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beamish14 wrote:The Netherlands dubs nothing save for films that are aimed at young children. They also, not so coincidentally, have among the highest rights of bilingual/polyglots in Europe, with virtually all secondary students possessing conversational knowledge of English

Just compare the accent of your average German or Italian speaking English versus your average Dutch or Scandinavian. I wonder how new media may change that for this generation.

In 2010 I wanted to improve my German and went looking for German films on DVD with German subtitles. Very rare, as it turned out.

Netflix is my main source of things in Italian with Italian subtitles.

rrenault wrote:This is interesting, because in France dubbing tends to be predominant with tentpoles, blockbusters, and IP fare while “auteur films”(which would include Neon/A24-type stuff on the one hand and Almodovar and NB Ceylan on the other) seem to be more commonly subtitled than dubbed.

Pretty much it. Our industry is dubbed-centric since the post-war, so that's what mainstream movies will get. On the other hand, Movies For Cinephiles will get subtitles instead (and maybe 100 screens for 2 weeks, if they're lucky).

tenia wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 1:56 pm

rrenault wrote:This is interesting, because in France dubbing tends to be predominant with tentpoles, blockbusters, and IP fare while “auteur films”(which would include Neon/A24-type stuff on the one hand and Almodovar and NB Ceylan on the other) seem to be more commonly subtitled than dubbed.

Pretty much it. Our industry is dubbed-centric since the post-war, so that's what mainstream movies will get. On the other hand, Movies For Cinephiles will get subtitles instead (and maybe 100 screens for 2 weeks, if they're lucky).

I had a funny experience ages ago in France as a visiting student. In Paris everything was subtitled, and I could safely go to English language movies without incident (Paris also being the godhead for repertory cinema), and I got used to that. When I went to the provinces, the SAME new American blockbuster playing with subs in Paris was now dubbed into French. In Denmark everything plays in original language, except for children's films....and even there, you can usually find a original language version playing in a few cinemas for the expats or Disney purists.

In Paris and elsewhere in France there's a split between foreign-language films—blockbusters and otherwise— being subbed (version originale/VO) and dubbed (version française/VF) -- you can check the listings to see which is on offer. Sometimes the same cinema will show the same film in both versions, at different times. VF is more common outside the big cities, but that's not a universal law. Most arty/"auteur" films aren't released to theaters in dubbed versions at all, since the distributors don't see a market for that. That points to a class difference, I think, underlying the audiences for VO and VF, which I think a visit to different Parisian cinemas will confirm. Certainly none of the independent rep cinemas will show dubbed versions unless that's the only print available (or very occasionally if they're showing a matinee for children).

In any case, you've got it good in France compared to Germany, where dubbed films are the norm. Even though my family is well aware that I lived in the UK for over 30 years and therefore my English isn't too bad, they can't understand why I watch all films in their original language. They especially don't understand why I would watch films in foreign languages that aren't English with subtitles rather than being dubbed.

One slight upside is that, unlike in English speaking countries, Hollywood films didn't have as much of a monopoly on German film culture, and especially French films could be as successful as US ones.

Nightbreed (Arrow) caps

Salem's Lot (Arrow)

Is there any consensus on The Social Network’s 4K UHD? Feel like I’m missing something because it was a definitive BD but the I’m not seeing anything here or on The Beaver.

The 4K is on caps: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=16500 ... =0&l=0&a=1

It’s a fine upgrade.

Zot! wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 2:59 pm

tenia wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 1:56 pm

rrenault wrote:This is interesting, because in France dubbing tends to be predominant with tentpoles, blockbusters, and IP fare while “auteur films”(which would include Neon/A24-type stuff on the one hand and Almodovar and NB Ceylan on the other) seem to be more commonly subtitled than dubbed.

Pretty much it. Our industry is dubbed-centric since the post-war, so that's what mainstream movies will get. On the other hand, Movies For Cinephiles will get subtitles instead (and maybe 100 screens for 2 weeks, if they're lucky).

I had a funny experience ages ago in France as a visiting student. In Paris everything was subtitled, and I could safely go to English language movies without incident (Paris also being the godhead for repertory cinema), and I got used to that. When I went to the provinces, the SAME new American blockbuster playing with subs in Paris was now dubbed into French. In Denmark everything plays in original language, except for children's films....and even there, you can usually find a original language version playing in a few cinemas for the expats or Disney purists.

