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Adam Grikepelis wrote:You could always get the Camera Obscura release. It's hard to see Arrow doing any better.

Thanks for that, Adam, really appreciated but I think I'll pass. I can't in good conscience spend £32 on a single film. I realise it's a solid price for a limited edition but, still...

On to the question of more box sets: if Franceso Simeoni and Mike are reading this, please, PLEASE, if you can secure the rights and get good materials, do a box set for Raoul Ruiz with City of Pirates among the films. That would be an instant pre-order for me.

Yeah, I guess Arrow could defintely improve on the price.

Personally, I'd definitely second some sort of release of any of Claire Denis' films, especially those yet to see an English-friendly release. Though I'm not entirely sure the great No Fear, No Die would make it out uncut in the UK due to the cockfighting. Can't remember how explicit or contextual it was.

Artificial Eye more likely to release more Denis on Blu-ray...perhaps when her next film comes out?

Yeah, though I figured this is a wish list. So why not. Certainly, no one else appears to be interested.

Personally, I feel the chances of seeing any of their Denis releases come out on blue is somewhere between zero & no hope.

I dunno, I would have said the same thing a year ago about Andersson and Tarkovsky.

True. 2020 sounds about right.

Adam Grikepelis wrote:True. 2020 sounds about right.

Huh? They already released an Andersson box set this year, and all their Tarkovsky is ready for 2016.

As for Denis, I'm sure they would release some more around the time of her new film, if not before. Same probably goes for Haneke, whose films there have been mutterings of a box set from AE for some time now.

Don't think any of these directors are in Arrow's sights (Tarkovsky might have been, but that's all been taken on now). They haven't yet made a box set - nor released many titles - by a contemporary director. In fact, the only recent title they released as part of Arrow Academy was Hard to Be a God...and German passed away before the film had even finished! So wish all you want, just know that Denis is very unlikely to be from them.

None of those directors is in Arrow's sights. Why bother, when Artificial Eye has the rights to all the commercially attractive stuff?

And, as you say, Hard to Be a God is an extreme anomaly in the Arrow Academy catalogue, which is otherwise entirely taken up with 1940s-to-1980s titles that are already recognised as "classic". In fact, it was originally earmarked for a barebones Arrow Films release, but Daniel Bird and I strongly felt that it deserved better - so strongly that we each ended up self-filming a 30-minute piece in order to squeeze as much out of an understandably tiny production budget as we could.

Rights might be an issue but, since we're talking contemporary directors, a set of Denis Villeneuve's films from Un 32 août sur terre through Polytechnique would be interesting - and potentially a good commercial investment if his stock rises due to Blade Runner 2.

MichaelB wrote:None of those directors is in Arrow's sights. Why bother, when Artificial Eye has the rights to all the commercially attractive stuff?

And, as you say, Hard to Be a God is an extreme anomaly in the Arrow Academy catalogue, which is otherwise entirely taken up with 1940s-to-1980s titles that are already recognised as "classic". In fact, it was originally earmarked for a barebones Arrow Films release, but Daniel Bird and I strongly felt that it deserved better - so strongly that we each ended up self-filming a 30-minute piece in order to squeeze as much out of an understandably tiny production budget as we could.

I thought that might've been the case with Hard to Be a God, and I'm glad you did make it an Academy title in the end. I'll definitely be picking it up at some point, as it's a film I can see myself wrestling with for some time (so worth owning a copy of, especially with others' opinions and explanations of it in the extras).

Calvin wrote:Rights might be an issue but, since we're talking contemporary directors, a set of Denis Villeneuve's films from Un 32 août sur terre through Polytechnique would be interesting - and potentially a good commercial investment if his stock rises due to Blade Runner 2.

Would love to see some earlier Villeneuve. But again, it might be AE who are sniffing up that tree...especially since they ended up picking up Enemy (after I never thought it would see a UK release).

rapta wrote:

Adam Grikepelis wrote:True. 2020 sounds about right.

Huh? They already released an Andersson box set this year, and all their Tarkovsky is ready for 2016.

That was sarcasm.

More Toei action - Sonny Chiba, for a start!

Calvin wrote:Rights might be an issue but, since we're talking contemporary directors, a set of Denis Villeneuve's films from Un 32 août sur terre through Polytechnique would be interesting - and potentially a good commercial investment if his stock rises due to Blade Runner 2.

