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I doubt this is a Stanley Kwan thing as there are a lot of HK films that have been getting hit with excessive amounts of DNR (especially ones that were restored by Ritrovato). I remember the Infernal Affairs trilogy and 36th Chamber of Shaolin having a very noticeable waxiness to it.

Anyways, I recall someone saying that Rouge was getting a UK release from a label not named Eureka, so it could be for that. Though I kinda hope not since we already have a perfectly good release from Criterion (plus I'm not a major fan of the film).

yoloswegmaster wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2024 8:21 pm I doubt this is a Stanley Kwan thing as there are a lot of HK films that have been getting hit with excessive amounts of DNR (especially ones that were restored by Ritrovato). I remember the Infernal Affairs trilogy and 36th Chamber of Shaolin having a very noticeable waxiness to it.

Anyways, I recall someone saying that Rouge was getting a UK release from a label not named Eureka, so it could be for that. Though I kinda hope not since we already have a perfectly good release from Criterion (plus I'm not a major fan of the film).

Infernal Affairs definitely. These were also director-supervised. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin looks very good to me on Arrow’s Shawscope BD, including the grade. What I’ve detected in a couple of scenes is a trace of macroblocking around moving objects but grain movement looks stable and organic. The Kwan transfers are definitely different with DNR and a predominantly magnetic, swarm-like grain field instead of something organic.

Of course the Kwan films’ manipulation could be Ritrovata’s doing first and foremost but that much director involvement suggests it’s at the very least a mutual agreement about how these restorations were envisioned.

Please let the Japanese title be Pastoral: To Die in the Country.

nicolas wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2024 9:45 pm Of course the Kwan films’ manipulation could be Ritrovata’s doing first and foremost but that much director involvement suggests it’s at the very least a mutual agreement about how these restorations were envisioned.

It's a bit more complicated. I've posted in another thread that Film Movement's transfer of Center Stage, albeit truncated by mistake, has a significantly different look than all the other versions. The grain is more prominent and color/contrast less muted. I should add that Criterion's Rouge differs in almost the same way from other territories' transfer. So I believe there exist at least two gradings with different philosophies for these 4k restorations!

nicolas wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2024 9:45 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2024 8:21 pm I doubt this is a Stanley Kwan thing as there are a lot of HK films that have been getting hit with excessive amounts of DNR (especially ones that were restored by Ritrovato). I remember the Infernal Affairs trilogy and 36th Chamber of Shaolin having a very noticeable waxiness to it.

Anyways, I recall someone saying that Rouge was getting a UK release from a label not named Eureka, so it could be for that. Though I kinda hope not since we already have a perfectly good release from Criterion (plus I'm not a major fan of the film).

Infernal Affairs definitely. These were also director-supervised. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin looks very good to me on Arrow’s Shawscope BD, including the grade. What I’ve detected in a couple of scenes is a trace of macroblocking around moving objects but grain movement looks stable and organic. The Kwan transfers are definitely different with DNR and a predominantly magnetic, swarm-like grain field instead of something organic.

Of course the Kwan films’ manipulation could be Ritrovata’s doing first and foremost but that much director involvement suggests it’s at the very least a mutual agreement about how these restorations were envisioned.

Here are some screenshots that I found that showcase some scenes of how bad the DNR can get with 36th Chamber (keep in mind that these were taken with someone's phone):

Spoiler

For the most part, the restoration looks good but there are def quite a few scenes where the waxiness becomes quite apparent like the screencaps above.

As for Stanley Kwan's involvement, I did notice that Criterion's page for Rouge only mentioned that he approved the transfer but they don't state that he supervised.

For some reason, the February bundle discount isn't showing up for me.

Apologies that's fixed, error in the back end code!

Wonderful, although now the January bundle seems to have ended prematurely?

Sorry, it wasn't set to combine. Fixed now!

Briefly scrolled through the new releases and, for a split-second, thought Radiance were releasing The Hudsucker Proxy. Nevertheless, this is a strong slate that is seriously tempting me toward a couple of blind buys!

Great announcements, as per usual. Suggested elsewhere that the Hong Kong title could be a Patrick Tam or Stanley Kwan, turned out to be right, and two films at that! Also wondered about Stanley Kwan but had heard the rumour about Rouge (and it not coming from Eureka) and then saw 88 Films had submitted Love Unto Waste to the BBFC yesterday, so naturally they announced Rouge this morning as well.

Trying not to pre-order everything from Radiance as I've missed out on a lot of the sale/offer buzz, so will just get the Tam double-bill and the Fukasaku this month (always want to encourage more Asian cinema). Really curious about the Noonan film, didn't figure it'd be the kind of thing Radiance might go for but glad to see it (and wonder if they'll do more Oscilloscope titles...some Reichardt, for example, though I know Second Run have at least one of hers coming up).

Die Katze looks fun, not dissimilar to the Widerberg thrillers, albeit German not Swedish. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for this one, and will pick it up at a later date (as I will practically every Radiance title, let's be honest).

Mr. Deltoid wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 1:23 pm Briefly scrolled through the new releases and, for a split-second, thought Radiance were releasing The Hudsucker Proxy. Nevertheless, this is a strong slate that is seriously tempting me toward a couple of blind buys!

