Vinegar Syndrome and Their Partner Labels

[What A Disgrace]

Speaking Parts will likely be sold out before the end of the day. Wow.

[EddieLarkin]

You mean, the slipcover will be sold out.

[What A Disgrace]

The non-limited edition is also quite low in numbers, though I assume it will be reprinted.

[Matt]

Plus Altered Innocence is putting out an early film by Patrice Chéreau (who would go on to La Reine Margot, Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train and Intimacy) The Wounded Man which features a very early Jean-Hugues Anglade starring role, pre-Subway and Betty Blue.

This film may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s been out of circulation for a very long time. It’s a precursor to sour anti-romance films like Betty Blue, and it’s got Denis Lavant in a small role (if that’s any kind of recommendation).

[therewillbeblus]

Well, I was interested, but Betty Blue is probably my all-time least favorite movie and one of the most unknowingly offensive so I guess I’ll pass

[beamish14]

I’m so happy to see Speaking Parts sell at a breakneck pace. Maybe they or Fun City can give The Adjuster the HD release it desperately needs

[What A Disgrace]

Meanwhile, Kanehsatake's slipcover still has some 300 copies left. Hopefully CIP releases will not only become more popular, but they'll expand the run of slipcovers.

[yoloswegmaster]

I’m so happy to see Speaking Parts sell at a breakneck pace. Maybe they or Fun City can give The Adjuster the HD release it desperately needs

The Adjuster is with Criterion and will probably be paired with a future release of The Sweet Hereafter, just like how they added Calendar to the Exotica release. In the meantime, it is available to stream on the Channel if you want to watch it.

[therewillbeblus]

The AE set is still a steal in the meantime

[colinr0380]

Plus Altered Innocence is putting out an early film by Patrice Chéreau (who would go on to La Reine Margot, Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train and Intimacy) The Wounded Man which features a very early Jean-Hugues Anglade starring role, pre-Subway and Betty Blue.

This film may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s been out of circulation for a very long time. It’s a precursor to sour anti-romance films like Betty Blue, and it’s got Denis Lavant in a small role (if that’s any kind of recommendation).

Plus Wim Wenders (and Radio On!) actress Lisa Kreuzer! All of that put together looks very interesting.

[Matt]

Well, I was interested, but Betty Blue is probably my all-time least favorite movie and one of the most unknowingly offensive so I guess I’ll pass

I suppose it depends on why you don’t like Betty Blue. If it’s Béatrice Dalle’s flailing and caterwauling, you have none of that here. If it’s Jean-Hughes Anglade acting bewildered and out of his depth, well…

[therewillbeblus]

None of those things would bother me enough on their own to make such a declaration. I talked about my issues here

[headacheboy]

You mean, the slipcover will be sold out.

See, I didn't realize they had two counts for the two different versions and didn't even realize there were two versions (slipcover or no slipcover). I find Vinegar Syndrome' a touch confusing. I know nothing about their subscription but everything I see seems to indicate it isn't part of their subscription service. I would never subscribe to their releases because they don't traffic in a lot of things I'm interested in, but I do try and keep an eye on them. I might be wiser to subscribe to their newsletter!

[SeizureMilk]

Am I the only one who’s really excited about the potential possibilities surrounding The Hourglass Sanatorium, too many great movies have been trapped under bare-bones Mr. Bongo releases. Obviously there’s The Saragossa Manuscript but also the Kozintsev films, the Dovzhenko trilogy, their Buñuels, their Rays, By the Bluest of Seas and especially Black God, White Devil amongst others. Now whether you like these films is purely subjective but the fact is these are World Cinema classics tossed like they’re Direct to DVD. Thank you for reading.

[ryannichols7]

Speaking Parts with the slip is in stock at Orbit. punched in an order quick!

[Matt]

Plus Altered Innocence is putting out an early film by Patrice Chéreau (who would go on to La Reine Margot, Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train and Intimacy) The Wounded Man which features a very early Jean-Hugues Anglade starring role, pre-Subway and Betty Blue.

Got my copy yesterday and gave it a spin tonight. I haven’t seen it in a good 30 years, but my reaction to it was almost the same. It’s a very odd film, similar to a middle-period Fassbinder film with its focus on searching for human connection on the margins of and in the underbelly of society. It’s also a resolutely unerotic film, despite its reputation and its prevalent nudity. It’s less an erotic thriller than it is a depiction of wild animals on the hunt. Anglade darts around, wild-eyed, like a spooked rabbit; Vittorio Mezzogiorno (so handsome he’s ugly or vice-versa) is a wolf on the prowl, appearing and disappearing behind darkened corners; and Roland Bertin is a great bear drunk on rotten fruit and stumbling through the woods. The sex in the movie—and there really isn’t any in a conventional sense—is more like a small animal trying to rip meat off a larger carcass. If you were uncharitable you would think that these actors had never seen anyone kiss or make love, but the hungry brutality of it feels entirely intentional.

