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criterionsnob wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 6:47 pm Marc Isaacs' latest The Filmmaker's House (featured at Hot Docs) starts with a Second Run logo. Maybe a future release?

It's up on Amazon for September release attributed to Verve.( https://vivaverve.com/film/the-filmmakers-house/) The cover doesn't seem like a Second Run release.
It's wonderfully done by Isaacs with a rather Herzogian undertone.

I'm hoping to place an order with Second Run in the coming weeks in order to pick up the new Beauty and the Beast as well as Herz's Morgiana, neither of which I had heard of until a few months ago but which sound right up my alley.

Are there any other lesser-known Second Run titles that folks would recommend blind-buying along with these two?* My taste generally leans toward more stylized/surreal/experimental film than toward straight realist cinema but I'm open to any and all suggestions.

(*I've already seen and/or already own Blissfully Yours, A Blonde In Love, Daisies, David Holzman's Diary, Dawson City, The Emperor's Naked Army, Goodbye Dragon Inn, Marketa Lazarova, Mother Joan of the Angels, Portrait of Jason, Three Wishes for Cinderella, Tropical Malady, Valeria and Her Week of Wonders, and Vitalina Varela.)

"stylized/surreal/experimental". I would highly recommend both of their Portabella releases. Also their copy of Jancsó's Electra, My Love was a revelation.

So many great films to choose from, but for "stylized" I would recommend Szindbad and for a "lesser known" title that I never would have heard of if not for Second Run, Palms

swo17 wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 3:49 pmSzindbad

This really needs a Blu-ray upgrade. Maybe even UHD.

L.A. wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 4:20 pm

swo17 wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 3:49 pmSzindbad

This really needs a Blu-ray upgrade. Maybe even UHD.

Szindbad is one of the most beautiful color films I have ever and the DVD is very good. I would LOVE to see a Blu-ray someday!

I actually don't even own the Second Run DVD anymore, as I upgraded to the Hungarian one that includes some bonus shorts. Really everything I've seen by Huszárik is phenomenal and I'd love for more of it to be more readily available

ianthemovie wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:10 pm Are there any other lesser-known Second Run titles that folks would recommend blind-buying along with these two?* My taste generally leans toward more stylized/surreal/experimental film than toward straight realist cinema but I'm open to any and all suggestions.

If what you write is true, there really is no way around Electra My Love for you, a captivatingly beautiful parable on oppression and revolution (trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8-_tNvAfOw). You might also like Ikarie XB 1, the visually stunning and utterly stylish predecessor of Star Trek and 2001 (trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz9SdD9KI4w), and Invention for Destruction, an unparalleled bringing-to-life of Victorian line engravings, one of the most visionary approaches to the art of film (trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0t3pB0D7SQ).

Unfortunately (if contextually understandably) the conventional editing and short shot lengths in the trailer for Electra completely fail to convey the mesmerising effect of the actual film's extended shots.

This excerpt from Red Psalm probably gives a better idea of Jancsó's unique style. No subtitles, but for visual demonstration purposes it doesn't really need any.

Second Run is supposed to be releasing the two Paulo Rocha films at some point, and I wonder just how they'll go about it. Perhaps a two film set?

I went ahead and made a list of all the Czechoslovak films that Second Run released on DVD, but not on Blu-ray, with a bullet next to the Slovak films. The purpose in making this list was to try and figure out which Czech films are most likely to next be upgraded on to Blu-ray.

Audition
Romeo, Juliet and Darkness
Marketa Lazarova
Valley of the Bees
Adelheid
Morgianna
Sentiment
Larks on a String
Birds, Orphans and Fools*
The White Dove
The Sun In a Net*
A Jesters Tale
Transport From Paradise
Fruit of Paradise
Pictures From the Old World*
All My Good Countrymen
Dragon's Return*
Something Different
Three Wishes for Cinderella

So far, if I am not mistaken, Second Run has upgraded eight Czech films on Blu-ray. The obvious pattern, here, is that none of the film's upgraded have been Slovak so far, and all but one of the ones that have been upgraded have been films that are highly considered in the canon of Czechoslovakia art cinema (the one being Ikarie XB-1).

