Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC

[tenia]

We're 6 days before the release date, so physical copies have most certainly already produced. I guess the BFI would be looking into paying whatever is needed just to be able to put in the shelves whatever amount of sets has been produced already. Otherwise, it would mean wasting these copies, re-do whatever needs to be changed (authoring, encode, HD master ?), and then re-produce what has changed.

I have absolutely 0 care about when it's going to release. I pre-ordered it for months but probably wouldn't have watched it before... months. What is more concerning is that it's fully out of the BFI hands, and some people outside the labels (etc) have sometimes requirements that don't fit with any reasonable logic.

Hopefully, it's just a rightholder who just realised he hasn't been contacted for a rights clearance, and once it's settled, the stock will be unleashed on the market !

I just hope it won't last as long as say the US Blood and Black Lace Arrow release.....

[Big Ben]

Just think of what will happen if they have to change the set and the previously produced ones become collector's items. Makes me wish this issue happened AFTER the set had shipped.

[tenia]

Just think of what will happen if they have to change the set and the previously produced ones become collector's items. Makes me wish this issue happened AFTER the set had shipped.

I have both covers for Criterion's Harold and Maude, for instance.

[Manny Karp]

The worst that can happen is a Kill Baby Kill sort of deal

What's this?

[ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS]

Just think of what will happen if they have to change the set and the previously produced ones become collector's items. Makes me wish this issue happened AFTER the set had shipped.

I have both covers for Criterion's Harold and Maude, for instance.

What is the difference between them?

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Dark Sky released the Bava film in America, it was getting reviewed, and it turned out DS had no right to release it. All copies were recalled and that was it for that release.

[MichaelB]

It's wildly unlikely to be anything like that! The BBC could hardly be more aware of this project - and in fact it would have been impossible to put together without their extensive collaboration, not least in granting access to original negatives/video masters. And there's obviously no dispute about the primary rightsholder here - and Clarke's family could hardly be more supportive of this project either (as demonstrated by the BFI gaining access to Clarke's own personal workprint of The Firm, the only surviving copy - indeed, the only one ever extant - of his original cut).

If it is a rights issue at all, it'll most likely be a third-party affair affecting just one of the discs - I've already suggested a musical possibility; more drastically, there might be issues with certain source material, since Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Bertolt Brecht are still very much in copyright. But I can't stress enough that all this is total guesswork on my part.

[Big Ben]

The only thing that really bothers me is why this issue came up so close to release. If it is a rights issue shouldn't it have raised a red flag a little sooner? :-k

[tenia]

Just think of what will happen if they have to change the set and the previously produced ones become collector's items. Makes me wish this issue happened AFTER the set had shipped.

I have both covers for Criterion's Harold and Maude, for instance.

What is the difference between them?

The original front cover had the title + the credits for Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort and a "A film by Hal Ashby". The revised one adds "Written by Colin Higgins" & "Songs by Cat Stevens".

[tenia]

The only thing that really bothers me is why this issue came up so close to release. If it is a rights issue shouldn't it have raised a red flag a little sooner? :-k

It can be so complicated it can pop up basically at any time. It could have popped up in 2 weeks, and it would have been after the release date, potentially creating a whole different array of issues for the BFI (if it's indeed a rightholding issue).

[MichaelB]

The original front cover had the title + the credits for Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort and a "A film by Hal Ashby". The revised one adds "Written by Colin Higgins" & "Songs by Cat Stevens".

A distributor is contractually obliged to respect the exact wording required by the rightsholder - and sometimes names are required to be given certain prominence. For instance, in The Long Goodbye Elliott Gould's credit could be no less than 25% the size of the title (and if the title was larger than a certain size, Gould's name had to appear alongside it), and I could only name Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey on the front of The Manchurian Candidate (and in that order, each credit of equal size). The artwork on Arrow's edition subtly alludes to Angela Lansbury's character - but back in 1962 she wasn't considered famous enough to get upfront textual billing. There are also visual things such as Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis's heads having to be exactly the same size on all marketing materials for Sweet Smell of Success - and you can see that rule being applied to both the Criterion and Arrow editions.

Sometimes this can lead to completely absurd situations like the one on Arrow's Thief, which was contractually obliged not only to inform purchasers that the soundtrack was available on Elektra records and cassettes (good luck buying any of those brand new!), but that this should be highlighted with a box round it. But that's what the contract says, so...

It can be so complicated it can pop up basically at any time. It could have popped up in 2 weeks, and it would have been after the release date, potentially creating a whole different array of issues for the BFI (if it's indeed a rightholding issue).

It's not unusual for things like this to pop up at the eleventh hour - particularly in cases where you assume that something will be a mere formality and then it turns out not to be. Quite often this comes in the form of securing verbal or email agreement but taking longer than expected to get an actual signature on a legally binding document. I had just such a situation a few months ago - thankfully, it didn't delay the release, but it came scarily close, as we got that all-important signature when we were right up against the replication deadline. It only affected one of the extras, not the main feature - but we nonetheless needed it in order to go ahead.

