MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[peerpee]

No - this will be a normal Eureka release. It's not part of The Masters of Cinema Series.

[sidehacker]

That's what I was thinking. Seemed a little out of place with you guys.

[Ted Todorov]

Maybe MoC should release some Rivette if Criterion won't. I want to see Duelle (une quarantine), so maybe they can put that out along with Noroît like France did.

I'll certainly be lining up for MoC Rivette BDs! Eustache also!

[bearcuborg]

Is there another sound era director so neglected as Rivette? :-k

Hell, even Moullet got himself a nice boxset a couple of years ago.

[Ted Todorov]

Indeed, it's a race... but consider this: (these figures are not scientific, but they're close) --- 90% of households in the UK have access to some form of DVD player. Less than 1% of households in the UK have access to a Blu-ray player....... and our sales are split 50/50 between DVD and Blu-ray. This speaks volumes.

It does speak volumes -- but what does it say? Is it that DVDs aren't being bought due to massive piracy? Or that art film collectors are disproportionate Blu-ray owners? Or that BD is rekindling the collector spark that had died out with the maturity of the DVD era?

I'd point to #3 as the biggest factor. I don't even own a BD player yet I just bought a whole pile of Criterion & Kubrick BDs. New, exciting, 50% off at Amazon
DVD collecting seems old hat, I've too many. Unless it is a director I've been dying for like Rivette or Eustache I have very little incentive to buy. Legal HD downloads are the next frontier. They don't take up visible space, thus greatly reducing the Wife Anger Factor. I'm pretty much done with TV on DVD/BD for instance -- either I record them via EyeTV or download in HD via iTunes.

[Tommaso]

Is there another sound era director so neglected as Rivette?

Not if you think of directors from Western Europe and the US, though you might argue that Greenaway comes close with the absence of key works like "Prospero's Books", and a lot of other films only available in shoddy to average transfers. And don't forget Rossellini, most of all!

But if you look to Japan, the absence of English-friendly editions of a lot of important films by Oshima, Shindo, Shinoda, Naruse and so on is disturbing. But God bless MoC that they have at least done SOMETHING about it.

[Michael Kerpan]

But if you look to Japan, the absence of English-friendly editions of a lot of important films by Oshima, Shindo, Shinoda, Naruse and so on is disturbing. But God bless MoC that they have at least done SOMETHING about it.

There were English-friendly Japanese DVDs of a number of films by both Shinoda and Shindo. These may be out of print by now, however.

[Tommaso]

Yes, you're right of course; I should have written: English-friendly and out on disc in Europe or the US. I'm aware of the Japanese Shinoda discs, but they are simply a little too expensive for me, I'm afraid, though I was able to find the disc of Shinoda's "Under the Cherry Blossom trees" at an acceptable price. I still wonder why MoC didn't release this and opted for "Silence" instead. Magnificent film and very good image quality indeed.

[Michael Kerpan]

Yes, you're right of course; I should have written: English-friendly and out on disc in Europe or the US. I'm aware of the Japanese Shinoda discs, but they are simply a little too expensive for me, I'm afraid, though I was able to find the disc of Shinoda's "Under the Cherry Blossom trees" at an acceptable price. I still wonder why MoC didn't release this and opted for "Silence" instead. Magnificent film and very good image quality indeed.

Well, I favor Ballad of Orin even more. ;~}

Note: MacArthur's Children never seems to have made it to DVD even in Japan.

[doc mccoy]

Nick,

Really liked Laloux's Gandahar - do you plan to release any more animated features next year?

[peerpee]

We're busy on the next 12 or so discs still to come in 2009, then we're going to take a strong look at 2010 and see what's firming up. Right now, we know only a handful of things for 2010, but they seem eons away because we've got so much to do to get there. We've got a couple of animations on our wishlist, but we're not close to securing them. Glad you liked GANDAHAR.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Would that interest in animation include some Prevertian dialogue by any chance?

