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

The Second Run edition of The Cassandra Cat (also known on twitter as The Cat Who Wore Sunglasses) is a must for anyone into midcentury modern aesthetics. Film is great, has that Czech fairytale vibe and prolonged musical sequences that are like an artsy take on MGM musicals; copy is pristine, beautiful beautiful colours; good commentary and booklet essay, plus a short animated film from the same era that also feels like a Czech cousin to the UPA stuff.

That's a brilliant film.

One of the reasons why I named my cat Cassandra (wow, 30 years gone now RIP) was because of that movie

have never heard of Cassandra Cat but i'll add it to my next arrow order.

googling that led me to the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize list which is a fascinating list of things i love and things i've never heard of.

Arrow Films US has a loaded Blu + 4K of The Warriors coming in December

https://www.arrowvideo.com/the-warriors-limited-edition-blu-ray/14941926.html

https://www.arrowvideo.com/the-warriors-limited-edition-4k-uhd/14941925.html

I'm kinda surprised that this looks like the first 4K release anywhere for the Warriors. At least it includes the theatrical cut so I can avoid the terrible 2005 comic book version that seemed like the only way to watch this on streaming for a long time.

If I'm reading that right, they're clearing the deck extras-wise to ensure the highest bitrate on the director's cut, and jamming the extras on the theatrical cut's disc. Which, first world problems yes yes yes, is a fly in the ointment to this otherwise great-looking release.

(Kinda stoked about Arrow's Day of the Locust announcement too, btw.)

Arrow films Halloween sale on again. that first Shaw box set is getting cheaper every time. do i pull the trigger now or wait until Christmas sale in a month and a half?

annoyed that the ju-on box seems to have gone though.

I was lucky enough to scoop up Shawscope Vol. 1 for 60 bucks from Hamilton Book when they had a big Arrow drop back in March. Now I just need to watch it.

Kind of annoyed that Shout Factory seems to have picked up the Shaw Bros. mantle (with three big box sets already released or announced for this year). I mean, I'm glad the stuff is getting a release, but those suckers are never coming down to a reasonable price.

It does feel like a dick move for them to muscle into Arrow's territory like that, especially since aiui a lot of the releases are old copies...but all's fair I guess.

i think i prefer shout factory's packaging 8)

Whichever one starts releasing the old Shaw musicals and melodramas gets my eternal respect (nb neither will).

I enjoyed the first one because it felt a lot more varied but box 2 has been a real slog, still only halfway through it.

Shawscope 2? It's really more varied than 1, it's just the variety is backloaded - Boxer's Omen, Mercenaries From Hong Kong, the 80's Jet Li shaolin films made on the mainland, a Johnnie To film from the 90's!

Shawscope Vol 2 seemed a little more consistent to me from the title list, but I haven't really sat down and bought/watched these titles in a row any time recently

Made a bit of headway with V2 and you're right, the variation is there but takes a long time coming.

v1 no longer turning up in searches. i guess everyone else was tempted by the cheapness.

Shout Factory doing 4 main Shaw boxed sets so far, and a Brave Archer set and a Ti Lung/David Chiang set. That's 6 boxed sets in a very short time.

Even if I could watch region A, I'm burned out too badly for these, I don't think I'll finish the Shawscope 2 even (regret buying it). A shame there wasn't more Wuxia high fantasy early on because I'd still buy more of them.
I'm skipping most of the new martial arts releases, I'm sorry but I just can't get that excited for Jet Li somehow.
But there's still things I'm looked forward to.

Fatal Termination sold out, hope another company picks it up.

FYI for anyone who wanted Shawscope v1, Arrow has released a regular edition of the films as three separate box sets, currently for pre-order at $30 each (under the "Shaw Brothers Presents" name) so if you just want the movies this is the way to go

Just hit the Mercenaries/Boxer's Omen disc on V2 and I don't know what I was on about, it's amazing.

Boxer's Omen gave me real Mystics In Bali vibes.

my orders get bigger every time. this time it was

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
Battles Without Honor and Humanity box
The Snake Girl And The Silver-Haired Witch
The Cassandra Cat

two czech and two Japanese. my wish list is emptying out.

I'd seen the smaller Shaw boxes but didn't think to compare the contents. those seem much more manageable

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
The Cassandra Cat

2 fantastic films. Not seen the other 2 you mentioned. Please let us know how they are!

Battles is a series of yakuza films, the first of which (yakuza papers) is in the 1995 kinema junpo list I've been using as a checklist (seen 22 of the top 25, goes down drastically after that). didn't enjoy YP when i watched it but maybe it'll be easier to follow the second time. meiko kaji is in these, briefly.

snake girl is described as twisted children's film. I'm imagining something like hausu crossed with kuro neko but we shall see.

I've got things from my first two orders yet to watch so...

(actually that's confusing. my copy of the first of the those is called 'Battles without honour and humanity' subtitled 'Yakuza papers Vol 1' and the box is also called 'battles without...' but contains the entire series (5 films). there's also a follow up trilogy by the same bloke called 'new battles...')

The Snake Girl And The Silver-Haired Witch is an adaptation of a Kazuo Umezu/Umezz manga, a mystery from the pov of a young girl, I like it.

Saw _The Cassandra Cat_ at my local Alamo a few days ago, really great experience.

xp did not know it was an Umezu adaptation, now i definitely want to see it!

koog's purchases are all bangers, possibly except the Yakuza Papers box - remember watching the first one and just being consistently confused by the sprawling cast and double crosses, but since then I've a) gotten a taste for intricate yakuza plots thanks to the video game series of the same name and b) gotten a deeper appreciation for the works of Fukusaku, so perhaps I should revisit.

You can REALLY tell Snake Girl is an Umezz adaptation, his fingerprints are all over that thing. Spookily enough, after I watched my Arrow disc once it broke itself in two within my player, something which hasn't happened with any disc before or since.

am getting behind slightly with the japanese masters of cinema releases as well, and those are never heavily discounted like the arrow stuff.

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

have never heard of Cassandra Cat but i'll add it to my next arrow order.

googling that led me to the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize list which is a fascinating list of things i love and things i've never heard of.

one of the things i've never heard of was Battle Of The Rails, which was on TPTV the day after and again on the 1st nov

list here (link ends in a bracket hence this link text)

Indicator sale on
https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/sale

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