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.

$47, ($70 retail!) is fucking insane for Mac & Me, i mean jesus
as usual maybe i'll dip on some of the $15-ish deals

if you're patient Mac and Me should drop to around $32 after a while

Lately when I feel like overpaying for weird blu-rays, I find I'm getting more bang for my buck with Deaf Crocodile

Oh I went in on them completely a while back, to the point where I splurged on the full year subscription year they just wrapped up, and have done so again for the new half-year thing they've got (the full year was after they left VS for Diabolik; the new setup will be done by them themselves). Happy to be their completist -- also being a subscriber landed me on their Discord, a good bunch over there on first blush.

Genuinely surprised they didn't try to include a montage of all of Paul Rudd's appearances on Conan O'Brien as a bonus feature.

where did they announce they didn’t?

i ordered things from all 3 of the recent uk sales - rarewaves, radiant, eureka - and the last two have arrived but rarewaves have been silent, since 20th june (although they have taken the money)

I just got most of my rarewaves order yesterday, but 2 haven't shipped & are showing as sold out so I assume I'm never getting them & will have to chase up for a refund.

ironically, both of mine i could've bought in the Radiance sale for not much more (although their postage charges seemed high)

the radiance obi strip thing seems odd. with them they obscure the title, without them the covers are a little too bare, no dates or timings or anything. (but, yeah, reversible sleeves). and annoyingly the Bounty Hunter commentary kept refering to the LE-only booklet.

I love the minimalism of the non-obi Radiance designs for the most part, e.g. The Shape Of Night one is gorgeous

where did they announce they didn’t?

It's not listed with the rest of the bonus features, at least. Hey, they want to make it a total easter egg, they can.

how much would it cost to license a supercut of all those Conan appearances?

Fun City Editions shared on FB today that preorders will soon be up for their 4K of ...The Fabulous Stains, and they also shared some images teasing that they'll be putting out Goodbye, Columbus soon in a new restoration from the O.C.N.

Arrow US Sale through 7-30: https://www.arrowvideo.com/campaigns/camp-arrow.list

In today's Vinegar Syndrome deals, they've got the standard edition of Phase IV for $19.99 and the standard version of Material Issue doc for $13.99

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/summer-subscriber-week-discounted-items-5x-vsmc-points

last day today for the Radiance sale (which prompted me to buy more stuff)

They've been flagging the Comedia Italia box has just 4 copies left, so anyone even vaguely curious should jump on it because it's great

Dennis and Amy are leaving Milestone with a bang: Queen Kelly to premiere August 26 at the 82nd Venice Film Festival

Also, in the event anyone besides me cares about silent film, they've been working on The Humming Bird (1924, also starring Gloria Swanson).

chased up the second half of my Rarewaves order after >3 weeks and got a response saying they'd be happy to send me 'a replacement' for it. which is an odd way of describing something you never sent the first time. not impressed. i've had two Radiance orders in the meantime.

they are now claiming that they had previously sent it but there was also an email problem which meant i didn't get the 'order is sent' email as well as not getting the dvd... what are the chances?

it's a pity because it's payday and i could order another 4 things from their 2-for-£16 list but i don't trust them now...

B&N are doing 40% off Shout Selects: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/40-off-shout-selects/_/N-31p1

Warner Archive August Release Announcements are coming in with Ford's Seven Women on Blu and a Get Carter (original) 4K so far.

crazy few days in forums re: the Shout/Golden Princess releases & the quality of the translations.
to roughly sum up: Shout have people working on translations of some of the bigger films who don't even understand Cantonese and are essentially turning in fansubs based on Chinese scripts using online translators & dictionaries. oh and some of them are doing it for free?!? just gobsmacked that Shout would pay all that money for the films and then cheap out so stupidly on the subs.

Well THAT ain't good. So it sounds like the UK release equivalents should be better?

Depends on whether they port over the subs! That will be something to watch out for.

