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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
Location: UK

#51 Post by foggy eyes » Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:07 am

A nice little French Classics range coming soon.

Pleased about this:
H.G. Clouzot Box Set - This set features Le Corbeau, Quai des Orfevres and The Wages of Fear. All titles are re-mastered on this set which will retail at £24.99.
Very affordable!

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Gordon
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:03 am

#52 Post by Gordon » Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:53 pm

Yes, a nice price, even before discount. However, the Clouzot that needs a new transfer the most, is of course, Les Diaboliques (owned by C'est La Vie in the UK whose transfer is only adequate). Optimum's previous transfer of Wages of Fear was ATROCIOUS.

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meanwhile
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 6:22 am

#53 Post by meanwhile » Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:46 pm

Will anyone be surprised to learn that, because of 'an unforeseen rights issue', Napoléon has now been pulled?

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filmyfan
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:50 am

#54 Post by filmyfan » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:32 am

Here's the latest on the Godard box set from optimum..

sounds promising...although a strange mix of titles..

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Don Lope de Aguirre
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm
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#55 Post by Don Lope de Aguirre » Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:38 am

although a strange mix of titles..
I would add that the extras don't quite match as well... :-k

EDIT
I am referring to 'Passion'...
Last edited by Don Lope de Aguirre on Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
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#56 Post by Ovader » Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:23 pm

I received an e-mail from Optimum stating that Volume 1 (June) will have ALPHAVILLE, PASSION, A BOUT DE SOUFFLE, MADE IN THE USA and a BONUS DISC. Volume 2 (July) will have PIERROT LE FOU, UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME, LA CHINOISE, LE PETIT SOLDAT and DETECTIVE.

More details for Volume 1

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ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
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#57 Post by ellipsis7 » Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:42 am

The Optimum Renoir box (using their Grand Illusion artwork again)...

Image

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Gropius
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:47 pm

#58 Post by Gropius » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:37 pm

Are those later Renoir films worth watching? The critical consensus seems to be a thumbs-down on his post-River stuff.

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ellipsis7
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#59 Post by ellipsis7 » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:29 am

IMHO very much, yes... Critical opinion is not so consistent in a negative judgment on this last phase of Renoir's filmmaking career, in fact it is very much at variance... For instance at the Renoir Renoir exhibition at the Cinematheque Francais the nude bathing scene from DEJEUNER SUR l'HERBE was productively juxtaposed with Renoir Senior's paintings of nude bathers, showing JR moving back towards his father's work, which he struggled so long to separate himself from... Certainly this film and DOCTEUR CORDELIER contrast the flaws of manmade modernist technology and science with the vagaries and wonders of age old nature, favouring the latter... These films any way add the final pieces, without which the jigsaw of understanding JR's films is not complete...

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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
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#60 Post by foggy eyes » Sat May 05, 2007 10:09 pm

DVD Times review of The Host. Although the transfer looked fine to my eyes, the review highlights a couple of deficiencies that will probably be worth considering before picking up a copy.

evillights
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#61 Post by evillights » Tue May 08, 2007 11:47 am

Gropius wrote:Are those later Renoir films worth watching? The critical consensus seems to be a thumbs-down on his post-River stuff.
Not true -- or at least not necessarily true; Renoir was and remains decades ahead of "critical consensus." Although not included in this set, 'The Golden Coach' is, in my opinion, staggeringly profound, one of the greatest films ever made, -- and 'French Cancan' too. 'Eléna et les hommes,' which is in the set, was one of -the- touchstone films for Godard and Truffaut while writing at Cahiers in the mid- and late-'50s. Tag Gallagher has said several times that he would place 'French Cancan' in his top-3 greatest films. And 'Golden Coach,' besides inspiring Truffaut's beautiful comment likening it to a glove turned inside-out being finger-by-finger returned right-side-out, and the name of his production company (Les Films du Carrosse - Films of the Coach), is also the film responsible for one of the two most infamous "movie watching" sessions in cinephile lore: Rivette's going to the theater to see it on opening day, and not leaving until, at midnight, he had seen it six times in a row.

craig.

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Gropius
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:47 pm

#62 Post by Gropius » Tue May 08, 2007 3:52 pm

That's good to hear, although I note that The Golden Coach is not included in this set. I have no particular respect for critical consensus by the way. I suppose the later Renoir has just fallen off the dominant radar then.

