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Theodore R. Stockton wrote:Their new catalog lists a lot of out of print things:
The Alan Clarke Collection
The Mondo Cane Collection
The Larry Cohen Collection (but oddly none of the individual titles)
and the 2-disc versions of the following
Dead & Buried
Fast Company
The Final Countdown
Salon Kitty
Two Evil Eyes
and
Snuff

The Alan Clarke Collection is terrific: if you're at all interested, grab it before it disappears.

And Fast Company is a must-see for Cronenberg fans. It's hardly my favourite of his films, but he gives great commentary, and his first two films (strange, strange, strange) are included: an excellent package.

zedz wrote:And Fast Company is a must-see for Cronenberg fans. It's hardly my favourite of his films, but he gives great commentary, and his first two films (strange, strange, strange) are included: an excellent package.

I can't emphasize enough what a mistake it would be for Cronenberg fans to lose those two films, as they say so much about where his style would go (and is still going) from then on. It's a miracle they even came out at all.

I think this is Cronenberg's favorite work. He's a big racing nut. I particularly enjoyed the wicked twist at the end from a lighthearted film to death and destruction at the end.

ah! when's fast company going out of print? Will I be ok to wait for the DDD november sale?

Also, is the Blind Dead set worth 48? Cause that's about what it'll cost when DDD has their sale. All I know of Euro horror is Suspiria, Zombi, and a few other fulci flicks, all of which I like very much. I am a big zombie flick fan and horror in general is my favorite "flick" genre. I have never heard of these however. Should I go for the box? Go for the first one and skip the box? Or just skip them all?DDD sale is going to already yield to me Andrei Rublev, Fast Company, and Ugetsu. Should I add this set?

blindside8zao wrote:Also, is the Blind Dead set worth 48? Cause that's about what it'll cost when DDD has their sale.

I would venture to guess yes, as I paid $30 for the first two (Spanish cut of #1, English cut of #2) and it was worth it! The extra disc really seals the deal for me.

Some menus and screen grabs from the upcoming Argento title:

http://www.zetaminor.com/news_archive/m ... _menus.htm

Looking good so far.

Colors look great in the captures.

Tim Lucas review of Bird is here

The Alan Clarke is one of the best boxed sets EVER. It was worth buying for Elephant alone, which just pulverized me. The transfers are impeccable and the extras are right on the money, no fluff here, folks. The documentary on Clarke is a fine tribute to one of Britain's greatest ever filmmakers. Soild, tidy packaging, too. I cannot believe that they are OOPing this set. They must be planning to do single releases and maybe dropping the documentary. And those 2-disc SEs, which must be among their biggest sellers., too? Let the Ebay madness begin!

I'm a huge admirer of Cronenberg, but I have hemmed and hawed over the Fast Company 2-disc, as I have never seen it and have been wary. I was definately planning to buy it at some point, but as soon as I read the news today, I snapped it up.

Here's a visual comparison between all the existing versions on DVD for the Bird (...):

http://www.mondo-digital.com/birdgrabs.html

First review of that disc here:

http://www.10kbullets.com/reviews/birdc ... umage.html

I own the Italian editon of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and I was very pleased - and still am - with the transfer, but this new HD-sourced, Vittorio Storaro approved transfer from BU is stunning. The fine detail, colour and shadow delineation all seem to have improved, rendering a a more vibrant image. Top marks.

It's a brilliant film which is somewhat overshadowed by Dario's OTT supernatural horror films that followed, but it is, at heart, a solid and imaginative thriller with stunning cinematography by one of the masters of the art, Vittorio Storaro. When Argento is firing on all cylinders, he is a formidable agent of Cinema, as he proved here for the first time.

BU's now OOP 8-disc Mondo Cane collection is being replaced with two 3-disc releases, Shockumentary Vol. 1 and Shockumentary Vol. 2. Volume 1 includes Mondo Cane, Mondo Cane 2, and Women of the World. Volume 2 includes Africa Addio, Goodbye Uncle Tom and The Godfathers of Mondo. I emailed Blue Underground, and was told that Africa Addio and Goodbye Uncle Tom on volume 2 will be the English versions only, no director's cuts.

solaris72 wrote:I emailed Blue Underground, and was told that Africa Addio and Goodbye Uncle Tom on volume 2 will be the English versions only, no director's cuts.

