Kino Lorber Studio Classics

[hearthesilence]

And it cost Universal four new disc pressings for Psycho

This came up elsewhere, but quite a few premium releases last year had errors that should have been corrected in QC. The big Prince box set on Sign 'O' the Times has one show running at the wrong speed (never corrected - pitch corrections rarely are), the Richard & Linda Thompson eight-disc box set had to be completely re-pressed and reissued by Universal to every buyer (and the first run was a UK-only pressing, so a lot of those replacements had to be shipped overseas), and of course there's Psycho. The media companies doing these archival releases clearly need better QC.

[beamish14]

And it cost Universal four new disc pressings for Psycho

This came up elsewhere, but quite a few premium releases last year had errors that should have been corrected in QC. The big Prince box set on Sign 'O' the Times has one show running at the wrong speed (never corrected - pitch corrections rarely are)

That reminds me of another KL debacle they never acknowledged, the wonky audio on Bitter Moon, which apparently makes Hugh Grant sounds like he's on helium

[hearthesilence]

When I was in school, I volunteered for a no-budget film society of sorts that screened 16mm prints of classic movies - I think this was the last year they did this because it was just f-ing sad. It made no sense to me why anyone would pay $10 to see these crappy looking prints instead of renting a DVD. Anyway, one time, I switched off to another volunteer who had to project a different movie, Blade Runner, but before I was out the door, I looked at the screen and it was clearly an anamorphic print...being shown with a regular lens. We had an anamorphic lens in the office, but I think the guy simply didn't give a shit. I tried gently pointing out the mistake, and he threw a tantrum and insisted it was fine. I imagine that guy now works for Kino.

[MichaelB]

We used to show 16mm prints reasonably regularly in my rep cinema booking days, because often it was the choice between that or nothing, and the VHS option was always going to be worse.

But I'm not sure how long I could have sustained that argument into the DVD era (laserdiscs were never anything more than an ultra-niche thing in Britain) - when I saw Criterion's The Seventh Seal in 1999 it was so dramatically better than the 16mm print that we used to show (the only one commercially available), not least in terms of things like basic subtitle readability, that there was no contest.

And a projected Blu-ray might well offer a more satisfying viewing experience than some of the seriously battered 35mm prints that we had to put up with - because unless the film was a comparatively recent release, there was typically only one print in active distribution (one of my most eye-opening realisations when I first started working in this business, but it makes perfect sense when you consider distributor storage costs), and they were kept in circulation until they literally fell apart, whereupon they often weren't replaced.

We used to keep a detailed record of all the prints that we received so that we could avoid booking the more notorious ones, but we were also very keen to keep things in circulation at a time when even non-English-language VHS releases were as rare as hen's teeth - in the UK at the turn of the 1990s, if you wanted to watch even an Ingmar Bergman or Jean-Luc Godard film, never mind anything more obscure, a rep cinema was your most realistic option - so it was always a very tricky balancing act to maintain.

[MichaelB]

Talking of which, for literally decades I assumed that the glaring jump-cuts in Horse Feathers were down to the poor condition of the only 35mm print in UK distribution - stuff like this was so routine that it was easy enough to tune out. It wasn't until I worked on the Arrow Blu-ray a few years ago that I realised that they'd been inherent in every copy since some crude Production Code censorship was applied circa 1934 - and, sadly, the missing footage has yet to be found.

[Calvin]

The Kino March Madness Sale has started.

Between this and the Warner Archive sale starting tomorrow, I've decided to try out Stackry to reship them to the UK. It would be easier if they just offered international shipping but alas.

[EddieLarkin]

The Kino March Madness Sale has started.

Between this and the Warner Archive sale starting tomorrow, I've decided to try out Stackry to reship them to the UK. It would be easier if they just offered international shipping but alas.

How does this work exactly with the new VAT situation? How is the VAT paid to HMRC if it is now required to be done at the point of sale?

[Calvin]

How does this work exactly with the new VAT situation? How is the VAT paid to HMRC if it is now required to be done at the point of sale?

Truthfully, I've somewhat tuned out of all the discussion on Blu-Ray forums about the new VAT rules. As far as I can tell the courier company will still contact me if I "need to pay any VAT, duty or delivery charges (‘handling fees’) to receive [my] goods" before they send them back or destroy them.

[EddieLarkin]

I'll give it a go! I know from experience that packages are still getting through without charges when they are declared below the old £15 threshold, presumably Stackry will allow you to declare your own value on the customs form if you so wish.

