Kino Lorber Studio Classics

[captveg]

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Charly (1968) (DVD) (BD previously OOP)
A Child Is Waiting (1963) (DVD) (BD previously OOP)
The Indian Runner (1991) (BD) (DVD still available)
Original Gangstas (1996) (BD)
Topkapi (1964) (BD) (DVD previously OOP)

[ChunkyLover]

To your last point, the fact that the right are separate isn't the issue. A licensee is usually given a chance to re-up their rights (unless they are doing things they shouldn't) before they are offered to other companies, so the current licensee should have been given the option for the UHD rights first.

Ah, I see. My mistake.

[dwk]

Ah, I see. My mistake.

I should've added that, like FrauBlucher said, it really is a courtesy to the current licensees. And when a lot of your revenue is from licensing titles to boutiques, you should be courteous.

And it is possible that MGM did offer those titles to the current licensees and they passed. (It wouldn't have shocked me if Scream passed on re-upping Invasion of the Body Snatchers because it seems to not have been a strong seller as people who bought it when it was announced as OOP still got the slipcover.)

[ChunkyLover]

And it is possible that MGM did offer those titles to the current licensees and they passed. (It wouldn't have shocked me if Scream passed on re-upping Invasion of the Body Snatchers because it seems to not have been a strong seller as people who bought it when it was announced as OOP still got the slipcover.)

I'm not surprised. In my state, at a local "liquidation" store (most of their inventory is made of either liquidation or overstock from other stores), I was surprised to see a bunch of sealed, with slips, copies of Body Snatchers selling for cheap and this was in 2017.

[Ribs]

Some Like It Hot is the 1950s MGM one.

If I'm not mistaken, Criterion did the 4K master for this. I wonder if MGM did the right thing and offered them the UHD rights first or, most likely, did they license it to Kino without letting Criterion have a chance to get them? (I have the same question about Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. Scream did the 4K, did MGM give them a chance to get the UHD rights first or not?)

I would imagine once the (presumably) three-year exclusive window is up all rights to who created the master or whatever revert back to the studio, it’s not like Criterion would be able to keep it in perpetuity just because they did the work. And as Criterion’s release will be three years old in two months that MGM are totally free to do what they want with it for releases not appearing until next year.

As much as there is genuine competition between some of these labels and labels outbid one another for titles they want I think, ultimately, Criterion wasn’t ready fast enough to make offers to reup their licenses. As Kino surely didn’t acquire all of even most of Criterion’s titles (and presumably will have more crossover with Shout and Arrow to come as well), there’s still plenty of room for Criterion to work with MGM on other titles that still would be pretty appealing as UHDs (Manchurian Candidate, for example, seems like a title I can imagine wouldn’t make the first pass of Kino or anyone to nab but still seems totally viable as a release, in my opinion).

[dwk]

Yeah. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Criterion picked up the UHD rights to stuff like Blow Out when they renewed them and/or licensed the UK rights.

I do wonder when the rights to Silence of the Lambs, Some Like it Hot and any other titles Kino has the UHD rights to expire will Criterion bother to renew the Blu-ray rights or will they let the titles go OOP.

[L.A.]

Coming November 16th on Blu-ray & DVD!
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/nigh ... es-blu-ray

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles

B&W 81 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
From John Farrow, the acclaimed director of Five Came Back, Wake Island, The Big Clock, Alias Nick Beal and Hondo, comes this supernatural film noir about a tormented magician played by Hollywood great Edward G. Robinson (Scarlet Street). When heiress Jean Courtland (Gail Russell, Calcutta) attempts suicide, her fiancé Elliott Carson (John Lund, A Foreign Affair) probes her relationship to stage mentalist John Triton (Robinson). In flashback, we see how Triton starts having terrifying flashes of true precognition. His partner, Whitney Courtland (Jerome Cowan, The Maltese Falcon), uses Triton’s talent to make money; but Triton’s inability to prevent what he foresees causes him to break up the act and become a hermit. Years later, Triton has new visions and desperately tries to prevent tragedies in the Courtland family. Can his warnings succeed against suspicion, unbelief and inexorable fate? Noir stalwarts Barré Lyndon (The Lodger) and Jonathan Latimer (The Glass Key) penned the screenplay based on the novel by master of suspense Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window).

[therewillbeblus]

Wow, excellent news- such a fun hybrid of supernatural and noir

[L.A.]

