BFI (British Film Institute)

[What A Disgrace]

I'd be in for R.W. Paul and Dreams That Money Can Buy.

[MichaelB]

The R.W.Paul disc is terrific, and hasn't had anything like the attention it deserves - possibly understandably, as it's an ultra-specialist field, but a pity nonetheless.

[Tommaso]

R.W. Paul is one of those that I will definitely pick up, also "Kermesse Heroique". Has anyone seen the "Dickens before Sound" set and would recommend it?

A great chance for picking up silents: if you haven't got the Mitchell&Kenyon films, "Piccadilly", "Mad Love", and those "Silent Shakespeare" films: run, don't walk, and get them!

[zone_resident]

As someone who lives in US, I checked the international shipping rates at the BFI web site (I assumed that this 50% promotion will be available only through the BFI web site). Sadly, the shipping rates to non-Europe destinations are not very encouraging:

Up to 0.25kg = £3.50
Up to 0.5kg = £6.00
Up to 0.75kg = £8.50
Up to 1kg = £12.00
Up to 1.5kg = £16.00
Up to 2kg = £22.00
Up to 2.5kg = £27.00
Up to 3kg = £32.00
Up to 3.5kg = £37.00
Up to 4kg = £42.00
Up to 4.5kg = £47.00
Up to 5kg = £52.00
Over 5kg = £75.00

Let's hope that Amazon.co.uk will participate to this promotion as well.

[Adam]

I thought Amazon.co.uk was also taking part - said so above.
Looking forward to some of those "old film" discs.

[What A Disgrace]

The R.W.Paul disc is terrific, and hasn't had anything like the attention it deserves - possibly understandably, as it's an ultra-specialist field, but a pity nonetheless.

I have Flicker Alley's Melies set, and plenty of (online) research to thank for my interest in this disc...in fact, with this news, its quickly becoming the DVD I most look forward to getting in the mail. And just about any other collection devoted to pre-1910s pioneers would have my eye. Lumiere bros, Paul, Elfelt, you name it.

I wouldn't mind seeing some of this guy's stuff, either.

[Cabiria21]

I wouldn't mind seeing some of this guy's stuff, either.

a selection of his works is on ubuweb to either watch or download. Magnificent early cinema.

[cgray]

Looks like the play.com set is up:

Set Comprises:

Man with a Movie Camera (1929): 'Man With a Movie Camera' is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, a montage of urban Russian life showing the people of the city at work and at play, and the machines that keep the city going. It was Vertov's first full-length film, and he used all the cinematic techniques at his disposal - dissolves, split screen, slow motion and freeze-frames - to produce a work that is exhilarating and intellectually brillant.

People on Sunday (1929): A tale of five young Berliners - a taxi driver, a travelling wine dealer, a record shop sales girl, a film extra and a model - spending a typical Sunday. In this vivid snapshot of Berlin life, a trip to the countryside reveals the flirtations, rivalries, jealousies, and petty irritations common to any group outing. All too soon it is the end of the day, and the prospect of Monday looms, and the return to the weekday routine.

Le Regle Du Jeu (1939): Dismissed by both the public and critics on its first release, re-cut by its producers and then banned by the French government as 'demoralising', 'La Regle Du Jeu' now features in the Top Ten greatest film lists of both critics and director's, and is one of the most requested world cinema DVD releases by film fans.

Fallen Angel (1945): Down on his luck Eric meets the wealthy June and formulates a plan to marry her, then divorce her and steal her fortune that will enable him to live in comfort with Stella with whom he is in love. However, when Stella is mysteriously murdered things start to go very wrong indeed...

Jour de Fete (1949): Hilarious expose of the modern obsession with speed and efficiency set in the rural surroundings of a French village where Francoise the postman tries to improve his round. The visual comedy, invention and above all, timing is superb. The evocation of rural France really does seem as if from another century....

Les Enfant Terribles (1949): In this compelling tale of incestuous obsession, teenage brother and sister Paul and Elisabeth live "like two limbs of a single apology", creating an intense, private world in their untidy shared single room. When outsiders intrude into their world however, the scene is set for tragedy. Based on Jean Cocteau's 1929 novel, who also provided the voice-over.

Throne of Blood (1957): Kurosawa's transposition of Shakespeare's Macbeth to sixteenth century Japan is, like the great Russian adaptations of King Lear and Hamlet, immensely successful in capturing the 'spirit' of the original. Any loss in language or characterisation is more than compensated by the evocation of the misty and forbidding locale, the bravura ghostly apparitions, and the fascinating incursions of specifically Japanese elements, such as the echoes of Noh drama.

Le Doulos (1961) One of Melville's own favourite films in which ambiguity is the name of the game as a convicted burglar completes his incarceration only to get himself straight back into trouble...

The Leopard (1963): A 19th century Italian prince (Burt Lancaster) presides over the transition from his old world to a modern one where his class will no longer rule...

