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I ordered a copy of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage from Cex online. I was thinking it would come damaged or missing parts but it actually came new and sealed!

which sucks as I'd feel guilty if I opened it now

The time has come... our February releases will be revealed this week! UK only releases will be announced TOMORROW (4pm GMT / 8am PST / 11am EST) and our UK/US and US only releases will be revealed on Friday (4pm GMT / 8am PST / 11am EST)
In the spirit of full disclosure, we want to let you all know that we have a number of US only titles coming up (one will be announced this Friday). We did everything we could to acquire these for the UK too however when this was unsuccessful we thought it best to release something rather than nothing at all.

It'll be interesting to see what the one release is.

They probably signed a deal with Sony; who'll license to just about any label in the US but has so far refused to license to any UK label.

Some have suggested it could be the upcoming American Horror Project titles. Also Fran Simeoni from Arrow posted a Tweet about licensing several US horror titles presumably from a studio a month or two ago (later saying they're not all horror titles). So it could be either of these things...or neither of them!

If it's a Sony deal, that would be a shame if they're still not licensing to UK labels. I thought Arrow's expansion into the US would eventually result in a studio like Sony allowing their titles to be licensed to Arrow in the UK (similarly to how Paramount have an exclusive deal with Eureka).

rapta wrote:Some have suggested it could be the upcoming American Horror Project titles.

The website clearly states "will be released Feb 22nd (UK) and 23rd (US) 2016" so there's no need to worry about those.

antnield wrote:

rapta wrote:Some have suggested it could be the upcoming American Horror Project titles.

The website clearly states "will be released Feb 22nd (UK) and 23rd (US) 2016" so there's no need to worry about those.

Good point. Okay, well we'll have to wait and see I guess!

You must already know, so I suddenly feel very conscious about what I'm going to say next...

Non-limited Hellraiser set, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaggatsi, Audition, Five Dolls For An August Moon, and a DVD only release of Reform School Girls

Those are February's UK-only releases - the joint UK/US releases (and a US-only title) will be announced tomorrow.

Yup - I should have made that clearer. All I can say is that it was obvious to me...

The Bava is the highlight for me, mainly as I have the just released Hellraiser set.

The U.S. only title will be Gordon Hessler's Pray for Death, while the American Horror Project Vol.1 has been announced: Malatesta's Carnival of Blood, The Witch Who Came from the Sea and The Premonition. In addition, a stand-alone release for Jack Hill's Sheba, Baby.

Altair wrote:The U.S. only title will be Gordon Hessler's Pray for Death, while the American Horror Project Vol.1 has been announced: Malatesta's Carnival of Blood, The Witch Who Came from the Sea and The Premonition. In addition, a stand-alone release for Jack Hill's Sheba, Baby.

...or rather, William Girdler's Sheba, Baby.

Who wants an early announcement pre-order on the next Academy boxset?

From Twitter.

Christ, it's costly to be a Canadian Arrow fan. Most of their single film releases in the few independent retail outlets who actually carry them in Toronto, are running from $42 to $50 in a sinking currency. Even amazon.ca has adjusted their discount to reflect a higher SRP.

Why are you buying their releases from those stores then and not directly from Arrow?

Good question.

As a fellow Canadian Arrow fan, you need to a) go region free, b) buy from Arrow directly, and c) crack open a Labatt Blue and enjoy*

* don't actually do c), that shit is disgusting.

Of course, you're right. I am region free, and have been for a few years now. I just really like my local independents, Suspect Video and Bay Street Video, and I want to support them as long as I can. They have terrific staff, cater to my tastes, and don't price gouge. Their retail price for Arrow discs, however, seems to be inflated to compensate for their import costs, and half the time, their distributors are weeks late with their Arrow shipments.

I suppose I have to get over this antiquated business model. It just doesn't make sense any more, at least financially.

So...I guess it's Arrow directly, from now on.

I used to notice the same thing with Kim's in New York with Masters of Cinema titles. While some of their Region B releases seemed to be the currency-exchange MSRP (which is fine, something like $25), things like Steelbooks would be priced at $60 (Touch of Evil, for example).

Drucker wrote:I used to notice the same thing with Kim's in New York with Masters of Cinema titles. While some of their Region B releases seemed to be the currency-exchange MSRP (which is fine, something like $25), things like Steelbooks would be priced at $60 (Touch of Evil, for example).

When it was still in-print, or now? It's been OOP for a long while...$60 for it now wouldn't be completely unreasonable.

This was when the store was still around, so I believe June of 2013 was the last time I was there.

The booklet for Battles Without Honor mentions a forthcoming release of the Gangster VIP Collection.

From Fran Simeoni's Twitter:

News is starting to leak we're releasing the 6-film GANGSTER VIP collection with Tetsuya Watari, can't wait for people to see it!

Arrow also tweeted the other day that they're viewing 2016 as the year of the boxset, which certainly seems pretty accurate so far.

Ribs wrote:Arrow also tweeted the other day that they're viewing 2016 as the year of the boxset, which certainly seems pretty accurate so far.

Sounds like I might not want to use all my points on that Fassbinder box!

Apparently in the supplements for the Battles Without Honor and Humanity set; they talk about a forthcoming 6 film Gangster VIP box.

***Limited Edition Update***
We know a lot of you have been asking for updates on various Limited Edition releases so we thought we'd collect them in one handy update:
The Long Good Friday+Mona Lisa 30% remaining
Edgar Allan Poe's Black Cats 40% remaining
Blood Rage 65% remaining
Nekromantik 2 15% remaining
Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism 60% remaining
The Jacques Rivette Collection 60% remaining
Deep Red 25% remaining
Battles Without Honour and Humanity 40% remaining
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls + The Seven Minutes 75% remaining
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 1 85% remaining
Audition SteelBook 80% remaining
Fassbinder Collection 70% remaining

Ribs wrote: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls + The Seven Minutes 75% remaining
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 1 85% remaining
Audition SteelBook 80% remaining
Fassbinder Collection 70% remaining

Oh, that's going down quite well already. I might have to cave in earlier than planned (too bad for my wallet, I won't be able to spread out the expenses this time).