By that standard, Marketa Lazarova stands out like a sore thumb, so much so that I'm not sure why it hasn't happened yet.

I thought they said Criterion's Blu-ray adequately served the market

In particular because their release would be cut by the BBFC.

That certainly all adds up.

Beyond that, I would say Three Wishes for Cinderella and All My Good Countrymen the most likely follow-ups. Three Wishes may not be a canonized art film classic, but its an extremely popular film - I think only Valerie and Daisies are more widely seen in the whole collection - and I remember there being some confusion as to why it was DVD only upon the time of its release (especially with a 4K restoration advertised on the disc). All My Good Countrymen IS considered a canonized classic, however, and also comes from a 4K restoration on DVD.

Side note: I forgot to count Romeo, Juliet and Darkness among the titles on my list.

Adelheid was restored a few years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see it upgraded

Yes, Second Run has said more than once that they have no plans to upgrade Marketa Lazarová because they'd be unable to release it uncut, and so their version would automatically be inferior to Criterion's (Region A) and the Czech National Film Archive's (region-free, 100% English-friendly) - both of which are sourced from the same 4K master.

Second Run's twitter retweets this tweet about Mundane History (2009), wonder if it'll be due up for an upgrade soon?

while I'm here, and not quite SE Asia (though since he was born in Malaysia...) I wonder if Second Run would put out Vive L'amour in the UK? since it's coming from Film Movement in region A, with no B holder confirmed yet

If I want to order a stack of new and recent releases from SR to the US, what’s my best option in terms of total price including shipping? Anyone out there offering free shipping with orders above a certain value?

Perhaps it’s best to order direct so at least what i pay goes directly to the label.

Matt wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:04 am If I want to order a stack of new and recent releases from SR to the US, what’s my best option in terms of total price including shipping? Anyone out there offering free shipping with orders above a certain value?

Perhaps it’s best to order direct so at least what i pay goes directly to the label.

I love ordering from SR direct but they do add on to the shipping price by item. I find ordering from Arrow's store (since they distribute SR) isn't too bad either, the shipping charge is more nominal. but I'm with you - I try and support SR direct, especially as they are smaller and I care so much more about their total output compared to most other labels. and as a bonus - they do ship their new releases very early to the US if you pre-order, I remember getting either Party and the Guests or Devil's Trap on the same day as their UK street dates, which is extremely impressive. the perks of a smaller operation!

while I'm here...

What A Disgrace wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:30 pm I went ahead and made a list of all the Czechoslovak films that Second Run released on DVD, but not on Blu-ray, with a bullet next to the Slovak films. The purpose in making this list was to try and figure out which Czech films are most likely to next be upgraded on to Blu-ray.

Audition
Romeo, Juliet and Darkness
Marketa Lazarova
Valley of the Bees
Adelheid
Morgianna
Sentiment
Larks on a String
Birds, Orphans and Fools*
The White Dove
The Sun In a Net*
A Jesters Tale
Transport From Paradise
Fruit of Paradise
Pictures From the Old World*
All My Good Countrymen
Dragon's Return*
Something Different
Three Wishes for Cinderella

So far, if I am not mistaken, Second Run has upgraded eight Czech films on Blu-ray. The obvious pattern, here, is that none of the film's upgraded have been Slovak so far, and all but one of the ones that have been upgraded have been films that are highly considered in the canon of Czechoslovakia art cinema (the one being Ikarie XB-1).

By that standard, Marketa Lazarova stands out like a sore thumb, so much so that I'm not sure why it hasn't happened yet.

we can now cross off Larks and Countrymen, both pretty big titles. I'd love to see the Vlacil titles, A Jester's Tale (a Zeman with a little less love!), or Something DIfferent, the latter I watched for our 1963 project and really enjoyed, despite not being a fan of the director's most famous film...

