Drafthouse Films

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manicsounds · #1 Post by **manicsounds** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 11:44 am

Official site - Facebook page

If you know about The Alamo Drafthouse cinemas (from 42nd Street Volume 5 is how I first heard of them), you might know they started acquiring and releasing films, and distributed by Image Entertainment.
Like Criterion, they are going through the numbering spine system as well.

1 Four Lions
2 The FP
3 Bullhead
4 Klown
5 Trailer War (exclusively available to purchase from their website)
6 The Ambassador
7 Miami Connection
8 Wake In Fright
9 Wrong
10 Graceland
11 Pieta
12 A Band Called Death
13 I Declare War
14 The Act Of Killing
15 The Visitor

Like Oscilloscope's "Circle Of Trust", a yearly subscription is also available

warren oates · #2 Post by **warren oates** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:11 pm

Wake in Fright is a masterpiece and a must-see, the most interesting and surprising revival I've seen this year. Really looking forward to Pieta and The Act of Killing and the Canon Films doc too in 2013. Drafthouse Films is most definitely a label to watch.

matrixschmatrix · #3 Post by **matrixschmatrix** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:22 pm

Miami Connection is ridiculously fun, in a stupid way, and very much worth picking up- it's some bizarro 80s thing where a self promoting Tae Kwon Do guru decided that he could carry both a movie and a band with his martial arts skills, and he and his weirdly homoerotic bandmates/sparring partners have to defend the University of Central Florida from cocaine smugglers backed by ninjas. It's stranger than it sounds.

#4 Post by **zedz** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:10 pm

matrixschmatrix wrote:Miami Connection is ridiculously fun, in a stupid way, and very much worth picking up- it's some bizarro 80s thing where a self promoting Tae Kwon Do guru decided that he could carry both a movie and a band with his martial arts skills, and he and his weirdly homoerotic bandmates/sparring partners have to defend the University of Central Florida from cocaine smugglers backed by ninjas.

Story of my life.

manicsounds · #5 Post by **manicsounds** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 2:23 am

"Wake In Fright" has been on my wishlist for a long time, but never got around to getting the Australian Blu-ray. The Drafthouse disc will be a cheaper and easier alternative. I haven't seen "Miami Connection", but a lost 80's movie getting attention again for being as bad as it could be sparked my interest a lot.

"Trailer War" is one that I've been waiting for: a compilation of trailers like the "42nd Street Forever" discs.

Cold Bishop · #6 Post by **Cold Bishop** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 3:30 am

For the record: the Hollywood Theater in Portland kicked their ass at the Trailer War.

I knew about the awesome Miami Connection, but I didn't know they were behind both Wake in Fright and Four Lions. Color me intrigued, even I wish they could give some of these films a bigger push.

manicsounds · #7 Post by **manicsounds** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:18 am

Shipping on their site is a hefty sum, I wanted "Trailer War" but shipping internationally the cheapest way was $15....

manicsounds · #8 Post by **manicsounds** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:17 am

DVDBeaver compares "Wake In Fright" US disc vs Australian disc
Negligible differences, but there are a few differences in the extras.

#9 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 3:18 am

Well, Miami Connection delivered exactly what it promised. It's like one of those three-minute movie edits from Everything is Terrible compiled into a feature-length program. Like all actually watchable bad films, it is so sincere and earnest in its awfulness that it beggars belief. Within moments of starting, the film treats us to panama hat-wearing drug dealers overpowered by ninjas, followed by the film's opening credits-- the theme for which contains the immortal line, "Bikers by day, ninjas by night"-- before soon transitioning into a pantomime performance by the band "Dragon Sound" singing another song, this time about friendship, whilst rhythmically strumming electric guitars connected to nothing. It's that kind of film, all right

The Narrator Returns · Sat Jan 05, 2013 3:21 am

I can't help but love a movie where "They don't make buns like that down at the bakery!" is its idea of dirty talk.

And I have yet to get "Against the Ninja" and "Friends" out of my head.

CSM126 · #11 Post by **CSM126** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:56 pm

I appreciated the love for a cheesy 80's movie, but the decision to release it on VHS put a giant goofy smile on my face. Sold!

manicsounds · #12 Post by **manicsounds** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 1:23 pm

Well, it looks like the "Trailer War" with signed poster was more expensive for shipping than the standard edition.
$10 for shipping for 1 title is still a bit expensive, but better than the $15 for the other edition.

