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

The notion was floated a while back of starting a thread to cover the myriad of non-Criterion boutique physical media distributors, and this bit of (potentially sad? although opinions are divided as to what it actually means) Warner Archive news finally prompted me to undertake the daunting process of clicking 'New Question':

QUE SERA SE-SAVINGS!
2021 is here, and with it comes change. So we and our friends at the Araca Group that manage WBShop wanted to say thank you for your support with a final 4 for 44 sale! Start your lists and get ready to save on the weekend of March 12th, 2021! See you then!

Oh good, that sale's still like three weeks away.

Olive Films puts out a lot of good stuff. Can't seem to find a proper home page.

https://www.deepdiscount.com/olive-films/b236587

A small and arthouse-centric Kino sale started today alongside Criterion's: https://www.kinolorber.com/list/view/code/feb-brrr-ary-sale_2021

xpost I appreciate the titles that Olive releases but I'm not crazy about the fact that they're mostly bare-bones releases (usually just the film itself).

Agreed. Olive releases tend to make me frustrated Criterion or someone else didn't get them.

Sometimes I stream from Kino Now, does that count?

Weekend before last I watched some Hungarian mind game thriller that I liked, title is really long and hard to remember.

Huh, I didn't even know they had their own streaming service. It seems like a lot of their physical releases wind up streaming on Criterion Channel.

Wait, I misspoke. Kino Lorber does have its own streaming service called Kino Now, but I streamed PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME from Film Forum.

Really hope that's not really the final Warner Archive sale! I didn't buy that often, but it was a nice thing to have around.

Streaming the latest Philippe Garrel from Film Forum now before it goes away.

xpost My understanding is that WB is parting ways with the company that runs WB Shop. There has been speculation running the gamut from 'so this is just the final 4 for $44 with that particular distributor' to 'so this means that WB is shuttering Warner Archive altogether'. Given that WB often demonstrates the sound business acumen of a downed power line whipping madly across a roadway, the real answer could fall anywhere within that continuum.

I recommend this Philippe Garrel film.

I'm sad about the possible demise of WB Archive but to be honest I could never be bothered with bare bones releases, even if the transfers are very good. Without the contextualization I'd rather just stream it or, in the before times, wait until it hits a repertory cinema.

Can heartily recommend the first volume of Indicator's Columbia Noir boxes. Bought it kinda expecting scraps, but the overall level is actually pretty good, and Drive A Crooked Road might make it on a hypothetical list of my all-time fave noirs.

Second Run is another one to look out for - they specialise in Eastern European cinema, so I end up giving them less of my money than I should because I'm just not very savvy on that topic yet. But a recent release that I loved is Tomorrow I'll Wake Up And Scald Myself With Tea, which is a nazi time travel comedy (!) from Czechoslovakia. Very much official state cinema, not a Czech New Wave kind of thing, but really clever with its time travel conceit; can't think of another movie that uses it so well this side of Back To The Future.

Finally, 88 Films, headed by Nicky Wire in a banana suit, have just had British censors refuse them permission to release a blu-ray for some Italian nazisploitation orgy thing, which is dumb but also very funny if you immediatley think of dude's ilx days.

i've been eyeing up the Second Run dvds for a while now, always meaning to buy more, but i only have the Jancso box.

(and Daisies. but then everyone has Daisies)

I'm sad about the possible demise of WB Archive but to be honest I could never be bothered with bare bones releases, even if the transfers are very good.

Huh. Are the latter regular Warner DVD releases that went OOP?

Some are. They just released Curse of Frankenstein which I think got a crummy snapcase DVD release 20 years ago in the US but was otherwise only ever available in multipacks. The new blu-ray is a two-disc set with the film in three different aspect ratios and a whole lot of new features.

Looking over my recent purchases (Curse, Shop Around the Corner, Meet Me in St. Louis, Best Years of our Lives), only Best Years is fairly stingy with the extras.

Second Run's Goodbye Dragon Inn might be my favorite release of the last year. Or at least my favorite movie that finally got a decent set.