Coming November 16th!
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-accused-blu-ray

The Accused (1949)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles

B&W 101 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
Loretta Young (The Stranger, The Farmer’s Daughter) and Robert Cummings (The Bride Wore Boots, Dial M for Murder) star in the film noir classic The Accused, a story about one woman’s successful self-defense during a struggle which leads to the death of her attacker. Psychology professor Wilma Tuttle (Young) allows a male student of hers to drive her home. While en route, he attempts to rape her but is killed when his teacher fights back. After fleeing the scene, Wilma is overcome with feelings of guilt while following the murder investigation by Homicide Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey, I Walk Alone, Rear Window) and comforting her love interest Warren Ford (Cummings), who also happens to be her attacker’s guardian. Directed by William Dieterle (I’ll Be Seeing You, Portrait of Jennie) and shot by Milton R. Krasner (All About Eve, Love with the Proper Stranger), this brilliantly acted drama dives into the psyche of a woman torn apart by emotional violence.

[L.A.]

Coming November 16th!

Among the Living (1941)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney
• Trailers
• Optional English Subtitles

B&W 69 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
Albert Dekker (Dr. Cyclops), Susan Hayward (Back Street), Harry Carey (The Shepherd of the Hills) and Frances Farmer (Come and Get It) star in this gripping cinematic blend of noir thrills and Southern Gothic chills. Paul Raden (Dekker) is a hopeless maniac. Twenty-five years ago, he suffered permanent brain damage trying to defend his mother from his brutal father. Paul’s last memory, before descending into the shadows of insanity, was his mother’s agonized scream. Locked away in secrecy ever since, he escapes from his prison on the night of his father’s funeral and stalks among the living. It’s up to Paul’s identical twin John (also Dekker) to put a stop to his brother’s vicious spree. Stuart Heisler (The Glass Key, Blue Skies) directed this eerie film noir with expressionistic black-and-white photography by Theodor Sparkuhl (Beau Geste, Wake Island) that perfectly complements its dark story of madness and murder.

[DeprongMori]

Whenever I see the name Eddy Von Mueller, I keep picturing The Czar of Noir with a monocle and a dueling scar.

[nitin]

Is there one case in which a modern 2K-finished film has a 4K remaster from OCN ? They have to redo all the editing and effects if going down this route.

Not that I can think of offhand. Even Lord of the Rings was "just" a 2k upscale, so something like In Bruges doesn't stand a chance. I think I heard Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was rumoured to be, for the new Indy 4K set.

Not that there is anything wrong with a 2K upscale. Going back and redoing the entire post production of the film but in 4K would be unlikely to yield some huge upgrade anyway (precisely why films were and still are done at 2K, and that's specifically for cinema size screens!). Better to spend the money focusing on the HDR and WCG side of things, so as to yield a true upgrade.

Perhaps it's my naivete but I thought that perhaps films like In Bruges and Eastern Promises could be easily rebuilt from a new neg scan, since they do not appear to be particularly vfx heavy.

[L.A.]

Coming November 16th!
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/deported-blu-ray

Deported (1950)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller
• Trailers
• Optional English Subtitles

B&W 89 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
For one of his last Hollywood assignments, film noir master Robert Siodmak, director of The Suspect, The Spiral Staircase, The Killers, Cry of the City and Criss Cross, ventured to Italy—with legendary cinematographer William H. Daniels (The Naked City) and a script by writer/producer Robert Buckner (Bright Victory)—to film this gangster drama inspired by the deportation of real-life Mafia kingpin Lucky Luciano. Jeff Chandler (Man in the Shadow) plays Vic Smith, an American “undesirable citizen” who is shipped back to his native country of Italy. There, he gets wrapped up in a black-market ring and a romance with a beautiful widow, the virtuous Countess Christine di Lorenzi (Märta Torén, Spy Hunt), who may help put an end to Vic’s immoral ways. This riveting crime story has been one of the hardest to find of Siodmak’s American films—until now! The wonderful supporting cast includes Claude Dauphin (The Quiet American), Marina Berti (Prince of Foxes) and Richard Rober (Jet Pilot).

[EddieLarkin]

Perhaps it's my naivete but I thought that perhaps films like In Bruges and Eastern Promises could be easily rebuilt from a new neg scan, since they do not appear to be particularly vfx heavy.

I don't know the exact details of the production of each film, but I think it's very likely that the "negative" here will essentially be film rushes that were then used in an entirely digital post production workflow. Which means to bring these films into true 4K, the entire post production of the film would have to be redone, which is surely going to be a task well beyond the budget of a boutique label, special effects or no special effects.

Indicator and Michael B said as much in regards to Irreversible.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Right, the only edited, color-corrected 35mm source for these films (other than release prints, which would obviously not be suitable) is probably the internegative produced at the film-out stage, which would've only been done at 2K.

