Vinegar Syndrome and Their Partner Labels

[Peacock]

Tenia the above isn’t quite true, there have been times labels agree on region locking their titles (see the infamous Kino-MoC Metropolis mishap).

[MichaelB]

I've been directly involved with deals where there was no rightsholder compulsion to region-lock but the labels involved agreed to do it anyway as a good-faith gesture.

Direct collaboration between labels in different territories isn't at all uncommon, especially if expensive restorations are involved, and so there's a lot to be said for maintaining good relationships. In fact, in some cases they use exactly the same video encodes - and sometimes they even release exactly the same disc, with the player serving up appropriately branded menus depending on whether it's set to Region A or B. (The Arrow/Flicker Alley film noir collaborations are a good example of this.)

[tenia]

Tenia the above isn’t quite true, there have been times labels agree on region locking their titles (see the infamous Kino-MoC Metropolis mishap).

Yes, I remember that one in particular, and is something I mention ("When it's between them, it seem also like a different negociation than, say, a supplier pressuring a dealer not to offer a competing product by using his weight in the sales as a lever, ie it looks more like a two-way discussion, not an asymetrical one."). I, however, am strongly under the impression that region-locking is much more a matter of rightholders than later deals between labels.

With that being written, good timing :

I've been directly involved with deals where there was no rightsholder compulsion to region-lock but the labels involved agreed to do it anyway as a good-faith gesture.

Would you say it's, indeed, usually more often a rightholder contractual thing or more often an arrangement between labels ?

[MichaelB]

Oh, it's overwhelmingly rightsholder-imposed - but my point was that it's not exclusively that.

And of course some labels region-lock automatically, to the point where I was genuinely surprised that Criterion's Ingmar Bergman box was region-free. (Have any of their other BD releases been region-free?)

Incidentally, StudioCanal always region-locks, which is interesting as they own their films outright so technically don't need to - so I wonder if that's a good-faith gesture to potential North American licensors? They're also the only rightsholder which has insisted that Indicator region-lock dual-territory releases - i.e. simultaneously to Regions A and B, shutting out Region C. Every other dual-territory Indicator release is region-free.

[tenia]

Thanks for these intel, it's always good to get first-hand confirmation (so that I'll know I'm not spreading misinformation regarding this !).
As for Criterion's Region free : there aren't many others, but the most prominent one probably is the Varda set (ie another set).
The other ones (ABC) are their Netflix-licenced titles : The Irishman, Marriage Story, Okja, Roma, Rolling Thunder Revue and The Power of the Dog. Come and See is AB.
Finally, Andrei Rublev and War and Peace were originally Region A, but have been second-printed ABC following their UK releases' debacles.

[dwk]

Someone posted an ad from VS from Videoscope Magazine that shows they will will be releasing Polanski's The Tenant on UHD

[yoloswegmaster]

(Side note : I still wonder about the seemingly specific targetting of Criterion by JLaLibs, as he does buy a lot of them, and also, you'll never guess who went to the Criterion Mobile Closet)
(But answered he doesn't remember what he picked to someone who asked him)

He's been to the actual Criterion closet/office as well, so his targetting is just bizarre.

[Yakushima]

Someone posted an ad from VS from Videoscope Magazine that shows they will will be releasing Polanski's The Tenant on UHD

Wow, this is fantastic! Hopefully, this will pave the way for more Polanski's films on 4K UHD in the near future.

[beamish14]

Someone posted an ad from VS from Videoscope Magazine that shows they will will be releasing Polanski's The Tenant on UHD

Wow, this is fantastic! Hopefully, this will pave the way for more Polanski's films on 4K UHD in the near future.

I wish A Day at the Beach or The Boat on the Grass would get releases

[domino harvey]

Someone should ignore his wishes and release his gorgeous (and quite lengthy) portmanteau sequence from Les plus belles escroqueries du monde (which was cut from Olive’s Blu at his request, but somehow still showed up in the limited run Polish Polanski box) - I’d double dip on any disc that had that included

[Beloved Aunt]

Someone should fork over some cash to restore Pirates, is what someone should do as well. Although they'd probably get the same result financially as if they put their money in a sack and threw it over a cliff!

