Non-Criterion Boutique Home Video Discussion (Kino, Warner Archive, Arrow, Indicator, Vinegar Syndrome, Code Red, etc.)

and how have i not previously seen all those eureka martial arts films that were only a tab away?

Haha yes, I enjoy the snooty game of who gets to be a Master of Cinema. Sorry, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, Sammo Hung.

watched Snake Girl last night and, well, all the reviews i've seen have mentioned scooby doo. and it's the same guy who did all* the Gamera films and was obviously pitched at kids, so don't go into it expecting The Ring or something. filmed nicely enough and i liked something about the b&w footage.

(* all but one of the Gamera films - for the second one, which only existed after the surprise success of the first one, he was demoted to second unit and sfx)

How long does Region B have to wait for Millennium Mambo?

I was aware of Tod Slaughter but not sure I'd ever seen a film and got the box set out of curiosity as a result of some of the general excitement around it.

Two films in and it might be my release of the year. An absolute joy.

https://www.radiancefilms.co.uk/collections/4for40

One of my fave reissue labels.

this GNV Ed Wood release has a lot of extras, should be a good time
https://goldninjavideo.com/collections/releases/products/blu-ray-ed-woods-revenge-of-the-dead

Yes indeed. Ordered that out of the gate.

More Black Friday sales:
Grasshopper: https://grasshopperfilm.myshopify.com
Cinema Guild: https://store.cinemaguild.com/homevideo/SFNT.html

Also for those in NYC, Black Friday sale at Metrograph - get a NEW annual membership for 40% off ($30 instead of $50) using the code THANKS2023
This will bring down ticket prices to $10 from $17, other discounts associated with Metrograph, and you get access to their curated streaming service, which is pretty great.

(Also Cinema Guild is about to release Claire Denis's 35 Shots of Rum on Blu-ray for the first time ever - it's not out yet, but they've included it in their 50% off sale.)

Forgot another, Oscilloscope!

https://store.oscilloscope.net/

Among various discounts, all Blu-rays and DVD's are 50% off. Don't forget to use the code OSALEOSCOPE when you check out, otherwise the sale prices don't show up.

Grindhouse Zideo has a pretty nice one right now, lots of Arrow and other specialty labels (and porn too if that's your thing)
https://grindhousevideo.com

Forgot another one:

https://shoparbelosfilms.com/collections/blu-ray

Standard edition Blu-rays and posters are 50% off but the limited editions (where they usually add something like a slipcase for collectors) is 25% off.

I don't know if it's a musical or not but some here were interested in 50s-60s chinese historical epics like this, The Beauty Of Beauties is getting a release in march, not a Shaw Brothers film but it looks similar
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311305/?ref_=ttco_ov_i

yes I'm very interested in this type of Chinese historical epic, do you know who is releasing it?
"over 6000 costumes, 30 thousand individual weapons, 800 chariots and 8000 chariot horses, 120 thousand extras, and a shoot that took 334 days and 120 thousand feet of film."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivQfHkgbBps

ah found it, 88 Films

Figured it would be them!

over 6000 costumes, 30 thousand individual weapons, 800 chariots and 8000 chariot horses, 120 thousand extras and one Nicky Wire in a banana suit

i was listening to a podcast a few months ago and c-man's name came up! I think he'd done an extra for some horror blu ray. all I could think about was if he'd done it in a banana suit or not.

He owns 88 Films

lol no

I know a few horror film aficionados and it's always funny when Calum's name pops up as he's quite well known in cult horror film circles and all I think about is the C-Man persona he had on ilx.

Imagine Tim Robinson shouting into a fast food intercom "6000 COSTUMES, 30,000 WEAPONS, 800 CHARIOTS, 8000 HORSES..."

Arrow Video is putting out a really nice package of both Conan movies (they're also being sold separately) and I'm seriously considering it.

https://www.arrowvideo.com/the-conan-chronicles-conan-the-barbarian-and-conan-the-destroyer-limited-edition-blu-ray/14976087.html

not in the uk. searching for 'conan' turns up 'children of the corn'

Yeah, Arrow doing a lot of North America only releases these days.

They’re essentially handling Universal’s legacy home releases on this front from what I can tell.

lol no

Happy to be wrong. Dr W kind of likes to give the impression.

yeh I bet he does!

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/little-darlings

Complete with the original theatrical soundtrack!

