Hou Hsiao-hsien
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
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- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Very cool
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- Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:00 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I'm in Taipei right now. Is this at The Spot Theater? Did they have more (and what was the price, if you don't mind staying)?jindianajonz wrote:Here's a cool souvenir I picked up in Taipei- the theater that Hou founded was selling this tote bag bundled with the 1995-2001 DVD Box Set
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I got mine at the Huashan SPOT, but I'm guessing either of the two theaters would carry it. I saw the same bundle at another DVD store as well, though I can't remember which- likely either the Eslite or one of the ones just outside the main station. I don't recall the price, but probably 1000-1500 NT- alongside the DVD set, it also included a couple postcards for the theater itself.
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- Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:00 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Thank you for the info. I will go soon.
Also, thanks for the the name of the bookstores that sell DVDs. I have been trying to find DVDs with Mandarin tracks for my youngest daughter and have had little luck. The stores I bought from last time I was here 2 years ago no longer carry digital media. This'll give me a few places to try to find some animated/anime in Mandarin instead of having to go broke at YesAsia (which has sometimes sent me discs with Cantonese instead of Mandarin).
Also, thanks for the the name of the bookstores that sell DVDs. I have been trying to find DVDs with Mandarin tracks for my youngest daughter and have had little luck. The stores I bought from last time I was here 2 years ago no longer carry digital media. This'll give me a few places to try to find some animated/anime in Mandarin instead of having to go broke at YesAsia (which has sometimes sent me discs with Cantonese instead of Mandarin).
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
The Eslite Dunnan store is their flagship store; the bottom floor has a great selection of DVDs. They are the Taipei equivalent to Barnes and Noble. And I think the one by the main station was 光南大批發 台北許昌店, or at least it looks pretty similar based on the pictures in Google Maps. It's located at No. 40, Xuchang Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100. You'll know it's the right place from the street; the rows of DVDs are very apparent.wattsup32 wrote:Thank you for the info. I will go soon.
Also, thanks for the the name of the bookstores that sell DVDs. I have been trying to find DVDs with Mandarin tracks for my youngest daughter and have had little luck. The stores I bought from last time I was here 2 years ago no longer carry digital media. This'll give me a few places to try to find some animated/anime in Mandarin instead of having to go broke at YesAsia (which has sometimes sent me discs with Cantonese instead of Mandarin).
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- Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:00 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
The bad news is that SPOT was completely sold out of the tote at all stores. The good news is I got the box set, the Terrorizers, and one more HH-h that I can't recall at the moment AND a free poster for spending over $2k.
Is there anything you (or anyone else) recommend I pick while here that I can't get in the states (keeping in mind it has to have English subs since I can't read or speak Mandarin)? I was hoping to get the Ghibli/MIyazaki blu-ray sets here to that they'll have a Mandarin language track for my daughter, but can't find them anywhere. I have also tried to find as much Satoshi Kon as I can, but have no luck there either. I found Tokyo Godfathers, but it has no English subs. Maybe I'll just get it anyway and deal with not knowing what's being said.
Is there anything you (or anyone else) recommend I pick while here that I can't get in the states (keeping in mind it has to have English subs since I can't read or speak Mandarin)? I was hoping to get the Ghibli/MIyazaki blu-ray sets here to that they'll have a Mandarin language track for my daughter, but can't find them anywhere. I have also tried to find as much Satoshi Kon as I can, but have no luck there either. I found Tokyo Godfathers, but it has no English subs. Maybe I'll just get it anyway and deal with not knowing what's being said.
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- Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:36 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Some Blu-ray players can load external subtitles.
Oppo can do that for sure but it's pricey.
The other option is to rip the Blu-ray and add external English srt.
Στάλθηκε από το ONEPLUS A6000 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
Oppo can do that for sure but it's pricey.
The other option is to rip the Blu-ray and add external English srt.
