criterionforum.org

Also from the Monstersatplay forum is a post from Artsmagic asking for suggestions or opinions.

http://forums.monstersatplay.com/read.php?TID=314

Review of Bullet Ballet from 10,000 Bullets website. It seems very good with a Shinya Tsukamoto interview and Tom Mes commentary

An early look from the monstersatplay site at a future Artsmagic release of Another Lonely Hitman starring Ryo Ishibashi (Audition, last years remake of The Grudge).

Also for future Artsmagic release from the same director is Onbi: The Fire Within from 1997. There is an early review of this on the same site.

colinr0380 wrote:Review of Bullet Ballet from 10,000 Bullets website. It seems very good with a Shinya Tsukamoto interview and Tom Mes commentary

On a related note, Tom Mes has written a book on Tsukamoto (the first book-length study of the director in English).

Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto (with a forward by Takashi Miike) will be published in July.

Mobsters' Confession and Salaryman Kintaro Vol 4 are coming on 1/31/06.


http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.a ... _id=769434


http://www.dvdempire.com/exec/v4_item.a ... _id=769433


Besides Guard from the Underground and Salaryman Kintaro Vol 5, I Wonder what other titles are coming from artsmagic in 2006.

I recieved Bullet Ballet last night, as a blind buy, and was completely blown away by it. It`s my first Tsukamoto, and it was a baptism by fire.

On top of the film itself, the extras are: substantial bios/filmographies, an excellent half hour interview with Tsukamoto as well as a rather weak Bogdanovich-like commentary, which barely skims the surface of this rather complex film.

For a low price of $11 at DVDPacific, I can safely recommend getting this one. I just wish the Tetsuos were a bit cheaper...

Osaka Tough Guys and Salaryman Kintaro Vol 5 on 3/28.



http://www.dvdempire.com/exec/v4_item.a ... _id=938693


http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.a ... _id=938694

Hard Focus Nusumigiki
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI ... ance&n=130


Love Minus Zero
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G1 ... ance&n=130

I am interested in several of these titles from Artsmagic (USA). However, I have been rather burned by a couple of their releases in the UK (Princess From the Moon; The Wolves; Portrait Of Hell). Usually I am very forgiving, but these DVDs really look awful.

Can anyone throw some light on this label? I noticed that the UK sister label offers many more titles than the American label, and the titles mentioned above are not included in the American label's catalogue. To what extent are these two labels related, and are the American releases of reasonably good quality?

Scharphedin2 wrote:I am interested in several of these titles from Artsmagic (USA). However, I have been rather burned by a couple of their releases in the UK (Princess From the Moon; The Wolves; Portrait Of Hell). Usually I am very forgiving, but these DVDs really look awful.

Can anyone throw some light on this label? I noticed that the UK sister label offers many more titles than the American label, and the titles mentioned above are not included in the American label's catalogue. To what extent are these two labels related, and are the American releases of reasonably good quality?

I think you are right to be cautious, but I think the UK label was around first and for a couple of years before the US arm started (I'm not sure but I think the US arm started in 2003?). I think they released quite a few films UK only such as Wild Zero, Junk and Evil Dead Trap, all released by other labels in the US. The websites are linked (there is a link from the .co.uk website to the .com US site) so it looks like they are the same group.

I got a couple of the early UK releases (Pyrokenesis and the first Lone Wolf and Cub film Sword of Vengeance) and wasn't really impressed with the way the films looked. I also got a some others because my curiosity and wish to see the films won out - so I've got the UK releases of Full Metal Yakuza, Another Heaven, Uzumaki and The Spiral.

I was never really impressed by the look of the films on DVD and also with there not being enough chapter stops, and this made me cautious of getting any of the US Artsmagic discs. However I decided to try them and was pleasantly surprised. Either the company has learnt and moved on from the early releases or the US arm is more separate but they seem to be better. The menus are still a little tacky and the menu music is often LOUDER than the main film, giving me a shock when the film finishes! Also the interviews are still text screens with questions before the person responds, rather than in a more interactive and spontaneous discussion, but I often enjoy the commentaries.

I would say to give one of the latest releases a try (I'd particularly recommend Bullet Ballet as looking particularly impressive with crisp black and white photography, but Takashi Miike's Sabu or the Angel Guts films also look good, with the proviso that the first, High School Co-Ed is a 2.35:1 film that is cropped to 1.85:1 after the opening credits) and see whether you think the DVDs are improving.

It would be good if DVD Beaver could look into this company for a more definitive guide. I'm not sure even the latest discs are of Criterion quality, but then I'm balancing it with just being glad to have the opportunity to see some of the more obscure films.

Following Alain3000's mention of Hard Focus and Love-Zero=Infinity, I've found it strange that there hasn't been much of a mention of these releases online (and the Artsmagic sites seem to be down).

Following on from their release of the Angel Guts series of films that ran throughout Nikkatsu's 'Roman Porno' period (1971-1988 - there is one Angel Guts film from 1978, two from 1979, one from 1981 and the fifth is almost the last film released in the period, from 1988. There is another Angel Guts film, from 1994, but that of course wasn't a 'Roman Porno' release. For completeness I would really like to see Artsmagic release it, similar to how I'd like to see them release the first, non-Takashi Miike directed, Young Thugs film sometime in the future), Artsmagic have released four films in a series titled "Shocking Pink". These are the independent, non-major studio released 'pink films', and complement the earlier, glossier, Angel Guts films.

There are three films by Hisayasu Sato: Rafureshia (1995; 63 minutes), Love-Zero=Infinity (1994; 62 minutes) and Survey Map of a Paradise Lost (aka Hard Focus Nusumigiki)(1988; 66 minutes); and one by Kazuhiro Sano, Under The Carp Banner (1992; 55 minutes).

Rafureshia and Under The Carp Banner both have a commentary from Jasper Sharp, and all four films have an interview with the director and biographies.

I haven't seen these yet, but I thought I'd mention them here in case people were interested. There was an article from theTwitch site, where Jasper Sharp left the comment that Artsmagic were considering different Sato films, such as Re-Wind for release. I would also be interested to hear if anyone had any news about Artsmagic, since both of the websites being unavailable is a little worrying, especially since they have released a number of interesting films like the two Toshiaki Toyoda's, 9 Souls and Blue Spring, or many interesting Takashi Miike discs, as well as the company's seemingly close relationship with Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp.