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Better jump on these titles if you ever had any interest in them. I would not expect most of the indie/foreign/classic titles to come back into print any time soon.

While you're laughing at/cursing Sony, take a look at this article on the Blu-ray follies.

matt wrote:Better jump on these titles if you ever had any interest in them. I would not expect most of the indie/foreign/classic titles to come back into print any time soon.

Well, what can one expect of the likes of Sony. I'm more surprised to see that Warner are already pulling their edition of Dead Ringers.

matt wrote:While you're laughing at/cursing Sony, take a look at this article on the Blu-ray follies.

The Xbox 360 as the primary reason why HD-DVD will beat Blu-ray? Yeah, right...

Better Sex Video Series, Vol. 3: Making Sex Fun With Games And Toys

Well I wasn't sure about this at first, but with this news I have no other option...

So, if I buy She's Out of Control for $5.00 from the Wal-Mart bin and sit on it for a few months, I could easily get Salo like prices on E-Bay, right? As long as I prove it has the white ring and everything, of course.

I'm ordering Bonjour Tristesse today! See California Split's on there too. Strange, you'd have thought they'd have kept it available at least long enough for an Altman-Oscar cash-in. As the version on the current DVD has been cut by 3 minutes to avoid music rights issues, any chance they're going to do a new edition with the cuts restored, or is that just wishful thinking on my part? Should I pick this one up while I can, or hold out for the complete film?

The Shining is going out of print? Is this one that they're going to make a screw-me-once-shame-on-me-screw-me-twice-won't-get-fooled-again edition of?

richast2 wrote:The Shining is going out of print? Is this one that they're going to make a screw-me-once-shame-on-me-screw-me-twice-won't-get-fooled-again edition of?

While I'd like to keep this thread on the topic of Sony at the very least...

Come on, man! Get with it!

Don't miss out on The Swimmer

It's sad to see Vertical Ray of the Sun go, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself to upgrade to a barebones disc in the whereabouts of $25 when my $3 VHS is still in great condition...

-Toilet Dcuk

davidhare wrote:Christ! Among several treasures people need to jump on Bonjour Tristesse - superb transfer and a key Perminger.

Also indicative of trends is Sony Australia which has promptly started pulling effectively all its "Columbia Classics" from shelves and etailers.

What 'ya talkin' 'bout Willis?

No sign of it around here, David.

Don't forget to get two copies of virtual sexuality.

Just a thought, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sony re-release a number of the classic titles again at a cheaper price, while at the same time dropping the Columbia moniker from all artwork.

davidhare wrote:Christ! Among several treasures people need to jump on Bonjour Tristesse - superb transfer and a key Perminger.

Also indicative of trends is Sony Australia which has promptly started pulling effectively all its "Columbia Classics" from shelves and etailers.

I ordered this today on your recommendation! Sounds interesting.

Bonjour Tristesse would also be my pick from that whole list, along with The Chase and Men With Guns. It was such a long wait for Bonjour Tristesse to be released I can't believe it's going out of print again just like that. Maybe these are just getting shifted over to the Sony catalog as devlinnn suggested, but with a few of these I believe it's worth buying them now just to be on the safe side.
The Chase, by Arthur Penn and Lillian Hellman, unfortunately doesn't have a reputation as a "masterpiece" but that shouldn't stop anyone. Nor should the fact that Penn disowned it because he wasn't given control of the final cut. I'd give anything to see a different cut that edited not just Brando's performances but the entire film more faithfully to Penn's wishes. Nevertheless, I think this version repays repeated viewings every bit as much as Bonnie and Clyde or Night Moves.
And for my money, Men With Guns is possibly the richest, most beautiful film of Sayles career. It's a shame it's not quite as widely appreciated as Lone Star or Eight Men Out.

It seems that all of the titles that went OOP are now on sale for $5.96 on DDD.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/studio.c ... Studioid=3

Problem solved, much thanks!

-Toilet Dcuk

I wonder if these will be their regular prices on these titles for the foreseeable future. For a few of the titles I'm just curious about I will probably wait until the next 20% off sale.

An inordinate number of Julianne Moore and Ione Skye titles slipping beneath the waves...

Anybody got a take on Betty Blue?

Hated hated hated hated hated hated hated hated Betty Blue. Easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I liked it whan I saw it on screen in '86. I haven't seen it since, but my memories of it are good.

Has one of the funniest old man lines in cinema history.

Scotty wrote:Anybody got a take on Betty Blue?

It's good, but it can be difficult to watch, depending on your tastes. It features a female lead that is often infuriating, and a passive male lead that makes you shake your head, but there are reasons for this. Basically, it's a gender-study, with a "feminized" male (passive, weak, emotionally nurturing, gets pushed around, creative writer type but he isn't motivated enough to actually get published) who meets a "masculine" female (volatile, violent, highly sexually open, on-the-move). She tries to mold him into more of a man, he tries to make them work as a couple, it ends badly. The pace of the film lurches at times (I most enjoyed the surprise opening, a slow track in on expressive, sweaty fully-nude intercourse, and the first 30 minutes or so immensely, as the characters' traits are established), and seems episodic (though wonderfully photographed) in the middle, then drives to an emotional upheaval at the end. But along the way is some wonderful (though obvious) play on these gender roles, and the difficult middle ground in which we sometimes find ourselves (they paint beach cottages, he uses pink, she uses blue; her failures to be feminine (pregnancy) lead to Greek-style self-punishment; the male lead finally becomes "masculine" in a violent act dressed as a woman). Plus, it does show some fantastic nudity (both sexes, full body; Beatrice Dalle is stunning) as well as simulated copulation in various orifices. (I've got the R2 version).

It's probaby the leading example of an interesting subgenre of films with a mope who has a wild girlfriend who gets him into serious trouble. I know that was played for laughs innumerable times with Tom Ewell and Tommy Noonan, but I mean in something more dramatic and sexually charged.

B. Monkey and Normal Life are a couple of other good reference points. The overrated Something Wild kind of splits the difference.

California Split was gone from the DeepDiscountDVD site when their 20% off sale began, but it returned today and can be had for $4.78. I'm not convinced I'll receive it since it was gone from the site and presumably out of print, but I placed an order anyway.

I'm guessing these are R1 titles as Nil by Mouth is on a 20th Century Fox label over in the UK ..