New Australian DVD and BD Releases

[Ben Cheshire]

Umbrella December titles released today. All SD at the moment.

There's a 6-disc Rolf "Bad Boy Bubby" de Heer collection for those interested similar to their massive Wim Wenders collection, but not quite as big. Also, a few westerns and such. La Jetee/Sans Soleil also just came out.

Details on the Umbrella website, and in your inbox if you get their Newsletter.

http://umbrellaent.com.au/products/show/20/1358" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ben Cheshire]

Also, good news is the second wave of the Studio Canal Collection will hit Europe in Feb, but bad news is their model appears to have changed. This time, they have included the US in their plans, who will receive a combination of titles already released in Region B and one of the new titles. Perhaps as a result of including the US, or perhaps in response to sales of the first run, they are only releasing a group of three titles in each country

Lionsgate in Feb (US) (sourced from Bluray.com news, may change)

Ran
The Ladykillers
Le Mepris

Studio Canal in Feb (FR)

Senso
Pierrot le Fou
A bout de souffle

Optimum in Feb (UK) (sourced from Bluray.com news, may change)

Pierrot le Fou
The Ladykillers
A bout de souffle

Kinowelt in Feb (DE) for some reason blessed with more:

Senso
The Ladykillers
A bout de souffle
Pierrot le Fou
The Go-Between

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=122963" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (sourced from German online stores)

What this means for Australia is that we may only receive 3 titles in JBHifi, or we may receive the full set, as has been announced for Germany. Last time there was no announcement and virtually no prior warning that the UK slate would also be in JBHifi stores. The only warning I got was a small ad in their in-store Stack magazine, which was the first time I'd ever picked one up.

[tojoed]

David Lean's Great Expectations and Brief Encounter are being released on BluRay 9th December.

[tajmahal]

Even better value online at Chaos. With 10% discount until sunday night, these titles are only $13.33, and shipping is free.

http://chaos.com/browse.asp?LOC=8153&sort=5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I emailed Beyond Home Entertainment a few weeks ago, and they confirmed that these releases are direct ports of the UK ITV releases. Bare bone releases, but with Black Narcissus and Great Expectations at least, stunning image.

[tojoed]

Three Bergman's from Madman in February, It Rains on Our Love, So Close to Life and A Ship Bound for India.

[tajmahal]

I have spent the last little while sampling three new Australian blu-ray releases. All three are direct ports of the UK ITV editions. An overall summary is, each image is as reviewed on blu-ray.com and Dvdbeaver.

Great Expectations is ........ magnificent! This matches Last Year in Marienbad for image sharpness and contrast. Yes, that good.

Brief Encounter - the blu-ray.com review is spot on. limitations are as reviewed, but overall a quite lovely print.

Black Narcissus - A loveky, sharp rint. Colours seems to match blu-ray.com and beaver's caps. On my configuration, I found there is some 'colour pulsing', where colours seems to change from balanced to a mild green hue, and back again. (I'm no pro, so this is an as-I-see-it description). Blu-ray.com notes one con as the following "Aside from some extremely minor shakiness of the image", which is perhaps, in part, what Ithey allude to. This 'pulsing' is most noticable in the interior studio sets. Having said this, there are so many variables pertaining to my set-up which could be contributing to this.

I'd be interested to see if others are experiencing this, of if this has been a problem in previous dvd editions.

Apart from this, which is noticable, but not a deal breaker, I can whole-heartedly endorse these Australian ITV releases.

The cheapest place I've seen them is at Chaos.com. (I have no affiliation!) Free postage until 18-12-09

http://chaos.com/product/great_expectat ... 11177.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://chaos.com/product/brief_encounte ... 49459.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://chaos.com/product/black_narcissu ... 47143.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hope this is helpful for prospective buyers. Whatever your thoughts, there is just no conceivable way you won't be floored by Great Expectation's image.

[Ben Cheshire]

Three Bergman's from Madman in February, It Rains on Our Love, So Close to Life and A Ship Bound for India.

Apologies to those who knew this already, but I looked these up and they're all early; So Close to Life I believe was the one that was about 1958, just after Wild Strawberries and Seventh Seal; the other two are his second and third films and will form a nice complement to the Early Bergman eclipse set, which these do not double up on.

[Cash Flagg]

Even better value online at Chaos. With 10% discount until sunday night, these titles are only $13.33, and shipping is free.

It appears as if this discount is still applied - I just ordered the three Sirks for $68.76 shipped.

[Cash Flagg]

Does Madman's All I Desire not include a booklet? My copy arrived without one.

