MoC release is Region B until we get the first reviews that might prove otherwise.
I seriously don't know why people are still speculating about the noir box. The chances of it being anything other than locked to Region B are as close to zero as makes no difference.
Noiradelic wrote:I read elsewhere that Goto, Isle of Love is too.
Goto has always been region-locked - and I co-produced that disc, so I'm afraid this is gospel. But the same restoration is available in Region A via Olive.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:59 am
by Noiradelic
MichaelB wrote:
Ribs wrote:It's possible something can fall through the cracks, and it's possible there's weird exceptions to the rules, but just assume these or any Arrow or MoC release is Region B until we get the first reviews that might prove otherwise.
I seriously don't know why people are still speculating about the noir box. The chances of it being anything other than locked to Region B are as close to zero as makes no difference.
I was just replying to Swo. I never entertained the thought the set would be region-free for a second. Don't believe Ribs was suggesting that either; think he was just avoiding stating absolutes.

But the details on Arrow and region coding you've provided are very informative nevertheless.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:49 pm
by M Sanderson
Force of Evil and Big Combo make this very exciting to me. I don't really know the other two.

Big Combo had an absurd and sadistic torture scene involving using some kind of loud speakers to hurt the insides of Cornell Wilde's ears. And had some amazing cinematography.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:45 pm
by Ribs
Now in stock at the Arrow store!

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 12:53 pm
by NABOB OF NOWHERE
M Sanderson wrote:Force of Evil and Big Combo make this very exciting to me. I don't really know the other two.

Big Combo had an absurd and sadistic torture scene involving using some kind of loud speakers to hurt the insides of Cornell Wilde's ears. And had some amazing cinematography.
It was Brian Donlevy's ears I think. First example of techno-torture?

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 2:19 pm
by Jonathan S
NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:
M Sanderson wrote:Force of Evil and Big Combo make this very exciting to me. I don't really know the other two.

Big Combo had an absurd and sadistic torture scene involving using some kind of loud speakers to hurt the insides of Cornell Wilde's ears. And had some amazing cinematography.
It was Brian Donlevy's ears I think. First example of techno-torture?
Donlevy's
SpoilerShow
hearing-aid, but used to torture Wilde (mostly).

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:06 pm
by Ribs

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:32 pm
by domino harvey
WTF is up with that Arrow aspect ratio for Dark Mirror

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:57 pm
by EddieLarkin
Looks to me like the transfer was originally done at 1.43:1 (for whatever reason) and the other releases squashed the image back to 1.33:1. Making the Arrow superior but ideally they could have cropped to 1.37:1.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:44 pm
by EddieLarkin
There are a few rounded corners though, which indicates too much was probably scanned, rather than too little.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:41 am
by Apperson
MichaelB wrote:I seriously don't know why people are still speculating about the noir box. The chances of it being anything other than locked to Region B are as close to zero as makes no difference.
Remembering this conversation, I looked on the bottom of the box for a region symbol and it turns out it's region free!

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:42 am
by Drucker
Between this and Tree of Wooden Clogs color timing being fixed, it would be nice if Arrow promoted these great developments.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:59 am
by Ribs
This was actually apparent from the initial packshots, where you could see the discs were labelled as such, but I didn’t mention it in the possible event they weren’t meant to be.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:33 pm
by Ashirg
Is it now sold out for good from their store or they plan to add more stock?

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:49 pm
by swo17
Amazon UK still has it in stock. There has been speculation since this was announced that it wouldn't last long. Order from somewhere now if you don't want to miss out.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:24 pm
by Ribs
The region-free news coming out at the same time that you could order it with double points upon release probably was a combination of factors that really accelerated this title shifting.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:06 am
by DeprongMori
Sigh. Given that it is nearly sold out and it provides a massive improvement on all of the titles in the box, I finally pulled the trigger on it rather than wait for a sale. Not sure how many linear feet of shelf space I've got in transit from Arrow at this point. They are having a hell of a year.

Re: Four Film Noir Classics

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:57 am
by hearthesilence
Anyone know how Force of Evil compares to the Olive disc?