MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[James]

Thanks for your support, James!

Sure thing, Nick. Although, I'm sure you won't be too pleased to find that I'm basically sold on a PS3 Slim (it's the Blu-ray of course that sold me, but the games sealed the deal). I just hope that not every title you release on Blu-ray will be region B, and the ones that are, I figure will probably come out on region A at some point, or in a few years when quality region-free Blu-ray players are cheaper and easy to find, then maybe just maybe I'll go for one, but right now, these games man look awesome.

[Finch]

I know Toni didn't sell well but I hope that doesn't prevent MoC from looking into more Renoir, like The Woman on the Beach (who owns the rights to this? Lionsgate?), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange. Also on my wishlist: Raymond Bernard's The Chess Player and earlier Ozu films like What Did The Lady Forget? and The Only Son.

[fiddlesticks]

Also on my wishlist: Raymond Bernard's The Chess Player and earlier Ozu films like What Did The Lady Forget? and The Only Son.

I know I'm being pedantic, and I apologize to those annoyed by it, but I have to gently correct any notion that these are "early" Ozu films. They're early Ozu talkies; in fact, they're his first two feature-length talkies. But by my count, The Only Son was Ozu's 34th feature (of 52; Lady is #35), preceded by a decade of wonderful silent films, the survivors of which would also make excellent MoC releases.

[TheGodfather]

re: the packaging. All locked down now. The MABUSE box, LUBITSCH box, (and the LONE WOLF AND CUB box for Eureka) will be in hard boxes (like SHOAH, NARUSE, KEATON, HANZO). The MABUSE films will be in Amarays

Nice!

the Lubitsch films will be in Thinpaks.

sounds interesting. will all the 6 discs have seperate thin cases?

[Tommaso]

I know Toni didn't sell well but I hope that doesn't prevent MoC from looking into more Renoir, like The Woman on the Beach (who owns the rights to this? Lionsgate?), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange.

MUCH seconded! There has been an absolute dearth of new Renoir releases in recent years, not only with CC who had promised "Mr. Lange" and "Partie de campagne" some years ago without releasing anything. As I still think "Mr. Lange" is a CC possibility and "Woman on the Beach" can be had dead cheap on a French disc, I'd rather suggest "La chienne" and "Nuits de Carrefour", for example. But I'd jump on any Renoir not already available in an English-friendly edition. I'd even double-dip on "Boudu" if MoC got it out in the correct 1.19 ratio.

[Cinetwist]

I know Toni didn't sell well but I hope that doesn't prevent MoC from looking into more Renoir, like The Woman on the Beach (who owns the rights to this? Lionsgate?), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange.

MUCH seconded! There has been an absolute dearth of new Renoir releases in recent years, not only with CC who had promised "Mr. Lange" and "Partie de campagne" some years ago without releasing anything. As I still think "Mr. Lange" is a CC possibility and "Woman on the Beach" can be had dead cheap on a French disc, I'd rather suggest "La chienne" and "Nuits de Carrefour", for example. But I'd jump on any Renoir not already available in an English-friendly edition. I'd even double-dip on "Boudu" if MoC got it out in the correct 1.19 ratio.

It would be very unusual for MoC to release Renoir that already has fine UK releases. Especially when, like you say, something as important as La chienne doesn't have a release on any English language label (how is this possible!?).

It's crazy that more Renoir isn't available with English subs.

[ellipsis7]

I know Toni didn't sell well but I hope that doesn't prevent MoC from looking into more Renoir, like The Woman on the Beach (who owns the rights to this? Lionsgate?), and The Crime of Monsieur Lange.

MUCH seconded! There has been an absolute dearth of new Renoir releases in recent years, not only with CC who had promised "Mr. Lange" and "Partie de campagne" some years ago without releasing anything. As I still think "Mr. Lange" is a CC possibility and "Woman on the Beach" can be had dead cheap on a French disc, I'd rather suggest "La chienne" and "Nuits de Carrefour", for example. But I'd jump on any Renoir not already available in an English-friendly edition. I'd even double-dip on "Boudu" if MoC got it out in the correct 1.19 ratio.

It would be very unusual for MoC to release Renoir that already has fine UK releases. Especially when, like you say, something as important as La chienne doesn't have a release on any English language label (how is this possible!?).

It's crazy that more Renoir isn't available with English subs.

Anyway LANGE is a Studio Canal property (thus could find its way to Optimum) - I have a disc with fixed English subs from the Warner UK 3 disc Renoir set, which went OOP a few years back when the Studio Canal license to Warners lapsed for this, GRANDE ILLUSION & LA BETE HUMAINE...

[Awesome Welles]

Anyway LANGE is a Studio Canal property (thus could find its way to Optimum) - I have a disc with fixed English subs from the Warner UK 3 disc Renoir set, which went OOP a few years back when the Studio Canal license to Warners lapsed for this, GRANDE ILLUSION & LA BETE HUMAINE...

I also got this one when loads were floating around on ebay, it's still available on the Amazon marketplace at a reasonable price. Speaking of more Renoir, anyone know anything about this?

[ellipsis7]

Was discussed briefly over at the Renoir Stage & Spectacle CC strand....

[What A Disgrace]

Since BFI does not own the rights to Borzage's Lazybones...

...I hope MoC pursues them.

[Awesome Welles]

Fritz Lang's Man Hunt coming soon as per the ad in the latest LFF catalogue.

EDIT:

Here it is. Who's on the cover of the catalogue?

[sidehacker]

Could anyone scan said ad or is that asking too much?

[Peacock]

Aw no sign of the Akerman set then yet?
In my dreams that catalogue cover's another Mizo film.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

In my dreams that catalogue cover's another Mizo film.

