I'm pretty sure you can get Salo on blu-ray at Barnes and Noble, so I don't know that it's an issue. Like you say, however, there's already a nice restoration of it out there. I toyed with the idea of buying one as a historical thing to own, but aside from its message, I also found it mind-numbing when I viewed it. So, I passed.
Agreed. I just watched an HD transfer of it on the Roku channel (free with ads) and it looks fine. So even a cheap blu-ray would be nice. Criterion would just be peachy. Also, THE REF, gosh darn it.
I suppose I should have jumped on the Arrow Tremors 4k set when I had the chance, but I'd have to get a 4k player. It appears to be out of print already and going up in price. My other option would be the European region locked version from Arrow, but then I'd have to get a region free player. So, maybe it would be nice if Criterion did a blu-ray of Tremors. I hear it has a nice new 4k tranfer. Similar issue with Dawn of the Dead. Their Night of the Living Dead is nice, after all.
I stand by my original comment. Search Amazon if you don’t believe me. The original 1915 The Birth of a Nation is not available new through either the U.S. or the U.K. websites, despite being in print in both countries. This was a conscious decision taken by Amazon, several months ago, as a direct result of this year’s Black Lives Matter campaign. I don’t wish to touch on the political aspect any further in this thread. I am simply stating a fact about the film’s availability via the world’s largest online retailer. As I said earlier, it is still available through other outlets, so this isn’t a blanket ban. Barnes & Noble is not Amazon, and, despite their size, they don’t have nearly the same impact on the world economy. Salò is a completely different film, with a completely different set of issues. As we’ve seen many times this year, cancel culture is highly selective in the targets it chooses. What is deemed true for one film is not necessarily applied evenly across our cultural landscape. Salò is an obscure art film to most of the general public, and the point that it makes — the sexual abuse of children as metaphor for political abuse of power — is perhaps not as clear cut, in their eyes, as the glorification of the KKK. Besides which, Pasolini’s point is obscured somewhat by the necessary use of young adults in the roles of the children. Pasolini’s film is physically repulsive, but it does come from a higher political motive that is, at least, defensible from an intellectual standpoint. The defence for The Birth of a Nation is one of cinematic history more than anything else. The matter of it being overly long and rather tedious to watch is beside the point.
A Christmas Carol 1951...PLEASE. or better yet A Christmas Carol BOX SET with the 1935, 1938, and 1951 versions...all from pristine prints if possible.
But leave out the awful 1938 `colorized` version which has just been showing on the BBC this season, the old `Black and White` 1938 version is beautiful and perfect in every way.
I would really like Criterion to Restore the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" too...I believe VCI owns the film print used in 2009 for most recent Blu-Ray release...or they must have the license locked down for a decade....love to see this from Criterion Collection in new decade please!!
do you own the BD? if so does your copy have a dropout when they are selling the goods to the ragman...
This film isn’t Arrow’s speed at all, and they have no relationship (or upper hand, as you put it) with the rights holders. A Christmas Carol (1951) was released in Britain as Scrooge. The rights here are held by Renown Pictures, who announced a Blu-ray in 2015 then promptly cancelled the release, stating that there wasn’t enough interest. It was suggested to Renown that they sub-licence the film to the BFI, who funded the 2K restoration, so they could release it on BD themselves, but Renown weren’t interested in doing that. Here is the Blu-ray.com database entry for the cancelled 2015 edition: Scrooge Blu-ray Release Date November 2, 2015
As stated above, the film already received a 2K restoration from the BFI. The 2009 BD isn’t the latest edition from VCI. In 2011, VCI reissued the film in a “Diamond Edition”, featuring a vastly improved transfer: A Christmas Carol Blu-ray Release Date November 8, 2011
If I wanted a copy, I'd buy this one. I saw it so many times on TV when I was younger, I've had my fill.
The 1962 Cape Fear, if they do as nice a version with it as they did with Night of the Hunter. Planes. Trains and Automobiles is sadly in need of a Criterion-level restoration.
Yeah, I don’t need to own it either. Just passing along the information for those who may need it. I like Alastair Sim a great deal. I used to live close by to the Filmhouse, in Edinburgh, which stands on the site where he was born. Been in that building more times than I can count.
"Fistful of Dynamite" with the proper sub-title "Once Upon a Time... the Revolution" which connects it to both the 'Fistful' movies, and as the middle of the 'Once Upon a Time...' trilogy. While debatable if its his best movie (I think it is), it is almost certainly his most underrated. Some don't even know this movie exists! The most recent releases still title it 'Duck You Sucker' (based on Leone's errant sense of American slang) which is like calling The Godfather "Marina Sauce"
Tiger Bay Of Mice And Men Ordinary People What's Eating Gilbert Grape Johnny Belinda Outrage The Little Foxes The Defiant Ones Paper Moon Splendor In The Grass Top Hat
The Late Show (1977) - Great performances from Art Carney and Lily Tomlin California Split (1974) - The DVD was edited. Need a version with all of the music included. George Segal and Elliot Gould made a great team.
I'm going to bump my previous suggestion of 4 great meaningful art films that have STILL never received a US DVD or Bluray release, and add one more: Didn't You Hear (no ?), a 1970 student film marking the debut of Gary Busey and Dennis Christopher. It could be bundled with other bizarre student films.
