Vinegar Syndrome et al.

[John Cope]

Any early Egoyan would be great. I was happy to see Calendar (the superior of the two) released with Erotica. Talk about a director that really fell off a cliff. Unfortunately I don't share therewillbeblus enthusiasm for Where the Truth Lies.

I saw him in person while he was promoting the underrated Adoration, and he said (as he does on its commentary), that Family Viewing is his favorite of all his films, and I concur that it’s his most perfect creation, although The Adjuster is close

I love almost all his work even during the much maligned later period. Indeed, there has been some superior work produced post-Sweet Hereafter including Felicia's Journey, Ararat, Chloe and especially his most profoundly underrated (even by himself I suspect) Devil's Knot. I For me at least Where the Truth Lies is the nadir of his entire oeuvre with only the telethon scenes functioning as perfect Egoyan-esque set pieces; the rest of it is entirely miscalculated as far as I'm concerned with Egoyan being incapable of managing a more explicit vein of eroticism (or an eroticism actually meant in part to titillate unlike, say, Exotica in which that element is consistently undercut, complicated and transformed by his entire approach). The later Chloe is the one where he does finally manage to come to grips on how to present material like that in a way that actually contributes to and complements the film it's featured in. Still, I do always appreciate his vast ambitions and efforts, his unwillingness to settle for established forms (often even those he established himself); of course, this artistic restlessness is exactly what got him the troubled reputation he's received over the course of those post-Sweet Hereafter years and when it doesn't come off well you do long for what so often has in the past.

I would be happy to see new Blu editions of some of these early titles though as the AE set really is a bare bones presentation without even subtitle options. Beyond that they are also most conspicuously missing the commentaries which Egoyan recorded for the Kino releases years ago and those need to be included again for the best and most thorough presentation. But The Sweet Hereafter is missing far more than that from its original releases as well.

[What A Disgrace]

Les Ordres is so massively important, but has never even had a DVD release in Canada

I have a Michel Brault DVD boxed set with Les Ordres featured prominently on my shelf. so I'm going to have to A.) disagree that the film has never received a DVD release, and B.) hope that CIP plans to release this masterpiece soon.

[beamish14]

Les Ordres is so massively important, but has never even had a DVD release in Canada

I have a Michel Brault DVD boxed set with Les Ordres featured prominently on my shelf. so I'm going to have to A.) disagree that the film has never received a DVD release, and B.) hope that CIP plans to release this masterpiece soon.

I stand corrected. I thought that it had a restoration within the last 10 years, no?

It’s still owned by Paramount as far as I know, but The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is probably the single key Anglophone Canadian film of the 70’s, and it’s a shame that there is no Blu-Ray

[mrb404]

I stand corrected. I thought that it had a restoration within the last 10 years, no?

Well, Les Ordres has actually had 3 restorations between 2009 and 2015, as stated here.
While we wait and hope for a physical release, the latest HD restored version is accessible (for a fee and with English subtitles) through the Éléphant, la mémoire du cinéma québécois program website here.

[What A Disgrace]

The next Labs release is Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, by Curt Siodmak, which seems to be a very Vinegar Syndromes kind of film indeed.

The highlight of 10 for $10 today seems to be Bill Condon's Sister Sister, which I believe I heard good things about.

[swo17]

domino recommended it earlier in the thread

[therewillbeblus]

It is good, I'll second that rec

[senseabove]

Also, worth noting that the DVD of Wakefield Poole's Take One/Moving is going OoP (along with their other Poole releases).

[ianungstad]

When I saw "demented 90s classic" on the list for next year I wondered if it could be Gregg Araki's Doom Generation. It's playing in a new uncut version at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Has never been on dvd or blu. The Sundance Press release credits Strand Releasing.

I don't think Strand have ever worked with Vinegar Syndrome....but I notice that their last physical release was a dvd in June 2022 and they haven't published anything since and have no physical media releases scheduled in the future, all their forthcoming stuff seems to be digital/streaming only. (Could be wrong, just going by listings on Amazon)

Doom Generation is a fairly high profile title Maybe Strand will do one last release on physical media...but I could see them being a new surprise "partner" label or just licensing it out to VS or another label too if they've given up on physical media.

People seem to think it might be Showgirls. It certainly could be but if Showgirls was coming from a boutique label I suspect it's probably Arrow as they added it to their streaming website in the UK last month.

[criterionsnob]

Strand released Peter von Kant on Blu in November 2022, and The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love on Blu on March 15, so they're still active. I thought Strand had licensed something to one of the VS partner labels, but I can't remember what it was.

Edit: Earlier in this thread it's noted that You and the Night was released by Strand on DVD, and also later VS partner Altered Innocence released it on Blu.

[ianungstad]

The only other thing that popped to mind is Kids (Larry Clark) which has been OOP for years.

