New Australian DVD and BD Releases

[solent]

Madman now have the Wenders box listed on their site so it looks like the set will certainly be out on October 10; no commentary listed on KINGS OF THE ROAD though.

[amnesiac]

It's not a new release, but does anyone out there have the Hitchcock boxset released by Force Entertainment a few years ago. If so, is it possible to get some screenshots of this please. I was thinking about about buying it, but don't want to pay good money for an inferior product when I can import the Lion's Gate DVDs.

Thanks

[zedz]

It's not a new release, but does anyone out there have the Hitchcock boxset released by Force Entertainment a few years ago. If so, is it possible to get some screenshots of this please. I was thinking about about buying it, but don't want to pay good money for an inferior product when I can import the Lion's Gate DVDs.

I'd be very cautious. I don't have this particular set, but a similar Australian one (with about 12 of these films) that I picked up last year dirt cheap just for the sake of seeing some elusive titles (Juno and the Paycock - don't bother - and the Farmer's Wife). They were really mediocre VHS-quality transfers, not the nice new ones in the Lions Gate or UK sets. Going by the release date and contents, I'd say the chances of this set being from the same source as the Lion's Gate one are nil.

There are lots and lots of these PD releases around of similar atrocious quality - or the same ones repackaged over and over again, I'm not sure - so I'd definitely avoid any big early Hitchcock package unless you've read a positive report from a reliable source or you are desperate to see one of these films that doesn't appear elsewhere.

[amnesiac]

I'd be very cautious.

Two words were enough for me to think twice about buying - Force Entertainment.

[marty]

I'd be very cautious.

Two words were enough for me to think twice about buying - Force Entertainment.

Ah yes, Force Entertainment....There was a story about Force projecting old films on a fridge door for its great illuminosity and taping it using a standard VHS camera and then putting it out on DVD. They were found out because if you look closely in the top left hand corner was the bottom part of a shopping list and on the right hand top corner was a fridge magnet.

[kekid]

I recall some discussion of early Wim Wenders film set coming from this region. Any update?

[foggy eyes]

A few posts earlier, solent wrote:

Madman now have the Wenders box listed on their site so it looks like the set will certainly be out on October 10; no commentary listed on KINGS OF THE ROAD though.

[kekid]

Thank you, foggy eyes. I apologize for not looking at the earlier post.

[daniel p]

Thank you, foggy eyes. I apologize for not looking at the earlier post.

who's the real foggy eyes then...

[Solaris]

Distinction series release of Andrei Rublev is a port of Russico disc, same print, same extras, same menu; contains mono and 5.1 soundtracks.

[Darth Lavender]

For those who didn't know, the Ruscico is pretty pointless.

Best image-quality is on a Russian DVD released by the company "Lizard"

And the *only* 'original cut,' is the Criterion DVD (which is a mediocre DVD by most standards, and downright terrible by Criterion standards.)

btw, just picked up one of Magna's "Silver Screen Classics" 3-diskers for $9. Magna is one to generally avoid (lots of PD, pan & scan, etc.) so I was very pleased to see a genuinely first rate transfer of "Life and Death of Colonel Blimp," which is easily worth twice what I paid for the set. Possibly ported from the expensive French release.

[John Cope]

Roadshow is releasing a new edition of John Duigan's great Wide Sargasso Sea on the 5th. I can't dig up much information on it other than the troubling suggestion that it might be 4:3. Anyway, I wondered if one of you could kindly take a look at the packaging if it turns up in a store near you. The R1 has a glorious transfer so there's really no reason to bother with this unless it has some kind of special feature (the R1 has only a trailer).

At this point I guess the appropriate question to ask is how is Roadshow as a distributor? Do they bother much with their releases or are they mainly movie only deals?

[Darth Lavender]

Roadshow occasionally includes extras (they released the two-disk Lost Highway with all the extras, and at an excellent price,) but they have a terrible tendency toward pan & scan releases.
The other day I borrowed Shadowlands from the library, just because I wanted to buy it and couldn't believe the aspect ratio on the case wasn't a misprint (4:3 for an anamorphic 2.35:1 movie) but, sure enough, they really did cut off almost a full half of the image.

[marty]

Roadshow occasionally includes extras (they released the two-disk Lost Highway with all the extras, and at an excellent price,) but they have a terrible tendency toward pan & scan releases.
The other day I borrowed Shadowlands from the library, just because I wanted to buy it and couldn't believe the aspect ratio on the case wasn't a misprint (4:3 for an anamorphic 2.35:1 movie) but, sure enough, they really did cut off almost a full half of the image.

That's because Roadshow just use the original TV master they purchased years ago rather than going to the effort of ordering a new master with the correct aspect ratio. Either it is deliberate laziness or their intern who is in charge of materials knows jack shit about aspect ratios. Either way it's not good enough.

[Solaris]

Listed on ezydvd are two new Hitchcock collections from Force in November.
Collection one includes:
The Lodger
The Ring
Easy Virtue
The Farmers' Wife
The Manxman
Young and Innocent
Blackmail
Juno and the Paycock

Collection two:
Murder
Number Seventeen
Rich And Strange
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Sabotage
Secret Agent
The Lady Vanishes
Jamaica Inn

also listed - Becket and a three disc Preminger collection from MRA. MRA are also releasing a four disc Preminger collection in October that includes Saint Joan, Advice and Consent, The Moon Is Blue and Anatomy of a Filmmaker.

[devlinnn]

It truly is mind-blowing to see all the new Godard DVDs being released this week by a major distributor. Looks like all the Colin McCabe intros are there as well. Art work is so-so, but picking up Passion, and First Name, Carmen for under $20 each - fantastic.

[s_mac_k]

And on the Godard front it's good picture (I can't compare them to other transfers because I only picked up what I don't have - Passion, Oh Woe Is Me and The Little Soldier), correct ratios and forced white subs (knew that was coming). Colin McCabe intros and trailers, photos (not screen captures) and posters where they have them. Shame about the subtitles but for $19 at JBs to actually be able to see these films it's hard to complain (and probably more like mind-blowing...)

[Darth Lavender]

Are the subs "forced" or "burnt in"?

My HTPC can easily deal with "forced" subs, but "burnt in" is another matter entirely.

[devlinnn]

Forced.

PQ on Passion and Carmen is astonishingly beautiful. McCabe intros short, to the point, intelligent and passionate. Local releases of the year.

[Solaris]

November from Directors Suite:



Special Features:
* Audio commentary by Dr Adrian Martin, Senior Research Fellow, Film & Television Studies, Monash University and Co-editor of Rouge Magazine
* Hollywood Remembers: Ingrid Bergman - A Portrait
* Original poster artwork

Includes English and Italian audio, I'm guessing the transfer will be taken from BFI disc.

[devlinnn]

Interesting to note Warner have pushed back the local Kubrick releases to December (2001 / Shining / Clockwork Orange). With no official word on the Blade Runner set, or zip interest in a theatrical release for the new cut, the question continues to be - who the hell works in the Sydney office, and wouldn't they be better off selling perfume and knickers at DJs?

[Solaris]

Unless the upcoming R4 of The Shining contains the longer cut, I recommend ordering the R1 Kubrick set instead.

[amnesiac]

For all those who asked about cheap Chaplin DVDs a few months back, JB Hifi (Sydney) has them at <$20

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

Is the R4 Mamma Roma a port of the Criterion?

[devlinnn]

Odd to see Ezydvd listing December BluRay and HD releases for That's Entertainment: The Complete Collection considering they've never bothered with the DVD release over the years.