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Tommaso wrote:Both "Solaris" and "Ivan's Childhood" are Ruscico titles in the rest of the world, so there might be some hope.

How good are the Ruscico dvd's of Solaris and Ivan's Childhood? Is it as good as Criterion

JabbaTheSlut wrote:How about Bo Widerberg Eclipse set? A great Swedish director, only a couple of his films on DVD/VHS release.

These would make an excellent set:

Ådalen '31
Kvarteret Korpen
Joe Hill
Elvira Madigan

Seconded. Although I venture to say that he deserves some A-list Criterion editions for some of those titles. Especially the last one on your list.

atcolomb wrote: How good are the Ruscico dvd's of Solaris and Ivan's Childhood? Is it as good as Criterion

No, at least "Ivan" is inferior imagewise, and "Solaris", while looking good, only has a 5.1. upmix for audio and has the film spread over 2 discs, with the awful need to go through all the logos and set-ups again with disc 2.
Go for CC, definitely.

In itself, spreading the film over 2 discs to up the bitrate (the RusC has a significantly higher bitrate than the CC) is not neccessarily a bad thing... a la CC's 7 Samurai reissue. The problem really lies in the fact that they spread it over two discs and the film really doesn't seem to look any better (at least judging by the vehicle of Gary's caps, which I take with an even greater healthy dose of skepticism nowadays anyway than I used to).

With Stalker they spread it over two discs, but one was a single-layer and the other was a dual, and it looks like shit. I'm sure Solaris doesn't look any better.

Well the good news is that they seem to be getting a little bit better (Shadows of our Forgotten, Ashik Kerib) at the whole uh "telecine thing." The RusCiCo holdings are too vast and cinema-critical for them to stay that far down in the shitbox. They put a lock on these films and send everyone bunko transfers holding the titles fucking hostage.

I could never figure out what the fuck was up with that floaty shit between the bright and dark spots in Stalker. Some of the heads in the darkness in the beginning (all asleep) come close to being disembodied.

HerrSchreck wrote:
I could never figure out what the fuck was up with that floaty shit between the bright and dark spots in Stalker. Some of the heads in the darkness in the beginning (all asleep) come close to being disembodied.

it saddens me that one of my favorite films has such a lousy presentation. Stalker is now on 1 disc (It was rereleased), but the floaty shit still is there, and the colors look muted and dull. Not to mention the lousy added sound effects to the 5.1 mix. It's a bad picture all around.

I would give anything for CC to get the rights to Stalker and give it a proper release.

I agree completely, but assuming you're referring to the new Kino edition of Stalker, do you not know how to access the mono soundtrack?

swo17 wrote:I agree completely, but assuming you're referring to the new Kino edition of Stalker, do you not know how to access the mono soundtrack?

No, I do. I would just like to hear this film in 5.1 for a change. BUT, I won't do it since they added the sound effects.

Mono tack 100% of the time for me.

What is funny is the "English" track, which isn't even a dub. It's just some woman reading the subtitles to you with a monotone voice. Hilarious and sad.

HerrSchreck wrote: (at least judging by the vehicle of Gary's caps, which I take with an even greater healthy dose of skepticism nowadays anyway than I used to).

Why is this?

Same. I bought Stalker because it's one of my favorites, but it pains me a little bit each time I watch it. The poor video just hurts.

Tootletron wrote:

HerrSchreck wrote: (at least judging by the vehicle of Gary's caps, which I take with an even greater healthy dose of skepticism nowadays anyway than I used to).

Why is this?

This is all well-known by most members here, I'd think: Several times Nick from MoC had to forward corrected screen caps because Gary's didn't reflect the quality of the release-- and in fact did them a great injustice (folks were groaning over the release after looking at Gary's caps)... and this is MoC, whom Gary goes the extra mile for... not co's for whom he openly bears a grudge. His comments on the presentation of non 24/5 fps silents are a near-debacle, and he seems intent on destroying one of our most vital video and film distributors, without displaying any interest whatsoever in investigating the heart of their business (or the slightest understanding of it's financial difficulty), which is in the realm of silents.

HerrSchreck wrote:

Tootletron wrote:

HerrSchreck wrote: (at least judging by the vehicle of Gary's caps, which I take with an even greater healthy dose of skepticism nowadays anyway than I used to).

Why is this?

This is all well-known by most members here, I'd think: Several times Nick from MoC had to forward corrected screen caps because Gary's didn't reflect the quality of the release-- and in fact did them a great injustice (folks were groaning over the release after looking at Gary's caps)... and this is MoC, whom Gary goes the extra mile for... not co's for whom he openly bears a grudge. His comments on the presentation of non 24/5 fps silents are a near-debacle, and he seems intent on destroying one of our most vital video and film distributors, without displaying any interest whatsoever in investigating the heart of their business (or the slightest understanding of it's financial difficulty), which is in the realm of silents.

