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

Also Armageddon is totally Criterion-worthy what are you on about.

The Long Good Friday looks extraordinary in the new Arrow version. They even put together a fancy modern trailer which makes it look the bee's knees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90zNzyFk-w

Man i'd love to see this print at the movies.

xpost Ah, gotcha. Yeah, more and more they're also using WAC as a repository for tv seasons that otherwise don't get a wide physical release (I think they manufacture these things like 1000 at a time?). Which...I don't even know what tv shows are considered for a wide release anymore, since Targets and other major retail outlets have all but given up on physical media.

bought a cheap 2nd hand blu ray player recently, what are good online shops in UK to buy these kind of boutique releases?
is there a place with an upcoming release schedule?

I extensively use blu-ray.com. This is their new release calendar but you may have to tweak the settings to get UK-specific releases (hint: select yr country in the search bar, do a search, and the site should then rejigger their listings such that they're specific to your region).

Warning: that link is extremely dangerous, as I realize now that I hadn't checked it in a while and now I'm seeing a bunch of stuff that I didn't even know had been released and, well...bye bye, money.

if you put the name of something, (ie Tomorrow I'll Wake Up And Scald Myself With Tea), in a search engine and hit 'shopping' it'll list a bunch of places with it for sale, most of which are ebay and the rest of which don't look like places that would care about films, just about selling units (one of which even has "SKU" as a sort order in its list)

places like
base.com
hive.co.uk
www.moviesandgamesonline.co.uk
hmv actually have a good selection (and i have tokens)
wh smith

amazon also. and they are quite good for recommendations, just terrible at the details. (for example, the first two reviews say there are no english subtitles because they've merged all the reviews for all the different releases together)

Usually, unless I'm just dying to see a particular thing, I wait until the boutiques offer a sale. Most of them do a couple times a year and the prices are often pretty good, and if you stay on top of things you'll find out about limited releases that are usually dropped during the sales (which I will endeavor to use this thread to hype when they pop up).

ta, blu-ray.com looks dangerously useful. funny seeing what is available and what isn't
I've only used amazon so far, they had a load of Ozu for £6.99 each the other day so grabbed a few

dismissing Criterion because they released Armageddon.

― Chokeslamming A Memory (Old Lunch), Sunday, February 28, 2021 2:18 PM

I missed this shitstorm and all the accompanying death threats

Why tf did Shout price the complete Pee-Wee's Playhouse box set for $35 on DVD and $150 on Blu-ray???

pixels aren't free

I dunno, I was waiting for the blu-ray but just wound up getting the old DVD season sets once I saw their MSRP. I guess there's a bunch of new special features but it wasn't worth the expense to me.

it's $90 on Blu-Ray, the $150 one probably came with bow tie or something

Now a big huge Kino sale (500+ titles, many @ $10 or less, lots of good stuff): https://www.kinolorber.com/list/view/code/march-madness-sale-2021

And then I think the Warner Archive sale starts tomorrow.

Sorry, wallet.

Just in time for the stimmy check

I bought Last Year at Marienbad and Transylvania 6-5000

Limited myself to just 4 because I've actually been going pretty hog-wild on Indicator/Arrow since getting a region-free player for the first time in a decade.

The Mortal Storm
The Best Years of Our Lives
On Dangerous Ground
Waiting for Guffman (I somehow keep losing this one to lendees)

On Dangerous Ground! Keep meaning to buy that one. Maybe this time...

Yup, the site even says Final $4 for $44. Maybe time to get some advance gifts.

SHOPWB15 brings it down to 4 for $37.50 (plus taxes and shipping)

ty!

Definitely snagging a copy of Dead of Night from Kino. Tempted to get the Classics of Yiddish Cinema box as well for $30, if only for the restoration of The Dybbuk, which I've only ever seen in a VHS dub ripped from YouTube years ago with patchy subtitles.

I have but have not yet watched the Yiddish Cinema box, but I would advise checking out some reviews before you buy. They did some weird shit with the subtitles where, in some instances, they subtitled over existing subtitles that I guess were on the actual print. Some people are not crazy about this decision.

Like this:

https://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/22211_28_large.jpg

Oh I should've pointed out too, if you haven't figured it out already, that the 4 for $44 is a bit of a misnomer inasmuch as everything is $11 a pop when you buy four or more.

whoa, thanks for the heads up OL. yeah the print i'm familiar with (that i assume must be the one they restored) had what appeared to be burned-in english subs on about 3/4 of it. odd that they wouldnt just leave those and do the missing sections, but instead box over the existing english subtitles with... other english subtitles? maybe some kind of legal rights regarding the new translation? how odd.

