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Kino's blu-ray release is listed on Amazon as having German intertitles with English subtitles. Hopefully that proves to be the case. Wouldn't mind a MoC in any case though, since it'd be cheaper for me to import.

If they get the contrast and aspect ratio right I'd be happy.

I'll buy if it has the German intertitles and is done right.

For those who contributed to Kino Lorber's Pioneers of African-American Cinema campaign. Make sure you respond to their latest update or you'll be sent a DVD release.

Dear Friends,

The wait is finally over, and the 5-disc sets of PIONEERS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CINEMA are almost ready to ship. About a year ago, we sent out a survey, asking for your shipping address. Since a lot of people have changed addresses during that time, I would like to give you one last chance to change or verify your address before we ship.

IMPORTANT - In our survey, we neglected to ask if you prefer DVD or Blu-ray. Please let us know that right away, regardless of whether your address has changed. If we don't receive that information, we'll ship DVD, as it is more commonly requested.

You may respond to this message, or e-mail me privately: bwood @ kinolorber.com

Thank you again for making PIONEERS possible. It's been a rewarding experience for us, and I hope you are as pleased with the end result as we are.

Bret Wood, Kino Lorber

Responding to email sends it to no-reply@kickstarter, so I e-mailed directly to Bret Wood.

Pioneers of African American Cinema @ DVDBeaver

Absolutely stunning set. I understand this is coming from BFI as well, am I correct?

L.A. wrote:I understand this is coming from BFI as well, am I correct?

BFI set coming October 24th.

So did God's Stepchildren get dropped from the set? The initial contents list it as included, but it's not actually listed as being on any of the discs.

antnield wrote:

L.A. wrote:I understand this is coming from BFI as well, am I correct?

BFI set coming October 24th.

Didn't realise this, exciting news. The Kino was too much to import but I'll surely get the BFI version.

My set arrived today. It made me feel really warm to see my name in the Special Thanks section.

I didn't see any reviews of Gold in the usual places, so I bit the bullet and bought it blind. It was a mostly enjoyable film with a slow start but much stronger second half. Perhaps it's because I'm used to it, but the beginning really plays like a 1950s American Scifi B-Movie. As the film goes on however, it gets much darker and more enjoyable. Certainly not the kind of thing that reaches the heights of Lang, Murnau, or Pabst. But the ending is very strong, and tension builds quite nicely as the film goes on.

In terms of PQ, it would seem no restoration work has gone into the disc at all, for better or worse. Certainly the former, to me. Lots of meaty grain and hiss in the soundtrack. PQ-wise, it's similar to those other Kino discs that come from Library of Congress prints. The main complaint I had was a constant flickering that is present for a very large portion of the film.

I must have missed it when Kino announced they were releasing Trouble Man, a film I adore to no end. Brilliant Marvin Gaye score, and a film with a lot of style. This is a beloved movie for me; it has always come across to me as a sort of blaxploitation adaptation of Le Samourai. Bravo to Kino, keep 'em coming.

And right below that -

We will also be releasing the following on Blu-ray and DVD: Swept Away (1974), Summer Night…(1986), Ferdinando and Carolina (1999) and the newly produced LW documentary Behind the White Glasses (2015).

captveg wrote:Seven Beauties (1975)

Wow, I was wondering when this masterpiece would finally make it to Blu.

Fiery Angel wrote:

captveg wrote:Seven Beauties (1975)

Wow, I was wondering when this masterpiece would finally make it to Blu.

Indeed - it's a stunning film. Can't wait to see it in HD

Specs for the upcoming Cosmos Blu-ray, coming out November 15...

Special Features:
Audio Commentary by historian Daniel Bird
Booklet Essay by critic Glenn Kenny
Introduction by Producer Paulo Branco and Andrzej Zulawski
Making-of Featurette
Video Essay by filmmaker David Cairns
Theatrical and International Trailers

This is actually giving the Arrow a run for its money.

Looks like Kino is the winner to me, based on the specs Arrow has posted so far, at least. Kenny, Bird, and Cairns sound like a perfect combo to me.

I'll be disappointed if I have to buy both of these, because they both seem to have an essential selection of supplements.

Haven't both Cairns and Bird worked with Arrow previously? I'd be surprised if these were exclusive extras and they couldn't work out a deal with Arrow.

Assuming the making-of is the same, the only thing going for the Arrow at this point is the Gombrowicz piece, as they both have contributions from Bird listed already (commentary/interview). While I would definitely prefer to buy the Arrow, as per pretty much always in situations like this, it is not inconceivable that this might be the rare case in which Kino outflanks them.

In the back of the Pioneers of African American Cinema booklet there's a nice list of recommended readings. Is there any particular one of the selection that's worth prioritizing?

Not sure whether it's in the bibliography, but I would highly recommend the book that toured a few years back with a program of early black cinema: Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era. Lots of fascinating essays in it.

It is indeed mentioned and thanks.

This sounds like a money grab to me.

Someone on the HTF Kino Insider thread asked....

I've been meaning to ask this for a few weeks, but back when the announcement for the Kino Repertory label was announced, there was mention made of some new restorations of some of Buster Keaton's films, so I would like to know if these will be new restorations different from the previous Kino Blu releases, and if yes, what films (or shorts) will possibly be given upgraded Blu releases, as I only just discovered his films, and I would like to know what, if any, of the previous releases I dare try looking into (I assume the recent set of shorts from 1917-1923 will be safe, but I don't know about any of the others). Any help would be appreciated, please.

Mr Lime answered with some sly wording...

We will be releasing new transfers of 4 Keaton features as double features. The 2-Disc Double Features of The General/Three Ages and Steamboat Bill Jr/College are scheduled for early 2017, all will be transfers and will include new extras. No more Shorts releases are scheduled, I think we're done with those.

I reached out to Cohen and they said ...

We do have rights to the Keaton film 4K masters. In the US another rights holder's term is ending soon. At that time we will be able to start rolling out our newly authored Blurays. Continue to follow us for more updates.

So be careful for future Kino releases of the Keaton full length films if you want the 4K remasters.

We do have rights to the Keaton film 4K masters. In the US another rights holder's term is ending soon. At that time we will be able to start rolling out our newly authored Blurays. Continue to follow us for more updates.

Finally, excellent news! I've been waiting for those restorations to see the light of day...

There's actually a Spanish blu-ray that supposedly uses the 4K The General restoration, but the screenshots I've seen of it didn't look very convincing... And it was completely black and white, no tinting.