criterionforum.org

There's loads of Menzel available in the Czech Republic, most of it with English subtitles. Examples include Capricious Summer, Larks on a String, Seclusion Near a Forest, Cutting It Short, Snowdrop Festival and My Sweet Little Village.

A Blonde in Love (Forman), up for pre-order at Amazon.

Is that the same one as released by Criterion?

I think so, Criterion's is called "Loves of a Blonde".

Like Closely (Observed/Watched) Trains, the official British and American titles are slightly different.

Having recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed Jerzy Kawalerowicz's FARAON, this ranks as my top recommendation for Second Run. It's a perfect release for them if they decide to tackle it. Besides, they already have one other Kawalerowicz release behind them (MOTHER JOAN OF ANGELS) and on top of that, it's not easily available as I write this. However, if someone can give me some information about the spanish DVD (Romerin, are you reading this?), I would be extremely appreciative.

Lino wrote:Having recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed Jerzy Kawalerowicz's FARAON, this ranks as my top recommendation for Second Run. It's a perfect release for them if they decide to tackle it.

Faraon is being prepped for Blu-ray in Poland - and if existing releases on the ProMotion label are any guide, it'll have English subtitles.

Lino wrote:Having recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed Jerzy Kawalerowicz's FARAON, this ranks as my top recommendation for Second Run. It's a perfect release for them if they decide to tackle it. (...)

Sorry for the off-topic note but after reading this post I visualized the following caption: "Two Years Later"...

MichaelB wrote:

Lino wrote:Having recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed Jerzy Kawalerowicz's FARAON, this ranks as my top recommendation for Second Run. It's a perfect release for them if they decide to tackle it.

Faraon is being prepped for Blu-ray in Poland - and if existing releases on the ProMotion label are any guide, it'll have English subtitles.

That's really fantastic to hear! That film is truly incredible and its amazing cinematography will surely pop in BD.

Oh, and I forgot to add one more recommendation: Juraj Herz's Panna a Netvor. I also saw it recently and ate up all its deliciously macabre vibe. Needless to say, I'm more than psyched for the upcoming Morgiana.

Panna a netvor is out in the Czech Republic with English subtitles - in fact, it's one of the very few Herz DVDs that has them. Morgiana doesn't, which is presumably why it was a higher priority.

Glad to see you back Lino!

The two films I really, really want are 'Faraon' and 'Tomorrow I'll wake up and scald
myself with tea' Here's hoping...

The only bad thing about these Polish film restorations is that every time Second Run releases one of them on DVD, I'll just have an excuse to import the Blu-rays from Poland instead.

Any chance that more American films will make the lineup some day? Portrait of Jason and David Holzman's Diary are nothing to be sneezed at, but there's so much independent cinema unreleased that I would have a hard time choosing just one to recommend. And, if you felt especially daring, D.W. Griffith's Isn't Life Wonderful? would be an ideal silent film first, if such a thing is within your set goals.

colinr0380 wrote:Glad to see you back Lino!

Lino was/is Annie Hall right?
Also glad to see you back.

Aside, I wish you guys would bring back post counts.
Can you run a poll in the announcements forum?
Its helps me keep track of who is who and distiniguish the new guys from the "original heroes".
Post counts are like contours on a map of a forum, they give it shape and flavor. 8-[

godardslave wrote:

colinr0380 wrote:Glad to see you back Lino!

Lino was/is Annie Hall right?
Also glad to see you back.

That's right, baby!

Let me tell you, I've just finished watching Morgiana and boy, do I need more Herz now! My God, what exquisite movies the man made! And let me also add Deváté srdce [The Ninth Heart] to my above recommendation of Panna a netvor. I've just seen some clips of it over at YouTube and am dying to get my hands on an english subtitled edition of this one. Oh, and he makes the most amazing opening credits ever (sorry for all the exclamation marks)!

Dear Lino - we love the exclamation marks!
It expresses the same kind of enthusiasm we have for cinema. Very glad to know that you liked Morgiana that much.

Today is the 93rd independence day of Finland: The Unknown Soldier (1955). And, on a side note, I'm no Finn.

Knoflíkári (1997) is a marvelous Czech film which deserves a good release.

What about Alberto Cavallone? His film SPELL was released to DVD recently, and it is brilliant. His "Blue Movie" would be amazing, not to mention his still missing epic "Maldoror", which is described as Salo on LSD by some.

What are the chances of The Fireman's Ball being picked up since Loves of a Blonde seems to have done well. I'd rather go down this cheap route than with the expensive criterion. Nice job by the way. I especially love the cover.

It's currently available in the UK through Arrow.

The only one of Forman's Czech films that's not already out on a UK label is Black Peter (aka Peter and Pavla) - the rest are divided up between Second Run and Arrow.

Reading the interviews that Rafi Pitts has been giving recently in various publications such as Sight & Sound raising support for the imprisoned Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, I was wondering whether Second Run (or any really DVD company) would be in the mood to release any of Rasoulof's films such as The White Meadows or The Twilight. Iron Island had a Kino DVD release in the US, but could certainly do with a UK release as well.

I know that I would certainly be interested to see the work of this filmmaker while luckily, in the UK at least, Panahi (and Pitts) are well represented on home video.

Is it at all possible that Second Run could release Peter Bacso's The Witness/A tanú? I know the film is regarded as a masterpiece in Hungary, and even has a two disc release there, but none of the supplements are subtitled. I had the opportunity to obtain the set from here, but did not as I would have rather waited for a fully English friendly release, and I am starting to regret this decision.