BFI (British Film Institute)

[MichaelB]

Was originally going to get the CC of The Leopard as it's marginally sharper (going by the Beaver's screen caps) but especially at this discount I just couldn't say no to the BFI edition.

...which in any case has by far the better commentary.

[domino harvey]

What's the cheapest participating online retailer for Americans?

[What A Disgrace]

Posted in the 20th page of the DVD Screencaps thread. I have a feeling I haven't exactly used the best equipment to do the caps!

[zedz]

What's the cheapest participating online retailer for Americans?

Having conducted my own highly scientific experiments with this, I was surprised and impressed to find that - for me at least - the BFI came out best.

I tried ordering 10 items from HMV, which had the lowest prices (7.99 apiece), but the shipping was astronomical, bringing the total up to 125 quid.

Moviemail's shipping was less than half of HMV's, but they offered no further discount, so the same order came to 119.40.

BFI, unsurprisingly, charge everything at 9.99, and their shipping is pretty much the same as Moviemail, but they take off the VAT, so for overseas orders the per disc price comes down to 8.50, so the same order worked out at a little over 100 quid.

[domino harvey]

Thanks so much for the tip! Going through this sale really makes me wish BFI had its own subforum here and not one unnavigable 37-page thread

[foliagecop]

I second Domino's suggestion. Any chance, mods?

On reflection, probably unfeasible.

[Tommaso]

I second Domino's suggestion. Any chance, mods?

Thirded! The BFI is not only the only label that matches CC and MoC as far as transfers and presentation are concerned (at least nowadays), but they also release the same 'type' of films, roughly speaking. I can't see why Second Run has its own subforum and the BFI hasn't (nothing against Second Run, but they are far more 'niche').

[MichaelB]

While I (obviously) can't reveal anything about what's coming out in the next few months, I can certainly confirm that the quantity of BFI releases will be increasing - so the navigation problem that Domino mentions is likely to get worse.

[Finch]

Was originally going to get the CC of The Leopard as it's marginally sharper (going by the Beaver's screen caps) but especially at this discount I just couldn't say no to the BFI edition.

...which in any case has by far the better commentary.

So I heard, Michael - I was always in two minds about whether to get the CC as I didn't feel that curious about the shorter US cut and the BFI's own extras sound substantial.

Re the BFI's own sub-forum - I also feel they ought to get their own forums because it's already a pain to navigate all these pages to look for discussion of a particular title. Eventually a new thread would have to be started if this one reaches 50 pages (I don't know what the cut-off point for the number of pages on a thread is). Like MoC, the BFI have had a fantastic year and I'd imagine that their own sub-forum would be at least as active as, say, the FOX one, if not more so. My two cents anyway.

[Tommaso]

My suggestion for a BFI sub-forum would be that the existing thread is left intact for awhile, but that we start new topics for new films or any other older release we want to discuss and perhaps only then the relevant bits of the long thread could be inserted into these new topics. Otherwise it would be a hell of a job to sort out what is already written in the long thread, and I could understand if the mods didn't want to do that job.

[MichaelB]

Otherwise it would be a hell of a job to sort out what is already written in the long thread, and I could understand if the mods didn't want to do that job.

I'll happily do it if they don't want to, though I'll need temporary powers (which I promise not to abuse!)

[domino harvey]

I second Domino's suggestion. Any chance, mods?

Thirded! The BFI is not only the only label that matches CC and MoC as far as transfers and presentation are concerned (at least nowadays), but they also release the same 'type' of films, roughly speaking. I can't see why Second Run has its own subforum and the BFI hasn't (nothing against Second Run, but they are far more 'niche').

Not to undermine my own argument, but I believe MOC and Second Run got subforums because producers from those labels are/were regular posters here.

[MichaelB]

Not to undermine my own argument, but I believe MOC and Second Run got subforums because producers from those labels are/were regular posters here.

<cough>

[colinr0380]

Not to undermine my own argument, but I believe MOC and Second Run got subforums because producers from those labels are/were regular posters here.

That might be the case with MoC but I think Second Run got its forum mostly due to Matt (I think) just being impressed with their initial line up and setting it up for that reason! On the Second Run website they have a note saying that they were going to set up a forum there but were surprised to find one had been set up here already.

I'd add my support to a BFI area done in a similar way to the Fox/Warner sections, if that wasn't too much trouble to arrange.

[zedz]

I agree with the BFI discussions needing some better structure than they've currently got, but we can certainly contribute to that individually without calling in the mod squad, simply by initiating individual threads for significant releases (or groups of them). I'd suggest entitling them "BFI: Terence Davies films" or "BFI: Still Life". Then we'll see soon enough whether there's enough momentum to justify a dedicated sub-forum.

Personally, I think this has been BFI's year. It's a close call, but I don't think even MoC's forthcoming Pialat bonanza could overpower the range and quality of their recent output. Criterion who?

[perkizitore]

Which films would you most want to see at BFI's Mediatheque?