Bande A Part (1964): 'Bande A Part' is Jean-Luc Godard's playful tribute to the Hollywood pulp crime movies of the 1940s, executed with typically Gallic cool.

Again, kind of tempting, though this one has a lot more overlap with existing Criterion titles. Price right now is £59.99.

[What A Disgrace]

Quick note.

BFI's disc of To Sleep With Anger is 7.99 at MovieMail.

[Awesome Welles]

Spoiler

London / Robinson In Space

Definitely worth picking up at this price. I may also plump for a few more that I have let fall by the wayside. I am also a fan of Night of Truth but probably won't buy it (I can't afford it all)!

[chaddoli]

Do we have official confirmation that the Salo and Red Desert BluRays are region free? Or can we find out (MichaelB?)

As soon as I find this out I'll be ordering right away.

[pro-bassoonist]

Do we have official confirmation that the Salo and Red Desert BluRays are region free? Or can we find out (MichaelB?)

As soon as I find this out I'll be ordering right away.

Yes, I can confirm.

Pro-B

[MichaelB]

Yes, I can confirm.

With the very greatest respect, no-one outside BFI DVD Publishing is in a position to confirm this just yet - and their current position is that they don't yet know whether this will be contractually possible.

Obviously, as soon as they do know for certain, they'll let everyone know - but it will be through an official conduit, not an independent third party taking it upon himself to "confirm" things!

[pro-bassoonist]

With the very greatest respect, no-one outside BFI DVD Publishing is in a position to confirm this just yet - and their current position is that they don't yet know whether this will be contractually possible.

I've sent you the relevant info Michael. And have taken a note.

Thanks.

Dr.A

[Awesome Welles]

Does anyone know if the 75th Anniversary boxsets will be a set of regular Amaray cases in a box or something else?

[MichaelB]

Does anyone know if the 75th Anniversary boxsets will be a set of regular Amaray cases in a box or something else?

I'll find out and get back to you.

UPDATE: Slim-line Amarays in a cardboard slipcase. Here's what the MovieMail package looks like.

[Jonathan S]

Does anyone know if the 75th Anniversary boxsets will be a set of regular Amaray cases in a box or something else?

Slim-line Amarays in a cardboard slipcase. Here's what the MovieMail package looks like.

If they have the original booklets, it could be tight squeeze for some of these releases. Dickens Before Sound, for example, is two discs plus a 40-page booklet!

[Adam]

That Movie Mail selection looks very tempting - don't have any of those.

[MichaelB]

That Movie Mail selection looks very tempting - don't have any of those.

I have most of them, and can thoroughly recommend them - the R.W.Paul and Dickens discs are crammed with fascinating, well-contextualised rarities, and most of the feature-film discs are pretty well definitive in terms of transfer quality and extras, especially Piccadilly, The Edge of the World and Caravaggio - and the Greenaway shorts disc is director-approved.

The masterstroke, though, was to throw in a British Transport Films collection (DVD Times review here), as these films are much, much richer and wider-ranging than you'd expect from their remit. In fact, this particular collection barely features trains at all.

[Adam]

That Movie Mail selection looks very tempting - don't have any of those.

The masterstroke, though, was to throw in a British Transport Films collection (DVD Times review here), as these films are much, much richer and wider-ranging than you'd expect from their remit. In fact, this particular collection barely features trains at all.

The British Transport films are tempting independently as well (at least for someone like me), but it's hard to know where to start. Would you have a recommended order?

[myrnaloyisdope]

Well I bit on the BFI Amazon set, with VAT reduction of about 7 pounds because I am in Canada it came to just over 100 Canadian. It's as good a price as I am sure to find for BFI discs.

[souvenir]

Yeah I got the Amazon set also. The packaging currently shown looks quite nice, and I was able to sell the only two I already owned (Tristana and Celine and Julie Go Boating) for about $60 after fees. Hopefully the booklets and the Celine and Julie disc 2 are included. I am afraid I'll be stuck with the BFI Threepenny Opera since there's really nothing, to my knowledge, about it superior to the Criterion.

[What A Disgrace]

The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner

Lotte Reineger - Fairy tales

UPS I almost forgot

British Transport Films

Judging by the price, I assume this will be all eight previously released volumes?

[MichaelB]

UPS I almost forgot

British Transport Films

Judging by the price, I assume this will be all eight previously released volumes?

Indeed - plus a bonus disc.

[Dr Amicus]

Ooohh - now that Transport Films set is tempting. However, with both the Amazon set (no VAT here in Guernsey - £48.50!) and Movie Mail set ordered, AND too many of the other 75 tempting me... I'll see what I think of the disc in the Movie Mail set and then maybe ask for it for Xmas.

And a reissue of Long Distance Runner? Any news on how it differs from the OOP version?