Muscle Distribution

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Castration Movie on disc too! Glad to see Purchell's Muscle Distribution is a partner label.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Castration Movie on disc too! Glad to see Purchell's Muscle Distribution is a partner label.

Did not know about this label before today but apparently they’re going to be releasing Doris Wishman’s Dildo Heaven, the works of Wakefield Poole, and the works of Monika Treut so I’m very excited to support them!

[ianthemovie]

It seems to have just la

Castration Movie on disc too! Glad to see Purchell's Muscle Distribution is a partner label.

Did not know about this label before today but apparently they’re going to be releasing Doris Wishman’s Dildo Heaven, the works of Wakefield Poole, and the works of Monika Treut so I’m very excited to support them!

Same here, excited to see that Liz has her own label now. It looks like this is the first release. There are some other interesting things on the (NSFW) website, https://www.muscle-distribution.com/...I don't see confirmation that all of these titles have physical releases planned yet, but the odds look good so I'm hopeful!

[Peacock]

It seems to have just la

Castration Movie on disc too! Glad to see Purchell's Muscle Distribution is a partner label.

Did not know about this label before today but apparently they’re going to be releasing Doris Wishman’s Dildo Heaven, the works of Wakefield Poole, and the works of Monika Treut so I’m very excited to support them!

Same here, excited to see that Liz has her own label now. It looks like this is the first release. There are some other interesting things on the (NSFW) website, https://www.muscle-distribution.com/...I don't see confirmation that all of these titles have physical releases planned yet, but the odds look good so I'm hopeful!

It's worth pointing out that Vinegar Syndrome and their sub labels have released many of these titles, so it isn't necessarily the case that Muscle themselves will release the home video, but fingers crossed someone does!

[schlockvalue]

Liz here -- Muscle has been around for a year, so it's still kinda new but not really. Everything on the site under the 'Our Films' category (like the seven Monika Treut films, which went up on the Channel today) will be released at some point or another.

We also handle theatrical bookings for Distribpix, VS's adult catalog, and the same batch of Satō titles that they're in the middle of restoring. That's the rest of the stuff on the site, though there's many, many other titles that aren't listed on it.

[BoltzmannBrain]

Liz here -- Muscle has been around for a year, so it's still kinda new but not really. Everything on the site under the 'Our Films' category (like the seven Monika Treut films, which went up on the Channel today) will be released at some point or another.

We also handle theatrical bookings for Distribpix, VS's adult catalog, and the same batch of Satō titles that they're in the middle of restoring. That's the rest of the stuff on the site, though there's many, many other titles that aren't listed on it.

Are all of Muscle's Blu-rays going to be locked to Region A like the first release?

[ianthemovie]

Awesome to hear that, Liz! Can't wait, especially for the Wakefield Poole stuff and to discover Ken Camp's work which I haven't seen but looks really interesting.

[schlockvalue]

Liz here -- Muscle has been around for a year, so it's still kinda new but not really. Everything on the site under the 'Our Films' category (like the seven Monika Treut films, which went up on the Channel today) will be released at some point or another.

We also handle theatrical bookings for Distribpix, VS's adult catalog, and the same batch of Satō titles that they're in the middle of restoring. That's the rest of the stuff on the site, though there's many, many other titles that aren't listed on it.

Are all of Muscle's Blu-rays going to be locked to Region A like the first release?

Depends on the title -- we only have North American rights for Castration Movie.

[Matt]

For those who aren't bothered by vintage gay porn, I want to give my strongest recommendation to Muscle's first Wakefield Poole collection. I had not seen any of these films before, and they are a revelation. Like Marguerite Duras with fellatio. Lots of dreamlike scenes of guys walking around in parks, down the street, through old houses, apartments, and motel rooms. Very little dialogue.

I haven't looked at the tech notes yet (if they are even in the booklet), but the seven films themselves are magnificently presented from what looks like 16mm prints and VHS transfers for shot-on-video works.

[Lowry_Sam]

Mikey And Nicky feels a bit out of place here.

[Aunt Peg]

I received The Films of Wakefield Poole Vol. 1 and Castration Movie Anthology 1. Traps. yesterday along with a slew of other discs from VS.

I hope to watch them in the next week or two.

The Muscle Distribution catalogue of films is most impressive. I intend to purchase pretty much everything I don't already own. There are a number of favourites listed and I'm eager to dip into those films I am not familiar with. My most wanted title is Going Down (1982) which only about a month ago I attended a screening of the restored film which is the first time I had seen the film since it's release. Stunning restoration and the film is as sharp and entertaining as it was over 40 years ago.

Also, great to see so much Monika Treut, some Doris Wishman and a Rosa von Praunheim film I've never seen and can't wait to. Hopefully Muscle can acquire more von Praunheim who is one of my all time favourite filmmakers of the German New Waver of the 1970s.

[Lowry_Sam]

I saw Ein Virus Kennt Keine Moral when I was an exchange student in Germany in the mid 80s & wouldn't mind seeing it again. It's a bit like if John Waters made a Sirkian drama on AIDS in the period right before he did Hairspray but with fewer resources. Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers... is a bit more staid, but probably one of the best documentaries/social commentaries on the topic up to the point that it was released. I think I've seen only one or two others, shorts most likely so it would be nice to catch up.

