Alain Robbe-Grillet

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Goddamit. I was looking forward to buying some copies for friends and family.

[Brad]

ARG certainly qualifies as one of the best directors without many English-friendly DVDs. Excellent 35mm prints of his astonishing early films do circulate.

[David M.]

Damn shame. I was looking forward to working on those.

[jsteffe]

It sounds like either someone scooped them or the rights-holders are confident they can attract a higher bidder.

I may be wrong, but I don't believe that Mondo Macabro would have announced the releases without signing an agreement first. I suspect that whatever messed up these releases is the same thing that seems to prevent the films from being released in France. Perhaps it is some kind of ongoing dispute with a rights holder or estate. It least that's what it looks like from the outside. But who knows, you may be right that they were scooped.

Regardless, it is sad news. I revisited the unsubtitled Italian DVDs not too long ago and enjoyed the films more at a second viewing. I would have snapped up these new Mondo Macabro DVDs immediately, because even if I have mixed feelings about the films they do exert a strange fascination. One reason why I'm sorry is that Mondo Macabro does a great job with their transfers. If they had been able to engage someone like David M. to work on the transfers, they could have easily bested the existing Italian DVDs, which look decent but could be better. Most of them have MPEG compression issues to varying degrees.

[David M.]

If they had been able to engage someone like David M. to work on the transfers,

I've done all of Mondo Macabro's output beginning with Strip Tease (released Spring 2011)

(That's Strip Tease, Don't Open Till Christmas, Girl In Room 2A, and the nicest looking, Countess Perverse).

[Stephen G.]

Perhaps it is some kind of ongoing dispute with a rights holder or estate. It least that's what it looks like from the outside.

Yes, that's the impression one gets. In Germany Camera Obscura had announced EDEN AND AFTER some time ago, but they seem to have dropped this release. They said, the right holders weren't able to give them access to any usable master/elements.

[hamipai00]

There's an amazing-looking nine film AR-G box set just been released in France, but it isn't English-friendly: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00DYCD ... d_i=405320" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fingers crossed the BFI are able to reinstate their proposed releases into next year's schedule.