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MichaelB
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#63 Post by MichaelB » Tue May 08, 2007 6:01 pm

Gropius wrote:I suppose the later Renoir has just fallen off the dominant radar then.
Relative lack of availability hasn't helped - late 1930s and early 1950s Renoir is disproportionately accessible compared with the rest of his output.

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Cinetwist
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:00 am
Location: England

#64 Post by Cinetwist » Wed May 09, 2007 1:23 pm

And Henri Langlois at one point said his favourite film was Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe. A strange choice from a strange man, but more praise for late Renoir and divergence from modern critical opinion.

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filmyfan
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:50 am

#65 Post by filmyfan » Tue May 15, 2007 3:49 am

More on the Godard set from Optimum here...

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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
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#66 Post by foggy eyes » Tue May 15, 2007 3:52 am

Announcement on DVD Times concerning Optimum's Jean-Luc Godard Collection Volume One:
A Bout De Souffle (1959)
Stylish and sexy, Breathless [A Bout De Souffle] is the epitome of cinematic cool. A fast tale of a young man on the run in Paris at the end of the 50's, Breathless shook up the film world upon its release and has made a lasting impression on cinema history. Starring Jean Paul Belmondo, the film was produced by Godard from an original treatment by François Truffaut in a production that united the four initiators of the ‘nouvelle Vague' - Claude Chabrol acted as artistic director while acclaimed director Jean Pierre Melville appeared in front of camera.

Features include:
1.33:1
French Mono with English subtitles
Chambre 12, Hotel de Suede about the genesis of A Bout de Souffle (80 mins)
Trailer
Posters
Stills
Introduction by Colin MacCabe, author of the book Godard: A Portrait of the Artist at Seventy

Alphaville (1965)
Written and directed by Godard, Alphaville is the strangely beautiful futuristic tale of Lemmy Caution, an American private eye sent to a planet ruled by Von Braun, a malevolent scientist who has outlawed human emotions in favour of logic. The film deals with the fight between indivualism in face of inhumanity and blind conformity, and won the Golden Bear award of the Berlin Film Festival in 1965.

Features include:
1.33:1
French Mono with English subtitles
Trailer
Posters
Introduction by Colin MacCabe
Alphaville, Peripheria, documentary on the film (29 mins)

Made in the USA (1966)
A Classic New Wave crime thriller, Made in USA is inspired by the American Noir thrillers of previous decades but, as ever, Godard colours the old traditions with his own distinctive style. Anna Karina stars as the questing anti-hero searching the murderer of her lover, and the film features a cameo by Marianne Faithful.

Features include:
1.33:1
French Mono with English subtitles
Introduction by Colin MacCabe
Anna Karina interview
Trailer
Poster
Les Cahiers du Cinema

Passion (1982)
Godard's 1982 film Passion is a fascinating musing on the nature of life love and art, in a world seen through the eyes of disoriented Polish film director Jerzy and his partner Laszlo. Staying at the hotel where he is filming, Jerzy becomes involved with the hotel owner Hanna and Factory worker Isabelle and reality and art mingle as he searches for the story he wishes to tell. To the displeasure of his financial backers, Jerzy has no script to speak of, and hopes instead to live the narrative as he films it. A UK DVD premiere.

Features include:
1.33:1
French Mono with English subtitles
Posters
Stills Gallery
Press Kit
Introduction by Colin MacCabe

Bonus Disc includes:

The Dinosaur & The Baby, classic interview between Fritz Lang and Jean-Luc Godard (60 min)

Jean-Luc As Seen By Luc, Short film by Godard's long time friend and director Luc Moullet (8 min)

Godard, Love, Poetry, Exploring how Godard's relationship with Anna Karina has fed Godard‘s cinema (52 min)
Confirmation of details for Jean Renoir: The Collection too:
With all titles digitally restored, this box-set also marks the UK DVD premiere of all titles apart from La Grande Illusion and La Bête Humaine.

The titles are presented in a mixture of 4:3 and 1.66:1 with mono audio and English subtitles. Extras across the set include:
â€

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
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#67 Post by Narshty » Tue May 15, 2007 4:38 am

Wow - I presume there'll be a Renoir Volume Two. Optimum still own Le Crime de Monsieur Lange and Boudu Saved from Drowning which haven't turned up in this set.

