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GaryC wrote: That leaves just 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle from the titles that Artificial Eye released in the cinema and on VHS...so hopefully that may be soon.

And is it too much to hope that someone might release an English-friendly version of The Tree, The Mayor and The Mediatheque

Both would be great... Surprising that AE did not add Reinette & Mirabelle to the Essential ER set...

I imagine Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors will be a rebadged Ruscico, but that's no bad thing - not least because it'll be native PAL, unlike the Kino version.

Here's an interesting review of I'm Gonna Explode from a couple of years ago at the Filmbrain blog.

Does anyone know where AE's release of Pialat's Van Gogh can be purchased for a reasonable price?

MichaelB wrote:I imagine Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors will be a rebadged Ruscico, but that's no bad thing - not least because it'll be native PAL, unlike the Kino version.

Actually, that Ruscico transfer is very good. It compares well with the newly struck 35mm print I saw a couple years ago here in the U.S. AE would need to fix some of the subtitle timings, however, since they're off in a few places on the Ruscico disc.

It would be nice if AE could also translate more of the songs performed in the film--the old Connoisseur/BFI videocassette has workable translations in most cases, though the timing would need to be fixed since they don't always match the verses being sung. The songs that Marichka sings as a child come directly from Kotsiubynsky's novella, and the folk songs performed elsewhere provide an interesting counterpoint to the action.

If they do that, then I'll buy the edition myself and recommend it for others as well.

NilbogSavant wrote:Does anyone know where AE's release of Pialat's Van Gogh can be purchased for a reasonable price?

If you're in the UK, Zavvi seems to be the last option I can think of (although, whether it's actually in stock and the site is up-to-date is uncertain) but they claim to have Van Gogh for £14.85, on 3-Day dispatch. It may be worth a shot, and the film is well worth the risk.

I didn't even realise this was out of print and now I see it's going for 90 quid on Amazon. In my opinion it's still worth the price, so if you can track down a copy under 20, don't hesitate.

The Sony disc is OOP too. What happened here with the rights, I wonder

Well shee-it. Since there's no way I can see The White Ribbon before it leaves NY-area theaters, I guess I'll have to get AE's version. Dammit, I wanted to see this on the big screen, too.

bigP wrote:

NilbogSavant wrote:Does anyone know where AE's release of Pialat's Van Gogh can be purchased for a reasonable price?

If you're in the UK, Zavvi seems to be the last option I can think of (although, whether it's actually in stock and the site is up-to-date is uncertain) but they claim to have Van Gogh for £14.85, on 3-Day dispatch. It may be worth a shot, and the film is well worth the risk.

I forgot to thank you for this info. However, after over a week of waiting around, my order just got canceled due to their distributors being out of stock. Any other leads? Would love to have this film and can't find it anywhere that doesn't involve getting gouged.

NilbogSavant wrote:

bigP wrote:

NilbogSavant wrote:Does anyone know where AE's release of Pialat's Van Gogh can be purchased for a reasonable price?

If you're in the UK, Zavvi seems to be the last option I can think of (although, whether it's actually in stock and the site is up-to-date is uncertain) but they claim to have Van Gogh for £14.85, on 3-Day dispatch. It may be worth a shot, and the film is well worth the risk.

I forgot to thank you for this info. However, after over a week of waiting around, my order just got canceled due to their distributors being out of stock. Any other leads? Would love to have this film and can't find it anywhere that doesn't involve getting gouged.

My pleasure, sorry to hear it didn't work out. I've just seen a copy going on Amazon.co.uk for £12.57 from what looks like a reliable seller, so I'd be inclined to grab that asap before it gets snapped up. It's cheaper than I got in when it was still readily available

EDIT: I've just noticed it's gone so hoping you got it ok!

Just got my AE blu of The White Ribbon - for anyone who does not know, it's region locked to B.

bigP wrote:

NilbogSavant wrote:

bigP wrote:
If you're in the UK, Zavvi seems to be the last option I can think of (although, whether it's actually in stock and the site is up-to-date is uncertain) but they claim to have Van Gogh for £14.85, on 3-Day dispatch. It may be worth a shot, and the film is well worth the risk.

I forgot to thank you for this info. However, after over a week of waiting around, my order just got canceled due to their distributors being out of stock. Any other leads? Would love to have this film and can't find it anywhere that doesn't involve getting gouged.

