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I just got my Kino catalog earlier today, and on the bottom of the next to last page in the Fritz Lang section that Scarlet Street and House by the River is coming soon. Hopefully this will be the definitive edition of Scarlet Street.

I found this piece of news from All Day Entertainment site.

[Fritz Lang buffs will be happy to know I just finished recording a commentary track for Kino's upcoming DVD restoration of Lang's 1945 masterpiece Scarlet Street. You've never seen this movie look this good--they've done it right and this will be a must-have item for all fans of film noir. Look for it later this year.]

Would the "I" above be David Kalat??

A good source for Scarlet Street is truly news, thanks!

House by the River and Scarlet Street are listed on the DVD aficionado site as coming on November 22nd.

Question regarding the Art of Buster Keaton set:

Did this always come with the slender slipcases, TV show-style (ala Seinfeld)? I could've sworn I saw it in a store a couple years back with the regularly-sized amaray cases, but I picked it up several months ago and it came with the smaller individual cases (and the copyrights are listed as 2005 on all of them).

Mine came in regular Amarays. I never have enough shelf space, so I'm envious.

I've seen this box with the Amarays, but by coincidence I should be getting this in the mail today. I'll get back to you on which version it is.

Edit: The boxset I got today was the slim case dvds. Good deal IMO. Spacesaver.

Kino began listing the "Art of Buster Keaton - Cut Down To Size" version over the summer. Thankfully I bought it before they began reducing the size, and even if I were to get it now I'd request the original version... for $150, I want something that takes up enough horizontal space to look like $150!

Also the spines appear to now have a generic font. It's hard to tell from the small photos, but to my eye this just makes them appear cheap. Kino may not have the best graphic art in the business, but I liked the decisions on the typefaces for each film represented here and I'm happy to have my space clogging, awe inducing, $150 behemoth sitting on my shelf right next to the similarly obscenely huge two box Chaplin set.

The Keaton box could technically be half its size since every disc save for one in it is single-layered. I'm sure many of these films could have been combined onto dual-layered discs without problem. Only Kino wouldn't be making as much money...

For Scarlet Street, Kino used pristine elements that are held by the Library of Congress.
Finally, this landmark film can be fully appreciated on home video.

This is phenomenal news! I hope that Kino really does this right. Their releases are SO hit or miss. Now if only we can convince Sony to dish out Woman in the Window. Scarlet Street has been long over due for a respectable release.

3 French titles coming from Kino on November 22:
Chabrol's À double tour (1959)
Vadim's La Ronde (1964)
Carné's Thérèse Raquin (1953)

Specs for Agony - The Life and Death of Rasputin (Agoniya):

Klimov - A film by Ron and Dorothea Holloway (50 min., w/English subt.)
Trailer for Klimov's Come and See
Elem Klimov filmography
Optional English subtitles

Based on previous experience, I would expect the transfer to be similar to the 2001 Ruscico release. I haven't seen that one, but I'm sure someone on this forum owns it.

One would assume - or hope - that Kino's edition of Agoniya will be one a DVD-9 and not split over two discs like the Ruscico.

In relation to the Klimov DVD, does anyone know about the cuts that the Soviet authorities made to film? In '75 it was cut and in '85 it was cut, so what can be expected in the film itself?

Review of Kino's new edition of Scarlet Street:

According to davisdvd.com, Kino will release three Leni Riefenstahl films on DVD. The films are The White Hell of Pitz Palu, Storm Over Mont Blanc and S.O.S. Iceberg. Here is the link with the rest of the info.

Review for White Hell available here

Review for Storm over Mont Blanc here

It's worth reminding everyone that these three films only starred Riefenstahl. She did not direct. Though fans of G.W. Pabst (and I know there are some on the board) will want to investigate White Hell, which he co-directed with Arnold Frank. White Hell is easily the best of the bunch, and Kino seems to know it -- they've given it the most interesting extras.

Judging from the evidence of the one Fanck film I've seen (The Samurai's Daughter), I wouldn't go out of my way to see anything else he made.

Kino's 2006 catalog just arrived in the mail. Forthcoming are:

Michael Haneke's The Seventh Continent, Benny's Video, 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, and Funny Games. All $24.95 MSRP, all no doubt PAL>NTSC transfers.

Aleksandr Sokurov's The Second Circle and Mother and Son. These were announced as forthcoming in last year's catalog.

Some more Ulrich Seidl garbage (does anybody actually like this guy's movies?)

Mauritz Stiller's Erotikon, The Saga of Gösta Berling, and Sir Arne's Treasure.

Prix de Beauté, starring Louise Brooks, directed by Augusta Genina.

Satyajit Ray's The Chess Players.

Ashirg wrote:3 French titles coming from Kino on November 22:
Chabrol's À double tour (1959)
Vadim's La Ronde (1964)
Carné's Thérèse Raquin (1953)

Does anyone know if these are likely to be PAL -> NTSC transfers? I'm particularly interested in the Carne, and I don't recall any recent R2 releases of TR that are likely to serve as the source for Kino's transfer. But I may have just forgotten.

matt wrote:Some more Ulrich Seidl garbage (does anybody actually like this guy's movies?)

For myself, I think that Dog Days is a superb account of the poverty of everyday life: a glacial but searing indictment of suburban mediocrity.

What additional films of his does Kino plan to release in 2006?

spencerw wrote:What additional films of his does Kino plan to release in 2006?

Well, they've already got Dog Days, Models, and Animal Love out. Jesus, You Know is scheduled for "Winter".

matt wrote: Well, they've already got Dog Days, Models, and Animal Love out. Jesus, You Know is scheduled for "Winter".

Sounds like a potentially fascinating piece: "His latest film, Jesus, You Know (Jesus, Du weißt) (2003), again mines the 'insanity of normality'. The concept is brilliantly simple: film six God-fearing Viennese alone in a church praying. There is only one condition: the pious Austrians must say out loud that which they usually direct towards God in silent prayer" (Mattias Frey; for the rest of this essay, go to http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/ ... seidl.html).

Am I the only one excited by the release of Prix de Beauté?