Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[Fred Holywell]

Studio Canal are now selling photographic prints, mugs, jigsaw puzzles and mobile phone covers based on promotional material of the british films they own such as: Peeping Tom, Brighton Rock, Dont Look Now. They also have various Carry On, Ealing and Hammer films amongst the other titles.

No figurines?

[FrauBlucher]

Too bad they're not selling rights.

[EddieLarkin]

StudioCanal have released a four film Bergman box set in Germany, featuring The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring and Smiles of a Summer Night.

The first two are comparable to the Criterions, but Smiles of a Summer Night is from a lovely new transfer, that easily bests Criterions disc.

Only German subs though.

[manicsounds]

Blu-ray.com on the UK "Umbrellas Of Cherbourg"

[rrenault]

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has a 15 rating in the UK? Wow!

[antnield]

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has a 15 rating in the UK? Wow!

The 15 is for Varda's doc L'Univers de Jacques Demy (and its "one scene of strong violence"). The main feature is rated U.

[MichaelB]

...which is down from an A (roughly equivalent to a modern 12A, in that under-sixteens were only admitted if accompanied by an adult) back in 1964, presumably because of the pregnancy subplot.

[FrauBlucher]

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg restoration trailer

[shaky]

Though Dr. Atanasov notes that the compression artifacts on the UK Studio Canal release of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg are very slight and probably not noticeable to most viewers during normal playback, I'm curious if any of you who own this disc were able to spot these imperfections. Just trying to figure out whether to get the UK or the France Arte Video release.

[swo17]

I couldn't say, but don't forget that Criterion is likely releasing it this year as well.

[hearthesilence]

I finally got the Studio Canal Blu-Ray of La Grande Illusion, and I have to say I'm disappointed. It's not terrible, I've seen much, much worse, but there's clearly some grain management going on, and I don't like it. Compared to any exemplary Blu-Ray disc transferred from a similar source of similar vintage (say, the very latest Casablanca BD - not the previous one) and you'll see what I mean. The grain is technically still there, but it doesn't look the way it's supposed to - it's almost like it's more clumped together and softened around the edges, almost smudged. I wish there was a better option because on my 55" HDTV, it bothers me.

[EddieLarkin]

There was some talk about the grain being too fine and hard to notice, but this was explained by the fact it's a 4K scan of the OCN (what element for instance, was used for Casablanca?). I don't recall any clumpy/smudgy grain when I saw it (and do not see any now in the caps), but then that was a couple of years ago.

[peerpee]

I'm with hearthesilence on this one. Grain shouldn't be visible in moving clumps and not in other parts of the frame like it is on this SC Blu.

FWIW, I would say it's definitely been managed, and the grain that is present isn't the sort reminiscent of a natural looking fine grain 4K OCN scan.

[EddieLarkin]

I guess it wouldn't be a surprise when it comes to SC. I'll look closer next time I watch.

[Kris]

StudioCanal degraines older films almost on a regular basis, even when they get perfectly restored material. So they managed to ruin Wild Strawberries in the first of their Bergman Blu-ray-Boxes (B00EQJ1N9S, not English-friendly), which is based on the same Swedish restoration as Criterion's. Especially it sucks in Smiles of a Summer Night, in which case the master is better than Criterion's, but very probably manipulated nontheless.

Screencap comparisons:
Wild Strawberries http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleic ... ultiID=481" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Smiles of a Summer Night http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleic ... ltiID=1477" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Seventh Seal http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleic ... ultiID=179" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So for me that rules out StudioCanal's Bergman movies (they have two more boxes lined up).

[hearthesilence]

I just got That Obscure Object of Desire and it's the same deal as La Grande Illusion, but even more noticeable. Again, the grain is technically there, it hasn't been wiped clean, but it doesn't look anything like real film grain. It's comparably clumped together, kind of mushy instead of defined and also it doesn't "move" right. It's definitely moving, but often times it's almost like it's moving at a different rate from the actual film rate, if that makes sense. The clumps of 'grain' has this effect where it's kind of "phasing" from one arrangement to the next - again, for a really exemplary BD, if I really focus on the film grain, it'll be repositioning rapidly but non-intrusively at pretty much every frame.

[Drucker]

I thought most of the reviews here when Grand Illusion BD came out were good. I don't have the best set-up in the world, but this is definitely something I have not noticed (as opposed to The Trial where I thought Canal's BD was really egregious).

Is the consensus on Quai Des Brumes still positive? Or is anyone seeing this stuff there as well? Just wondering.

[MichaelB]

I thought most of the reviews here when Grand Illusion BD came out were good.

Svet gave it a perfect score for video.

[Drucker]

But he did for La Grande Illusion as well.

Money quote:

Film grain is also very well resolved and evenly distributed throughout the entire film. Additionally, it is clear that after the restoration overzealos sharpening corrections have not been performed.

[javi82]

For Obscure, Beaver stated "It has a tendency to dull and waxy but never excessive enough to point fingers."

[hearthesilence]

FWIW, the grain management may be most noticeable around the reel changes. Maybe there's more wear in those areas and restoring those spots involved heavier handling all around?

[shaky]

Just to make sure, this upcoming Studio Canal Ealing blu-ray boxset containing KIND HEARTS, THE LAVENDER HILL MOB, THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, is simply a collection of the already released Optimum discs, correct?

[RossyG]

Yes.

[L.A.]

DVDBeaver reviews the BD of Dead of Night (1945).

[manicsounds]

Hobson's Choice BD review by Blu-ray.com

Great film, great transfer and audio scores, but a bit light on extras compared to the Criterion. (They are new though, not on the older UK DVD)