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New Yorker's LA BELLE NOISEUSE isn't poor quality, and I assume CELINE AND JULIE will be equal.

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:This is fabulous news. Go Rosenbaum! I hope that New Yorker does a good job. What are the chances we'll see this on a single DVD?

To me this is very bad news. I was hoping that the endless delay meant that Criterion had wrestled away the rights.

If New Yorker does their own transfer (instead of doing a cheesy PAL to NTSC conversion), won't that be a first?

Their La Belle Noiseuse DVD, which someone is praising IS a PAL to NTSC botch job.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am certainly not buying a PAL to NTSC based transfer of one of my favorite films. I was holding off on the BFI, but I guess I'll be adding it to my French DVD for the benefit of subs.

there's really no reason not to get the BFI, it's a fine transfer. i'm sure the NYer will just be a PAL-NTSC ghosting-laden port of it.

sevenarts wrote:there's really no reason not to get the BFI, it's a fine transfer. i'm sure the NYer will just be a PAL-NTSC ghosting-laden port of it.

I just watched the BFI disc a couple hours ago. Nice transfer, or whatever fault there may be probably lies with the original elements: occasional visual noise (speckles) and a little soft. I was very pleased with it. Great film, or course.

I heard that New Yorker has been doing good things lately, their Weekend is close in quality to the AE, their Punishment Park didn't measure to poorly against the MOC, and of course it's good to hear that they've discovered the wonders of RSDL.

skuhn8 wrote:I heard that New Yorker has been doing good things lately, their Weekend is close in quality to the AE, their Punishment Park didn't measure to poorly against the MOC, and of course it's good to hear that they've discovered the wonders of RSDL.

But isn't Project X responsible for the transfer of Punishment Park? I thought New Yorker simply acted as their US distributor for the DVD.

You're right about the Watkins films....they were Project X releases, with New Yorker just the distributor.

That's right. My bad. I believe Gladiators was the same deal.

Anyway, not the right thread, but I highly recommend the BFI.

Still, while New Yorker isn't as good as Criterion, they've gotten a lot better, and their Weekend disc and their Noiseuse discs is are still pretty good. Unless you pause the film at specific moments (such as what Beaver does) you wont notice a difference. This has almost always been the case with "PAL to NTSC botch jobs". at least with me. Even on my 40" 1080p television, the New Yorkers are solid DVDs.

Rumor Mill:

Might a company be tinkering with the idea of 1-disc vs. 2-disc SE's, and a two-tier luxury price point system the same as a certain other DVD company?

Perhaps.

Might that same company then start tinkering with the idea of progressive transfers?

Let's hope so.

Haha! Well said, tryavna!

tryavna wrote:Might that same company then start tinkering with the idea of progressive transfers?

No.

I don't like being the one to spoil the party but I must say that their extras for Woman is the Future of Man look very tasty indeed:

DVD Release Date: March 27, 2007
Run Time: 88 minutes
DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English
Video Introduction by Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese
Making-of Featurette (38 minutes)
Interviews with the Actors (32 minutes)
Theatrical Trailers: 2 each from Korea and France
Photo Gallery
Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo OR 5.1 Surround Sound
Optional English Subtitles
Liner Notes with Essays by Michael Atkinson and Kyung Hyun Kim

I was surprised by the Scorsese intro before I remember that he seems to do an intro for every DVD released... Still, I shouldn't be so snide and I am genuinely interested to see/hear what he has to say...

ohhh...i may have to sell my R3 disc and pick this up...

amazon lists How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman being released next month...anyone have any info on this? is it really going to happen this time?

Beaver review of Woman Is the Future of Man

Upshot: it seems to be native NTSC. But it's still non-progressive. Baby steps, I suppose; maybe New Yorker will finally get this DVD thing right around 2012, when everyone else has abandoned video-on-disc and movies are beamed directly into our brains with lasers.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:...around 2012, when everyone else has abandoned video-on-disc and movies are beamed directly into our brains with lasers.

Hey, you read New Scientist, too, dude?! Awesome issue. But, I was like thinkin', y'know: what happens if they accidentally beamed loadsa porno into some kid's brain - or gay porno into a Muslim, man? Or what if they beam all the episodes of Friends inna my fuckin' head, man! Shit, I spent years avoidin' that shit and it could all go flooding inta my fuckin' gulliver, man! Fuckin' scientists, man. At least the blind could finally see Herzog's movies - and Godzilla an' shit. Flintstones.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:Beaver review of Woman Is the Future of Man

I love the screen shot of the Scorsese intro: he's identified as "Martin Scorsese--FILMMAKER."

Thanks for clearing that up, guys!

BrightEyes23 wrote:amazon lists How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman being released next month...anyone have any info on this? is it really going to happen this time?

I think so. And Bye Bye Brazil is coming out on April, 17.

Don Lope de Aguirre wrote:I was surprised by the Scorsese intro before I remember that he seems to do an intro for every DVD released... Still, I shouldn't be so snide and I am genuinely interested to see/hear what he has to say...

The intro is up on YouTube.

Does anyone know what the status of 'Memories of an Underdevelopment' is? I remember reading an article in the Times a few years back claiming that New Yorker was about to release it, but as far as I can tell nothing has materialized.

I don't know about the New Yorker release, but it is available ith optional English subtitles from Zafra Video, a Mexican DVd company, as is Humberto Solas' 'Lucia'. The image on both is good, although there seems to be a slight haziness on both.

just got an email from amazon that How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman has been pushed back until Mid-May. Disappointing to be sure, and with the previous delays this title has had in the past, I'm not too optimistic that this is actually going to come out.

One title from New Yorker's VHS catalog that I'd like to see on DVD: "Faces of Women".

Just in case anyone's lurking and taking notes.

How Tasty will be coming out. Much of the delays now or in the future are due to getting box art, liner art, all that graphical stuff prepared for the films in the pipeline.

On 7/17 they will release The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg.
On 7/31 they will release Six in Paris (Paris vu par...)