[MichaelB]

Nobody’s going to put in that degree of effort and expense to achieve something that only a handful of people will truly care about. Quite aside from anything else, it’s a certain money-loser for anyone who takes it on.

And there’s also the Pierre Menardian dilemma in that by repeating the entire post-production process you are by definition creating a new work, even if it strives to imitate the original as closely as possible - and I suspect the kind of people who are anal enough about insisting that it be natively 4K are also the kind of people who’d be the first to loudly complain about any changes.

[domino harvey]

Theseus’ ship comes to mind

[nitin]

Thanks for the replies everyone, will chalk that up to my naivete/ignorance of how DIs are/were used.

[L.A.]

Coming November 30th!
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/to-h ... ck-blu-ray

To Hell and Back (1955)
• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles

Color 106 Minutes 2.35:1 Not Rated
Audie Murphy (The Duel at Silver Creek, No Name on the Bullet, Night Passage), the most decorated American soldier of WWII, plays himself in this gripping, action-packed battle saga. Amazingly realistic war footage and true-life heroics power this compelling story of an ordinary Texas youth whose extraordinary bravery brings him unparalleled glory. But as his list of medals grows, Murphy’s Army buddies continue to fall, leaving him one of the few to recount the unforgettable tale of those who went to hell and back. Based on Murphy’s bestselling memoir, this CinemaScope classic from director Jesse Hibbs (Ride Clear of Diablo, Walk the Proud Land, Ride a Crooked Trail) was a colossal commercial success and a rousing tribute to a great American hero. The stellar cast includes Charles Drake (The Price of Fear), Jack Kelly (TV’s Maverick), David Janssen (TV’s The Fugitive), Brett Halsey (Roy Colt & Winchester Jack) and Denver Pyle (TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard).

[movielocke]

Perhaps it's my naivete but I thought that perhaps films like In Bruges and Eastern Promises could be easily rebuilt from a new neg scan, since they do not appear to be particularly vfx heavy.

I don't know the exact details of the production of each film, but I think it's very likely that the "negative" here will essentially be film rushes that were then used in an entirely digital post production workflow. Which means to bring these films into true 4K, the entire post production of the film would have to be redone, which is surely going to be a task well beyond the budget of a boutique label, special effects or no special effects.

Indicator and Michael B said as much in regards to Irreversible.

Yeah, and in particular anything before AMA era of media composer would be exceedingly difficult to resurrect the post production, and even after AMA was introduced, it's really only after resolution independent codecs like DNXHR can be combined with AMA that anyone would be able to basically flip a switch and resurrect the files to a higher scanned resolution.

Even then, no one would want to resurrect any of this in media composer if you could avoid it since no one is going to be grading in symphony, and relinking in resolve is so much easier than MC or even baselight.

but path dependency means that few productions have even switched to using AMA or DNXHR even over a decade later.

Additionally, it's all irrelevant, because feature workflows silo-and-specialize so much of how media is managed and handled from set to vendors to post to finishing that nothing is really done under one roof, so resurrecting and recreating to a higher resolution even for something like Lord of the Rings is infinitely complex. Not to mention
that post and vendors receive and deliver different files than what finishing uses. Other than picture ref, all that's really moving between departments are metadata-ish files.

TV often mimics feature workflows with the silo-and-specialize approach to media management, but there probably are some shot on film TV shows from the early 2000s that basically did everything in house and could probably upconvert archived projects from new film scans more easily (especially if they have enough data / files to pull scans of only takes that were in final picture). Then it would just be a matter of re-grading in 4k. Since that era of TV often has limited opticals it'd be the best bet to actually be a candidate for upgrading.

[FrauBlucher]

For all you Preston Sturges fans...

Coming Soon on Blu-ray!

The Great Moment (1944) Starring Joel McCrea, Betty Field, Harry Carey & William Demarest – Shot by Victor Milner (Desire) – Written & Directed by Preston Sturges (The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story).

[Feego]

That’s terrific news, as I worried this film’s low reputation might mean it would never see a Blu release. That just leaves Hail the Conquering Hero from the old Universal box, correct?

[swo17]

Yep

[captveg]

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

The Holcroft Covenant (1985) (BD) (DVD still available)
The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) (BD)
Savage Weekend (1979) (BD) (DVD still available)
Zachariah (1971) (BD) (DVD still available)

[domino harvey]

That’s terrific news, as I worried this film’s low reputation might mean it would never see a Blu release. That just leaves Hail the Conquering Hero from the old Universal box, correct?

Missed this exciting news (the Great Moment is very slept on and deserves better than it’s always gotten). KL said they couldn’t get Hail, though it’s unclear if Universal planned to release it themselves or if it was with another label