Me too, and the snowy scenes late in the movie just kill me. Hou perfectly captures the tranquility that comes with a thick blanket of snow. Absolutely beautiful.jon wrote:The opening of Millenium Mambo is one of my favorite moments in recent cinema.
Hou Hsiao-hsien
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- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:03 am
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I got an email from Suzanne at Trigon who says the Goodbye South, Goodbye disc does NOT have English subs. Sad.foggy eyes wrote:Without the budget for a blind-buy, I'd also like to find out whether this does actually have English subs (and is a port of the MK2). If anybody comes across it, please let us know!
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:20 pm
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- Contact:
A Senses of cinema piece on Time to Live, time to die (featuring yours truly as a guest star of sorts)
- otis
- Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:43 am
Cheerful Staging: Hou’s Early Films - David Bordwell on HHH's staging for the long lens (a supplement to the chapter on Hou in Figures Traced in Light)
Last edited by otis on Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- jsteffe
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
- Location: Atlanta, GA
A heads-up on Trigon's DVD of THE PUPPETMASTER. Not only is it *not* English subtitled, it's also presented improperly, like every #%@! release so far, as 1.33:1.
I'm glad I bought the UK PAL VHS from Electric pictures a while back, because it's the only letterboxed version I've ever come across. It doesn't look bad for VHS, either.
I'm glad I bought the UK PAL VHS from Electric pictures a while back, because it's the only letterboxed version I've ever come across. It doesn't look bad for VHS, either.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Thanks for the additions.
When searching the forum, I was surprised not to find more Hou threads or discussions. I suspect that a lot of the commentary I remember reading must be buried in other (non-Hou) threads, so if you stumble across something worth linking, let me know. Or if you've posted something to the point elsewhere on the forum, consider copying it to this thread.
When searching the forum, I was surprised not to find more Hou threads or discussions. I suspect that a lot of the commentary I remember reading must be buried in other (non-Hou) threads, so if you stumble across something worth linking, let me know. Or if you've posted something to the point elsewhere on the forum, consider copying it to this thread.
- denti alligator
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
- Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"
Fuck! Any chance you'd transfer that VHS to DVD?jsteffe wrote:A heads-up on Trigon's DVD of THE PUPPETMASTER. Not only is it *not* English subtitled, it's also presented improperly, like every #%@! release so far, as 1.33:1.
I'm glad I bought the UK PAL VHS from Electric pictures a while back, because it's the only letterboxed version I've ever come across. It doesn't look bad for VHS, either.
Is the Trigon release at least clean and transferred halfway well?
EDIT: was it by chance shot open-matte, so that one could zoom in with a 16x9 display to replicate the proper AR?
- sidehacker
- Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:49 am
- Location: Bowling Green, Ohio
- Contact:
Reverse shot introduction: Who's Afraid of Hou Hsiao-Hsien?
There's new reviews for all of Hou's films as well.
There's new reviews for all of Hou's films as well.
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Looks like there's a new 8-film Hou set being released January 1st. I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about this yet...
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Oooh, I believe like half of those are currently unavailable in R1-friendly versions. But where the hell is City of Sadness?
- denti alligator
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Wow! I wonder if the version of Puppetmaster included will be widescreen, and whether the early films will be anamorphic or at least with zoom-in friendly subs. We need reviews of this. Now.forweg wrote:Looks like there's a new 8-film Hou set being released January 1st. I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about this yet...
EDIT: the specs at that site have "letterboxed" for the early films and "full screen" for Puppetmaster, so I'm not getting my hopes up.
- Oedipax
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
- Location: Atlanta
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Also it's 8 movies on 4 discs, so I can't imagine image quality will be great.
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I'm guessing this 4 disc set is essentially a bootleg product. The 4 films released by HHH's own company plus the 4 Fox Lorber releases.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
It would be far from the first time HK Flix has trafficked in bootlegs -- note that they're also selling the individual discs in plain white sleeves, which seems, uh, less than legit.
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- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:24 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
It says the set is from Sino Movie, which distributed the legit OOP release. I've never known HKFlix to blatantly lie about the distributor.
But it is extremely suspicious that Puppetmaster is still Full screen and that the set has only appeared on HKFlix. Yeah, probably a bootleg.
But it is extremely suspicious that Puppetmaster is still Full screen and that the set has only appeared on HKFlix. Yeah, probably a bootleg.
- PerfectDepth
- Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:06 pm
- Location: San Francisco
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I purchased this knowing I'd get a refund if I didn't open it and it was an obvious bootleg. I don't have the original Sino box set and don't plan on spending the $300 it's going for now so I figured at the very least I'd get the 4 sinomovie box films although compressed much more.
The set arrived the other day and It does not appear to be a bootleg. The box is copyright 2005. Sinomovie logo is there along with the website. The bad news is that nothing is anamorphic and the pq quality is poor (more so on the FL films than the SM). The Fox Lorber films are likely from the same source but have different subtitles.
Before purchasing, HK flix told me they purchased these directly from Sinomovie. My guess is that they were never intended for retail and unloaded them to HK flix at a very low price and they are probably getting a good mark up at $60 a pop.
My advice is to avoid.
The set arrived the other day and It does not appear to be a bootleg. The box is copyright 2005. Sinomovie logo is there along with the website. The bad news is that nothing is anamorphic and the pq quality is poor (more so on the FL films than the SM). The Fox Lorber films are likely from the same source but have different subtitles.