[dwk]

Shanks UHD (Cinematographe)
Dial D For Demons (VSA)
Mind Benders (VSA)
Forgotten Gialli Vol. 7 (Mystère, Obsession: A Taste for Fear, Sweets from a Stranger)
The Ghost Dance
Corpse Mania UHD
The Tenant UHD

Partner labels:
Abducted (CIP)
Attachment (SHudder)
Coma (Film Movement)
Cult of AGFA Trailer Show (AGFA)
Dude Bro Massacre III (Dekanalog)
Feardotcom (Dark Star)
The Found Footage Phenomenon (SHudder)
Give Me an A (XYZ Films)
Gut Pile (Saturn's Core)
In Memorium (Bleeding Skull)
Karnal (Kani)
Kid Thing (Factory 25)
Murder Party (Magnolia)
Night (VHSHitfest)
Plastic / Yamato (California) (Kani)
Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (ETR Media)
Red Peony Gambler 1-3 (Film Movement)
The Reflecting Skin (Film Movement)
The snowtown Murders (IFC)
Swallowed (Yellow Veil Pictures)
Zombi Child (Film Movement)

[Ogre Kovacs]

(see the infamous Kino-MoC Metropolis mishap).

That's the one I was thinking of. Not Shout / Arrow. I was off on all counts.

[yoloswegmaster]

The Tenant UHD

This has a French-dub that won't be translated. I see that this also appears on the Shout disc as well. Does anyone know if Shout translated that track?

[EddieLarkin]

Shanks UHD (Cinematographe)
Dial D For Demons (VSA)
Mind Benders (VSA)
Forgotten Gialli Vol. 7 (Mystère, Obsession: A Taste for Fear, Sweets from a Stranger)
The Ghost Dance
Corpse Mania UHD
The Tenant UHD

Partner labels:
Abducted (CIP)
Attachment (SHudder)
Coma (Film Movement)
Cult of AGFA Trailer Show (AGFA)
Dude Bro Massacre III (Dekanalog)
Feardotcom (Dark Star)
The Found Footage Phenomenon (SHudder)
Give Me an A (XYZ Films)
Gut Pile (Saturn's Core)
In Memorium (Bleeding Skull)
Karnal (Kani)
Kid Thing (Factory 25)
Murder Party (Magnolia)
Night (VHSHitfest)
Plastic / Yamato (California) (Kani)
Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (ETR Media)
Red Peony Gambler 1-3 (Film Movement)
The Reflecting Skin (Film Movement)
The snowtown Murders (IFC)
Swallowed (Yellow Veil Pictures)
Zombi Child (Film Movement)

Since Melusine.com IS Vinegar Syndrome rather than "just" a Partner Label, I do feel they shouldn't keep getting left out of these monthly breakdowns. Especially when this time they're announcing a film as big as Through the Looking Glass on UHD.

[Grand Wazoo]

I never saw a Shanks 4K coming. I highly recommend William Castle's memoir as it's wildly entertaining and the section on Shanks and Marcel Marceau is brief but illuminating.

[knives]

It’s also just a great movie in itself. Easily my favorite.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I can't believe someone is bothering with Feardotcom. Truly one of the most abysmal, incomprehensible films I've ever seen.

[domino harvey]

VS clearly getting in on Bonello Mania here with the two (partner) releases this month

[domino harvey]

Also, their release of the Tenant has almost the same extras as the OOP Shout Blu (and the running time of the Polanski interview on Shout's disc is five minutes longer, so not sure if these are different or if the VS one is edited), with Samm Deighan's piece being replaced by Thrower's (the only new extra, from what I can tell, unless the Polanski interview is different)

[CSM126]

I can't believe someone is bothering with Feardotcom. Truly one of the most abysmal, incomprehensible films I've ever seen.

Yeah, but it has interesting visuals that will probably look good on a blu-ray, so someone will buy it.

[dwk]

Since Melusine.com IS Vinegar Syndrome rather than "just" a Partner Label, I do feel they shouldn't keep getting left out of these monthly breakdowns. Especially when this time they're announcing a film as big as Through the Looking Glass on UHD.

You are right, I often forget about them. Going forward, I'll remember to post their new releases as well.

[beamish14]

I can't believe someone is bothering with Feardotcom. Truly one of the most abysmal, incomprehensible films I've ever seen.

Stephen Rea is pretty hysterical in it. WB really was making an exceptional amount of camp nonsense at the time

[therewillbeblus]

Coma is a wildly creative reflexive gem, glad it's getting a physical release

[Mr. Deltoid]

The Tenant UHD

This has a French-dub that won't be translated. I see that this also appears on the Shout disc as well. Does anyone know if Shout translated that track?

Huh? No English-subtitled French soundtrack? The French dub adds immeasurably to the film's atmosphere and was how I watched it on the original dvd 20+ years ago. Adjani's horrible English dub breaks the spell.