I don't have the Dickens, but if I remember rightly the R.W. Paul booklet largely consisted of brief notes on the numerous individual titles - Ian Christie's commentaries (which I assume are still on the disc?) offer far more information. As indeed does Screenonline, come to think of it.

Here's what we're missing:

AMAZON BOX:
La Kermesse Heroique (1935) - Insert + Sleeve Notes by Philip Kemp
Les Dames Du Bois De Boulogne - Insert + Sleeve notes by French Cinema specialist Keith Reader.
Partie De Campagne (1936) - Insert + sleeve notes.
The Threepenny Opera (1931) - Contains an insert with notes by film historian Philip Kemp and a biography of Georg Wilhelm Pabst.
Regarde La Mer And Other Short Films (1994 - 2006) - Fully illustrated 24-page booklet with essays by Jonathan Romney, Paul Willemen, Sarah Cooper, and Pamela Church Gibson.
Le Cercle Rouge (1970) - ?
Celine And Julie Go Boating(1974) - 20 page illustrated booklet including a review by Tom Milne; interviews with Dominique Labourier, Juliet Berto and Jacques Rivette; Susan Seidelman's reflections on her Rivette-inspired Desperately Seeking Susan; director biography.
Tristana (1970) - 10-page liner notes booklet with essays by Isabel Santaolalla and Tom Milne.
Distant Voices Still Lives (1988) - 24-page liner notes booklet including essays by Beryl Bainbridge and Adrian Danks, an original review from the Monthly Film Bulletin and more.
The Innocents (1961) - Extensive Booklet including:
a. "Fog and rain and long winter nights..." Jeremy Dyson's 3 page essay on the movie;
b. 3 storyboards by John Piper;
c. 5 page article by Penelope Houston written for Sight and Sound in 1961'
d. Cast and Credits including proper biographies of the major players and a page of the original screenplay which is fascinating (with all the continuity notes scribbled all over it);
e. A page on the short, The Bespoke Overcoat.
"This is one of the very few 'booklets' that can be celebrated as a true extra." according to dvdoutsider.co.uk (where I found this info).

MOVIEMAIL BOX:
RW Paul: The Collected Films (1895-1908) - Illustrated 24-page booklet with an essay by Ian Christie and an introduction to each of the films.
Dickens Before Sound (1878-1922) - Fully illustrated 40-page booklet with an introduction, notes on each film and original production stills.
Piccadilly (Dupont, 1929) - Insert + Ian Christie sleeve notes.
The Edge of the World (Powell, 1937) - Insert + Sleeve notes by Ian Christie
Night and the City (Dassin, 1950) - Fully illustrated 18 page booklet with essays by Lee Server and Paul Duncan.
See Britain by Train (1951-80) - 8 page booklet.
The Caretaker (Donner, 1963) - Insert + Michael Billington sleeve notes.
The Early Films of Peter Greenaway (1973-78) - Insert + Director's sleeve notes.
Caravaggio (Jarman, 1986) - 18-page illustrated booklet including introductory essay by Colin MacCabe and interview with costume designer Sandy Powell.
Under the Skin (Adler, 1997) - Insert ? + sleeve notes by Pam Cook, adapted from a review in the December 1997 issue of Sight and Sound.

PLAY.COM BOX:
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - Philip Kemp Liner notes.
People on Sunday (1929) - 12-page liner notes booklet includes essay by Philip Kemp.
Le Regle Du Jeu (1939) - Insert + Philip Kemp sleeve notes.
Fallen Angel (1945) - Insert + Edward Buscombe sleeve notes.
Jour de Fete (1949) - Insert + sleevenotes.
Les Enfant Terribles (1949) - Insert + Philip Kemp sleeve notes.
Throne of Blood (1957) - Insert? + Philip Kemp sleeve notes.
Le Doulos (1961) - ?
The Leopard (1963) - Insert + David Forgacs sleevenotes.
Bande A Part (1964) - Insert + Philip Kemp sleevenotes.

(I gathered this information from the couple of releases I already owned and various review sites including DVDBeaver and DVDTimes. However, I still coudn't discover if the 2 Melville discs featured inserts/sleeve notes).

The inserts I can live without but I'm annoyed at the loss of some substantial booklets and I'm completely baffled by the removal of the sleeve notes from each release. I now wish that I'd waited to pick up individual titles.

yeah, I'll just skip these boxes now and buy some of the full discs from the BFI site.

Doulos has one page insert and sleeve notes by Kemp. I can't believe some of you were shocked to discover the sets were sans booklets-- did you all think they were gonna shove 'em into their own thinpaks or something?

Shocked! Shocked, I say!

Not, not really shocked; just didn't know. Thin pak schmin pak.

Fair point - but when I pre-ordered I didn't know they were thin-paks... Still - it makes storage easier (and, trust me, for Mrs Amicus that's a BIG issue at the moment!)

Join the club, doc. That's the 'married to women with DVD storage issues' club.

Not shocked just very disappointed. Like Dr Amicus I didn't know they were slimline packs when I pre-ordered. I thought they were supposed to be special 75th Anniversary sets - DVDTimes stated the sets were "Housed in deluxe, limited edition packaging".

