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.

That's a shame. Hopefully they exist for Satanico Pandemonium.

Yes I know, I was using the imprint as shorthand for the format

There’s still the boilerplate “over 2000” available of the 5000-copy run, so it definitely sounded like you’d gotten them confused — was just trying to make it clear you hadn’t missed out!

No worries, I'm not exactly a Scorcese sceptic but I wasn't rushing to buy this and it hasn't made my 'cheap future buy' list.

Have jumped on Bad Luck Banging in part at least on your rec.

So I picked this beauty up as soon as it was released late last month. First time Titticut Follies has been on BD (possibly the same for all of them). Haven't watched High School or Hospital yet, but the others are incredible. Region B.
https://diabolikdvd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/71KbyL1ifSL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

Dammit.
https://diabolikdvd.com/product/cinema-expanded-the-films-of-frederick-wiseman-uk-bfi-blu-ray-region-b-preorder/

^I saw a post over on the Criterion/Boutique forum where someone mentioned hearing direct from a producer at BFI that if folks want to see another Wiseman set from them, they really need to show up for this one now as it has been moving slow out of the gate, sales-wise.

Looks like Orbit still has it in stock:

https://www.orbitdvd.com/products/pre-order-cinema-expanded-the-films-of-frederick-wiseman-region-b

Radiance US 50% off sale at B&N (through 3/9): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/50-off-radiance-films/_/N-31ly?Nrpp=20&page=1

I posted on the spaghetti western thread that The Great Silence is currently back in stock, but not many copies left ...

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/the-great-silence-1

Related, do any of you have those Arrow spaghetti western sets? Savage Guns, Vengeance Trails, etc? My understanding is that the films are generally from the B-list at best, but a couple of them are OK, it's nice to have the Fulci westerns, and there are some good supplements. Are they indeed worthwhile?

VinSin Selected Titles Sale through Monday: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/love-massacre-sale-all-discounts

I've got the Sartana box - more fast paced than usual with lots of action scenes, even with the high body counts they get a bit less serious as they go on, Klaus Kinski turns up at some point too. also have the Ringo duology, second one Return of Ringo is v good with a great Morricone soundtrack.

But you haven't seen those other 4-movie sets?

I've got Vengeance Trails for sure, Blood Money I think, and maybe one of the others. I definitely remember discussing them in a thread, will try to find it.

They're worth sale prices for sure.

Vengeance Trails has My Name Is Pecos (super generic), And God Said To Cain (weird western-giallo hybrid that a lot of people love; I found it dramatically inert), Fulci's Massacre Time which I remember being a good gritty time and, the winner of the set, Bandidos, which has an insane tracking shot of the consequences of a massacre on a train. It's directed by the cinematographer of Leone's first two westerns and it really shows.

Savage Guns has I Want Him Dead and El Puro, which are just ok, and Wrath Of The Wind, which is not actually a western at all but if you want to see Terence Hill in a stodgy political drama there you go...but it also has Four Of The Apocalypse, probably the best of any of the films in any of these sets, just a crazy trip with tons of insane tonal shifts.

The movies on Blood Money are iirc mostly all just solid programmers, except for Matalo, which is a crazy acid western.

Extrasiwse these focus on digging up whoever's still left alive from these productions, which can make interest limited if you're not super into the era because sometimes it'll be a very minor actor, assistant director, etc. Personally I loved that aspect of it, seeing how these movies were made by all these ordinary people with their own lives. I remember one guy just gets out a stringed instrument and starts playing.

Savage Guns and Blood Money also have extensive appreciations of soundtrack composers; you're not likely to find more exhaustive features on, say, Augusto Martelli or Franco Bixio anywhere else.

Having looked back I think it must have been this thread I was thinking of where there is discussion on some of the films here but I don't seem to say very much.

Spaghetti westerns, beyond Leone - my 20 faves

What I'd really love is some compilation of the insaner Eurospy boom/Bond knockoffs of the 60s, even just an initial sampler. I've got the OSS film from the time thanks to a Kino Lorber set and have some familiarity with other titles but I know there's a lot of craziness out there.

Eureka's set of the Jean Marais Fantomas films is great.

Man, the 10-year old version of me is tempted by the upcoming Arrow restoration of "Blue Thunder," but I have a vague recollection that most of that movie was dull as dirt, aside from helicopter battles, which, yeah, is putting a thumb on the scale.

yeah, that's about right. the last act was fun at least

Cindy Sherman directed a slasher?!?? wasn't expecting to find that out today

yeah, pretty fun movie! not sure if i need to own it tho

^^^ Vinegar Syndrome summed up in 13 words...

Add three: "With A SLIPCASE!"

Such truth

Cindy Sherman + Carol Kane is worth some money, but fuck me... $47?!?

Wildwood, NJ is $26.50 though... sold!

With a regional Amazon coupon here that second Severin folk horror box is something like $116. 13 discs, 24 movies, 55 hours of special features, plus a 250-page hardcover book? That's a pretty good deal.

Thanks for convincing me on Bad Luck Banging, I really liked it a lot. Made me nostalgic for Bucharest and may have to go back.

Solvent was nearly good but... it was just off somehow.

Currently watching the new Severin Milligan box.

Near Dark to be reissued in 4K... eventually.