Didn't realise Nicky Wire Bananaman actually ran 88 Films, but did watch one of his documentaries on a release - might have been Massacre In Dinosaur Valley? - so it makes sense.

I have never understood what "nicky wire in a banana suit" means and had no idea he was a poster...is there some reasonable reason his company has that name?

Big Hitler fan and cinephile

One of those more believable than the other.

ugh hitler stans are so annoying

Just did a nostalgic search through thread titles started by his most frequent identity and that was a wild ride. I didn't realise there were just so many of them.

In actually relevant news I went to order that Czech film from Second Run but I can't check out the shopping cart. Oh well.

yeah sorry for derail (also embarrassingly realized I've figured this out before)

still, I would probably avoid releasing nazisploitation movies with that company name

I wasn't having a go except at myself because I thought I was derailing.

there are lots of WB Archives Blu-Rays with extras. Off the top of my head, a couple Michael Curtiz movies (Dodge City + Adventures of Robin Hood) have newsreels, cartoons, short films (by Curtiz!), trailers, and multiple radio broadcasts of the film in question. Usually some contemporary interviews with scholars/critics, too.

Dunno about entire extra films though, I've only ever encountered that with Criterion. They should really emphasize that more imo, I mean the Stranger Than Paradise disc for example: it has Permanent Vacation! That's hardly an extra. Stranger Than Paradise is an extra on that disc!

Gaslight at least has both the 1940 and 1944 versions of the film. I could swear I have at least one other with a bonus film.

But yeah, Criterion (and others who do likewise) should make a bigger deal about that. I bought The Front Page from Kino not realizing that it was included on Criterion's release of His Girl Friday.

Most (if not all) of the Warner Archive Blu extras are ported over from the original DVDs.

The first Gaslight with Anton Walbrook is grebt.

Wow, I had no idea about Gaslight. Yeah, I had the same reaction with His Girl Friday, tbh I didn't even know it had the extra movie when I bought it. I went to watch HGF again like 2 years ago and was like "what's this extra disc...? ...oh..... wtf?!!"

It Happened One Night has a feature length Capra silent (haven't watched yet), and the Stagecoach release has one of the best Ford silents I've seen, Bucking Broadway.

Killer's Kiss included with The Killing...The Report included with Certified Copy...yeah...

I'd imagine with Criterion that it has to do with them gatekeeping what gets the official "prestige" of being included in the Collection, which kinda makes since for stuff like De Palma's Murder A La Mod (bonus for Blow Out) or the 30s version of Magnificent Obsession on the Sirk disc, but is pretty baffling choice when it comes to Permanent Vacation.

Killer's Kiss included with The Killing...The Report included with Certified Copy...yeah...

― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Wednesday, February 24, 2021 1:24 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

YO

I'VE HAD THE REPORT THIS WHOLE TIME.....?

xxp Yeah that does make sense, it just feels like they should advertise them more, I mean I had NO idea Certified Copy came with The Report-- and I've had that disc for years!

But, then again, I don't read stickers!

My birthday present to you!

I love you

The studio killed the original UK Gaslight in various ways such as renaming it so as not to compete with the US remake, iirc..

Okay, MGM destroyed the negative at the time, and one or both versions were variously known as Angel Street and The Murder in Thornton Square.

Bonus films are indeed an awesome feature, though tbh I'm not sure I'll ever get around to the earlier version of Holiday

I haven't looked at the Warner Archive site in years, but I remember being wary because the DVDs (and maybe the blu-rays?) were sometimes DVD-Rs/MOD. The fact that a even some factory-pressed Warner titles from about fifteen years ago became unplayable over time helped sour me on buying Warner releases. But I also just rarely watch physical discs any more, unfortunately.

xxp Another bonus feature IIRC is The Traveler on Criterion's Close-Up.

I still crave someone to release His Father's Call Girl.

From Deaf Crocodile I just want a Cat City repress, which they said was in the works so

most of the easy cult classics are already done, we're well into the weeds now

which is fine by me. let's dig thru the weeds, baby!