I could be wrong and it's something else entirely but intuition says it will either be Doom Generation or Kids. I don't think it will be Showgirls.

I did guess Freeway correctly!

[swo17]

You're only considering films people might actually want to buy. Think harder

[ianungstad]

True. They've been releasing some Universal titles recently so you can't rule out something like the Christian Slater flick Very Bad Things...I just don't want it to be some dreck like that. Something more arthouse. Meh.

[Timec]

The new Vinegar Syndrome Archive announcement is for Ringo Lam’s “Undeclared War.”

[swo17]

Dupieux's Keep an Eye Out is $10 for the next 7 hours

[criterionsnob]

New VS press release shares a few developments for 2023, including:

Terror Vision and Fun City Editions will be leaving OCN for new distribution opportunities.

XYZ Films and The Film Desk will be debuting their first releases soon. The Film Desk website shows Trouble Every Day and The Devil, Probably in their catalogue. My own random speculation, but hopefully we see those.

AFGA and other partner labels will be releasing their first 4K UHD releases this year.

Canadian International Pictures' first UHD release will be an often overlooked Canadian exploitation gem.

[therewillbeblus]

So I guess Fun City Editions is now officially its own thing. I figured this was coming, since Party Girl was announced with cover art revealed outside of VS

[pianocrash]

Terror Vision seems to be doing well with their subscription service, and MVD partnering with Fun City will hopefully pan out (the MSRP on Amazon for Party Girl is wild, but I'm sure it'll drop as the release date approaches).

XYZ has a few films at Sundance this year that look interesting (My Animal, featuring my favorite actor from Under The Silver Lake, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, & that Will Vinton doc Claydream), and The Film Desk has Vengeance Is Mine, starring Brooke Adams, directed by Michael Roemer, which I had no idea existed!

In other OCN/VinSyn news, I found out that Kentucker Audley's Strawberry Mansion has been scrubbed from the site, as I was tempted to pick it up during the last sale at the last minute (no dice). It was a Music Box Selects title, but VS has a tendency to "lose" titles on the site for whatever reason, which is a little frustrating. I just hope they stick around long enough for Leonor Will Never Die to be released, eventually.

[ianungstad]

AFGA and other partner labels will be releasing their first 4K UHD releases this year.

Canadian International Pictures' first UHD release will be an often overlooked Canadian exploitation gem.

The AGFA 4K might be John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. AGFA just announced the theatrical rollout for the 4K restoration that will run from end of Jan to end of March at various arthouse cinemas across North America. The theatrical re-release is simply credited to AGFA and CKK Corporation, no mention of Shout Factory. Don't think the Shout release is OOP yet though. Either way the 4K is coming soon from either Shout or AGFA/Vinegar Syndrome.

[beamish14]

The Film Desk has Vengeance Is Mine, starring Brooke Adams, directed by Michael Roemer, which I had no idea existed!

This film started receiving scattered theatrical engagements last year, and it’s a major rediscovery. Not a restoration, but Film Desk made a 35mm print of a work that had only been exhibited via television, and it looks great. I’d love to see Criterion release it alongside Roemer’s Nothing but a Man

[brundlefly]

In other OCN/VinSyn news, I found out that Kentucker Audley's Strawberry Mansion has been scrubbed from the site, as I was tempted to pick it up during the last sale at the last minute (no dice). It was a Music Box Selects title, but VS has a tendency to "lose" titles on the site for whatever reason, which is a little frustrating. I just hope they stick around long enough for Leonor Will Never Die to be released, eventually.

Weird given they have Birney & Audley's recently upgraded Sylvio. Hadn't seen Mansion listed there, but it is readiy available on blu elsewhere from Music Box and has plenty of extras (commentary, shorts, making-of). No slapped-on slipcover though.

[Calvin]

It's hard to tell what films The Film Desk has more than just theatrical rights to but, looking at their catalog, the Philippe Garrel films would seem like a likely candidate.

[Penti Mento]

Kentucker Audley

Perhaps this... person's... parents named him this in all earnestness, perhaps the child himself changed his name in a misguided attempt at self-expression.

But as Svet is fond of saying, "Let me explain," - I will never under any circumstances see a film, read a book, or listen to a record by someone named "Kentucker."

[feihong]

Perhaps Kentucker Audley was named by AI?

[Glowingwabbit]

In other OCN/VinSyn news, I found out that Kentucker Audley's Strawberry Mansion has been scrubbed from the site, as I was tempted to pick it up during the last sale at the last minute (no dice). It was a Music Box Selects title, but VS has a tendency to "lose" titles on the site for whatever reason, which is a little frustrating. I just hope they stick around long enough for Leonor Will Never Die to be released, eventually.

It was never released by OCN. Music Box released it on its own.