Targets

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dustybooks
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Targets

#1 Post by dustybooks » Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:05 pm

Appears that Targets is delayed till October 4th.

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swo17
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#2 Post by swo17 » Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:29 am

dustybooks wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:05 pm
Appears that Targets is delayed till October 4th.
And now June of next year?

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dwk
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#3 Post by dwk » Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:04 am

I think the BFI said that Targets is getting a new restoration and they are waiting for that. (I would assume that means it likely is getting a US release before the BFI disc from Paramount, Criterion or Shout.)

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MichaelB
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#4 Post by MichaelB » Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:09 am

Ben Stoddart has explicitly said that they're waiting on the new restoration, and that the timetable is therefore in Paramount's hands rather than theirs.

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swo17
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Re: BFI (British Film Institute)

#5 Post by swo17 » Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:01 am

Good to know, thanks

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swo17
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Re: Targets

#6 Post by swo17 » Thu May 05, 2022 11:09 am

Cautiously optimistic that this still shows a 20 June release date. Has it been officially confirmed anywhere that the new restoration is completed and there won't be any further delays?

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ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: Targets

#7 Post by ryannichols7 » Thu May 05, 2022 11:31 am

swo17 wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 11:09 am
Cautiously optimistic that this still shows a 20 June release date. Has it been officially confirmed anywhere that the new restoration is completed and there won't be any further delays?
I believe Ben recently confirmed it's indefinitely delayed until Paramount supplies the new 4K master, but I could be mistaken

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rapta
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Re: Targets

#8 Post by rapta » Thu May 05, 2022 1:20 pm

swo17 wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 11:09 am
Cautiously optimistic that this still shows a 20 June release date. Has it been officially confirmed anywhere that the new restoration is completed and there won't be any further delays?
Extras haven't been confirmed which doesn't look promising...could be one of those long-time delayed BFI releases that are eventually pretty perfect (i.e. Eyes Without a Face, The Wages of Fear, Rashomon).

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Finch
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Re: Targets

#9 Post by Finch » Thu May 19, 2022 9:21 am

From the BFI:
We are sorry to announce that our planned release of Peter Bogdanovich's Targets is being suspended, due to on-going issues regarding the materials required for the release.
We sincerely apologise for the disappointment this news will bring but feel this decision is necessary in to order to maintain the quality and integrity customers should expect from the BFI label.
We do still hope to release the title on Blu-ray at some point in the future but are currently unable to confirm when this will be. Further announcements will be made once the situation becomes clearer.
All customers who have pre-ordered via the BFI Shop will be contacted and receive a full refund.
Thank you for you continued support of the label.

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willoneill
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Re: Targets

#10 Post by willoneill » Thu May 19, 2022 9:56 am

Booo ... but not surprising considering the multiple delays.

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MichaelB
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Re: Targets

#11 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 19, 2022 10:14 am

The fundamental problem was that as soon as they decided (entirely reasonably) to go with the new restoration, the timetable was completely out of their hands.

I've been in this situation myself (Indicator's Hammer Volume 4 was delayed for something like eighteen months, pending restoration of The Revenge of Frankenstein), and there's nothing you can do except wait. But if you've already taken people's money, you can't in all fairness wait forever - at some point you're going to have to either deliver or refund.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Targets

#12 Post by hearthesilence » Thu May 19, 2022 11:56 am

Just out of curiosity, is there any advantage to a pre-order than, say, placing an order soon after it's available? I always wondered about this. If it's a limited pressing, I understand, but for everything else, I've never understood the advantage, at least nowadays when things can be purchased instantly online and shipped out fairly quickly.

As long as it's still coming, I'm fine with a further delay or "suspension." I rather get it a good 4K restoration than something subpar only to find out a better master was created within a year or two. (Like Criterion's Blu-ray of The Leopard.)

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soundchaser
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Re: Targets

#13 Post by soundchaser » Thu May 19, 2022 4:01 pm

hearthesilence wrote:
Thu May 19, 2022 11:56 am
Just out of curiosity, is there any advantage to a pre-order than, say, placing an order soon after it's available? I always wondered about this. If it's a limited pressing, I understand, but for everything else, I've never understood the advantage, at least nowadays when things can be purchased instantly online and shipped out fairly quickly.
A number of reasons, potentially: Amazon has pre-order price guarantee and occasionally you can lock in a pretty steep accidental discount; for places that charge in advance it might make sense for credit card rewards limits or other budgetary concerns.

kekid
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Re: Targets

#14 Post by kekid » Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:32 pm

Is this item ("Targets") cancelled or postponed by the bfi? Amazon. uk cancelled my order, and I can't find it anywhere.

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ryannichols7
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Re: Targets

#15 Post by ryannichols7 » Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:41 pm

kekid wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:32 pm
Is this item ("Targets") cancelled or postponed by the bfi? Amazon. uk cancelled my order, and I can't find it anywhere.
you may want to look a few posts up.

