MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[yoloswegmaster]

Looks like it's for The Dead and the Deadly.

[Glowingwabbit]

Looks like it's for The Dead and the Deadly.

I just bought the blu-ray so that would make sense (plus Sammon Hung is beloved by the guy running the HK titles for Eureka). I hope you're right as it'll be an easy upgrade over the disc I just bought.

[Finch]

Reviews for The Dead and the Deadly that I found range from two to four stars and no one seems to like it as much as Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind or Mr Vampire. Third HK title this year from Eureka after Fatty Tiger Skinny Dragon and The Shaolin Plot I'm passing on.

[Glowingwabbit]

Reviews for The Dead and the Deadly that I found range from two to four stars and no one seems to like it as much as Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind or Mr Vampire. Third HK title this year from Eureka after Fatty Tiger Skinny Dragon and The Shaolin Plot I'm passing on.

It's a double dip for me. I guess it depends who is giving those stars but I'd say it's a classic of the genre as are both of the first two you mentioned so I guess it depends how much you liked them. It's not as a good as Close Encounters but it's definitely not at the Fatty Tiger level which is also a release I skipped. I think fans of Sammo Hung will be happy to get this one.

[yoloswegmaster]

[Finch]

The third tweet missing from the post above is for 1939's The Cat and the Canary.

[What A Disgrace]

Hopefully a double feature with Paul Leni's original.

[yoloswegmaster]

Special Featues:

Limited Edition slipcase [2000 copies]
1080p presentation of both films from scans of the original film elements supplied by Universal, with The Ghost Breakers presented from a new 2K master
Optional English SDH
Brand new audio commentary tracks on both films with Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
Kim Newman on “The Cat and the Canary” and “The Ghost Breakers”
“The Ghost Breakers” 1949 radio adaptation
Trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann [2000 copies]

Special Features:

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork (TBA) [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
Original Cantonese mono audio
Optional English dubbed audio
Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release
Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) & Michael Worth
Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
Brand new select-scene commentary with actress and martial-arts movie icon Cynthia Rothrock
Brand new interview with Cynthia Rothrock
Locations featurette
Archival interview with Michelle Yeoh
Archival interview with actor and producer John Shum
Battling Babes – archival featurette
Trailers
Reversible sleeve design
A Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver [2000 copies]

[yoloswegmaster]

Irongod has confirmed that the English Export cut will be included on the Yes, Madam release, alongside a Cantonese Home Video Mix include that uses all original sound effects.

[ryannichols7]

Hopefully a double feature with Paul Leni's original.

I'm really surprised this is still MIA. Universal have been pretty on the ball restoring silents, including their other Leni holdings. wonder why this one still isn't out there?

is it too early to speculate what the next MOC UHD will be? I'm sure they'll want to see how Caligari sells but response has been positive so far. wonder if it'll be an upgrade (many MGM, Paramount, Universal licenses could apply) or a new title. they seem like a good candidate to do the Leone films with HDR, still can't believe those haven't been accounted for in the UK yet...but there's many possibilities. if we're talking silents, Pandora's Box is my dream title for this, and I'm sure theirs as well.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Is there a 100% confirmation a label in the US owns it? I sort of want to see what the release will look like.

A lot of praise has been given about this film already, but this is one of the highwater marks of Hong Kong action cinema and between this and She Shoots Straight, Corey Yuen’s best movie. The level of imagination he gives to something as simple as Tsui Hark being chased around an apartment surprises me each single time. Plus you have all-time classic tough guy Dick Wei, one of my favorite fighters. Really looking forward to seeing this in HD and hearing it with the proper mix. I have the old Universe Laser DVD of this and hate how the first thirty minutes have modern sound effects added in.

[yoloswegmaster]

Not 100% confirmation but still a very high chance of it coming from 88 in the U.S.

The poster for Yes, Madam! is in the background of the post that 88 Films made, so I wouldn't be shocked if they were the ones releasing ITLOD films in the States (hopefully in a boxset):

[L.A.]

Maniacal Mayhem: The Invisible Ray/Black Friday/The Strange Door @ DVD Compare

[rapta]

Hopefully a double feature with Paul Leni's original.

I'm really surprised this is still MIA. Universal have been pretty on the ball restoring silents, including their other Leni holdings. wonder why this one still isn't out there?

Yes, hopefully the Bob Hope film means that they'll hopefully be getting the original for MoC at a later date. Probably waiting on Universal to give the go-ahead on that one.

is it too early to speculate what the next MOC UHD will be? I'm sure they'll want to see how Caligari sells but response has been positive so far. wonder if it'll be an upgrade (many MGM, Paramount, Universal licenses could apply) or a new title. they seem like a good candidate to do the Leone films with HDR, still can't believe those haven't been accounted for in the UK yet...but there's many possibilities. if we're talking silents, Pandora's Box is my dream title for this, and I'm sure theirs as well.

