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yoshimori wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:49 pm The source for the series, Shuang Xuetao's novella "Moses on the Plain", was also the source for a 2021 Chinese film on my "to see" list, Zhang Ji's Fire on the Plain, also exec produced by Diao Yinan.

The scuttlebutt is that this movie (which dropped out of sight after a few festival bookings) was rejected by the Film Bureau over "subject-matter issues" and written off by the producers, implying it's been banned outright and no amount of recutting could save it. If it sounds odd that a webseries based on the same subject matter could be released, online series are overseen by a different agency and generally held to less restrictive standards than movies.

Thanks for the update. Makes me more eager (and less likely) to see the film version.

Three new titles from Shanghai Film Studio were announced:
Xie Jin's Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1981) & The Herdsman (1982), as well as Shen Yaoting's amazing film-noir Murder in 405 (1980). All restored in 2K.

I just noticed group buys are open for Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn, and Dislocation. The King Hu films have been up since last month. I don't know how much longer they'll stay open

Pre-order for OLD WELL is up, detailed specs:
2K restoration from the original materials by Xi'an Film Studio, with additional corrections and adjustments done by Disk Kino in 2023
Original Mandarin track in LPCM Mono
Brand new Tony Rayns interview on OLD WELL (HD, 52 minutes)
1989 documentary NEW CHINESE CINEMA directed by Tony Rayns, with a brand new transfer from the original non-subtitled tape (54 minutes)
Newly edited Wu Tian'ming interview, shot in 1987 for Tony Rayns' documentary NEW CHINESE CINEMA (21 minutes)

Disk Kino also announced some new titles:
A Moment of Romance (1990) in UHD
After Separation (1992)
The Sword Identity (2011)
One and Four (2021)
Across the Furious Sea (2023)

yoshimori wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:49 pm
The source for the series, Shuang Xuetao's novella "Moses on the Plain", was also the source for a 2021 Chinese film on my "to see" list, Zhang Ji's Fire on the Plain, also exec produced by Diao Yinan.

A March 2nd profile of Shuang Xuetao in The New York Times ("Murder and Magic Realism: A Rising Literary Star Mines China’s Rust Belt") implies this will finally be released: 'A movie adaptation of “Moses on the Plain,” slated to premier in China in 2020, was delayed without explanation. It is now expected this year, with a more secular title: “Fire on the Plain."'

Great news. Thanks, moriam.

I might be in for a group buy if there was sufficient interest in the A Moment of Romance 4K or any of the other new announcements. Now that Eureka announced Valiant Ones on 4K and BD, we can probably expect 4Ks of Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn so I would forego importing those two.

Cao Baoping's Across the Furious Sea will be the next release from Disk Kino, coming soon on April 29th. The extras will be EPK materials and an exclusive audio commentary with director Cao Baoping and director of cinematography Li Ran.

In the meantime, Disk Kino announced their upcoming UHD releases of 4K restored Hong Kong films from Fortune Star, they are:
A Better Tomorrow (1986) by John Woo
Once a Thief (1991) by John Woo
An Autumn's Tale (1987) by Mabel Cheung
Throw Down (2004) by Johnnie To
Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989) by Jackie Chan

qw0aszx wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:54 pmIn the meantime, Disk Kino announced their upcoming UHD releases of 4K restored Hong Kong films from Fortune Star, they are:
A Better Tomorrow (1986) by John Woo
Once a Thief (1991) by John Woo
An Autumn's Tale (1987) by Mabel Cheung
Throw Down (2004) by Johnnie To
Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989) by Jackie Chan

That's quite an interesting slate.

Disk Kino just released the wonderful thriller MURDER IN 405 on blu-ray. Shen Yaoting's 1980 film MURDER IN 405 is one of the earliest attempts to deliver a commercially successful murder mystery after the cultural revolution. The film opens with a murder case in room 405, but the investigation gradually leads this case to a bigger conspiracy. Full of clever transitions, amazing black and white cinematography and a surprisingly convincing plot, MURDER IN 405 mixs genres like Honkaku mystery, film-noir and even political thriller, made itself one of the most unique thrillers in Chinese film history.

The blu-ray from Disk Kino is sourced from the 2K restoration done by Shanghai Film Studio, it's one of the better restorations from them, the amazing B&W cinematography truly shines on this new blu-ray.
Unfortunately, this disc contains no video extras despite Disk Kino trying to contact the people who once worked for this film, they even found out the director Shen Yaoting is still alive (he's 89 years old now). But due to the age and health situation, he could not be interviewed for this release. That's probably the reason why Disk Kino chose to use BD-25 for this release, the 102-minute film looks good on this disc.

Here are some screenshots to show how this film and the disc looks like:





This release is limited to 500 sets and already sold out here in mainland China I believe (buyoyo still have copies up but the price seems went up a lot), hope anyone who's interested in this film could get a copy.

Disk Kino is going to release John Woo's A Better Tomorrow on UHD as part of their World Cinema Library series on October 28th.

