MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[EddieLarkin]

I would be all over a Pialat set, and I'm hoping that when Eureka say "most of which are out already" they're referring to just the DVDs.

If it's really just going to be a big double dip-a-thon, then I guess it'll be Lang. That said, I haven't picked up Mabuse der spieler or Frau im Mond on Blu-ray yet, and getting another copy of Metropolis wouldn't be too bad since I can sell my steel book for around £50 on ebay!

It's definitely sounding like slots by the way.

[swo17]

There's got to be a way that you could make a book like this that doesn't have slots.

[EddieLarkin]

They could do it like the StudioCanal Collection digibooks, which use a plastic nub instead of any form of tray/slot.

[domino harvey]

If this release is slots, I'm going to contribute 100% of their total asking and then withdraw my bid 25 hours before it ends. Not really. But c'mon, a little indie company like this should know better.

[Imagine]

I'd love a Lang set but £150 is too expensive. If I am expected to provide funds in advance I would expect a substantial discount.

I really don't like this growing trend towards super-limited, super-deluxe sets though.

[tenia]

Warner have digibooks with plastic hubs, and that's very practical (though of course a bit thick when it has multiple discs).

[Drucker]

I really don't like this growing trend towards super-limited, super-deluxe sets though.

I much prefer it to the idea of something never getting released, or a company I'm trying to support losing a substantial amount of money.

[Drucker]

They could do it like the StudioCanal Collection digibooks, which use a plastic nub instead of any form of tray/slot.

These things are the devil, and the glue on the back of them has come off in all three of these I own (The Trial, Port Of Shadows, and The Graduate).

[Minkin]

I'm sure this will be great for all of the fans who don't already own the majority of films in the set...
I think whatever they announce, most everybody who would be interested would already probably own all of the previously announced blus, so this just seems like a super expensive double-dip/rehash... thus I'd never be interested in such an idea.

It would be far better to just put the exclusive titles + book and bring the MSRP down, rather than force everybody who would potentially be interested to re-purchase stuff they already own at a very high price. This current idea seems more Warners (Kubrick) than Arrow (Boro) or Criterion (Zatoichi) ... repackage stuff everybody already owns at a higher price. Edit- actually, I guess this is more like Criterion's Kurosawa set, but at least that exclusive title in the set has remained just that for like 5 years (but the box was similarly rather wasteful - just for the extreme collector/expensive gift giver).

Perhaps if one could sell the titles they already own, but most non-OOP MoCs dont fetch that high of prices, thus you wouldn't recoop much to bring that 150 quid down.

BTW, when did MoC start snubbing our forum in favor of the almighty Bluray.com? Is it because of responses like the past ten?

[EddieLarkin]

BTW, when did MoC start snubbing our forum in favor of the almighty Bluray.com? Is it because of responses like the past ten?

I wouldn't take it as a snub. Kevin has always posted primarily on Blu-ray.com rather than here. peerpee no longer works for MoC and whilst evilights does, he doesn't post here in any capacity anymore.

[TMDaines]

I'd much rather just have the remaining Langs in nice, sane MoC releases.

Why would I want to instead pay £150 for them and have the supposed privilege of re-buying a load of releases I've already bought, having them now packaged in some sort of unwieldy book I've never desired to own, three-quarters of whose contents I probably already possess in the current booklets.

There's a time and a place for deluxe sets and this wouldn't be it.

[swo17]

Well, it sounds like the main appeal here is intended to be the book itself. (Remember when Nick would speculate about boutique labels in the future putting out elaborate books that include the film on a flash drive?) The exclusive discs would become available separately six months later or so. So if you're only interested in the movies and don't want to double dip, then you can just ignore this release and it's no skin off your back. The real question Eureka seems to be asking here is: How much would a fancy book like this be worth to you? Enough to pay as much as £150 (less whatever you might be able to make selling off duplicate discs, but plus the hassle of selling them)? For me, I suppose it would depend on the director.

[matrixschmatrix]

If the fancy book were, say, a reprint of Lottie Eisner's Murnau, I pay that without the discs.

[zedz]

I'd personally love to support a lavish release like this by MoC, but it's impossible to reply honestly and helpfully without knowing what the proposed project actually is. And frankly, I'd be much more excited if the project had a greater unreleased / unavailable component. I'll preorder / kickstart an Epstein or Borowczyk set in a heartbeat, or take a punt on a largely unknown quantity like Portabella or Pintilie or Monteiro (and be richly rewarded in each case). If it's just the same old early Fritz Lang films I've already bought many times over, I'll probably sit it out unless it were heavily discounted.