Hoping/guessing one of the next ones will be something new and not just an upgrade of an older MoC title. BFI have been best at doing that to date, whereas Arrow are re-releasing anything they can think of from their back catalogue on UHD (most recently Silent Running, which they released on Blu-ray in the US just two years ago...the kind of behaviour StudioCanal are guilty of, not usually Arrow).

Still surprised as you are that the Dollars Trilogy (I assume that's what you're referring to) never got picked up by a UK boutique. Seems like Eureka would've been interested, especially after their success with A Fistful of Dynamite (and later The Great Silence and The Sabata Trilogy). Last I asked, they didn't have any more MGM after The Sabata Trilogy, but I bet they were trying to get these. Would make immediate sense to do a Dollars Trilogy UHD set for MoC, and get it right this time. No doubt could be best-of-the-year level stuff. Maybe this will be one of their 2023 announcements?

It's a bit odd MGM-wise, as I was under the impression nobody could license from them anymore due to the Amazon merger (backed up by frequent comments from someone at BFI Video). But since then, several UK labels have released MGM titles - Arrow recently announced Audrey Rose, Final Cut released things like Rolling Thunder and The Big Country, and Radiance have already announced one MGM title (Miami Blues) with plans for at least a few more. So surely it can't be as cut-and-dry as you'd think?

Presumably they're all licensing through Park Circus, who list UK rights for the Dollars Trilogy as I type this. They also have a number of other Euro-Westerns including Death Rides a Horse, The Mercenary, Navajo Joe, A Reason to Live a Reason to Die, Requiem for a Gringo, The Hills Run Red, A Stranger in Town, Sonny and Jed, Man of the East. Hopefully some of these appear next year!

[yoloswegmaster]

Announcements for January 2023 coming on Thursday. Looks like Royal Warriors is being announced:

[yoloswegmaster]

New clue that is for Sergio Sollima's Run, Man, Run:

[ChunkyLover]

“Bullet Train” coming. I guess this confirms a Toei deal.

[rapta]

Interesting, I actually briefly discussed this with Eureka earlier this year (when they announced Execution in Autumn) and they mentioned they were looking at Toei, and I specifically mentioned The Bullet Train, so great to see them grab it (they did mention new restorations, so I assume this is one of them). They specifically mentioned Ishii as well, but not sure if they pursued any in the end (the ones they were looking at were with Geneon aka Universal Japan, and therefore hard to pin down).

Other titles/filmmakers I highlighted:

Kinji Fukasaku (Shogun's Samurai, Sympathy for the Underdog, Yakuza Graveyard, Wolves Pigs & Men, Gate of Youth, Hokuriku Proxy War, Japan Organized Crime Boss series etc)
Teruo Ishii (The Red Silk Gambler, An Outlaw, Abashiri Prison series)
Tadashi Imai (Bushido, Revenge)
Hideo Gosha (Onimasa, Samurai Wolf I & II, Violent Streets)
Eiichi Kudo (13 Assassins, The Great Duel, 11 Samurai)
Tomu Uchida (A Fugitive from the Past, Miyamoto Musashi series)
Shunya Ito (Curse)
Shuji Terayama (Boxer)
Shohei Imamura (Dr. Akagi)
Sonny Chiba (Okinawa Yakuza War, The Street Fighter, The Executioner, The Bodyguard etc)
Ohyaku/Okatsu trilogy
Red Peony Gambler series

Since then, of course Radiance have confirmed a Toei deal and mentioned at least one Fukasaku (Yakuza Graveyard) and Arrow have announced/released a couple of these now (A Fugitive from the Past, The Executioner 1&2). Be interesting to see what shows up but it's promising to see that three UK labels are licensing from Toei, so hopefully a lot of the above get covered in 2023/24!

[Red Screamer]

It looks like MoMA recently restored Leni’s The Cat and the Canary and will tour it soon.

[What A Disgrace]

Phantom of the Opera, Foolish Wives and Cat and the Canary are easily the highest profile Universal silents that Eureka have yet to release (correct me if I am wrong), and I can not only see them releasing each one, but Phantom of the Opera would be an ideal second-or-so 4K Blu-ray release considering its stature.

[Finch]

Isn't Phantom still with the BFI?

[beamish14]

What will it take for Shuji Terayama’s films to finally get legit releases in the west? Some of his books have been translated, but his films are M.I.A.

[Orlac]

Isn't Phantom still with the BFI?

Yes...and no. Photoplay's is not licensed from Universal.

[yoloswegmaster]

Magnificent Warriors will be revealed on Thursday:

[rapta]

Someone saying the most recent teaser was for Hideo Gosha's Violent Streets, which is exciting!