[Werewolf by Night]

Not to slight the BFI's quality control staff, but could it possibly have been a technical issue that was spotted by a reviewer? Perhaps they are re-pressing discs before the set is sent to retail to avoid a costly recall or exchange program.

[McCrutchy]

Not to slight the BFI's quality control staff, but could it possibly have been a technical issue that was spotted by a reviewer? Perhaps they are re-pressing discs before the set is sent to retail to avoid a costly recall or exchange program.

I doubt that a sales halt at this late date would be a solution to a disc or even multiple discs with issues. Those types of problems--particularly in boxed sets--are more easily solved with replacement discs sent out after the fact, since actual discs cost relatively little to ship to customers.The fact that it affects all iterations of the release (Blu-ray and DVD) also lends weight to the rights issue argument, too, so it's either an issue with rights for artwork, or more likely, program content, meaning features/extras.

[Manny Karp]

Dark Sky released the Bava film in America, it was getting reviewed, and it turned out DS had no right to release it. All copies were recalled and that was it for that release.

On Blu? I don't recall that at all. Mister Lime on blu-ray.com I believe mentioned they (Kino) were working on the film.

[Manny Karp]

Not to slight the BFI's quality control staff, but could it possibly have been a technical issue that was spotted by a reviewer? Perhaps they are re-pressing discs before the set is sent to retail to avoid a costly recall or exchange program.

All the boxes contained the complete Andrei Tarkovsky from Artificial Eye, and we know that can't be allowed to see the light of day.

[MichaelB]

Not to slight the BFI's quality control staff, but could it possibly have been a technical issue that was spotted by a reviewer? Perhaps they are re-pressing discs before the set is sent to retail to avoid a costly recall or exchange program.

It's very unlikely to be that, as the BFI was very firm about this mysterious issue being completely beyond their control - hence the lack of a new release date. And in a situation like that, if just one disc is affected, it's probably cheaper to go ahead with the release and offer a replacement programme instead of scrapping existing copies at this very late stage.

[Thornycroft]

Dark Sky released the Bava film in America, it was getting reviewed, and it turned out DS had no right to release it. All copies were recalled and that was it for that release.

On Blu? I don't recall that at all. Mister Lime on blu-ray.com I believe mentioned they (Kino) were working on the film.

No, this was years ago. Back around the time Anchor Bay were putting out their Bava boxsets, which included a legit release of the film.

[RossyG]

i'm just going to do burpees then have go out for a pint...

I usually do burpees after I've had a pint.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

AC last seen face down in a gutter in Salford clutching Rita's (or maybe Sue's ) white stilettos. A few feet away a rain-sodden DVD of The Firm wedged in a drain grill. (Slow, low-mode Steadicam reveal)

[Alan Clarke]

i'm just going to do burpees then have go out for a pint...

I usually do burpees after I've had a pint.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster...you mean you get so drunk that you feel energised and doing burpees?

What are the chances of this set being released within the next two weeks then? Or is it likely to be months or even years?? I need to know because I may just cancel my pre order

[MichaelB]

What are the chances of this set being released within the next two weeks then? Or is it likely to be months or even years?? I need to know because I may just cancel my pre order

As I said, the timing is currently completely out of the BFI's hands. The second I hear anything different, it'll be posted here.

[Alphonse Tram]

What are the chances of this set being released within the next two weeks then? Or is it likely to be months or even years?? I need to know because I may just cancel my pre order

I've just heard directly from the BFI, it's not likely to be released for at least another 10 years. So you may as well cancel your order....and of course this means there will be no reason for you to return to this thread.

[Big Ben]

How long does it take Amazon to get the notice? It still says June 6th on the page.

[Alan Clarke]

What are the chances of this set being released within the next two weeks then? Or is it likely to be months or even years?? I need to know because I may just cancel my pre order

As I said, the timing is currently completely out of the BFI's hands. The second I hear anything different, it'll be posted here.

MichaelB, please note that I don't me cancel my order indefinitely. I wouldn't want to slight you or the BFI that way. I just meant cancel it for the time being as they already took the money out of my account, and if it's going to take a long long long time, I may as well get my money back and wait until it's released.

If this was strictly the BFI's fault, I would definitely have cancelled and then just forgot about it, but it's not so I don't want to have a go. I'm just trying to sort out finances that's all

Thank you for your cooperation, my friend.

[Alan Clarke]

What are the chances of this set being released within the next two weeks then? Or is it likely to be months or even years?? I need to know because I may just cancel my pre order

I've just heard directly from the BFI, it's not likely to be released for at least another 10 years. So you may as well cancel your order....and of course this means there will be no reason for you to return to this thread.

What's your problem with me?