Imprint

[therewillbeblus]

Wow, three winners!

[domino harvey]

The German Blu-ray of the Yards is already stacked, but those other two are great, great additions

[swo17]

Yep

[tolbs1010]

I finally relented and paid $32+ for an Imprint release -- The Winslow Boy. Love the film and didn't want to wait any longer for a U.S. blu release. While the Imprint is certainly a big improvement over the very subpar original DVD, I have to say the quality of the print is disappointing considering the price paid. Quite a lot of flecks and other print damage throughout. It's not horrendous but definitely noticeable.

Wondering if other Imprint releases have similar issues. The Gambler, After Dark My Sweet, and a couple of other Imprint titles are on my radar, but I doubt I will shell out for them based on this initial purchase.

[swo17]

I haven't watched those specific ones yet, but that's probably about what you'll get with most of their releases--generally solid upgrades over old DVDs but no jaw-dropping restorations like you'd see from, say, Arrow or BFI

[cdnchris]

From what i can tell (and others have said, like swo above) they take whatever master they can and slap it on without any further work. If its from a new 4K scan it might look fine, otherwise its probably a DVD era "restoration"/master. I thought a streaming version of Double Jeopardy that my wife watches on repeat looked better than their Blu-ray. I wasn't all that impressed with the Gong Li set either, nor Drugstore Cowboy. As Good As it Gets looks fine.

[tolbs1010]

Appreciate the feedback. I guess I wanted a little wow factor, or at least some new bonus features, to justify the high price point. Still happy to have a fairly crisp-looking version of this great film. Hawthorne and Northam are both brilliant in it. Even Rebecca Pidgeon's unfeeling monotone seems right in the role she plays.

[ryannichols7]

their releases are certainly a godsend for Australians, who are usually stuck paying the high imports from all the other English-friendly labels around. but for the rest of us, they really aren't great value at all, even the releases feel pretty cheap in hand. I do appreciate the slip/interior having original art and new art, but the lack of booklets or any sort of other special packaging makes it feel kinda whatever. I do own Days of Heaven for the Adrian Martin track (and it's a top 10 movie for me) and The Straight Story cause I got it at a good price (and it's one of the only Lynch movies I like), but I haven't been moved to hunt down much more. Hard Eight will surely, eventually get released by someone in America/UK, as would something like As Good as it Gets (post-Twilight Time). I can't help but wonder if this is how Aussies feel after they import Kino releases, but even those usually have more consistent transfers!

I'll be in the market for The Desperate Hours though, Bogart/Wyler is too good a combo to pass up.

[vsski]

My only experience with them has been the Gong Li / Zhang Yimou set and as I posted in that thread it’s a mixed bag, but not the knock-out package it could have been (still don’t know why it rates so high on many people’s best lists for last year).
Based on this experience I don’t feel like buying from them again unless it’s a movie I can’t live without AND a release in another region is highly unlikely.

[swo17]

Their main selling point is that they're releasing a ton of stuff on Blu-ray for the first time. (I suppose Kino is an apt comparison, as is Twilight Time.) The Collaborations set is great simply because it exists. Sure, if all that can be done with the existing materials is to plop them on discs and package them together, then anyone could do it. But no one but Imprint has bothered

[L.A.]

A Reflection of Fear (1972)

Is this a good film? Anyone?

[swo17]

Yes, I found it a very effective mood piece. It's already OOP but there are still copies available for ~$30 from Amazon, DeepDiscount, and eBay. I thought I remembered seeing that someone like Kino would be putting out another edition soon, but I'm not finding that now

[L.A.]

Thanks for your reply. JB Hi-fi has a 20% off sale so was thinking about that plus Marooned.

[Ovader]

Adrian Martin has recorded commentaries for three further films all appearing probably in the early months of next year. Two have an 'Aussie connection' and the third is contemporary USA auteur cinema.

I assumed the Aussie Connection was Ned Kelly but that was released in last October. Stanley Kramer's On the Beach has an Aussie connection with some Australian survivors as characters and is listed on Martin's audio commentaries here but not yet announced by Imprint. The USA auteur must have been Alan Rudolph's Mortal Thoughts in the box set After Dark: Neo Noir Cinema Collection One.

[therewillbeblus]

The German Blu-ray of the Yards is already stacked, but those other two are great, great additions

I see two German blus- the StudioCanal and another, recent Paramount one. Both seem to have both cuts and the correct AR per blu-ray.com specs, but does anyone know if they're replicas or if only the SC is stacked with extras/has corrected technical features? I ask because I'm struggling to find the SC blu available anywhere and don't wanna buy the other one if it's no good

[domino harvey]

No idea, sorry. But the SC one has the Soderbergh commentary. Might be worth waiting to see if it’s all ported over to the Imprint?

