Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[rapta]

I assume it'll be the same kind of titles Kino Lorber have been putting out, which haven't had UK Blu-ray releases: The Bride Wore Black, Mississippi Mermaid, The Wild Child, The Story of Adele H, Small Change, The Man Who Loved Women, The Green Room. Perhaps they'll also revisit some of the titles Artificial Eye did and BFI passed on (Shoot the Pianist, Stolen Kisses, Bed & Board, Two English Girls, A Gorgeous Girl Like Me, Love on the Run, The Woman Next Door, Finally Sunday).

I wonder if Arrow might have a proper stab at Fahrenheit 451 one day, seeing as it needs a new restoration and they're in the best position to acquire it (or perhaps Indicator, if they could convince Universal to let them handle it).

[Drucker]

From the latest newsletter.

AVAILABILITY WATCH
The Working Class Goes to Heaven 90% sold out
Married to the Mob 90% sold out
Big Time Gambling Boss 90% sold out
Cutter's Way 60% sold out

[tenia]

I didn't realised Married to the Mob was already that close to selling out, but a STD release (without slipcover and booklet) is already pre-orderable on Radiance website (release date : April 17th).

[rapta]

I just went through my initial Radiance order - The Working Class Goes To Heaven, Big Time Gambling Boss, Miami Blues; and both Married to the Mob and Cutter's Way - and am very impressed by the quality so far. Aesthetically and physically, these are lovely objects, and the Radiance booklets are of a similar quality to Eureka's heyday (probably partly why Craig Keller is working with them on some titles). The obi strip is a nice quirk and sets them apart from all other labels, works quite well!

Looking forward to getting stuck in, and not at all regretful I've pre-ordered most of the rest of their slate - A Woman Kills, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Fill 'er Up with Super, The Man on the Roof, The Sunday Woman, and the Cosa Nostra set (as well as Man Marked for Death, Walking the Edge and Arrebato). Really looking forward to upcoming titles like Yakuza Graveyard, Witness in the City, The Facts of Murder and The Iron Prefect, as well as whatever else they have up their sleeve (especially Japanese and Hong Kong titles, really curious to see what they've got - hoping for some choice American films too).

Will be keen to see what else they're looking to release from their hosted labels too, in particular hoping for Born to Win, Rancho Deluxe and Smile from Fun City (well, pretty much their whole catalogue actually), and perhaps Sound and Fury from Altered Innocence.

[soundchaser]

I assume the delay in U.S. orders is a result of the Royal Mail cyberattack, but just making sure others are still waiting on the January bundle...

[therewillbeblus]

I got an email about that today but it didn't specify which order of mine it was affecting (Indicator or Radiance), while clearly worded to identify that it was in relation to one specifically

[swo17]

Well I just got an email this morning saying that Miami Blues and Woman Kills from my Gold Package subscription had shipped, if that's any kind of a clue

[therewillbeblus]

Well I just got an email this morning saying that Miami Blues and Woman Kills from my Gold Package subscription had shipped, if that's any kind of a clue

I got that as well (or, rather, that they were preparing it for shipping), but I also thought I got one for The Big Gundown and can't find it. Maybe that answers it, but the email saying they were preparing the Radiance order came within the same hour as the "sorry there's a delay due to cyber attack" one, so I figured it could be a takebacksie

[reaky]

Really looking forward to finding out if A Woman Kills is the carcrash Domino says, or if other members enjoy it.

[rapta]

Really looking forward to finding out if A Woman Kills is the carcrash Domino says, or if other members enjoy it.

I'll admit his comments did put me off initially, but I then read lots of positive reactions to it and it's a particularly jam-packed disc (short films etc), so I decided to take the plunge. It is the one title I'm a little more apprehensive about compared to the rest, but I'm sure it'll not be far off blind-buying your average Indicator release for example.

Just watched Married to the Mob, and what a great release it is...let's hope this relationship with FCE continues. Party Girl would be fun, not entirely sure if it's possible but I hope they can work whatever they need to work out to get that one over here. AFAIK it never had a UK release whatsoever, but we'll have to see as the first few UK titles are all MGM licenses.

[yoloswegmaster]

The Bride Wore Black, Yakuza Graveyard, and She Dies Tomorrow will be coming out in May. Standalone versions for The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Married to the Mob and Cutter's Way are coming soon as well.

[Finch]

I went for the Yakuza Graveyard/The Bride Wore Black bundle. The artwork for Bride is excellent and the release feels more substantial than Kino's.

[FrauBlucher]

A question and answer with Fran

[Calvin]

Fran has been tweeting from Berlin..

Berlin report: can potentially agree a film which we would restore, a major action film could be in the running too. Solid meetings with Japanese friends and colleagues. All to be decided at the end once we can take a view on all opportunities.

[...]

Berlin report day 2: lots of amazing meetings. So many great films out there which is going to make final selections very tough. Ultimately it will come down to who has the best material. Only one disappointment. My one disappointment of Berlin so far (or why films don’t get released): I was in advanced discussions with a licensor to do a film and we’ve met over two festivals now. The latest after material inspections is that the restoration project would be so challenging it would be…Financially impossible with this film having multiple shooting formats, colour and black and white and lots of camera effects which would add a huge cost. Furthermore it emerged that they contracts on the film are not complete and this will take a further amount of work to fix. As a project it’s not dead but in life support for a few years. Happily the licensor is committed to working at it with us over the coming years to tackle this beast!

[...]