[Finch]

My opinion is that they should do this project like the Mizoguchi set: sturdy cardboad box with the films and the book inside the box, and reduce the number of films to the ones that are new. If it's Lang, I'm not interested, Imamura on the other hand or even, if I dare to dream, Raul Ruiz..

[MichaelB]

or even, if I dare to dream, Raul Ruiz..

Unless I've somehow missed ten Ruiz BDs in circulation already, it won't be him!

It seems pretty obvious from the wording that this concerns someone already very heavily embedded in the MoC collection.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Given the flimsy information that we are supposed to be giving some sort of commitment to there is already a negative sheen on the whole enterprise which instead of getting juices flowing is limping along to the tune of the inevitable guessing fandango.
Surely some more concrete plan could have been hinted at. Arrow at least said at a very early stage 'a mammoth set dedicated to an under-appreciated /misunderstood European filmmaker' and most importantly not available elsewhere (or words to that effect) that resulted in the success that is the Boro box. I am still not clear whether the 7 blus already available mean categorically MoC titles or just available world wide.
If they are Moc blus it would appear that the idea is stillborn. (If so, it would have to be Lang no?).
Unfortunately, because I feel very committed to MoC and unless they pull something completely unexpected out the hat i would have to give it a miss too.

[tenia]

To be honest, it seems that this has completely been blown out of proportions. I don't feel MoC has a real project behind what Kevin is talking about, and that he was just taking the absolutely hypothetical temperature for such a project.
But hey, welcome to the internet, as they say.

[TMDaines]

But he then confirmed on Blu-ray.com that he is meeting with a printer to help draw up some costings.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

To be honest, it seems that this has completely been blown out of proportions. I don't feel MoC has a real project behind what Kevin is talking about, and that he was just taking the absolutely hypothetical temperature for such a project.
But hey, welcome to the internet, as they say.

I think the problem is that the information given veers from the utmost vaguest of proposals (which director/which films) to the specific '7 out of 10 blus are available and 14dvds will be part of the package' etc which is the antithesis of "absolutely hypothetical" and blatantly invites speculation.
I like to think that Kevin will expand on the details of the project where possible so that people can give a better appraisal of whether it would be feasible. There was a similar groundswell of unrest when the Mizoguchi set was first announced and he was very quick to outline the thinking and reasons behind it which went a long way to smooth things over and assuage all but a small minority.

In short Young Copperfield . If it's Lang, the answer is in the negative.

[tenia]

My bad, then, some parts are indeed more precise than what my overall feeling was telling me.
Still, I find it hard so find to draw any guess as to what would be the titles included (which might be the core of my feeling of perplexity regarding all those very wild guesses).

[Eureka]

BTW, when did MoC start snubbing our forum in favor of the almighty Bluray.com? Is it because of responses like the past ten?

No snub intended. Been crazy busy working on another project that you'll all get to see really soon.

To be honest, it seems that this has completely been blown out of proportions. I don't feel MoC has a real project behind what Kevin is talking about, and that he was just taking the absolutely hypothetical temperature for such a project.
But hey, welcome to the internet, as they say.

Indeed, it's completely hypothetical at this point.

But he then confirmed on Blu-ray.com that he is meeting with a printer to help draw up some costings.

Just to find out if I could print the things with devices to hold the discs, and get a costing on them. There's no point starting a funding project with the reward set at £150 if the thing costs £500 to make. As it turns out based on the run the printer I spoke to wouldn't entertain it.

As I say though, purely hypothetical, would you, wouldn't you think about backing it question at the moment. Feedback has been quite varied so still just a thought.

[RossyG]

I'd certainly be up for supporting an MoC box-set similar to MichaelB's upcoming Arrow release, or even just single disc BDs. I'm actually less inclined to be interested in things with coffee table books or ornate packaging. I just want great films on great discs - and the odd extra would be nice, but not essential - in a nice, space-saving, regular-sized box.

Go on, say you'll be releasing Unman, Wittering and Zigo or a Val Guest box set and I'll give you the money up front.

[RobertB]

I agree with RossyG. I have bought most of the MoC blu-ray releases. But I like my books in my book collection, and my films in space-saving boxes. I would pay £70 for a good book about German silent films. But I generally avoid any big size special edition film box-sets.

[jurples]

totally speculating here, but i could see it being something like lotte eisner's "the haunted screen" with pre-available blus like madame dubarry, caligari, nosferatu, die nibelungen, faust, metropolis, and frau im mond, and exclusive blus of, say, the last laugh, waxworks, and pandora's box. the 14 dvds could consist of all these plus tartuffe, spione, diary of a lost girl, and asphalt.