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Some more reissues in August:

8/11 - Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970)

8/25 - The Big Parade (1925), That's Entertainment! The Complete Collection (1974-1994)

Glowingwabbit wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 7:09 pm All 3 of those are currently on HBO Max. I wonder if that will be a good predictor going forward.

I don't know much about the market, but I would assume part of the sales for these niche titles would be due to their hard-to-find aspect, specially in superior quality. Won't making these titles available on a streaming platform hurt their sales?

These are the pre-1960 movies being added to HBO Max in July:

The Green Pastures
The Bishop's Wife (OOP, it looks like, though)
A Guy Named Joe
The Horn Blows at Midnight
Mildred Pierce
Now, Voyager
Pride and Prejudice
Angels in the Outfield

I italicized what's been released/announced, It will be interesting to see if this is actually predictive of what gets released going forward.

Five of those (including all four new titles) feature celestial encounters with humans, is there a theme going on next month?

WAC is packaging some of their older horror releases (Body Snatchers, Innocent Blood, Wolfen, and The Hunger) together

dwk wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:48 pm WAC is packaging some of their older horror releases (Body Snatchers, Innocent Blood, Wolfen, and The Hunger) together

I can understand the convenience and lower pricing in bundling movies like this together (provided you like all four), but releases like this would drive my collector's OCD up the wall.

It used to bother me more, but now I just think of the shelf space saved by bundles like that.

dwk wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 3:44 am It used to bother me more, but now I just think of the shelf space saved by bundles like that.

I've gotten movies in themed triple packs (three Tim Burton movies, both Gremlins movies paired with The Goonies, for whatever reason), but inevitably I've gone back to the individual releases just to have movies by a certain director slotted into their section of my collection, in correct chronological release. That Burton one had Beetlejuice, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, but since the former was released in 1988, and the latter two in 2005, it drove me up the wall considering all of the Burton movies released in-between.

It's a sickness.

Latest WAC podcast revealed that a legal issue is holding up any new video release of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).

In good news, they still have plans to release The Crowd (1928), but they won't say more at this time.

Also in the pipeline for 2020/2021:

The Harvey Girls (1946)
The Pirate (1948)
In The Good Old Summertime (1949)

I haven't seen In The Good Old Summertime yet, but thrilled for those first two musicals!

It wouldn’t be my priority, but the others are good news.

Captveg wrote:Latest WAC podcast revealed that a legal issue is holding up any new video release of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).

Hhhmm. What could that be?

One would assume In the Good Old Summertime would come at the same time as The Shop Around the Corner, right? Or is there any reason to think Criterion might have gotten that one?

Thrilled to hear that something, anything, is happening with The Crowd, one of my all-time favorites, not to mention The Pirate, which I discovered via this forum.

FrauBlucher wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:45 am

Captveg wrote:Latest WAC podcast revealed that a legal issue is holding up any new video release of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).

Hhhmm. What could that be?

My guess is something involving Roland Brown’s estate.

Haven't they "still had plans to release The Crowd" for like 10+ years, or am I just thinking of every other WB silent classic?

Yes.

Maybe there's hope that we'll eventually see Greed, too. Do they still have the rights to that?

ianthemovie wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:39 pm Maybe there's hope that we'll eventually see Greed, too. Do they still have the rights to that?

They do. They mentioned in the 6/16 podcast at 44:35 that Greed was still being worked out. Specifically, the reconstruction from 1999 was done in standard definition. Feltenstein states he believes "there will be something new to talk about in regard to this motion picture in the future. It's not that we're neglecting it. We just want to approach it in the best way possible."

I find it interesting that The Wind (1928) never gets asked about on these podcasts, which is the other big WB owned MGM silent that has yet to even get a DVD release in the US.

This was also the same podcast where they revealed they have plans for a full restoration of Guns for San Sebastian (1968), but they haven't started yet and it's unlikely to be out this year. Another mention in this podcast is that there are no current plans to release Seven Sinners (1925). They've scanned a surviving nitrate print for preservation, but it does not have credits on it, and if they ever release it they would need to commission a new music score. 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) is something they want to do in the future, but not on their current schedule. The Fixer (1968) has clearance issues that have been a problem for ~30 years.

It's a shame they haven't released The Wind yet. It looks fine on the Criterion Channel, just put it on DVD.

The Pirate is straight up one of the greatest films of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y-c3muTMo8

captveg wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:49 pm Latest WAC podcast revealed that a legal issue is holding up any new video release of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).

Maybe that explains why it wasn't in the Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics set. Was very surprised they included The Petrified Forest but not it.

Hopefully we see The Wind come from Criterion, alongside Sjostrom's The Scarlet Letter. It's such a natural fit for that I expected it to be one of the first fruits of any Warner deal, but here we are half a decade later...

Christopher Nolan put Greed in his Criterion Top 10 and one would think if there's anyone that could push Warner for a full restoration of the reconstruction it would be him

Christopher Nolan
presents

GREED

A film by Erich Von Stroheim

I’ve just about given up hope of seeing The Wind and Greed on Blu. It’s a pity, as they’re among the most remarkable films of theirs or any era, but Warner has shown little interest in their silent catalog. I’d love to see He Who Gets Slapped get a nice release, too.