Olive Films

[matrixschmatrix]

Oh hot damn Letter from an Unknown Woman and a Dassin I've never seen? These really are as exciting as Criterion announcements at this point, if not moreso.

[Gregory]

It's especially good to have confirmation that "Letter from an Unkown Woman" (looks like swimminghorses has been busy lately) is coming out on Blu.

I wonder what the hold-up has been with Fedora. It's been over two years now since the news came out that Olive planned to release it.

[FilmFanSea]

Wow. I was doubting we'd ever see Letter from an Unknown Woman in the US. I've had the French DVD for nearly a decade. Will be nice to see it in BR.

[stroszeck]

Wow, the supplement issues aside, Olive has become my second favorite label in just under 6 months. They're steadiliy moving me towards financial ruin....but I'm more than happy at throwing money at them. As an aside, my friend who works at a niche video store in NY says the Olive titles have become MORE popular than even the Criterions and Kinos. Very impressive output.

[Jeff]

I wonder what the hold-up has been with Fedora. It's been over two years now since the news came out that Olive planned to release it.

I think they are probably waiting on Bavaria to deliver the new HD master (and maybe a doc that I think Bavaria was going to prepare). It's a different license than all this Paramount/Republic stuff. I think Twilight's Last Gleaming is in the same boat.

[swo17]

Most companies would have taken years to get all this stuff out! What is Olive going to have left to release a year from now?

[knives]

Anatahan?

[Brian C]

Most companies would have taken years to get all this stuff out! What is Olive going to have left to release a year from now?

They've already dug up a few movies that I had never heard of ... maybe there are more?

[captveg]

Not 100% accurate, but pretty close.

[Mathew2468]

If they become a big, successful supercompany will they start releasing more extras d'ya think? :-k

[warren oates]

Forget extras. Wouldn't you settle for removable subs and/or a decent Blu-ray release of your favorite film?

[matrixschmatrix]

Um... no? I mean, I'll buy the releases, but extras are really valuable and I'm not going to dismiss them as a category out of hand- supplemental feature films, shorts, commentaries, visual essays, interviews, documentaries, and all the other things that you can add on to these discs are sometimes the difference between a movie that does nothing for me and a new favorite, and absolutely the presence or absence of them can determine whether I'll buy a given release.

I'm very excited to see these movies and I'm glad they're getting a release, but just giving up on the idea of extras loses one of the things that makes home media so exciting to me in the first place.

[warren oates]

Well, I was mostly talking to Matthew and mostly about The Devil, Probably being dumped to standard def with burned-in subs. Until Olive starts treating every film of this stature and every foreign film they release with the kind of minimum non-lazy modicum of DVD authoring respect, I won't be holding out hope for any extras, let alone the kind that actually add value to a release. Yeah, they've bone-headly ignored Tag Gallagher. But there are other concerns lower on the hierarchy of A/V needs.

[knives]

They've been pretty good on A/V as far as I've seen. They're limited to what others can do restoration wise, but they've consistently sought and produced good transfers with really daring choices for Blu-ray when it is possible. I don't blame them for The Devil, Probably as the transfer is either likely not HD or not good enough for a Blu release. This is the same logic MOC and several other companies have expressed.

[warren oates]

Yeah, but The Devil, Probably got a limited release from Film Desk and you're saying there's actual evidence that the video master they got/made just wasn't up to HD snuff? Not rather that Olive thinks obscure French films from the 1970s all have the same limited potential in the marketplace (ala the two Godards).

What's the logic for the lazy crapiness of burned-in subs?

[knives]

Given what they have released on Blu I'm sure all three situations have to do with with rights or the quality of materials (I believe the Godards were shot on video). Just because there are theatrical materials ready for a title does not mean that there are video masters let alone an HD one. as to subs, I'd rather have burned in subs than no subs which is the bigger concern with their releases.

[warren oates]

You mean subs on the English-language titles? That might be asking too much of Olive. They seem to do best when it's simple. Large studio gives them good HD master. They release it on Blu. Which works fine for classic American films.

I know there has been talk about Olive trolls/moles around here, which is too bad. A little more communication and transparency from the company about the specifics of their release decisions -- like with Cinema Guild, Milestone and MOC -- would either put a lot of these concerns to bed or nudge Olive in a better direction in the future.

[warren oates]

I'd be for anything that actually gets Olive's attention and makes them realize we're their best and ideal customers and if they just put in a teensy bit more effort into their releases we'd love them forever.

[matrixschmatrix]

Rather than add to this list of grievances with Olive (and I understand the subs issue bugs a lot of people) I have a proposal for something positive with the forthcoming Letter from an Unknown Woman.
How do people here feel about an open group support for Tag's 24 minute vid essay for this. So far they've been firm in not replying to mails and sticking to their no-frills image on the market. But I fail to see how some meaningless 3 minutes of blah from Scorsese saying such and such a film changed his life (it's alwyas the same blah) when they're being offered a deeply felt, vivid analysis of this masterpiece which also takes its viewers to the core of Ophuls' work, and his place as an atist working in the wake of the great, misunsderstood Romantic era. One of the greatest films of all time. How can it be left to sit there as though unloved and alone?

Is that piece available anywhere? I'd seriously and genuinely pay for a half hour Gallagher piece about just about anything, much less Letter from an Unknown Woman.

[Props55]

Count me in for any effort to get a Tag Gallagher essay on upcoming Olive releases. I'm still steamed about his being dissed with his previous offering. A group effort would certainly be more effective than randon tweets and e-mails.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Not 100% accurate, but pretty close.

I'm more or less committed to the UK releases of those two recent Sono films, but R1 distribution for them is welcome nonetheless.

Co-signed on the Tag Gallagher front. I've loved his contributions to Criterion so anything on Letter to an Unknown Woman would be excellent.

[vsski]

Companies like Olive should understand that while a particular title may be enticing enough to be bought as a bare bones release, many folks who know of Olive and buy their releases would appreciate extras related to the film even more and if they are on the fence for a particular title the extra may make all the difference (I know it has for me on multiple occasions).

Now if a title comes with a video essay of Tag Gallagher I'll buy the phone book read aloud!

[Calvin]

Getting Olive's attention isn't the easiest thing in the world - I've never seen them respond to Facebook posts or tweets and they've certainly never responded to any of my e-mails. However, they do have a phone number and a fax. If anyone actually has a fax.

[domino harvey]

Our own MichaelB is a member of the press, he stands the best chance of any of us of directly speaking to this company, since we know they do press interviews. Suit up Michael, your board needs you

[Forrest Taft]

Good to know they have Altman's That Cold Day in the Park!