No idea what the situation is with this particular release, but there's also the possibility that they considered the previous translation bad enough that correcting it takes precedence over aesthetics.

I recently watched Behram Beyzai's Downpour, where the only existing copy has burnt in subtitles. The restoration (from Scorsese's world cinema project) left these in, and while from an artistic pov I'm sure it's the best choice, it was still frustrating knowing that the subs were only cpaturing 40% of the dialogue.

Oops, sorry y'all, I missed one. Assuming you still have any money left, there's also an Indicator sale running through tomorrow: https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/sale

Hmm... maybe I should put that stimmy to good use, finally get all-region BR player

It's worth it!

I just got a region free 4K for Xmas and have basically spent the last two months buying stuff I’ve wanted for years.

Yeah it's a perfect (and justified) temptation to do just that. (Signed, guy who picked up the Gormenghast Blu-ray yesterday.)

Note for the interested - 4K discs are all region free, regardless of origin or player. Blurays are obviously still subject to region A/B/C restrictions.

Went with The Yakuza, On Dangerous Ground, The Shop Around the Corner, The Hunger, and Judgment Night on the WB sale. Cut about half of my wishes from the cart to get it down to only those titles.

I went well and truly overboard with this WB Archive sale, thanks to having plenty of advance warning (and to make up for missing basically every previous one). Blew a not inconsiderable chunk of my stimbus on 16 titles to get to free shipping:

Curse of the Cat People (the inevitable fuckup that no big sale purchase can be without; I didn't realize there was a blu-ray from Shout Factory so I'll try and flip this somehow)
Lady in the Lake
Desperate Living
M Butterfly
Twice Upon a Time
Pink Flamingos
The Witches blu
The Boy Friend blu
Performance blu (dumb mistake with the audio track aside, it's one of my favorite movies of all time and a nice upgrade over the SD disc)
Suspicion blu
Key Largo blu
Body Snatchers (Ferrara) blu
The Hunger blu
Out of the Past blu
The Thing From Another World blu
Dial M for Murder blu

I bought five titles from Kino Lorber last night: Blue Collar, the restoration of Murnau's Faust, Bob le Flambeur, and two Forties noirs: Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (come on, with that title, how could I not?) and Cover Up.

Very risky buying based off titles. But I take this risk regularly.

Oh, I read a review of it several years ago that stuck it in my head. But it is an all-time great title.

You've convinced me

I bought Burn, Witch, Burn based on the title. They got me! It was originally titled Night of the Eagle!

are there any good podcasts that cover this sort of stuff? or just older films in general.
those Indicator Noir boxsets have become lust objects for me

I think in terms of being purely about home video releases Just The Discs is probably your best bet. If we're talking old movies in general that widens the remit considerably: The Movies That Made Me (co-hosted by Joe Dante), Cinema Smorgasbord (mostly off the beaten track stuff), Cinema60 (deep dives on stuff from that decade), Important Cinema Club, PopScreen (films featuring or about pop stars) are some of my faves.

Also if you're in the UK and looking to navigate the Talking Pictures TV schedule - or if you're just looking for some good old timey British film recs - I co-host the official Talking Pictures TV Podcast :)

cool! I should watch Talking Pictures more than I should, I just never think of watching "normal" tv these days so something that flags up forthcoming stuff would definitely help. it's like I'm your target audience!

Shout! Select sale: https://www.shoutfactory.com/sale/shout-select-ticket-to-savings

I love Shout! Factory's output but their sale prices are usually a little meh. That said, these are about the lowest prices you're likely to see for some of this stuff.

Also, I have no idea what the criteria is for their Select line. It's the same mixture of high- and lowbrow that constitutes the rest of their stuff, and they generally put together a solid package of supplements, so...(shrugs). But if you've been looking to pick up a copy of both Holy Motors and Doctor Detroit, now's your chance!

Three O' Clock High was released on BR! Wow! But yeah, prices are a tad high.

I bought a Shout Select blu of Shakedown (1988) after a friend couldn't stop talking about it.

haha, I got Holy Motors and... the 'Burbs

i didn't get anything but this inspired me to finally drop $$$ on the scream factory friday the 13th set

money i don't have.... many movies i already own...... whateverrrrr