One of horror’s most-desired hi-def disc editions is happening at last as Synapse Films announced today that it is working on a 4K restoration and UHD release of Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 cult classic NEAR DARK. Scripted by Bigelow and Eric Red, it stars Adrian Pasdar as a farm boy forcibly inducted into a roving gang of bloodsuckers played by Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Joshua Miller.

“After many years of being unavailable on the physical media market, we’re proud to finally remedy that situation,” says Synapse president Don May Jr. “Having found the original 35mm camera negative buried in a vault in the California desert, and the original 4-track Ultra Stereo audio mix in a Kansas salt mine, we have secured the best elements for the ultimate 4K restoration of this amazing film.”

The negative was scanned with a Lasergraphics Director™ in 16-bit 4096×3112 DPX featuring dual-flash HDR and infrared dirt mapping, and Synapse is paying equal attention to the audio. “We aren’t doing some PAL-to-NTSC conversion where they forgot to fix the pitch of the voices,” May notes. “We’ll have the sound effects in their proper place, too—unlike a previous version where Lance Henriksen’s gun cocks in the left speaker while he’s standing on the right edge of the screen when he says, ‘I’m Jesse Hooker.’”

For those concerned about “grain management,” May assures, “One of the first things we asked director Kathryn Bigelow was, ‘Do you like film grain? Because if you don’t, there’s going to be a problem.’ She responded, ‘I love film and I love film grain.’ So, yeah, Kathryn Bigelow is pretty awesome.”

As for when fans will be able to get their hands on the UHD, May advises, “I know next year is the 40th anniversary, but my restorations take time to get right. Unlike companies that rush things out and face recalls for avoidable mistakes, I want to do this correctly the first time. I’m guessing we’ll have it out in 2037 for the 50th anniversary.”

Considering an upgrade for this was announced a few years back by another company, I'll believe this when I finally have it in my hands. (Was just looking at my 2 DVD copy the other day.) But this is all promising for sure.

Yeah, I'm not gonna be throwing away my Anchor Bay DVD in advance, thanks.

guys it's April 1st

Yeah, that final press release line reads like an April Fools punchline. If true, good news, I guess, but honestly they have been talking about that one for some time. See also: There Will Be Blood (status unknown beyond rumor), Children of Men (perpetually waiting for the availability/approval of Alfonso Cuarón), Miami Vice (announced years ago and then nothing), Star Wars (restoration reportedly in progress), The Assassination of Jesse James (Criterion reportedly passed), etc.. Fight Club 4K was finally announced, that's another one people have been talking about for years.

Day of the Dead was another one people were pumped for that is finally making an appearance.

This is the picture that accompanied the post on FB:

https://scontent-dfw6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/658067714_1456841832904286_5570366825025688165_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=13d280&_nc_ohc=HuBJMEoRFQUQ7kNvwGh4HXw&_nc_oc=Adq2xRp_HMvStF8efQbvjBTOStfaEXoT0lpX0Lqm6zGTujmHOs7bXvTgoHpgXDQNE5w&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw6-1.xx&_nc_gid=FDC5tvBkaJKM-F1K3GGOsA&_nc_ss=7a3a8&oh=00_Af17qPSfllzItT34PEMhSyKh6cSJ0Q1X_tzUdU9cHIQynw&oe=69D30F3D

I'll admit to being very credulous about the desert vault and salt mine bits though.

The details are pretty perfect! What I'd love to know is if Bigelow had a heads-up.

Ha, I just read the "article," and yeah, it's a total goof. StudioCanal did tease it ... in a 2021 sizzle reel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VpuP_QX3LU

Last I heard supposedly the rights lapsed to the/a producer.

The Mondo Halloween titles finally turned up today. Blu-ray of Mystics In Bali, what a time to be alive.

VS releases interesting mainly for new eurocrime and french cinema boxes, but also a Stanley Long box that's possibly only a novelty but probably an entertaining one.

I also got the April Fool surprise, because I'm an idiot that enjoys being entertained by stupid things.

Lot of interesting Partner Releases though... Crosstalk, House of Dreams, Holy Trinity, Micro Budget, Spine of Night, Slopes Game Room

I've been buying the Exploitation Rarities sets by Umbrella so have a recent version of Crosstalk.

Yeah it's a rich partner release for sure -- as I noted on the separate Svankmajer thread, I went for Faust.

I got House of Dreams and Dracula, may end up with more

got the bleeding skull, as usual. love what they do.

boarding gate and the eurocrime and french thriller sets are the other ones most interesting to me.

The Mondo Halloween titles finally turned up today. Blu-ray of Mystics In Bali, what a time to be alive.

yes!! suzzannaissance is one of the better trends of the modern era imo.

got the bleeding skull, as usual. love what they do.

Yeah that looks fun. That and The Illegal Immigrant are my further 'maybe' choices for the month but I could only get one for now.

yeah, illegal immigrant looks like a good one too. haven’t seen it tho.

as much as i like radu and vamp and want to support dracula, that is not a movie i think i can rewatch very often (tho def worth a single watch at least)

*vamps lol

Thanks for convincing me on Bad Luck Banging, I really liked it a lot

🫡

v frustrating that he had two new movies out last year and neither got EL territories releases