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Drucker
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Re: Targets

#16 Post by Drucker » Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:17 pm

Do you guys think the blu-rays for Targets, Ishtar, and California Split are all hanging out together, in heaven?

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swo17
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Re: Targets

#17 Post by swo17 » Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:29 pm

Targets isn't dead though

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MichaelB
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Re: Targets

#18 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:47 pm

kekid wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:32 pm
Is this item ("Targets") cancelled or postponed by the bfi? Amazon. uk cancelled my order, and I can't find it anywhere.
Sorry to be a pedant, but seeing "the bfi" in all lowercase is like steel-reinforced fingernails screeching down a blackboard to me.

From the late 1990s until 2006, in a moment of rebranding-induced madness, they insisted on calling themselves "the bfi", and the italics were a crucial part of the effect. Unfortunately, it only appeared correctly in official BFI print publications - in emails and on social media, people either didn't bother to italicise, literally couldn't, or were unaware that they should. So you ended up with this rather feeble-looking "the bfi", and it all became a bit of a joke, not least internally - I have very fond memories of someone posting up a photocopy of a page from a bona fide style manual on one (possibly more) of the staff notice boards, citing "the bfi" as an example of what not to do, on the grounds that it was "pretentious, affected, and entirely unnecessary."

Thankfully, the BFI saw sense during the 2006 rebranding and reverted to the sensible block-caps version (I believe this was overwhelmingly voted for by the staff when polled about what they'd change), but it's a testament to how widely the previous infection spread that I'm still seeing quite a few people write "the bfi" a full sixteen years later.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Targets

#19 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:28 pm

Drucker wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:17 pm
Do you guys think the blu-rays for Targets, Ishtar, and California Split are all hanging out together, in heaven?
If there are tiers in Heaven- California Split will be occupying the first class section with Sleuth and The Heartbreak Kid

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rapta
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Re: Targets

#20 Post by rapta » Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:03 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:28 pm
Drucker wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:17 pm
Do you guys think the blu-rays for Targets, Ishtar, and California Split are all hanging out together, in heaven?
If there are tiers in Heaven- California Split will be occupying the first class section with Sleuth and The Heartbreak Kid
Yes, California Split being dropped is the biggest disappointment of recent times, which is saying something after Ishtar (which I believe was so close to being over the finish line they'd even pressed check discs).

As for BFI, I was quite disappointed when they couldn't go through with their two Scorsese titles - Who's That Knocking on My Door and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - on Blu-ray, but of course it was out of their control and presumably a miscommunication from Warners about the quality of the masters for both. Let's hope Targets doesn't just end up on a DVD once they eventually get the master from Paramount...

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MichaelB
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Re: Targets

#21 Post by MichaelB » Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:18 pm

rapta wrote:
Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:03 pm
Yes, California Split being dropped is the biggest disappointment of recent times, which is saying something after Ishtar (which I believe was so close to being over the finish line they'd even pressed check discs).
Not quite, but it did get to the fully authored disc stage. We were partway through QC when the plug was pulled - the next stage would have been pressing check discs (and circulating them outside the Powerhouse team).

Quite a few extras had been amassed for California Split, including new stuff (I don't imagine I'm breaching any confidences when I say that Little Murders wasn't the only film Elliott Gould talked about when we got him in front of a camera for that disc), but the project was mothballed before any actual authoring occurred, with instructions that as soon as there was any progress on the rights front we were to drop everything else and rush it into production.

Orlac
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Re: Targets

#22 Post by Orlac » Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:20 pm

Drucker wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:17 pm
Do you guys think the blu-rays for Targets, Ishtar, and California Split are all hanging out together, in heaven?
Along with Spiceworld...

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Targets

#23 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:41 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:18 pm
Quite a few extras had been amassed for California Split, including new stuff (I don't imagine I'm breaching any confidences when I say that Little Murders wasn't the only film Elliott Gould talked about when we got him in front of a camera for that disc), but the project was mothballed before any actual authoring occurred, with instructions that as soon as there was any progress on the rights front we were to drop everything else and rush it into production.
I know there are limits as to what you can share, so I'll try to keep my question vague enough to inspire broad hope rather than ask for specific details: Were the barriers obstructing progress on the rights front so insurmountable that you believe this film will never see a physical release by any company? I fully expect that Powerhouse did all they could to make this release happen within their resources, but I also know I'm going to keep dreaming unless someone puts their hand on my shoulder on and says Let Go, Man

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MichaelB
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Re: Targets

#24 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:44 am

The same issue that has always prevented a home video release of the uncut version: music rights clearances that turned out to be quite beyond the resources of a single small label.

Basically, this release would have been a guaranteed money-loser for a UK label, and the fact that it hasn't emerged in the US either suggests that the numbers are no more attractive over there.

The ball's fundamentally in Sony's court, but since they're able to exploit the uncut version on streaming channels (I gather this is because they legally count as "broadcasts" from the perspective of the original contracts), there's no great incentive for them to do so.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Targets

#25 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jul 13, 2022 11:00 am

That's helpful info to hear- thanks for sharing, Michael

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