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filmyfan
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:50 am

#68 Post by filmyfan » Tue May 15, 2007 8:20 am

I may have beat you foggy eyes but yours is better ! :D

It's a shame that the Lang extra was on the Criterion R1 Contempt and by the sounds of it Made in USA is in the wrong ratio-although that could easily be a mistake on the press release (he says hoping !) !

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#69 Post by domino harvey » Tue May 15, 2007 9:47 am

Made in USA is 2.35, there's not even a way to crop it down to full frame, is almost 100% surely a mistake.

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Awesome Welles
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
Location: London

#70 Post by Awesome Welles » Thu May 17, 2007 6:37 am

Did anyone else miss this , I had no idea they were releasing this, I hope it drops in price soon, there has been so much released lately I am so poor! Not the best extras in the world so I won't be surprised if it does drop.

Are there any reviews up?

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Lino
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#71 Post by Lino » Mon May 28, 2007 9:09 am

Lots of goodies coming our way! From Zeta Minor:
The line-up for the Screen Icons - Dirk Bogarde set has finally been announced: it will contain The Blue Lamp, The Sleeping Tiger, The Servant, Accident, Victim, The Spanish Gardener and Hunted.

Optimum will release David Lynch's Inland Empire as a two-disc set on August the 20th. Bonus features will include (TBC) David Lynch Masterclass; David Lynch interview at the Cartier Foundation; Guardian / NFT interview with David Lynch and Mark Kermode; Film 2007 Interview with David Lynch; and an interview with sound mixer Dean Hurley.

Optimum's schedule:

9th July - Visconti's Senso; Antonioni's L'Eclisse; The Conquest of Everest; Gerad Depardieu in Buffet Froid, Helas Pour Moi and Camille Claudel; The Harold Lloyd Collection

23rd July - Silent Tongue; The Jean-Luc Godard Collection - Volume 2 (Pierrot Le Fou, Une Femme Est Une Femme, La Chinoise, Le Petit Soldat and Detective); Screen Icons - James Mason; Screen Icons - Dirk Bogarde; The Minus Man

6th August - Unknown; The Caiman; Aprile; Jacques Becker's Casque D'Or, Le Trou and Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

20th August - Inland Empire; Western Classics Deadly Companions (Peckinpah), Canyon Passage (Tourneur), Seminole (Boetticher) and The True Story of Jesse James (Ray); The All Blacks rugby documentary

3rd September - This Is England; Sam Fuller's House of Bamboo, Fixed Bayonets and Hell and High Water

19th September - Patrice Leconte's My Best Friend; French Classics Les Bronzes and Romuald et Juliette; a Brotherhood of the Wolf Special Edition; Comic Icons - Alastair Sim; Comic Icons - Will Hay;

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MichaelB
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#72 Post by MichaelB » Mon May 28, 2007 9:16 am

Lino wrote:Comic Icons - Alastair Sim
Let's hope this has some real rarities, as opposed to repackagings of Hue and Cry or the first two St Trinian's films.

One of the most pleasurable research jobs I've ever had involved watching as much of Sim's back catalogue as I could get my hands on for this Sight & Sound eulogy, and most of the titles I mention still aren't available - not even total classics like The Happiest Days of Your Life.

If that isn't in the package at the very least, Optimum have dropped the ball badly - not least because they definitely own the rights.

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Lino
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#73 Post by Lino » Mon May 28, 2007 9:22 am

From here:
Contains: The Green Man, Folly To Be Wise, Geordie, Left, Right and Centre and Laughter in Paradise

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ellipsis7
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#74 Post by ellipsis7 » Mon May 28, 2007 9:23 am

The big news is surely the late announced edition of Visconti's SENSO...

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MichaelB
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#75 Post by MichaelB » Mon May 28, 2007 9:28 am

Lino wrote:Contains: The Green Man, Folly To Be Wise, Geordie, Left, Right and Centre and Laughter in Paradise
Hmm. Not too bad, but I'd personally have swapped The Happiest Days of Your Life for the already-available The Green Man.

Still, I shouldn't complain too much, as this is a definite step in the right direction.

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