I think it's Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men Vol 1 - The Early Years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOv2cUv4gcU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Awesome Welles]

Aw no sign of the Akerman set then yet?
In my dreams that catalogue cover's another Mizo film.

I am hoping the catalogue will cover a few releases we haven't heard of yet but I have a sneaky suspicion this won't be the case, though the Akerman films may well be in there as we know they are coming at some point.

I thought the image was of Mizo too but suspect this is merely picking up from the last catalogue and in order to publicise the releases further as they don't appear to have sold well. Though I dreamed it was Yoshida...

[Tommaso]

I decided to dream it was Naruse.

[StevenJ0001]

I think it's Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men Vol 1 - The Early Years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOv2cUv4gcU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't get my hopes up! They may pull a Naruse and only release a Vol. 1. [-X

I'm only half-joking--very fond memories of B&B and that clip cracked me up.

[akaten]

Good job I saw that, was about to order the R1 Man Hunt, I take it that The Burmese Harp has been delayed, MOC obtaining additional materials alongside those from the Criterion version?

From the nearby Die Nibelungen thread:

Well, there is more early Lang than "Die Nibelungen" around. As stated elsewere, I really wish somebody would look into that. Right now, I think Eureka/MoC has the best editions on German Lang. Keep it up, but don't stop there.

An early Fritz Lang boxset along the same lines as the Mabuse set would be most welcome, and with the Criterion DVD already available the long overdue inclusion of M into the MOC range would be an ideal candidate for the first Blu Ray only release.

[HerrSchreck]

then a silent set with Maldone and as David mentioned Gardiens and then there's Petite Lise. The docos. Oh shit how about anything??

Sorry Zazou, a long gap to respond. The news on Gardiens is not at all hopeful. Someone we know managed to see it privately over a year ago at the Bois d'Arcy. They hold one of the only two prints in existence and were specific about not letting it out or even making study copies as they believe it's suffering the first signs of vinegar rot. (Our contact thought it looked pretty good in fact.) The only other known print in existence is in Vienna. Unfortunately Monsieur Sarkozy and his governemnt has radically cut back the budget for film restoration work and even things still currently in the pipeline for restoration - and Gardiens wasnt even in that queue yet - will have to wait. The only thing that might bring Gardiens into the open is indeed a DVD/TV release from someone like Arte which would be partially funded by DVD licencing. But I don't see that happening any time soon.

Dave, have you ever seen the excerpts of Gardiens from the Grem doco L'Opera Intime? It looks like there is a transfer of the film sitting around somewhere, if even an old broadcast tape last used a good many years ago, but the film looked pretty decent to me. Very dreamy, and at least as abstract as the club/masked ball scene in Dinah.

[Tommaso]

An early Fritz Lang boxset along the same lines as the Mabuse set would be most welcome

Absolutely, but I don't know how good the available materials are at this point. "Die Spinnen" has been restored by the Czechs I think, so it should look much better than the old Shepard version, which had English titles on top of it. The beautiful "Harakiri" is also now available in a resto based on a not quite complete Dutch print, and the Brazilians restored whatever remains of "Die Vier um die Frau". That leaves "Der müde Tod", certainly the most important of Lang's pre-"Mabuse" films. The version I have comes from TV and was probably put together in the 80s, and it shows; but I don't know of any newer resto made by FWMS. Perhaps that is what's keeping MoC from releasing at least this masterpiece film.To know that such a much talked about and influential film is only available on a heavily cropped US disc with English titles is rather disheartening.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

then a silent set with Maldone and as David mentioned Gardiens and then there's Petite Lise. The docos. Oh shit how about anything??

Sorry Zazou, a long gap to respond. The news on Gardiens is not at all hopeful. Someone we know managed to see it privately over a year ago at the Bois d'Arcy. They hold one of the only two prints in existence and were specific about not letting it out or even making study copies as they believe it's suffering the first signs of vinegar rot. (Our contact thought it looked pretty good in fact.) The only other known print in existence is in Vienna. Unfortunately Monsieur Sarkozy and his governemnt has radically cut back the budget for film restoration work and even things still currently in the pipeline for restoration - and Gardiens wasnt even in that queue yet - will have to wait. The only thing that might bring Gardiens into the open is indeed a DVD/TV release from someone like Arte which would be partially funded by DVD licencing. But I don't see that happening any time soon.

Dave, have you ever seen the excerpts of Gardiens from the Grem doco L'Opera Intime? It looks like there is a transfer of the film sitting around somewhere, if even an old broadcast tape last used a good many years ago, but the film looked pretty decent to me. Very dreamy, and at least as abstract as the club/masked ball scene in Dinah.

Opera Intime is now over 30 years old and in a more recent doc from 1999 (Included in MK2's Remorques) Gardiens is skipped entirely which doesn't bode well. On the other hand Maldone looked stunning, as also seen in the Arte broadcast copy , and a couple of docs from the 20's were in pretty good shape too. Lumiere d'ete looked better than the tattered copy I saw recently but the clips from Le Ciel est a vous were diabolical, nowhere near the quality of last years TV broadcast. Wonder if Maldone and some of those docs might make their way onto the MoC roster?

[TheGodfather]

Of course, I just bought Man Hunt a few weeks ago on R1...

[Peacock]

I decided to dream it was Naruse.

We need Kerpan to come over here and clear up this mystery!

I'm interested in this delay with the Burmese Harp at first i figured maybe the Ichikawa's hadn't sold well so they weren't about to rush into the market a film already out from Criterion... beyond the booklet which will no doubt be excellent, are we waiting on some special features or a new print or what? hmm

[James]

From the Masters of Cinema Twitter:

THE BEATLES IN MONO box is at MoC Mansions. Gorgeous to behold, and sounds almost as good. Hopefully BD 24/96 next year like Neil.

[Murdoch]

There's a La vie de Jésus joke in here somewhere