Did you see that giant Umbrella "Freaked" set that just came out? And that one is nowhere near the bottom of the obscure/cult barrel. Or the fact that Shout were only just recently able to get around to cleaning up and releasing those iconic John Woo films, or Arrow the Leone Dollars Trilogy last year. I think we're nowhere near the weeds, though I suspect some imprints (and collectors) start in the weeds and work their way out!

I still crave someone to release His Father's Call Girl.

Wait, what? I remember reading about that playing as part of a sex films retro at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts years ago when Joel Shepard was the programmer. Never heard it mentioned in any other context though. I have been going through the film ads for old hippie newspapers like the Berkeley Bard and LA Free Press and there's so many softcore films that have no other mention, not an IMDB entry or AFI listing.

I saw it when Jack Stevenson brought it over to the UK about 20 years ago (maybe 25 now) as part of a Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll three night showcase at the art cinema I worked at.

Four things are burned into my brain: the couple having vicarious sex with porno mags in front of their genitals, the old guy saying he only has enough money for an ugly hooker, the filthiness of the soles of their feet (I had the same visceral reaction at the Steckler naxi brothel porno in the box set) and the weird slow dissolve into the two bar fire which was almost Lynchian.

There's barely any reference to it anywhere online. I've even thought about reaching out to Stevenson in Copenhagen to see if he still has it and will screen it for me.

It really is my grail picture.

It feels like Deaf Crocodile and Radiance are the two real must own labels right now, which is handy, one for each region.

Arrow def the way to go for Shaw releases - frustratingly rumor has it that though they have guaranteed new subs, part of the deal with Shout was for them not to point to that too enthusiastically, so don't be surprised if it's not listed on the cover.

Post Noirvember recommendation: as someone who has complained about the Indicator Noir boxes, which feature many films which are not noir in any way and also many films that are crap, the volume collecting the Whistler film series is really good stuff! No real masterpieces in there, but just rock solid entertaining one hour films, perfect alternative if you're sick of watching prestige dramas where like one thing happens per episode. Richard Dix is in all of them bar the last, a huge star in the 30's fallen on relatively hard times, and his bulky, melancholic presence adds a lot to these films.

will second the praise for that Whistler set, my brother got it for me for xmas last year and I really enjoyed it
neat compact stories that are sometimes like proto Twilight Zone episodes, each one is about an hour long with just the right amount of pulpy noir

Just grabbed the Deathdream/Dead of Night 4K/BR combo from Amazon for $15 - it's listed as $20 but there's a clippable $5 coupon that doesn't clear until checkout time

The aforementioned Richard Dix gets a few mentions over on Val Lewton (& Jacques Tourneur) because of his performance as the captain in The Ghost Ship.

Which seems to be the last non-Whistler picture he ever made.

Don’t recall his mention in Blazing Saddles but it's been a while.

oh man, i love deathdream. heavy movie. (xposts)

In The Future, Every Boutique Label Will Get A Shot At Cutter's Way: https://www.radiancefilms.co.uk/products/cutters-way-uhd

4K Debut in UK & USA

saw it on 35 last month, and delightfully it was a Bone print

I'm sure other imprints do this, but here's Severin's take on the Criterion Closet, with Joe Dante:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAfr0_1XV5Y

Kino Lorber winter sale until Jan 2: https://kinolorber.com/collection/winter-wonderland-sale-2025/

News of an upcoming Vinegar Syndrome 4K of Tank Girl has leaked. I wonder if their detectives have uncovered the preview cut or deleted material from it in MGM's vault?

Tank Girl 4K with lots of new featurettes, but no deleted material other than a previously released alternate ending: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/tank-girl

Today's announcements also include a 4K of Argento's Phantom of The Opera and a Hong Kong crime Blu box.

