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Apologies if this has been mentioned on here but the BFI will be hosting a Truffaut retrospective in 2022, that will also include bluray releases from BFI in Spring 2022. I wonder if some of the releases will be in 4K UHD, especially since Carlotta is releasing the Antoine Doinel series in 4K UHD later this year.

SPECS for Naked:

Audio commentary with Mike Leigh, David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge
The Short & Curlies (1987, 17 mins):Mike Leigh’s short film starring Alison Steadman and David Thewlis centres on a hairdresser and her daughter and the romance between a woman who works in a chemist and a man who mainly communicates through jokes.
Mike Leigh and Dick Pope on Naked (2021, 26 mins): newly recorded interview with Mike Leigh and his long-time cinematographer as they discuss the making of Naked.
Image gallery
2021 theatrical trailer

SPECS for BLEAK MOMENTS

Audio commentary by writer and director Mike Leigh (2015)
Bleak Moments: 50 Years On (2021, 9 mins): a short interview with Mike Leigh as he looks back on his debut feature
In Conversation: Mike Leigh and Leslie Blair (1972, 28 mins): in this rare archive interview director Mike Leigh and producer and editor Leslie Blair discuss Bleak Moments
Interview with Mike Leigh (2019, 36 mins): filmed after a screening of his 1976 film Nuts in May, Mike Leigh discusses his early career and his approach to filmmaking with film programmer Neil McGlone
Image gallery
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with a new essay on the film by Ellen Cheshire , original Sight & Sound review and full film credits


Out of the Blue has been pushed back to Nov 22.

South & The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film Blu-ray

The British Film Institute plans to release on Blu-ray Frank Hurley's South & The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film (1919). The three-disc set will be available for purchase on February 21.

Speaking of the BFI and Antarctica, is anyone aware whether the new The Great White Silence due for release on 21 February 2022 is the same transfer as found on their release of 20 June 2011?

Where to begin with Paul Schrader and Clint Eastwood.

For anyone based in the UK near a Fopp, they've currently got a huge offer on BFI releases, with most of the back catalogue available for only £6 each (including relatively recent releases such as The River, Mogul Mowgli etc). Plus they're doing a further 20% off blu ray until I believe the 29th Nov, so some pretty amazing deals to be had.

Amazon leaked the BFI titles for April, May & June:

Jules et Jim (11th April)

Faithless (11th April)

Nineteen Eighty-Four (BBC) (11th April)

The 400 Blows (25th April)

The Men (1950) (16th May)

The Last Metro (30th May)

Le Peau douce (30th May)

Lawrence of Belgravia (13th June)

The Appointment (Flipside 44) (27th June) (DVD only)

A bit puzzling if The 400 Blows isn't 4K.

That's the Peter Cushing 1984 I believe, though I'll take any and all versions

Covers have been uploaded to Amazon and it is the Cushing version.

What A Disgrace wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:15 pm

A bit puzzling if The 400 Blows isn't 4K.

Ben on Facebook:

Julian Jacobi we did explore the possibility but for a couple of reasons we weren't able to proceed with a UHD I'm afraid. There are reasons a French UHD is a lot more viable than a UK one.

Timothy Holm We’ve looked at all of the masters and it’s a no. And yes, I’m aware they are due out in France.

I can't find the other comment but he basically said that he believes UHD titles should only be the best they can be, which I think we can all agree on given the cost of them. he didn't feel the 400 Blows master was good enough for UHD, which has been substantiated elsewhere on this forum and other places. curious how it'll look on bluray

Curious if this will stop Criterion

ryannichols7 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:08 pm

he didn't feel the 400 Blows master was good enough for UHD, which has been substantiated elsewhere on this forum and other places. curious how it'll look on bluray.

Ben is also extremely perplexed by the color movies' new gradings.

Also a reissue of the BD Alan Clarke box, minus Road, the Half-Hour Stories DVD, and the book. (Which is a shame, because Road is excellent.)

tenia wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:53 pm

ryannichols7 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:08 pm

he didn't feel the 400 Blows master was good enough for UHD, which has been substantiated elsewhere on this forum and other places. curious how it'll look on bluray.

Ben is also extremely perplexed by the color movies' new gradings.

yes, which is why I was surprised to see The Last Metro in this round of announcements. I figured Shoot the Piano Player would've made more sense. then again, he did comment on that two weeks ago when someone asked about it:

It's not been decided yet. I'd like to see the HD master and see how it compares to the 2014 Art Eye Blu-ray first.

I'm hoping that the BFI put together a release of Two English Girls (or Anne and Muriel, as it is known in the UK) and include the theatrical cut. I'm not aware of it even being screened recently, but I'd be fascinated to compare it to the cut we're now familiar with.

Really glad to see Liv Ullmann's Faithless getting a Blu-ray release. I particularly love its rather austere framing structure of a (fictional? or sublimated?) story of adultery being tussled over by a writer in his study and the created character/memory of a previous woman in his life as to the direction and the relative moral culpability of the characters within it.That complements BFI's recent Bergman sets really well and should be a worthwhile upgrade of the almost 20 year old Tartan DVD edition.

Though The Appointment is sourced in standard def, it is on Blu-ray. The disc also includes the director's short film The Lake, as seen in Short Sharp Shocks Volume 1, and both films have a commentary by Lindsay Vickers.

The Lake was one of the better films on that compilation

colinr0380 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 4:51 pm

Really glad to see Liv Ullmann's Faithless getting a Blu-ray release. I particularly love its rather austere framing structure of a (fictional? or sublimated?) story of adultery being tussled over by a writer in his study and the created character/memory of a previous woman in his life as to the direction and the relative moral culpability of the characters within it.That complements BFI's recent Bergman sets really well and should be a worthwhile upgrade of the almost 20 year old Tartan DVD edition.

Finally!!! My god, I’ve been waiting for a decent release of this since I saw it in the cinema back in 2001. I think it’s an incredible film.

It's interesting that a restoration that is deemed good enough for theatrical exhibition is deemed not good enough for a UHD. This again reminds me of what they (not the BFI) said about the Wong Kar-wai restorations.

andyli wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:14 pm

It's interesting that a restoration that is deemed good enough for theatrical exhibition is deemed not good enough for a UHD. This again reminds me of what they (not the BFI) said about the Wong Kar-wai restorations.

Different decision-makers are involved with regard to theatrical and video releases.

Ben Stoddart's position, with which I entirely sympathise, is that if a UHD release doesn't stand a very good chance of getting included in this forum's list of outstanding UHD titles, it's simply not worth going to the considerable extra expense of releasing one.

I agree with Ben's take on the color. The color of Artificial Eye's old Truffaut Blu-rays may be a touch off but they're nowhere near as bad as the new color timing which looks like blatant revisionism.