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Also coming on 18 February:

Cassanova '70 (Mario Monicelli/1965)

(Sorry, Is this an Optimum forum question or a technical support forum question?)

Has anyone had any problems running older Optimum DVDs on multi-region players?

I had La Chinoise a while back and putting it into my player resulted in Error appearing on my screen (never seen that before, usually duff discs either freeze and skip a bit or just get ejected 'No Disc'). Funny thing was it worked perfectly well on the computer.

I've since replaced it with the box set version which, although it seems like the same disc, works perfectly well as do other my other (newer) Optimum discs. So I didn't think any more about it until I received 'Ten' for Christmas and now that's doing the same thing.

I thought I might solve the problem by copying the disc but I get an 'Invalid structure' error when I try that. Which is odd.

stephan73 wrote:Also coming on 18 February:

Cassanova '70 (Mario Monicelli/1965)

Funny sex comedy with Mastroianni and Virna Lisa. If it's a good print, I'll import it.

Era notte a Roma is on DVD here in Spain but I did not love the film so much.

Amore in città, I've seen it today from Raro, Italian dvd. It's an absolute masterpiece.

Has anyone bought the Optimum standalone Killing of a Chinese Bookie? If so, does it contain both versions as in the box set or just the long one? Bought it on Amazon UK at 60% off, but obviously their details of the release are minimal. Thanks.

DVD arrived so I can answer this myself now in case anyone's interested. It's a double-disc set with both versions.

rohmerin wrote:Amore in citta , I've seen it today from Raro, Italian dvd. It's an absolute masterpiece.

The film is fascinating, but Optimum's source print is dreadful - the optional electronic subtitles are just about the only positive thing I can say about it. I suspect this film needs a full restoration, but whether it will get one given the extremely limited commercial appeal is anyone's guess.

MichaelB wrote:

rohmerin wrote:Amore in citta , I've seen it today from Raro, Italian dvd. It's an absolute masterpiece.

The film is fascinating, but Optimum's source print is dreadful - the optional electronic subtitles are just about the only positive thing I can say about it. I suspect this film needs a full restoration, but whether it will get one given the extremely limited commercial appeal is anyone's guess.

L'AMORE IN CITTA has actually been restored (in 2001) - 'The scene negatives and inflammable soundtrack conserved at Studio Cine where they were preserved in 2001 for restoration by the owners Studio Canal Image and Minerva International Group... ' And in the 2005 NFT Antonioni programme his episode was screened from a- '...copy printed from materials restored by Scuola Nazionale di Cinema Cineteca Nazionale'...

God knows why Optimum could not lay their hands on the restored version, but Minerva Classics have it out in Italy in a lovely DVD complete with good Eng subs...

Also worth checking out is Minerva's release of Antonioni's I VINTI, also restored complete with Italian or integral soundtracks, Eng subs, and extras including the censored version of the Italian episode not seen since 1953 and several script versions and documentation on DVD-Rom...

Both available from www.dvd.it ...

Optimum's disc of Rossellini's ERA NOTTE A ROMA arrived... It's 16:9 (still shaved on either side) non-anamorphic transfer producing a really soft picture... Absolute bare bones, only plus are optional subs... A pretty poor DVD of a fascinating entry to his filmography... Sloppy!...

ellipsis7 wrote:Optimum's disc of Rossellini's ERA NOTTE A ROMA arrived... It's 16:9 (still shaved on either side) non-anamorphic transfer producing a really soft picture...

Wait, how is it 16X9 AND non-anamorphic?

domino harvey wrote:

ellipsis7 wrote:Optimum's disc of Rossellini's ERA NOTTE A ROMA arrived... It's 16:9 (still shaved on either side) non-anamorphic transfer producing a really soft picture...

Wait, how is it 16X9 AND non-anamorphic?

I suspect 16x9 refers to the aspect ratio, though it would be clearer if it was written 1.77:1 to avoid confusion.

Ah. I'm glad I chickened out at the last moment and canceled my order last week after the warning in this thread about the quality of the other Rosselini film. Really disappointing to still see non-anamorphic transfers in 2008!

MichaelB wrote:

domino harvey wrote:

ellipsis7 wrote:Optimum's disc of Rossellini's ERA NOTTE A ROMA arrived... It's 16:9 (still shaved on either side) non-anamorphic transfer producing a really soft picture...

Wait, how is it 16X9 AND non-anamorphic?

I suspect 16x9 refers to the aspect ratio, though it would be clearer if it was written 1.77:1 to avoid confusion.

It declares itself as 1.66:1 aspect ratio on the box, but is that ratio in a letterbox (which also crucially cuts off some left and right of the original frame) not as an an anamorphic widescreen transfer, so you have to 'zoom 16:9' to fill the screen with quite a blurred picture resulting from the inferior material... I suspect the original film aspect ratio was something like 1.85:1, but it is hard to tell on sloppy goods like this...

Nevertheless if you prevail, there are some riches revealed... As Dave Kehr writes in Chicago Reader...