I got the huge VS Lost Films set for Christmas and have loads of opinions but the overriding one is this is not for normal people. (By which I mean even trying to explain some of what's in it is only possible by invoking other non-mainstream film makers so essentially only in its own language.)

With 2 to watch I genuinely think Rare Blue Apes might be my favourite though.

yeh that set is for people really deep down the rabbit hole!
in "I didn't know they were still going" news, Something Weird is closing down later this year.

It's also for people who aren't scared to say they didn't like things. I actually fell asleep during my first go at the hobo doc and didn't rate it much on the second go, and from limited reviews I'm not the only one (with one person saying they had a third go with the commentary which was worthwhile).

I'll have a go at trying to explain the films later.

in "I didn't know they were still going" news, Something Weird is closing down later this year.

― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Friday, 5 January 2024 11:57 (one hour ago) link

It's sad! I'm glad I picked up some of their physical releases over the past couple of years, as they've been slowly phasing those out. It seems like they might have some sort of deal with Kino, though (as the latter has been releasing a bunch of SW's old exploitation titles under the Forbidden Fruit banner), so hopefully their font of Weirdness will remain available in some form or another.

I think all these Deaf Crocodile films are region a only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zca9nCm8McY

https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/blu-ray-labels-film-history-physical-media-1234950671/

Seems hard to argue against the notion that Vinegar Syndrome has moved right up alongside Kino in terms of the breadth and quality of their output

Would happily agree. Thanks to their partner labels alone I'm usually picking up four or five new releases a month.

I tell myself I have reined in my home video buying frequency (and am shoring up for the spring Criterion flash sale since I've got at least three codes and am pretty close to the $50 credit), but a glance at my shelf of recent acquisitions tells a different tale.

VS's Showgirls was probably the fastest I've preordered a disc, um, I guess ever?

Hahah right there with ya. Can't wait for the Phase IV one.

I know its rights etc. but VS discs are sometimes region free and sometimes Region 1 only.. and it follows no logic or reason across films.

I got around this by buying a multiregion DVD/Bluray player, so now there is no stopping me.

will likely spring for Phase IV for the new cut, but in the UK, shipping is not great unless I go for a few titles at once, and I am still going through my last order.

also now I'm multiregion, teach me about criterion flash sales and where to look for buying a bunch of their stuff to send to UK. ( I dont think they have a UK sale and no criterion channel here either)

Ohhhh, did not know about Phase IV. That is rad.

I would give so much more of my $$$ to these boutiques if they would take a page from Kino's book and occasionally have more for-real deep discount sales. The frankly unnerving volume of Kino titles in my collection is a testament to this.

Tsk, Old Lunch, I revived the thread the other day! :-D

Phase IV

That Indiewire article is great for sure but I would add to it the interesting and kinda more grassroots efforts focusing on silent films in particular, especially now that nearly all of the silent era is in the public domain. (I'm sure the silent movie thread on here has noticed this!) There are boutique labels there as well like Undercrank but also near individual efforts or very limited releases via a lot of Kickstarter efforts, and while some are more dedicated to basic preservation, a lot of them are remarkably good with higher end treatment, notes and supplements, etc. Redwood Films out of France has been really solid about all kinds of horror/horror adjacent titles in particular:

https://www.instagram.com/redwoodcreekfilms/

While Dave Glass's silent-era comedian collections have been awfully good too:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/reelcomedy/created

The frankly unnerving volume of Kino titles in my collection is a testament to this.

Now that the Kino imprimatur doesn't automatically mean "dodgy if not outright shitty video transfer" (at least on silent film landmarks), the biggest roadblock I have with them is the seeming total lack of curation. I get people being more completist with a Criterion or an Arrow or a Vinegar Syndrome. But I look at some people's Kino libraries and think, "You can't possibly want/need every single one of those titles ... can you?"

Well, when they do those sales with discs running from $5-10 apiece, and you need to drop $50 on an individual order so you don't get screwed on shipping...an they can't always be all winners.

Yeah, their offerings are all over the place but I've had pretty good luck by doing some research before diving into the sales. I've gotten a ton of great stuff from them that I probably would've never even known about or had a chance to see if they hadn't put out a dirt-cheap Blu-ray of the thing. It probably helps if you have an affinity for both fine cinema and total garbage.

The Big Bus, Moving Violations, and Blind Fury are definitely all winners!

I mean, I consider The Apple a winner so

I enjoy kino's chaotic neutral approach