[peerpee]

If you're referring to LE ROI ET L'OISEAU, that's with Studio Canal, and thus with Optimum Releasing. So - no. (Sadly.).

[Zazou dans le Metro]

If you're referring to LE ROI ET L'OISEAU, that's with Studio Canal, and thus with Optimum Releasing. So - no. (Sadly.).

I was. Sorry a rush of blood to the head on my part. I forgot about the Studio Canal - Optimum tie up. A not very happy liason in my book .
Anyway forget about everything else just do us a bumper bundle Epstein set. On the subject of which . Have you seen Termaji? Is this something you could add? If you are indeed doing any of the Brittany films.

http://lahuit.lexio.fr/article/fra/jean-epstein-termaji" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[perkizitore]

Nick, I appreciate that you are so upfront about MoC's future plans. Other companies may not have warned their customers about the planned changes at all. I'm also sympathetic towards the argument that prepping a DVD and Blu-Ray for the same title eats away at your resources. If CC (and Warner and Paramount) decide to follow suit and Oppo release a reasonably priced multi-region BR player that also plays DVDs regardless of their region code within the next two years, I might just be tempted to upgrade.

I can see your point, but if the Criterion blu-rays start to come out the way their DVD releases do, i won't be able to afford the future releases and still have money to buy everything released in a 2-3 year period =P~

[James]

So, does anyone want to take a few guesses as to the extras we'll get with À nos amours? Will they bring the Criterion stuff over? Will it be two-disc? I'm guessing they'll officially announce Under the Sun of Satan soon.

[domino harvey]

It will surely be a port of the French disc's extras, as with the other releases

[cana7cl]

Nick, any news on Naruse Vol. 2?

I loved Vol. 1. Very well done.

[James]

It will surely be a port of the French disc's extras, as with the other releases

I couldn't find any information about this. Are there any extras to speak of?

[peerpee]

Nick, any news on Naruse Vol. 2?

I loved Vol. 1. Very well done.

NARUSE VOLUME 1 sold well at first, but then completely tailed off. Which is worrying when you have a lot of stock in storage. I think if we'd released it on Blu-ray, the sales would have been more consistent over time (due to the difficulty and impracticality of copying Blu-rays).

Glad you liked VOLUME 1, but a VOLUME 2 is not looking likely I'm afraid. What would be more likely is that we cherrypick a couple of titles and release them singly, but nothing is scheduled for the next year.

[Michael Kerpan]

NARUSE VOLUME 1 sold well at first, but then completely tailed off. Which is worrying when you have a lot of stock in storage. I think if we'd released it on Blu-ray, the sales would have been more consistent over time (due to the difficulty and impracticality of copying Blu-rays).

Glad you liked VOLUME 1, but a VOLUME 2 is not looking likely I'm afraid. What would be more likely is that we cherrypick a couple of titles and release them singly, but nothing is scheduled for the next year.

Sad -- but totally expected "news". That set deserved to have sustained sales over a long period of time.

[HerrSchreck]

Oh well, it's going to be television broadcast quality for years to come then, it seems, for things like HIT AND RUN, AVALANCHE, THE WHOLE FAMILY WORKS, etc.. at least there's Chinese DVD for things like LIGHTNING.

This unfortunate announcement makes the inevitable Eclipse set all the more crucial. Volume One was great, Nick-- it deserves a hell of a lot more sales. Loved all of it.

[Murdoch]

This unfortunate announcement makes the inevitable Eclipse set all the more crucial. Volume One was great, Nick-- it deserves a hell of a lot more sales. Loved all of it.

Is the Naruse eclipse a definite future release? It would be a shame to see this great artist continue to be ill-represented on dvd. Loved the MoC Naruse, actually all MoC boxsets are a thing of beauty.

[HerrSchreck]

I'd be REAL surprised if there wasn't at some point down the line. I mean he's one of the big four: Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Naruse-- the pre-New Wave masters of Japanese film as they presently stand, at least as far as the West is concerned.

[James]

I hope Masters of Cinema releases Breaking the Waves. Please?