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Posted: **Tue Jul 07, 2020 7:59 pm**

I mean, they do deserve credit for the quantity considering the bulk of releases remain as good as you’d pretty much expect picture-quality wise. I did a basic count a few weeks ago and there were altogether 17 titles I wanted that Kino (across its labels) was releasing in July alone - I’m not going to get them all immediately but that’s definitely more then I want from anyone else. Signing giant 100-title deals with studios and just dumping them out one after the other is kind of a refreshing approach considering everyone else takes so much time with their titles.

Posted: **Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:16 pm**

And I am very thankful for the quantity, honestly. Would that WB would adopt the same scan-and-release strategy for their 30s and 40s obscurities that will never be prioritized for the level of restoration they seem to require, at least not as long as my eyes work/physical media is extant/etc. Seems safe to say that neither Criterion nor Warner Archive is rescuing the likes of oh, say, It's Love I'm After any time soon, but it's a title that would be right up Kino's alley.

Still, it would be nice to have faith that I didn't need to wait for reviews before buying any KL discs.

Posted: **Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:26 pm**

Thankfully their sales are often enough even for more recent titles where you can take a risk without it hurting too much. My batting avg isn't perfect, but I don't beat myself up for a miss when many were at rather cheap prices

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:36 am**

KL on why they only released a single cut of Isadora, which is neither Karl Reisz's preferred version, nor the original 3-hour cut that screened
for awards consideration:

We released what was restored by Universal, and it's not the shortest cut, there are shorter cuts. The film is not big enough to warrant multiple restorations of multiple cuts, at least not by us.

That smacks of bullshit, as they went back and released the true cut of The Plague Dogs (a brilliant film that is also not a "big" title).
Isadora was a huge critical success, and Vanessa Redgrave is an actress who continues to guarantee a high degree of interest.
At least it doesn't seem like Universal doesn't still possess the alternate versions, so hopefully Indicator will get around to it at some point
(although a Region B Blu is still in print).

Posted: **Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:46 am**

That was Shout Factory

Posted: **Wed Jul 15, 2020 2:07 pm**

Coming October 27th!

TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA (1970)
• Brand New 4K Restorations by Universal: 113:32 International Cut / 104:40 Domestic Cut
• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker Alex Cox
• At Home with Clint: Vintage Candid Interview with Clint Eastwood in HD
• Limited Edition Slipcase
• Reversible Art
• Poster and Image Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer (New HD Transfer)
• 2 TV Spots
• 4 Radio Spots
• Two Dual-Layered BD50 Discs
• Optional English Subtitles

From Don Siegel, the legendary director of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Coogan’s Bluff, Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, The Shootist and Escape from Alcatraz, comes this classic western starring screen legends Clint Eastwood (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, High Plains Drifter) and Shirley MacLaine (Sweet Charity, Irma La Douce). Eastwood is a hard-hitting drifter who rides into town and single-handedly rescues a local nun (MacLaine) from a gang of bandits. After meeting a band of Mexican revolutionaries bent on resisting the French occupation of Mexico, the cowboy and Sister Sara decide to join forces with the freedom fighters and set off on a deadly mission to capture the enemy’s garrison. But along the way, a steamy romance develops between them when the soft-spoken hero discovers the nun is not what she seems. Ending with a violent climax at the well-protected fort, this action-packed western classic cemented Eastwood’s status as a true cinematic superstar. Featuring a masterful score by the great Ennio Morricone (A Fistful of Dollars).

Posted: **Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:41 pm**

Coming October 27th!

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker Alex Cox
• NEW Interview with Actress Marianna Hill
• NEW Interview with Actor Mitchell Ryan
• A Man Named Eastwood: Vintage HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER Promo (Restored in HD)
• TRAILERS FROM HELL with Josh Olson
• TRAILERS FROM HELL with Edgar Wright
• Limited Edition Slipcase
• Reversible Art
• Poster and Image Gallery
• Two Theatrical Trailers (New HD Transfers)
• TV Spot
• Radio Spot
• Two Dual-Layered BD50 Discs
• Optional English Subtitles

THEY’D NEVER FORGET THE DAY HE DRIFTED INTO TOWN! From Clint Eastwood, the acclaimed director/star of The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino and The Mule, comes this western masterpiece and homage to his “The Man with No Name” legend. Eastwood portrays a mysterious stranger who emerges out of the heat waves of the desert and rides into the guilt-ridden town of Lago. After committing three murders in the first 20 minutes, The Stranger is hired by the town’s citizens to protect them from the three vengeful gunmen about to be released from jail. Eastwood’s second film as a director is a tribute to his three spaghetti western classics with the great Sergio Leone, and features a strong supporting cast that includes Verna Bloom (Medium Cool), Marianna Hill (The Baby), Mitchell Ryan (The Hunting Party), Jack Ging (Play Misty for Me), Geoffrey Lewis (Every Which Way but Loose), Anthony James (In the Heat of the Night), John Hillerman (Blazing Saddles), John Quade (Breakheart Pass) and Billy Curtis (The Terror of Tiny Town). Beautifully shot in CinemaScope by Bruce Surtees (Dirty Harry) with a great screenplay by Ernest Tidyman (The French Connection) and a memorable score by Dee Barton (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot).

Posted: **Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:33 pm**

Not gonna complain about high bitrates, but those must be some long interviews on the High Plains Drifter release to warrant a two-BD50 set. The other extras (excluding the commentary) probably amount to barely 20 minutes altogether.

