New Australian DVD and BD Releases

[Rufus T. Firefly]

AV Channel's releases for March include Inagaki's Daredevil in the Castle and Kurosawa's Madadayo and The Quiet Duel. They are also releasing the 27 minutes that have been found of The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), considered to be the first feature film ever made.

In February they are releasing both series of The Kingdom.

EDIT: Not sure where ezydvd got the running time for Kelly Gang, but news stories about the restoration indicate a running time of about 17-18 minutes.

[Solaris]

I thought Accent were releasing The Kingdom...

The Story of the Kelly Gang looks like a great release:
Specially produced 70 page book on the restoration and importance of the film
Audio Commentary
Original music hall soundtrack
New soundtrack composed by Endorphin
Three viewing modes

[marty]

I thought Accent were releasing The Kingdom...

I thought so too but I found out that they sub-licensed the film to Madman to include in their Directors Suite. Although, it is a Madman title now but Accent's logo will be still be on the slick and Accent still do their own authoring.

[solent]

This is a strange one. Ezy have a box called ESSENTIAL BERGMAN: THE FAITH TRILOGY coming out on 7/3/07. It is from Roadshow & is PAL. What I find interesting is the fact that it is identical to the Criterion version replete with interviews and IB MAKES A MOVIE. If there are no NTSC-PAL transfer issues then the price [$59.83 AUD] makes this worthwile for those of you who haven't got the R1 box.

[Solaris]

I believe the Bergman boxset is being released by Hopscotch, they have already release six other Bergman films, already available on Criterion.

Some other interesting titles upcoming on ezydvd:
Herzog's Wheel of Time (Distinction Series)
Herzog's White Diamond (Distinction Series)
Antonioni's La Notte
The Thief (Chukhrai)
Grey Gardens (Distinction Series)
Salesman (Distinction Series)

and Fraggle Rock Season One, if anybody else is interested.......

[marty]

Antonioni's La Notte

Yummo!! This must be a new print!!!!

I wouldn't be so presumptuous as Shock are releasing it so it may very well be a dud.

[vogler]

and Fraggle Rock Season One, if anybody else is interested.......

I unashamedly love Fraggle Rock. I just bought the Dutch 3 dvd boxset known as "De Freggels" but I might get this as well.

[Solaris]

La Notte will be released by Umbrella through Shock.
They have released some pretty good transfers this year such as Intervista, L'Innocente and Europa, Europa.

[alandau]

spoke to Rolando (Red Desert commentary), and he has done the commentary on La Notte. His comments were that the transfer was very good.

[Barmy]

The La Notte DVD is listed as having a 1.33 aspect ratio. Isn't it 1.66?

[marty]

The La Notte DVD is listed as having a 1.33 aspect ratio. Isn't it 1.66?

I find the aspect ratios on the DVD slicks of R4 releases are often wrong. The Ma Mere DVD slick states it is 2.35 when it is 1.85.

[devlinnn]

Stop me if you think.....dates, naturally subject to change....

March, 2007
Fishing with John (Distinction)
Closely Observed Trains (Umbrella)
The Fireman's Ball (Umbrella)

April, 2007
Stalker (Distinction)
The Sorrow and the Pity (Distinction)
Lonely Hearts (Umbrella)
The Lars Von Trier Collection (Umbrella) - re-issues?

May, 2007
Dersu Uzala (Distinction)
Andrei Rublev (Distinction)
Sam Fuller Collection (Umbrella) - re-issues?

June, 2007
Death in Brunswick (Umbrella)
Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (Umbrella)
The John Cassavettes Collection

[daniel p]

Anyone know anything about these 'Distinction' DVDs?

[devlinnn]

Anyone know anything about these 'Distinction' DVDs?

The 'Distinction Series' is the new-ish label set up by Shock to highlight the sort of stuff cinephiles are into, ala Madman's 'Director's Suite'.

For those interested in the HD/Blu-Ray mess - Warner look to be releasing odds and sodds (Blazing Saddles / Goodfellas / Full Metal Jacket / Troy / Corpse Bride) in either one or the other, but not both. Warner also knows the winner of the format war if price has anything to do with it - Blu-Ray retail - $29.95, HD-DVD retail - $34.95. Laughable really, unless you start to think about all the releases Warner could be giving us on DVD....

[devlinnn]

Two more from Fox, Feb 21st -

* The Story of Ruth
* Francis of Assisi

(People are getting paid to decide on these releases?)

[Solaris]

Looks like 2007 may be a good year in R4 releases.

Distinction series seem to be releasing mostly Documentaries and Russian films. I've never seen Sorrow and the Pity, can't wait to get that one.

[devlinnn]

David, like most here I'll be sitting out on all this mess, and again like most, will be drooling in jealous anticipation on what you have to say about the new HDDVDs of An American in Paris, Gigi, Two Weeks in Another Town etc. (still on one heck of a Minnelli kick...). My only fear will come when I have to choose between the DVD or HDDVD of the new ...in Paris, knowing that no matter how good the DVD will be, it still won't be the same anymore. Just like standing outside the Barrel cinema in '82, knowing that whatever is going on inside is far more exciting than seeing Raiders for a fifth time.

I've just posted some caps of Distinction's Ivan's Childhood and Mirror for those interested. Both are rather stunning imho, especially Ivan. I'm presuming their Solaris is OK, but already own the CC. If there is any interest in caps of Madman's Double Indemnity, just let me know.

[bergelson]

Where are the caps of Ivan's Childhood and mirror?


Thanks

[Solaris]

Can anybody tell me if there are any shops (besides Minotaur) in Melbourne that sell Criterions?
Particulary I'm looking for Pandora's Box and The Double Life of Veronique, but a shop that stocks any Criterions will be nice (as long as they're cheaper than Minotaur).

[marty]

Readings on Lygon St in Carlton has a good selection of CC titles including box sets. Prices range from A$50-A$80 for amaray cases and more for box sets.

[zedz]

I notice that there are new Australian (Madman) editions of Ride the Whirlwind and The Shooting out (and a twofer too). These are fantastic films, but they've spent so long in PD hell that I'm loath to spring for them unless they're actually decent editions. Has anybody seen them and can comment?

[Solaris]

Readings on Lygon St in Carlton has a good selection of CC titles including box sets. Prices range from A$50-A$80 for amaray cases and more for box sets.

Thank you very much, I've just checked out their website - much better than Minotaur!

[marty]

I have only purchased a few CC titles from there because I find that buying them from Amazon even with the freight charge is still cheaper than Readings. It depends on the title as they sometimes have very good prices for certain titles but not for others. For example, The Double Life of Veronique retails at Readings for A$64.95 but Amazon has it at US$27.99 which is around A$38 so even with the added freight charge from Amazon, you still are better off by A$20 and, even better off if you include other Amazon purchases in the same shipment.

[Solaris]

Thanks for that marty, I didn't realise Double Life Of Veronique was so cheap on amazon.
Still, I will check out Readers when I'm over in Melbourne, seems like a great shop.

[pro-bassoonist]

Have any of you residing down under taken a peek at the recent release of Boccaccio 70 by Stomp Distribution. I am wondering if they used the same print No Shame did in the US but in a native PAL?

Anyone care to comment....

Ciao,
Pro-B