Three prisoners of war--an Englishman, an American, and a Russian--escape from a camp in the Po Valley and make their way to Rome, where they are sheltered by a young woman who works in the black market. Roberto Rossellini's 1960 film is a return to the territory of his first neorealist films, Open City and Paisan, but the point of view has shifted toward the analytical, the reflective, even the allegorical. It was on this feature that Rossellini began to use the remote-controlled zoom lens he invented, the "Pancinor," as a substitute for editing within a sequence: instead of cutting among close-ups, Rossellini moves in and out on his actors' faces without destroying the spatial and temporal continuity of the scene. With Leo Genn, Sergei Bondarchuk, Peter Baldwin, and Giovanna Ralli.

Optimum's releases are so variable!...

On the other hand their disc of MADE IN USA is nigh on perfect - a beautiful transfer, aspect ratio 2.35:1, anamorphic...

domino harvey wrote:Really disappointing to still see non-anamorphic transfers in 2008!

If you're a fan of Eastern European cinema, anamorphic transfers are still a rare luxury...

MichaelB wrote:

domino harvey wrote:Really disappointing to still see non-anamorphic transfers in 2008!

If you're a fan of Eastern European cinema, anamorphic transfers are still a rare luxury...

Unfortunately it doesn't stop there. Just recently I bought two discs released within a year; April and November 2007 and found both non-anamorphic. Fabian Bielinsky's The Aura - a film made in 2005 with a rather strong visual style - and Dmytryk's Bluebeard, which does have some glaring color design. Both discs non-anamorphic I was so mad that I almost started a thread for this some time ago...

The problem is, if a transfer already exists at the time of licensing, and it's a niche-market item, it's almost impossible to justify doing a new anamorphic transfer in economic terms. And in many cases - particularly East European ones, of which I have some experience as producer as well as consumer - the deal is basically "our Digibeta or nothing", because the rightsholder won't offer you alternative materials (I was once told that 35mm materials were "too fragile" to access) and you probably won't have independent sources.

I was exceptionally lucky with the BFI's Jan Švankmajer set - the rightsholder sent me a non-anamorphic transfer of his only 2.35:1 film, and with dreadful sound to boot. I complained that it wasn't up to our technical standards, and they basically said "tough".

Fortunately, it turned out that the BFI had a 35mm print in its vaults, and it turned out to be in more or less pristine condition - and, even more luckily, the film doesn't need subtitles so we didn't have to worry about them being burned in. And because it was only ten minutes long, a new anamorphic transfer didn't break the bank. (A further stroke of luck is that virtually every other Švankmajer film is in 4:3, though I did have to accept a non-anamorphic transfer of a Scope film on the extras disc).

But I really sympathise with people like Second Run who work on a shoestring and who don't have alternative sources. In their case they're stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place, either forced to release what they're well aware is a substandard version, or not release it at all. And what separates that label from, say, Facets, is that they genuinely do try to do the best job they can, but in many cases they're effectively polishing turds.

domino harvey wrote:Christ

Looks good!

tavernier wrote:Looks like a VHS I got from the library

Fixed

It actually looks like a VHS I bought on Canal Street

I'm really, really happy that I didn't automatically spring for it though it was 40% off from amazon.uk as a pre-order. If I look at these caps, and also the ones of the Optimum "L'amore in citta", I really begin to wonder what's wrong with that company now. "L'amore" does exist in such a wonderful transfer from Raro/Minerva (stacked with extras on top of it), so I'm pretty sure that "Notte" could have been far, far better. I guess we'll have to wait for Minerva to do this right. They did wonders with "Generale della Rovere"...

Tommaso wrote:I really begin to wonder what's wrong with that company now.

And yet, their ongoing releases of classic British cinema are perfectly acceptable. I watched their October-2007 release of The Captive Heart last week, and it looks fine. Maybe it has something to do with what sort of material they have access to? Though, admittedly, they are a very lazy company when it comes to adding basic features -- like subtitles, for example. So perhaps they're just completely indifferent to some of the titles they release.

Can someone comment on the transfer quality of Abouna, released by Optimum in 2003? DVDBeaver has a review for HVE (R1) release of the film, and although it appears acceptable, it is reported to be non-progressive.

I am trying to figure out whether the Optimum release is superior or not.

domino harvey wrote:Christ

To be fair, the back cover does state:

"New Etch-a-Sketch transfer"

I've just done a quick side-by-side comparison of Optimum's new Diary of a Country Priest against the Criterion - and both transfer and subtitles look pretty much identical.

I'd certainly be prepared to bet that the source master was the same - Criterion might have done a bit more digital tweaking in the final preparation, but there's not much wrong with the underlying materials to make any significant difference.

The Optimum is missing the Peter Cowie commentary, though - but I don't recall that being much cop.

Out on March 24 2008, 5 Bertrand Tavernier films - "Coup de Torchon", " It All Starts Today"," L.627", "The Watchmaker of St Paul", and "The Judge and the Assassin".