I’d say Paris is better than NYC for arthouse and repertory cinema, hence you calling it the godhead I guess. That said, the Paris scene is very DCP-heavy these days. NYC arthouses do seem to have more celluloid offerings.

Body Heat (Criterion) - caps

rrenault wrote: Tue May 05, 2026 6:46 am

Zot! wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 2:59 pm

tenia wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 1:56 pm Pretty much it. Our industry is dubbed-centric since the post-war, so that's what mainstream movies will get. On the other hand, Movies For Cinephiles will get subtitles instead (and maybe 100 screens for 2 weeks, if they're lucky).

I had a funny experience ages ago in France as a visiting student. In Paris everything was subtitled, and I could safely go to English language movies without incident (Paris also being the godhead for repertory cinema), and I got used to that. When I went to the provinces, the SAME new American blockbuster playing with subs in Paris was now dubbed into French. In Denmark everything plays in original language, except for children's films....and even there, you can usually find a original language version playing in a few cinemas for the expats or Disney purists.

I’d say Paris is better than NYC for arthouse and repertory cinema, hence you calling it the godhead I guess. That said, the Paris scene is very DCP-heavy these days. NYC arthouses do seem to have more celluloid offerings.

Ah, that's a shame, but my stories are at least 20 years out of date. At the time I couldn't believe how extensive and diverse the film listings were.

For those who have the VS Married to the Mob 4K, how much of an improvement is it over the Fun City blu? I imagine its color timing is remarkably different at least

It won’t answer your question but I posted this when I got the 4K:

I’ve never seen the film before and don’t have a reference with the previous BD but I’m not as enthusiastic about the new master and the encode. I have to say these are more personal qualms with VS’ gradings (many of their masters are graded by the same colorist) and my own aesthetic preferences rather than objective issues.

Colors are very punchy and the HDR grade exacerbates them quite a bit even though it’s not a light cannon grade. Once they’re more natural, they occasionally lean towards a "home video" look that touches on magenta in the whites. I don’t think they referenced archival reference material for the grade. The BD in SDR is closer to what I like as it’s more subdued.

The 4K encode is fine but visibly struggles with the brighter look and the punchy highlights and can’t really resolve them. The BD is better but still imperfect. To me this looks like the master is the culprit rather than poor encoder settings.

I also uploaded a few 4K SDR screenshots: https://slow.pics/c/T4VDBAy9. Don’t let my opinion put you off if you like what you see.

I liked it better than the Fun City BD but I was disappointed by it too. I found the grading almost obnoxiously vibrant, and I'm ready to sell it on if or as soon as someone betters it with a UK release. I was also irritated with the occasional lobster skin tones on VS's Southern Comfort UHD (again hoping that either Second Sight or Arrow will eventually provide a more convincing grade), to the point that I'm not willing to blind buy any Vinegar Syndrome 4K anymore and going to wait for reviews instead.

Conquest (Calderon)

It seems like VS's partner label Cinématographe have been struggling a bit recently. I recently got their Boxcar Bertha UHD, and it isn't very good. Aside from a disc error where the DV layer won't play on UB820 players, the encoding has some major issues. Without exaggeration, the opening credits of the film genuinely might have the worst compression I've seen from a UHD this year so far. The rest of the movie is fine, for the most part, sometimes even good. The underlying restoration is clearly great, but the encoding unfortunately bounces around from being god-awful to acceptable to sometimes good.

Despite that, I'd actually say VS themselves are doing pretty great recently. I really enjoyed their releases of Troll 2, Mac & Me, Sleepless, The Stendhal Syndrome, Tromeo & Juliet, Terror Firmer, and Argento's Phantom of the Opera. The only other recent dud from them or their partner labels I can think of is The Great Silence (Film Movement), which was quite disappointing.

Cinématographe is a sublabel, not a partner label

swo17 wrote: Fri May 08, 2026 11:53 pm Cinématographe is a sublabel, not a partner label

That's right, my bad.

are there any reputable comments between the Kino and SC French UHDs of Port of Shadows?

nitin wrote: Sat May 09, 2026 5:34 am are there any reputable comments between the Kino and SC French UHDs of Port of Shadows?

Not really. The Blu-ray.com site reviewer made screenshots of the Kino 4K and some of them show the usual blockiness. I went with the French release and it’s excellent, so I’d just go with that one unless you want the commentary that’s exclusive to the Kino disc.

thanks nicolas, will do

Alice in Wonderland (Disney)

Enclosed BD is the old transfer.