Rarewaves.com is probably the most affordable option, especially for large orders (and not just for Second Run, but most UK releases in general). Looks like most SR titles there are $18 at the moment and there's just a flat $5 shipping fee to the U.S. no matter how large your order. They also have a points program which I think works out to about 4% off in the end if you keep placing orders from them

Matt wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:04 am If I want to order a stack of new and recent releases from SR to the US, what’s my best option in terms of total price including shipping? Anyone out there offering free shipping with orders above a certain value?

Perhaps it’s best to order direct so at least what i pay goes directly to the label.

If DiabolikDVD has the discs (and they do seem to have all the recent ones; they got Desire / All My Good Countrymen on their site days after it was first made for pre-order), I find that they have the best prices, and shipping is a flat $5.

Thanks, everyone. I bought the in-stock stuff from Rarewaves (which had the best price on them) and placed a pre-order for everything else from Diabolik (with a 10% off code).

Kind of wish Second Run could expand to the US market like Arrow and Indicator, but I understand why that’s probably not feasible (including a certain label acquiring US rights for Central European films and then just sitting on them).

Matt wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 1:13 am Thanks, everyone. I bought the in-stock stuff from Rarewaves (which had the best price on them) and placed a pre-order for everything else from Diabolik (with a 10% off code).

Kind of wish Second Run could expand to the US market like Arrow and Indicator, but I understand why that’s probably not feasible (including a certain label acquiring US rights for Central European films and then just sitting on them).

I certainly wish they would (so far, they're the only label I purchase every disc from), but I'm of course sure their prices would get higher or they'd get less access to films they normally would. Criterion does absolutely poach all the titles (they still haven't put Daisies on Bluray despite constantly promoting it on social media) but you're even guilty of US distributors putting out less than stellar editions of some of the contemporary titles too (the Pedro Costa and Tsai-Ming Liang entries, for example - the latter hasn't even come to disc yet and I don't see it topping the Second Run). they're such a wonderful niche and such nice people (every email I've ever written to them has gotten a loving response, even to the point they told me about the All My Good Countrymen upgrade), and I can't help but support everything they do honestly. not all the films may be winners but I think the sheer opportunity to see the gems we do is fantastic.

hell, I foresee myself purchasing the upgrades for The Round Up, The Red and the White, and so on as they become available. I have fantastic Blurays right on my shelf (in what may be the best release of the year from any label) of them, but since Second Run was the label that really introduced me to Miklós Jancsó, it feels right to give back to them.

watching A Jester's Tale for the 1964 project - does anyone know if this was restored already? this is my first time watching one of Zeman's films that hasn't been quite restored (though this copy is decent), and I quite enjoy it and would love to see it come to disc. I tried googling but haven't quite found anything

I don't think A Jester's Tale has been restored yet, and it certainly wasn't when Second Run put out their DVD (their first Zeman, many years ago).

The ultimate plan is for the Karel Zeman Museum to restore his entire output, and I believe Second Run is equally keen to distribute whatever they produce, but it's a long and challenging project, not least in terms of funding.

MichaelB wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:16 am I don't think A Jester's Tale has been restored yet, and it certainly wasn't when Second Run put out their DVD (their first Zeman, many years ago).

The ultimate plan is for the Karel Zeman Museum to restore his entire output, and I believe Second Run is equally keen to distribute whatever they produce, but it's a long and challenging project, not least in terms of funding.

certainly - I respect their push to get it all moving. I'm surprised the Karel Zeman Museum/Foundation doesn't hold this one in as high of regard as the three that Second Run and Criterion already released...I enjoyed it a lot. I was told it gets less love at the Zeman museum itself too. hopefully it does happen quite soon. I know SR reported that their Zemans sold well but hopefully they did for Criterion too, in order to help. this page was rather useful actually, don't know why I didn't go there in the first place!

currently trying to find a way to donate..I may have bought both the region A and B releases of the three films, but would love to contribute further.