British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[CelestialAgent]

The Crying Game and My Beautiful Laundrette is £7.99 in HMV and Maurice is £11.99 in their LGBT cinema offer

[Wes M.]

Originally Posted by mmarczi

Does anybody know if BFI's Charlie Chaplin shorts blu-rays still come with booklets? I see that they're still mentioned on the site but I doubt they keep up with that. Also, how do the BFI editions compare with the Flicker Alley sets, particularly in regard to the booklets (and other extras)?

I can't help you with the Flicker Alley comparison but both BFI BRs, which I bought from Amazon UK back in June came with excellent, comprehensive booklets. Both sets (and the Keystone DVD collection) are highly recommended.

[oliverok]

Originally Posted by mmarczi

Ah, thanks, that's good to know.

Not sure how I missed this until now: All releases since Spring 2019 are only guaranteed to have booklets in their first pressing??? Does that mean that any releases before Spring 2019 will still have booklets regardless of pressing?

[thuata]

Originally Posted by oliverok

Not sure how I missed this until now: All releases since Spring 2019 are only guaranteed to have booklets in their first pressing??? Does that mean that any releases before Spring 2019 will still have booklets regardless of pressing?

I've not had that experience but according to what I've read online older releases now come without booklet unless you can get original pressings.
I must be pretty lucky though cause everything I get from the BFI has a booklet

[CelestialAgent]

For those with Region A compatibility (the non-UK titles in the set are region free), Severin’s folk horror boxset adds extras to several BFI titles e.g. Penda’s Fen, and upgrades them to Blu-ray with Robin Redbreast and Anchoress.

https://severin-films.com/shop/folk-horror-box/

[Dan8700]

Anyone got Renoir's The River? How does it compare to the Criterion? And, if you can, please post captures. Thanks in advance.

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by Dan8700

Anyone got Renoir's The River? How does it compare to the Criterion? And, if you can, please post captures. Thanks in advance.

See this thread: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=342845

BFI seem to use the same master but without any additional restoration work done.

[SilverBlueSnow]

Originally Posted by Dan8700

Anyone got Renoir's The River? How does it compare to the Criterion? And, if you can, please post captures. Thanks in advance.

I watched it last night and was very impressed with the image quality - a few instances of very minor flickering and some minor colour inconsistency but honestly, but for the fact that I read online about Criterion vs BFI I would not have noticed these minor issues.

Buy with confidence - it looks great! Also the extras make this exceptional - it really is a box set! Great booklet also!

[Gacivory]

When do we usually get new BFI release announcements?

[xiiidan]

Any chance of a HMV sale on BFI anytime soon? Feels like forever since the last one and the number of titles I'm looking at are quickly piling up.

[blujazz]

In the spring, the BFI will release JULES ET JIM, THE 400 BLOWS, THE LAST METRO and LA PEAU DOUCE on Blu-ray, each presented with contextualising extras and an illustrated booklet in their first pressings.

Exciting times

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by blujazz

Exciting times

Mmm, unless the transfers are an upgrade on the Artificial Eye discs then I don't think I'll bother. I picked up the Francois Truffaut Collection, with eight films, for £20. These'll likely cost £16 each, dropping to a tenner of just under in sales. Having said that, if the transfer are much better then I'm in.

[aewb]

Originally Posted by blujazz

Exciting times

I love those films but it’s disappointing to see them getting released again instead of some Chabrol or Resnais. Or how about the BFI expand the canon for English speakers and release some Rozier, Gilles, Rouch or Deville?

[blujazz]

Not sure about the other titles but the 4K restoration of THE 400 BLOWS will be released theatrically in January, so presumably that would be the same version to be released on blu-ray (maybe 4K)?

[rapta]

Originally Posted by blujazz

Exciting times

Cool, I don't actually have The Last Metro but I do have the others. Would maybe double-dip on the others if they're an improvement in some way (especially The 400 Blows).

[CelestialAgent]

Surprised this hadn’t been mentioned

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/saint-etienn...-tell-you.html

Do you look back on the optimism of the 1997-2001 era as a lost golden age, or do you see it as a period of naïvety, delusion and folly? There’s a lot of nostalgia for the nineties, especially from people too young to remember it who see the decade as a simpler, pre-internet time. Modern nostalgia often draws on corporate American-90s mall culture, but what about British culture?

With I’ve Been Trying To Tell You – made to accompany the Saint Etienne album of the same name – director Alasdair McLellan evokes the era through the fog of memory. The resulting film, shot in locations from Grangemouth to Portmeirion to Southampton, is both beautiful and enveloping.

Her Winter Coat (2021): New Saint Etienne music video directed by Alasdair McLellan
Hello Holly (2021): New Saint Etienne music video directed by Alasdair McLellan
Escalade (2021): New Saint Etienne music video directed by Alasdair McLellan
Bob Stanley and Alasdair McLellan in conversation (2021)
Trailers
Other extras TBC
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Jason Wood and un-released images from Alasdair McLellan

[James78]

Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You - Official Trailer - YouTube

[Nedoflanders]

Originally Posted by aewb

I love those films but it’s disappointing to see them getting released again instead of some Chabrol or Resnais. Or how about the BFI expand the canon for English speakers and release some Rozier, Gilles, Rouch or Deville?

Well, it's mostly speculation but I couldn't help noticing Fran Simeoni's Arrow schedule hints included CCBOX and CCBOX2 down for November and February, respectively. Could it be Claude Chabrol?

Seeing as Arrow previously released two Chabrol collections on DVD and recently relaunched the Fassbinder sets, I'm beginning to think it might happen.

[Aclea]

More Chabrol is long overdue. I'd love This Man Must Die, The Cry of the Owl, Le Boucher and Juste Avant la Nuit, not to mention a disc with both the English and longer French cut of The Champagne Murders.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by blujazz

Exciting times

Haven't got around to getting the Criterion of The 400 Blows and Jules Et Jim, so I might wait to see what the BFI puts out