I sincerely would love Radiance to release The Hudsucker Proxy. Doesn't have a UK disc and is a top-tier Coen Bros, and particularly under-seen. You'd think people would take notice of Paul Newman in a Coen Bros film!

The hint this month is 'Next month, love!' So all we gotta do is think about movies that are either about love, or have love in the title.

Patrick Tam's Love Massacre?

I’m hoping for Love in the Time of Twilight.

could it be Je t'aime, je t'aime like we guessed for the time travel clue?

What A Disgrace wrote:Patrick Tam's Love Massacre?

Isn’t this technically a lost film that only exists in an LD transfer?

A restored 35mm print does exist, so it's not really considered to be lost. Also, I don't think it can be considered to be lost if a LD rip of it does exist.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:52 pm A restored 35mm print does exist, so it's not really considered to be lost. Also, I don't think it can be considered to be lost if a LD rip of it does exist.

Glad the hear about the first part! It's such a visually striking movie, with its aesthetic modeled on Rothko and other abstract expressionists, that it'd be a revelation to see a proper release with all that primary colour popping out.

I didn't mean 'lost' so literally. I was just struggling to find a concise way of expressing what I had thought to be the case.

ryannichols7 wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:43 pm could it be Je t'aime, je t'aime like we guessed for the time travel clue?

Have a feeling you may be right here. Ticks all the boxes for Radiance - newly restored some years ago, never released here on Blu-ray; largely neglected auteur too. Wouldn't mind if they double-billed it with Muriel as well, so I could upgrade from my MoC DVD...

rapta wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2024 12:13 am

ryannichols7 wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:43 pm could it be Je t'aime, je t'aime like we guessed for the time travel clue?

Have a feeling you may be right here. Ticks all the boxes for Radiance - newly restored some years ago, never released here on Blu-ray; largely neglected auteur too. Wouldn't mind if they double-billed it with Muriel as well, so I could upgrade from my MoC DVD...

it'd be a really nice way to get a UK Muriel release without explicitly double dipping. Criterion's edition was fairly lacking for that one. but the rightsholders do seem to be different...maybe La Guerre est Finie gets ported to the UK? seems to be the same rights boat - I'd dump my slipcovered US copy of that so fast

Mr Sausage wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 11:35 pm Glad the hear about the first part! It's such a visually striking movie, with its aesthetic modeled on Rothko and other abstract expressionists, that it'd be a revelation to see a proper release with all that primary colour popping out.

I didn't mean 'lost' so literally. I was just struggling to find a concise way of expressing what I had thought to be the case.

Oh okay, I get what you're trying to say. Maybe "unknown" or "underappreciated" would fit better?

Don't know if it's worth speculating about or anything but there's a pretty sizeable gap in spine numbers between The Cat/Hokuriku Proxy War and the other two. I know that's not the first time they've done that but it feels like the biggest jump in spine numbers they've done so far. I wonder if that means there's a larger boxset somewhere in that gap - I feel like I remember a larger boxset being on the horizon at some point from something that was said on one of the podcasts.

DJBillyMac wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 1:56 pm Don't know if it's worth speculating about or anything but there's a pretty sizeable gap in spine numbers between The Cat/Hokuriku Proxy War and the other two. I know that's not the first time they've done that but it feels like the biggest jump in spine numbers they've done so far. I wonder if that means there's a larger boxset somewhere in that gap - I feel like I remember a larger boxset being on the horizon at some point from something that was said on one of the podcasts.

they are releasing Nagisa Oshima's films. it remains to be seen just how many

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 5:41 pm

DJBillyMac wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 1:56 pm Don't know if it's worth speculating about or anything but there's a pretty sizeable gap in spine numbers between The Cat/Hokuriku Proxy War and the other two. I know that's not the first time they've done that but it feels like the biggest jump in spine numbers they've done so far. I wonder if that means there's a larger boxset somewhere in that gap - I feel like I remember a larger boxset being on the horizon at some point from something that was said on one of the podcasts.

they are releasing Nagisa Oshima's films. it remains to be seen just how many

Can't wait for that one. I think I said it might just be Death by Hanging, Boy, The Man Who Left His Will on Film and The Ceremony, but love to be proven wrong (especially since The Man Who Left His Will on Film was such a surprise). Would love them to go hard with it though...lots of unavailable Oshima stuff out there (at least not many English-friendly, nor HD).

ryannichols7 wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2024 12:25 am

rapta wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2024 12:13 am

ryannichols7 wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:43 pm could it be Je t'aime, je t'aime like we guessed for the time travel clue?

Have a feeling you may be right here. Ticks all the boxes for Radiance - newly restored some years ago, never released here on Blu-ray; largely neglected auteur too. Wouldn't mind if they double-billed it with Muriel as well, so I could upgrade from my MoC DVD...

it'd be a really nice way to get a UK Muriel release without explicitly double dipping. Criterion's edition was fairly lacking for that one. but the rightsholders do seem to be different...maybe La Guerre est Finie gets ported to the UK? seems to be the same rights boat - I'd dump my slipcovered US copy of that so fast

Nothing solid but I notice a certain well known critic who occasionally works with Radiance (and other labels) logged Je t’aime, je t’aime shortly followed by Muriel on Letterboxd just a few days ago…could it be signs of another double-bill, or just a coincidence?