criterionforum.org

Posted: **Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:09 pm**

They finally sent me a replacement disc for Forbidden Zone, just as I was about to send them a very rude email.

Posted: **Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:49 am**

I doesn't seem like anyone has mentioned the fact that Fando & Lis is now OOP. Fantoma has released this film twice. Can anyone fill me in on the differences?

Posted: **Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:57 am**

ambrose1am wrote:I doesn't seem like anyone has mentioned the fact that Fando & Lis is now OOP. Fantoma has released this film twice. Can anyone fill me in on the differences?

q.v.

Posted: **Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:24 am**

dvdplanet.com has Dead Pigeon and Herr R. up for march 31. Don't know if that's official but it's all I found

Posted: **Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:11 pm**

Everything's on sale! If you order from their site the average coust is $17.50.
Hopefully it's not a going out of business sale since they haven't added any new titles but subtracted one.

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2005 2:57 am**

OH MY GOD------I just received an email from Fantoma stating that the Kenneth Anger 2-disc collection is nearly completed. Its finally happening!!!!!

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:07 am**

Oh, please don't say you're ribbing us all, rwaits. If not, you just made my month; I'd just about given up hope. And, if I may ask, what did the e-mail specifically say?

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:35 am**

Fantoma DVD Production Update
The Films of Kenneth Anger 2-DVD set is nearly complete. This title has been the subject of many delays in the past, due to our quest to recover and restore the original elements and to present all of the films in the best possible condition. Currently we are concentrating on clearing the complicated music rights issues before we can give a firm street date for the release. We think that this special edition will be well worth the wait.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? is near completion and should be released this summer.

Samuel Fuller's Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street is also almost ready to go. We're in the process of gathering all of the special features together to make this a very special release.

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:09 pm**

That's the one.....its really finally coming!!!

Posted: **Sat Mar 05, 2005 5:03 am**

I know it says everywhere that Fando & Lis is OOP. I ordered a copy from the website as part of the $17.50 sale they're having. It's in the mail now.

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2005 12:51 am**

Clearing music rights can take months and months (trust me, I've done it). We'll be lucky if we see this thing this year...

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2005 3:48 am**

Shouldn't they have known long ago that this would be a big issue? After all, it's the reason the VHS of Scorpio Rising went out of print so quickly...

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:07 pm**

Speaking of the music--this has been bothering me for a while. The version of Rabbit in the Moon I have seen had a silly pop song titles 'Things that go bump in the night' or something---played twice in a row. I think I read somewhere though that this film was originally scored with classical music, which I think would suit the film much better. Anyone know anything about this?? Also, once Fantomafinally gets this thing together, what music will it use? Thanks!

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:19 pm**

rwaits wrote:Speaking of the music--this has been bothering me for a while. The version of Rabbit in the Moon I have seen had a silly pop song titles 'Things that go bump in the night' or something---played twice in a row. I think I read somewhere though that this film was originally scored with classical music, which I think would suit the film much better.

You are correct about the original scoring. It was also not projected at Keystone Kops speed originally either. No one knows why Anger re-edited it into the thing that it became, but that's what he did.

One word of caution, though. There are really no definitive versions of an Anger film. Each print he made (if he made more than one) was usually personalized or individualized in some way. The versions on the forthcoming DVD could be slightly or even radically different from the ones we've become accustomed to on the Mystic Fire videocassettes.

Posted: **Sun Apr 10, 2005 4:53 pm**

Could it be that it is just one song that is holding up the set and the negotiations are on-going?

Which Elvis song was used on Scorpio Rising?

Posted: **Sun Apr 10, 2005 8:40 pm**

Possibly, but the film is also brimming with popular songs from Ray Charles, Bobby Vinton, The Crystals, The Rondells, etc., etc. But the BFI released it, so there is some hope the rights can be cleared -- eventually, but as I've said I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Posted: **Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:04 pm**

Does anyone know what is happening with Fantoma? They've released nothing for a long time now.

Posted: **Sat Jul 02, 2005 5:44 pm**

I heard something a long time ago about them being bankrupt and in too big of a financial bind to release anything. Which isn't all that surprising, really. I've always found their releases a bit too universally transgressive to mainstream American taste. I mean, even Criterion has releases like The Life Aquatic... and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to pump money out from the mainstream consumer's pockets so they can fund their more esoteric projects. With Fantoma, they didn't even give us a token attempt at appeasing middle America. Forbidden Zone came close, but not close enough, I think.

Regardless, it's a shame they've hit this point -- especially with Kenneth Anger still lingering somewhere in the darkness.

Posted: **Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:11 pm**

It would be heartbreaking to me, if the Kenneth Anger collection was near completion, but goes down with the ship.

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:27 am**

Gordon McMurphy wrote:It would be heartbreaking to me, if the Kenneth Anger collection was near completion, but goes down with the ship.

Yeah, I really liked Fantoma too, if the worse thing happens and they really are out of business for good, they could sell or work with someone else to release the Kenneth Anger set, and whatever else they where working on...right?

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:02 am**

postmodern-chuck wrote: I've always found their releases a bit too universally transgressive to mainstream American taste. I mean, even Criterion has releases like The Life Aquatic... and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to pump money out from the mainstream consumer's pockets so they can fund their more esoteric projects. With Fantoma, they didn't even give us a token attempt at appeasing middle America. Forbidden Zone came close, but not close enough, I think.

...what about ONE FROM THE HEART, then?

Posted: **Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:47 pm**

Does anyone know whether or not it is too late to send back a defective copy of Forbidden Zone? Fantoma's been pretty inactive these past few years, so I'm kinda worried about sending it back at this point. Any help'd be appreciated.

Posted: **Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:48 pm**

I suppose I'd better order Manji, One From the Heart, In the Soup and Fritz Lang's Indian Epic whilst I still can. Another crying shame for the DVD format...

Posted: **Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:04 pm**

Man, I'm really sad about Fantoma. I've been looking forward to the Anger set forever, it looked like we were finally almost there, and now people are reporting the company is folding. Can anyone report any further on the validity of this? And if so, what might happen to the Anger?!?

Posted: **Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:49 pm**

From what I can gather, Anger is very unstable these days. He recently strangled (not to death, of course) a transvestite and has been in and out of mental hospitals this year. He is a volatile, spontaneous person - very hard to deal with, to say the least. He has a website somewhere that sold his films on DVD, but he only made 93 copies (93 is a very important Thelemic Magick number) so they cannot be purchased anymore. He appeared on a BBC TV documentary on the history of the Hollywood underbelly this year: he still looks fit and healthy, well, physically, at least. I suspect that Fantoma's dealings with him have been difficult and coupled with Fantoma's financial problems, the production of the DVD(s) hass been frustrating for them. The original negatives for his films are apparently in excellent condition, considering their vintage.

We may see Anger on DVD soon... but I doubt it.