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Solent wrote:I got a shock while watching KINGS OF THE ROAD. When our heroes drive off, Winter puts a disc in the record player to my surprise instead of "The More I See You" there is a different song entirely (some 70s heavy rock thing). The same thing happens later on, instead of the rockabilly number there is something else. Is this a new directors's decision in the light of copyright laws or is the version I saw previously [UK: BFI] a specific mix used outside of Germany.

Aha! I was just about to post a question about that. I picked up a Chinese bootleg of KINGS OF THE ROAD awhile back, which presumably was taken off the German edition (I bought it more for curiosity's sake, to see what the DVD would look like, and fully intend to buy the real thing at some point - tho' preferrably with what I take to be the proper soundtrack!). The Chinese and likely the German versions have the same inferior song, instead of "The More I See You." As for whether the BFI print was idiosyncratic, for the record, "The More I See You" was in the US VHS release of this, and in a print of the film that screened at the Pacific Cinematheque some fifteen years ago. It was also mentioned in that late 70's interview pamphlet on Wenders (I forget who was interviewing him but it's the one with the famous bubble-gum quote - the author is Jan something...). I was really wondering if the Australian edition would be the same, so thanks, Solent, for confirming this.

I'm betting on copyright issues here... Tried asking through Wenders' site, but there was no reply.

Gasp... actually, while we're at it - the missing rockabilly song isn't "Just Like Eddie," is it? (I didn't get that far - is that the title of the song that's gone?).

No "The More I See You," no "Just Like Eddie" - looks like I'll stick with the VHS.

P.

Don't worry "Just like Eddie" is intact. The second song I mentioned is very short and dispensible. I miss "The More I See You" but it is not essential. The soundtack music sounds better than before and is remixed. As to copyright I would bet that SUMMER IN THE CITY would never see a release in its original form due to the maximum number of original songs used throughout (The Kinks, Bo Diddley, Dylan & the Lovin' Spoonful). I don't suppose Wenders would release it in any case since it is not professional enough for his standards.

Madman announced recently that they have secured the rights to release all of Wenders' films in Australia but until a decent print of GOALIE'S FEAR is first put out in Germany I wouldn't expect that to come out soon here. Perhaps THE SCARLET LETTER will be next.

See in the Madman Director's Suite email that they've released Paris Vu Par, I had no idea!

Big Sky Video will be releasing The Gospel According to St. Matthew on December 12.

Congratulations to Aussies for booting that Howard into the the ash heap.

davidhare wrote:The greatest irony of all is the littel bastard has lost his own seat! .

It's fantastic, I know (poor marty, who lost his own seat here too, he must be trembling with anger at moment haw haw)... it's as ignominious a downfall in oz as has been seen inna while, if ever.

Unfortunately, when a political cretin is booted out, his followers remain firmly in place. And what is with the massive Christian population in Oz? I was dismayed to see the figures on that shit. Muslims are pouring in, too, is that right? The next thing you know, there will be loads of homosexuals in Oz, too.

How great life now is that Howard will no longer be on any political horizon. The little'ns down here finally can wake up and get a sense what it feels like to have a little hope in their lives. Not much, but a little.

And to the departed Marty, and I know I speak for many - 'na-na, na, na-na'.

Boom! is out on DVD in Australia as I speak.

All apolitical atheists in Australia are saying: "thank god for democracy!"

Death to economic rationalism!

Bring back people-politics.

Bye bye Johnny. Sling your hook mate and fuck off into the mists of time where uninteresting historical figures dwell sadly. You had as much charisma as Don Dunstan's discarded sandals. You were the blandest of them all.

Some Madman/Shock titles early next year -
Tales of Ordinary Madness, La Bete, Gertrud and Master of the House (I'm guessing these will be taken from BFI discs), Sawdust and Tinsel (probably from new Criterion)

Don't the politics really belong in the naval-gazing/I-really-don't-give-a-damn-about-your-opinions section?


Anyway, back to DVDs, has anyone picked up the Region 4 Becket?
It seems identical to the new Region 1, but at half the price, and with the convenience of a local release. Anyone know if it's an NTSC>PAL transfer, or suffering from any other major defects?

Local The Shining running time - 152 minutes.

Has anybody got the R4 Kubrick set?

I've seen it advertised as six discs instead of ten.

Don't fret - it's 10 - plus you can remove the ugly classification label.

Is this a new trend? I managed to remove these 'stains' from both the Dylan Newport set and the Monty Python box. I hope Rudd reviews this practise - which treats us like children who need fucking colour coding to recognise (incorrect) information. This is a form of rape on aesthetics.

I Know this is a recycled bitch. No more from me on this topic I promise.

I hear MRA has recently bought out Magna Pacific. There's a joke to be had here somewhere, but who can be be f***** looking for it?

Hi - I was looking to send a copy of Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron (aka Bin-Jip) to someone in Oz as a thank-you gift (according to their son, they don't have a multi-region DVD player). It looks to not be released in Region 4 (although I found The Isle), but I just want to confirm that before giving up.

So... help, to anyone who might know.

Darth Lavender wrote:Anyway, back to DVDs, has anyone picked up the Region 4 Becket?
It seems identical to the new Region 1, but at half the price, and with the convenience of a local release. Anyone know if it's an NTSC>PAL transfer, or suffering from any other major defects?

Doesn't look like a standards conversion. I've posted some images in the screen captures thread. EDIT: Having looked at it through the projector as opposed to the PC, it doesn't look brilliant. It's very soft, almost out of focus at times. There is also a minimal amount of ghosting, i.e. not to the extent that I normally associate with a standards conversion. For $12.98 it's pretty serviceable.

Also picked up the newest release of Zulu, which seems to be the same as the new R2 (the R4 is R2/R4 coded). Looks excellent, will post some caps when I get around to it.

Good review, I am glad Umbrella are finally adding their own extras and white subtitles.

I will definitely be picking this one up.

davidhare wrote:Same as you, a search only brings up the Isle.

Thanks for the reply. Now to figure out what to do...

Anyone seen the R4 Pan's Labyrinth? If so, is it worth a buy?

I finally picked up the Kubrick set - the Shining is the 115min cut. This is not a bother to me personally, I will keep my old 4:3 R1 disc because to me the film should be seen in nothing but fullscreen. It's a shame that Warner is still releasing the "international cut" while even SBS is showing the longer version.
The extras on all the other discs seem to be the same as R1, EWS is the uncensored cut. I am glad Warner didn't put the awful colour OFLC logos on each case and the rating on the front is a sticker (alas the one on the spine is not).

Also, Pasolini's Gospel According to Matthew has just been released under the "Masterpiece on Film" label. The distributer is Big Sky Video so I am expecting nothing special from this disc. Anyone know anymore about it?

I know there was already a big discussion about the ratios in the thread about the boxset, but I must say I prefer his last three films in the academy ration. There are certain scenes that seem as they were composed especially for full frame (for example the hallway scenes in the Shining, the opening drill scenes in Full Metal Jacket). If I recall correctly, at the Kubrick museum that was in Melbourne a few years ago the last three films were all shown in 4:3 and they looked wonderful.

Regarding availability, there is a huge pile of the boxsets at my local JAB, but I have not seen any of the individual discs anywhere (yet).