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Re: Imprint

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:17 pm
by kekid
Let us hope the quality justifies the cost.

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 2:27 am
by Ribs
I think it’s very likely new restorations of these movies will be or have been picked up by some other labels that will in all likelihood do a better job presenting the films but it seems basically impossible anyone will have a set quite so comprehensive that includes all of these films including the latest. As we’re three months out there’s no reason not to hold out but I think it’s likely the films will end up split up and we’ll see, for example, Arrow do two in the US and UK and Criterion pick up one but take years to release it, or even I could see Shout wanting some of the slightly more… commercial ones. But I have a hard time picturing someone else buying them all and putting them our together.

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:09 am
by dwk
Other than Curse of the Golden Flower being with Sony, I'm not sure who owns these, but, other than title, I would assume that these would be licensed out in a package..

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:46 am
by Ribs
Well, that and Coming Home still remain in print from their original Sony releases and Shanghai Triad was released by Film Movement last year. Any release would not be as comprehensice because of this.

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:00 am
by dwk
Oh yeah, that is true. Still, lets say, any available titles, that are controlled by the same licensor, are likely to be licensed out together as a package.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:47 am
by swo17
Note that Daniel Griffith is not credited anywhere on this Imprint announcement, suggesting he was working on something for another label

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:51 am
by dwk

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:57 am
by Calvin
I wouldn't take this release as a sign that something similar will come out in the US or UK; this restoration of Red Sorghum is about 4 years old, but there's been no sign or it or any other Xi'an Film Studio restorations since then.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:04 am
by swo17
dwk wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:51 am He did mention his involvement on twitter.
Ah, okay. Nearly all the new extras involve Tony Rayns, but perhaps Griffith's company was involved in the "In-depth documentary about Yimou’s career and relationship to Chinese politics using an interview with Wendy Larson Ph.D, author and Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film." (Speaking of which, hopefully they correct that description and recognize his family name as Zhang)

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:14 am
by Calvin
Cash Flagg wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:41 pm It should be available from DD for a (relatively) decent price during one of their 15% off sales (once it is in-stock).
I think the DEEP10 code works on pre-orders, so when they list it that should knock off 10%

Re: Imprint

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 1:13 pm
by knives
kekid wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:17 pm Let us hope the quality justifies the cost.
To be fair this winds up being just a little over $20 a film.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 3:35 pm
by brundlefly
If you prefer to measure things in terms of Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collections, this would run you about one Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection. (MSRP, not street value.)

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:13 pm
by therewillbeblus
Where are people getting $180 from? I see $200 on the linked site, and shipping is catastrophically high for stateside imports, which is the dealbreaker for a lot of these releases. Doing a quick calculation on their website, my math comes to ~$31 per film for me to buy the set.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:24 pm
by Calvin

therewillbeblus wrote:Where are people getting $180 from? I see $200 on the linked site, and shipping is catastrophically high for stateside imports, which is the dealbreaker for a lot of these releases. Doing a quick calculation on their website, my math comes to ~$31 per film for me to buy the set.
The Imprint site is in Australian dollars, not US.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:29 pm
by therewillbeblus
Makes sense, I’m used to seeing AUD rather than the dollar sign but I also primarily buy Australian discs from third party sites not directly from the companies that use the same symbol. My bad

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:11 pm
by L.A.
There has been some debate regarding the aspect ratio of Ju Dou. Some people say it’s 2.35:1 but 1.37:1 seems correct.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:13 pm
by swo17
therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:13 pm shipping is catastrophically high for stateside imports, which is the dealbreaker for a lot of these releases.
Their shipping maxes out at 50 no matter how much you order, so if you load up on other things such as the discounted bundles, it will sting less

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:14 pm
by cdnchris
I had funds set aside for any interesting sales coming up but decided to jump on this as I don't see something like this coming from anywhere else. Hope I don't regret it, but the almost $20 per title helped me justify it.

Me, convincing myself this is worth it:
Image

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:21 pm
by cdnchris
swo17 wrote:
therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:13 pm shipping is catastrophically high for stateside imports, which is the dealbreaker for a lot of these releases.
Their shipping maxes out at 50 no matter how much you order, so if you load up on other things such as the discounted bundles, it will sting less
Do they ship when everything becomes available? I was actually debating on getting the August set since it has a lot of titles I'm interested in (plus Double Jeopardy for my wife) but if I could pair it with the September set (and maybe a couple of other titles) that might make it more worthwhile to ease the shipping costs.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:27 pm
by therewillbeblus
Thanks swo, that’s very helpful to know. I may have to convert to this company after all, especially if I can add in The Straight Story to help ease the cost per title

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:02 pm
by Adam X
cdnchris wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:21 pmDo they ship when everything becomes available?
They do.

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:13 pm
by swo17
Yes, and also they will hold titles for you, so you don't have to worry about one selling out before the last thing in your order becomes available

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:24 pm
by therewillbeblus
Do you suggest ordering directly from Imprint, or are there cheaper, alternative methods for pre-orders? I understand DD and other sites seem to be getting the titles later and/or offer deals once released, but that seems like a gamble

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:41 pm
by swo17
I've just always ordered directly from Imprint, taking advantage of the bundle offers when I'm interested in enough of the titles. (So far I've been able to sell off any I didn't want to keep for at least $35 USD each.) The only other options I know of are DD, Amazon, and JB Hi-fi, which are probably only worth it for titles in lower demand if you only want to cherry pick a limited number of them

Re: Imprint: Collaborations - The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:48 pm
by therewillbeblus
That's what I figured, I appreciate the guidance!