Berlin, final report: ending on a high, fabulous meetings with some excellent titles that we will definitely move forward with. A previously difficult studio or two opening up. Plus deal closed on new hosted label, launching this autumn. All in all, a GREAT festival

[ryannichols7]

Fran tweeted about Robert Altman's birthday. considering he did other teasers this way (Truffaut) and "ALT" was on his list of hints, I wouldn't be shocked if we see an Altman release from Radiance

[knives]

Let’s get A Wedding.

[rapta]

Fran tweeted about Robert Altman's birthday. considering he did other teasers this way (Truffaut) and "ALT" was on his list of hints, I wouldn't be shocked if we see an Altman release from Radiance

Yes, and presumably some of the other teases were also for directors (Cavalier, Suzuki, Buñuel etc).

If an Altman is coming, I bet it'll either be The Player (Blue Finch Films list it in their streaming library, and Radiance licensed She Dies Tomorrow from them), or maybe one of his films that will be with MGM (Thieves Like Us, Fool for Love, O.G. & Stiggs, The Delinquents, Vincent and Theo). Or another studio/library of course, these just seem most likely.

[yoloswegmaster]

Let’s get A Wedding.

This would be great but this is with 20th Century Fox, unless a different company has it in the UK.

[therewillbeblus]

Honestly, there are only a few Altmans unreleased on blu that I want at this point. California Split ain't happening, so it's really down to HealtH and O.C. and Stiggs - as rapta just mentioned, I'm praying for the latter since it's MGM and Fran has been working with them

[Calvin]

Secret Honor hasn't seen a release in the UK since a VHS release in the 80s so I'd appreciate an upgrade for that one.

[rapta]

Honestly, there are only a few Altmans unreleased on blu that I want at this point. California Split ain't happening, so it's really down to HealtH and O.C. and Stiggs - as rapta just mentioned, I'm praying for the latter since it's MGM and Fran has been working with them

The MGM titles I mentioned are all the ones available through Park Circus (other than The Long Goodbye). My money is on either The Player or O.C. & Stiggs, as both feel like the kind of thing Radiance will be going for (Thieves Like Us might even be a future Fun City Editions title, we'll have to wait and see).

HealtH is unfortunately another Fox title, as are Quartet and A Perfect Couple (and obviously A Wedding, 3 Women and M*A*S*H), so are controlled by Disney now - who also hold UK rights for Popeye. If Radiance can successfully break through to Paramount - who are inexplicably uncooperative in the UK market when it comes to sub-licensing their back catalogue (save for a few choice examples) - they might be able to do Pret a Porter, or possibly even Short Cuts which they released on UK DVD many years ago, assuming they still have the rights. Universal also have Cookie's Fortune and The Gingerbread Man, both available via Hollywood Classics. Dr. T and the Women is a Sony title and I'm surprised Indicator haven't gone for it, especially after the California Split debacle.

I think someone mentioned a while ago that a lot of rights to Altman films have reverted back to the Altman estate though, so if that's true maybe it'd be worth trying them for some of his deeper cuts. Secret Honor would indeed be a good idea to seek out as it's one of those titles Criterion never seemed to upgrade from DVD (nearly 20 years now).

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah my understanding was that HealtH is either in the PD or that no one wants to touch it/cares about it, so I’m not sure if that works in its favor or against it, but I could be wrong about all that. I know Fran has a connect with Paramount - he asked the discord group what Paramount titles we’d like to see if he could form a deal, so that’s heartening, since I doubt he’d have wasted energy publicly gathering a working list of favorites if it was a pipe dream of hypothetical prospect.

I’d hope that Radiance would go after the underseen O.C. And Stiggs rather than release another version of The Player, but I wouldn’t blame them for going for a more high profile title either. Still, if the label is trying to be about bringing rarer works to blu ray, I’d prefer the overlap with Criterion et al’s already-released slate to be minimal

[rapta]

Wait...I just realised, as the world's slowest detective would, I could check the aforementioned handwritten list.

"OCS" is surely O.C. & Stiggs! That would obviously mean "ALT" isn't for Altman after all?

Good to hear Paramount is on the cards, could be a while though (from what I've heard from Eureka, Powerhouse and BFI, they can take forever to approve titles...we're talking years in some cases).

PS: HealtH is listed on Park Circus as a Disney title...

[swo17]

O.C. & Stiggs would be great! Also, Fran has said he generally doesn't intend to release films that have already been well served unless he can bring something substantial to a new release. I'm thinking he would consider the Criterion release of The Player to be good enough?

He did once also say that he thought many would consider the Cohen Rivettes to be "good enough"

[beamish14]

Yeah my understanding was that HealtH is either in the PD or that no one wants to touch it/cares about it, so I’m not sure if that works in its favor or against it, but I could be wrong about all that. I know Fran has a connect with Paramount - he asked the discord group what Paramount titles we’d like to see if he could form a deal, so that’s heartening, since I doubt he’d have wasted energy publicly gathering a working list of favorites if it was a pipe dream of hypothetical prospect.

I’d hope that Radiance would go after the underseen O.C. And Stiggs rather than release another version of The Player, but I wouldn’t blame them for going for a more high profile title either. Still, if the label is trying to be about bringing rarer works to blu ray, I’d prefer the overlap with Criterion et al’s already-released slate to be minimal

HealtH has insurmountable music clearance issues, which is a real shame. It exists in two separate cuts, and I believe only the second, from 1982, has been bootlegged due to infrequent cable airings. It also got a slight bump in notoriety due to being mention in Ronald Reagan’s diaries, as he didn’t recognize how the film skewers his brand of politics

To give you an idea of how little Fox gave a shit about this film, Drew Struzan’s commissioned poster was never even completed