Posted: **Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:13 pm**

Might have been a copy/paste error on the part of KL reusing part of the Two Mules for Sister Sara specs. The news on Blu-ray.com doesn't list the part about 2-discs.

Posted: **Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:50 am**

FrauBlucher wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 7:26 pm I get the impression that the KLInsider is more proud of the quantity of releases over the quality, which he often points out when someone brings up Criterion to him

KLInsider isn’t one person, folks. It’s very much like Criterion’s fictional customer service rep, a job handled by office interns and the like. A friend of mine had the job briefly in 2017-early 2018, just after finishing the master’s program at USC. He was literally the office intern. His duties included managing pretty much all of Kino’s social media accounts, including both this one and the one on Blu-ray.com. When he moved on, someone else got the job; for all I know it might have turned over more than once since then. At any rate, he said they have a very small staff in the NY office. That probably explains their legendarily spotty quality control.

Posted: **Wed Jul 22, 2020 7:12 am**

And their legendary forum handling, I guess.

Posted: **Wed Jul 22, 2020 7:20 am**

Everyone on the Indicator team has login access to their Blu-ray.com account, but we’re under strict instructions not to post anything controversial or get in fights with people.

In fact, our response to one rather excitable individual who failed to get a satisfactory answer in the official Indicator thread and started abusing us via PM was to switch PMs off altogether.

(If I remember rightly, our “crime” was to fail to confirm full details of Hammer volume 4 on his say-so, for the very simple reason that we didn’t yet know for certain whether The Revenge of Frankenstein would be restored and therefore weren’t going to say anything about the release until such confirmation had been received. And obviously we couldn’t say or even hint at that at the time, because the last thing we wanted to do was get people’s hopes up only to potentially dash them later - a good illustration of why silence really is the best policy sometimes.)

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 5:02 am**

Of course the current standard for poor handling of a business social media account (and that wine and unfettered access to social media 24/7 does not mix) is probably held by the owner of the Purr Cat Cafe! The owner is certainly engaging with their audience (albeit often role playing as a cat!) but in a rather antagonistic manner! That makes everything else look tame!

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 1:38 pm**

RitrovataBlue wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:50 am
FrauBlucher wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 7:26 pm I get the impression that the KLInsider is more proud of the quantity of releases over the quality, which he often points out when someone brings up Criterion to him
KLInsider isn’t one person, folks. It’s very much like Criterion’s fictional customer service rep, a job handled by office interns and the like. A friend of mine had the job briefly in 2017-early 2018, just after finishing the master’s program at USC. He was literally the office intern. His duties included managing pretty much all of Kino’s social media accounts, including both this one and the one on Blu-ray.com. When he moved on, someone else got the job; for all I know it might have turned over more than once since then. At any rate, he said they have a very small staff in the NY office. That probably explains their legendarily spotty quality control.

Maybe they need to do a better job interviewing for interns. Because the tone is always the same

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 3:29 pm**

It does explain why the account reads like some 19 year old Redditor’s posts

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:28 pm**

More sold out titles:

Across 110th Street (1972) (DVD still available)
Foxes (1980) (DVD still available)
The Sheik (1921) (DVD still available)
The Unforgiven (1960) (DVD still available

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:46 pm**

domino harvey wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 3:29 pm It does explain why the account reads like some 19 year old Redditor’s posts

Well you'll be excited to know they've added reviewing movies they're not even releasing to their catalog of responses.

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:48 pm**

Forgive if this is asked too frequently, but does Sold Out necessarily mean Out Of Print?

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 9:13 pm**

They aren't on Kino Lorber's site anymore, so I think they're gone gone

Posted: **Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:49 pm**

Yes, OOP once they are sold out at Kino's website. One should be able to find copies at online retailers for a little while, but they'll likely become difficult to find pretty quickly.

Posted: **Sat Jul 25, 2020 6:19 am**

Heads-up for those with AMEX cards: For some reason Kino Lorber's store is tagged as a small local business in AMEX's system, so you can get $5 off $10 for using your card on their site via AMEX's current promotion!

Posted: **Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:04 pm**

Interesting remark from KL Insider regarding Dreamchild

A few years ago it was picked up by another label, so I don't know what happened to it.

I thought Twilight Time *may* have hinted at it? Damn shame that no one has released this gem on Blu.

Posted: **Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:54 pm**

Three more sold out titles:

52 Pick-Up (1986) (DVD still available)
No Man's Land (1987)
The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph) (1948) (DVD still available)[/b])

Other PD companies have BD releases of The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph) available.

Per KL Insider, they got ~30 copies of the BD of The Wicked Lady returned to them as a wholesale return, so that will go OOP again when those sell out.

Posted: **Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:17 pm**

Saw this on Howard S. Berger's FB Profile from Friday about the audio commentary for DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE:

Had a blast this morning recording audio commentary alongside Larry Karaszewski and Steve Mitchell for what, for all of us, appears to be a formative masterclass on late 1960s screenwriting and direction - an immaculate cinematic conception if ever there was: Frank and Eleanor Perry’s DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (1970)!!! The Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray drops soon!

Posted: **Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:01 pm**

Surprised to see Red Ball Express coming up. I never thought I'd see a blu ray of that underrated movie. Now, if only KL studio Classics can release Silver Lode, D.O.A., No Man of Her Own and Romance of a Horse Thief on blu ray, and I'll be all set for American movies.

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