Hot tip: there was a giant (6-disc?) 40th anniversary Lionsgate "Apocalypse Now" set of all three cuts in 4k (and blu-ray) that iirc was released a couple of years ago but quickly sold out and is currently out of print and going for inflated prices on the secondary. However! There is a German division of StudioCanal, Arthaus, that released a similar set that's significantly cheaper (like $30), has I believe the same comprehensive special features (incl. the original theatrical cut in 4k and the original sound mix and the "Hearts of Darkness" doc) and, even better, is region free, despite being packaged as Region B. I tested it on my PS5 yesterday and it plays fine.

Holy shit, Vinegar Syndrome is releasing The Woman Chaser! This movie is insane. I saw it on VHS a million years ago and pre-ordered the instant I saw the listing.

I hadn't gone for it but what the fuck, might as well add it while I've got free shipping.

Ms. 45 from Arrow in UHD 4K or Blu Ray

looks great, but man, if theres one commentary track that i want, its an abel commentary track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQRzH9BAzks

New Oshima box set just announced by Radiance looks awful tempting:

https://www.radiancefilms.co.uk/products/radical-japan-cinema-and-state-le

Talking of Radiance, saw that their Big Time Gambling Boss is currently on Amazon Prime - got to love a samurai movie with 1930s automobiles!

yeh that Oshima set is bigger than I expected, region free too. also part of an ongoing series called Radical Japan, wonder who else they're going to put out sets by?

the one oshima i have (Night and Fog in Japan) was part of a series from Yume Pictures who also did a Suzuki series (Fighting Elegy) which would fit (and Madadayo which wouldn't)

Night and Fog and Fighting Elegy are both in my rewatch pile, which is usually because i didn't enjoy them the first time around.

(my replacement Oiwa Ghost br turned up yesterday btw, plain sleeve, no explanation included, slightly different catalogue number on the disk)

yeh that Oshima set is bigger than I expected, region free too. also part of an ongoing series called Radical Japan, wonder who else they're going to put out sets by?

Shōhei Imamura would be a natural fit for something like this

Could we hope for a Terayama box?

there was already an Imamura box out on Eureka

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=17316

is now out of print and goes for stupid money.

> they are now claiming that they had previously sent it but there was also an email problem which meant i didn't get the 'order is sent' email as well as not getting the dvd... what are the chances?

got a duplicate of big time gambling boss in the mail this morning after chasing up my initial order after 3 weeks. turns out they had sent it, it just took a month to arrive, and this one took another month

also part of an ongoing series called Radical Japan, wonder who else they're going to put out sets by?

madao adachi would be cool. could see it fitting in nicely as part of the series (worked with oshima). wakamatsu too.

also, criterion announced a kazuo hara box as part of that eclipse revival. some of those docs are incredible. we eating good lately.

50% off Arrow US sale at B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/_/N-1z13vs7

Nothing caught my eye there, but I am considering the import Arrow Dollars trilogy, or at least Good Bad Ugly.

The nice thing about this sale is they're offering a lot of OOP/OOS stuff that you can't get direct from Arrow at the moment (lots of LEs & such).

What did you see?

gonna grab some stuff I've been wanting from this Arrow sale... Witness, The Loveless, The Stuff, Dead-End Drive In, Pitch Black, and uh... Long Kiss Goodnight 4K

XP, on first glance: The five film Chabrol set (Lies & Deceit) LE; Distant Voices, Still Lives; Kansas City (in stock on DVD!); Ludwig; The Shootist LE...

Some of these might be coming back, some might not.

The kids are coming up from behind
With their MUBI tote bags
And borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered video store era

But have you seen my boutique blu ray collection?

Two Jodorowsky movies, Tusk and The Rainbow Thief, are being released this week as a set on region free Blu-Ray.

Apparently Second Sight has suspended shipments to the US, I wonder how tariffs will affect some of the other boutique imprints/stores.

Oh believe me. (This is why I was happy to have paid for Deaf Crocodile's second half of 2025 program in advance; however, that was them planning for tariffs alone rather than the extra folderol. We'll see.)

they're shipping from the US though, no? I guess they're all manufactured in Mexico now though

https://i.redd.it/w80m5ushudlf1.jpeg

Also discussion here, starting around the 4:40 mark:

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