Before purchasing, HK flix told me they purchased these directly from Sinomovie. My guess is that they were never intended for retail and unloaded them to HK flix at a very low price and they are probably getting a good mark up at $60 a pop.
My advice is to avoid.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
All four discs in that set look fine -- almost certainly the best available editions, although there are a couple of French discs I haven't seen. I posted some caps of Cafe Lumiere in the Screen Captures thread. I recall the R2J Flowers of Shanghai as the odd man out color-wise -- it looks more subdued and naturalistic than the U.S. and French editions -- but I suspect the other versions were just contrast-boosted. I never saw it theatrically, so I'm not really sure how it's "supposed" to look.
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- Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:39 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I contacted HKFLIX, asing if the films were the same editions (eg: quality) as the Sino boxsets. I was told they are, with the original dvd-5's now 2 per dvd-9. I'm still to receive the box. I purchased, going by the Dvdbeaver screens of the original boxsets, which varied in quality, but seemed ok. As there aren't many options to purchase all of these films, I'm at least grateful to have the opportunity to buy them.PerfectDepth wrote:I purchased this knowing I'd get a refund if I didn't open it and it was an obvious bootleg. I don't have the original Sino box set and don't plan on spending the $300 it's going for now so I figured at the very least I'd get the 4 sinomovie box films although compressed much more.
The set arrived the other day and It does not appear to be a bootleg. The box is copyright 2005. Sinomovie logo is there along with the website. The bad news is that nothing is anamorphic and the pq quality is poor (more so on the FL films than the SM). The Fox Lorber films are likely from the same source but have different subtitles.
Before purchasing, HK flix told me they purchased these directly from Sinomovie. My guess is that they were never intended for retail and unloaded them to HK flix at a very low price and they are probably getting a good mark up at $60 a pop.
My advice is to avoid.
The single DVDs in paper slips is odd, but I imagine HKFLIX must have the ok to sell them. Personally I think it looks shabby and looks like a bootleg. Either way, the new boxset will tide me over until a boutique dvd company takes a chance and offers us decent editions.
Having said that, I'll reserve the right to throw a tantrum if the editions are lesser quality than advertised. Dvdbeaver offers an excellent comparison.
- PerfectDepth
- Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:06 pm
- Location: San Francisco
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Like I said, the early films are not anamorphic in this 8 film box, but (I believe) are in the original box. Otherwise, the image does not look atrocious. But it hasn't stopped me from searching for the original box.ryan11 wrote:I contacted HKFLIX, asing if the films were the same editions (eg: quality) as the Sino boxsets. I was told they are, with the original dvd-5's now 2 per dvd-9. I'm still to receive the box. I purchased, going by the Dvdbeaver screens of the original boxsets, which varied in quality, but seemed ok. As there aren't many options to purchase all of these films, I'm at least grateful to have the opportunity to buy them.
- stereo
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:06 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
damn; I'm always amazed when I find I own one of these box sets that has gone through the roof in price. The key is not to tell your wife or they immediately try to get you to sell the thing.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I have the original box and they're not anamorphic. The films were later reissued in different packaging, but the discs themselves are identical.PerfectDepth wrote:Like I said, the early films are not anamorphic in this 8 film box, but (I believe) are in the original box. Otherwise, the image does not look atrocious. But it hasn't stopped me from searching for the original box.
- PerfectDepth
- Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:06 pm
- Location: San Francisco
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Oh. In that case the 8 movie box is a nice option for those who don't own the original box (like Ryan and I). I've officially stopped considering paying $300.00 for the original.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I'll sell you mine for $299.
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- Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:39 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
"The set arrived the other day and It does not appear to be a bootleg. The box is copyright 2005. Sinomovie logo is there along with the website. The bad news is that nothing is anamorphic and the pq quality is poor (more so on the FL films than the SM). The Fox Lorber films are likely from the same source but have different subtitles.
Before purchasing, HK flix told me they purchased these directly from Sinomovie. My guess is that they were never intended for retail and unloaded them to HK flix at a very low price and they are probably getting a good mark up at $60 a pop."
My set arrived today. I viewed each on my computer, comparing them with the Dvdbeaver snapshots. I absolutely agree with your assessment. As it stands, this is a reasonable way to get the collection, but the four films on discs 3 & 4 are very average, but seem to be taken from Fox Lorber prints. There aren't many options to get these films.
Worth getting it for the four films on the first two discs, but $40 would probably have been a fairer price. (I had credit to use up at Hkflix, so the pain wasn't so great)
My advice, check out the Dvdbeaver reviews before buying. That is pretty much what you are buying.
Before purchasing, HK flix told me they purchased these directly from Sinomovie. My guess is that they were never intended for retail and unloaded them to HK flix at a very low price and they are probably getting a good mark up at $60 a pop."
My set arrived today. I viewed each on my computer, comparing them with the Dvdbeaver snapshots. I absolutely agree with your assessment. As it stands, this is a reasonable way to get the collection, but the four films on discs 3 & 4 are very average, but seem to be taken from Fox Lorber prints. There aren't many options to get these films.
Worth getting it for the four films on the first two discs, but $40 would probably have been a fairer price. (I had credit to use up at Hkflix, so the pain wasn't so great)
My advice, check out the Dvdbeaver reviews before buying. That is pretty much what you are buying.