DVDbeaver is a shell of its former self. Just take a look at the perfunctory review of the Borzage/Murnau set. The old beaver would have compared the Murnaus to existing editions. Now Gary's too busy reviewing the latest Hollywood fluff on Blueray. What's more meaningless than posting caps for a Blueray of a 2007 Hollywood film? What use does it possibly serve?

Well, beyond wanting to get free Blu-rays from studios, I assume the site brings in extra traffic from the popular titles, which in turn brings in more money from advertising, which in turn keeps the site running. I think it's probably unnecessary to review 'em, but then again, I don't pay his server bills either.

It'd be interesting to know how many buyers of Coach Carter or Death Race on Blu actually carefully compare caps between editions.

Probably very few, but I bet enough of them stumble upon said comparison while Google searching such popular titles and that's all that counts.

JabbaTheSlut wrote:How about Bo Widerberg Eclipse set? A great Swedish director, only a couple of his films on DVD/VHS release.

These would make an excellent set:

Ådalen '31
Kvarteret Korpen
Joe Hill
Elvira Madigan

Absolutely. I'd take a Widerberg release in any form they're willing to give. As far as I know, Kvarteret korpen isn't even available on DVD in Sweden.

zeroism wrote:

JabbaTheSlut wrote:How about Bo Widerberg Eclipse set? A great Swedish director, only a couple of his films on DVD/VHS release.

These would make an excellent set:

Ådalen '31
Kvarteret Korpen
Joe Hill
Elvira Madigan

Absolutely. I'd take a Widerberg release in any form they're willing to give. As far as I know, Kvarteret korpen isn't even available on DVD in Sweden.

Elvira Madigan got a quite good release a couple of months ago, and Kvarteret korpen has been announced as coming next (but no exact date yet). Scandinavian subtitles only seem to be the norm here in Sweden unfortunately.

The Forthcoming list mentions that Criterion was trying to acquire some unnamed Satyajit Ray films. Any chance this might include the Apu trilogy? The Sony Pictures Classic DVD is wretched and out-of-print.

I watched Pather Panchali last night for the first time since college. Back then I found it dull, but this time I was blown away. Wow. This film really deserves the Criterion treatment.

atcolomb wrote:Now i hope Criterion will release "Dersu Uzala" (1975) soon. I have their laserdisc which is a ok print of the film and i have both Kino and the Ruscico dvd versions but all of them are not the best quality image. Lets hope Criterion can find a good print of the film!!

This is the one thing I ask of Criterion. I am elated that Dodesukaden is finally getting a proper English release, and by Criterion no less, but my Image copy of Dersu Uzala does not do the film justice.

I even made this mockup cover because I want it so bad

If anyone wants the high res file to print out and stick into a DVD case, just let me know. And I'm thinking about designing the spine and back as well.

Daze wrote:The Forthcoming list mentions that Criterion was trying to acquire some unnamed Satyajit Ray films. Any chance this might include the Apu trilogy? The Sony Pictures Classic DVD is wretched and out-of-print.

I watched Pather Panchali last night for the first time since college. Back then I found it dull, but this time I was blown away. Wow. This film really deserves the Criterion treatment.

Apu Trilogy is probably a priority, but any Satyajit Ray film is probably top on Criterion's list of releases. The rights seem to be complicated.

I think for Ray that the rights are insanely complicated, and those who have the rights want a much larger fee up front as opposed to a percentage of sales.

DrBanan wrote:

zeroism wrote:

JabbaTheSlut wrote:How about Bo Widerberg Eclipse set? A great Swedish director, only a couple of his films on DVD/VHS release.

These would make an excellent set:

Ådalen '31
Kvarteret Korpen
Joe Hill
Elvira Madigan

Absolutely. I'd take a Widerberg release in any form they're willing to give. As far as I know, Kvarteret korpen isn't even available on DVD in Sweden.

Elvira Madigan got a quite good release a couple of months ago, and Kvarteret korpen has been announced as coming next (but no exact date yet). Scandinavian subtitles only seem to be the norm here in Sweden unfortunately.

That is good news (ref. Kvarteret Korpen dVd), of course bad news is the lack of English subs. I hope there is sufficient interest outside Sweden to release the film on DVD. I really hope Ådalen '31 will be on DVD one day, I remember the big effect the film made when I saw it 10 years ago in the cinema. Powerful stuff.

Donald Richie describes in his Kurosawa book a commercial directed by K. very late in his career. Something about a boy in a field; I also think I´ve heard K. used early CGI in this commercial. Does anybody want it as an extra on a future CC K. DVD?

Could we hope for a Criterion release of Orson Welles' The Trial and Charles Laughton's The Night of The Hunter someday?