[domino harvey]

Australia, give it a rest

[Murdoch]

My condolences to Australian cinephiles, that is such BS

[charal]

Those of you wondering why the MGM Bergmans were never released here [despite the fact that the UK bare bones versions were encoded 2 & 4] might find the answer here http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/810967" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Distinction usually have forced subs but why NTSC? Will these be US ports replete with the useless Gervais commentaries but with passable interviews? I assume the PASSION disc will be 4:3 [1.66:1]. Shock hold the rights to MGM but their lack of extras - usually subs on English language discs - is dissapointing.

A word on the SA R-rating law. As a Southerner find this law fascist [like our water restrictions] but I noticed when in Muses the other day that the DVDs in question are in their own rack in alphabetical order but not in brown paper bags. Browsing is not impossible. Why have such a law if we already have oversized infantile logos plastered all over our DVDs? Politicians here obviously think SA adults can't see them clearly enough.

[Matango]

Anyone had problems playing the new single edition of De Sica's The Roof from Umbrella? My supposedly region-free Blu-ray player wouldn't play it, but my DVD player would. Great transfer and great film, I thought, though patchy subtitles. Definitely worth getting hold of for De Sica fans.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Madman's April slate includes Sansho the Bailiff, the much-delayed Mizoguchi 47 Ronin and (strewth!) a 9-disc Douglas Sirk collection including Taza, Son of Cochise and No Room For the Groom!!!

[domino harvey]

Link or list of titles for the Sirk set pls?

[tajmahal]

The Madman 9 disc Haneke boxset retails for AU$150, so I'd imagine this will be similar in price. The boxes, to date, have been made of heavy card and are MOC quality. A minor point, but nice for collectors to know.

to be titled DOUGLAS SIRK: KING OF HOLLYWOOD MELODRAMA, witha release date of 21/04/2010

[Cash Flagg]

Taza, Son of Cochise and No Room For the Groom!!!

Please let these receive individual releases at some point. [-o<

[Cash Flagg]

The set is $149.95. Here's the link. Any particular reason why Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, Take Me to Town and Meet Me at the Fair aren't included? They're Universal titles, just like all of the others. Extras:

Two previously unreleased feature-length Sirk films: TAZA, SON OF CONCHISE and NO ROOM FOR THE GROOM
Interview with Tony Curtis
Interview with Douglas Sirk "Days with Sirk"
Audio commentaries on the films by prominent academics
Original theatrical trailers

So I assume that means Taza and No Room have commentaries as well.
For those of us in the U.S., it looks like Chaos DVD is our best bet. The box is $108.22 US shipped, versus $128.57 US shipped directly from Madman. Use the coupon code CHAOSPACK to bring your order down to $98.38.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Madman have announced Mizoguchi's Street of Shame and Her Mother's Profession for May 19. The latter has the plot synopsis for Chikamatsu Monogatari on Madman's website, though the cover and title indicate that it is in fact Uwasa no Onna.

[ellipsis7]

May 10 from Madman is Renoir/ PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE, plus a prized feature length extra 'Un Tournage a la Campagne' (1994, from outtakes etc held by the Cinematheque Francaise) as well as 'Le direction d'acteur par JR', plus commentary track from Ann Dzenis & Rick Thompson of La Trobe Uni...

[claude]

Anyone had problems playing the new single edition of De Sica's The Roof from Umbrella? My supposedly region-free Blu-ray player wouldn't play it, but my DVD player would. Great transfer and great film, I thought, though patchy subtitles. Definitely worth getting hold of for De Sica fans.

Cannot answer your question, but I think it's worth mentioning that devoteddvd.com.au is selling this for $AU4.95. (Boudu Sauve Des Eaux and Mamma Roma are at same price, Shoah [4 Discs] for $AU12.95.)

[TMDaines]

Anyone had problems playing the new single edition of De Sica's The Roof from Umbrella? My supposedly region-free Blu-ray player wouldn't play it, but my DVD player would. Great transfer and great film, I thought, though patchy subtitles. Definitely worth getting hold of for De Sica fans.

Cannot answer your question, but I think it's worth mentioning that devoteddvd.com.au is selling this for $AU4.95. (Boudu Sauve Des Eaux and Mamma Roma are at same price, Shoah [4 Discs] for $AU12.95.)

Fixed subs on The Roof?

The only subtitles available on the disc are English. They are easily legible in bold yellow, but they cannot be removed. At first glance it would seem the subtitles have been burned into the print, however the DVD player function allows for them to be disabled. The problem is, when this option is selected the titles still remain even though technically they have been turned off.

[TMDaines]

I'll probably order The Roof anyway just due to the price. Can anyone recommend any other great Aussie DVDs of German or Italian films or by German or Italian directors?