Στάλθηκε από το ONEPLUS A6000 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
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- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Flowers of Shanghai was released on Blu-Ray in Taiwan today
From a 4K restoration, English subtitles are listed
From a 4K restoration, English subtitles are listed
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
neat!
they better not have fucked this up and crushed the (very very deep) blacks.
also, I generally have very little hope that Taiwanese releases will have particularly fluent (or even proofread) English subs. but this film in particular poses a challenge; it's full of ellipitical and allusive dialogue that really requires a lot of careful, culturally- and historically-sensitive translation.
a Chinese film scholar once posted to a popular torrent site a customized "scholarly edition" of this film that included, in addition to freshly-translated subtitles, a lot of helpful (though visually distracting) onscreen "footnotes" explaining much of the dialogue. if Criterion ever puts this out (as it is rumored they will), I hope they not only take care with the subtitles, but include some sort of written and/or visual essay that helps provide this necessary context.
they better not have fucked this up and crushed the (very very deep) blacks.
also, I generally have very little hope that Taiwanese releases will have particularly fluent (or even proofread) English subs. but this film in particular poses a challenge; it's full of ellipitical and allusive dialogue that really requires a lot of careful, culturally- and historically-sensitive translation.
a Chinese film scholar once posted to a popular torrent site a customized "scholarly edition" of this film that included, in addition to freshly-translated subtitles, a lot of helpful (though visually distracting) onscreen "footnotes" explaining much of the dialogue. if Criterion ever puts this out (as it is rumored they will), I hope they not only take care with the subtitles, but include some sort of written and/or visual essay that helps provide this necessary context.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
An interesting note on the subtitles here, written after a screening of the restoration at last year's Il Cinema Ritrovato:
Aside from the last part about Wu being "now rare"—modern Wu speakers probably outnumber speakers of the author's native Finnish by at least ten to one—the curious thing here is whether the inferior subtitles were first used for the restoration, or if they've been used the entire time and Rayns had never noticed. (I'll also add that Chu Tien-wen is no slouch at English herself and actually has a degree in it.)Antti Alanen wrote:The English subtitles are credited in the original film credits to Tony Rayns, but after the screening Tony was furious because his work had been ignored and replaced by an inferior set of subtitles. After the festival Tony reported that this is being corrected. He told that he had worked closely with Chen [sic] Tien-wen to get the nuances right in the dialogue based on the original novel's Wu, a now rare variety of Chinese unintelligible to Mandarin or Cantonese speakers, including Hou himself.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Unfortunately it seems the Blu uses the inferior subs shown at Ritrovato, which apparently contain inappropriate colloquialisms like "Hey guys" and are just generally clunky. Speaking personally, this makes it a lot easier to hold off on the Taiwanese Blu and see if the rumors of a Janus/Criterion release come to anything. Less likely to be addressed by any future release are the signs of Ritrovatazation in screen captures, with a strong yellow cast quite different from the amber hues seen on 35mm and earlier video releases.
- jsteffe
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
- Location: Atlanta, GA
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I just received this Blu-ray today and took a look at it briefly. I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the entire film soon.
Spot-checking individual scenes, I did notice that a number of them had strong yellow highlights from the lamps and flames, as The Fanciful Norwegian has noted. I can't comment on the authenticity of that look. But there is a fair bit of variation in the intensity among individual shots. For instance, one shot with daylight coming in through the window has a normal white balance. Some shots are more amber. My guess is that they made shot-by-shot grading choices, including the yellow highlights from much of the candlelight. The distinctive Ritrovata color signature that we have seen apparently results from grading within a color space defined by a LUT that is applied for technical reasons such as printing out to film. (If I understand correctly.)
Spot-checking individual scenes, I did notice that a number of them had strong yellow highlights from the lamps and flames, as The Fanciful Norwegian has noted. I can't comment on the authenticity of that look. But there is a fair bit of variation in the intensity among individual shots. For instance, one shot with daylight coming in through the window has a normal white balance. Some shots are more amber. My guess is that they made shot-by-shot grading choices, including the yellow highlights from much of the candlelight. The distinctive Ritrovata color signature that we have seen apparently results from grading within a color space defined by a LUT that is applied for technical reasons such as printing out to film. (If I understand correctly.)