(And I knew that Denis Lavant showed up somewhere, but he only appears as a guy cruising a men’s room giving someone that fatal Denis Lavant stare. No dialogue, but unmistakably him.)

The extras consist of two scholarly-style video essays (generally not my cup of tea) and a couple of trailers. Nice transfer with some slight and almost unnoticeable technical glitches in a couple of scenes. Worth splurging on if it’s the kind of thing you think you might be interested in.

I also watched the Altered Innocence release of Wild Reeds, and I’d say about the same regarding the transfer and extras. Though the three primary actors (Gaël Morel, Stéphane Rideau, and Élodie Bouchez) all went on to continued success in film, it feels like Téchiné caught lightning in a bottle with them here, capturing their and their characters’ confused, emotional youth at a crucial turning point. Lovely film, and more sweetly chaste than I remembered it.

[Aunt Peg]

My copy of The Wounded Man is on it's way. It is more than 30 years since I saw it and to be honest I really couldn't pin the film down and didn't know what to make of it at the time. I'm so curious to revisit it.

[What A Disgrace]

I'm glad CIP and Kani Releasing seem to be increasing the amount of effort they put into their releases. Kani's Sell Out! and now Bullets Over Summer have extensive extras that go above and beyond their earliest releases (and don't forget Viva Erotica, which had their first newly recorded commentary track), and CIP's last couple of 'arthouse' releases have not only exclusive new commentaries but thicker booklets.

[criterionsnob]

More Claire Denis on Blu-ray is always welcome: Trouble Every Day (The Film Desk)

[Finch]

Also, The Tale of Tsar Saltan!

and Irreversible from Altered Innocence. Considering how hateful the movie is towards the LGBT community, I'm a little annoyed that it's coming from Altered Innocence of all partner labels.

Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds from Umbrella looks interesting!

[ianthemovie]

Also worth noting: The Saragossa Manuscript from Yellow Veil.

[What A Disgrace]

A New Old Play sounds wonderful. I think I saw it mentioned by a poster, here? Probably the film I'm most interested in seeing.

The Saragossa Manuscript from Yellow Veil leaves me hopeful that the label will release other Has films in quick succession. His last film, The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober, sounds right up the alley of most people who would buy the other two films and want to see more.

[Matt]

Irreversible from Altered Innocence. Considering how hateful the movie is towards the LGBT community, I'm a little annoyed that it's coming from Altered Innocence of all partner labels.

It will probably be a big moneymaker for them, but yeah I wish it was someone else. Or that they were releasing Noe’s I Stand Alone which is at least a better film.

[Finch]

Finalised specs for the Showgirls 4k

• 3-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray x2
• 4K UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
• Newly restored by Vinegar Syndrome from an existing director approved 4K studio master
• Includes original 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo soundtrack options
• "The Greatest Movie Ever Made" - commentary track with writer David Schmader
• "More Vegas Than Vegas" - an interview with director Paul Verhoeven
• "You Gotta Gamble if You’re Gonna Win" - interview with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas
• "All that Glitters: Filming Showgirls" - interview with cinematographer Jost Vacano & Performance Lighting Designer Peter Morse
• "The Rhythm of Chaos" - interview with co-editors Mark Helfrich & Mark Goldblatt
• "Born to Dance" - interview with actress Rena Riffel
• "Free Lap Dance with Every Large Popcorn: The Cult of Showgirls" - interview with Midnight Mass Podcast hosts Peaches Christ & Michael Varrati
• Special ‘Behind-the-scenes’ Featurette
• A Showgirls Diary
• Lap Dance Tutorial Featuring the World-Famous Girls of Scores
• Original trailer
• 40-page perfect bound book with essays by Elizabeth Purchell, Abbey Bender and Adam Nayman
• Reversible sleeve artwork
• English SDH subtitles

[ianthemovie]

Irreversible from Altered Innocence. Considering how hateful the movie is towards the LGBT community, I'm a little annoyed that it's coming from Altered Innocence of all partner labels.

It will probably be a big moneymaker for them, but yeah I wish it was someone else. Or that they were releasing Noe’s I Stand Alone which is at least a better film.

Irreversible is indeed quite problematic, even exploitative, in its handling of LGBTQ themes; that seemed unmistakable to me upon first seeing the film. My sense is that many (younger?) queer film fans don't necessarily share this view, and may be all the more eager to engage with the film because of its controversial and extreme depictions of sex and the underground gay bar scene, in a very similar way to what has happened with Cruising over the last decade or so. In light of that I think this release is on-brand for a label like Altered Innocence, which gravitates toward the more provocative and outré end of the LGBTQ-cinema spectrum in a way that I often find to be refreshing and brave. I still don't care to own Irreversible but I hope it brings in lots of money for the label and allows them to put out many more interesting titles.