[Aunt Peg]

I saw Ein Virus Kennt Keine Moral when I was an exchange student in Germany in the mid 80s & wouldn't mind seeing it again. It's a bit like if John Waters made a Sirkian drama on AIDS in the period right before he did Hairspray but with fewer resources. Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers... is a bit more staid, but probably one of the best documentaries/social commentaries on the topic up to the point that it was released. I think I've seen only one or two others, shorts most likely so it would be nice to catch up.

I've not seen either of those and needless to say that I would love to have the opportunity.

My favourite Rosa von Praunheim films include:

I Am My Own Woman (1992)
Anita- Dances of Vice (1987)
Men, Heroes and Gay Nazis (2005)
Army of Lovers, or Revolt of the Perverts (1979)
The Einstein of Sex (1999)
Pufi, Rosa (2002)
City of Lost Souls (1983)
Transexual Menace (1996)
Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please? (1999) (short with Jeff Stryker)
Fassbinder's Women (2000)
Rex Gildo: The Last Dance (2022)
Two Mothers (2007)

I have only seen 16 films (which includes the Jeff Stryker short) from his vast filmography and would purchase anything released on physical media directed by him and that includes upgrading everything I have on DVD to Blu Ray. I actually have another film on released on DVD in Germany with English subtitles on it's way to me. A singular underrated talent largely because his work is so difficult to see.

[Lowry_Sam]

The Criterion Channel currently has Fassbinder's Women and Tally Brown, New York (1979).

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Depending on the estate and her previous comments on him, Purcell would certainly like to release more of von Praunheim.

[Aunt Peg]

Depending on the estate and her previous comments on him, Purcell would certainly like to release more of von Praunheim.

That is great to hear. Fingers crossed.

[bdsweeney]

Depending on the estate and her previous comments on him, Purcell would certainly like to release more of von Praunheim.

That is great to hear. Fingers crossed.

I follow ‘Liz’ on Letterboxd, who I presume is connected with Muscle Distribution, and they are clocking up many von Praunheim films in their viewing.

Edit: oops, no it’s Curt McDowell that’s being clocked up in viewing.

[Matt]

Several McDowell shorts were restored a few years back but never released on disc. Let’s hope Liz is on the case.

[GaryC]

Several McDowell shorts were restored a few years back but never released on disc. Let’s hope Liz is on the case.

Two of those (Confessions and Loads) were extras on Synapse's release of Thundercrack!

[Lowry_Sam]

Speaking of Thundercrack!, there was just a screening of Mike & George Kuchar shorts @ SF MOMA which I unfortunately wasn't able to attend. It would be nice if somebody (Synapse, VS, Muscle) could pick up all of their unreleased shorts and upgrade The Sins Of Fleshapoids and release a box... that would be #1 on my list.

[Peacock]

AGFA announced a year ago that they are working on a Kuchar Bros boxset.

Since then I read somewhere (?) that they had run into an issue and it has been postponed, but I hope either that was wrong info or the delay is over!

[ianthemovie]

Several McDowell shorts were restored a few years back but never released on disc. Let’s hope Liz is on the case.

Two of those (Confessions and Loads) were extras on Synapse's release of Thundercrack!

The real coup here would be to get McDowell's Sparkle's Tavern, which has never been released in any home video format so far as I'm aware.

[schlockvalue]

We’re launching a Kickstarter very soon to help raise some money to finish four 4K restorations we’ve been working on — two of which are films that’ve never been released on any home video format before.

Could they be any of the things speculated about in this thread? Sign up for updates on the campaign and find out…

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mu ... ndie-films

[Matt]

The Kickstarter is LIVE!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been quietly working on producing brand new 4K restorations of George Butler’s PUMPING IRON II: THE WOMEN (1985), Curt McDowell’s SPARKLE’S TAVERN (1976-84), Rufus Butler Seder’s SCREAMPLAY (1984), and Rick King’s OFF THE WALL (1976) — and we’re launching a Kickstarter today to ask for your support to help us complete them.

From the critically-acclaimed sequel to an iconic documentary to the scrappy first feature by the future creator of POINT BREAK and a pair of beloved but underseen cult films starring underground film legend George Kuchar, we feel that these films will be revelations to even the most hardened cinephiles. If there's anything that connects all four of these seemingly dissimilar films, it's their shared independent spirit and their inaccessibility: none of them have ever been properly digitally restored and two of them have never, ever been released on any home media format.

Sorry to see that a package of the discs of the 4 restored films is not one of the rewards, but:

We know people might scoff at the lack of pre-orders for the inevitable Blu-ray releases or digital downloads of the films themselves, but hear us out: the discs and digital releases will be a little ways out because we’d like to give each film more of a traditional roll-out and theatrical release first and don’t want to leave our backers hanging during that gap. We strongly believe that these kinds of slower, more intentional releases are key to building new audiences for older and more obscure films. They were made to be seen with a crowd, so that's what our priority is.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I was puzzled by that as well but the reasoning is sound at least. And as someone who finally watched Thundercrack! the news of more Curt McDowell is quite welcome.