AlexHansen · #13 Post by **AlexHansen** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:28 am

Caught The ABCs of Death on VOD and it's mostly worth a watch. Ti West's entry is even lazier than I'd been led to believe; calling it half-assed would be overly generous. Forzani & Cattet's short on the other hand...le sigh. They know how to push my buttons. To put it simply: burn, breathe, burst. As tactile and textured as you'd expect, and makes the wait for The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears all the harder.

John Edmond · #14 Post by **John Edmond** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:58 am

You're being more generous to The ABCs of Death than I would be. It's more pleasurably understood as a documentary of the failure of fanboy culture. Like the The Aristocrats (with which it shares much frattish ancestry), only the outsiders provide anything of interest. Forzani & Cattet's O is superb, and I am so glad it came in the middle of the film, it was a perfectly timed respite - and they have now added bubbles and cigarettes to their lexicon. Seeing O on the big screen was wonder. The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears must get a theatrical release near me.

AlexHansen · #15 Post by **AlexHansen** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:19 am

I wasn't really expecting much, so it wasn't very hard to impress me. But it definitely was more interesting as a swatch of the diversity the genre can offer than an entertaining watch. Grau & Wheatley I liked. Wingard and Barrett gave me a chuckle. C, R, and the Gens (X) were the only other real standouts besides O.

jindianajonz · #16 Post by **jindianajonz** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:38 pm

I bumped into a lot of these discs at Frys Electronics last weekend and picked up a couple (Miami Connection, Klown, and The FP)- I haven't had a chance to watch them yet but the care that went into the packaging is really giving me high hopes.

One question though- does anyone know where you can get Four Lions? It may be due to the fact that my work forces me to use IE 7.0, but I can't find the shop on their website. When I check Amazon and B&N, the Four Lions blu is shown in a regular blue case, while the rest of the Drafthouse films are depicted with clear cases. Anyone know why this is?

scubadonc · #17 Post by **scubadonc** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:12 pm

Four Lions came out before Drafthouse distributed their own discs. It is technically release #1 but will not have the clear case or spine number (although Drafthouse has hinted at releasing a numbered slip cover for it).

manicsounds · #18 Post by **manicsounds** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:00 am

"Four Lions" was released on BD by Magnolia, so it didn't come with a clear case. Only the titles that Drafthouse/Image release come in clear cases.
In another note "Trailer War" also didn't come in a clear case.

manicsounds · #19 Post by **manicsounds** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:47 am

I don't use digital copies or ultraviolet, because they mostly don't work for me since I'm overseas, and it's pointless to watch a movie on a tiny screen when you already have a physical copy.

Drafthouse is nice that their digital copies are directly from their site, and downloadable even if you live outside the US.
But for "Wake In Fright", Drafthouse made the special features downloadable as well.

Now THAT's what I'd rather see, special features as portable content. I'd rather listen to commentaries and watch featurettes on the train rather than the actual movie...

scubadonc · #20 Post by **scubadonc** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:29 am

I'm part of the Drafthouse Alliance and when I received "Trailer War," they also enclosed a clear case. There must have been some mix up with whatever company manufactures their discs or a temporary shortage of clear cases.

jindianajonz · #21 Post by **jindianajonz** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 3:09 pm

I contacted their facebook page to ask about Four Lions before I saw the responses here, and they replied with this:

This is a question we get often. Magnolia helped us with the release of Four Lions way back when we were just getting started. We are working with them and trying to get it released more uniformly in line with the rest of our brand, but it's not exactly on the frontburner at this time. Hopefully by the end of the year, if you can wait...

manicsounds · #22 Post by **manicsounds** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 11:28 pm

Hmm, I thought I downloaded the special features, but after it finished, I ended up downloading the movie instead. The code seems to be one time use, so I couldn't do it again with the same code. Waiting for Drafthouse to get back to me.

Calvin · #23 Post by **Calvin** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:35 pm

Giulio Paradisi's The Visitor coming later this year

jindianajonz · #24 Post by **jindianajonz** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:40 pm

Since this thread has been bumped, I might as well add that Wrong arrived about a week ago, thanks to my Drafthouse Alliance membership. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, though.

jindianajonz · #25 Post by **jindianajonz** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:48 pm

Graceland and Pieta both arrived for me today (Same day by B&N stuff arrived; I have a lot of watching to do!)

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