My pleasure, sorry to hear it didn't work out. I've just seen a copy going on Amazon.co.uk for £12.57 from what looks like a reliable seller, so I'd be inclined to grab that asap before it gets snapped up. It's cheaper than I got in when it was still readily available

EDIT: I've just noticed it's gone so hoping you got it ok!

Damn! Maybe I shouldn't have gone out last night. The hunt continues...

I'll keep an eye out and send you a message if anything turns up. It's really looking like Amazon Market Place and Ebay may be the last options until it gets a re-release.

Double Life of Veronika just shy of an all around perfect score at blu-ray.com.

Do I buy this or wait for the (inevitable?) Criterion?

Double Life of Veronika just shy of an all around perfect score at blu-ray.com.

Do I buy this or wait for the (inevitable?) Criterion?

Get it now - Brilliant disc, damn good film.

Criterion cannot top its PQ or AQ quality by much, if at all. Plus, the AE blu shares many of the features on the Criterion dvd, which I suspect will be re-used on their Blu.

Also consider the price - under £9 on Amazon last time I checked; you'll have to also pay nearly double for a Criterion blu.

If nothing else, it would be good to support this release because it is region free, whereas Criterion will probably be region-locked - if we want more companies to release more region free titles, then we consumers need to vote with our wallets.

I can't imagine a significant improvement to the transfer of the actual film - and it's worth bearing in mind that the Artificial Eye release is a rebadged MK2 edition (the menus are a dead giveaway), and MK2 made it in the first place, so their HD master is presumably the source from which all other editions will spring. Criterion might tweak it a bit, but whether this will make a deal-breaking difference is anybody's guess: I'd say it was fairly unlikely.

And, as has already been pointed out, the price makes it a phenomenal bargain, especially given the weak pound.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate - not least because you probably won't have any problem selling it on to someone region-locked if the Criterion does prove more tempting.

Just ordered it. A little under 8 quid after subtracting VAT, which is less than $12 at the current rate. If and when Criterion does a BD, it will be at least a $39.95 MSRP, which means absent a B&N sale or the like, your best price will likely be $26-$28.

Yeah, I ordered it, too. With VAT it was too good a deal. I can keep my Criterion SD for some of the extras and the nice packaging. This is my third dip, though, since I bought the original Mk2 back in the day. I had no need to upgrade to the Criterion when it came out, but I think I snatched it up on one of those great sales. Anyway, I adore this film.

The Blu-ray dot com review states that the AE Blu-ray release of "Double Life of Veronique" has a 1.64:1 aspect ratio (instead of the OAR of 1.66:1). How much information is lost by this slight cropping? I wonder why AE could not release it at 1.66:1.

artfilmfan wrote:The Blu-ray dot com review states that the AE Blu-ray release of "Double Life of Veronique" has a 1.64:1 aspect ratio (instead of the OAR of 1.66:1). How much information is lost by this slight cropping? I wonder why AE could not release it at 1.66:1.

Extremely minor. Within the margin of error I would say - the kind of minor differences you see on DVD Beaver comparisons all the time where one release is ever so slightly cropped differently than another. I wouldn't worry about it.

It's utterly negligible. The average cinema projector masking would probably make a bigger difference.

Have AE corrected their misspelling of Kieslowski's name on the release artwork?

A Blu-Ray bundle of the Dekalog series would be most welcome, as would be a 1080p release of the feature version of A Short Film about Love and The Three Colours Trilogy. Especially Blue, should be a stunner if or when MK2 get to it.

As for other directors: a Blu-Ray of Farewell My Concubine would atone for its total absence on standard definition (in the UK anyway; I don't own the Miramax).

Mr Finch wrote:Have AE corrected their misspelling of Kieslowski's name on the release artwork?

Hmmm. On the front cover they get it right - i.e. 'Krzysztof Kieślowski' - but on the back the diacritic has migrated to the second 's' ('Kieslowśki'), and their concern for Polish orthography only extends as far as his name, because Sławomir Idziak is rendered as plain 'Slawomir'.

They also leave off the acute accent on 'Véronique' and spell 'unconsciously' as 'unconciously', though the most visible proofing cock-up is the made-up word 'Magicial', which unfortunately is on the top left of the front cover in fairly large type.

ANTICHRIST, FISH TANK, and THE WHITE RIBBON all "Region B" only AE BDs after a great run of region-free BDs. My guess is that IFC/Criterion put the pressure on with the first two, and Sony put the pressure on with the latter.