[MichaelB]

If I interpret the new guidelines correctly, the old £15 limit has been abolished but you should be able to import goods to the total value of £135 without attracting additional charges provided the VAT was paid at the time of sale.

But I haven't put this to the test myself - my only foreign order since January was for La Roue from France, which was expensive but still well under the limit. My next bulk order from Poland will probably be the acid test.

[Calvin]

Import VAT has also always been levied on things such as gifts above a certain value (though I forget what that is/was), which didn't necessarily have a 'point of sale' - I'm fairly confident that in situations like that the UK-based recipient of the gift is still going to be liable for VAT/customs duties rather than an expat family member having to register with HMRC and I expect a similar situation here.

[dustybooks]

If anybody's looking for a cart-filler, I truly recommend the Boulting brothers' Seven Days to Noon, a wonderful procedural thriller about a rogue nuclear engineer who threatens London with the Bomb in pursuit of peace and how the infrastructure responds.

[beamish14]

Was hoping I could get "DOC" with my bundle and have a Frank Perry triplet, but I guess that will have to wait for the next sale.

I considered blind-buying the Korean film Beasts Clawing at Straws. Can anyone vouch for it?

[MichaelB]

If anybody's looking for a cart-filler, I truly recommend the Boulting brothers' Seven Days to Noon, a wonderful procedural thriller about a rogue nuclear engineer who threatens London with the Bomb in pursuit of peace and how the infrastructure responds.

Future Hammer composer James Bernard won an Oscar for the script (with Paul Dehn), a doubly impressive achievement for a non-American film.

[agnamaracs]

Ooh, The Bed Sitting Room is finally on sale!

(*does not buy The Bed Sitting Room)

[captveg]

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Madhouse (1974) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)
Meteor (1979) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)
The Missouri Breaks (1976) (BD) (DVD still available)
Planet of the Vampires (1965) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)

[cdnchris]

I don't know why, but I threw Cabin Boy in my cart last second

[domino harvey]

Because you're a fancy lad

[hearthesilence]

Talking of which, for literally decades I assumed that the glaring jump-cuts in Horse Feathers were down to the poor condition of the only 35mm print in UK distribution - stuff like this was so routine that it was easy enough to tune out. It wasn't until I worked on the Arrow Blu-ray a few years ago that I realised that they'd been inherent in every copy since some crude Production Code censorship was applied circa 1934 - and, sadly, the missing footage has yet to be found.

Wow. What were the offending jokes?

[hearthesilence]

Ooh, The Bed Sitting Room is finally on sale!

(*does not buy The Bed Sitting Room)

If you're region free, the BFI reissue is much better. I think I posted about it here - I never heard of the film until MoMA programmed it, and it's a great-looking release that more or less matched my memories of seeing it projected in 35.

[DeprongMori]

Ooh, The Bed Sitting Room is finally on sale!

(*does not buy The Bed Sitting Room)

If you're region free, the BFI reissue is much better. I think I posted about it here - I never heard of the film until MoMA programmed it, and it's a great-looking release that more or less matched my memories of seeing it projected in 35.

The BFI Flipside release of The Bed Sitting Room is recently OOP, so don’t delay if you are thinking of picking it up.

[andyli]

Was hoping I could get "DOC" with my bundle and have a Frank Perry triplet, but I guess that will have to wait for the next sale.

I considered blind-buying the Korean film Beasts Clawing at Straws. Can anyone vouch for it?

It has some of the usual ingredients you would expect to find in Korean crime thrillers--gory violence, nicely shot action scenes, twisted multiple storylines, etc. But overall it was pretty silly and ultimately forgettable. Jeon had more limited screen time than I expected and couldn't really help the movie.

[DarkImbecile]

Has anybody seen the French 90s horror Baby Blood? Can’t quite tell if it’s just gorehound fodder or something more interesting...

[domino harvey]

Has anybody seen the French 90s horror Baby Blood? Can’t quite tell if it’s just gorehound fodder or something more interesting...

I’ve seen it, it’s def a splatter movie, for better or worse

[Big Ben]

Has anybody seen the French 90s horror Baby Blood? Can’t quite tell if it’s just gorehound fodder or something more interesting...

It's in that "Woman gets impregnated with weird thing" genre and it's got all the gore you can imagine to go along with it. Is it in good taste? I would certainly say no but if that's you're thing I would say go for it.