UHD Feature Disc BD-100
Feature film presented in 2160p with new Dolby Vision / HDR10 grade
4K restoration from original camera negatives done in 2015, with new color grading* and new HDR grade.
Five different audio tracks
Restored Cantonese and Mandarin tracks, both presented in original mono and remixed 5.1 formats. Exclusive Dolby Atmos track in Cantonese will also be included.

Bonus Disc BD-25
John Woo at Fantasia Festival (HD, 141 minutes)
The complete masterclass of John Woo held at Fantasia Festival in 2023. In English with optional Chinese subtitles.
Archival Interview with Kent Tsang (9 minutes)
Archival Interview with Waise Lee (9 minutes)

*Similar to the cases of Two Stage Sisters and Dragon Inn UHD from Disk Kino, a complete re-grade was done to the original restored master of A Better Tomorrow. Following aresome comparisons, as always, not the final presentation on the disc but you can get the idea:

Massive updates for future releases from Disk Kino, especially for those WCL titles:
Waves Wash the Sand (1936), directed by Wu Yonggang
Evening Rain (1980), directed by Wu Yonggang and Wu Yigong
The True Story of Ah Q (1981), directed by Cen Fan
Third Sister Liu (1960), directed by Su Li
Raise the Red Lantern 4K (1991), directed by Zhang Yimou
Rubik's Cube Building (1992-1994), the animated TV mini-series directed by Zha Kan
Inspector Black Cat (1984-1987), the animated TV mini-series directed by Dai Tielang, Fan Madi and Xiong Nanqing
The Monkey King: Uproar In Heaven (1961-1964), directed by Wan Laiming
The Monkey King and the Fruit of Immortality (1981), directed by Yan Dingxian
The Monkey King Conquers the Demon (1985), directed by Te Wei, Yan Dingxian and Wenxiao
Yellow Earth (1984), directed by Chen Kaige

qw0aszx wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 9:31 am Massive updates for future releases from Disk Kino, especially for those WCL titles:
Raise the Red Lantern 4K (1991), directed by Zhang Yimou

This bodes well for other titles from Era's library to finally see the light of day properly, including You-Know-What.
\:D/

Disk Kino revealed that their upcoming release of Chen Kaige's groundbreaking film YELLOW EARTH will be sourced from an exclusive 2K restoration done by Disk Kino themselves.

Here's a comparison before and after the restoration:

I wish these were easier (and cheaper) to obtain.

Sometimes they do reissue in plain packaging without all the swag.

Release date for YELLOW EARTH was set for February 5th.

- Exclusive 2K restoration done by Disk Kino from original film elements
- Original Mandarin LPCM Mono track
- Alternative un-restored LPCM Mono track
- Newly edited Chen Kaige interview, shot in 1987 for Tony Rayns' documentary NEW CHINESE CINEMA (14 minutes, optional Chinese & English subtitles)
- Brand new interview with assistant director He Jianjun (HD, 3 minutes, optional Chinese & English subtitles)
- Brand new Tony Rayns interview on YELLOW EARTH (HD, 64 minutes, optional Chinese subtitles)
- Restoration comparisons (HD, 3 minutes)

What is the easiest way for someone from the States to buy something from the Disk Kino line? I see listings on bluraylife but those list the price at $130 dollars.

Disk Kino detailed their WCL #100 release of Phoney Phoenixes (aka Barber Takes a Wife):
- 2K restoration from the only existing 16mm print of the film by L'Immagine Ritrovata
- Original Mandarin mono track in LPCM
- Brand new interview with Tony Rayns (HD, 32 minutes)
- Brand new interview with Hong Kong film scholar Law Kar (HD, 33 minutes)
- Brand new interview with filmmaker Zheng Dasheng, Huang Zuolin's grandson (HD, 29 minutes)
- Brand new interview with film scholar Huang Wangli (HD, 16 minutes)

Full cover art:

Spoiler

PS: Phoney Phoenixes, a film heavily influenced by Hollywood screwball comedies at that time, was a huge commercial success after the mass protest incidents by loacl barbers. It was even dubbed in English and exported to overseas territories later. However like many Chinese films at that time, all film elements were lost except one 16mm film print. This print was the source of this 2K restoration and sadly it's in rough shape. Significant damages on film elements caused weak image and sound quality and this print is not complete, there are seveal scenes missing during the end of some reels. But this film is such an important historical sample of Chinese filmmaking so Disk Kino is still treating it as a standalone release.

Anyone doing a group buy for Yellow Earth? I’m dying to finally own it

I want it too! It looks like it's about $70 USD before shipping on buyoyo.com, though I don't know how much tariffs might complicate placing an order there. In any case, their shipping charge isn't really conducive to a group buy--you're about as well off placing your own order as sharing the shipping costs across a group order

I bit. But it hasn't arrived yet.

I got Yellow Earth from buyoyo.com without issue. Arrived in 2 weeks with no extra costs after placing the order. I thought I'd also mention that they have the long OOP Back to Back, Face to Face available, by the director of The Black Cannon Incident and Dislocation. It's not cheap but I've been keeping an eye out for it for a couple years and this is the first time I've seen it anywhere