This box has never been on my wish list, but I cannot understand why BU are deleting it and replacing it with inferior versions, if the English versions may so be deemed. Why go to the trouble of mastering the director's cuts that have been unavailable for decades, only to now have them in the hands of the very few. I don't understand BU's obsessive 'Limited Edition' policy, if it is indeed a policy. Imagine if Criterion did this. Imagine if thet broke up the Cassavetes set and withheld the 135-minute version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and dropped A Constant Forge?

I see no point in deleting titles unless the company loses the rights to the film. Not having Cronenberg's, Stereo and Crimes of the Future will really bug some people. Fast Company isn't very interesting to me (car racing bores me to tears) but finally having those early films on DVD with excellent transfers is wonderful.

Bottom line: Blue Underground will lose money deleting their 2-disc editions and boxed sets and dropping extras. Anchor Bay's 3-disc "Limited Edition", released over four years ago and has been one of their biggest sellers and is still in print and widely available for reasonable money.

They produce their own special features, so you would think that they would want a maximum return on those investments.

That is pretty lousy of BU to drop the full cuts of films but fortunately I am only interested in the two mondo cane films and now I can save big cash in buying just volume 1

It's being re-packaged because the initial set was "Limited Edition" much like the new releases of single discs that were two disc Limited Edition sets.

Theodore R. Stockton wrote:It's being re-packaged because the initial set was "Limited Edition" much like the new releases of single discs that were two disc Limited Edition sets.

Yes, but the question is that old chestnut: Why? Why do some of their sets have to be "Limited Edition" and then after not too long, put on moratorium and replaced with single-disc releases that are not much cheaper than the 2-disc, but with extras omitted, or uncut versions not used or included? They obviously own the rights to these films and the extras that they themselves produced, so why do they do this? To save money on production, ie. pressings?

Like Criterion's numbered spines, the nature of the limited edition creates desire in the shopper. If the limited edition is not just an empty threat, and with BU it doesn't apprear to be, then customers are forced to purchase ASAP allowing BU to recoup and profit more quickly. The more bare bones versions are cheaper to produce, and in the case of Fast Company, must involve less royalties.

And I think you will find that these new Shockumentary sets are drastically less expensive than the Mondo Cane box.

Gordon McMurphy wrote: Yes, but the question is that old chestnut: Why? Why do some of their sets have to be "Limited Edition" and then after not too long, put on moratorium and replaced with single-disc releases that are not much cheaper than the 2-disc, but with extras omitted, or uncut versions not used or included? They obviously own the rights to these films and the extras that they themselves produced, so why do they do this? To save money on production, ie. pressings?

My theory is that BU could not even sell the limited amount of the Mondo set that was pressed. To encourage sales they put the set OOP and by not offering the director's cuts exclusive to the set buyers will snap up the remaining Mondo Cane sets. The one hole in that theory is that the Mondo set lists at $150 whereas the two shockumentary sets are $20 a piece. A $110 dollar difference between having the director's cuts and saving a lot of money, not a tough decision for me.

Not so - Blue Underground actually sold out of the MONDO set on pre-orders before street date.

Narshty wrote:Not so - Blue Underground actually sold out of the MONDO set on pre-orders before street date.

I don't know what they means persay because I just got mine from DDD.com. And I've seen these all around Pittsburgh.

I meant they sold out in distributor orders, rather than direct to consumers.

Blue Underground are putting out How to Kill a Judge and La Scorta in Feb(2/28).


http://www.sendmemovies.com/p-64181-how ... 4-dvd.aspx


http://www.sendmemovies.com/p-64188-la- ... 3-dvd.aspx

On March 28, they will release Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and The Pyjama Girl Case.

Anyone have any idea why Mondo Candido wasn't included on the original Mondo Cane box? It looks interesting to say the least!

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0198769/