- dadaistnun
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:31 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
The 4K restoration is playing at NYFF and will be available as a virtual screening.
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Call it the "Tommy Wiseau version" of Flowers of Shanghai.The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:50 pmUnfortunately it seems the Blu uses the inferior subs shown at Ritrovato, which apparently contain inappropriate colloquialisms like "Hey guys" and are just generally clunky.
- L.A.
- Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Cheerful Wind (1982) Blu-ray coming from Carlotta Films in August. I take it that the company’s releases are not English-friendly?
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- Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:39 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Seems to be the case.L.A. wrote: ↑Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:26 amCheerful Wind (1982) Blu-ray coming from Carlotta Films in August. I take it that the company’s releases are not English-friendly?
But with this film, do we really care? It's available on blu already.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Unless I missed something, this is its Blu-ray debut. It's the only one of Hou's films from the period that wasn't restored by Cinematek (the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute handled it instead) and isn't part the MoC set.
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- Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:39 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Oh, sorry. I got it wrong.
IGNORE ME!
IGNORE ME!
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Assayas's HHH has been digitally remastered and is getting a re-release in Japan starting in September. Here's a trailer that looks pretty good to me all things considered. Hopefully the weird rights issues I learned about a few years ago (clips not being cleared for international commercial screenings) have been resolved as well.
- tenia
- Ask Me About My Bassoon
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
It's included on Carlotta's release of Flowers of Shanghai and it's indeed very good looking. It's actually looking more filmic and overall better than the main feature.
- yoloswegmaster
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Someone on Reddit emailed 3H Productions regarding a restoration for 'A City of Sadness' and they received this response:
Hopefull this news is true and we get some word on it soon!
Speaking of restorations, the restoration for Millenium Mambo was recently shown at the Lumiere Festival. Has anyone heard anything regarding thing regarding the quality of the restoration?
Hopefull this news is true and we get some word on it soon!
Speaking of restorations, the restoration for Millenium Mambo was recently shown at the Lumiere Festival. Has anyone heard anything regarding thing regarding the quality of the restoration?
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
>> Millennium Mambo
I will feel heart-broken if they screw up the color on this....
I will feel heart-broken if they screw up the color on this....
- ryannichols7
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
I sent up a follow up email regarding this.. hopefully we get some word. I have a feeling Criterion has it coming, as the Palm Pictures DVD is out of print and it appears they no longer have the rights. this movie seriously deserves justiceyoloswegmaster wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:06 amSpeaking of restorations, the restoration for Millenium Mambo was recently shown at the Lumiere Festival. Has anyone heard anything regarding thing regarding the quality of the restoration?
(as does Goodbye South Goodbye, which I couldn't resist mentioning in my email)
- jegharfangetmigenmyg
- Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:52 am
Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien
The French TF1 dvd of Millenium Mambo was pretty strong, I thought? There's also a very strong dual layer R3 dvd of Goodbye, South, Goodbye out in Taiwan. It was certainly a hassle to buy from overseas, but I'm very happy with it. The one Hou film that begs the most for a restoration -- or at least an upgraded release -- now is Good Men, Good Women. The single layer dvd is interlaced and it looks horrible. (I'm not mentioning The Puppetmaster, because it's highly unlikely we'll ever see a proper home video release of that film).ryannichols7 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:05 amI sent up a follow up email regarding this.. hopefully we get some word. I have a feeling Criterion has it coming, as the Palm Pictures DVD is out of print and it appears they no longer have the rights. this movie seriously deserves justiceyoloswegmaster wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:06 amSpeaking of restorations, the restoration for Millenium Mambo was recently shown at the Lumiere Festival. Has anyone heard anything regarding thing regarding the quality of the restoration?
(as does Goodbye South Goodbye, which I couldn't resist mentioning in my email)