[Tommaso]

I agree with the BFI discussions needing some better structure than they've currently got, but we can certainly contribute to that individually without calling in the mod squad, simply by initiating individual threads for significant releases (or groups of them). I'd suggest entitling them "BFI: Terence Davies films" or "BFI: Still Life". Then we'll see soon enough whether there's enough momentum to justify a dedicated sub-forum.

Where would you put these individual threads? In the Boutique Label section or in the International DVD section? In both cases they might get lost among all the other stuff discussed there, though it's probably better than nothing.

Personally, I think this has been BFI's year. It's a close call, but I don't think even MoC's forthcoming Pialat bonanza could overpower the range and quality of their recent output. Criterion who?

While I'd give this year's award to MoC in any case (may just be a matter of personal interests, but nothing beats those Mizoguchis, Dreyer and Franju in my view), I certainly agree that it was a very good year for the BFI as well, especially as the best goodies are yet to come, "Salo" and "Red Desert".

And don't get me started on Criterion, now that the Ophuls discs seem to be if not a desaster, then clearly somewhat sub-standard.

[domino harvey]

Posted in the 20th page of the DVD Screencaps thread. I have a feeling I haven't exactly used the best equipment to do the caps!

Thanks for the caps. It's one of my favorite films and was considering double-dipping, but it looks a lot worse than the very fine R1

[What A Disgrace]

Hey, Michael. Is there any chance that the GPO collections will later be collected together, as the Transport films are?

[cgray]

(As an aside, and I certainly don't mean to detract from the above discussion: just another vote for breaking the BFI off into its own subforum, with threads for titles... what's the concern? Are there just too many titles? It appears to me that the houses with their own subforums are those that are producing DVDs in a comparable vein and of comparable quality to Criterion: namely, Second Run and MoC. The fact that Lionsgate and Fox have their own subforums only lends more force to the argument that the BFI should, as well [tho I'm really not intending to get back into the mainstream/populist argument from a couple weeks ago].

Again: I'm not sure what the concern is, whether technical limitations, storage space, or readability. If there is a technical reason, so be it. But we have a volunteer in Michael B to sort the posts from the BFI thread into their own threads under a BFI heading. I also don't think having it's own sub-space would compromise readability. Would it really be distracting to to have, under "Other DVD Labels": Warner, Fox, Lionsgate, Second Run, BFI, and Boutique Labels? Heck, I don't think it would be that distracting to break AE or New Yorker out on their own, either. But I have very pleased and impressed with BFI's releases of late, and it seems there's more on the way.

In my opinion, one benefit would be encouraging more title-specific and release-generated discussion. I got excited/wanted to talk about Joe's release of Syndromes & a Century, but doing it in the director subforum--if he even exists there--seems to lose some of the excitement and steam of the title specific conversations. There's my two cents. Got change for a nickel?)

[MichaelB]

Hey, Michael. Is there any chance that the GPO collections will later be collected together, as the Transport films are?

Sorry, if it hasn't been announced in public already, I can't tell you.

(Even if I knew, which in this case I don't!)

[domino harvey]

Blink once for yes and twice for no

[What A Disgrace]

Sorry, if it hasn't been announced in public already, I can't tell you.

(Even if I knew, which in this case I don't!)

Feel free to try to convince me to buy the discs, though! I'm in love with the BFI these past few years, and very susceptible.

I'm primarily interested in Humphrey Jennings and Len Lye. Will several more of their films be spread about the GPO volumes? How do these films compare to the films offered on Land of Promise?

[MichaelB]

I'm primarily interested in Humphrey Jennings and Len Lye. Will several more of their films be spread about the GPO volumes?

Yes. I don't have title listings for volumes 2 and 3 yet, but I suspect they'll be similar to volume 1 - i.e. 15 or so films from, respectively, the middle and late periods of the GPO Film Unit (which was active from approx. 1933-40). It's not a complete survey, but it certainly seems to cover everything that anyone would realistically want, with a lot of fascinating rarities on the side.

How do these films compare to the films offered on Land of Promise?

Well, Land of Promise is much more of a cultural-political-historical portrait of Britain from 1931-50 and covers a much wider range in terms of subject matter - whereas the GPO films are essentially corporate promos mostly designed to highlight the achievements of Britain's postal and telecommunications industry.

But when you consider that this encompasses films as diverse as (to cite a few of the better known titles), Song of Ceylon, Night Mail, A Colour Box, Love on the Wing and Spare Time, and the fact that the GPO employed people like W.H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Alberto Cavalcanti, Humphrey Jennings, Len Lye, Norman McLaren, Lotte Reiniger and Basil Wright, you'll see how inadequate that description is!

More than almost any other British film company in the 1930s (and at most other times), the GPO Film Unit was open to experimentation and innovation, which is why even the minor work can be endlessly surprising. In fact, it's probably easiest if you just get a taster here - and there are loads of clips.

[Se7en082]

Sadly (for some), I can now confirm that the BFI's Salo Blu-Ray will definitely be Region B, due to unavoidable contractual issues.

And that's straight from the head of BFI DVD Publishing, so it's completely official.

There goes my preorder. Shame about it, but unavoidable I guess. Was really looking forward to Salo and The Red Desert.