I picked up the Canadian blu-ray of Polytechnique on Amazon.com for under US$10 a few years ago. It's no longer available in US, but you can still get it from Amazon.ca for about $15.

Who has the rights to the Dutch Verhoevens? Would make a nice set, and an essential purchase if works such as "Floris" and Steekspel could be included along with the main features.

That would be a great set, his early Dutch work is criminally overlooked.

Was there ever a decent dvd of The Fourth Man? I gave up hope long ago that this would ever make it to Criterion.

I got the Anchor Bay Verhoeven early DVD set on first release years ago. The low used price on Amazon is $160 now, yeesh.

starmanof51 wrote:I got the Anchor Bay Verhoeven early DVD set on first release years ago. The low used price on Amazon is $160 now, yeesh.

At the time it came out, I thought I remember reading something about mediocre picture quality, so I held off for a better international version which never materialized.

I asked Arrow about doing Wakamatsu.
Their response:
And thanks for the recommendation! Hopefully the Yoshida set sells well enough that we can give Wakamatsu the similar treatment.

That Klimov/Shepitko set would have been something.

Albania, now there's a country whose cinema I'd like to get to know better. The Albanian Cinema Project has restored some classics like The Second November and Tomka and His Friends. Or is this more of what Eureka would consider?

L.A. wrote: Albania, now there's a country whose cinema I'd like to get to know better. The Albanian Cinema Project has restored some classics like The Second November and Tomka and His Friends. Or is this more of what Eureka would consider?

My money would be on Second run for any Albanian movie. But sadly that would mean Dvd rather than bluray. But I don't think Eureka would do them. As of late, they seem to do mostly Old Hollywood movies.

L.A. wrote:That Klimov/Shepitko set would have been something.

Albania, now there's a country whose cinema I'd like to get to know better. The Albanian Cinema Project has restored some classics like The Second November and Tomka and His Friends. Or is this more of what Eureka would consider?

I can't see Eureka releasing them, especially since they've not managed to release a World Cinema Project Vol. 2 yet.

I can't see Arrow releasing them on their own either, but I have suggested an alternative World Cinema Project series (I'll leave the jazzy names up to them) which could encompass those films restored by the Albanian Cinema Project and other organisations across the globe like ABS-CBN in the Philippines and the Taiwan Film Institute

perkizitore wrote:I asked Arrow about doing Wakamatsu. Their response: And thanks for the recommendation! Hopefully the Yoshida set sells well enough that we can give Wakamatsu the similar treatment.

Wow. Come on people, just buy the damn thing - you might not need it, but you can't pretend you don't need Wakamatsu! Plus you can always probably sell it at a profit later.

Just the slightest chance of a Wakamatsu set actually happening would have pushed me into buying the Yoshida, even if I wasn't that interested in him (as it happens I am, and thus pre-ordered it on day one, but I'm serious - I actually did that with the Borowczyk box).

However as the main works are already more or less available (albeit - I guess still - with French subs only), what I would really love to see would be a late Wakamatsu (2004-2012) set, even only on DVD: United Red Army and Caterpillar are absolute masterpieces, but Petrel Hotel Blue is a fascinating film as well. Quite desperate to see the rest of them.

repeat wrote:However as the main works are already more or less available (albeit - I guess still - with French subs only), what I would really love to see would be a late Wakamatsu (2004-2012) set, even only on DVD: United Red Army and Caterpillar are absolute masterpieces, but Petrel Hotel Blue is a fascinating film as well. Quite desperate to see the rest of them.

I know this off topic, but if you have the ability to play reg.3/reg. A, there are Hong Kong versions of 11.25 The Day Mishima Chose His Own Fate (dvd) and Caterpillar (blu) with English subs. Of course Kino put out Caterpillar and United Red Army in the US on dvd. That leaves Perfect Education 6, 17 and Life aka Cycling Chronicles, Petrel Hotel Blue and Millennial Rapture without official English-friendly versions available.

Hopefully some Indian classics next year. When Arrow asked at Facebook about releasing Bollywood, have to say was a bit surprised of people's responses about the idea like "No way!" or "Gawd, no!". Pretty much something like that.

I know very little about Bollywood and would definitely like to correct that. Put out Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam (both the black-and-white and color versions) and I'd be most happy.