[therewillbeblus]

No idea, sorry. But the SC one has the Soderbergh commentary. Might be worth waiting to see if it’s all ported over to the Imprint?

Is it an Easter egg? The German SC blu doesn't advertise with a Soderbergh commentary on the back from what I'm finding online, and I don't see it listed as extras on most sites describing the features

[domino harvey]

I thought it was on there but apparently is only on the original DVD release. My bad!

[therewillbeblus]

All good, all the more reason to wait on the Imprint specs I suppose!

[therewillbeblus]

A Reflection of Fear (1972)

Is this a good film? Anyone?

Yes, I found it a very effective mood piece. It's already OOP but there are still copies available for ~$30 from Amazon, DeepDiscount, and eBay. I thought I remembered seeing that someone like Kino would be putting out another edition soon, but I'm not finding that now

I'll second this as a fantastic release, and I wouldn't want to see it 'cleaned up' any more than it already is, for whatever master they used contains the appropriate washed-out, hazy clarity to service the film's dreamlike aesthetic, mimicking Locke's dissonant relationship with the real world. As swo says, it's an extremely effective psychological thriller, where instead of emphasizing the narrative mystery, the central conceit is definitively to invert the psychological experience onto Sondra Locke's Marguerite and hold us close as she's drenched of all her protective layers shielding social confusion and thoroughly corporeal suffering. Even the ending packs an earned punch of pathos

Spoiler

where instead of a 'Psyche!' Sleepaway Camp "twist" meant to shock the audience via manipulation, Marguerite's unsupported trans gender identity confusion is deeply tragic, since we've been along for the ride with her as allies all along. I love how we're left with as much mystery over which 'direction' might satisfy her as she is- an outdated prognosis perhaps, but one that's crucial to understanding this character; who has been resilient for 15 years trying on both and still coming up as lost as ever...

It's significant that Shaw too treats her with surging empathy in the final moments, forsaking self-preservation when she's literally trying to kill him, as his love comes too little too late- just as he had predicted at the outset. It's a powerfully candid finish, after the film postured briefly at some incestuous possibilities, to find Shaw's instincts were correct about his daughter's victimhood and that his motives were pure. There are few scenes as disturbing as the masturbation one- but not as much for the awkward experience Kellerman has, which would be/has been the surrogate focus in most of these kinds of films. It's Marguerite who we constantly mourn for, even here as she disrupts intimacy, even when she's creepy, and even if we know she's probably the one killing people, or some split identity within her is. The surface level facts and judgments cease to matter much when you empathize with your characters this well.

Highly recommended.

[tenia]

I'll second this as a fantastic release, and I wouldn't want to see it 'cleaned up' any more than it already is, for whatever master they used contains the appropriate washed-out, hazy clarity to service the film's dreamlike aesthetic, mimicking Locke's dissonant relationship with the real world.

While I understand your point, this release is obviously using a very dated master, so part of what you're describing, even if fitting the movie, most likely shouldn't be there. However, there are plenty of movies whose older masters were discussed this way and that proved that competent restorations could still keep what definitely should be there while overcoming the limitations of the older masters (like Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

[therewillbeblus]

Really? The film seems deliberately shot to create this dreamscape atmosphere, which fits with how plenty of films were shot in the 70s. I'm reminded of Images and the films of Robert Altman that manipulated the photography in particular. I'm not saying the film looks as good as it could, but that even an updated master wouldn't clear all the fog that's there by design. I guess my point isn't that, even if the master is outdated and Kino or some company is going to maybe put this out at some point, it's worth grabbing the OOP Imprint now because the movie not only looks great for an outdated master, but it works in favor of the vibe.

[tenia]

It's likely, given the look of the Imprint disc, the the movie is indeed supposed to be dreamlike and foggy, but it's likely it would be more detailed and film-like through a new master while still keeping its dreamlike look (like Images), while from what I saw so far of it, it currently also looks smooth and thick (as outdated masters often tend to be), which the movie is unlikely to be supposed to be.
But again, I understand what you mean, I just tend to be cautious about this kind of technical-visual relationship, as I've been burnt before.

[jazzo]

JB Hi-Fi is having a buy one get one free sale right now, so a good time to catch up on any Aussie imports (including Imprint and Sunburnt stuff).

[hearthesilence]

I didn't realize The Straight Story was actually derived from a new 4K restoration.