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eerik wrote:I noticed this interesting paragraph in the press release for Peeping Tom:

2010 also saw the return to UK cinema screens of three other iconic titles, following extensive digital restoration: The Railway Children (March) and Breathless (June). We have committed to restoring the following classics from the UK catalogue for potential cinema and blu-ray release in 2011: Brighton Rock, Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Ice Cold in Alex, The Cruel Sea, Whiskey Galore!, The Lavender Hill Mob, Quatermass & The Pit and Kind Hearts & Coronets. These releases herald an increased commitment from Optimum to preserving and restoring the vast library of classic titles that we manage on behalf of Studio Canal at a new state-of-the-art cold storage facility at Pinewood studios.

Every film from the list has now been scheduled or released.

• Brighton Rock (28th February 2011)
• The Man Who Fell to Earth (11th April 2011)
• Ice Cold in Alex (13th June 2011)
• The Cruel Sea (13th June 2011)
• Don't Look Now (27th June 2011)
• Whiskey Galore! (11th July 2011)
• The Lavender Hill Mob (1st August 2011)
• Kind Hearts & Coronets (5th September 2011)
• Quatermass & The Pit (5th September 2011)

Optimum have confirmed on another forum that Dead of Night has not been remastered and won't have supplements. Thanks for nothing, guys. Some good news though: Cavalcanti's Went the Day Well? gets the HD upgrade and has a current street date of July 18th.

Finch wrote:Optimum have confirmed on another forum that Dead of Night has not been remastered....

That's bizarre - I never bothered with their DVD as the transfer seemed to be universally criticised even when expectations were much lower. And the now deleted US release has a soundtrack with such excessive noise reduction it sounds like the entire cast are battling through heavy colds (which is not how it used to sound in UK TV broadcasts).

Don't Look Now cover art.



That sticker looks familiar. :-k

Studio Canal releases in France on their budget Classics collection (RRP 10 Euro)
- Le trou (1960) de Jacques Becker
- Rue de l'estrapade (1953) de Jacques Becker
- La marseillaise (1938) de Jean Renoir
- Pot-Bouille (1957) de Julien Duvivier
- J'ai le droit de vivre (1937) de Fritz Lang

Might possibly appear courtesy of Optimum. Will report on subtitles when specs are up.

Finch wrote:Optimum have confirmed on another forum that Dead of Night has not been remastered and won't have supplements. Thanks for nothing, guys.

Turns out t'ain't THAT Dead of Night, it's Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night. Arrrghhhh...

Meanwhile, Don't Look Now sounds like a fine release.

I just received this e-mail from Optimum.

STUDIOCANAL harmonises the name of its affiliated companies in the United Kingdom and in Germany.


From September 1st, 2011, Optimum Releasing and Kinowelt, subsidiaries of STUDIOCANAL in the United Kingdom and Germany, will be named STUDIOCANAL.

This decision to create a single, unique brand definitively establishes the company as a European studio.

STUDIOCANAL will also have a new visual identity, with a new logo (see attachment) and new moving logo, both created by British agency Devilfish.

The moving logo will be unveiled in early September, for the world premiere of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, film based on John le Carré's best seller, directed by Thomas Alfredson, starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, produced by Working Title and fully financed by STUDIOCANAL. (The film will be out on September 16th in the UK, and early 2012 in France and Germany)

Along with this change of name and visual identity, STUDIOCANAL's German teams will move offices from Leipzig to Berlin, on September 1st as well.

Olivier Courson, Chairman, says: "We are already working together as one company across the three countries so this is a very natural evolution for STUDIOCANAL. It will strengthen our status as the only European company in the UK France and Germany. It will also provide clarity to all of our business.

So, a change of title for this thread?

tojoed wrote:So, a change of title for this thread?

There are still plenty of existing releases under those company names, so probably not.

How much did they pay for the Optimum name and business banner, £30m+?...

ellipsis7 wrote:How much did they pay for the Optimum name and business banner, £30m+?...

Variety: "Studio Canal is said to have paid north of $30 million for Optimum"

And that was already in 2006.

Cover art for the Ealing blus:

Also this one:

Hopefully Lionsgate will duplicate these.

Good and bad news on the Don't Look Now Blu: Digital Fix say the sound has been fixed and it has subtitles but if the film looks anything like Michael McKenzie's screenshots in motion, I think I'm going to either just rent it or buy it when it goes on sale eventually for a much lower price.

I still have the "Don't Look Now" Optimum DVD, and I remember it looking a bit waxy as well, the colors are much brighter, but I wonder if this is like "Peeping Tom", where grain is just gone. When will Crit get their hands on this one?

Whoa, there seems to be something seriously wrong with those screencaps. I haven't seen this Blu, but those caps just look completely screwed up, as if they were put through some sort of Photoshop filter. They almost look like watercolor paintings. If this is what it really looks like, then I don't understand how the reviewer at The Digital Fix could make these statements:

It generally looks lovely with rich, highly saturated colours and unexpected layers of detail which bring new life to the film . . . . It looks suitably filmlike thanks to an appropriate level of grain. On the whole, and give or take a small amount of intrusive noise which occasionally appears, this is a very nice visual experience.

I'll be more convinced when additional screencaps appear (from different sources).

My copy of Don't Look Now arrived today. It looks very good to my eyes- a vast improvement on the DVD and no evidence of intrusive DNR as far as i can see. Haven't been through the extras yet but very happy with the presentation also glad it's not part of the StudioCanal Collection so no generic menus,music etc.

Feego wrote:Whoa, there seems to be something seriously wrong with those screencaps. I haven't seen this Blu, but those caps just look completely screwed up, as if they were put through some sort of Photoshop filter. They almost look like watercolor paintings. If this is what it really looks like, then I don't understand how the reviewer at The Digital Fix could make these statements:

It generally looks lovely with rich, highly saturated colours and unexpected layers of detail which bring new life to the film . . . . It looks suitably filmlike thanks to an appropriate level of grain. On the whole, and give or take a small amount of intrusive noise which occasionally appears, this is a very nice visual experience.

I'll be more convinced when additional screencaps appear (from different sources).

I may not always agree with his numerical ratings on transfers, but I do trust Michael McKenzie's screencaps and opinions.

dwk wrote:

Feego wrote:I may not always agree with his numerical ratings on transfers, but I do trust Michael McKenzie's screencaps and opinions.

Well, I don't.

cathoderaytube review + plenty of screencaps

It looks really smeary.

broadwayrock wrote:cathoderaytube review + plenty of screencaps

It looks really smeary.

It looks fine to me, as it did to the reviewer.

I'm with broadwayrock on this one - the CRT screen caps support McKenzie's argument that the Blu has been tempered with too much and looks the worse for it.

Are you guys looking at the image in full resolution? This in particular looks just plain awful:

It's Peeping Tom all over again which reminds me that I meant to sell my Blu copy and rebuy the SE DVD. At least Studio Canal seem to be getting the Ealing classics right (The Cruel Sea looked extremely good on my 50 inch plasma, and the screen grabs of Ice Cold in Alex were mouthwatering): I'm looking forward to Went the Day Well? especially.