Mongrel's StudioCanal Releases

[Rhylliam]

I hate when stuff changes hands over and over. When Lionsgate in the US acquired the StudioCanal titles, so did their Canadian division: Maple Pictures. Alliance then took over Maple and its library not too long after. So all those Maple discs went into lovely bargain bins (and many still do) and Alliance didn't do too much with the StudioCanal library. They released French only discs for Belle de jour and Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and released La Grande Illusion a little bit before the US disc. Last year Entertainment One acquired Alliance and its already massive library. E1 didn't touch the StudioCanal stuff (contract with Maple/Alliance may have been over). So now Mongrel Media, another Canadian company now stepping up its game from merely documentaries and imports to release newer/independent films, have the rights to release StudioCanal titles on home video. Last January the announcement was made that they had these films in their possession. In June, they released (on DVD only...) the Rambo trilogy and Terminator 2. They were likely top sellers for previous studios, and I suppose they thought it was a good starting point. However, these discs are bare bones. Previous releases have been pretty loaded with extras. The cover art isn't so bad, but who the heck is looking for classic catalog films on DVD these days..? Ugh, just more stuff to take up space and clutter shelves. I'm hoping when they start releasing Blu-ray discs with the StudioCanal logo, they won't be the same 'ol crap but with emptier discs. Its a vast library of great and foreign films. Do something with it!