Film Movement Classics has The Great Silence on 4K: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/the-great-silence-1?_pos=1&_psq=the+great+sile&_ss=e&_v=1.0

...and it's sold out! (The LE edition: no doubt other variants to come)

The limited is sold out, but there's still a (shrinking) countdown ... down to 40 or so. Don't know what that means.

Means just that -- the printed run is about gone. (Down to 24.) They've occasionally done second runs like when Hundreds of Beavers sold out like crazy, but it's rare. If you think you want it, you'd better order now.

If this helps -- there's the LE, but there's also a separate standard edition, same contents, different cover. Down to 8 of the latter. (I bit the bullet and got it.)

Me, too, lots of supplements. But is the standard also limited?

oh, missed your previous reply!

crossing my fingers that Eureka or whoever pick it up for release in the UK

Hundreds Of Beavers is on Cartuna, not Film Movement. NB that the description says that the limited slipcase will also be available through indie retailers, so presumably some stock is reserved.

what the heck, why did they press so few copies of one of the most popular non leone spaghetti westerns??

xpost The 'they' in my statement referred to the general OCN distribution network, of which both Cartuna and Film Movement are currently part.

Decisions about what products a publisher will reprint are typically made by the publisher, according to their own priorities and cashflow, not unilaterally imposed by a distributor upon clients who have contracted them.

why did they press so few copies of one of the most popular non leone spaghetti westerns??

There doesn’t seem to be any indication at all of how many copies were pressed? But FM still having stock of the blu-ray, seven years after release, will likely have guided their estimates of upfront sell-through and long tail requirements.

Limited slipcover edition was allegedly 2000 copies. Dunno what the other one numbered. I assume more?

ah, got mixed up and thought there were only 2k copies total. makes sense and thanks both!

In today's VS news, they're launching a new imprint called Iconoscope, which will specialize in TV releases; with that announcement they've also launching a nearly 40-title deal with Warner Bros.

The Debut Release: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/dont-be-afraid-of-the-dark

The Great Silence in 4K is awesome news. I will also wait for a standard edition, probably.
The daily deals they do during Subscriber Week can often net some really decent deals, or at least, fun blind buys at ~$15. I usually buy more during these events than BF now.

I like the idea of Iconoscope, but launching with a $43 title that got a well regarded release by Warner Archives which can still be bought for $12 is certainly a choice

But but but...4K! SLIPCASE!

and a $59.98 "retail" price!

it's my favourite non Leone western. best music,best vibes,bleak as fuck. but i think im saftisfied with my Eureka blu ray

Vinegar Syndrome is doing a 4K/Blu-Ray of The Gambler.

Man, slow down a little, boutique labels. Some of us have to eat.

It'd be funny if their WB deal is <just> for TV titles for Iconoscope.

"Not only will this bring plenty more made-for-TV classics and rarities to Blu-ray and 4K UHD, but get ready for an incredible assortment of horror, thrillers, action, arthouse, and other oddities from the Warner vaults, including numerous 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and even disc debuts."

Hm, intriguing, this.

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-veil

that set looks fun for $35 but not sure the extra $8 is worth it for a slip

Man, Vinegar Syndrome ... the way these nerds exploit fomo is pretty obnoxious. I was interested in the "At Close Range" 4K. The limited slip is $39.99, the standard is $29.99. Both prices are steep, so I put the latter in my cart as a reminder, figuring there was no hurry; according the site, there are over 2000 copies of the "limited," and around 1900 of the standard. And yet, I get an email from the label today insisting that "the items in your cart are going fast!" Um, no they're not.

yeah, i hate it. and i'm a slipcover fan, too

i also dislike 1. very limited, low quantity runs on some of the sublines, like VSA and 2. "hmm maybe we'll do a standard edition, but probably not!" ...

does anybody know why vinegar syndrome's logo has an extra r?

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop/files/VS_vinergar_top_logo_600x.png?v=1767715628

they added the extra R to a new tshirt design the other day by mistake, people were joking about it so this might be them playing along with the joke

In the future, every boutique label will get a shot at Married To The Mob

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/married-to-the-mob

Worldwide 4K Debut.