Amazon.co.uk now has many of the BFI titles on sale, ranging from £7-11 before VAT

DVD Times on Manufactured Landscapes

Where's the BFI packaging & cover art forum around here? (alright, i kid)

I received the BFI 75 set from Amazon. The box was pretty beat up, but I flattened it and it's looking alright. The paper covering the box also flaked off pretty immediately. As the box itself is pretty boring, I wondered if this paper part is supposed to be glued to the box. Anybody that received it have an opinion?

My thoughts exactly. The Movie-mail set is the same - and I would assume so is the Play set.

It seems to be held on by some strange combination of origami and weird mystical juju - frankly I've never seen anything quite like it.

Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep and My Brother's Wedding comimg on 20th Octoner 2008.

DVD Beaver on Manufactured Landscapes.

I contacted the BFI through their website regarding the missing booklets and they very kindly sent me a full set

Some new announcements, all coming December 15.

Sehnsucht

Partner

Anchoress

Coincidentally, I watched Anchoress the other day, for the first time since it came out in 1993, and I think people will find it a bit of a revelation - imagine a black-and-white British-Belgian version of Borowczyk's Blanche (an acknowledged influence), and you'll get the general idea.

Longing at last! I didn't get a chance to see this when it toured, and was wondering why a DVD didn't follow the theatrical release. Now how about Kelemen's Fate? (Extremely unlikely, I know.)

BFI DVD Christmas promotion
Save 25% on selected best-selling DVD box-sets in December

Throughout December, a selection of the BFI’s beautifully-designed, deluxe DVD box-sets will be on sale with a generous 25% off their usual price, in a nationwide promotion that will include high street and online retailers and the BFI Filmstore on London’s South Bank.

Among the sets on offer are the critically acclaimed Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950 released earlier this year; Free Cinema, the first and the definitive collection of ground-breaking films from the late 50’s/early 60s British New Wave period and Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films, the world’s first complete edition of the Czech director’s incredible shorts. The following sets are included in the promotion:

Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950
This 4-disc set contains 13 hours of re-mastered footage, in a deluxe presentation box with a 96-page bound book, featuring 40 films preserved in the BFI National Archive. This landmark BFI collection is the first major retrospective of the British documentary film movement during its period of greatest influence.
RRP: £34.99 Promotion price: £26.25

Free Cinema
This definitive collection – 16 films in a 3-disc set – includes a number of fascinating shorts made on a shoestring budget and with a 16mm Bolex camera by first-time directors such as Karl Reisz and Tony Richardson. The third disc features an exclusive documentary with interviews, film extracts, previously unseen stills, and rarely seen films made in the spirit of the Free Cinema movement.
RRP: £29.99 Promotion price: £22.49

Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films
Featuring all 26 entries in the official filmography, this is the world’s first complete DVD edition of the short films by the legendary Czech Surrealist filmmaker-animator. With nearly eight hours of material, compiled on three discs and packaged in a deluxe digipack with a 56-page illustrated booklet, this DVD is a truly must-have item for any Švankmajer fan.
RRP: £29.99 Promotion price: £22.49

Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003
This two-disc set, in deluxe packaging, collects 13 of the Quay Brothers' short films, spanning 24 years, in brand new restored and re-mastered editions (six of them with new Quay commentaries), plus a collection of ‘footnotes’ including interviews, alternative versions, unrealised pilot projects and more. An accompanying illustrated colour booklet features an encyclopaedic guide to the Quays’ universe.
RRP: £24.99 Promotion price: £18.75

Un Chien andalou and L’Âge d’or
There are only a limited number of these box-sets left, so they are sure to become collectors’ items. Luis Buñuel’s legendary Un Chien andalou, with its startling eye-slicing opening sequence, continues to shock. L’Âge d’or is indisputably one of the great collaborations of cinema history, uniting the genius of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí in the making of a Surrealist masterpiece. Special features include film commentaries and a documentary on Buñuel.
RRP: £29.99 Promotion price: £22.49

Addressing the Nation: The GPO Film Collection Volume One
Just released in September, this is the first of three double-disc box sets presenting all the key films of the GPO Film Unit on DVD for the first time. This volume contains 15 films from 1933-1935, additional features and an 80-page bound book.
RRP: £24.99 Promotion price: £18.75

Mikio Naruse: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960); Floating Clouds (1955); Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
BFI DVD presents three of Mikio Naruse’s finest films, now regarded as among world cinema’s greatest achievements. Individually sleeved, they are collected together in a presentation box. Extra features include exclusive audio commentaries on scenes from each film by Japanese cinema expert Freda Freiberg and extensive filmed interviews with Freiberg and director Teruo Ishii (Naruse’s assistant).
RRP: £44.99 Promotion price: £33.75

Are those sale prices just on the BFI site?

ah, silly me

Does anyone have any info on the 11/17 release of Preminger's The Fan ? I couldn't seem to find any mention of it on the BFI's website.

I think it's been delayed until January. A lot of BFI titles seem to have gotten pushed back. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is now scheduled for March and those three December 15 titles mentioned above have also moved to January.

According to Moviemail it's being released on 19 January 2009.